“Rejoice not over me, O my enemy; when I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me”Micah 7:8

Bibles, tattoos and faith

One Sunday in church the Gideon representatives visited ( The people who place Bibles in hotel room drawers) and our pastor not only gave them service time but allowed them to preach the sermon. They related that they had visited a town that was not a safe area. They had placed Bibles in all the hotels and by the hour motels and were frankly glad to be done and get out of there. It was dark and wet night when two shadowy figures in bandannas and leather vests stood in their path and said “hold on”. The Gideon’s explained they stood there silently staring at each other. Two men in suits and two large bikers with tattoos everywhere but their necks and faces. (Mind you at the time in the late 80’s early 90’s being tattooed in such a manner was a sign that you were at best not a “contributor to society) They were polar opposites, like good vs. evil and they thought they were about to have the eternal showdown then and there. The men broke the silence and said “come on the boss wants to see you”. The Gideons’ said they prayed in their heads and followed. They followed into a bar with bars on the windows, a low ceiling being brought even lower by a false ceiling of cigarette smoke. The place smelled of stale beer, was dimly light with 4 folding tables that had been carved in to so many times a glass would struggle to stand up straight. The furniture was mismatched and the brightest thing in the bar was the pool table. The patrons were as scary as the guys they followed. As they passed the pool table the could see an even larger guy smoking a cigar at a large booth in the corner. The Gideon’s hoped that was not the “boss”. As they passed the pool table they were surprised to see an intricate Christ on the cross was drawn on the table in tattoo style. In the drawing Christ’s eyes were not down but looked to the heavens. The Gideons were struck still by the drawing just staring at the table while more tattooed men with pool sticks in hand looked at them threateningly. The moment broke when the man from the booth bellowed rasp-fully “There they are, come on over here”

This man had eyes like a wolf waiting to devour, tattoos on his face and his chest displaying imagery of a certain hate group. He said “sit” and they did. He growled “I’ve been waiting for you”. The man’s voice was sand paper on theirs ears. The Gideon’s feared to say anything, tense could not explain their situation. “Waiting……? For us…..? What do you need us for? We’re nobody’s just Gideons’ placing Bibles”. The man replied “I don’t need you I want your Bibles”. This took the Gideons’ back and they thought things were going to get painfully tense. One of them moved to wipe his hair from his eyes, the big man saw the Gideon’s hand quiver. The large serious man burst out in a deafening laughter that frightened the men more. “He said “Guy’s, calm down nothing is going to happen to you here! You are with Gods people! I have 8 rooms up stairs and I have been waiting for your group to come through and place bibles.” The Gideons’ felt so relieved, so light as the fear induced adrenaline washed over them. They could hardly pay attention when the gorilla of a man introduced himself as “Big Pete” and said “Hey Joe come over here show em our colors!”, Joe came over and turned around and showed them on the back of his jacket there was the same crucifix that was on the pool table and in the circle around it, it read “Enlightened MCC” on the back of his jacket. The Gideons’ took some time to recover but now when they looked around the room and they saw faces marked by life’s indifference that cared and were glad to see them. They spent the rest of the time there placing Bibles, listening to testimonies, laughing and praying with the men. Hearing the story of how the group had converted to Christ and how they worked with the community now to try to make things better and bring more to God.

I admit I am not the best writer. I love run on sentences and don’t realize I make them when I edit. I love to use the word “really” in front of a descriptor that all ready is apt. My favorite though is thinking a comma can fix any thing.

With that being said. The blog hit 100 visitors this week. Which seems like nothing. But to me it is a prayer answered. I prayed to be of service to the Lord and spread the word as I admittedly have failed my friends face to face.

Just as in the story above I have learned many times in my life that the Lord can be found in the strangest of places and that he works in mysterious ways!

This blog was me stepping out in faith as the Gideons’ did and the lord has answered.

I was shocked to see so many views given that I have not used my personal network so none of the views are people I know. May God Bless those who read this and please share.