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Contemplations on the Gospel Collection

We can be transformed deeply through daily meditation on grace in our lives through the full range of great works of art through the centuries. These written devotionals help our imaginations meditate on and draw closer to the God of the Bible through all media of art.

General
Art of Fugue
Japanese Poetry - Beauty in contrasts
Christ as Savior and Judge
Sculpture and the Kingdom of God

Valentine’s Day
Love and God’s Uncontainable Delight In Us

Christmas
Christmas - The Light Has Dawned
Christmas and the Meaning of the Incarnation

Contemplations on the Gospel

“[McPhee] was pressing on me…with such questions as ‘So you think you’re going to have guts and palate forever in a world where there’ll be no eating?’ when Ransom suddenly burst out with great excitement, “Oh, don’t you see…there’s a difference between a trans-sensuous life and a non-sensuous life?” (A conversation on the nature of paradise in C.S. Lewis’ book “Perelandra”)

What is sculpture? According to Dictionary.com, it is “stone, bronze, wood, or any other hard material fashioned into a three-dimensional figure.” According to the modernist painter Barnett Newman, “Sculpture is what you bump into when you back up to see a painting.” Makoto Fujimura, a Christian Japanese contemporary artist, suggests sculpture affirms and celebrates the physical while also showing its eternal significance. It tells of the “gospel of incarnation” by fusing spirit and mattter, heaven and earth, whispering of God becoming flesh, giving incalculable worth and meaning to this physical world.

How can sculpture such as “To Fix the Image in Memory XIII,” (Vija Celmins, 1977-82) consisting of one rock and one identical image made of bronze, display worth of this magnitude? Replicating the smallest detail of this ordinary rock, the sculptor helps us “fix the image” and understand its value through her incredible amount of care and time. “Back Yard” (Liza Lou, 1995-99) is a life-size picnic scene that took three full years to make, assembled with millions of glass beads, forming all the details down to the clothes-line, laundry, and more than 250,000 blades of grass. She transforms this ordinary scene into a “heavenly” one of joy and dazzling color, expressing the importance of matter in her own way.

Adding plants to sculpture seems to make the meaning more profound. “Everything that Rises Must Converge” (Sarah Sze, 1999), part of an exhibit we saw at the Contemporary Museum of Art (MOT) in Tokyo, consists of ordinary objects like lamps, ladders, Ziploc containers, and bottle caps strung together along with wires and lights, stretching all the way up to a power outlet on the second floor. Plastic plants randomly appear here and there throughout the work, but right next to the outlet sits a single living potted plant, the “true” plant, if you will, from which the exhibit emanates and receives its “life.” As a Christian, this plant speaks to me of the fullness of life that all matter will one day possess.

Aren’t plants themselves a kind of sculpture? Walking around Santa Fe, New Mexico, the third largest collection of art galleries in the world, we saw many artists use real seeds to represent potential for life. The most powerful use of plants I ever saw was “The End of the Twentieth Century” (Joseph Beuys, 1983-5), part of Tate Moderns’ permanent collection in London. Consisting of enormous horizontal columns of basalt, it had the look of a ruined ancient city. In each column, a hole had been drilled and filled with dirt (not pictured here). One of these holes contained a sprouting plant, symbolizing life bursting forth in the midst of ruins. From a Christian perspective, we know that from this broken world, life will come with such vibrancy that all life as we know it will be essentially dead in comparison, like that plant compared to that rock.

In sculpture, artists flesh out the relationship between the physical and the “trans-physical” (see above Perelandra quote), the imminent and the transcendent, the temporal and the eternal. They increase our passion for seeing the reality of heaven, where things are more solid, not less, and the smallest rock is of infinite worth. Through sculpture, we can glimpse heaven “through a glass darkly,” the glorious completed state of life and fullness God will one day bring to all of creation. How can we not be in “wonder-full” awe anticipating such a world?

Reaching the World through Tokyo

Dr. Timothy Keller, noted author and senior pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Manhattan, speaks about the importance and difficulties of church planting in Tokyo, Japan. Redeemer’s “City to City” is helping to spread the vision of why Christians should love the city and what they can do to serve a city. Redeemer has also helped to start the new Grace City Church Tokyo, which my family and I are helping to start.

What is the gospel?

The gospel is the good news of light shining into darkness, life coming from death, victory coming from defeat, strength coming from weakness, and rescue beyond all hope. The gospel is weaving together the unravelled, making the broken whole, and restoring the broken life intact. The gospel is a story of love incarnate, true freedom for humanity, and the impossible made possible. “The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gopel is preached.” (Luke 7:22 KJV) The brokenhearted are healed, the captives are freed, the mourning are comforted, the heavy-hearted are given words of praise. (Isaiah 61:1-3) This is the meaning of Christ’s death and resurrection.

In fact, Christ’s resurrection was not just a reversal of his death, but the transformation of his dead physical body into one uncontainable by walls and extraordinary in beauty. The gospel is a gift from a God who provided 180 gallons of the best wine in Cana when all that was wanted was a couple of extra bottles. The gospel is a gift from a God who fed thousands with just a few pieces of bread and fish and yet had 12 baskets left full at the end. This is the God of abundance who has too much too give and too much love to keep to himself.

The themes of the gospel continually appear in movies, books, paintings, musicals, symphonies, poetry, and all kinds of media because they are deeply ingrained into the very substance of creation. These themes are the deepest longing of every human heart.

Previous Spotlight Artists

Joel and Monica Klepac

Joel and Monica Klepac and their children Abram and Simeon moved to Galati, Romania in 2000 to serve Christ among the poor, especially children. Joel studied fine art at Asbury College and now shows oil paintings in the local art guild gallery, group shows at the contemporary art museum, and community center classrooms. They work through the mission agency Word Made Flesh. Joel uses his skills as an artist to work with and “flesh out” the gospel with children at risk and street children in Romania. You can see some of their collaborative art at www.artincommunityamongthepoor.blogspot.com or see a cool film the kids did, as well as other clips, by clicking here. Joel’s original works can also be seen at his blog site and you can learn more about the Klepac family by looking at their family blog.

Tim and Rhianna Mills

Tim and Rhianna Mills, and their children Emmalynn, Asa and Julian, support church planting in Bangkok, Thailand through Mission to the World. Tim, a visual artist and musician, utilizes the arts to bring people into contact with Christianity and the church community. He is also working with Thai Christians to develop outreach in and through the creative realm. The following are some videos showing their efforts so far of incorporating native Thai instruments into worship, creating a mural as a community building project, and making fun stop gap animation. You can find out more about the Mills by reading their newsletter or by contacting them at tim@mtwthailand.org.

Scott & Lindsay Nimmon

Scott & Lindsay Nimmon and their daughter, Madeline, are helping to revitalize a church in downtown Dublin, Ireland through Mission to the world using their skills in photography. Click here to see some of Scott’s photos. They have found that all kinds of artistic events for the neighboring community, including coffee houses and festivals, easily bring people into the community of the church during a time in post-Christian Europe when few things can. You can read more about their work on their website www.scottnlindsay.com or contact them at scottnlindsay.nimmon@gmail.com.

Berenice and Steve Rarig

Berenice Rarig has been working in Perth, Australia, since 1990 through Mission to the World, the mission sending agency of the Presbyterian Church of America, to reach Australians through the arts. She is married to Steve Rarig, a Presbyterian pastor and missionary. Berenice uses the tremendous popularity of art to engage people with the message of the gospel through such diverse materials as silk, chicken bones, and quall eggs. People who ordinarily have no interest in Christianity are drawn to the God of the Bible through her works. Click here to read a recent article by The Huntsville Times about her art and ministry. She may be contacted at beesknees59@bigpond.com.

Ken and Bola Taylor

Ken and Bola Taylor and their children Anika, Luke, and Victoria moved to Japan in 1997 through WorldVenture to share the gospel with the Japanese people through music. They both toured Southeast Asian night clubs and concert stages as jazz artists before becoming Christians at the height of their professional music careers. Taking advantage of the tremendous popularity of black gospel music in Japan (click here to read an article on the Taylors and gospel in Japan!), Ken and Bola lead a growing network of choirs called Hallelujah Gospel Family consisting of about 25 choirs with over 500 members about 80 percent of whom are not-yet-Christians. Go to their personal website to see clips of them performing at Starbucks, a Tokyo jazz club, the 22,000 seat Saitama Super Arena, and directing the Hallelujah Gospel Family choirs. There is also a good description of their activities at the WorldVenture website.

Video

The Gospel Voices of Jackson came from Jackson, MS to Chiba, Japan to help in church planting May 17-29, 2007.

The Gospel Voices of Memphis were gathered by my wife Abi in Memphis, TN to help support church planting in Japan January 7-18, 2005. These movie segments look at the journey of this group and the gospel craze in Japan.

Gospel Voices of Memphis - Part 1

Gospel Voices of Memphis - Part 2

Roger Lowther was the guest soloist at the Christmas program at Bellevue Baptist Church (over 28,000 members), Memphis, TN in 2004. The following two excerpts are from that program.

Roger Lowther on organ - Part 1
Introduction and “Rise Up O Men of God” by Robert Hebble

Roger Lowther on organ - Part 2
“O Come All Ye Faithful” by Gaston Dethier

Sketch No. 1 in G Flat Major, “Hope” - This is a piece I wrote in the summer of 2007 along with a video montage of quotes from famous Japanese literature. The theme of the piece is hope, which is described and yearned for in all the opening words of the film.

Sketch No. 3 in C Minor, “Light” - This piece was also written in 2007 along with a video montage of repetitive images in our culture. Light, a symbol of hope, continues throughout and is celebrated in the end.