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Showing posts with the label tattoo

Do You Tattoo?

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One evangelistic slogan found on T-shirts and bumper stickers is, “Body piercing saved my life.” That phrase is sometimes accompanied by a picture of a punctured hand symbolizing the crucifixion of Jesus. This is a way of witnessing to the Goth community and others who are into body piercing.   Two years before giving my life to the Lord, I had my ear pierced and wore an earring. Although I’ve since chosen not to wear it anymore, I still get irritated when earring-wearing men are criticized by religious folk, especially female ministers. Who decided that only women should have earrings? In Old Testament days, both men and women wore them (see Exodus 35:22). Another trend that has infiltrated the church is tattoos. Until a generation ago, tattoos in Western countries were mostly seen on military men. Nowadays, both men and women from all backgrounds have them. When I first noticed tattoos becoming popular, I thought this could be paving the way for the mark of the beast. ...

Lessons Learned From Lakeland

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By now many of you have seen (and perhaps attended) the Florida Healing Outpouring meetings in Lakeland. What began on April 2nd as five days of meetings at Ignited Church by Canadian evangelist Todd Bentley quickly exploded into a worldwide revival thanks to GodTV and the Internet. I was in Lakeland for six days in May and then watched more meetings via GodTV this past summer. In mid-August, it was announced that Todd Bentley was stepping down from public ministry due to failures in his personal life including a breakdown of his marriage. Many ministers have since made public statements regarding Todd and the Florida Outpouring. Until now, I didn’t plan on making my own comments mainly because I do not know Todd personally (although he added me as a Facebook friend). But then a couple of weeks ago, an incident came up that made me decide otherwise. One Saturday morning I attended a men’s breakfast at a church in Virginia. After eating and a time of worship, the pastor preached ...