["Pomp and Circumstance"]
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
YouTube, all the pastors here know YouTube keeps deleting our channels.
You know, you build these channels with thousands of subscribers, they delete them.
The idea is if we can just build an email list with thousands of emails,
then it doesn't matter how many times they delete us because we can just send you the controversial,
the band sermons right to your inbox.
And Band But Not Bound is not something that's meant to just promote Verity Baptist Church.
We want to promote all of the pastors, all of the churches that are preaching the truth.
And any videos or documentaries that they have that have not been, that have been banned from YouTube,
we want to try to promote those as well.
So if you've not signed up for Band But Not Bound, you can visit the website bandbutnotbound.com.
There's a place for you to fill out.
Or on your communication card, if you just write your email address there,
we will sign you up and get you connected so you can do that as well.
As of 6 p.m. tonight, we just launched this Band But Not Bound email list about a little bit over a week ago.
And as of 6 p.m. tonight, we had 1,200 subscribers.
So praise the Lord for that.
And if you've not yet subscribed, make sure you do that or do it through your communication card.
And of course, we have soul winning all week long.
Today we had soul winning time at 2 p.m.
We had 80 soul winners show up.
So praise the Lord for that.
We've got soul winning tomorrow as well at 2 p.m.
And we'd love for you to make it to that if you're not going to the teen activity or singles activity or something like that.
And then our main soul winning times on Saturday morning at 930 a.m.
We'd love for you to join us.
Every year we have hundreds, I mean 200, 230 soul winners.
And we'd love for you to join us for our main soul winning time.
So make sure you make plans for that.
Don't just come enjoy the preaching.
Let's go out there and reach people at the gospel as well.
So make sure you make plans to be there.
And then on Sunday night, we've got the men's popcorn preaching,
the men's preaching night on Sunday, July 18th at 6 p.m.
All the men at the conference, if you're here on Sunday, I'll be preaching the morning service.
And the Sunday evening service, you're welcome to sign up.
You need to do that through your communication card.
Let us know that you'd like to preach.
Give us the topic which you will be preaching.
And you must wear a shirt and tie.
You must use the King James Bible of course.
You must stay within your time limit and sign up.
You must sign up.
If you want to preach on Sunday night, you must sign up by Friday night.
So make sure you do that.
We're having Baskin-Robbins ice cream after the Sunday evening service as well.
So we want you to be aware of that for those of you staying through the weekend.
We also want you to take a look at this.
You should have an insert in your bulletin.
And we want to let you know about a rally we're putting on in the spring of next year.
We're calling it the Verity Baptist Church Spring Break Youth Rally.
And this is a rally for teenagers, April 26th through the 27th.
You can register online on our website veritybaptist.com.
If you look at the back there, you'll see the dates.
We're going to have food, games, activities.
And most importantly, we're going to have preaching geared towards the teens.
So we want to encourage you to bring your young people April 26th through 27th.
We'll give you more information as we get closer.
It's open to ages 13 and 19.
Younger siblings are welcome to attend.
Teens 17 years old and under must be accompanied by an adult.
You can register at veritybaptist.com.
Make sure you do that.
And if you look at the back of the bulletin, you'll see our speakers for the conference.
You'll see a layout of the church building.
We've got all sorts of free resources for you in the foyer.
You can go into the foyer and pick out whatever documentaries you want.
DVDs are all back there. They're free.
Pastor Shelley just brought 200 of his Sodomite Deception DVDs.
We've got them back there.
It's banned from YouTube, so I think he's banned from YouTube.
So make sure you grab those over there.
We're, of course, a family integrated church.
We've got mother-baby rooms and daddy rooms throughout the entire building.
All of the rooms have comfortable seating.
They have monitors set up so you can watch the service and listen to it.
So if you have a child that's being distracted during the service
or if you need some privacy, we'd encourage you to use those rooms.
Please help us with the mother-baby rooms.
No unattended children or teens in those rooms before, during, or after the service.
We want to leave those for the mothers with the babies.
And we've got please keep your children.
Help us with the running and rough housing and all those things.
Please turn your cell phones off and place them on silent so that they're not a distraction to anybody.
One last quick announcement.
Before the services, we've got some of our orchestra players playing some live music.
The orchestra is doing a wonderful job playing during the services,
but we've got some orchestra players playing live music about an hour, right?
An hour before the service, they're playing live.
So if you're here early, you can walk up to them and just make a request,
and they'll play that request, all right?
If you're watching online, I think we've got about 150 watching on livestream right now,
you can make a request through the chat live.
But before the services, just walk up to them, think of the hardest, most obscure hymn you can think of,
and no, I'm just kidding, you know, but you can go over there and let them know,
and we'll have a good time with that.
I think that's it for all of the announcements.
So we're going to go ahead and take, you should have an insert in your bulletin,
and we're going to sing the How Great Thou Art.
It's the chorus for the Thursday evening, the Thursday evening song sheet,
How Great Thou Art, and this is a song you've got to sing with some passion, all right?
Oh Lord, my God, sing it out on the first as we prepare to receive the offering tonight.
Oh Lord, my God, when I am on some water, consider all the worlds thy hands have built.
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe this way.
Let it sing my soul, my Savior, God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, how great Thou art,
Let it sing my soul, my Savior, God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, how great Thou art,
Let it sing it out on the second,
When to the world and for a stage I wander,
And hear the birds sing, sing in the streets,
When I look down from the green mountain grandeur,
And hear the birds and feel the gentle breeze,
Let it sing my soul, my Savior, God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, how great Thou art,
Let it sing my soul, my Savior, God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, how great Thou art,
And when I think that God His Son,
Loves bearing, sent Him to die,
I scarce can take it in,
That on the cross my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin,
Let it sing my soul, my Savior, God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, how great Thou art,
Let it sing my soul, my Savior, God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, how great Thou art,
When Christ shall come with sound of aggravation,
And take me home, my joy shall fill my heart,
Then I shall come with humble adoration,
And then proclaim, my God, how great Thou art,
Let it sing my soul, my Savior, God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, how great Thou art,
Let it sing my soul, my Savior, God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, how great Thou art,
If you can believe that.
They aren't happy with the way God made them.
So what do they do?
Well, they begin to make these ungodly modifications to their body
in order to change what God originally created.
They're replying against God.
What are they doing?
Why are you making me this way?
Why did you make me this way?
I'm going to improve upon your creation and your design.
I'm going to change myself into something completely different.
I'm going to just completely modify my body to be something different
because I don't like the way you made me.
That's basically what they're saying.
Nay, but, O man, who art thou that replies against God, though?
Can the thing formed say to him that formed it?
Why hast thou made me thus?
Hath not the potter power over the clay?
Now, there's all types of modifications that people do to their body,
but tonight the specific modifications that I'm going to be preaching about
or preaching against are actually tattoos, piercings, and plastic surgery.
Body mutilations.
Now, let me just make a couple disclaimers before I continue with the sermon here.
Let me just say this, is that I'm not preaching to those who have tattoos.
You got your tattoo before you got saved or even after salvation,
but before you knew what the Bible actually said about it.
Obviously, this sermon is not here to condemn you, to belittle you,
to make you feel like you're inferior to anybody else who doesn't have a tattoo.
I know people who have tattoos, even in our church,
and I'm sure there's plenty of people in here who have tattoos,
who, you know what, they love the Lord, they love the Bible,
they love Godly preaching, they love to go soul winning.
They're Godly people, and having a tattoo cannot impede you from serving God.
Even though you're tatted from head to toe, you got your sleeves,
you got your back done, you got tattoos on your face,
you can still serve God and still do great wonders and great works for him, amen?
So I'm not preaching against you.
And let me just also say this, I'm not preaching against all piercings
because of the fact that we obviously understand that there are some piercings,
according to the word of God, that are appropriate on women.
I'm preaching against the plucks, the ungodly, hedonistic gauges that people place on their ears,
these crazy things that people do,
and I'm not preaching against all types of plastic surgery either
because of the fact that there's obvious instances where plastic surgery is necessary.
For example, if someone receives severe burns to their face and they need skin grafting,
you know, obviously the technology of plastic surgery can help with that
to help that person live just a normal life, all right?
So I'm obviously not preaching against that.
The plastic surgery that I'm preaching against is this vainglorious, narcissistic,
and downright disgusting and unnatural plastic surgery that we see today.
My preaching is intended to educate and to prevent the next generation
from embracing these hedonistic cultural practices by understanding what God's Word says about this, okay?
And the reason this is important today is because of the fact that obviously
the general population out there are for tattoos, there are for piercings, there are for plastic surgery,
but here's the sad thing is today you have Christians, so-called,
who are also participating in tattoos, piercings, and plastic surgery.
So it's not enough that you have the world out there who doesn't have God or without God,
they're strangers from the covenants of promise, they don't know the Bible,
but you have Christians, Bible believers, so-called, who are getting tattoos,
you know, these so-called, you know, these Calvinists who claim to believe the Bible,
these Jeff Derbins of this world, the James Whites who want to get tatted up,
they want to get inked up, and they try to use the Bible to justify what they do.
That's what I'm preaching against.
Go to Leviticus chapter 19 if you would.
Hey, what's a red hot preaching conference without starting in Leviticus, amen?
Got to reference Leviticus somehow at a red hot preaching conference.
Go to Leviticus chapter 19.
Let me start off with the first one, tattoos.
Let's talk about tattoos for a bit.
Now, what is a tattoo?
Well, a tattoo is simply an ink deposition on the skin that is obviously permanent, okay?
Now, where do they come from?
Well, the word tattoo actually comes from the Polynesian language
that simply means to mark or to puncture the skin.
But the practice of tattoos stems back thousands of years.
I mean, we look at it today, we see people today, you know, they have their sleeves done,
they have tattoos on their face, you have these idiotic SoundCloud rappers,
if you've ever heard something like that, tattooing their face to get more attention
so they could get more listeners to their crappy music, you know,
trying to get extreme with their face tattoos.
They're like 17, 18 years old, not realizing that it's going to be there when they're 30 and 40 and 50
if they live that long.
But these things have been around for thousands and thousands of years.
And in fact, you know, they discovered even some ancient Egyptian mummies with tattoos on their body.
One of the oldest mummies that they've discovered about 5,300 years ago
was found in the Italian Alps, and this guy, he had his rib cage tatted,
he had, you know, ear plugs.
I mean, that was popular even back then. Why? Because it's what the heathen does.
It's what satanic people do, okay?
And his name is actually called Otzi the Iceman.
Now, tattoo combs, as they refer to it, were made from human bone,
which could mean that people were permanently marked by tools made from the bones of their own relatives.
Ancient Polynesians used the combs by dipping the tool into a container filled with pigment,
then striking the comb handle with the light mallet to drive the comb points into the skin,
much like tattoo machines today.
So this has been around for many, many years, and, you know, people can look at that and listen to that and say,
well, see, that means it's okay.
If it's been around forever, if, you know, it didn't start today,
people have always done this, Pastor Mejia, people have always got tattoos,
they've always got, you know, art on their body, therefore it's okay.
But here's the thing, murder has been around for thousands of years too.
It doesn't make it okay.
You know, theft has been around for thousands of years, but that doesn't make it okay.
Hey, faggotry has been around for a long time, has it not?
It doesn't make it okay in 2021.
I don't care how old something is.
Satan is old.
It's like, well, you know, he's had a couple thousand years on this earth, so, you know, maybe he's been reformed a little bit.
The length of time that something has been around or something has been popular doesn't make it right.
If God says it's wrong, it's wrong, okay?
Now, what are some of the reasons that people get tattoos?
Well, here's some of the reasons why people get inked, okay?
You know, people often say, well, your body's a canvas, you know?
It's like, whatever happened to just, like, a literal canvas?
A piece of paper and canvas, right?
And, you know, the world can say that, and they can use that to try to justify, you know, I'm an artist,
and I'm going to get my body tattooed because I just want, you know, a toucan sand on my chest,
and I want to, you know, I want my last name on my back just in case I forget it or something like that, you know?
But for Christians, this is not acceptable.
You know, the Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians 6, 19,
What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
For ye are bought with the price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.
So, not valid.
Some would say, well, we do it to honor our loved ones, you know?
I do it to honor my parents.
Oh, yeah, honor your parents by dishonoring your body by putting your name in Old English on your body to honor your parents.
You know, the best way to honor your parents is actually to obey your parents.
Well, you know, my parents aren't around.
Then the best way for you to honor your parents is by living an honorable life.
Because it's a testimony to a world that you were raised right.
Okay?
Some people get tattoos because they just want to be different, which is completely insane.
It's an oxymoron.
Why? Because everyone has tattoos.
So, if everyone has tattoos, everyone's getting sleeved up, everyone has these stupid tattoos on their face, these SoundCloud rappers, you're not different.
You're like everybody else.
You know, if you really want to be different, get saved and serve God.
Why? Because not everyone will get saved and not everyone who even gets saved will even serve God.
The Bible says, but ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people.
That ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
Hey, if you want to be weird, if you want to be peculiar, serve God because that's actually a peculiar thing to do in 2021.
It's a peculiar thing for young people to go soul winning, to preach the Bible, to love God, to honor their parents.
That's actually weird.
To find a young rebellious teenager is not weird. You find those all the time.
To find a young rebellious teenager who's fornicating and tattooing their body and getting plugs and gauges and just completely just destroying their body, that's pretty common actually.
So to say, well I just want to do it to be different, then join the crowd of millions of people who are different like you.
And it's foolish folks. And look, a lot of these people, they don't take into account the fact that tattoos are permanent.
They are permanent folks. I've known people in times past, you know, women who got like a tramp stamp, how many of you have ever heard of a tramp stamp?
That's an appropriate name, is it not?
They put a butterfly on their lower back when they're 16, 17, but here's the thing, when you're 80, you're going to recognize something, that butterfly is going to metamorphosize into a moth.
Right? Well I'm a patriarch so I'm going to get a bald eagle on my back. Yeah, but by the time you're 80 it's going to metamorphosize into like a pterodactyl or something.
I'm going to get names on my back, you know, it's going to be Times New Roman, but by the time you hit 80 it's going to turn into Old English.
Skin gets wrinkly, it begins to sag, it loses its luster, and it just looks ugly. Okay? And you look like an idiot.
Now again, I'm not preaching against those who have done that because of the fact that, you know, if you did it before salvation, you didn't know any better, or even after salvation, but before you knew what the Word of God said, you did it in ignorance.
The reason I'm preaching so hard against it, the reason I'm so disrespectful towards the action itself, is because I'm trying to deter the next generation from making that dumb decision of tatting their body.
Putting tattoos on their lip and on their eyelids, you know, putting tattoos on their legs and on their arms, just completely defiling their body. Okay?
Others say, well, we do it to cover up a flaw. Okay, yeah, let's cover up a flaw with another uglier flaw.
Some say, well, they do it for attention. Well, you know, the Bible says, let nothing be done through strife or vain glory, but in loneliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.
Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others, the Bible says.
Forget calling attention to yourself, why don't you call attention to the Lord Jesus Christ?
Some say, well, I need to boost my confidence. You know, I need to boost my confidence, so having that neck tattoo or my face tattooed, you know, it's gonna boost my confidence, you know.
Well, the Bible says in Proverbs 3, 26, for the Lord shall be thy confidence and shall keep thy foot from being taken.
And let me say this, one of the major reasons why people get tattoos, believe it or not, is because they're addicted to pain.
I know that sounds crazy, but there's masochistic sadists out there who literally will tattoo their body because they enjoy the pain.
You say, that's crazy. Well, look, the Bible says in Ephesians 5, 29, for no man ever yet hated his own flesh, but nourished and cherished it, even as the Lord, the church.
This is how we know that it's satanic, it's demonic, and it's ungodly, okay?
Because they're causing damage to their own body, it's painful, it hurts, it bleeds, you can get infections, you can get scabs.
Later on, it begins to fade, the ink begins to, you know, spread throughout your body. I mean, it's a horrible procedure.
Now, what does the Bible say about this? Look at Leviticus chapter 19, verse 28.
It says here in verse 28, ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you, I am the Lord.
Christians will often stand in judgment of this verse and say, well, you know, it says cuttings for the dead.
Yeah, but here's the thing, it says, or marks on your body.
And the cutting and mark, both the same thing, he's saying don't make cuttings in your flesh for the dead, but also don't just put any marks on you, okay?
Now, why is that? Well, because our bodies represent the temple of the Holy Ghost, do they not?
The Bible says that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Ghost, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own.
Our bodies are the members of Christ, okay?
And the Bible says in Ephesians 5, 27, that he might present it to himself, a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish, okay?
And throughout history, and even in Bible times, the only group of people that would cut themselves were heathens and false prophets.
Heathens and false prophets were the only ones that would cut themselves.
You're in Leviticus 19, go to chapter 20 if you would, I'm going to read to you from 1 Kings 18, 28, when talking about the prophets of Baal,
it says that they cried out loud and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lances till the blood gushed out upon them.
The man, the maniac of Gadara, who's possessed with the devil, the Bible tells us, and always night and day in Matthew chapter 5,
he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying and cutting himself with stones.
So folks, if the only people who were known in the Bible and throughout history who got tattoos were heathens and false prophets,
why would a Christian want to be associated with that?
Why would you want to practice something that is associated with a false prophet?
Something that is associated with a heathen who doesn't know God, yea, sometimes even hates God, okay?
The Bible says in Leviticus 20 verse 23,
Now, I don't believe God can abhor his people, like individuals, Christians, people who are saved,
but you know what the Bible does teach us in the New Testament that you can become an enemy of God?
The Bible says in James chapter 4 verse 4,
Folks, I wouldn't play with tattoos, piercings, or the like because of the fact that it's associated with the world,
and I don't want to be an enemy of God because I'm associated with the world.
The Bible says in Jeremiah 10 verse 2,
Now, tattoos, as I mentioned, are not just popular amongst the general population,
but now you have Christians getting inked up, okay?
And you know, sometimes people just do it out of ignorance.
And I'll give you an example of this, okay?
When I first got saved, before I got saved, I was going to get my entire chest, back, arms tattooed.
I was.
Because it was just popular, okay?
And I already had it planned out, what I was going to get, all these tattoos,
and after I got saved, my pastor started preaching on it, like right after.
As soon as I got saved, he was just kind of hitting on it, and he was talking about tattoos and stuff,
and I was like, what? Saving up all this money?
I got all these plans?
But then I had an idea.
Ah, Christian tattoos!
Scriptures!
So you know, I'm scouring through the Bible, and I found this verse in Psalm 120 verse 7,
and I thought to myself, this is the one.
I'm going to get this right across my chest.
I was literally going to do it.
And what did it say? What did Psalm 120 verse 7 say?
I am for peace, but when I speak, they are for war.
Talk about prophetic.
And I was just like, you know, I'm going to get that right here.
I'm saved now, so I'm going to get Son of God across my stomach.
I'm going to get some sort of prophetic image on my back.
You know, I'm probably going to put KJV somewhere too.
And I literally was going to do that.
But after he preached that, I went up to him and I said, hey,
I heard you talking about tattoos.
You know, you say they're bad, but you know, I was planning to get some tattoos,
but they're Christian tattoos.
They're King James only tattoos.
They're independent fundamental Baptist tattoos, though.
I was like, is it right to do that?
And he's like, he said, let me just be honest with you.
I think tattoos are pretty cool.
That's what he told me. He's just being honest.
He goes, but they're not right.
The Bible's against them.
No matter if they're Christian or, you know, if you have Bible verses on it,
it's wrong to do. It's wrong to do. You should not do it.
And I didn't do it for that reason.
You know, people will try to justify, you know, getting tattoos
because, you know, they got scriptures on their body or praying hands, right?
They put praying hands. Well, folks, why don't you just pray?
That's a novel thought.
Instead of putting praying hands, you know, to try to show the world how much you pray,
why don't you actually pray?
You know, biblical images on their body, and in fact, we looked up,
I was looking up some website on just Christians who advocate for tattoos
and they're for tattoos and all these things,
and they gave some reasons why it's a good idea to have a tattoo as a Christian.
And I read this and I was like, is this the Babylon bee?
This is crazy.
I'm like, is this real?
They said 10 ways your tattoo can be a testimony.
Reason number one, because you can put Bible verses on there.
Reason number two, you can put Greek and Hebrew words, Pastor Anderson.
They even gave some examples. Shalom.
Logos.
Lulos.
These may all sound like words from a first semester New Testament class at a Bible college,
but the truth is these words in Hebrew and Greek languages of the Old and New Testament
have impacted the lives of theologians, seekers, and Christians throughout the centuries.
Oh yeah, so why don't you just get a tattoo on your back?
Here's another good reason, because it can be a testimony.
Man, that guy's so godly.
He has Jesus with long hair on his back.
Hey, it could be a conversation starter.
I mean, forget soul winning.
Hey, forget going to a person and saying,
I'm Pastor Bruce Mejia, or I'm Bruce Mejia. I'm from First Works Baptist Church.
Just want to give you this invitation. Do you go to church anywhere?
No, no, no, no, no. That's too ancient.
You're old.
What you should do is get First Works Baptist Church tatted on your face.
People will look at you and say, hey, that was pretty stupid, but what church do you go to?
Conversation starters.
Crosses, you can put crosses on there.
There's color symbolism.
There are holy reminders.
It's a bit harder to disobey a verse like Ephesians 4.22
if you have it permanently stamped on your skin.
They said, but if we bind these words on our hands and heart in a more literal sense,
we will have a harder time ignoring the truth.
You think anybody has Leviticus 19.28 tatted on them?
In fact, people, listen to this, this just floored me.
He says, in fact, people in the New Testament, because they're trying to encourage you to say, hey, this is a good idea.
They're going to give you some examples of people who did something similar.
He says, in fact, people in the New Testament often took the words of Deuteronomy 11.18 to the heart.
They would literally, by means of phylacteries,
strap words of scripture to their foreheads and arms.
Who's that referring to? The Pharisees?
So they say, hey, we have people in the New Testament who would, they had phylacteries,
they would put scriptures on their forehead and on their arms.
You're giving a horrible example.
They're using Pharisees as an example, as a way to justify getting tattoos.
And you know what? People like the Calvinists, people like Jeff Durban, people like James White,
people like, you know, this is Reform theologian type people who advocate for tattoos.
That's what they are, a bunch of modern day Pharisees.
Only difference is, instead of putting a box on their forehead and putting, you know, the Torah on their forehead,
they just had it on there.
They put a tattoo on their body instead of putting it in their heart.
Kicking it back to the Old Testament, they said.
When arguing against Christians getting tattoos, believers can often cite Leviticus 19.28,
which seems to indicate that God doesn't want his people to cut their body in any way, piercings, etc., and get tattoos.
One, of course, must consider the cultural contextual clues for this rule.
Several of the Old Testament laws just apply to the cultural context, as do some of the New Testament.
Yeah, you know, because God was basically trying to get them to be different from the people who were getting tattoos back then.
There's no one like that today.
I don't know about you, but as I write this article, I have a braid in my hair, 1 Timothy 2.9, and my ears pierced.
But the existence of Christian tattoos can also serve as a reminder that the Old Covenant in the Old Testament,
the one that required the Israelites to follow laws such as avoiding tattoos, has passed away thanks to God's work on the cross and through his resurrection.
Yeah, Jesus died on the cross. He resurrected so you can get yourself a tattoo.
He died on the cross, resurrected so you can just cut your body and mark it up and just desecrate your physical body.
That's why he died on the cross for us.
It is he. Stupid.
Go to 2 Corinthians chapter number 3 if you would.
2 Corinthians chapter number 3.
And that's exactly what people do. You know, instead of getting John 3.16 tatted on your back, why don't you go preach John 3.16?
Instead of getting Romans 3.23, instead of getting Romans 3.10, Romans chapter 10, tatted on you as a scripture, I got a better idea.
Why don't you memorize that scripture, put it into your heart, and preach it.
That's actually more honorable than placing that too upon your body.
But that's exactly what these people are. They're a bunch of Pharisaical, self-righteous, holier-than-thou people to think that because they have some sort of biblical scripture tatted on them, that that makes them godly.
Folks, they're as godly as the Pharisees were godly.
They're as righteous as the Pharisees were righteous in the Bible.
Let me show you the only ink deposition you should get.
There's only one type of tattoo that you should get, folks.
2 Corinthians chapter 3 verse number 1 says,
Do we begin again to commend ourselves, or need we as some other epistles of commendation to you, or letters of commendation from you?
Ye are our epistles, written in our hearts, known and read of all men.
He says, look, converts, believers, they're the epistles.
Now, I guarantee you that he's not referring to the fact that he went from church to church as a tattoo artist, inking the people, the seven churches which are in Asia.
He says, I'm getting you saved, you're a testimony, you are a written epistle, known and read of all men.
Look what it says in verse 3,
For as much as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ, ministered by us,
Look what it says, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, not in tables of stone, but in fleshly tables of the heart.
Hey, salvation will mark you, amen?
Living a godly life will mark you.
Someoneing will mark you.
Why would I want to be different from all these other Christians than be an independent fundamental Baptist?
Why would I still want to be different than be a new independent fundamental Baptist?
If you really want to be different, if you really want to make an impact and have some shock value to the world around you, be a Baptist.
Be a child of God, get saved, start preaching the word of God.
Just believe what the Bible says and you'll be marked.
Just believe what the Bible says about the Sodomites and you will be marked.
Hey, from a spiritual perspective, Pastor Jonathan Shelley is pretty tatted up right now.
I heard you got some artwork done this last week. Someone threw a brick through your church building, right?
There's all kinds of people out there who are marking him.
He doesn't need a tattoo to tell people, hey, I believe in what the Bible says about the Sodomites.
He doesn't need Romans 1 on his chest.
He doesn't need 2 Peter 2 written on his chest. Why? Because we all know.
He's a written epistle known and read of all men.
All his artwork are his sermons.
If you really want to see his artwork and what God is doing in his life, he doesn't need to tattoo the whole book of Deuteronomy upon his back.
Just go listen to his preaching. You'll know what he believes.
If you really want to be different than this world, the answer is not get some permanent ink on your body to be different.
The answer is this. Get the Word of God in your heart. Preach the Bible. Work out the Bible. Serve God and you will be marked.
Serve God and you will be peculiar. You want to make a shocking impression upon this world? Just believe the Bible.
Let me read to you from Galatians chapter number 6. Go to Galatians chapter 6, actually.
This is how we can be different, folks.
We don't need to get piercings or tattoos or get all this body modifications to capture the attention of the world.
All we have to do is preach Christ and him crucified, preach the entire counsel of God, and I promise you, you will be marked by the haters of God but also by sincere people.
Sincere people who are seeking the truth will look at you and say, you know what? I want to get inked up, too.
I want to get inked up by the Spirit of God. I want the Spirit of God to ink up my heart with the Word of God.
I want to be recognized by this world as being a servant and an ambassador for Christ.
It doesn't happen when you get tattooed. It doesn't happen by getting a tramp stamp, ladies.
It doesn't happen by getting some bald eagle and showing how patriotic you are and of an American you are.
It happens when you actually serve God. Let me show you what the Bible says here in Galatians chapter 6 verse 15.
Let's look at the Apostle Paul's tattoos.
It says in verse 15, For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.
And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.
From henceforth let no man trouble me. Look what it says. For I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.
He's not talking about tattoos, folks. He's not talking about the marks that we see in Leviticus 19, 28.
What is he talking about? He's talking about the marks that he received because of the persecution that he's getting.
Because he was beat for believing the Bible. He was beat because he preached replacement theology.
These were the marks that he bore in his own body, folks.
Look, hey, instead of you beating up your own body and cutting your flesh and marking your body, just live a godly life and have other people do it for you.
Hey, we bear at First Works Baptist Church the marks of a bombing.
Right? You know, people, we have to move. I have to move from where I live because I'm too recognized where I'm at.
And not in a good way. We had a soul winning marathon in a surrounding city and this is after the bombing.
And I'm out there preaching the gospel and I was with brother David, he's around here somewhere.
And we're there and I'm just kind of waiting for him to finish up. I'm with my wife and all my kids, my pregnant wife at the time.
She's pregnant at the time and some guys, they walk up and you know what I mean? I'm just saying I'm in soul winning mode.
I'm not in anti-reperbate mode at that time. I'm just thinking people are just getting saved. It was a very fruitful day.
And these guys walk up and I'm just like, hey, I want to give you this invite to our church.
They take the invite and they kind of just surround me and my family and I'm just like, oh man, these guys are going to get saved.
And they're like, I'm like, hey, you know, I'm Pastor Bruce Mejia and they're like, what's your name?
I'm like, Pastor Bruce Mejia. And he looked at the invite and he said, what are you preaching?
I'm like, the gospel. I seriously was just as ignorant as David. It didn't even cross my mind.
And he's like, no, no, no, but what are you preaching? I'm like, the gospel. We're just talking about salvation.
I'm thinking to myself, do you want to get saved? I seem pretty interested, you know?
And he looked at me and he said, what do you believe about gay people?
And at that point I knew, oh, here comes another tattoo. Here comes some more ink.
He's like, what do you believe about gay people? And I looked at him and I said, you know what I believe about gay people.
And he says, you can't preach hate here. And I said, I can preach wherever I want.
I was like, and you're too late because I'm already done.
He says, you can't be in our hood. And I was like, well, I got 60 soul owners out here, so even if I leave, there's 60 more out there you got to get.
I was like, you got a problem if they go call the police. I was like, we're not doing anything illegal.
They literally started surrounding my family and I with my kids. Look folks, gangsters won't even do that.
Gangsters will never go to an opposing gang member and confront them with their family. They actually get a pass. It's called a pass.
You know, if it's an opposing gang and they see them in public, and if they're with their wife or their children, they'll give them a pass and just say, you know, we're not going to mess with you because you're with your family.
But here's the thing, sodomites have no boundaries.
So what I did, I just grabbed my family and I put them behind me and I'm like, this guy's about to punch me in the mouth because he was kind of square enough to punch me in the mouth.
And then, you know, David, he's like, he was still preaching the gospel and I'm just like, you know, I don't want them to see that he's preaching the gospel because they didn't see him.
I'm like, well, I'm done here, so see you later. I was like, come on guys, let's go. And we just left and we left David there.
It's about time for him to get tattooed.
These are the marks.
You know, during our protests at the beginning of the year, you know, we got our whole body tatted during that time.
It was getting crazy there.
You know how it's like right now. They're getting crazy.
I mean, it got to a point, you know, where they're literally getting physical with us.
I'm out there, they're shoving me from behind even though there's police there.
You know, obviously the church got blown up.
And I remember during the first protest, the wildest day there, you know, my mom's here tonight and my mom, she's 76 years old, okay.
And she was there and she was just like, I need to go because I need to see what this is all about.
And my brother who's in Florida is like, you need to go support Bruce.
You know, just be there and just see what's going on.
And I remember we're about to leave because they're like, as I'm preaching, they're like, bring Bruce out! Bring Bruce out!
As I'm preaching Genesis 19, by the way, I kid you not, literally as I'm preaching Genesis 19, they're saying bring him out.
I'm like, we're freaking living the Bible here.
So we're about to go out because we're playing, we're like, all right, we're about to go out, you know.
And they're like hoarding the entire church because there's like no buffering zone there.
And my mom, if you met my mom, my mom was very quiet, she's a very chill type of a person.
And she walks up to me, she goes, right before we head out, she says, in Spanish, she says this, she goes,
hey, when we go out, if they rush you, I'll just leap on them.
And she said, I'm 76 years old, I already lived a long life, I'm ready to go.
And I'm like, man, that's such a good idea, like, why didn't I think of that, mom?
Just with the straightest face ever, she's like, I'll just leap on them, she's all, I'm 76, I've already lived a long life, I'm ready to go.
And I was just like, okay, what am I gonna say?
Hey, physical tattoos hurt, sort of the spiritual ones, though.
They hurt momentarily.
And it was frightful for a little bit, you know, even after the dust settled, they were still camping outside of my house.
They stole my van, were caught on camera stealing my van, and when I went to go preach for Pastor Anderson at his church, I didn't know about this,
my neighbor came to me after we came back for about like a week's trip, and he said, hey, the people who stole your van were camping outside of your house,
in front of your house, even after they stole your van.
Like the same guy and the same dyke who were there, they were in front of your house, and I'm like, they seem to be waiting for him to come home.
And I'm over here preaching Pastor Anderson's church, we're just like having fun, eating, I don't even know anything about this.
I come home and he tells me, hey, just wanna let you know, these people seem to have been waiting for you to come home.
So what is that, those are the marks.
You say, well, you know, how does that feel?
Well, you know, it's kinda hard to go to sleep at night sometimes, wondering what's gonna happen.
Well, aren't you, don't you know you're saved?
Yeah, I know I'm saved, but I got a family, though.
I got a wife and kids, I like to keep serving God for decades on end.
I like to preach at the next Red Hot Preaching Conference, amen?
So it's almost as if you're at the brink of death and you wonder, man, is tonight the night,
where I get my final tattoo?
It's painful sometimes, but you know what, the spiritual tattoo, the spiritual markings that you get,
actually help you to shine brighter sometimes.
And I remember having a conversation with Pastor Anderson, and you know what, you know, Pastor Anderson, I was very transparent with him,
and I told him how I felt, and he told me, he said, you know what,
preaching the gospel to hundreds of thousands of people comes with a price.
I say, amen.
He said, weren't you able to preach the gospel to thousands of people?
I said, yeah, because sometimes it comes with a price.
Hey, these people wanna pay a literal price to get their entire body tattooed,
so they can get recognized.
You know, a greater price to pay is to serve God, take up your cross daily, deny yourself,
in order for you to have the opportunity to win people to Christ.
And there's tons of people who have gotten saved since then.
Tons of people have gotten saved since then.
On social media, people are like, hey, I heard about the bombing, I just wanna say I support you,
people have gotten saved, they reached out to me, they got saved, I was able to preach the gospel to them,
they got saved, they got baptized, they got plugged in.
We had new families in our church who were reinforced during that time.
Who literally, they were new to the church, and you know, they came and they're like, what's going on?
I'm like, well, I just wanna let you know, our church is in warfare right now.
So if you decide to just stay home for the next couple weeks, no hard feelings,
I'm just letting you know, you know, it's warfare right now.
And they came to me a week afterward and literally said, you know what,
I've never been to a church like this.
And they weren't Baptists, they just heard about us through the vaccine material,
and they literally said, I've never been to a church like this,
and this church has made Christianity real to me.
They're like, we stand with you.
These are the marks that produce the rewards.
Not these inked up marks of skulls and bones and words and just inking up your body.
Hey, I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Bible tells us in Psalm 37, you say, well, what kind of spiritual mark should I get?
Because in Psalm 37, 37, mark the perfect man and behold the upright for the end of that man is peace.
Hey, you want some good ideas from some artwork? Right here.
He's got some good artwork on him. Right over there.
He's got some, the pastor of this church got some good artwork on that.
Has some good marks.
Say, well, what should I do to serve God?
You got guys who are tatted from head to toe.
Here at this church, not literally, or maybe literally actually,
spiritually they're marked up.
Just because they've been serving God.
Ladies, instead of getting marked up with butterflies and flowers and, I don't know what else they get.
Ponies and unicorns and, the Bible says in 1 Timothy 2, 9,
Like men are also the women adoring themselves in modest apparel,
with shamefacedness and sobriety, not with broided hair or gold or pearls or costly array,
but which becometh women professing godliness with good works.
You see, it's easy to get a physical tattoo.
That's actually easy.
It's actually hard to do the works.
It actually takes effort to do the works to be marked.
The Bible says in Jude 22, and if some have compassion making a difference,
others saved with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.
Hey, if the godly person hates the garment spotted by the flesh,
how much more of the flesh is spotted by the flesh?
So tattoos are wicked folks.
And don't get them, alright?
Number 2, piercings, plugs, gauges.
I'm not going to spend too much time on this,
but just know this is that the history of piercings, and I'm not talking about the piercings on the earlobe,
obviously there are certain piercings in the Bible that would be appropriate for women.
I don't think they're ever appropriate for men though.
Okay, nowhere in the Bible does it say that.
But here's the thing, if you were to study the history of these plugs,
how many of you know what I'm talking about, the plugs?
Where they stretch out the earlobe, they look like heathens, right?
Well that's exactly where they get it from.
Ancient Egyptian, Tutankhamun was popularly known for this.
You have Mayans and Incas and Aztecs, ancient Egyptians,
who practiced this thing of getting plugs.
The Mercy women used plates upon their lips and on their face in order to stretch their bodies.
And the ear stretching in the Americas was actually a sign of status and connection with the gods.
Ear stretching was also featured prominently in one of the most sophisticated civilizations of old,
dating back 3,000 years, BC with the Mayans.
They used ceramic, gold, jade, and alabaster to stretch their earlobes,
with the jewelry of choice being ear flares and ear spools.
So basically, a lot of the times they did this in order to connect with spirits,
in order to connect with demonic, basically have demonic activity in their life.
Well that's not what I'm doing it for, but yeah, that's where it finds its origins.
So the Bible says, have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.
Why would we want to practice something that finds its origins in satanic rituals?
Now, turn with me if you would to, go to 1 Corinthians chapter 3.
1 Corinthians chapter number 3.
Let me just talk about plastic surgery for a minute, okay?
I spend a lot of time on tattoos, but I want to talk about plastic surgery.
Body mutilations.
In different parts of the world, you have people who impose plastic surgery upon others for gain.
For example, they call them the rat children of Pakistan,
where they practice microcephaly in order to cause them to be beggars on the street so they can get money for that.
They impose that upon children in order for people to have compassion upon them and give them money.
So they practice this form of microcephaly to disform the body in order to create empathy and people will give to them.
But here in the United States, people just do it to themselves.
Now, although plastic surgery like nose jobs and all these things are really popular in the United States,
these practices are actually very old.
Sushruta is considered the father of plastic surgery.
He lived in India sometime between 1800 B.C.
And he is notably famous for nasal reconstruction.
They had nasal reconstruction even back then.
You're like, what? There's people back then who were discontent with their nose?
Yeah, there's nothing new under the sun.
The sins that people struggle with today are the same sins that people struggled with back then.
There's inventors of evil things today just as there are inventors of evil things back then.
According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, almost 18 million people underwent surgical and minimally invasive cosmetic procedures in the United States in 2018.
This means, or this total means that there were almost a quarter of a million more procedures in 2018 than in 2017.
And according to the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, the United States claims the highest total number of plastic surgery procedures in the world.
So the most plastic surgery procedures done in this world is in America.
So if America is so prosperous, if everyone is so happy, if it's so successful, why is everyone just hating on their own body?
I'll tell you why, because they're vain, they're narcissistic, and they can't get off of social media and the selfie generation that's causing them to be discontent with the way that they look.
Topping the list as the number one popular cosmetic surgery procedure in the U.S. is breast augmentation.
And according to the ASPS, there were 30,378 procedures performed in the U.S. in 2017 and 3% increase from 2016.
Listen to this, around 55% of facial plastic surgeons report seeing patients who are seeking operations to look better in selfies.
They're examining their selfies like, I can do better. I can do better.
The angle's not enough. Getting the angle from here, hey Photoshop is not enough.
They're like, let's just fix my face permanently with plastic surgery in order to take a better selfie. What a novel thought.
In 2017, Americans spent more than $6.5 billion on cosmetic surgery from breast augmentation to eyelid surgery.
There's something called Snapchat dysmorphia. Do you guys know what Snapchat is?
I don't have Snapchat, but it's basically one of those apps, like an Instagram type thing.
And there's something called Snapchat dysmorphia. A new phenomenon of Snapchat dysmorphia has patients seeking out cosmetic surgery, listen to this, to look like filtered versions of themselves instead.
So you know, they're on Snapchat and they put the little ear freckles and the bunny ears or whatever and they make their eyes a little bigger, the nose a little smaller.
And they're like, this is way better than my real self.
So they go to the plastic surgeon and say, look, do you have my Snapchat?
And you know what the plastic surgeon says, say no more.
Filtered versions of themselves instead with fuller lips, bigger eyes, and a thinner nose.
They write, this is an alarming trend because those filtered selfies often present an unattainable look. Yeah, it's fake!
And are blurring the lines of reality and fantasy for these patients.
Some, like public relations executive Carla Barbosa, are proudly embracing the concept.
She recently broadcast her treatment of a gold microinfusion facial, a procedure that uses small needles to reduce the size of pores and with the intention of making the skin look airbrushed.
What in the world?
To her more than 31,000 followers.
Now let me just say one of the most disgusting forms of this, okay?
A British born white influencer has had 18 plastic surgery procedures to look like a member of K-pop.
And now identifies as Korean.
First of all, who the hell would want to look like a K-pop faggot?
Oh that's right, another faggot!
This guy got 18 plastic surgery procedures and now he says he's Korean.
You're like, well does he at least look Korean? The guy looks like a freak!
He just looks swollen!
He looks disgusting!
And he literally identifies as Korean.
Folks, this world is crazy!
It's gone out of their minds!
And I guarantee you there's plenty of people out there saying, hey!
Oh you know what, this didn't start with this guy though, it started with Michael Jackson.
They said America's the only place where a young black kid can become an old rich white man.
That's what they said.
But there's so many things that can go wrong with this folks.
Hematoma is a pocket of blood that resembles a large painful bruise that occurs in 1% of breast augmentation procedures.
Seroma is a condition that occurs with serum or sterile body fluids, pools beneath the surface of skin resulting in swelling and sometimes pain.
And look, some people die from these things.
I personally know someone who was a Christian, they're saved, they were an independent fundamental Baptist who got one of these procedures done.
She got one of these procedures done, she was an outpatient, she came home and died.
She wasn't feeling well, something was wrong and then she ended up dying that same day.
And here's the thing, she actually, from what I've heard, she basically was not going to do it.
She was like, you know this is a bad idea, I shouldn't do this, I'm not going to do it.
But then her friend said, no you should do it, it's time for a change.
Alright, so she was peer pressured into doing it and she died.
There's guys who literally get calves implants.
Calve implants, six pack implants.
Because they're dissatisfied with their belly, what's wrong with the belly?
The soul of the diligent shall be made fat, amen.
Folks, but they'll literally get six pack, six pack implants.
Calve implants, they're so dissatisfied because their legs look like twigs.
They're like, forget working out and just building up muscle in my calves, I'm just going to get implants instead.
It's crazy folks.
You're in 1 Corinthians chapter 3, let me read to you from 1 Peter 1.
And look, one of the most common results of this is not just the death, it's not just the blood clots, it's actually ugliness.
People are actually just butt ugly.
They actually look worse after the plastic surgery.
You know, the plastic surgery is like, they look like they fell into a beehive.
Right? Lips are swollen, face is swollen.
I mean there's literally a guy who got so much plastic surgery because he wanted to be a Ken doll.
He wanted to look like a Ken doll, you could look him up.
The Ken doll plastic surgery guy.
And he literally looks like a Ken doll, but the guy looks like a freak.
He's butt ugly.
He's scary.
It doesn't look human.
The Bible says in 1 Peter 1.14, as obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lust and your ignorance.
But as he which hath called you is holy, so be holy in all manner of conversation.
You know what, obviously the world out there, they can partake in that, but God forbid some Christian would ever get plastic surgery just because they're discontent with the way they look.
What does the Bible say? 1 Corinthians 3.16, know ye not that ye are of the temple of God, and that the spirit of God dwelleth in you?
If any man defile the temple, him shall God destroy.
For the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.
And that's exactly what happened to the person that I knew.
I believe God destroyed that person because they defiled the temple.
Go to 1 Corinthians 15 and I'm going to finish right here.
So many people discontent with the way they look, with the way they are, become so vainglorious, so narcissistic.
But here's the thing, what they don't realize is that when you get saved, you know you're not always going to be that way.
One day everything's going to change.
Because God gives us a resurrected body.
Look at 1 Corinthians 15 verse 38, instead of looking for the body that you want, look at verse 38.
But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body.
All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds.
Also celestial bodies embodies terrestrial, but the glory of the celestial is one, the glory of the terrestrial is another.
There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, another glory of the stars, for one star differth from another star in glory.
So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption.
It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory.
It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power.
It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.
There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body, folks.
Forget trying to modify your body.
And obviously I'm not talking about improving your body with the data and information that's already there.
There's something wrong with exercising, eating right, and all those things.
I'm talking about tattoos, piercings, and plastic surgery.
Instead of trying to modify your body to make it look different to what it is now,
why don't you focus on serving God, and you know what?
You're actually getting yourself some actual spiritual surgery for the future.
Because some people are going to shine brighter than others.
And it's not because their lip is so fat from all the Botox.
It's because they won souls to Christ.
It's because they stood for the truth.
It's because they served their husbands.
It's because they loved their wives as Christ loved the church.
It's because they raised their children in the nurture and the admonition of the Lord.
It's because they served in their local New Testament church.
It's because they love the Bible.
It's because they preach the Bible.
It's because they serve God.
And when they die, when the second coming of Christ takes place, and they get resurrected, they'll get that new body.
But here's the thing. It's a body as it has pleased Him.
Not you and your vain, narcissistic desires.
No, this is a body that pleases God that's without sin.
Without blemish. Without those flaws.
What's the sermon tonight?
The sermon is simply this.
Learn not the way of the heathen.
Don't do after the manner of the heathen.
Everything that the heathen does, they learn from Satan, which is basically a cheap knockoff of what God does.
Instead of getting a tattoo, get marked up by serving God.
Instead of getting pierced with some plugs, plug yourself in in a local New Testament church.
Instead of getting plastic surgery, why don't you just win souls to Christ so you can get yourself a better resurrection?
That's what needs to be done. Amen?
Spire heads and I have a word of prayer.
Father, we thank you so much for your word.
Thank you for the relevance of the Bible and how it can hit on every single subject and topic that we're faced with in this world.
It has everything that pertains to life and godliness.
And I pray, Lord, that if there's anyone out there that maybe was considering getting a tattoo or a plug or modifying their body in any way,
that they would repent of that.
They would get right with God and recognize the true modification is the modification of the heart.
They need to transform their heart. They need to transform their mind.
They need a renewing of the mind is what they need.
They don't need to modify their body. They need to modify their attitude towards the things of God, towards the Bible.
And I pray, Lord, that you'd help us to do so as your people, to not be fashioned and formed according to the things of this world.
Help us to be holy as you are holy.
Thank you so much, and we thank you. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.
Let's turn to song 215.
Song number 215.
Heaven came down 215. Let's sing it out on the first.
Oh, what a wonderful, wonderful day, a day I will never forget.
After I've wandered in darkness away, Jesus, my Savior, I beg.
Oh, what a trend with compassion and faith.
Came at the feet of my Lord, shadows distilling with joy, telling me that I will come to see God.
Heaven came down and only filled my soul.
When at the cross, the Savior prayed me, Lord, my sins were washed away.
When my life was served today, heaven came down and only filled my soul.
Lord of the Spirit, who bled from above into God's name became mine.
Trust in God, building new boundaries of hope, understanding his might.
And the transaction so quickly was made, when as the Savior I prayed,
Tell me of your grace in poverty, say he your praise is your name.
Heaven came down and only filled my soul.
When at the cross, the Savior prayed me, Lord, my sins were washed away.
When my life was served today, heaven came down and only filled my soul.
Now I will hope that he'll surely endure after the passing of time.
I have a future in heaven for sure, there in those nations sublime.
And it's because of that wonderful day, when at the cross I believe.
Grace is eternal and glass is the pearl of God's gracious hand I receive.
Heaven came down and only filled my soul.
When at the cross, the Savior prayed me, Lord, my sins were washed away.
When my life was served today, heaven came down and only filled my soul.
Heaven came down and only filled my soul.
Good singing. Turn to song 211.
2-1-1.
211 on the first.
I am happy today and the sun shines bright, the clouds have been blown away.
Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light, what so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
All my arms have been raised, oh, his holy grace, his glory has filled my soul.
I've been lifted up ever since that day, this one that made me whole.
Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light, what so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
All my arms have been raised, oh, his glory has filled my soul.
I was lost in sin from the world that night, but now I am set free.
Oh, so ever should we meet again, should we meet again, oh, should we meet again.
Oh, so ever should we meet again, oh, should we meet again.
Thank you so much.
All right, we have, all right, we have, do you want to help me with that?
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost,
buried in the likeness of the Dutch, praise the Lord.
I'll just use the pulpit mic, thank you.
All right, thank you very much for being here tonight.
Let me just give you some real quick announcements.
First of all, we appreciate you coming.
It is, I don't know what time it is, I think it's like 7.30 or something like that around there.
I don't have my phone.
But it's early, we started early, because we want to try to get you out of here early,
so hopefully you can get some dinner, you can fellowship.
Part of coming to our conference is the great preaching, amen.
But of course also just being able to fellowship and all of that as well.
A couple of things, tomorrow morning we begin at 9 a.m.
9 a.m., make sure you are here, and I don't know how they do it at your church,
but we start on time around here, all right?
So 9 a.m. is when the service begins, and we've got Pastor Joe Jones and Pastor Jonathan Shelley
that are both preaching in the morning, you're not going to want to miss it.
And we just want to remind you that for tomorrow night,
well let me just give you some stats real quick if you don't mind.
We had 472 in church tonight, so praise the Lord for that.
And we had a high of 274 watching on the live stream.
We had 80 soul winners this afternoon, so all of those are good numbers there.
Tomorrow night what we're going to do,
we had about 100 people sitting in our fellowship hall in overflow,
and we had all our staff families, which is like 35 people,
sitting in overflow in our smaller break room over here.
What we want to do tomorrow night is we want to try to get as many of the people
in the fellowship hall as possible in the service.
So some of our church people have volunteered to be there,
and we appreciate them, that's okay.
But anybody who came from out of town,
we want to try to get them out of the fellowship hall overflow if possible.
So here's what we'd like to do tomorrow if you can help us with this.
We're going to have the kids, if your parents are comfortable with it,
we're going to have the kids sit up here at the platform.
We've done that in previous years.
We're going to have them sit at these steps here,
and then hopefully we can open up some seats with having all the kids sit up here,
and we'll try to get as many people into the service as possible.
Tomorrow night Pastor Steven Anderson will be preaching for us,
so praise the Lord for that, you're not going to want to miss that.
So if you can help us with that, if you've got some kids,
and you feel comfortable with them sitting up here,
we'll try that tomorrow night.
Also don't forget, if you want to be part of the ping pong tournament,
but you're not on a team, maybe you didn't make it on your church's team or whatever,
we've got some open slots, there are wildcards,
and you've got to sign up in the foyer tonight.
Sign up in the foyer tonight, because tomorrow morning they're going to draw the names,
and they're going to choose those wildcards, so make sure you do that.
Thank you very much for being here tonight,
if there's anything we can do for you please let us know,
and don't forget, tomorrow morning 9am,
when you get here we're going to have the orchestra playing some live music,
you can walk up to them, tell them your favorite hymn,
and they'll play it for you about an hour before the service,
so make sure you do that, we appreciate you being here,
let's end the service with a word of prayer,
and let's bow our heads together.
Heavenly Father, thank you Lord for the great evening you've given us tonight,
thank you for the great sermon from Pastor Mejia,
and Lord thank you for the men that are represented here tonight,
the men of God that have truly been marked by the works that they've done Lord,
and we're thankful for them, thank you for these people that would come out to a conference like this,
and we pray that you would bless the evening,
help everybody to have a good time of fellowship,
and help us tomorrow morning to be able to have some great preaching,
and a good time, in Jesus' name we pray,
Amen, God bless you, you're dismissed.