Why are so many churches today refusing to preach on the blood of Christ and the power of the Cross?

[painter49]

More and more the church as a whole apears to be moving towards mainstream teaching and is discounting the value of the blood that was shed on that hill called Golgotha ...
This is my take on the value of the blood that was shed that day, as well as a description of my painting and why I painted it....

This painting is titled This is for you ! Meaning The Lord shed his blood and died a horrible death on the cross for all who would kneel at the foot of his cross and acknowlede that he is Lord and saviour, my salvation began with the shedding of his blood on that cross, Without that blood there could be no atonement for my sins before God the father.
God the son, Jesus, allowed himself to be layed upon that cross on the ground and then willingly, without struggle he stretched out his arms and allowed huge spikes to be driven into his hands and feet, thus the continuing of the shedding of his blood for all mankind, which began when He allowed himself to be stripped naked and then spit on (imagine that part alone, standing naked before men and being spit on and mocked} then tied and whipped with a cato-nine tails, Strips of rawhide with bits of bone and iron tied to the ends ripping and shredding flesh deep down into the muscles... and to stand there willingly, as a submissive lamb, as they place a crown of thorns upon his head and beat the crown down into his scalp bringing forth more blood ( he would have been a gruesome sight by this point, as an artist I have considered painting Him in this condition realistically but have hesitated for obvious reasons)
So now they present the creator of the universe before all the people, in this horrifying condition and they continue to mock and throw insults at him (the fact that God the Father did'nt destroy the world at that very point, proves His love for us to me) I'd have turned them to stone for the spitting part alone!!!
Not being happy at this, the crowd begs for Him to be crucified, note the word BEGS... Now on the way to the cross the crowd follows spitting on him and mocking him even more, by now it would have to be a full blown mob scene, growing with a frenzy, like a riot in downtown Chicago ! I believe this frenzied mob scene was driven and exploited by satan to keep Jesus from continuing Gods plan, and if thats true, it's hard for me imagine just how insane this mob would have been!
In my painting I see myself as a member of that mob, moving in for a closer look as he's being nailed down, I watch intently as the spikes burst through his flesh and I am captivated by the spurting blood with each hammer blow, I look to his face to study his reaction, it is grimaced in pain and agony and he is crying, tears of agony I assume, then he notices me and his face softens and those same tear filled eyes speak into my heart and say... This is for you... and I realize he is crying for me not himself... and the veil is lifted and I understand, My heart breaks and I weep at the thought that the One and only Son of God could love me so much and would undergo this form of punishment and sacrifice himself so willingly for a sinning mob actvist like me.
So yes i am drawn to that cross on the hill and the blood that was spilled there on that most pivotal day in history because without it I'm nothing more than a taunting, spitting mob activist, I'd probably be wielding the hammer.
Tom
p.s. I'm more comfortable expressing myself with paint than words, so I hope this all makes sense

 

[Katzpur]

Painter, I do love your art, and I was impressed by your comments on your painting. The only thing is that I fail to understand how either your painting or your words apply to the title of your thread.

 

[Kurt31416]

Paul's idea that killing Jesus was a good thing. Oh my.

 

[averageJOE]

A cross, or crucifix, was an instrument of pain, tourture, and death. To me, a church hell bent on teaching the "power" of a cross would be no different than teaching the "power" of a guillotine, noose, or electric chair. And to teach the "power" of blood on top of that?

I'll never understand the sick, macabre, and morbid teachings of Christianity.

Christianity wants everyone to remember that Jesus was "sacraficed"? Well, I always understood him to be a man-god. That after all his whippings, and slashings, and beatings, and crucifixion, and death that a few days later he "came back to life". Of course he can do this, he was a man-god after all! But to me that hardly seems like a sacrafice at all. To a man-god thats more like a "bad day".

 

[TheKnight]

Because Jesus' blood has no power and neither does the cross. As I have demonstrated to devout Catholics that consider me to be demon possessed, their holy water and crucifixes are only effective to those that submit to the delusion. Someone like myself, however, who doesn't care about their ritual behavior will be unaffected by the "power" of these things.

 

[painter49]

Painter, I do love your art, and I was impressed by your comments on your painting. The only thing is that I fail to understand how either your painting or your words apply to the title of your thread.

Thank you for your kind comment<
I have posted this on other religious forums (the painting) and have been hammerred on extensively for this portrayal of Christ...
So it has ocurred to me that most people do not want to acknwoledge the physical aspect of the crucifixion .... and I have been asked more than once to define what the shedding of the blood meant to me ... so yesterday I wrote the above .
By the way I'm not here to debate ... I'm here to show what God has shown me !
I may be capable of debating at some level .... but certainly not at the level seen on most of these antagonistic religious sites... your dealing with a guy who has a 9th grade education here... While in prayer one day God said to me in my heart show them what I show you , I asked him over and over "who are them" He never answered that question.... So I started posting my paintings on secular art sites opening myself up to ridicule ... this was 6 months ago ... the ridicule did'nt come, Imagine my surprise... I was welcomed by the unsaved and have made some new friends, and my art/ Jesus Has been viewed about 10,000 times now, on secular sites... !!!
So about 3 weeks ago I got the Idea to post on religious sites, and began a google search for said sites , thats how I found this site .
So now I post as I believe the Lord has told me (show them what I show you)
And to my dismay I am beat to death on the religious sites... not the secular art sites that I had been posting on..... BUT THE RELIGIOUS SITES.... The ridicule I've undergone lately is from sites like this !!!
I am truly dismayed
By the way I make no money on my religious art... and give away the prints that I have Freelly ... To anyone who asks
God takes care of me ... often times in strange ways... I've been unemployed for almost 2 years now... and that's a whole differrent story....
.... Tom

 

[Mister Emu]

Because Jesus' blood has no power and neither does the cross.

I beg to differ...

As I have demonstrated to devout Catholics that consider me to be demon possessed

So... you had a Church inquiry say that you were indeed possessed, and went through an exorcism sanctioned by Rome that did nothing? Or did a few Catholics splash you with holy water yelling "Devil get out of him!"?

edit: It is just odd... would you expect that were there power in the blood of Jesus/the Cross, that something would have happened?

 

[te_lanus]

Because Jesus' blood has no power and neither does the cross.

the Church is in almost the same same frame of mind as TheKnight . I've recently chatted to one of my "Pastor" friends, and he said to me that in his denomination they have a paper stating that they shouldn't preach about the blood/cross as this only spreads more violence. They can preach, Jesus' death but only when dealing with salvation not anywhere else.:faint:

 

[ayani]

Painter ~

as a Christian, i'd have to answer that many churches today just are not comfortable preaching about the cross, or what it accomplished for as many as believe.

it's gory, it's a huge thing to think about, and many find it disturbing. many churches i've been to preach widely on the social aspect of Jesus' ministry, and that's not wrong. but to leave out His giving His life for us on the cross, a sinless man giving everything to reconcile us to God and taking our sins on Himself.... that's a lot to think about. and though for many it's a simple and easily understood message, for many more it's not.

i find that a lot of Christian churches tend to preach on what the congregation feels comfortable with. not much on the atoning and reconciling death of Christ, not much on His absolute uniqueness and centrality, and not much on discipleship, either. not much on looking carefully at our own selves, and taking the planks out of our own eyes. not much about diligently and joyfully taking time to read the Bible each day, and not much about cultivating an active prayer life outside of church. not much about serving and helping our neighbors, or forgiving those who've wronged us, and not much on the need to tell others about Jesus.

i've been to a few churches, and what i find is that Christian faith is between the soul, and Christ. church is meant as a place for people who believe in and belong to Him to gather to worship, pray, and thank God for their life in Christ. if a church is filled with people who don't quite understand why they're there, and are not sure how much of the Gospel they believe or personally can accept, and are not sure how the feel about Jesus, the church life isn't going to be very vibrant, or challenging.

 

[TheKnight]

So... you had a Church inquiry say that you were indeed possessed, and went through an exorcism sanctioned by Rome that did nothing? Or did a few Catholics splash you with holy water yelling "Devil get out of him!"?

edit: It is just odd... would you expect that were there power in the blood of Jesus/the Cross, that something would have happened?

Well, generally people'd say things like "you're possessed" and I'd laugh at them. Then I'd say "how about you exorcise me then?" and often times they'd say "Sure. I can get the demon out of you." and then they'd do their shenanigans and alas, I'd be still the same. Then I'd tell them that when they're ready to embrace reality they're more than welcome to come ask me any questions about my faith that they should wish to ask...

Granted, this approach is ineffectively rude (hence why I don't really use it anymore). But it was amusing for the short period that I did it.

 

[slave2six]

I find it a fascinating kind of psychosis that people are obsessed with the bloody, brutal murder of another human being, particularly one that allegedly is supposed to have some kind of power to heal people's souls or spirits or "diseases" or "afflictions" or what have you and yet they find Freddy Kruger and other horror movie figures to be demonic. It's weird to me.

What is even weirder to me is your references to "God the Father" who required a virgin human sacrifice as the means of atonement for sins. No father would even think of requiring death and/or torture as a means of any of his children approaching him and asking forgiveness. Only a Charles Manson type of mentality would even conceive of such a thing. It's disgusting and completely contrary to virtue, ethics, or even basic decency.

What I'd like to know is why people believe such a load of rubbish.

 

[Mister Emu]

Well, generally people'd say things like "you're possessed" and I'd laugh at them. Then I'd say "how about you exorcise me then?" and often times they'd say "Sure. I can get the demon out of you." and then they'd do their shenanigans and alas, I'd be still the same.

That is what I thought

 

[ayani]

What I'd like to know is why people believe such a load of rubbish.

it's definitely something which sounds bizarre and impossibly specific when viewed from an outsider's perspective.

i know, i used to find the concept of blood atonement, Jesus' death, and His taking our sins on Himself to be everything you've just cited. not only that, but deeply and grievously wrong theologically.

it *is* a bizarre and wildly puzzling concept if you're not in the thing, and living its reality. and undeniably it's one of the religious concepts that baffles and even repels the greatest number of people.

 

[slave2six]

as a Christian, i'd have to answer that many churches today just are not comfortable preaching about the cross, or what it accomplished for as many as believe.

I think you missed two very fundamental reasons:

1. Science has called into question much Christian dogma over the past 150ish years and people have gotten this nasty habit of reasoning things out for themselves - something that invariably is dangerous to the Christian tale (as history bears out).
2. The Christian teaching emphasizes this idea of "God the Father." Now, most people know what an excellent father acts like and how he should behave, even if they never knew their own father. When comparing the God of the Bible and particularly the Christian God to this idea of a good father, one finds it impossible to reconcile the two. If any human behaved in the same ways that this alleged Father God behaves, that person would be heaved into prison for life - and rightly so.

Again, I don't know how any reasonable person can possibly believe the Christian myth or even reconcile their idea of God and still come away with adjectives like loving, good, and kind.

 

[ayani]

because while God is loving, something that escapes a lot of people is that He also presides over human societies and peoples as judge. and that sometimes His judgment and decisions can result in death, and the repeal of lives which knowingly dishonor Him, themselves, and others.

 

[slave2six]

it's definitely something which sounds bizarre and impossibly specific when viewed from an outsider's perspective.

I was an insider for 40+ years and I know exactly how insane the doctrines make someone if they believe them seriously and with all their hearts.

Having abandoned the Christian faith entirely, I now see that the first and biggest problem with the entire thing is that it presupposes that humans are basically evil, it makes no allowances for the possibility that perhaps people are simply people, and through its history it has blamed evil spirits for behaviours and actions that are actually biological in nature and today are usually managed with a regimen of medications.

This last issue makes no sense to me. If something is "spiritual" then no biological intervention should have the least impact on it but even among Christians there is a large population that relies more on anti-depressants than they do on "the power of Christ." This, to me, is merely evidence that people are fooling themselves and willfully choosing to remain stupid rather than facing reality. It's rather pathetic, actually.

 

[slave2six]

because while God is loving, something that escapes a lot of people is that He also presides over human societies and peoples as judge. and that sometimes His judgment and decisions can result in death, and the repeal of lives which knowingly dishonor Him, themselves, and others.

Try this on for size. Suppose you have God-like powers. Now suppose that you are boiling water and you tell your child, “Do not go near the stove or you’ll get burned.” So, of course, as soon as your back is turned, your child races over, tips the pan and gets scalded in the face so badly that she ends up permanently disfigured and losing sight in one eye. Your first reaction is to curse the child so that every one of her descendants is born with a disfigured face and one blind eye. Then you kick her out of the house and leave her on the streets to fend for herself. Of course you keep an eye on her and her children but you only talk to them whenever they have done something wrong and then you blame her children for not being good enough to live in your house while at the same time telling them that you really long for them to be whole and pure enough to live with you.

That's basically how Christians view human history.

As for judgment - that's ridiculous. If God knows what is going to happen there's no need for judgment. According to your story, he made everything and everyone knowing full well what the outcome would be. What kind of sicko would create beings that he knows he is going to torture in Hell for eternity? I think not.
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[ayani]

well, alright. you don't have to agree. but what is also important to remember, Biblically, is that the peoples involved in God's judgment weren't small children, but grown adults. facing a long history of choices and consequences, and warnings. as individuals, and as societies.

to say that a sovereign God who knows us far better than we know one another doesn't have the right to make those kind of judgment calls on His creation is to consign God's power to a corner. people can of course do this within their own understandings of who God is and how He should or should not work.

and the Bible is a lot more nuanced on the concept of suffering and the afterlife than a lot of people realize.

 

[painter49]

because while God is loving, something that escapes a lot of people is that He also presides over human societies and peoples as judge. and that sometimes His judgment and decisions can result in death, and the repeal of lives which knowingly dishonor Him, themselves, and others.

You will understand soon...
If my perspective is wrong I will die ... same as you ... If my perspective is right, My death will be a new beginning .. not all bad in my eyes I like looking forward with a hope of a new beginning....
Perhaps your world will change soon .... then what? It could and often happens,
you are on these sites taunting and harrassing Gods people .... He's not blind, as you seem to think .... you post your middle finger in the face of the church and God the Creator, it may just cost you something.... I was'nt always religious!!!!!

...Tom

 

[ayani]

um, Tom. you're talking to a Biblical, evangelical Christian here.

i'm trying to explain Biblical truths and concepts to non-Christians in more easily understandable terms.