"At our church, there are several with tatts, including several middle aged women"

[farouk]

Re: "At our church, there are several with tatts, including several middle aged women

..My wife is no longer intimidated by the whole dark alley tat shop scene. When the artist is a Christian woman, it makes it more accessible for other Christian women.

Sent from my ADR6425LVW using Tapatalk 2

Hi mygraine:

You make a good point there.

It seems to me, actually, that a tattoo artist can in some ways be an especially suitable career for a Christian woman to pursue. Especially good for women clients, like you say. In fact, it can be a particularly suitable rôle for an older Christian woman, because older Christian women can often both put people at ease with a gentle selflessness acquired over decades and can also speak effectively with a quiet and authoritative frankness about designs, things to look for and things to avoid. Including about faith related designs, of course.

So it doesn't surprise me to read of your wife's increasing confidence.

(Two cents'.)

 

[farouk]

Re: "At our church, there are several with tatts, including several middle aged women

[..]

 

[farouk]

Re: "At our church, there are several with tatts, including several middle aged women

Religion tells you what you can and cannot do and becomes socially acceptable by mans interpretations, traditions and doctrines. Religion is what nailed Christ to the cross because this Bible is not socially acceptable to society, if it were then Christ would have died in vain. Tattoos also are not socially acceptable either and those who have them are an easy target to get shunned by society.

for his glory:

Yes, I completely agree about the Cross being completely contradictory to the world's thinking. So I know exactly what you are saying.

Re. tattoos, I think it's changed a lot (maybe not quite so much in your area, I don't know?) but a lot of people have them; many Christians, too, some of whom also like to use them for witness purposes. They are often considered effective in this way. Don't know if they would be considered effective by Christians in your area? but I kind of suspect they would be, too, for those who want to get them.

Blessings.

 

[Paul1965]

Re: "At our church, there are several with tatts, including several middle aged women

It's been pointed out to me that this may be relevant to this thread so i thought I'd share it.
I have lived in Thailand for nearly 7 years. If you don't know, Thailand is 97% Buddhist 1 % Christian 1% Muslim 1%"other"
On my neck I have Ephesians 5:25 to remind me always how to honour and love my wife and also how I can honor God through my wife.My wife is Thai and Buddhist. Has been since birth. She asked me about the tattoo on my neck and I explained what it meant to her. She thought about this and began asking more questions about "My God". To cut a long story short, she is reading a Thai language Bible and continually asks questions to clarify the concepts of different verses and chapters. I haven't managed to get her to attend service with me yet,but small steps are better than no steps.
So, as far as I can tell from personal experience, if it is God's will, a scripture or faith based tattoo can be Evangelical.

Tattoo's aren't for everyone, but in todays society where there are so many great artists out there, better sterilization techniques and codes of conduct, maybe it won't be too long before we see them becoming more acceptable as a way of proclaiming our faith or testifying our Lords glory.

I have many tattoos, from a memorial to my daughter, my children's names encased in bouquets of flowers and hearts and others that reflect parts of my life up until the present.(last tattoo about 4 years ago)

 

[Deborah13]

Re: "At our church, there are several with tatts, including several middle aged women

Paul1965, thank you for your post. I pray your wife is lead to the Lord so that she may be an even greater strength to you and a witness for Christ. God bless you and keep you and your family.

 

[Paul1965]

Re: "At our church, there are several with tatts, including several middle aged women

Thank you Deborah13,
I hope and pray she will also turn to Christ but it's not something to try and push her into (Thai's are extremely stubborn and get their back up easily) just the fact she's willing to read and question is a good sign.
Blessing to all

 

[farouk]

Re: "At our church, there are several with tatts, including several middle aged women

Thank you Deborah13,
I hope and pray she will also turn to Christ but it's not something to try and push her into (Thai's are extremely stubborn and get their back up easily) just the fact she's willing to read and question is a good sign.
Blessing to all

Paul1965:

If your wife does become converted (and we pray to that end) it will be a work of God Himself in her, and not something that is artificially induced; reading the Word regularly and wanting to understand it and know about the Person and Work of the Lord Jesus is certainly the right direction to go.

It's very interesting that it was your Scripture tattoo that first got her asking questions about the Bible. I think that, with tattooing widespread, there is a lot of scope for witness designs. A while back a young guy I spoke with had John 3.16 on his arm; and as well as me, he must have had other people start conversations with him, too.

Blessings.

 

[Destructus86]

Re: "At our church, there are several with tatts, including several middle aged women

How about you stop looking at the tats and look at the person?

 

[Paul1965]

Re: "At our church, there are several with tatts, including several middle aged women

How about you stop looking at the tats and look at the person?

I think that's what we've been trying to do.
Just in a round about way.
From personal experience too many "Godly" like to pass judgement on appearance and believe "the dirty biker / ex crim / tough guy theology without ever taking the time to get to know the inkee (if that's a word).
One example :I had to laugh when I first saw the phrase "dirty biker" on this thread. In australia there is a motorcycle club called "God's Squad MC" they look like bikers, ride harleys, and wear club patches but the work these guys do is phenomenal, charity runs for cancer kids,pastoring to bereaved gang members and helping them find our Lord and salvation. And yep, you guessed it,many are heavily inked with both run of the mill AND scripture / faith based tatts. they have now spread world wide with chapters in the US europe and other places, spreading His word to guys who might otherwise be ignored by respectable people

I might get into trouble for doing it but I think it's worth it. Here's a link to their site
http://gscmc.com/

 

[farouk]

Re: "At our church, there are several with tatts, including several middle aged women

How about you stop looking at the tats and look at the person?

If a someone get's a tatoo or not...it's no business of anyone else. There's nothing wrong with tattoos. I don't have any myself...but from a biblical standpoint there is nothing wrong with it. Unless of course you take a particular scripture and twist it.

Hi D-86:

I don't disagree with what you say.

And the comment you made not long ago, above, has a good element, too.

The main thing is for the tattooed Bible ref. (there's a lot of potential for witness ink) to speak for itself, kind of like Paul1965's did, right?

 

[Destructus86]

Re: "At our church, there are several with tatts, including several middle aged women

I think that's what we've been trying to do.
Just in a round about way.
From personal experience too many "Godly" like to pass judgement on appearance and believe "the dirty biker / ex crim / tough guy theology without ever taking the time to get to know the inkee (if that's a word).
One example :I had to laugh when I first saw the phrase "dirty biker" on this thread. In australia there is a motorcycle club called "God's Squad MC" they look like bikers, ride harleys, and wear club patches but the work these guys do is phenomenal, charity runs for cancer kids,pastoring to bereaved gang members and helping them find our Lord and salvation. And yep, you guessed it,many are heavily inked with both run of the mill AND scripture / faith based tatts. they have now spread world wide with chapters in the US europe and other places, spreading His word to guys who might otherwise be ignored by respectable people

I might get into trouble for doing it but I think it's worth it. Here's a link to their site
http://gscmc.com/

That's pretty cool!!

I just find the whole thing very frustrating. I firmly believe that the greatest enemy of Christianity today are Christians poor/judgemental attitudes towards others.

 

[Paul1965]

Re: "At our church, there are several with tatts, including several middle aged women

I know where you're coming from. One of my best friends here is from Georgia (Us not Europe) we first met at a mutual friends house and he wouldn't give me the time of day. Very stand offish and I thought he was a snob. As the evening progressed he sat and listened in on conversations we were all having and he started joining in. By the end of the night / early morning we were great friends. He has told me since that he was brought up to believe that Tattooed people were lowlifes and to steer clear of them (He comes from a VERY Christian family and is an active member of one of the few churches we have here)
He admits that he had never got to know anyone with more than one tattoo before, because of this atrocious and judgemental upbringing. Needless to say his eyes have been opened to the fact that "A woman's or man's colour or in this case many colours are only skin deep" and that we all need to stop judging.
As I admitted in my testimony here, I served some time in prison and met many "clean skins" (people without ink) inside. One of them was a multiple rapist and murderer!At the time of his arrest and subsequent plea of guilty to all charges, To look at him, he was the epitome of goodness! Clean shaven, an accountant with a wife and three kids. But this guys heart was and up until the day of my release still was blacker than black. The only regret he admitted to was getting caught.
So after all is said and done tattoos don't maketh the man or woman
errr yibbida yibbida thats all folks

 

[farouk]

Re: "At our church, there are several with tatts, including several middle aged women

.."A woman's or man's colour or in this case many colours are only skin deep" ..

Paul1965: Hey I hadn't heard this particular application before! a memorable expression.

Blessings.

 

[Paul1965]

Re: "At our church, there are several with tatts, including several middle aged women

: Hey I hadn't heard this particular application before! a memorable expression.[/QUOTE

I do sometimes have moments of lucid creative thinking....I actually wrote a poem by that name a long time ago along the same theme, I'll try to find it and post it in the poetry section if i can

 

[farouk]

Re: "At our church, there are several with tatts, including several middle aged women

: Hey I hadn't heard this particular application before! a memorable expression.[/QUOTE

I do sometimes have moments of lucid creative thinking....I actually wrote a poem by that name a long time ago along the same theme, I'll try to find it and post it in the poetry section if i can

Paul1965:

Yes, well, kind of significant in at least two ways, I guess, when you say:

"A woman's or man's colour or in this case many colours are only skin deep"

Re. 'Many colours': inks have indeed improved enormously so they can needle them into you with far greater permanence. But I do actually think that tribal, in its effective simplicity, can be better in black only, or at least one color only; and it's often calligraphic, semi-tribal patterns that are used in Scripture ref. designs, too.

Re. 'A woman's or man's': yes, not just a polite 'she' as well as 'he', but rather it's an unavoidable fact that in North America 60% of parlor clients are, in fact, women, with some parlors reporting 70%. (There's probably a different proportion in Thailand, but anyway.)

Blessings.

 

[farouk]

Re: "At our church, there are several with tatts, including several middle aged women

.. I work with parents with small children so they are a fairly young crowd and tattoos are common. It is just part of our society now. .. Some of the most devout people I know have tattoos-young and older.
.. It is only when a behavior is in rebellion to God that it is wrong.. Unless the behavior is directly in opposition to the word of God (like the commandments and the teachings of Christ) it is open.

Paul1965:

Hi there.

This is what Debbie, above, said.

I guess you would kind of agree, right?

Blessings.

 

[Paul1965]

Re: "At our church, there are several with tatts, including several middle aged women

Originally Posted by Debbie
.. I work with parents with small children so they are a fairly young crowd and tattoos are common. It is just part of our society now. .. Some of the most devout people I know have tattoos-young and older.
.. It is only when a behavior is in rebellion to God that it is wrong.. Unless the behavior is directly in opposition to the word of God (like the commandments and the teachings of Christ) it is open.

Farouk and Debbie I agree wholeheartedly. Everything we "wear" from clothes to piercings, tattoos and even our hair style is open to interpretation from the "judgement brigade". But it is simply a case of judging a book by it's cover.

I urge all people to consider this. Especially those who shudder at the sight of we 'freaks'.

A dog barks at strangers that come to it's owners house (territory)until it is shown that the stranger is indeed welcomed by it's owner.
It does so because it doesn't know the intentions (heart) of that person. Once it has sniffed that persons hand and seen it's owner welcome the stranger. It will roll onto it's back waiting for a friendly scratch from the newcomer.

As HE is my owner and keeper, He knows what's in my heart and HE alone can judge me. When I am in His house, of course there will be those who will "bark" at me / about me. (I mean no offense in this analogy) But once my "Owner" shows them that I'm ok, they too will learn that I am allowed into their "Owners" territory and am just like them. (Albeit a little more colourful and I probably have a few more rough edges)
Blessings

 

[farouk]

Re: "At our church, there are several with tatts, including several middle aged women

In what way is a tattoo, in of itself, sinful?

Now, if someone got a tattoo because they were being rebellious...then that would be sinful... but the mere presence of a tattoo?

I don't believe there is anything inherently sinful about a tattoo.

I think this could be compared to a woman wearing a skirt that hits her knees...

A young woman wearing such a skirt in the '20's would be considered a loose woman, a tart even. The flappers were "bad" girls.

A young woman wearing such a skirt today would be considered modest.. many Christian parents probably don't allow their daughters to wear any other type of skirt.

The length of skirt in of itself isn't sinful (well, unless it's not covering the bum). But, the attitude that society has towards the hemline... knee high being scandalous during the '20's but conservative in 2012... is what counts.

As with all things, the Lord looks at the heart. The heart of a woman wearing a knee length skirt in 1920 was one of rebellion and trying to shock. The heart of a woman wearing a knee length skirt in 2012 is trying to be modest.

I believe this fits well in with tattoos... Tattoos in the 50's, 60's and even 70's were associated with sailors, bikers and rough, rebellious type people.

Tattoos today? Pretty mainstream.

handy:

This is a very sensible post.

A lot of wisdom here in what is being said.

Maybe not years ago, but wearing a skirt around the knee is today what women do. Christian women can do it, too, innocently.

Maybe not years ago, either, but among men and women tattoo equality has been achieved in North America; quite simply, it's what women do. And, only if they want to, Christian women can do it, too, innocently.

So re. handy's comments, she is right, yes.

 

[farouk]

Re: "At our church, there are several with tatts, including several middle aged women

Farouk and Debbie I agree wholeheartedly. ...

Paul: I thought you might, anyway.

Blessings.

 

[farouk]

Re: "At our church, there are several with tatts, including several middle aged women

<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--> It’s not just something for very young Christian women, either. These are some comments from more mature women, some of them Christian, who have clearly given the matter of tattoos a lot of thought:

I have no tattoos, but I do have my ears pierced. I didn't do it until I was 30 years old and someone dragged me into the ear piercing shop and told me it was about time I had my ears pierced. I was not resistant. .. I am 53 years old and feel burdened by all the material things around me. I wonder what I would feel like if I had a body full of tattoos! :o Would I feel burdened by them in my old age?
Maybe I'm wrong here :-?

.

<cite class="fn">..</cite>I designed and drew mine (and I’m not by any stretch of the imagination an artist). It’s a wooden cross on a sunburst background with a ribbon of music .. the notes are the melody line for the beginning of Amazing Grace
..I’ve wanted a tattoo for many years, and can’t really trace the origin of the desire. When I finally made the decision to get one, I was then faced with choosing something that I would want to have on my body for life. .. I was away from God for about 20 years of my adult life, and thanks to my faithful husband was brought back into the knowledge of God’s love and faith in and for me. I was 55 when I got my tattoo, and when deciding what to get, I knew I had to get something that displayed my faith and love in and for God, maybe kind of as a tribute. God’s love, grace and forgiveness are things that I know will not falter, so I wanted something to help remind me when I have weak times. ( from adamjcopeland dot com )

I'm 68 and I'm waiting to get my first tatoo. I've wanted one for a while but the timing hasn't been right. I actually want two and eventually will get them.
(from business dot newsvine dot com)

I guess for our family the question of whether or not to be tattooed was already made as I had 12 tats and my hubby had 4 when we were first saved. Certainly the style and reason for our tats changed after being saved. Five of our 6 kids are also inked [ages 28-35] ..(from Christian hyphen tattoos dot com )

I got my first at age 57 and second a few months ago at 59. ..both are small (about 1.5" square or so), one is always hidden and one is often hidden. I smile every time I look at them. .. I am a "normal" college educated professional woman, and I when I do show the tattoos, I get compliments from people of all ages. (from business dot newsvine dot com)

My two daughters, 18 and 17, want to get matching heart tattoos ..
We have even talked about all getting tattoos together. When my youngest turns 18, my oldest will be 19 and I will be 49. I would definitely have a cross with scripture. Here are a few of my favorite scriptures:
James 2:13
Mercy triumphs over judgment.
Romans 12:12
Be joyful in hope,
patient in affliction,
faithful in prayer.
Philippians 1:19
God bless,
Beth (from lauraleighparker dot com )

Blessings.

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