June 26, 2023

“As thy days, so shall thy strength be,” Deuteronomy 33:25 Introduction As a preacher who struggled with periods of depression, Spurgeon proclaimed the power and grace of God amid spiritual darkness. This strange paradox enabled him to declare, “How much reason have we to bless God for nights! for if it were not for nights how much …

June 6, 2023

Baptists these days are once again debating the Bible’s teaching on women preachers. But this is not an entirely new phenomenon. In Charles Spurgeon’s day, he saw the growing popularity of women preachers, particularly among the Salvation Army and Quakers. Such a practice was largely unheard of among Baptists. But there was one notable exception: …

October 25, 2022

Throughout his ministry, Spurgeon was a champion of Baptist associationalism. While he believed in the congregational autonomy of each local church, Spurgeon gladly partnered with other Baptist churches for the cause of missions, evangelism, and church planting. So he reinvigorated the London Baptist Association, often hosting and chairing meetings. He became active in the Baptist …

April 5, 2022

In 1959, C. S. Lovett, pastor of Baldwin Park Baptist Church, published his guide to personal evangelism, entitled Soul-Winning Made Easy. In it, he describes “the controlled conversation technique,” which “ignores excuses and complete side-steps the explosive area of religious debate.” Instead, Lovett focuses on Revelation 3: Jesus knocking on the door of our hearts …

March 21, 2022

So far in this series on pastoral character, we've considered the role of the pastor's piety and the pastor's holiness upon his ministry. Those articles have largely been cautionary, warning pastors against the particular temptations that come in ministry. But what should a pastor cultivate positively in order to grow in pastoral character? Spurgeon's first …

July 5, 2021

Iain Murray once observed that Spurgeon wrote and preached so much that people can basically cherry-pick quotes from his works to support virtually any position, even those he would’ve adamantly opposed. Such has been the case with the topic of plagiarizing sermons recently. Every few years, this controversy resurfaces. Some are quick to condemn it, …

December 1, 2020

Charles and Susie Spurgeon’s engagement in August of 1854 got off to a great start. There was no elaborate setting with balloons and fireworks—just a simple garden. It seems that Charles never said, “I love you,” to Susie until he was ready to say, “will you marry me?”  Susie said “yes,” and such marked the …