Getting a Tattoo

Some time ago I received an email where the writer asks:
 'My Dad has been arguing with me because I want to get a tattoo. What do you think, is it really so bad wanting a tattoo?

My reply:
As I use the Bible to guide what I think, I would rather tell you what the Bible says, than simply what I think. Leviticus 19:28 in the New International Version (NIV) reads 'Do not cut your bodies … or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the LORD.' Now you will probably think that the context of this argument is weak if, for example, you read the preceding verse, 'Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard.' (Vs 27). However, the New Testament provides a stronger argument in John 2:21 where John describes the body as a temple. Paul expands this concept in 1 Corinthians 6:19, 20: 'Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honour God with your body.'
So if our bodies are a home for the indwelling of God, then we are indeed responsible for caring for His 'house'. Surely mutilating God's temple is not what the Creator has planned for us. Also the Bible puts humility and service to others above the decoration of self: 1 Peter 3: 3,4: 'Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewellery and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight.'

--Lionel Hartley

30 Types of Love in Ephesians 5

30 Types of Love in Ephesians 5...
[Ephesians 5:2] And walk in love...

         
[Ephesians 5:20] Giving thanks always (A grateful love) for all things (A inclusive love) unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;
         
[Ephesians 5:21] Submitting yourselves (A surrendering love) one to another (A mutual love) in the fear of God.
         
[Ephesians 5:22] Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord (A Godly love).

[Ephesians 5:23] For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour (A “risk-all” love) of the body.
         
[Ephesians 5:24] Therefore as the church is subject (First Corinthians 7:3, 4 calls this a benevolent love) unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing (More inclusive love).
         
[Ephesians 5:25] Husbands, love (A command!) your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave (A sacrificial love) himself for it;
         
[Ephesians 5:26] That he might sanctify (A purifying love) and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word (Love based on biblical precepts),

[Ephesians 5:27] That he might present (A giving love) it to himself a glorious (A glorious love) church, not having spot, or wrinkle (A pure love), or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish (A love with no strings attached).
         
[Ephesians 5:28] So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies (A caring love). He that loveth his wife loveth himself (A love which builds self esteem).
         
[Ephesians 5:29] For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth (A nurturing love) and cherisheth (A precious love - emphasising value and worth) it, even as the Lord the church (A committed love):

[Ephesians 5:30] For we are members (A unifying love) of his body (A complete love), of his flesh (A growing love), and of his bones (A strong love).
         
[Ephesians 5:31] For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother (A love which considers priorities), and shall be joined (A bonding love) unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh (A physical love).
         
[Ephesians 5:32] This is a great mystery (a love we can’t explain): but I speak concerning Christ and the church (A spiritual love).
         
[Ephesians 5:33] Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself (this is in the singular: a faithful love [fidelity]); and the wife see that she reverence (A love of respect) her husband.”

© 2003 Lionel Hartley

The Beatitude of Gratitude

"The beatitude of gratitude is an attitude. Gratitude consists of more than the commonplace, hence gratitude is no platitude. Gratitude seeks all strata of society and thare for is no platitude in servitude. Gratitude is a deliberate act of precision, an exactitude in giving. Gratitude builds relationships to prevent solitude. In summary then, The primary beatitude is an attitude of gratitude which is no platitude in servitude, but an exactitude which prevents solitude."
--Lionel Hartley, The Beatitudes, Philadelphia Publications, 1977

Tarnishing Tarshish

Tarnishing Tarshish

 It is interesting how something ordinary can take on extra-ordinary significance, and yet this extra-ordinary significance can so easily be sullied, making the thing again ordinary (or less than ordinary). In Old Testament times, the ships of Tarshish were regarded as a symbol of beauty, strength and lofty ideals. Even ships going to Tarshish took on this same significance. The name Tarshish became also an epithet for any merchant vessel (as if for, to or from that Mediterranean Sea port - Tarshish ships were even made as far away as Eziongaber or Etsjon-Geber on the Red Sea-- 2 Chronicles 20:36).
Isaiah 2:16 even lists the ships of Tarshish in their symbolic beauty and loftiness along with one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the Cedars of Lebanon.
2 Chronicles 9:21, Jeremiah 10:9, Ezekiel 27:12 and Isaiah 60:9 all refer to the ships of Tarshish bringing gold, and other treasures. Ezekiel 27:25 and 38:13 even go so far as to suggest that praise from the merchants or ships of Tarshish is to be desired.
And yet, despite all this, Jonah, in a singular act of rebellion against God, changed this perception: 'But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD' (Jonah 1:3).
God has given us an earth-full of wonderful gifts, treasures to have and behold, ideals with which to aspire and good news to share. However, in our rebellion we quickly tarnish Tarshish.
The word tarnish comes from the French word 'ternir' from the root 'terne', meaning 'dark' and often refers to oxidation of surfaces due to misuse. Tarnish on many surfaces can be removed by polishing with denatured (methylated) spirit. We all have rebelled and tarnished many of God's glorious gifts. But it is not too late. We can still use God's Spirit to put a shine on these things and move us out of darkness into his marvellous light (1 Peter 2:9).

-- Lionel Hartley, FreEzine Magazine, Issue 33 Vol 4 # 3  March 2003

Tarshish is now Turdetania in south-western Spain

Ezekiel 27:25 (KJV)  The ships of Tarshish did sing of thee in thy market: and thou wast replenished, and made very glorious in the midst of the seas.

Having a handicap

Having a Handicap.
I sit writing this, I reflect on a question that I was asked this very day regarding coping with what he described as 'a handicap'. Here is how I truthfully answered the enquirer. "Many decades ago when I was a child at primary school, I would rather read than participate in sporting activities. However at the school's annual sports carnival, running races were mandatory for all students. My teacher, a Miss Pierre, realised that I would be unlikely to run competitively against my classmates who spent every opportunity at recess and lunchtime to run and play in the school playgrounds while I sat and read books. So Miss Pierre took me to one side and said, 'Lionel, today for your race I am giving you a handicap.''What's that?', I asked.'It's a head start! When I start the race I will tell you to go first and then I will blow the whistle for the rest of the class to start running.'Well, I still came in last in the race, but I have always remembered that to have a handicap is to have a head start."
-- Lionel Hartley (Reprinted from an editorial written 3rd July 2005)