Strongarm Songs Become Tattoos

I have reached a new plateau in my life.

I received an email last week from a guy who got a Strongarm tattoo. That is, he got a tattoo inspired by some lyrics from a song I wrote called Supplication while I was in Strongarm. The lyrics in the phrase pictured here are:

I surrender all
All I am I give

They are lyrics from a song called Supplication. It is what I describe as a martyr’s prayer. I wrote it envisioning what the many people might have been feeling who were put to death in the past for believing that Jesus was actually God’s son and rose from the dead. That was my inspiration.

It is an amazing to imagine that 12 years after I quit Strongarm what I did still lives on.Someone has been moved enough to mark themselves for life with words I wrote. And as I work to finish a new endeavor, my first book, I hope and pray that this new revelation will have a positive legacy too. I hope that it will inspire people’s curiosity about the life and teachings of Jesus.

So thanks Joey for the email! The tat looks great. And you have moved me very deeply by honoring me in this way.

Also, full lyrics Supplication are posted below if you want to read them. They are floating around the web, but here they are in the correct form as I originally wrote them:

There can be no justice
Where there is no truth

A life of self-sacrifice, a new creation
Devotion to purity, in the midst of the light of conviction
Set fire, to the hearts desire, taken by storm
No longer in the dark, dwelling in the shadows nevermore

I surrender all, all I am I give
Give there of ’til end much more, more than this death
I surrender all, all I have I’ve spent
Spent my essence and much more, more than this death

Far be it from me to flee from the den of lions
The truth can be blinding
Cast me forth for stoning
Misunderstanding causes fear
I feel your pain, I feel your emptiness
And on this day blood will touch blood

Because I am an example I will not flee
Waiting for an end as breath fades away, fades away, fades away
Waiting for an end as breath fades away…

I surrender all, all I am I give
Give there of ’til end much more, more than this is death
I surrender all, all I have I’ve spent
Spent my essence and much more, more than this is death

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

I also found out about another guy who got a tat of some lyrics I wrote while I was in the band. The phrase pictured here is:

Only love can fill the void

They are lyrics from a song called The Advent of a Miracle. It is a song about how much God loves humanity and how this translated into Jesus even dying for us. Often we’ll seek meaning, purpose, and value in many things in this life and still feel lost. To make matters worse, the things we seek can actually make us feel more empty. But, ultimately, we are complete when we are connected with our Creator and establish a relationship with him.

Even further, I wrote the lyrics envisioning what someone might need to hear who’s been caught up in unhealthy addictive behavior, maybe even making a living in such extremes as prostitution. It describes how I imagined the depths of God’s love for each individual and what they may need to hear from him.

Again, I can’t believe someone has been moved enough to mark themselves for life with words I wrote. I can only dream that my book will have a positive legacy too. I hope that it will inspire people’s curiosity about the life and teachings of Jesus.

So thanks Mauricio! The tat looks awesome. And you have also moved me very deeply by honoring me in this way.

I have posted the full lyrics below again if you want to read them. These are also floating around the web, but here they are in the correct form as I originally wrote them:

You’re my beloved and altogether lovely
As a gift that can’t be bought, as if gold could favor outweigh
Your meaning to me, the secrets of the heart made manifest
Even beauty’s priced beside thee, proportioned by lot the less

Wishes fade, as dreams break, promise made

Takes away your will, takes your whole heart captive
Just for one promise, sell it all for one true word
To hold on to, face the shame of it all
Safer to neglect, than open your calloused heart

Piece by piece, you lost a part of your self
You share to gain but lose at love and learn to hate yourself
More and more each day and all the days thereafter
You labor to put back together and regain what is gone forever

Wishes fade, as dreams break, promise made, tomorrow takes

The most costly mistake is to try to change the past today
The filth and the shame, they all wash away
For you I’ll clean the slate

Only love can fill the void
Where the world has taken its toll
Hand-in-hand, by your side
We’ll walk down this path together

Hand-in-hand, to the place where promises never fade
To the advent of a miracle, for love is a miracle

The bonds we’ve made we’ll keep together
We’ll make the changes to build the confidence
For a promise is a tie between two souls
And this bond is a miracle

True love is to die for and is why I cry, for you
And the pain you feel and feed can heal
If you’d just walk with me toward the light