I BELONG TO JESUS: A TATTOO ARTIST’S JOURNEY TO FREEDOM

It all started with a comment from a friend at church: “James, you're letting the enemy use your gifts.” As a tattoo artist, James Buster had always been aware of the stigma that Christians couldn’t get tattoos—or be tattoo artists. But when this trusted friend chastised him, he began to question everything, including his salvation.

He fought to push down the judgmental feelings, but they were too strong. “Something snapped,” he said. “And the voice of the enemy was just constantly in my ear. It would judge me and accuse me.”

Over the next several months, James sank deeper into depression until he was no longer able to function. “I had stopped eating and sleeping,” he recalled. “I lost 40 pounds in less than a month and I was a recluse. I couldn't go outside or be around people.”

As his depression worsened, he tried anything he could, including medication, until eventually he received a bipolar diagnosis. At the worst point of his suffering, a pastor friend learned of his story and connected him with another Christian man who had gone through his own spiritual battles. During a conversation, the man prayed for James and something changed. “When he prayed, instantaneously all the anxiety left, like a switch—like a light bulb,” he remembered.

As James began to improve, he happened to see one of Joyce’s messages on Facebook where she talked about wanting to get a tattoo. It got his attention. In fact, he immediately began to sketch Joyce’s idea for a tattoo: A simple sentence that says, “I belong to Jesus.” But after completing the drawing, he put it away and forgot about it.

Although he was doing better, the initial problem remained. “I was still struggling with believing that I was saved and okay with God since I am a tattoo artist.” James said. He started to pray about it. To his surprise, God gave him an answer.

“As I prayed, God began to speak to my heart,” he recalled. “He gave me three specific scriptures about tattoos—Isaiah 49:16, Hebrews 10:16 and Revelation 19:16.” Each reference was for verse 16, which James knew was an allusion to his favorite scripture—John 3:16.

• See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me (Isaiah 49:16).


• “This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds” (Hebrews 10:16).


• On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: King of kings and Lord of lords (Revelation 19:16).

And that wasn’t all. That day, the Lord spoke something to James’ heart that would set him free and change everything. “God said to me, ‘James, how should you live your life? You can live as Jesus lived. I tattooed your name on My hands and My laws on your heart. Go and enjoy being a tattoo artist!’”

In an instant, James went from feeling ashamed and condemned to knowing that God has a plan for his life. He explained, “What Satan used to try to kill me, God turned into a message—into a testimony.”

Five years later, working in his newfound freedom, James received a surprising call. A pastor that he knew had asked him to draw some options for a friend who was thinking about getting a tattoo. He later found out that friend was Joyce Meyer.

“I drew for six or seven hours,” James said. “Then I remembered the sketch I had created five years prior—I still had it!”

In the summer of 2022, the big moment arrived. James met Joyce and had the opportunity to create her very first tattoo. It simply read, “I belong to Jesus.” While there, Joyce also asked James to ink a second one—the word “Love” across her ankle as a personal reminder to walk in love.

“That's how God revealed Himself to me as a tattoo artist,” James said. “All of those things had to happen for me to be free to be myself.”

Today James runs The Tattoo Chapel in Farmersville, Texas, where he ministers to people through his art and his craft, telling people about what God did for him.

“God is love,” he explained. “And love is present. So, I every day I tattoo, and God is present—love is present. I just love people with the same love that He loved me with and then miracles happen.”