Betty Freauf -- Body piercing and church doctrine

BODY PIERCING AND CHURCH DOCTRINE

By Betty Freauf

March 12, 2007

NewsWithViews.com

I began drafting this article back in December when I read an article on body piercing and then it got sidetracked but when I went to the grocery store recently, I saw a beautiful, blond young lady in her 20s with the usual hip-hugging jeans and a top which failed to meet the jeans thereby exposing the middle section of her body to an audience of shoppers who were chuckling at the upper portion of her visually exposed thong tattoo and I was reminded to get busy once again on this article.

Some readers may not find this to be an interesting topic. Frankly, under normal circumstances I wouldn�t give it the time of day either; however, on December 2, 2006 in our Statesman Journal newspaper on the front page was a story by Timothy Alex Akimoff entitled �Long-lasting scars of the chosen variety.� It begins by saying Andre� Donaldson doesn�t flinch as the scalpel pierces his skin and draws a thick droplet of blood that hangs at the raw opening. He doesn�t flinch, move a muscle or register any emotion when the glinting edge of the steel scalpel is pushed deep into his skin and deftly turns the surgeon�s knife over the letter C stenciled on his leg. A bloody outline shows up crimson against the white of Donaldson�s leg. Like a yogi in a trance, Donaldson sits with his hands resting on his hips and his eyes closed. A curved hook piercing hangs from below his lip like a silver goatee, and a black nose ring extends from the septum of his nose. He feels no pain.� This is not self-expression as some may claim; it is rebellion against God.

This is called Scarification and transcends other forms of body modification by a mile. Letters to the editor were critical of this article that says it involves cutting, branding, searing or otherwise marking skin so that a scar will develop over a chosen outline or pattern. They call it body �art� and claim it is making a comeback in the general population after languishing for centuries as a significant cultural practice between remote tribal and first-nations people in places such as Africa, the South Pacific and Asia. You may read more about this bizarre procedure on bmezine.com

The article, which lacked newsworthiness, brought an outcry from subscribers. One suggested it was free advertising for Mr. Donaldson�s employer. I was a bit taken back when I noticed Timothy Akimoff�s name on the article and I assume he was given this assignment. Timothy�s dad is with Youth With a Mission (YWAM), a Christian ministry to youth from around the world with a teaching facility in Salem, Oregon. A call to his parent�s to confirm this was their son was not returned. Timothy and his wife are listed in a 2001 church directory where his folks and YWAM�s 1997 Good News publisher and family are also listed. This monthly publication said its editor, Mary Owens, held bachelor�s degrees in psychology and journalism and was teaching communication seminars and writing articles as a missionary/journalist with YWAM.

We all start out in life with the old sinful nature and neither education nor voodoo psychology, which is replacing the Word of God, can provide any answers. Today�s pastors and so-called Christian colleges promoting these psychobabbling programs all need a desert experience to get their heads put on straight. Jeremiah 2:8 says the pastors also transgressed against me. God puts the responsibility on the spiritual leaders. The problems in our country can be directly attributed to the church. No nation falls until it falls spiritually.

About four months ago, the disgraced Rev. Ted Haggard, former pastor and president of the National Association of Evangelicals, was exposed due to his sexual contact with men. The Denver Post reported after intensive counseling he is convinced he is �completely heterosexual.� This can be extremely troubling to the pro-homosexual crowd who claim homosexuals are born that way. His close friends and overseers have urged Haggard to enter a 12-step program for sexual addiction - more psychobabble. Mega-church pastors Tommy Barnett and Jack Hayford, and H.B. London, who runs a Focus on the Family ministry to pastors, are in charge of Haggard�s restoration and now both Haggard and his wife, Gayle, intend to pursue master�s degrees in psychology through online courses. �Many of us that go into the healing, helping professions do so out of some sort of dysfunction or traumatic event in our lives, and we want to do what we can to help other people avoid what we�ve gone through,� said London. It was also psychologist James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, who recently encouraged former GOP House Speaker Newt Gingrich and FOX political analyst to go public with his adultery and marriages (in case he decides to run for President.)

Revelation 13:16-17 and Leviticus 19:28 forbids cuttings in our flesh�nor printing of any marks upon us so this is simply more �end times� preparing us to accept the prophetic 666 mark written about in Revelation and for a local newspaper to so boldly display this unregulated, voluntary, practice on the front page of its newspaper is absolutely despicable. There was not one word in the article about the dangers involved with scarification that requires intense care to produce the vivid keloid scars that rise from the surface of the skin to produce a design. �It�s not something you just leave alone to heal,� said Amy Abbott, a nurse who works at Addictions Tattoo and Piercing Shop in Salem, �You have to intentionally irritate it to make the scar more apparent.� Sinful addictions require greater and greater �thrill seeking� experiences oftentimes resulting in death. [Read]

The February 2006 newsletter by David Meyer tells about America becoming a melting pot of Christian Witchcraft and indicates that gradually churches are being transformed into de facto covens of occultism and witchcraft. It�s not a �frontal� attack but a �subtle� attack.

Meyer tells about a device that is now being used by the electronic Beast system, the interface chip that is inserted into the hand and activates a user�s computer without the use of passwords. The RFID chip, which is inserted under the skin of the hand, connects the personal computer with the personal user. It is meeting with great acceptance, says the article. Meyer says, �The Greek word translated �mark� in the Bible is charagma, which means �to cut or plow a furrow�� and that sounds like scarification to me. �The tattoo craze that has swept our nation has certainly paved the way for the quick and easy step of receiving the electronic mark of the Beast. It seems as though Satan is laboring mightily now in all quarters to condition mankind so that when his false �Christ� gives the order, the whole world will willingly and enthusiastically volunteer to receive the mark.�

A source has told me that a couple who own a tattoo business in Salem, Oregon and have tattoos all over their bodies got �saved� and �baptized� (immersion) in the church that Akimoff attends. This couple has children in its Christian school with Akimoff�s. When some older women from the church asked them what they were going to do with their �worldly� tattoos and their �worldly� tattoo business now that they were Christians, the owners said, �We�re going to win souls.� Is that like a bar owner winning souls in his tavern or a madam in her brothel or the drummer in a nightclub on Saturdays nights performing on Sunday mornings in the rock band in church? Ask a non-believer how Christians should act for the answer. This �dedicated� new Christian couple later signed up to host a Rick Warren �Purpose Driven Life� cell group. [Read]

Obviously these folks have never read Leviticus 19:28 and because most apostate preachers today for church growth purposes give sermons that itch the ears of the congregation and they no longer preach the WHOLE word from the Bible, many, if not most, Christians are unable to endure sound doctrine. Pew warmers are being deceived and anyone who might try to expose this are labeled �trouble makers� and encouraged to leave.

Rick Warren in his book PURPOSE DRIVEN LIFE says on page 149, �In every church and in every small group, there is always at least one �difficult� person � usually more than one. These people may have special emotional needs, deep insecurities, irritating mannerisms, or poor social skills. You might call them EGR people �Extra Grace Required.� God put these people in our midst for both their benefit and ours. They are an opportunity for growth and a test of fellowship.�

But then like he switches Bibles, he switches gears on page 165 when he says, �Paul warned about �cannibal Christians� who �devour one another� and destroy the fellowship. The Bible says these kind of troublemakers should be avoided.� Of course, this intimidating statement tells people they dare not challenge the false preaching of their pastor � God�s anointed! [Read]

But should we be surprised these barbaric practices such as sadomasochism have surfaced? Are we returning to paganism that the Christian faith attempted to defeat in America? The one thing I have discovered is that most people generally do not recognize the difference between a �religion� and Christianity � a relationship with Christ Jesus and so society has become increasingly comfortable with cosmetic surgery, tattoos and body piercings. Galatians 5:9 says, �A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump� and without the cross, the blood and the resurrection, which most New Age Bibles are conveniently eliminating, there is no Christianity.

As America continues to become more and more depraved, like God allowed Satan to tempt Job, He also is allowing Satan to tempt us to see what collective stands we will take as a nation, which has, for starters, given the church of Satan tax exempt status. But unlike Job, so far America is flunking the test and the cults are in the wings waiting to fill the vacuum and the new revised Bibles are being changed to accommodate the New Age United religions.

The average age of cult members is 31, college-educated and seem to be the most gullible and vulnerable � those who have turned their back on genuine Christianity. �Love-bombing� is the practice of overwhelming potential recruits into a cult with a show of warm fellowship, concern and affection. The basic fault of cults is they demote God, devalue Christ, deify man, deny sin and denigrate scripture. Should laws be passed to try to protect people from these cults? No! God gave people a brain, common sense, discernment and choice and He protects the mentally challenged.

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The National Educator in September 1995 gave President Bill Clinton�s then Attorney General Janet Reno�s definition of a cultist: One who has a strong belief in the Bible and the Second Coming of Christ; who frequently attends Bible studies; who has a high level of financial giving to a Christian cause; who home schools their children; who has accumulated survival foods and has a strong belief in the Second Amendment; and who distrusts big government and then in March 1998 the TV news showed her singing �Amazing Grace� at a Jonesboro, Ark. memorial service of the teacher and four students who were fatally shot. �We cannot lose faith in human good, even in the face of evil and injustice,� she said and �the teacher and the four dear innocent children of God have touched the spirit of this nation and lifted us up even as we grieve them.� This seemed like contradiction from Reno who gave the word to burn to death 17 little children at the Branch Davidian in Waco, Texas, but, of course, David Koresh and his followers met some of the criteria as described above of a cult so the massacre was apparently justified.

Now, what does all this �cult� and psychobabble talk have to do with piercing our bodies? It is simply one more example that the end of America as we know it is at hand.

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Betty is a former Oregon Republican party activist having served as state party secretary, county chairman, 5th congressional vice chairman and then elected chairman, and a precinct worker for many years but Betty gave up on the two-party system in 2004 and joined the Constitutional Party.

Betty is a researcher specializing in education, a freelance journalist and a regular contributor to www.NewsWithViews.com

E-Mail: bettyboot@wvi.com

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