The Dead Church

While listening to Dr David Jeremiah over the last week I heard him reference a painting by Vincent Van Gogh one of my favorite artists. Later on that day I overheard some associates at work discussing this same piece in reference to a Dr. Who (which is apparently epic) episode. So in curiosity, and because I could not recall it immediately, I looked up the painting that was referenced and this is what I found.

If you are not familiar Van Gogh’s paintings are considered by many to be the epitome of Impressionism.

I ran across this painting by Van Gogh today, and was not only struck by its beauty, but sensed something more in the symbolism of its colors and form, so I decided to do a little research. Here’s what I found out:

Toward the end of his life, Vincent van Gogh succumbed to his mental illness, cut off his own ear after a fight with friend, and in May 1889 committed himself to a mental hospital in Saint Remy.

In the last 10 weeks of his life, while in the care of the doctor, he created over 100 pieces including The Church at Auvers (pictured), a scene from his youth created out of memory.

The foreground seems to be in daylight, whereas the church itself and the sky seem to be in shadow, nearly a night scene. The church’s form is distorted adding a feel of gloom to the scene. A church painted in this manner may reflect van Gogh’s feeling about the church and religion after his failed studies as a preacher and missionary.

One other site explains it this way:

Rather than the church looking like a place of refuge and solace, Vincent has shown it as a place of impending doom and gloom.

Early in his life, Van Gogh aspired to be a pastor and missionary. However, he failed miserably at both callings and, even though there is no specific documentation about his spiritual crisis, it’s pretty safe to bet that he got turned off from religion because of his inability to “meet the expectations.” Ironically, van Gogh committed suicide shortly after he painted this impression and The [actual] Church at Auvers refused to host Vincent’s funeral because he had killed himself. His service took place across the river at Mery-sur-Oise the next day.

This is a sad story, and comes to life through this man’s paintings. His life circumstance certainly colored his view of this grand edifice and I think it serves as a message to the church that needs to be heard today. A few things I notice about the painting are…

The church dominates the canvas. Literally, there is no way to avoid it.
There are two paths leading around the church – both happen to lead through the shadow of the church.
Sadly, there is no door into the church.

I’ll leave it to you to generate your own conclusions about the message Van Gogh is sending us from 1890 I definitely have my own. I’d love to hear what you think…

What is a Christian’s greatest fear?

I was in the 5th grade when I decided to begin pursuing the opposite sex, armed with only vague things I had seen from my parents, siblings and TV. I fell head over heels for a young lady (to remain unnamed) and tried to do anything to gain her attention. After months of impressing her (i.e. multiple home-runs in kickball, touching the bottom of the basketball net, and other rather silly things), it came! A note with her handwriting on it (much better than mine), the smell of her perfume, I treasured it but did not dare to open such a gift. On the bus ride home I presented the note to my co-conspirators and they marveled in the work that we had accomplished, and then my big brother noticed. He knew of my love interest and from behind me he began to mock me aloud letting everyone on the bus know who the note was from. I was absolutely devastated and simultaneously angry. I decided to stand up for my honor and started a fight with my brother in which he took the note read it out loud and to my further embarrassment laughed with everyone when it was discovered that her feelings were not the same for me. It was a horrible day, I was publicly humiliated, rejected and thought I would never recover.

I share that story for multiple reasons, hopefully you laughed at the sillieness and I wanted you to see a clear example (one of many) of rejection in my life. When I ask fellow believers about how and when they share their faith I constantly hear people scared to be humiliated, rejected and will never recover from it.

What is a Christians greatest fear?

Rejection, primarily when it comes to evangelism.

The moment has arrived, God has opened to the door for you to present the Gospel to that person in your life that you have fervently been praying for. You follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit and pour your heart out sharing the love of Jesus and the sacrifice that he made for the entire world. The conversation exchange seems peaceful, cordial and gives you the impression that all aspects of the Gospel are clear and understood. Then after sharing the Gospel you take the next step, move to the question of commitment and ask if the person if they would like to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. During those next few seconds of waiting with great anticipation to hear their decision, you pray within yourself for God to give the increase. And then it comes. To your surprise and dismay, you hear their response of a resounding …“NO”. The impending victory that seemed so certain has suddenly been turned into feelings of disappointment and failure. You play back in your mind everything that you shared. You are so confident that you presented the Gospel in full context and answered all questions.

Rejection of the Gospel can be difficult. I remember while in school being a part of an evangelism outreach that shared the Gospel door to door in the local community. When we returned back from sharing in a community I was often asked, “how many did you catch for the kingdom?” or “how many did you lead to Christ?” I was always discouraged if I came back with no spiritual notches in my belt. I found myself sometimes trying to win people to Christ in my own strength. What I have discovered was that many Christians are apprehensive about evangelism because they believe that a conversion must occur every time they share the Gospel. As a result, when they share Gospel and do not lead someone to Christ, they feel rejection and are discouraged from sharing Christ again.

When did the importance of planting and watering seeds become so insignificant?

God is glorified when we plant and water seeds. This is what he calls us to do and it is all he has given us the power to do. In evangelism, we are only responsible for sharing the correct information about what it truly means to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. This is how seeds are planted and watered. Only God can make the seeds that have been planted and watered grow. Coming to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ is a supernatural and spiritual event. Only the divine power of God can bring a person to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. In our frail human strength, we cannot make a person accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. We must consider that a Christian may be one of many other Christians sharing Christ in an unsaved person’s life. Be encouraged, even if the Gospel is rejected by a loved one and you’re concerned about their eternal destiny. Remember, God is concerned about them too. If you’ve experienced rejection you have not failed because you were being obedient to God’s call to share the Gospel.

Also, don’t force the Gospel on them, which might push them away from you. Instead, add this person to your prayer list. If they are accessible to you, let them know that you still care very much about them and that you will be available if they have questions about anything that was presented to them.

At the end of the day, when sharing the Gospel we are only responsible for being obedient in sharing the correct data about what it truly means to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. God will do the rest and will deal with people’s hearts. There will be occasions when you will plant or water a seed and there will be occasions where you witness God giving the increase. In either instance, you are being used by God and glorifying him by communicating the greatest news ever.

How the Gospel changes the Church [audio]

In 1863 the famed Baptist preacher Charles Haddon Spurgeon stood in the pulpit of Metropolitan Tabernacle and proclaimed,

“Why do we stay here, then, at all, but that we may be salt in the midst of putrefaction—light in the midst of darkness—life in the midst of death? The Church is the world’s hope! As Christ is the hope of the Church, so the Church is the hope of the world! The saints become, under Christ, the world’s saviors. Then we must not marvel, being here for this very purpose, if Christ does throw us like a handful of salt, just where the putrefaction is the worst! Or if He should cast us, as He has often done with His saints before, where our influence is most needed.”

Every time I read, hear, or even say that statement it settles in even deeper how true it is. The question for me is do I believe it. Well this was the basis for this weeks sermon and I really hope that you think about that statement… because it is completely true.

Audio:

[audio https://somajc.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/04-how-the-gospel-changes-the-church-matt-16_16-19.mp3]

Thank you for you continued patronage of my blog and friendship. Please enjoy the audio below as we have substantially upgraded the sound & please subscribe in the sidebar.

How the Gospel changes Discipleship [audio]

Over these last 3 weeks it has been stressful and challenging in more ways than I thought were possible. As many of you well know I am the current Interim pastor at Excelsior Springs Baptist Church (located about an hour from where we live now, and about 15 minutes outside of KC metro area, about 150 people attend). They have asked me to come be their interim pastor “in view of a call”, which is really just a fancy way of saying they are calling me to be their next Pastor. This upcoming Sunday (Oct. 16th) the congregation will vote (90%) after a pot luck (in proper small church tradition) and a Q & A with my wife and I. Both Heather and I and really excited about this opportunity and are falling in love with the people and the tenacity of this church. This is not what we thought God had planned, we thought it would be a few years before I would EVER be called as a Senior Pastor. However, we know He can only get the credit for what is about to happen at this church. If this process was easy we would not rely on Him. He wants and deserves the Glory! Sometimes I think that our life would get easier however, it’s just going to be another kind of hard. We have peace we are walking in His plan however, and that is a very good place to be.

Things we need you to be praying about as we move forward:

finding a place to live (in the price range, and size we need),
transition- our pace and rhythm of life is about to change drastically
finances
friendships for my Hot mama
balance for me
if this is not the job for us that God throws up a HUGE RED FLAG.

Thank you for you continued patronage of my blog and friendship. Please enjoy the audio below as we have substantially upgraded the sound & please subscribe in the sidebar.

Audio

the Glorious Gospel of Grace [audio]

Grace is meant to be scandalous. If it doesn’t appear scandalous, then our sins do not appear equally as scandalous in contrast to a holy God. The scandal is that my scandal has been written off and forgiven when it justifiably deserves wrath. This scandalous plan of forgiveness finds men like the women here, blind and helpless to do anything about their plight, and wipes their slate clean, reconciles them to God, and awards them with the wealth of heaven.

I hope that you are able to hear this as I bring yet another message to Excelsior Spring Baptist Church (ESBC). The point that I’m trying to get accross sis simple, I fervently believe it’s God’s intent for every believer to be:

Filled and empowered by His Spirit
To know the Word of God and build their life on the truths of the Gospel
and to be sent out on mission as one of God’s missionary people.

In order to begin to accomplish these goals together it only makes sense to begin with the Gospel. I really hope that this series helps you reevaluate where you are in Christ.

The Audio is so much better this week please enjoy:

Text: Luke 7:36 – 50

What is the Gospel [audio]

Walking into a new context to preach can be pretty intimidating but doing it on a Sunday morning service is a completely different. This last sunday I had the joy of beginning my first stint as an Interim pastor (in view of a call). Excelsior Springs Baptist Church is nearing the end of its search for its next Senior Pastor. We have been in process (interviews, questionnaires, etc) for about almost 10 months and for the next 4 weeks I will have the privilege of bringing the Sunday message and spending ample time with the members of the church.

Because I have been given such a huge opportunity I decided to start a series for these next few weeks entitled “the Gospel”. This week we tackled the question “What is the Gospel”. This is a question I hear everyday in one way or another but usually not from believers in Christ. This reality scares me because that means that they are building on some other foundation if they are not continually coming back to the question what is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I fervently believe it’s God’s intent for every believer to be:

Filled and empowered by His Spirit
To know the Word of God and build their life on the truths of the Gospel
and to be sent out on mission as one of God’s missionary people.