If It's All The Same To You...

On Monday I was able to hang out with two new friends.

The first, John Monk, is a master tattoo artist and a guy I’ve gotten to know over the past few months. He’s been attending Desperation Church with his wife and kids, and has brought numerous friends with him. John stands out in a crowd. He is covered with tats and can be a bit intimidating when you first meet him. I really love this guy, and not only because he’s done well over $1,500 worth of work on my arm for free, but because of his passion for life and for the Lord. John’s past is something that would make a great movie, although to be totally honest, it would be a movie you wouldn’t invite your mother to watch. Whenever I spend time with John Monk I am encouraged and inspired. He has an affect on each person that comes in contact with him that I admire greatly.

I’m not sure if you’ve ever gotten a tattoo, but if you have, you know a few things that the un-tatted just don’t comprehend. First, it hurts! Don’t listen to those who say they fell asleep during the process, or that it “sorta tickled”. That’s bull. It hurts. Second, it’s addicting. Once you start down the road of ink-dom, it’s hard to stop. Third, you get a chance to meet some awesome and extremely interesting people. All kinds of people just stop by and talk with John. I’ve spent hours now in his shop, and during that time I’ve had the privilege of meeting some amazing folks. Each and every one of them are made to feel special and cared for by John, and many of them stop by to talk as if he were a caring bartender… or a friendly priest.

Being a pastor, it is not often that I find myself in an atmosphere where curse words are used in almost every sentence as adjectives, verbs, and even the occasional noun. However, I found it genuinely remarkable that when somebody dropped Jesus’ name “in vain” that they were quickly and lovingly reprimanded by this pierced and colorful artiste.

One time I was praying with John and when we finished, he wiped tears from his eyes and said, “I love how God hears our f***ing prayers, even when we’re such f***-ups.” There was something so authentic and sincere about that statement, as it came out of his mouth I found myself not offended in the slightest, but wholeheartedly agreeing with him. Listen, if you ever need a tattoo then I strongly suggest you stop by Revelation Tattoo and talk with my friend John Monk. He’ll do you right.

The second new friend I got to hang out with on Monday is Cisco Guerra. Cisco is one of John’s friends and like John Monk, he’s a guy that is enormously tatted… and I’m a better man for knowing (that's his picture at the top of this post). As I sat and listened to Cisco’s story, I was blown away. He was a well known and highly esteemed bouncer, bodyguard, professional fighter and hard-core partier. He lived, what he refers to as, a “Rockstar” lifestyle for over a decade. He walked away from all of that in order to pursue a life of greater meaning and significance. Today, Cisco is on a mission to help equip, empower and encourage people on their own quest for a better life. He is a radical Jesus-lover and God-follower and I look forward to hanging with him in the future, as hopefully our stories collide much more often. You can check Cisco out and even order his autobiography, ROCKSTAR, by visiting him at: Cisco

I am learning that God did not make us all the same. He has created some beautiful, talented, and super passionate people that don’t look or act anything like me. It’s the differences in us that adds color, texture, variety, and beauty to the human condition… and to the Body of Christ.

I think it’s not easy to be abnormal in a culture of sameness. Society is not kind to the abnormal, the strange, the different, the broken, and the outcast. But Jesus is. Sophisticated culture doesn’t like outsiders and rejects. But Jesus likes us. Most people wouldn’t choose abnormal people, but Jesus chooses us.

I think that when the world looks at us and says, “Christians don’t look or act like you!” that perhaps we should start responding, “Well, they do now.”