December 25, 2017

It’s true. Charles Spurgeon had a love/hate relationship with Christmas. In seventeenth-century England, Christmas was often associated with moral laxity and splurging. The Puritans resisted the Roman Catholic flavor of the festivities, and so did Spurgeon. Like his predecessors, the preacher often played the Scrooge and humbugged the holiday. “Certainly we do not believe in the …

October 31, 2017

On October 21, 1928, the ghost of Charles Spurgeon was raised from the dead. Or so the clairvoyant claimed. In a series of séances supervised by Canadian surgeon and paranormal researcher Thomas Glen Hamilton, the “entity” of the late Victorian evangelist made his presence known several times to a group of hand-clasped gatherers. According to …

September 12, 2017

This week as we pause to remember the terror attack on September 11, 2001, our prayers go out to the families suffering from the memory of the horrific tragedy. Sixteen years ago, 2,996 lives were lost in the coordinated attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon in Washington, D.C, and …

August 29, 2017

Since last Sunday, Hurricane Harvey has pummeled the Gulf Coast of Texas with winds raging up to 130 miles per hour. Five people have lost their lives, 30,000 have sought shelter, and Houston—America’s fourth largest city— has become ground zero for rooftop evacuations and helicopter rescues. Our prayers continue to be with those who have …

August 24, 2017

A new school year has just begun. For students and teachers, life just got busy again. There are classes, papers, meetings, and a constellation of other responsibilities that we must squeeze into our schedules.   Charles Spurgeon knew the feeling. Every Friday afternoon from 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm, Spurgeon lectured to his ministerial students at the …

August 22, 2017

Yesterday, the sun darkened above the Spurgeon Library in Kansas City. Much of the United States witnessed a partial eclipse. But the 70 mile-wide path of the total solar eclipse passed right above our heads.   This was not the first time the moon withheld light from Spurgeon’s tomes.     On a Monday afternoon around 1:00 p.m., …

August 15, 2017

If you haven’t fallen in love with a dead person yet, you really should try it. It all started when my father took me on a pilgrimage to England. We visited the chapel in Colchester where Spurgeon was converted, the river in Isleham where he was baptized, the Tabernacle in London where he ministered for nearly …

August 10, 2017

After Spurgeon's conversion in Colchester, fifteen-year-old Charles Spurgeon moved to Cambridge in 1850. Because Spurgeon wasn't an Anglican, he couldn't matriculate into any of Cambridge's colleges. But it was here that Spurgeon passed several key milestones on his road to ministry. Spurgeon was baptized near Cambridge, discerned his call to ministry, taught Sunday School, learned …

August 8, 2017

Charles Spurgeon is one of the most popular preachers to tweet, “meme” quote and misquote. He quotes are punchy and pithy, ideally suited for an age of social media where 140 characters matter. But you may be shocked to realize that Spurgeon didn't say these six quotes often attributed to him. 1. “When you can't trace his …

August 3, 2017

Charles Spurgeon’s ministry was marked with guilt. After the Surrey Gardens Music Hall disaster on October 19, 1856, he fell into so deep a depression that even the sight of the Bible brought much anxiety. His text was Proverbs 3:33, “The curse of the Lord is in the house of the wicked.” He never preached …