Tattoos
 

The man in the pic has been arrested on child molestation charges. That is bad enough.

But now take a close look at his tattoos.
http://www.southbendtribune.com/news...,2393321.story

Re: Tattoos
 

Are you thinking there is a correlation?

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I don't get it... I see the cut here on his neck, but cannot really make out the rest.

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No correlation except that this would be one scary dude to children.

But maybe I am the only one who wonders why a person would mark up their face and tattoo a "cut here" and a dotted line across his throat? Somebody might think that to be an invitation?

Sigh....maybe I am too sheltered?

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oh ya, he has absolutely no issues.:lol

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LOL byrd.

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Ah, I would totally agree with this. Unless he's wanting to make it easy for the coroner!?

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So...I also have to wonder how a person like this can be reached for God?

God loves him like he loves the rest of us. What would it take for a saint in that area to go to the jail cell to visit him specifically and tell him about Jesus?

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Well here is a question... could it be at all possible that he is indeed "unreachable"? The Bible talks about God turning over people to their sins, hardening their hearts, and causing them to become reprobates. I'm not saying that we should assume that he is so demonically possessed that he is absolutely unreachable BUT when I saw the tattoos my first thought was of the man in colorado who thought he was the joker and ended up killing numerous people in a movie theater with no remorse. These clearly possessed individuals... is there help for them? Or has God already turned them over to their sin causing them to do absolutely outrageous things that even this corrupt and immoral society we currently live in can find troubling? I don't know.

You reach people with the gospel.

"And of some have compassion, making a difference: And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh." Jude 1:22-23


You either use compassion or you use fear. If God has already turned them over to their sin there is no fear or reverence of God in them, and it has been my experience that some people have no fear of God, and some people do not respond to compassion at all and have no compassion. In order for you to shoot randomly into a crowd of people you have no fear of God (obviously) and no compassion for humanity. There are people who simply are void of any human emotion... so far gone that I just honestly believe there is no helping them. God has already made his decision in their regards. Not saying that's THIS man's issue... but it's something to think about.

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My only issue with your position is that you seem to imply that "possessed" people are unreachable. This is not backed by scripture, in fact, Jesus reached more than one "possessed" person, and left them "clothed, and in their right mind".

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That is not what I meant to imply. I understand that there is deliverance from possession, poor choice of words. My point was to ask whether or not someone can be turned over to their sin by God totally.

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Ah, so you're referring to a reprobate mind........in which case, I would have to venture an opinion that "yes" someone could reach a point where they can't be reached..........

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I find that many people in the church system are afraid of people they think may be "possessed". Many consider depressed people of being demonically oppressed. You would be surprised at the number of Christians who will actually shy away from folks with depression.

I've actually had someone tell me the other week that they thought that depression was caused by a spirit. They never thought that there might be a physical cause...that a body can lack certain vitamins, minerals and enzymes essential for proper brain focus and activity.

While this man may or may not be suffering from depression, it is evident that something has and is happening with his thought process. The tattoo on his throat, the child molestation charges...are all symptoms of something gone wrong in his life.

Could he, at some point of time in his life met Christ and turned away from Him? Or has he never met Christ at all? It is possible that one can live in this country with a church on every corner and never meet Christ. Or was he molested himself as a child which caused this bizarre desire to have these type of tattoo markings on his body? Severe mental illness can cause people to desire to mutilate themselves.

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I think depression is a spirit;
that may be exacerbated, or even initiated by physical causes.
Many Christians, prolly most, die a "sin unto death;"
while it sounds horrid and contemptible, it is quite common,
I think, and just an aspect of a walk to consider.
I don't think it means one is lost, necessarily.
Great men of Scripture died the sin unto death.

And in my experience, it doesn't need severe mental illness
to self-immolate; that is pretty common too, I guess?

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So do you believe that the person who is depressed is possessed by the spirit?

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I personally don't.

As you said, depression can be caused by a chemical imbalance, but it can also be caused by feelings of dissatisfaction, hopelessness, unrest, etc.....and I believe people can talk themselve into, or out of depression.....been there, done that.

Many people are in situations that are mentally stressful, and rather than dwelling on it, and getting further and further into that pit, they change their circumstances. Others just give into the hopelessness.

Now, that's not to say that the depression caused by a chemical imbalance can be explained away so easily, sometimes medication is the quickest remedy for a chemical imbalance. Not the BEST remedy, but the quickest.

In many cases, proper diet, exercise, sunshine, etc can help restore the body's chemical levels.

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Depression? I've always heard reference to spiritual oppression as well. In your view are these the same or different? Yes there is however a difference between oppression/depression and possession.

Possession is somewhat rare and is very extreme actually. Most people that wrestle with demons are generally oppressed/depressed. Now when it comes down to the people who are randomly eating people's faces, murding innocent random people wit no remorse just because, and serial murderers and killers, there's no doubt in my mind we're dealing with possession at best, reprobate at worst and more then likely a reprobate. These "zombie" attacks that have been going on coupled with all the weird random shootings and more weird tattoos going around to me is a sign that paganism, satanism, and witchcraft are on the rise in America at an alarming rate.

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Do you always answer your own questions? :heeheehee

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I agree and would like to add rest and relaxation to that list. Many times, for a woman, this is almost impossible if she has a demanding job, home, children, husband and church activities. She has no time to rest when everybody is demanding her attention.




I agree that there is a difference between oppression/depression/possession. The trouble is that there are so many Christians...spirit-filled Christians who do not know the difference between somebody suffering from depression and oppression. A friendly face, lending an ear or kind words and prayer helps someone who is depressed. It brings hope to the suffering person.

As for oppression...I think every child of God experiences that from time to time and should expect it.

To tell a depressed person that they are demonically possessed without attempting to help them is ...just cruel.

Possession is an entirely different animal.

So...are you saying that these people cannot be spiritually helped at all?

I do agree that there are people who advertise their beliefs through the tattoos, but...I've seen people saved after they tattooed all their arms and backs up. It is hard...and much more costly to remove tattoos once in the skin.

Yet, at the same time, I've seen professing Christians get tattoos.

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I don't have a tattoo. Too old for that. :heeheehee

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Hmm, I think that's prolly too simple. I think depression is pretty clearly a sign that something is wrong with a person, but that it can originate from more than one thing. Poor diet I liken to witchcraft (strange, I know). I think this might cover many/most depressions, but I note that many people get "depressed" for purely temporal reasons--can't get something they covet, etc.

What one does about a depression might indicate how "possessed"
they are by it; surely common is the one who prefers depression,
for the attention it garners, etc., but I think the more I learn the less I know here. I am convinced that depression is self-inflicted, although that is
prolly little help. We live in a stressful world, and it can be easy to assume
that one "needs" to do certain things, or have certain things, when this is not true.

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I try not too.:happydance

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I'm not particularly talking about tattoos. I'm talking about people who commit random acts of grotesque violence with no remorse or other acts such as child rape, etc and seem not to have what we'd usually call human emotion.

The tattoos themselves don't always mean that that is the case. I only made reference to reprobates because of your question how we reach people like the person in the photo. I just brought up the fact that some people may not be able to be reached. Not saying he's one of him, just saying that some people can't be reached and tattoos like that to me suggest there's something spiritual going on. He doesn't look all the way there, I don't see certain things as "cries for help" like many do... sometimes people express themselves in strange ways yes, but sometimes Demons also express themselves through the outward appearance of a man they are tormenting. He's got a mark on himself, that's what it looks like, it looks like he's marked for death. Could be reading to much into it, but it's Satan, I can't put nothing past him.

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Interesting point of view byrd. Care to expound?

I don't consider that to be "depression". More akin to Moping? Sulking? Brooding? Tantrum maybe? Children do that. Some adults never grow up.

:nah
The only attention depression ever garnered for me is shunning, disdain and misunderstanding from the church society. I think they were afraid that the "depression spirit" would jump on them. I'm like... huh? There is no church love in these parts for people who develop depression...except maybe for their own family and close friends.

I agree except for the part of it being self-inflicting.

I never cared one whit of keeping up with the Joneses materialistically. Not having many material things is really a blessing for me. It makes me very thankful to the Lord that He gives me what I do have.

There are many reasons for depression. One lady I knew never understood why she was depressed until she started having memories of her father forcibly dragging her out from under the bed she was hiding and hanging on the bedposts. Once he drug her out, he gave (sold) her to men for the night. She was about 10-years-old.

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Oh ok. Thanks for the clarification. In regards to demons expressing themselves through the outward appearance...do you believe that a person can actually change facial appearance and vocal expressions when they manifest?

I've never seen anything like that...nor would I want to...but I've read about it.

And yes, this guy definitely seems to have issues by tatooing the "cut here" on his throat....almost like a death wish wouldn't you say?

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We make this; cause it to manifest.
http://i.imgur.com/DW7Z1.jpg

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Literally witchdoctoring of your food supply, provided by the largest private enterprise in the world. Private=less public.

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Any normal person will get depressed if
eating from the center aisles of Safeway,
and CAFO meat, and some couch time.
you'll be deficient in like 20 things.

They are mostly all known, and just
determining to discover which might obtain
for you ends up being at least a journey
in a positive direction.

I generally suspect inactivity plays a role,
as exertion naturally releases endorphins,
and you cannot. be depressed. on endorphins.
Go take a walk.

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I agree with this.

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You see...I've already learned all of this while recovering from depression several years past. Had to learn it the hard way, and it's been a long time since I've been depressed. I have other physical issues now due to the pharmacopeia that was prescribed to me. Which is why I now am an advocate for natural remedies unless somebody is in crisis.

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I've seen it. Can't say I ever want to see it again, but it happens. People have reported human beings almost completely morphing into what looks like animal form. I remember hearing a sermon where the preacher said he went to a home of a demonically possessed woman and her face almost looked cat-like with cat eyes and everything. I haven't seen anything that extreme, however I have seen people's skin tone change color, and demonically possessed individuals doing weird unhuman movements like being able to bend their body completely in half and making animal noises.

Self-mutilation is definitely biblical. Most biblical accounts of demonic possession record self-mutilation as a sign of possession. Remember the boy in Mark 9 who kept trying to kill himself in scripture? That's why I said I'm not sure if it's a "death wish" or a "death sentence". It could mean the man wants to die, or a demon wants everyone to know that he's planning on taking that man out. Either way, it's not good.

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Yup...a bit more about depression,
which will prolly be about as popular as "self-inflicted,"
but sort of verifies this.
There might be more than one cause,
but the Spirit can guide one in any of them; I think for a believer
any chronic depression is usually/often a sign of avoidance
of their next lesson. The Holy Spirit can verify this, just ask;
but again, don't flinch at the answer;
or don't be surprised that you are depressed.

It can be easy to flinch at a vision that seems
undoable, too foreign to ones MO; and so no step
is taken, when even just little steps in that particular
direction will produce overcoming.

I've noticed that the progression seems to be
Asking the Spirit,
Getting a vision,
Becoming afraid, usually of some
minor or even imaginary aspect of the change required,
and then Overcoming...or not.

Also, it is of course easy to spend years,
even a lifetime, "neglecting" to ask the Spirit
why one might be depressed, preferring, of course,
to supply some temporal answer for oneself.

Re: Tattoos
 

Surely most often self-esteem issues;
literally, more comfortable with death/possession
due to lack of affirmations offered to one when they were needed.
Ref "Cutter Christians."
(note strange overtones of
self-immolation in the meaning of "Megiddo,"
http://concordances.org/hebrew/4023b.htm
at "gadad," the root).