Faith Mini Story: Chapter III

Chapter III
My Tattoo and the ones to hopefully come.



Tattoos are seen a many of a different ways, most could agree that they are a self expressed art piece that can never be removed. I like to view them as a piece of art that has a meaning, a purpose, and a meaning. These art pieces can not be easily removed and I think that most of them should never be removed because they tell a story. Wither it be about an experience good or bad it is a landmark in time that at one point in our lives we thought we needed it to show what we had felt or accomplished.
My first tattoo had to be something of meaning and it had to be something I could appreciate a life-time. The piece did not have to come to me all at once but once it was there, there was no changing it. My desire to accomplish my goal of getting inked could not be filled until I had felt the perminating power of the needle at work. The design for my first tattoo came from my many passions, but had to be dedicated to the one I knew would last forever, my passion for Christ. The tattoo had to be a constant reminder of where I needed to root my every decision, it had to tell a story that represented me and my believes. It had to have a theme of forgiveness...
I had a strong desire to put a symbol of forgiveness permanently stained in my skin and through a little time I incorporated two symbols to represent the forgiveness I had received from God through Jesus Christ. The first a symbol that is known world wide as an icon for compassion and the forgiveness that is available to us by accepting the Lord as our savior: The Cross. As I played with the two boards I started to give them a brush stroke appearance, representing the defined death that Jesus knew he was going to have to face and overcome. Next I searched the web for different things representing my experiences that I had lived up until then. But I need a graphical representation of the actual word that was forgiveness, so I researched a website I had know to give the correct translation of the English word in to chiness kanji. Sure enough I found "forgiven" and I thought that it would look perfect overlaying the cross, and it did, after a few more minute changes I had my tattoo. In the last couple of days leading up to getting the ink done though I added one more translated word one that represented my belonging to the one who for which I was claiming I received forgiveness from with out this icon it meant nothing except that I had been forgiven but by who. The chiness kanji at the head of my tattoo means "Father" and it is the true meaning to what the tattoo holds testament to.


In the book of Revelations John gets a message from the Lord towards the end of the 13th chapter which describes a beast who commands all the people of the world to worship him and receive the mark of his name either on their right hand or on their forehead. With out this mark no buying, selling or trading could occur. This mark would represent that you acknowledged the beast as the person or thing that was to be of the most high. To me this means that you would be acknowledging this beast as a god or even the God, which is wrong. In the book of revelations we are warned of many bad things to come and this is opne of the events that will take place, when it happens I won’t take the mark! In fact I hope I am tattooed all up with Gods glory so I can rip of my shirt and proudly boast of to whom I claim to belong to, the Lord. Kill me I don’t care ill just be leaving the terrible mess (the mess we call the world) we live in now to join God. Anyone who supposedly does not acknowledge this beast will be sentenced to death, well I say “whoop tee” I don’t care.

Sure it’s easy to say if it came down to life or death we may choose to stand up and represent our Lord and Savior, but what about on the playing field of everyday life? In this respect the tattoos are a road map of my life and show everyone what I think on the inside and if someone asks I’m always willing to share my faith. But even then I’m not stepping out of my comfort zone asking others to ask me without simply just asking the person next to me if they know Christ. Its something I hope I wont struggle with all my life, and I know with time it will only get harder so maybe my youthful “rebellious” stage were I feel like I want these tattoos will pay off even more as I get older. This way I can never go back on my faith because I will always have the way, the truth, and the light, engraved on my body, the temple of Christ.



FINAL VERSES:




"But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life".
~John 20:31
A few verses to dwell upon:


"There is a time for everything,
a season for every activity under heaven".
~Ecclesiastes 3:1


"And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from His love. Death can't, and life can't. The angels can't, and the demons can't. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, and even the powers of hell can't keep God's love away". ~ Romans 8:38


"Here is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is the duty of every person. God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad". ~ Ecclesiastes 12:13-14