Scarred for Life...and Eternity...

What kind of person would take the Holy Spirit of God into a tattoo parlor? I can hear the questions...

To which I would rebut, what if the Holy Spirit of God takes you into a tattoo parlor?

Today I took a message that has been carved on my heart for 13 years and tattooed it on my arm. A simple message that has profound and eternal impact.

By Grace Through Faith

As I sat in the chair (at Fine Lines in Garland)and Casey (the artist) was getting things prepped I was just chatting with Trent Brown. Casey asked me what we were out doing today...this is it, just getting tattooed. I introduce Trent as my pastor and told him that we started a church in Royse City about 3 1/2 years ago.

Casey told me how he really enjoys studying different world religions and said he guesses that he connects to Christianity the most because "as an American it's what we know the most."
I guess Casey, like the vast majority of Americans, has some head knowledge of Jesus but doesn't exactly know what to do with Him.

Over the course of the half hour or so that I sat there...I explained to him why the Gospel was important enough for me to etch in ink on my right forearm. We talked about Christ's teachings a little, we talked about the early church in Acts and we even talked about what seems to be another reformation of the church in the 21st century. We spent a great deal of time talking about how important authentic community was. Casey continuously repeated these words, "Good for you guys, man...I'm glad to hear that". He also told me how beautiful he thought Christianity was when he's actually seen it in someone. I'm assuming the problem being that he just simply hasn't seen it very often.

Even as I write this, I can still feel a little bit of a burn from the needle...but, at the same time, I can't wait to take Casey some more business and talk to him about a Savior who would go into a tattoo parlor with a sinner SAVED BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH...

For The Praise of Your Glory,
ZS