Here it is!! My New Tattoo!!!!

I can’t believe how beautiful it is! As you can see, it’s a cross of nails with an ICHTHUS hung over the crossmember. The characters around the bottom are a reference to Matthew 4:19 in the Bible which says, “‘Come Follow me,’ Jesus said, ‘and I will make you fishers of men.’” The letters in the reference are Greek letters Mu, Alpha, Theta, Theta.

My wife, Kimy, my Mom and Dad (can you believe it?), and a very good, already inked friend, Rod, came along for emotional support.

This is my Dad and Rod making sure my artist does everything right!

My artist is a pretty cool guy. His name is (now get this…) Mikey Vigilanti. Yep, that’s his real name. He was great at explaining all that was going to happen. He is also very, very talented. He took my idea and really captured the image I’ve had running around my head for the last five years or so. I even had the chance to drop the Gospel of Jesus Christ on him. I figured that I was paying for his time and getting a permanent Christian symbol drawn onto my arm, so I started my evangelism technique with him. Please pray that Mikey will muster up the courage to visit us at Willow Community Church this week!

That’s Mikey!

I would highly recommend Splash of Color in East Lansing, Michigan for any of your tattooing needs. The place is very clean and the people are awesome, desperately in need of the Savior, but awesome.

This morning, my Dad and I went fishing. At the dock, a guy about my age struck up a conversation about something that led to a discussion about birthdays. I mentioned that I got a tattoo yesterday with money I got from my last birthday and he asked to see, so I showed him. Think about it!  It had not even been 24 hours after I got inked, I got the opportunity to witness with my new tattoo! I explained what the symbolism meant and he said, “Yeah, I need to get back to church.” I gave him my business card and invited him to Willow!

NEWS FLASH: Superman Returns to old girlfriends, old acquaintances, old villains and old world-ending threats, but not to the good old United States of America!

So, today is June 1st. No big deal, really. It’s just that I am going to be 40 in 12 days. Yeah, I know I look young for my age, but still…

Actually, I’m not sure why it’s so bad to get old. Think about it. Would you really want to be back in high school? I wouldn’t! I felt awkward and my self esteem was pretty much nonexistent. I was somewhat popular, but I seem to remember working really hard at it. I had girlfriends and best friends. I had enemies and bullies. I had a full set of hair and a face full of pimples. I was fat and I was skinny (it’s amazing what Mono can to do a person between 8th grade and 9th grade!). I could sing but only I knew church music. I was musical but played a trumpet. I really liked marching band and became the drum major (but before the rumors could start about my orientation, I started dating the very hot drum majorette!).

What about college age? All my friends went to MSU, Ferris State, Central and Western Michigan Universities and spread their wings and learned about “life”. I went to a private Christian college with all kinds of rules and regulations. I always felt kinda’ weird coming home to stories of wild parties and huge rock concerts when all I could tell were stories of breaking curfew and sneaking a kiss from my girlfriend. I was in my twenties most of those years and did a lot of growing up. I found out that my family (nuclear and extended) were human and had problems of their own. I found out that I am the only person responsible for the choices I made; financial and otherwise. At the time, I really hated that!

I wouldn’t change any thing, but I definitely wouldn’t go back. Oh, sure, there were times I felt at peace and even comfortable, but living up to other peoples expectations and demands always overpowered those feelings. In those formidable years, I was looking for significance in a lot of different and often unhealthy places. I did find the most wonderful person ever to walk the earth besides Jesus Himself at college, so not everything was horrible, but it was hard and awkward.

In my late twenties, I found that even my wife couldn’t give me the value and worth that my soul was crying out for. It wasn’t until I rediscovered Jesus that I began to feel at ease with myself and the people around me. I found that I had always made people the essence of my existence. I placed a very high value on what my family and friends thought about me. I expected my friends to except me for what I did, not for who I was. I expected my teachers to give me everything I needed to make it in this world. I expected my dad to give me the esteem I thought I needed to be a real man.

I have to tell ya’, it was not fair to my family or my friends or to God to hold people responsible for my self-worth. I think I had to grow in my understanding of my relationship with God in order to fully understand who I am. Because I held those people responsible for my life, I felt sad and often angry when they didn’t prop me up the way I thought I needed. But now, breathing down neck of 40 years old, I look to Jesus Christ as my source of value and esteem and even life itself. He is the only person who truly accepts me (acne scars and all) and that produces an incredible sense of peace which in turn produces an incredible amount of joy.

I love what the Apostle Paul wrote: “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and …He gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ ” (Acts 17:24-28).

From the very beginning of Creation, God has wanted His Created to look to Him. I’m not sure that we are able to truly do that the first or fiftieth time we hear that. But as I have grown older, I guess I have grown wiser. Now that I have found my value to God, I live my life for Him. I am also discovering that if I seek His favor, the relationships I once looked for favor in are much more rich and enjoyable, because I accept them for who they are because I am accepted for who I am.

If you attend Willow Community Church, look for this to become a sermon in the very near future. If you are looking for a good church to explore your faith or if you are looking to find peace and contentment, then stop by and check us out this Sunday at 11:00am. If you would like answers to some of life’s questions or if you would like to respond to anything in this blog please don’t be afraid to do so.

I had a little free time last Saturday evening so I did a little research on what other Christians thought about tattoos. I found 70′s hippy turned Christian women’s author, Barbara Curtis, who put tattoos on her body a long time ago. I thought she was very interesting.

When I finished reading a small article, I looked up her “links”. There was one pointing to Anne Rice. I found that odd. So I clicked on the link and discovered that Anne has become a Christian and has written a new book called, “Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt.” This book is obviously fiction, and appears to be written from the perspective of Jesus when he was 6 or 7 years old living in Egypt. The reviews I read mentions that there are several liberties taken with the story since there isn’t anything in the Bible that addresses those years in the Messiah’s life, but that it does not take away from the historical Jesus we read about in the New Testament. I admit that I have not read this book, so I’m repeating what I read from others who have.

OK, now it’s time for a reality check! Anne Rice wrote some of the most popular books in America. She started a whole new fascination with vampires and witches. In Fact, one of her books became a Hollywood blockbuster (Interview with a Vampire, starring Tom Cruise). Now somebody tell me that there is no such thing as the life changing power of Jesus Christ!!! First Mel Gibson and now Anne Rice! Think about, even if you don’t think she should be writing a “fictional” account of Jesus Christ, you have to be impressed that she is turning her talent toward the Risen Savior instead of an undead Lastat.

I was so impressed with her website that I sent her an e-mail telling her so. And get this… She wrote me back! She told me that she is overwhelmed by the outpouring and love from her new Christian family. She said that she has gotten a few negative comments from church leaders and Pastors, but most of the responses are people telling her that they are praying for her growth and understanding. Her website states that Anne will read every e-mail that is sent to her, but that there is no possible way to answer them all. But if you would like to e-mail her anyway (like I did!), check out her website.

OK, awright, here’s the deal… I’m gettin’ a tattoo.

I know, I know… Shocking!

I’m a conservative religious leader.

I know, I know… It’s taboo.

Christians, let alone Pastors, shouldn’t get tattoos.

I know, I know… It’s rebellious.

The Pastors & religious leaders you know have tattoos from before they went into the ministries they currently run. And… they have them in places no one will ever see. And… they would remove them if they could, but…

I know, I know… There are big health issues.

People have gotten nasty infections.

I know, I know… I’m too old.

Correct. People do get old and the artwork starts to look awful.

I know, I know… It isn’t Biblical.

STOP RIGHT THERE!!!

It isn’t Biblical? What does that mean?

The one place in the Bible that says anything about “tattooing” is found in the Old Testament book of Leviticus 19:28; ‘Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the LORD.’ That’s from the NIV. The KJV doesn’t even mention tattoo but it does say, “Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I [am] the LORD.” The word “tattoo” is translated from the Hebrew word nathan meaning to set, give, or put. and the word marks in the Hebrew is qa`aqa`, meaning incision. If you pay close attention to the whole verse, you see that Moses is referring to a pagan practice honoring dead people. Since I am born of Light and choose to honor the living Sacrifice, Jesus Christ, with my whole being, the thought of honoring the dead is ludicrous. Besides, if you look at the entire chapter, you might be surprised to see a lot of other stuff Christians aren’t supposed to do. Things like men not cutting certain parts of their hair and none of us are suppose to wear two (2) types of cloth at the same time. Don’t just take my word for it, look it up in Leviticus 19.

So why are these things mentioned in the Old Testament in the first place? It’s because God wanted the Hebrew children to be separate from all other people on the globe at the time Moses wrote the Law. The rules and regulations were needed to please God and to keep them from falling into pagan practices. In fact, one of the ways that everyone knew who was an Israelite was the lack of any markings on their bodies, the other was circumcision.

Paul mentions in Philippians 3 that the Jews were circumcised in order to be recognized as separated from the world in which they lived. He goes on to say in 3:3, “For it is we (the Believer) who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh…” In other words, Christians do not need to be physically circumcised as a sign of being separated to God from the world. It is by virtue of knowing Jesus as Savior, worshipping in Spirit and in Truth, and not relying on “doing” that separates us from the world in which we live. That is why we don’t have to worry about the letter of the Law as much as we need to adhere to the spirit of the Law. That is why we dress modestly by the standards of our culture and we never even consider not wearing two(2) different types of fabric’s. That is why I don’t ask my barber to avoid cutting the corners of my hair but I keep what I do have neat and presentable. That is why I trim my beard the way I like it (in fact most Christians I know don’t even have beards to trim!?!) That is why I eat meat.

I believe that I may offend some Christians with my tattoo. I’m not sure why. I think some of them may see it as anit-Biblical which is why I wrote the above argument. I think some see it as a form of rebellion. I do understand that at some point in our American history, tattoos represented angry young people with something to prove. I know there are a lot of men and women who identified with motorcycle gangs in the 70′s that got tattoos. But think about this: the World War eras (I & II) saw a lot of young men getting tattooed. I think both of my grandfathers had tattoos. Our family didn’t consider them rebellious at all. But today, tattoos’ are a culturally accepted form of expression. I know, I know, just because culture accepts certain things doesn’t mean Christians should. But in the case of my personal choice to permanently mark my body with a symbol representing my relationship with Jesus Christ is accepted by the culture I’m trying to reach. I truly don’t understand why some Christians believe it is good to wear T-shirts with Christian symbolism and religious messages on them, but then look down on a person who chooses to permanently wear the same symbols.

I would love as much feed back as I can get in order to become more informed with way others feel about this issue!

Check this big guy out! This is Barney, my new best friend! He is a 5 year old Golden Retriever. We heard about him through a friend of Pastor Dave’s. An older couple has retired and would like to travel without a big dog to take of. Apparently, there were a few people who called about taking Barney home, but the owner didn’t feel they met the proper requirements. When I called and told him about the connection with Pastor Dave, he told me to come over and take a look. I called Kim and told her that we have an opportunity to have her dream dog breed for free with a months worth of dog food and she said we could go “just to see him.” We picked up the kids early from school and away we went.

When we arrived, Barney met us at the door. I think it was love at first sight! We all felt an instant connection to each other, but weren’t sure that should take him away from his owner. After a few moments of talking with his owner, we realized that Barney had been this man’s best friend for five years. Kimy and I both felt a little awkward at first because the older gentleman truly loves this dog. Somewhere during our visit, the gentleman began to shed a few tears and then mentioned that he had been waiting for a family like ours to give Barney a good life. That did it! Kimy, Cassie, Bailey and I couldn’t keep our own tears back. We loaded Barney and all his paraphernalia into my car and headed home.

Some of you might know that we already have a little terrier mix dog that we love. You might also know that we have been talking for a while now about giving her to a family with plenty of room and children for Sydney to run and play with. We really do love her, but she needs more room than we can give her. I’ll upload a picture of her soon, but in the mean time, if you or someone you know would be interested hearing more about her being a part of your family, please let me know.

Hey everybody! Sorry it’s been so long since my last post. Things have been a little crazy since my trip to Jamaica. I messed up my back (which really slowed me down for over a week!) and things have been busy at the church getting ready for summer! Check out Pastor Dave’s Blog for an update on what we’ve been up to at Willow Community Church.

Over the next 6 (six) Thursdays, I will be teaching “How To Share Your Faith Without Fear” (not to be confused with the “Share Jesus Without Fear” by Bill Fay). This is a curriculum I wrote for teens way back in 1999, but I have adapted it for use with all ages at the same time. “…Share…” is quite possibly my favorite class to teach.

The class opens with a clip from “Indiana Jones and Last Crusade” (quite possibly my favorite movie!). During the climax of the film, Indy must save his father from a bullet wound. He goes through all kinds of traps and mechanisms that test his courage and his patients in order to get to the one thing that might just save his father’s life. Eventually, though, he overcomes every obstacle because the fear of losing his father out-weighed his fear of losing his own life. Now That’ll Preach!

I have found that most Christians really want to tell people about their experience with Jesus. I have also found that most Christians don’t feel equipped to it. Most people are intimidated to witness to people about their faith for a number of different reasons, but the most common is simply fear. In this class, we are going to take a close look at all the areas that strike fear in the hearts of Christians all over the world. The fear of saying the right thing, the fear of embarrassment and the fear of rejection are just a few of the things we will deal with. We will also learn how to tell our stories in five (5) minutes or less (most non-believers really want to know your story, but not necessarily your entire biography!).

Once we get the essence of our faith story established, we will discuss some of the ways that we can start up conversations with the people we want to see in Heaven. If you are reading this and plan to attend this class, please come prepared write down three names of people you would like to approach about their spiritual state. I also believe that there are numerous clues in each person’s life that invites us to approach a spiritual conversation. Things like the Gold Cross around a young ladies neck behind the counter at Burger King, a crucifix on the dashboard of your neighbor’s car, a T-shirt with an expletive on the front worn by a kid at the park or a pentagram tattooed on the arm of a biker dude at the coffee shop are all invitations to talk about spiritual stuff. Sounds intimidating, doesn’t it? But Christians must be afraid of not sharing what they believe instead of being afraid to share what they believe! Check out the Willow web site to get directions to the church. Hope to see you there!!

Hey, Hey, Hey! Cassie and I are back from our mission trip to Whitehouse, Jamaica. We had an awesome time. Cassie made a few new friends and I got a sunburn! Over all, things went very well.

We went with a team of six people with the anticipation of doing whatever the missionary family needed us to do as far as upkeep and cleaning of the huge children’s home they run. There are 26 children from 18 months to 18 years old. The team really enjoyed getting to know all the children and by the end of our time there, we started remembering most of their names! The home has a few hired staff members and a couple of interns that help with everything from teaching school to serving breakfast to getting everyone ready for church and bed.

<-This is me and my cool little friend, Joshua!

Whitehouse is a small fishing village on the southeast shore of the island. We were able to spend a little time at the docks watching the fishermen prepare for an outing that would last five nights with five to six adult men on quite small row boats with 40 horse outboard motors!

I’ll write more about our adventures in a few days. In the mean time check out the Kingdom Builders Ministries web site!

Here we go! My 13 year old daughter Cassie and I are heading to Westmoreland, Jamaica in about 10 minutes. We are going down to work with an orphanage that needs some interior/exterior repair and we think we will get to lead a VBS and I might even get to preach. We want to thank everybody who has helped us with prayer and finances!! We will update you with pictures and stories as soon as we can. You can still e-mail us throughout this week: cas_E11@yahoo.com and bill@willowcommunity.com