tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post3608765673028942664..comments2024-03-27T15:47:46.091-05:00Comments on Pastoral Meanderings: A big difference between 19 and 29...Pastor Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10653554256101480140noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-6725887710022250322013-05-04T06:50:52.154-05:002013-05-04T06:50:52.154-05:00tattoos designs are only designs for fashion or it...<a href="http://tattoosdesignsx.com" rel="nofollow">tattoos designs</a> are only designs for fashion or it is the way to express your likes dislikes, your nature, your cultures etc. NO any other reasons behind it. tattoos designshttp://tattoosdesignsx.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-66603662822629624712011-12-19T10:16:52.857-06:002011-12-19T10:16:52.857-06:00This is an issue in our church right now - not so ...This is an issue in our church right now - not so much tattoos, but the perception that a Christian looks a certain way. A good Christian wears khaki pants (pressed), a button down shirt and sensible shoes. He does not have tattoos or piercings, and does not wear dark clothing, jeans or any other form of expressive clothing. This is wrong. We are all sinners, we are all equal in that our Savior died for us. My husband is trying to ring this into our congregation's head: you cannot tell a good Christian by the way he looks, nor should you try. I have a tattoo that I got in college - and that one was a mistake. Luckily, I was smart enough to know that Christ is the only constant, so I got a Jesus fish on my ankle. Two years ago I went back to the tattoo parlor and added a beautiful vine of flowers and an open book to the fish. It turned a lame college tattoo into something so beautiful. I love my tattoo and I would say that it has opened up so many conversations with other people who I would not normally talk to about Jesus. "Cool tattoo, what is it?" "Well, it's a fish to represent my faith in Christ..."Colleen Oakeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14548749077604704648noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-51795835416724800622011-12-18T16:57:32.056-06:002011-12-18T16:57:32.056-06:00Dear Anonymous,
I was responding to the article P...Dear Anonymous,<br /><br />I was responding to the article Pr. Peters linked to, wherein the Monsignor used these Scripture passages to help him make his case, not to Pr. Peters' commentary, as I thought I made clear in my post. <br /><br />Also, I made no mention of whether I think it's a good idea or not to cover one's body in tattoos, just that these particular passages do not address that issue, that's all. The passage in Leviticus is speaking about a specific idolatrous practice among the pagans of the day and has nothing at all to do with someone getting a butterfly tattoo on their ankle (unless they belong to some weird butterfly worshiping cult or something), etc. And the passage from 1 Corinthians 6 has to do with sexual immorality, not getting tattoos or eating junk food or smoking or drinking or any of the other myriad things many people love to associate with that passage. <br /><br />Pax,<br />Pr. MesserRev. Thomas C. Messer, SSPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13740553600700598394noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-34401854612990826922011-12-18T16:42:45.832-06:002011-12-18T16:42:45.832-06:00Geez, Rev. Messer, did you even read what was writ...Geez, Rev. Messer, did you even read what was written. Pastor Peters did not wrap himself up in the words or the passage but suggested that those considering act with caution and deliberate what is not easily undoable. The passages may not be directly applicable to the practice today but that does not mean they have nothing to say. I have a friend who has spent thousands covering his arms, one leg, back, neck, and a few other spots. I wish he had thought about it more before diving in to this practice. Though he has not said it directly, the fact that he has not gotten one recently and talks little about them seems to me that he wishes the same thing.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-7052470135347256812011-12-18T14:17:42.444-06:002011-12-18T14:17:42.444-06:00Unless we're going to interpret the Scriptures...Unless we're going to interpret the Scriptures like Oprah Winfrey, Bill O'Reilly, the gals on The View, and Bill Maher, neither the passage from Leviticus 19 nor 1 Corinthians 6 mentioned by the Monsignor in his article have a thing to do with modern day tattoos. Can getting tattoos become a form of idolatry? Sure. We can make idols out of anything. But, to use these passages as a prohibition from God against modern day tattoos is to ignore their context and misunderstand their meaning.Rev. Thomas C. Messer, SSPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13740553600700598394noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-84801687638954638702011-12-18T10:51:20.565-06:002011-12-18T10:51:20.565-06:00Exception is my cousin. He married young and had a...Exception is my cousin. He married young and had a large family with 25 already. He has tattooed the names of his children on the inside of his left upper arm. He wants his children "are close to his heart" forever.<br />He is the only one who didn't chose a religious symbo. Most tattoos I see are very clear "Catholic or Orthodox." That may confuse people in the U.S., but there is also a very good reason. Christian families, who come from Islamic countries, tattoo christian symbols, not only to distinguish themselves from Muslims, but especially to prevent forced conversions to Islam. <br />This is not without dangers. The other day during the riots in Cairo it was reported that"security forces" looked for the crosses on the forearms of demonstrators to ensure that they beat up the "right people".Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-87563133641299146642011-12-17T23:28:27.503-06:002011-12-17T23:28:27.503-06:00Like it or not, people judge by outward appearance...Like it or not, people judge by outward appearances. Get a tattoo, a piercing, and/or a mullet, and you automatically lower your chances of getting a good job or a promotion. The general perception of a person with tattoos is either gang member or redneck white trash. And you have to be careful. I once recall my nephew being followed around the shopping mall by hardcore gang members because they saw his piercings and mistakenly thought he was a member of a rival gang. (He never belonged to any gang, but that did not matter to the people who wanted to beat him up.) Protest all you want about society being unfair. Too bad.<br /><br />Pastor Peters:<br /><br />Why is there so much emphasis in the Bible on cleanliness and in maintaining a good appearance. Why is this ignored or misunderstood by so many people today.<br /><br />By the way, what does "rounding the corners of your head" mean in Leviticus?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-10067367564929763912011-12-17T22:43:37.787-06:002011-12-17T22:43:37.787-06:00I don't really like tattoos, but the one in th...I don't really like tattoos, but the one in the picture actually looks pretty good.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-18748321977486434972011-12-17T17:03:48.602-06:002011-12-17T17:03:48.602-06:00When men or women pierce their
ears, they are maki...When men or women pierce their<br />ears, they are making a personal<br />decision. It is completely their<br />choice. The church really has no<br />Biblical authority to challenge it.<br /><br />When men in the 21st century wear<br />beards, they are making a stylish<br />choice. If their wife enjoys going<br />through the forest for a picnic,<br />then their kissing habits will remain<br />steady.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-84953739918962497552011-12-17T12:35:52.156-06:002011-12-17T12:35:52.156-06:00I think people who dislike tattoos have a bias aga...I think people who dislike tattoos have a bias against them, which makes them seem really awful in their own minds. <br /><br />I admit a bias against a mullet haircut...but that bias only exists because of the current social stigma around mullets. <br /><br />I think there is a lot of social baggage certain people carry around, with regards to tattoos, that many other people simply don't have. <br /><br />Everyone agrees that tattoos, as a result of youthful indiscretion, are a bad thing. But this is largely not why tattoos are gotten. It's a false argument.<br /><br />And the idea that one is ruining or destroying the body with a tattoo, is a personal opinion, not a theological one. Is a tattoo defiling and disfiguring the temple of God, or decorating and celebrating it?<br /><br />And why does the article bring up the Leviticus passage? Two verses up, that same chapter tells people not to eat meat with blood still in it (anyone had a rare steak lately?) In the next chapter, Leviticus says that a priest must not shave off the edges of their beards (PASTOR PETERS, I see your photo, it looks to me like you've done some beard edge shaving in the recent past... ;)<br /><br />(I'm not making this argument is self defense...I don't have any tattoos, and don't plan on getting any, but I know a lot of people with them.)Jkhttp://www.lutherans.comnoreply@blogger.com