On Things Learned from a Country Preacher

It would take just over half an hour to get there...

and was usually a pleasant drive through small English villages, fields and pastures.

Unless it was one of the days that I was on my own...

On those days it always felt like I'd run the whole way!

By the time I got the children dressed,

and made the drive in a vehicle that spent more time in the shop than out of it?

I was exhausted! 

But just being there gave me a chance to catch my breath (and restore my soul)
before it was time to go home
and do it all over again in reverse.

Our little group of believers was made up of American and English Christians

and we recently were offered the use of a very special building
...

We had church in an old English independent chapel.  

Really old.

This building had witnessed Christians in worship consistently for years...

Even before there was such a thing as the United States of America!

There was a stone plaque inside that said as much.

Literally...

:-)

One Sunday, a pastor was visiting from "home".

I'd gotten there early and while I sat on the pew to catch my breath,
he walked around and pointed out the plaque to me while
admiring the unique architecture inside this old chapel.

"This is exactly the type of church where Spurgeon could have preached!"

It was a familiar place to me. 
It was my church. 

Amazing things happened there!

But I'd never taken the time to imagine someone like Spurgeon standing in the pulpit.  

Spurgeon was not a name I was familiar with until that Sunday.

The pastor said Spurgeon started his ministry preaching in small independent chapels all over this part of England since he was living in the area around Cambridge at the time.

And he was only in his teens! 

I didn't give it much more thought, but then...

 as I was reading a book about the history of lacemaking in this area, 

there was a note that caught my attention.  

It said that said the mother of Charles Haddon Spurgeon had been a lacemaker.

Each time, he became more endearing, this country preacher.

Back in the states, I read his book, "All of Grace" and became a fan.

It wasn't until years later when I had access to the internet that I was able to discover more about him.

For instance, he read Pilgrim's Progress at the age of 6!

His mother, the lacemaker, had 17 children; not even half survived their baby years.

Life came with hardships and Spurgeon would know many.

He became a very popular preacher.

At the age of 19, was invited to move from this quiet countryside
to be the pastor of the largest Baptist congregation in London.

Sounds like exciting times, but they were hard days.

 During his first year in London, 20,000 people died from cholera.

England became involved in the Crimean War.

It was 1854.

His popularity only increased.

And this when he was only 22.

In 1856 he married.  Before they celebrated their first anniversary, they were parents to twin boys.

And one day short of the twins 1st month birthday, Spurgeon would face something that would have an effect on him for the rest of his life... 

Remember he was in the midst of major adjustments at home...
a new wife and two new babies!

His church had grown to thousands and had to move to a new building to accommodate the crowds.  

In his first sermon in this new place, someone shouted "fire".

You can probably imagine the confusion as 10,000 people tried to leave the building 

while an unsuspecting 12,000 outside still tried to get in. 

When it was over, there were 7 people who had died and 28 badly injured.

Spurgeon was never the same, and dealt with depression the rest of his days.

It doesn't take much to imagine the depths of depression that he experienced in the years following.

It probably doesn't surprise you to know that he never again used the same text.

or that it is said he almost quit preaching altogether.

Yet he still preached.

Still shared the gospel message.

Still recommended the grace of God.

And still pursued hope.

He did not walk away from God.

This kind of life will always have my attention.

A life depending on God can face hardship with faith

 by hanging on, by leaning hard, by taking one step at a time...

Depending on God who proves faithful again and again.

This is how I want to live my life.

For too long I thought that depression had no place in the life of a Christian.

I was wrong.

 Spurgeon is now a regular part of my devotional reading; 

Morning & Evening, his devotional classic.

Even having read it for years now,

 I still find fresh encouragement that I'd not seen before, 

 I highly recommend it.

Every day and every page he points to Jesus.

Why wouldn't he?  

Jesus is the only one who knows our every struggle.  

And who else sees every tear?

Does He not know?

"He was despised and rejected by men, a man of suffering who knew what sickness was"

(Isaiah 53:3)

"Doubt not his grace because of thy tribulation, 

but believe that He loveth thee as much in seasons of trouble as in times of happiness. "  

CH Spurgeon

After all that Charles Haddon Spurgeon went through, 

I think he is a perfect spokesman to share the news 

that no matter what you face... Jesus knows.

And Jesus cares. 

Always.

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I have been able to make many connections to lacemakers and Christians who lived in this part of England.  

For instance, you can find old bobbins that are inscribed with the name "John Bunyan",

 the author of Pilgrim's Progress.  

The  woman who first taught me had one of these special bobbins. 

The author of the book I spoke of earlier, "Romance of the Lace Pillow" shared that there would have been many bobbins inscribed this way 

because there were few of the lacemakers in this area that had more books than their copy of the Bible and Pilgrim's Progress.

This makes it even more interesting to me that the book Pilgrim's Progress would have been a favorite of his (he read it over 100 times), seeing how his mother was a lacemaker.

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If you are interested in reading more, let me recommend a book

"Spurgeon's Sorrows"

by Zack Eswine

He has researched Spurgeon's many sermons and writings to bring us encouragement for those who suffer and those who love them.

And he does it in a wonderful way.

One of my very most favorite books ever.

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