Wednesday, July 16, 2008
A cornucopia of tattoos.
As you know, right now we are currently engaged in a God tattoo contest. I thought it might be cool to see some of the entries that people have sent in. Since a tattoo is way more personal than submitting a bulletin board doodle like in our last contest, I have kept them anonymous for now. When our panel of judges choose the top ten designs, I will post them with background info and open up voting. (Since there will probably be more than 100 entries, I'm not able to catalog each tattoo's story and get the daily posts done at the same time.) If the tattoo is yours, please feel free to post a comment about what inspired you. For now, just enjoy and if you want to enter the contest, email me a photo at theacuffs@yahoo.com of your God inspired tattoo by Sunday, July 20th. Or sub-dermal design. As you will see below.
Looking at closeup pictures of tattoos is kind of gross. That said, there are some pretty sweet ones here. My favorite so far: Yes Lord.
ReplyDeletei really don't mean to offend anyone by saying this...but subdermal tattoos make me want to puke. i can't even stand to see people who have veins that protrude abnormally from the skin. it looks like a tumor or like an alien ready to break through the skin...just like in the movie alien (or spaceballs...haha).
ReplyDeleteSome of the stories/explanations of these would be pretty interesting!
ReplyDeletei'd like to know the translations for the hebrew and latin words! otherwise, all very cool. tats hurt and it takes of thought to come up with something you want inked onto your skin forever (unless you do it in a drunken stupor, but these don't look like the result of drunken stupors :P).
ReplyDeletetattoos: they're fine, in fact, I want one someday. and make my husband get a matching one haha.
ReplyDeletehowever, there's someone who has embedded themselves with a cross, it's not so much the cross but the inserting-something-solid-under-your-skin-thing that i can't get over!!
IT'S BUMPY.
OUCH! that subdermal tattoo looks PAINFUL!
ReplyDeleteMaybe I'm slow, but could we have some explanation/translation for some of these?
ReplyDeleteThe subdermal cross ROCKS!
ReplyDeleteI would declare that one the winner, although judging by the comments seems like people are pretty grossed out by it.
I agree about the subdermal one....OUCH!!!!
ReplyDeleteThe cross with "CHIP" on it is my older brother's with my younger brother's name. Chip died six years ago. It's just of "in memory of" tat but he was a Christian and there's a cross...so I entered it (I don't have any myself).
yes, people please share your stories...
ReplyDeletesubdermal...please don't be thrown by peoples reactions, please share...I must admit I went "whoa", but then I cried.
I often say that God calls me to befriend the tattooed, pierced and disenfranchised…you’ve added a whole new level. Thank you!
The first Hebrew one (second down on the left) is the word "sheret" which means to minister or to serve God. For the other one, I would have to whip out my dictionaries, but I'm not at home right now, alas.
ReplyDeleteOh, and "Desiderio Domini" means "I long to be with God." But Google told me that!
ReplyDeleteDEVIL MARKS!!!....haha..j/k...Those are cool but I'm gonna have to agree with Karin about the subdermals.
ReplyDeleteI got a tattoo for this contest, now I also have hepatitis C. Thanks a lot Stuff Christians Like! Now I need to go to a faith healer but since I don't love you because of your indirect cause of me getting hepatitis I probably won't get healed.
ReplyDeleteDang it!!
Hey! The “Yes Lord” tattoo is mine!
ReplyDeleteA friend of mine submitted it while I was out of town (thanks Shawna).
So here’s the story behind the tat…
I had been thinking of getting a tattoo for a while, but I didn’t want to get just anything. I went to a Passion conference in the Dallas/Ft.Worth area in February and that’s where I got the idea for the tattoo.
I comes from Isaiah 26:8 “Yes, Lord, walking in the way of your laws, we wait for you; your name and renown are the desire of our hearts.”
The whole verse is great, but the thing that stuck out to me during the conference is when Louie Giglio started reading the verse and just stopped after the first two words, “Yes, Lord”.
He said that if we could really live those two words it would change everything. That hit me hard, and I wanted a reminder that in my life my answer should always be, “Yes Lord”.
Anyway, that’s why I got it. I designed it myself, which isn’t saying a lot because it is really simple.
Also, amusingly enough my pastor has mentioned my tattoo from the pulpit in two different sermons, which is funny for a Baptist church... I think so at least.
There is actually a man in our church that also got “Yes Lord” tattooed on his wrist after he heard about mine. We joke about starting a club.
Sorry this is a long comment, but I thought I should give some background info.
There are some pretty sweet tattoos here. I really like the “Desiderio Domini” one.
Fun times!
the one with the crown, heart, and hands has nothing to di with christianity. it's claddagh, which is the equivalent of a promise ring in ireland
ReplyDeleteThe "desiderio domini" one is my friend's. Unfortunately I can't remember exactly what it means or I'd tell you
ReplyDeleteand there is no talk of leviticus 19:28!! hallelujah ....
ReplyDelete(i just sent my pic in)
Desiderio Domini is my friend's tattoo and she told me it means "I dearly long to be with my Lord". So the person who said "I want to be with God is right...but this way sounds a little more poetic *wink* hee hee
ReplyDeleteWho's got the Shawreth tattoo? Do we have another brother who reads SCL?
ReplyDeleteThe "Yes Lord" tattoo is my friend Meagan's! She is the youth intern from our church. She's right about our pastor...he actually said that "IF" he ever got a tattoo it would say "Yes Lord"!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm voting for Meagan's to win!!!
Can anyone tell me if you can put a tattoo over a birth mark? I have a 3x3 inch purple birth mark on my right shoulder blade.
ReplyDeleteI was sooo grossed out.
ReplyDeleteSorry but that was not even impressive. Especially the "bumpy one."EEWWWWWW!
I guess IF I had to pick one fav wise it would be "yes Lord."
Then the next one they can get should say "we will ride.".
I love the Yes Lord one! I want to know about the burning house with the rock in the chiminy and I did not know it was considered a tattoo to put something under your skin so I prolly will not vote for that one even though it may hurt more than any and or all of my tats put together. THANKS JON! I have been waiting!
ReplyDeletei need to submit my tattoo, if it doesnt win it'll certainly make people laugh...
ReplyDeletewhat i love about the subdermal one, as much as it looks weird, is the symbolic meaning of the cross and Christ being under the persons skin, its part of him on the inside, and it creates an image on the outside visble to all... or maybe im reading too much into it...
To think that you can be weirded out by the common human emotions of the willow tree figurines, but choose that subderm tat is baffling! Ewww!
ReplyDeleteOther than that, these are cool. Can't wait to see more.
I'll explain mine. Mine is the circular hebrew.
ReplyDeleteIt's 2 Corinthians 12:9 translated into Hebrew. "My grace is sufficient, it's all you need."
Patrick
Mine is the 6th on in the post.
ReplyDeleteThe red symbol is cuneiform for "liberty/freedom" (so it's the first known written form of the word, since cuneiform is the world's first known written language, circa 3000 b.c. --- think code of Hammurabi) I came across this while teaching history before I journeyed into full time ministry and never forgot it. I've always had a burning for justice & freedom and when I came into God's heart for the same, I fully committed my life in service.
The interlinking design is known as the triquetta, or "trinity rose" symbolic of the Trinity
All that being said, my tattoo means "freedom in Christ, freedom in God's plan, freedom from religion, freedom to be who God made me"
Fitting from this rebel at heart:)
Mike
ReplyDeleteyour tattoo has to be the dumbest thing I have ever seen. If you weren't my college pastor, i would go to where you sleep and cut off your arm in the middle of the night to save everyone from looking at it. The tattoo was a mistake, and everyone I know agrees.
Btw, no one here can read cuneiform. You could have put it in swahili more people would have understood it.
you should preach shirtless on sunday. Suns out guns out.
I've been on vacation with the fam and haven't had a chance to get to the internet..I wonder if I'm too late for people to be reading these comments. However, since my implant caused a bit of controversy I thought I'd write a little somethin' somethin' about it.
ReplyDeleteThe decision to get it is similar to the way greg interpreted it several comments back. Christ's grace for me is unfathomable (not trying to put out a cliche statement, my testimony is real but not appropriate to just type randomly on the web), and I guess I was sick of wearing it around my neck like others and wanted to "wear it on my sleeve" (the implant is in my left forearm). I also, being relatively young, didn't want to commit to a permanent tattoo that I may not like in ten years (a good friend of mine has a large cross on his back, which he got when he was my age, and now ten years later says he doesn't really think it was a great idea) and implants are easily removable.
I've had it now for 7 months and really love it. I have great conversations with people about the Lord because I'm often asked why I would go so far as to put a piece of silicone shaped like a cross in my arm. I also encourage people at my church to not be weirded out by other "mod-ed" people they see, but to love them just as they loved me before and after I got my implant and all my piercings. It's a good way of bridging the gap, so to speak; older (and some younger) people at my church often confess that they're scared of or judgmental towards heavily tattooed, pierced, or otherwise modified people, but that seeing me with such things helps them realize that people are just people.
A couple of responses to previous comments:
-karin, i was once asked if I broke my arm and had to place something under the skin to brace it. another person told me they thought I had cancer. but you were the first person to be 100% correct: the alien from the movie alien resides in my forearm! (yes, i'm being sarcastic, but in a fun way, not trying to patronize...you did not offend me with your comment, and you are entitled to your opinion :)
-Yes, it is bumpy. People often ask to feel it, and then make weird sounds as they do so. Go figure.
-It wasn't very painful to get. I've had piercings that hurt worse, and after it swelled for about a week, there hasn't been a shred of pain from it.
-daphne, I too do not consider it a tattoo. I sent it to Jon because I thought he would get a kick out of Stuff Christians Do To Their Skin To Show Off Jesus, which is essentially the theme of the contest. If it wasn't considered in the judging I most certainly would not be surprised or offended (in fact, i would be surprised if it was).
Finally, it was done by Brian Decker who owns Pure Body Arts, in Brooklyn NY. Any other questions, feel free to ask!
so far i like the irish one best. the cross one under the skin is creepy and i do not consider it a tattoo. i cannot wait to see the rest of them!
ReplyDeleteI hadn't seen the tattoo post until just now. In the hopes that someone's still reading this.....
ReplyDeleteI actually have two show above. The first is the cross/thorns w/ "Son I Loved You At Your Darkest". Here's the story:
I was originally going to get the cross/thorns piece when I was unsaved. Honestly, I just thought it looked really cool, and wanted it. I was all set to get it, but my artist at the time got sick, and had to postpone doing it. The money got spent, the appt. never rescheduled....
Fast forward 10 years (or so). I am now, by the grace of God, a believer, and I'm wanting to get a tattoo. The saying around it ("Son I Loved You....") is the title of the first As Cities Burn cd, also one of my favorite bands. So I decided to get the cross/thorns, with that around it, as a reminder. The reminder is that I once was going to get that tattoo because I thought it would be "cool", but not because it meant anything, and certainly not as a reflection of my faith. The saying around it serves to remind me that even when I didn't love Him, He still loved me. Consequently, the time in my life when I was going to get that tattoo originally WAS one of my "darkest hours", so the combination of the two holds great significance for me in relationship to my walk with Christ.
The other one I've got is the Romans 6:11/Trinity symbol tattoo. Rewind once again to that aforementioned "darkest hour". I had gotten the sun god tattoo when I was unsaved. About a year ago, I got the Trinity symbol with some flames below the sun god tattoo. I wanted to tie the two together somehow, but wanted it to hold some kind of significance. What resulted was the tattoo shown. Romans 6:11 says, "But now, count yourselves dead to sin, but alive in Christ". The sin (sun god) is surrounded by the flames coming off the Trinity symbol (Christ). So the piece is my visualization of Romans 6:11 in action. Through Christ's sacrifice, we are dead to sin, and made alive in Him.
Just wanted to say I was glad to hear from Jonathon Edmund and I would so love to feel your cross and make weird noises and how wise of you to think through the consequenses of a tattoo. I am well aware that I will looked jacked up as an old wrinkly lady and I do regret quite a few of the times I have been inked. Grace & Peace, Brother! daphne
ReplyDeletehow on earth did the Irish wedding band symbol (or whatever it's called) make it in the God tattoo collection? Oh, and the Lighthouse? Just wondering.
ReplyDeleteMy vote is for Jeff who has the tat stating "Son I loved you at your darkest hour". If you ask me, that is by far the coolest and by far the one that touches me the most. Yay for touching tats! Ha. My opinion counts about three times as much because I recently had my nose pierced and was with the "in" crowd for a few weeks. Then I found out my boss wanted to have a meeting in person (I work from home) so I decided to take it out...maybe my vote doesn't really count three times as much now. HA!
ReplyDeleteThe Irish Claddaugh symbolizes Loyalty (the crown), Love (the heart), and Friendship (the hands). Not necessarily a "God Tatoo", but it is a nice shout-out to your lineage, if you happen to descend from Ireland, as do I.
ReplyDeleteThis stuff is great. I do love the "Son I loved you"
@jonathan edmund: thanks so much for sharing…I came back today just to see if you had shared yet.
ReplyDelete