permanent

so the new topic that seems to be popping up
is this idea of tattoos and piercings.

is it biblical? does God want us to get this stuff?

here's my personal stab at it.

now when i talked about tattoos with my parents,

they used to always toss it off and use that passage...

"Do you not know that your body is a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God?" 1 Corinthians 6:19

very common refute to the whole tattoos and piercings debate.

however, we forget that this passage specifically talks about sexual immorality.

"Flee from sexual immorality! "Every sin a person can commit is outside the body," but the person who is sexually immoral sins against his own body. Do you not know that..." blah blah blah.

now if we persisted in saying that this passage is usable, then that gives me the liberty to say that husbands can use their wives to make them sandwiches while the husbands can couch potato around when Ephesians 5 says... 

"Wives, submit to your own husbands as to the Lord, for the husband is head of the wife as also Christ is head of the church. He is the Savior of the body. Now as the church submits to Christ, so wives should [submit] to their husbands in everything."

or worse... that we should test people's faith by drinking poison when Mark 16 says...

"And these signs will accompany those who believe: In My name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new languages; they will pick up snakes; if they should drink anything deadly, it will never harm them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will get well."

if can take one bible passage out of context, then we have the liberty to take EVERYTHING out of context, and clearly, that will break down Christianity, or worse, kill people.

ANOTHER passage that people use to refute and rebuke tattoos and piercings is Leviticus 19:28, which says...

"You are not to make gashes on your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves; I am the LORD."

most fundamentalists think they nail the head when they use this. again, what they forget is context.

this passage was talking about not following these pagan traditions. pagans cut and tattooed themselves to appease to their gods to have a nice afterlife. God didn't want the Israelites to obey the laws of other false religions and cults. clearly, their definition of tattoos and our definition of tattoos are completely different.

to add more, Leviticus 19 also says...

""You are to keep My statutes. You must not crossbreed two different kinds of your livestock, sow your fields with two kinds of seed, or put on a garment made of two kinds of material." - verse 19

"When you come into the land and plant any kind of tree for food, you are to consider the fruit forbidden. It will be forbidden to you for three years; it is not to be eaten. In the fourth year all its fruit must be consecrated as a praise offering to the LORD. But in the fifth year you may eat its fruit. In this way its yield will increase for you; I am the LORD your God." - verse 23-25

"You are not to cut off the hair at the sides of your head or mar the edge of your beard." - verse 27

what? no more pretty gardens? no more wearing jeans? every time i want to eat an apple from an apple tree i planted, i have to wait for FIVE YEARS?

and for those who know me, this last one causes some weird phases, but NO MORE HAIR CUTS?

if we debate about tattoos with this passage, how come we're not debating THIS stuff with this passage? that's because we know it's, ultimately, not relevant.

moving on...

some people like to persist in saying that tattoos and piercings root from witchcraft, using passages like Deuteronomy 14:1 and 1 Kings 18:28.

sure, don't cut yourself because it's the practice of cults. but remember that our definition and tattoos and piercings are not about cults anymore. they are about aesthetics and self-expression. tattooing and piercing yourself for those PURPOSES is not mentioned in the Bible.

and if we wanted to talk about just mere origins, then we just HAVE to talk about our clothes and Apple products.

why do we wear clothes? Adam and Eve wore the first "clothes" after they sinned against God, and wanted to hide themselves because of their shame. if we were so concerned about that, why don't we all go naked, so that we may not be ashamed in front of God? that doesn't sound very... tasteful to me.

Apple products? the logo is a picture of an apple with a bite in it. isn't that like how Eve bit the apple and caused ALL of sin to enter the world? if anything, that should be the bigger debate, because we're talking about the origin of SIN. but no, we don't, because it is not RELEVANT to the PURPOSE of why we do these things.

finally, many people like to refute with the idea that "if God wanted tattoos, why didn't He create us with them already?"

1) when God made us in His image, it means we were made to reflect His character over the earth, not that we should reflect His "physical" beauty.

2) this allows us for the benefit of personal creativity, something which God DOES love.

then the fundamentalists get into talking about how teenagers always disobey their parents. sure, i agree. but not ALL teenagers do. and again, if their parents use the mentioned passages to rebuke their kids, then the kids should take the step and tell them that they are using those passages heavily out of context. this is not just so they can get permission, but also that their parents should learn how to interpret the Bible for what it is ACTUALLY saying. to me, that's of greater importance than any tattoo or piercing.

now that i have shown how most people use these passages reprehensibly, by NO means do i say that everyone should get tattoos and piercings.

with piercings, i personally view them the same as clothes. we get them because we just like them. they don't have any huge role in our faith, just like clothes (unless they are saying blasphemous or heretical things). just don't go crazy on them, because you'll look like you're made of metal. and piercings can sometimes distract both ourselves and the people we socialize with. this is why i refrained from a lip ring, because i KNEW that i would be playing with it. and it would taste gross.

with tattoos, ESPECIALLY because they are permanent, we REALLY have to investigate within ourselves WHY we want this tattoo.

we must remember that "whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." (colossians 3:17)

so if you (the reader) are considering a tattoo, ask yourself these questions.

1) why am i getting this tattoo? is it so i could look better, or is there a greater purpose?

2) is this tattoo gonna further God's kingdom?

3) does this tattoo have any significant meaning to me, that can testify to God's glory?

4) is my tattoo just my girlfriends name? (trust me, DON'T do that.)

so what's my stance on tattoos? no matter what passage people use, the Bible is ultimately silent on tattoos and piercings. HOWEVER, if we decide to do so, put it to a lot prayer, a lot of discernment and a lot of thought.

-simon

skillfully

some friends on my facebook
have begun to spark a conversation
about "The deception of Christian Rock Music"
or even Christian contemporary music.
now my heart is set that this music industry is in so many ways
fruitful, God-glorifying, and truthful.
admittedly, like all other musicians out there
no one musician or band is perfect in their music or theology.

yet we hear of all these fundamentalists who criticize Christian rock
because for some strange reason:
1) ALL rock artists do drugs
2) ALL rock artists have sex with many women
3) ALL rock artists party too hard
4) and my personal favourite, ROCK MUSIC IS FROM THE DEVIL.

my question to all of this is:
1) how many Christ-proclaiming artists have they observed to come to this conclusion?
2) how many Christ-proclaiming artists have they observed to come to this conclusion?
3) how many Christ-proclaiming artists have they observed to come to this conclusion?
4) where in the Bible did you read that?

then the topic of
"if your music is too heavy on the music (in terms of how much rhythm there is, etc)
then it muffles out the spiritual content, if any."


now this is where i begin to really sit and observe.


first of all, music was supposed to be observed
in such a manner that people were supposed to
dig up the lyrics, read them, observe them and let them soak in.
now we live in a world where we take the lyrics as they hear it
and it puts artists in a space that limits us.
if we insist that the lyrics must be easy to understand
then that means the singer must be EXTREMELY good at anunciating
and the lyrics must often times be simple, almost TOO simple.
to me, this is a bit of a problem, because things become repetitive
the worship music industry is an example of that.

this is not to say that worship music is lame or talentless
but let's face it, so many songs out there sound the same.
their purpose still stands, and i can still resonate with their lyrics
but it sometimes becomes dry when you hear 10 different worship songs
singing the same thing.

an example of a band that i believe steps outside this box is Oh, Sleeper.
great metalcore band that loves God.
their lyrics reflect it, surprisingly.
their last album "son of the morning"
comes off as controversial, if taken at the surface level.
but if you dig deep into the lyrics, the meaning behind the album cover
then you begin to find that the meaning behind it all is
"God is eternally victorious."

and let's face it, Jesus was an icon of controversy when He was on Earth.
but when the people began to really see Him for who He was,
then that's when things began to change inside of them.

secondly, David writes
"Sing a new song to Him;
    play skillfully on the strings, with a joyful shout."
-psalms 33:3
with every Christian musician being so drastically different musically
because of the vast range of genres
we are to give our absolute best in the music we make.
in metal music, this calls for our best in playing guitars and drums. this demands creativity, which sometimes means adding to the music.
in rap music, this calls for our best in rhyme, flow, and beat. again, creativity.

there are obviously more examples, but they all ultimately demand
our utmost creativity and skill for God.
not just half-hearted pieces of "i'm-not-gonna-try" music.


now i do admit that we sometimes put music ABOVE God, which is
idolatry, very obviously.
but is that the fault of the musicians, or the listeners?

the same concepts go for every piece of God-inspired media.
seek God first and foremost, let His truth be your lyrical output
allow people to dig into the music. sometimes, surface messages will dry up
give your all and be creative into what you are playing.
if you can do more for the music you make, do more.

just my two cents.

see you at the wedding

a few days ago i told a friend
that my girlfriend and i were pretty serious
about our relationship
to the point where we have been talking about marriage
in our future.

so when i made the joke,
"see you at the wedding"
she freaked out and went
"REALLY? YOU'RE THAT SERIOUS?"
and i laughed at that.
but we had this discussion
about dating for experience
or dating for marriage.
i obviously live for the latter
but apparently, it's "common"
to live for the former.

i mean, to me, what sense does it make
if your girlfriend/boyfriend
goes up to you and says,

"hey. i don't really love you
i just say that i do because
i want to know how it feels like
to say it to someone,"

or

"hey. i know we're dating and all
but i don't really care about the
personal relationship that we have right now
i just want experience.
you are ultimately not much more to me
than the experience and knowledge
that i gain. after that, there's nothing between us."

that's heartless. ridiculously heartless.
i wouldn't date anyone at all
if i didn't think that that person could be
the one that i could spend my whole life with.

dating is so much more than just experience and knowledge
dating is supposed to lead up to something
so much more meaningful,
a loving relationship centred around God
the unity of two people under God
and the greatest love stories.

where did all of that go?

enough to let you think

it's been a while since i've been here.

last night i was reading the first chapter of ephesians
with a bunch of friends of mine
and we got onto the the topic of predestination
(like i always do nowadays).

so we decided to give each other an opportunity to share our personal insight
on this whole deal
and we predetermined (hehe, get my play with that?)
that no matter what our different thoughts might end up being,
that we would
still love each other
abstain from harming others
understand that we will never figure this out fully
understand that we still worship the same God here.

i shared on how i do believe in predestination (which is another blog entry entirely)
and then some others shared on how they believed in free will.
while they were sharing their thoughts,
i was thinking to myself
on why i was so convicted to believe in what i believe in now
and why and how i got past that whole
"if God chooses some, then God doesn't choose others, how's that fair" deal.
and then i started thinking
"no, you can't believe this whole free will thing! it opens yourself up to selfishness."
thank God i didn't actually say anything, otherwise i would've got grilled for it,
and it all would've turned into an explosion of back and forth.

but really, after all that thinking
i kept thinking to myself
"wow, i have this deep desire to want people to believe in what i believe in"
and i guess this is where my stubbornness comes from.
now don't take this is as being prideful, it really isn't.
like i said, i didn't want people to think about
"free will is the way to salvation"
because it opens up to selfishness that much more easily.
and obviously, i don't want my brothers and sisters
to be subject to that.

i was talking to a pastor who comes to these different conclusions about
creationism vs. evolution
predestination vs. free will
kinda stuff
and all of his conclusions were drawn very rationally
and were drawn from the original text of the bible.
so i asked him
"every time you enter a discussion with someone who believes the opposite of you
do you ever think that they are irrational or illogical?"

and he answered me with
"that's where the humility comes in."

i guess no matter how much i want people to understand things the way that i do,
it ultimately breaks down to how the Spirit convicts them.

i guess, the ultimate point is
you can believe all these different things in theology
or you might want others to see things your way, because you are so sure you are right
but you will never be able to stir someone's heart
if you never love them enough to let them think for themselves.

-simon

confused says

this is going to be quite hard to say, but honestly, this is something i have to finally get out.
and i'd write a poem, but i think for once this has to be something that has to be said in simple words.

it's weird. for the past while, i've been feeling like my circle of friends is no longer my "circle of friends."
i can't relate to my best friends.
i can't really talk to my accountability group about anything anymore.

it's almost as if that phase i had almost a year and a half ago with not being sure of my friends is happening again, on a significantly grander scale.

my best group of friends from my fellowship seem to all be moving towards a direction that i can't follow. a direction that i don't wanna go. I can't really talk to them about things that i wanna talk about because it comes off as unnecessary or immature to them, but to me, these things can mean a lot to me.

where i try to bring up a point, it seems that my voice goes unheard.

and it seems at this point, i've contemplated going and trying new places, new fellowships, new groups of friends. it seems that my group of friends is shifting to other places.

now don't get me wrong, my friends are good people, so it seems that maybe it's me that belongs elsewhere? I'm not sure, but I guess we'll just have to wait and see...?

i'm sure that this has to be just a phase...

another try

I look at your smiling face,
Your so weak, yet you have such strength,
You take a glance around this place,
You make the best of everything

You give me hope, in spite of everything,
You show me love, even with so much pain
So I'll take this life and live like I was given another try

We laugh, we cry
Sometimes we're broken and we don't know why,
I'm tired and I lose my way,
you help me find faith, oOo

You give me hope, in spite of everything,
You show me love, even with so much pain
So I'll take this life and live like I was given another try
Just give me another try

You give me hope, in spite of everything,
You show me love, even with so much pain
So I'll take this life and live like I was given another try

You give me hope, in spite of everything,
You show me love, even with so much pain
So I'll take this life and live like I was given another try
Just give me another try
Just give me another try

it's almost as if this song has spoken to me, but not yet.

you are the humble king.

teens conference 2010. geez, what a push.
but a worthwhile push at that.

i never would've thought that captaining would be this difficult. don't get me wrong, i loved the experience, but man it was nothing like being on worship last year. but i'd definitely say it was a rewarding experience.

thanks to all those praying for my condition and everyone else's as well. dehydration sucks.

this blog post doesn't do justice to my feelings on the past week, i know. haha, i guess i'm not much of a blogger.