Why Pray For Revival?

Good Growth but where are the conversions?
My own observation over the last few decades in churches I’m connected with, is that we’ve got better at thinking through strategies for growth, and we’ve been able to gather and retain the believers who have come to us. It’s been good. Our concern however, must surely be that we are seeing less baptisms of recent converts. Many of our baptisms are of folk who have joined us from churches that don’t practice believers’ baptism, or from our wonderful young people who have grown up in Christian families and who now want to make their own decision to obey the Lord Jesus.

Likewise, your church may be growing for reasons other than effective evangelism. Over these past decades the church-planting movements have got better at serving believers (which is vital), but have we really improved evangelistically? Of the last ten people baptised in your church, how many were converts from genuinely non-believing backgrounds? Please add a comment if you’re bucking the trend – and tell us how!

Those evangelists, and evangelistic pastors, among us have been exhorting us to evangelism. But the unnerving thing is whether there’s any spiritual shift towards conversions. I’m not sure.

Fantasy or Reality?
At the same time, some leaders feel the call to pray for revival is almost like chasing fantasy rather than facing reality. There was an English sitcom where Wolfie Smith, ‘the self-proclaimed leader of the revolutionary Tooting Popular Front (merely a small bunch of his friends)’ would continually threaten, ‘Come the revolution….'[1] The comedy was, of course, that the suburban revolution would never come, and that Wolfie should have a nice cup of tea and a biscuit, and maybe get a job. Are our prayers for genuine culture-changing revival just as unrealistic? I don’t think so.

Persecutors cry, ‘What must we do to be saved?’
Wales 1859: ‘The additions to the churches in a very short period have been incredibly numerous. Now, at the end of February (1859) we could name more than twenty churches, each of which has received an addition of one hundred members, and several have received more than two hundred each. In many neighbourhoods, very few persons remain who have not made a profession of religion. There are considerable additions to the parish churches, (where the ministers have church meetings or societies,) and to the Independents, Baptists, and Wesleyans. About three thousand have been added to the Calvinistic Methodists alone. The fire is spreading still.'[2]

and…’We see that something awfully strong takes hold of the minds of the people. Some, after they are deeply wounded under the ministry, attempt to go away. We have seen numbers with weeping eyes leaving the house of God, but unable to go further than the door; they feel compelled to return again, and offer themselves as candidates for admission into the Church. In some cases. entire families have done this. You might see, at the close of the public service, twenty or thirty of the worst characters remaining behind, to be spoken to and prayed for. They appear as if they had been shot by the truth. They are as easily managed as lambs. Some who had persecuted the revival have been led to cry, “What must we do to be saved?”‘[3]

Pray, Pray, Pray
The historians of this revival insist it was preceded by prayer: ‘When the stated Sabbath arrived, we were blessed with remarkable earnestness at the throne of grace for the descent of the Holy Spirit to revive the Church and convert the world. Ever since that memorable Sabbath, the prayer meetings presented a new aspect-they gradually increased in warmth and number during the following months. This continued to February [1859] … when it pleased Jehovah to pour down His Spirit from on high, as on the day of Pentecost.'[4]

And…’By the closing months of that year [1858] very many of the Welsh churches had applied themselves to diligent and fervent prayer for revival, so that what has been said of the Ulster Revival of 1859 is also true of the Welsh Revival, it was born in prayer.'[5]

In Luke 18 we read that, ‘Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.’ Many of our churches are strong but may be on the cusp of decline unless we pray for conversions to take place. For our non-believing neighbours to be born again. We thank God for every addition either from other churches, or other countries where Christianity has produced large numbers of converts. But we need to see our own conversions among those who live in our towns and cities. And prayer for revival, for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit that causes us to be bold and to speak up, and to see the power of God change lives, this is no fantasy. This is what God promised us: ‘You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’ Acts 1.8

Let’s keep praying.

Note. By revival we mean an outpouring of the Holy Spirit coupled with evangelism that leads to many non-believers being converted and added to the churches. The ‘revival’ in this sense is a revival of the presence of God, and the power of the gospel coming through freshly empowered Christians. The dominant characteristic is the tangible power of the Holy Spirit leading to conviction of sin, and lasting conversions. There is an alternative definition within the USA, which refers to a series of special meetings aimed at reviving existing believers in their faith. This website and this article refers to the first definition, although in every revival believers are definitely ‘revived’ and regular church gatherings are infused with dynamic energy and faith.

©2024 Lex Loizides / Church History Review

Pics: top: Jubilee Community Church, Cape Town, 2024 (city-wide youth meeting). Middle: Actor Robert Lindsay in the BBC role that made him a household name. Pic: independent.co.uk
[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizen_Smith
[2]Quoted by Thomas Phillips, The Welsh Revival, p.21 (1989, reprint from 1860, Banner of Truth)
[3] ibid p20
[4]Eifon Evans, Revival Comes to Wales, p.37 (1959, 1967 Evangelical Press of Wales)
[5] ibid p40

Charismatic Gifts in Church History

Recently I had the opportunity of sitting down with Jez Field to discuss and enjoy some examples of remarkable gifts of the Holy Spirit from various periods of church history. It was such an enjoyable conversation and, as you’ll hear, we only got to a few stories, but they are so inspiring. To hear Spurgeon recount how he had a miraculously specific word of knowledge, and then to find the actual verbatim transcript of it happening, was just thrilling.

And it all reminds us that as preachers and as those quietly sharing our faith with others, that God is active, and an ear to Him as we speak could yield wonderful results.

I hope you enjoy this interview. On Apple podcasts:

You can also listen here on soundcloud:

Enjoy!

Guided to the Word by a Voice

The Unlikely Conversion of Sheilagh Kaiser
I haven’t included any contemporary accounts on the Church History Review, but I am going to make an exception. I met Sheilagh at her Aunt Cassy’s funeral – or more precisely at the wake at a very smart house in the southern suburbs of Cape Town. Sheilagh gave what I expected would be a normal eulogy. But as she spoke of how she encountered God’s love I was thunderstruck that her Aunt Cassy, a quiet, humble ‘little old lady’,  had broken through so many points of resistance to share the gospel with her. This post may seem a little long – believe me, you will not regret setting some time aside to read the story. I’ve put this online not because the recipient of God’s grace was a very wealthy person, but because of the obedience of a humble Christian to speak about Jesus to others. I’ll let Sheilagh take it from here:

A Privileged Home
I grew up in a privileged home, the daughter of hoteliers Ray and Doreen Roberts. And Cassy Cunningham was Doreen’s oldest sister, so Cassy was my aunt. My father owned popular hotels and many people came for holidays. Cassy and her son Michael were often with us over the holidays from Joburg. Cassy was strange; she would talk about Jesus every chance she got. And this irritated my very worldly father. He called her a fruitcake but was tolerant of her so long as she didn’t preach to him. As children we picked up on this attitude and shared in the disrespect. As a family, we grew up with plenty. Plenty of everything: the best schools, hotel food, servants, cars, and whatever we wanted. I was a complete stranger to lack and didn’t notice others who had lack and needs.

Financial Success
I moved from Durban to Joburg after College and began selling real estate. I became successful at a young age, selling blocks of flats and then sectionalising them for individual sectional title sale. At 23 I was fortunate enough to land a very exciting and prosperous job which required I move back to Durban where I settled in Umhlanga Rocks. I quickly rose through the ranks and became the Sales Manager of the operation. We sold Umhlanga Sands, and then I moved to Plettenberg Bag to sell at the Beacon Island Hotel. I enjoyed the best of everything. I rubbed shoulders with the rich and famous, sailed on yachts – had a beautiful place overlooking the sea, drove an expensive sports car, flew in the company Lear Jet. I was 24 and had everything a young person could wish for. Many asked for an opportunity to work for me. I was responsible for hiring and firing.

Something Important Missing
When I wasn’t working I would jog along the beach on the Roberg side of the mountain, which was flat with a long stretch to jog comfortably for quite a distance. One evening I was jogging. It was beautiful weather – the moon was rising over the ocean, casting a moon beam on the water-logged sand. Dolphins were surfing the waves on my left. I was conscious of being in a beautiful place, but there was an emptiness in my heart which I could not explain. Something was missing, but I had no idea what it was. I tried to run towards the moonbeam. I was running faster and faster, jumping, running backwards, but always the moonbeam was just out of reach – always ahead of me. I couldn’t catch up to it. I stood on the beach that evening and was confounded as to what was missing. What did I need? What did I want? What was the problem? I looked up at the stars which were starting to come out and I prayed a silent prayer. I said, ‘God if you are real I want to know you.’  I didn’t want religion – I wanted to know God if that was possible. I had no idea that I had just prayed the most important prayer of my life.

That was in November 1983. In December I went to Cape Town to a New Year’s Eve party. It was a who’s who of Cape Town people. I remember that beach party so clearly. I had the sense that there was a change coming – I thought maybe it would come with the New Year. When midnight came everyone whooped and hollered and I realised even more that I was missing something: this feeling of joy. Again I looked up at the stars and prayed a silent prayer that change would come.

The Embarrassment of Auntie Cassy
I returned to Plett around the 2^nd January. On 4^th January 1984 I was sitting in my office at the Beacon Island Hotel, overlooking the green lawns and beautiful blue ocean when a young boy came up to my desk and tapped my arm saying, ‘Hello Aunty Sheilagh!’  
I recognised him as Michael and wondered where his mom Cassy was. Inwardly I groaned as I didn’t want to be preached to.  She had arrived on the island with two friends. They were staying in Knysna on holiday. Cassy later told me that God had told her to come and see me in Plett and talk to me about my soul. She had argued with God saying that I was not very receptive but she finally obeyed and came to see me.

I was very conscious of my appearance and keeping up with the Jones’s. Cassy and her friends looked like Methodist missionaries! I was not very proud of my visitors. I figured I’d give them refreshments and set them on their way as quickly as possible. We sat at a table on the lawn with this incredibly beautiful view. My very important, wealthy friends and clients were coming and going among the tables. Cassy narrowed her eyes and gave her disarming smile and asked, ‘Sheilagh, how is your relationship with God?’ I was expecting something like this. I quickly replied, ‘Oh Cass, I’m a good person, I give to the poor and don’t harm people.’ 

I didn’t want this line of questioning – I wanted this over! She said that it wasn’t about do’s and don’ts – it was about a relationship with Jesus – did I have a relationship with Jesus? Well of course I didn’t, but this wasn’t the time or place to discuss this! Then her friend also started to talk to me about Jesus. Something held me in my place while they started talking about Jesus. They told me that I should ask Him into my heart. Finally I said I would do it at home later that night, but they said, ‘Today is the day of salvation.’ 

Pierced to the Heart
The words pierced my heart. They asked me to pray after them, and I did. I invited Jesus into my heart and life. Suddenly I felt Jesus standing behind me. It felt as though a can opener went around my head and the lid was lifted off backwards. I felt myself fill up with a glorious something – it started at my feet and went right through my body until it passed through my heart region. I felt my spirit and my smile connect for the first time in my life. Then the lid was put back and I knew I had everything I had wished for. I was full. I had found what I was looking for. I walked back into my office and my staff asked me what had happened to me as I was shining. I dismissed it as sunshine.

Following the voice!
That evening I left work early. Usually I was at the hotel until all hours of the night. I loved my job and it never felt like work to me. This night I was home before 6pm. I knew something had happened to me but didn’t know what it was. I sat on my bed and prayed out loud.
I said, ‘God what must I do?’ 
I heard an audible voice coming from the righthand side saying, ‘Sheilagh go and get your Bible.’ 
My Bible? I didn’t have a Bible! I remembered someone had left a small New Testament among my books from years before and I had boxes of books downstairs unopened. I ran to open the boxes – there was no Bible. I ran back upstairs and sat down. I prayed again, ‘I don’t have a Bible, what must I do?’ 
I heard the audible voice again saying, ‘Go and buy your Bible.’ I looked at my watch. It was 6.10pm. Where was I to buy a Bible in Plett, at 6.10pm (this was January 1984 remember)? 
I felt that I must get in my car. This voice was guiding me, telling me to turn right, turn left, stop etc. Finally I came to a shop that I thought was an Estate Agency – until I saw letters in the window saying , ‘Jesus loves you.’ I argued with this voice saying that they would not be open this time of night. Then I saw movement in the shop, so I parked and walked in.

A Vow Broken
At the age of 15 I had made an internal vow to never cry again. Ever. I was now 24 and had been faithful to that vow. However, when I walked into the store I felt tears welling up in me, and instantly felt ashamed of the tears and wanted to run out the shop. Why was I crying? I walked in saying, ‘I have come for….’ The shop assistant interrupted, saying, ‘…your Bible!’ She handed me a Bible. I was speechless. How did she know? She told me that her shop was never open past 4pm every day, but this day God had spoken to her and told her that He was sending someone in the shop to buy a Bible and told her which to give me. I was so thrilled I wrote her a huge cheque!

Off I went with my Bible in my sports car. Before this experience, I used to go to the top of Roberg mountain to meditate. Now I went there with my Bible. I didn’t know how to read it or where to start, so I asked the voice. I said, ‘Where must I start reading?’ 
I heard Him say, ‘Start in the Book of James.’ I didn’t know there was a book of James, but I looked it up and lo and behold there it was! I wondered why I should start reading from the back of the book, but made a calculation that God was a Hebrew, and Hebrews read from back to front…!

Finally, I Found what I was Looking For
I was 24 years of age and I had started on a marvellous adventure with God. I would fly to Cape Town every weekend to go to church. God sent friends to me to help me, teach me, encourage me. My life changed dramatically and instantly. I had a thirst for the word of God. I was truly Born Again. All the material gain I had was nothing compared with the gain of Christ. I was transformed by the love of Christ. I was 24 years old, and had clamoured for success and wealth, and things had come easily to me. But I was never satisfied – there was always something missing. Finally I had found what it was I was looking for. I am 60 yrs of age today and I’m still serving Christ, grateful for his love and what he has done in my life.

I’m so thankful that Cassy took time that day to overcome her resistance and to reach out to me, despite the fact she knew I was not interested. I was the least likely person to hear and receive, but it was my time, and God prevailed over my stubborn pride.

Sheilagh Kaiser

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Revival! It’s time to pray!

‘Thank God, the days in which we now live are days of blessedness and glory! The Kingdom of Christ is now everywhere making unexampled progress. Sinners are being brought to repentance, not in small numbers – ‘one of a city, and two of a family (or tribe)’ – but in multitudes!’ Thomas Phillips [1]

Beginning with this post I am going to tell the story of the 1859 revival in Wales. I’ll confine myself mainly to two sources (although feel free to send me more in the comments section): Thomas Phillips’ The Welsh Revival: its origin and development (Banner of Truth), and Eifion Evans’ excellent Revival Comes to Wales (Evangelical Press of Wales).

We’ve been stirred once again by news of ‘outpourings‘ upon believers, and of a deeper commitment to Christ among them. May that news from around the globe, and even these posts about God’s amazing work in Wales in the 19th Century, stir you to prayer for an outpouring of the Spirit that propels the church into the world, and draws unbelievers to Christ and to His purposes.

Eifion Evans: ‘To the vast majority of Welsh churches in 1859, revival was neither a new nor a strange phenomenon. Many of their members had witnessed previous manifestations of God’s presence and power, even if they had not experienced them themselves.
Consequently, when news reached Wales that a remarkable revival had broken out in America, most of the leaders in the churches were fully aware of the implications and effects of such a gracious, divine visitation.
They were constrained to survey their own spiritual condition, and became gravely concerned at finding a serious deficiency in true godliness amongst the members, and an alarming ineffectiveness in the witness of the churches.
As they applied themselves to prayer, they requested that God should do in their land what He had been pleased to do so many times before within living memory, and what He was doing at that time in America.’ [2]

In the posts that will follow, we’ll be astonished at the sheer power of the Spirit of God as He works among communities, and in the transformation of individual lives of non-Christians, bringing them to genuine repentance and faith in Christ. We’ll see that churches, which had begun to accept the decline of Christianity in their towns, were revolutionised by an influx of newly converted men and women. Oh, let’s pray for such an outpouring again. For the early and latter rain of God’s Spirit upon us and in our cities.

Click here to read about some powerful Holy Spirit revivals in Wales

[1] Phillips, The Welsh Revival, p.viii (1989, reprint from 1860, Banner of Truth)
[2] Evans, Revival Comes to Wales, p.9 (1959, 1967 Evangelical Press of Wales)

©2023 Lex Loizides / Church History Review

CH Spurgeon on Building Missional Churches

The young Charles Spurgeon, in classic pose

Evangelistically Relevant Church Meetings
CH Spurgeon was one of the most evangelistically effective local church leaders. When he began preaching at New Park Street (later The Metropolitan Tabernacle) in Southwark, London, crowds gathered and many Londoners were converted. The congregation grew and an auditorium seating 5000 was built to accommodate those gathering. Some biographers credit the astonishing growth to Spurgeon’s oratorical skill, some to his ability to connect with the working classes, some to his faithfulness to ‘the old gospel’ and his love for George Whitefield, and a few mention that God was doing an amazing thing in the latter part of the 19th Century in England – something close to revival. But it is extremely rare to hear biographers and commentators highlight the biographical reason for Spurgeon’s evangelistic clarity. When he had come under conviction of sin and was desperately seeking forgiveness; desperate to get right with God, he visited church after church hoping for answers but didn’t find them! It wasn’t that the churches he visited were liberal. Not at all. He deliberately visited Bible-believing, Bible-preaching evangelical churches. But they were missing the mark without realising it. None of them were directly addressing the needs of the non-believer. None of them were evangelistically relevant. In the first volume of his autobiography he writes of his experience before finally hearing the gospel from ‘an uneducated’ man in a Primitive Methodist chapel:

‘While under concern of soul, I resolved that I would attend all the places of worship in the town where I lived, in order that I might find out the way of salvation. I was willing to do anything, and be anything, if God would only forgive my sin. I set off, determined to go round to all the chapels, and I did go to every place of worship, but for a long time I went in vain. I do not, however, blame the ministers. One man preached Divine Sovereignty. I could hear him with pleasure, but what was that sublime truth to a poor sinner who wished to know what he must do to be saved ? There was another admirable man who always preached about the law, but what was the use of ploughing up ground that needed to be sown? Another was a practical preacher. I heard him, but it was very much like a commanding officer teaching the manoeuvres of war to a set of men without feet … I went again, another day, and the text was something about the glories of the righteous: nothing for poor me! I was like a dog under the table, not allowed to eat of the children’s food. I went time after time, and I can honestly say that I do not know that I ever went without prayer to God, and I am sure there was not a more attentive hearer than myself in all the place, for I panted and longed to understand how I might be saved.’ (See his The Autobiography of Charles H Spurgeon, Vol 1. (1897 London: Passmore and Alabaster) p.104-105)
It was this experience – visiting Bible-believing churches that only preached ‘the gospel’ to the already convinced – that put a resolve in Spurgeon’s heart to never forget the non-believer. It gave him the necessary perspective – the experience of the outsider – which was so helpful to him, and which was a key to the growth of the Metropolitan Tabernacle in Victorian London.

Our Main Business
OK, to some riveting quotes that gives us a clue as to how, throughout his preaching ministry, Spurgeon kept the evangelistic flame alive. I hope you enjoy them.

‘Our main business, brethren, is to win souls.’1

‘I love a religion which consists, in a great measure, of emotion.’2

To see Spurgeon lead sinners in a ‘sinners prayer’ (which is very definitely what he is doing), and then give assurance that ‘if that came from your heart you are as safe as the angels of heaven’, see his sermon ‘What Have I Done?’ (on Jer 8.6) vol4.271

‘Oh! Come, let us one and all approach the mercy-seat, and plead the blood. Let us each go and say, “Father, I have sinned; but have mercy upon me, through thy Son.” Come, drunkard, give me thy hand; we will go together. Harlot, give me thy hand too; and let us likewise approach the throne And you, professing Christians, come ye also, be not ashamed of your company. Let us come before his presence with many tears, none of us accusing our fellows, but each one accusing himself; and let us plead the blood of Jesus Christ, which speaketh peace and pardon to every troubled conscience.’3

‘Sinners are converted under the man whose eloquence is rough and homely.’4

‘You cannot preach Christ and not get a congregation.’5

Conversion on the Spot
‘The truest reward of our life-work is to bring dead souls to life. I long to see souls brought to Jesus every time I preach.’6

‘Men are passing into eternity so rapidly that we must have them saved at once…From all our congregations a bitter cry should go up unto God, unless conversions are continually seen.’7

‘Let us have a genuine faith in everything that God has revealed. Have faith, not only in its truth but in its power; faith in the absolute certainty that, if it be preached, it will produce glorious results.’8

‘The production of faith is the very centre of the target at which you aim.’9

‘I know some brethren who preach as if they were prize-fighters…All the way through the sermon they appear to be calling upon someone to come up and fight them.’10 (He’s not recommending this!)

‘Just when they reckon that you are sure to say something very precise and straight, say something awkward and crooked, because they will remember that, and you will have tied a gospel knot where it is likely to remain.’11

The Importance of the Gospel
‘Do try, dear brethren, to give your hearers something beside a string of pathetic anecdotes that will set them crying. Tell the people something: you are to teach them; to preach the gospel to your hearers.’12

‘Preach as you would plead if you were standing before a judge, and begging for the life of a friend…Use such a tone in pleading with sinners as you would use if a gibbet were erected in this room, and you were to be hanged on it unless you could persuade the person in authority to release you.’13

‘I have often felt just like this when I have been preaching: I have known what it is to use up all my ammunition, and then I have, as it were, rammed myself into the great gospel gun, and I have fired myself at my hearers.’14

‘Preach Jesus Christ, brethren, always and everywhere; and every time you preach be sure to have much of Jesus Christ in the sermon.’15

‘There ought to be enough of the gospel in every sermon to save a soul…Always take care that there is the real gospel in every sermon.’16

‘I command men in the name of Jesus to repent and believe the gospel, though I know they can do nothing of the kind apart from the grace of God.’17

‘Something of the shadow of the last tremendous day must fall upon our spirit to give the accent of conviction to our message of mercy…’18

‘Do not close a single sermon without addressing the ungodly.’19

‘Aim distinctly at immediate conversions’20

‘Great hearts are the main qualifications for great preachers.’21

‘Sinners are quick-witted people, and soon detect even the smallest effort to glorify self.’22

In conclusion then, if you are a pastor or preacher, and if you want to see the influence of the gospel increase in your town, don’t forget the example of Spurgeon. Being ‘faithful’ to the Bible is good – he doesn’t blame the ministers for that – but don’t forget the non-believer, the outsider. Make that person – the not-yet-converted – a key member of your expected audience as you prepare to preach, and in your delivery, and then trust God for conversions, for new birth to follow.

For the first in this series on CH Spurgeon click here

¹ CHS, lecture, Qualifications for Soul-Winning – Godward
² CHS, sermon, The Tomb of Jesus
³ CHS, sermon, Confession and Absolution
⁴ CHS, sermon, The Necessity of the Spirit’s Work
⁵ CHS, sermon, An Excellent Enquiry
⁶ CHS, sermon, What we would be
⁷ CHS, sermon, What we would be
⁸ CHS, sermon, Power in Delivering Our Message
⁹ CHS, lecture, What is it to win a soul?
¹⁰ CHS, lecture, Qualifications for Soul-Winning – Manward
¹¹ CHS, lecture, Sermons Likely to Win Souls
¹² CHS, lecture, Sermons Likely to Win Souls
¹³ CHS, lecture, Sermons Likely to Win Souls
¹⁴ CHS, lecture, Sermons Likely to Win Souls
¹⁵ CHS, lecture, Sermons Likely to Win Souls
¹⁶ CHS, lecture, Sermons Likely to Win Souls
¹⁷ CHS, sermon, How to Win Souls for Christ
¹⁸ CHS, sermon, How to Win Souls for Christ
¹⁹ CHS, Lectures to My Students
²⁰ CHS, Lectures to My Students
²¹ CHS, Lectures to My Students
²² CHS, Lectures to My Students

©2021 Lex Loizides / Church History Review

CH Spurgeon’s Practical Calvinism

Great Quotes by Spurgeon (part 3)
We’ve been enjoying some wonderful quotes by the 19th Century Baptist preacher CH Spurgeon. This third selection demonstrates how his love for Reformed theology in no way hindered his passion to preach the gospel to those outside the Christian faith. As many missionaries had discovered before him, and many since, the great doctrines of grace are a spur towards evangelistic activity, as well as to persevering under seasons of apparent unfruitfulness. Enjoy!

Unashamed Practical Calvinism
‘I have been charged with being a mere echo of the Puritans, but I had rather be the echo of truth, than the voice of falsehood.’ 1

‘He thought of [you] before [you had] a being. When as yet the sun and the moon were not – when the sun, the moon, and the stars slept in the mind of God like unborn forests in an acorn cup.’ 2

‘Do you think that Christ will let the devil beat him? that he will let the devil have more in hell than there will be in heaven? No: it is impossible. For then Satan would laugh at Christ. There will be more in heaven than there are among the lost. God says that there will be a number that no man can number who will be saved.’ 3

‘It has been recently declared by some ministers that certain ages are more likely to be converted than other ages. We have heard persons state that should a man outlive thirty years of life, if he has heard the gospel, he is not at all likely to be saved; but we believe a more palpable, bare-faced lie was never uttered in the pulpit; for we have ourselves known multitudes who have been saved at forty, fifty, sixty, and even bordering on the grave at eighty. We find some promises in the Bible made to some particular conditions; but the main, the great, and the grand promises, are made to sinners as sinners; they are made to the elect, to the chosen ones, irrespective of their age or condition. We behold, that the man who is old can be justified in the same way as the man who is young; that the robe of Christ is broad enough to cover the strong, full-grown man, as well as the little child. We believe the blood of Christ avails to wash out seventy years as well as seventy days of sin; that “with God there is no respect of persons. “ that all ages are alike to him, and that “whosoever cometh unto Christ, he will in nowise cast out”…’ 4

‘We can say concerning his love that it has never been diminished by all the sins we have ever committed since we believed. We have been verily guilty, and we blush to say it. We have often revolted, but we have never found him unwilling to forgive. We have gone to him laden with guilt, but we have come away with our burden removed. Oh! if God could ever cast away his people, he would have cast away me. I am sure God never turns his children out of doors, or this had been my lot long ago.’ 5

‘Unfaithful I have been; he has forgiven that, and will forgive; but unfaithful to me he never has been.’ 6

More next time…

1 CHS, sermon, Faith
2 CHS, sermon, Love
3 CHS, sermon, Heaven and Hell
4 CHS, sermon, The God of the Aged
5 CHS, sermon, A Psalm of Remembrance
6 CHS, sermon, A Psalm of Remembrance

To read the first post in this series on the preacher CH Spurgeon click here
©2021 Lex Loizides / Church History Review

CH Spurgeon on Personal Evangelism

In 1886, in his later years, CH Spurgeon, writing in 1886 to a younger leader, said, ‘Go on to win souls. It is the only thing worth living for. God is much glorified in by conversions, and therefore this should be the great object of life.’ 1

Ans way back, when he was just aged fifteen, he wrote to his mother, ‘I have 70 people whom I regularly visit on Saturday. I do not give a tract, and go away; but I sit down, and endeavour to draw their attention to spiritual realities.’ 2

On the attractiveness of the gospel: ‘I challenge any man to hold his heart back when Jesus comes for it: when he displays himself, when he takes the veil off our eyes and lets us look at his lovely face, shows us his wounded hands and his bleeding side, methinks there is no heart but must be drawn forth to him.’ 3

‘The gospel invitation is not for tomorrow, but for today.’ 4

‘Behave yourselves, Christian brethren, for you bear a great Name.’ 5

‘Our mission is to perpetuate on earth the love of the Saviour’ 6

‘I do not trust in the dead sinner’s power to live, but in the power of the gospel to make him live.’ 7

‘Soul-winning is the chief business of the Christian minister; indeed, it should be the main pursuit of every true believer.’ 8

‘When preaching and private talk are not available, you have a tract ready, and this is often an effectual method. Some tracts would not convert a beetle: there is not enough in them to interest a fly. Get good striking tracts, or none at all. But a telling, touching gospel tract may often be the seed of eternal life; therefore, do not go out without your tracts.’ 9

‘It is far more pleasant to remember that there is a reward for bringing men to mercy, and that it is of a higher order than the premium for bringing men to justice.’ 10

‘Even if I were utterly selfish, and had no care for anything but my own happiness, I would choose, if I might, under God, to be a soul-winner, for never did I know perfect, overflowing, unutterable happiness of the purest and most ennobling order, till I first heard of one who had sought and found a Saviour through my means. I recollect the thrill of joy which went through me!’ 11

‘Don’t be all sugar, or the world will draw you down; but do not be all vinegar, or the world will spit you out.’ 12

More next time…

For the first part of this series on the life of CH Spurgeon click here

1 Letters of Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Banner of Truth:1992, p136
2 Letters of Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Banner of Truth:1992, p27
3  CHS, sermon, The Gracious Lips of Jesus
4 CHS, sermon, John Mark; or, Haste in Religion
5 CHS, sermon, The Minister in these Times
6 CHS, sermon, The Minister in these Times
7 CHS, sermon, The Minister in these Times
8 CHS, lecture, What is it to win a soul?
9 CHS, sermon, How to Win Souls for Christ
10 CHS, sermon, The Soul-Winner’s Reward
11 CHS, sermon, Soul-Winning Explained
12 CHS, John Ploughman’s Talk

©2021 Lex Loizides / Church History Review

The time I met William Booth, by Rudyard Kipling

Rudyard Kipling and William Booth

Rudyard Kipling on deck, notices a large crowd on the quay
About to sail from New Zealand to Australia, at the port of Invercargill, Rudyard Kipling, the author of The Jungle Book, Just So Stories etc, was surprised to see a large crowd bidding farewell to what must have been a VIP or celebrity.[1]

He writes, ‘General Booth of the Salvation Army came on board. I saw him walking backwards in the dusk over the uneven wharf, his cloak blown upwards, tulip-fashion, over his grey head, while he beat a tambourine in the face of the singing, weeping, praying crowd who had come to see him off.’

Report in The War Cry, 1891

Rough seas and a sick General
‘We stood out, and at once took the South Pacific. For the better part of a week we were swept from end to end, our poop was split, and a foot of two of water smashed through the tiny saloon. I remember no set meals. The General’s cabin was near mine, and in the intervals between crashes overhead and cataracts down below he sounded like a wounded elephant; for he was in every way a big man.’ 

How do you tell a woman you can see up her skirt while you’re preaching?
‘I saw no more of him till I had picked up my P&O [ship] which also happened to be his, for Colombo at Adelaide. Here all the world came out in paddle-boats and small craft to speed him on his road to India.
He spoke to them from our upper deck, and one of his gestures – an imperative, repeated, downward sweep of the arm – puzzled me, till I saw that a woman crouching on the paddle-box of a crowded boat had rucked her petticoats well up to her knees. In those days righteous woman ended at the neck and instep. Presently, she saw what was troubling the General. Her skirts were adjusted and all was peace and piety.’

Kipling tries to correct Booth on a number of issues
‘I talked much with General Booth during that voyage. Like the young ass I was, I expressed my distaste at his appearance on the Invercargill wharf. ‘Young feller,’ he replied, bending great brows at me, ‘if I thought I could win one more soul to the Lord by walking on my head and playing the tambourine with my toes, I’d – I’d learn how.’
He had the right of it (‘if by any means I can save some’) and I had decency enough to apologize. He told me about the beginnings of his mission, and how…his work must be a one-man despotism with only the Lord for supervisor.
‘Then why,’ I asked, ‘can’t you stop your Salvation lasses from going out to India and living alone native-fashion among natives?’ I told him something of village conditions in India. The despot’s defence was very human. ‘But what am I to do?’ he demanded. ‘The girls will go, and one can’t stop ‘em.’

‘Young feller! How’s your soul?’
‘I conceived great respect and admiration for this man with the head of Isaiah … but rather at sea among women. The next time I met him was at Oxford when Degrees were being conferred. He strode across to me in his Doctor’s robes, which magnificently became him, and, ‘Young feller,’ said he, ‘how’s your soul?’ I have always liked the Salvation Army…’ [2]

For more on Booth and the Salvation Army click here

[1] If you’re unfamiliar with Kipling, he was probably the most famous of the now nostalgic ‘Empire’ authors. George Orwell writes of him, ‘Kipling is a jingo imperialist, he is morally insensitive…He was the prophet of British imperialism in its expansionist phase.’ etc (Orwell, Essay: Rudyard Kipling)
[2] Rudyard Kipling, Something of Myself p.78f (first published 1937 by Macmillan. Quotes from Penguin Classics edition 1977)

©2020 Lex Loizides / Church History Review

‘You have sold your soul to Satan for fourpence!’

CH Spurgeon preaching at the Surrey Gardens Music Hall, Newington

The superiority of live preaching, as opposed to watching a video, is illustrated powerfully when it comes to charismatic gifts. CH Spurgeon, although he declared himself to be a cessationist, powerfully exercised what many pastors believe Paul describes as a ‘word of knowledge’ (see 1 Cor 12). In Spurgeon’s experience these seemed to happen without any forethought, but were sudden declarations of knowledge during his preaching. Most preachers will know something of this though not usually to the degree of accuracy we’re about to consider. Frankly, you’d expect this story to appear in a history of early Pentecostalism. Spurgeon writes, 

‘There were many instances of remarkable conversions at the Music Hall. One especially was so singular that I have often related it as a proof that God sometimes guides His servants to say what they would themselves never have thought of uttering, in order that He may bless the hearer for whom the message is personally intended. 

‘You have sold your soul to Satan for fourpence!’
‘While preaching in the hall, on one occasion, I deliberately pointed to a man in the midst of the crowd, and said, “There is a man sitting there, who is a shoemaker ; he keeps his shop open on Sundays, it was open last Sabbath morning, he took ninepence, and there was fourpence profit out of it; his soul is sold to Satan for fourpence!”’

The shoe seller tells the story from his side
Spurgeon continues, ‘A city missionary, when going his rounds, met with this man, and seeing that he was reading one of my sermons, he asked the question, “Do you know Mr. Spurgeon?” 
“Yes,” replied the man, “I have every reason to know him, I have been to hear him; and, under his preaching, by God’s grace I have become a new creature in Christ Jesus. Shall I tell you how it happened? 
I went to the Music Hall, and took my seat in the middle of the place. Mr. Spurgeon looked at me as if he knew me, and in his sermon he pointed to me, and told the congregation that I was a shoemaker, and that I kept my shop open on Sundays. And I did, sir.”

Stunning accuracy
“I should not have minded that, but he also said that I took ninepence the Sunday before, and that there was fourpence profit out of it. I did take ninepence that day, and fourpence was just the profit. But how he should know that, I could not tell. Then it struck me that it was God who had spoken to my soul through him, so I shut up my shop the next Sunday. At first, I was afraid to go again to hear him, lest he should tell the people more about me, but afterwards I went, and the Lord met with me, and saved my soul.”’ [i]

As we gradually return to live preaching after the COVID lockdown, may we aspire to the heights of Spurgeon’s charismatic cessationism! 

More next time…
[i] CHS, The Early Years (1985 edition Edinburgh:Banner), p531-2
To read other articles about Spurgeon’s charismatic tendencies click here
To read the first article in this series on CH Spurgeon click here

©2020 Lex Loizides / Church History Review

Spurgeon the ‘Charismatic’ (Part 1)

Young CH Spurgeon

Saved by a butter-smeared sermon!
CH Spurgeon was one of the greatest Christian preachers in history; the ‘prince of preachers’. His weekly sermons were printed in pamphlet form and read by many thousands (25,000 sold each week in 1865)[1]. There are many stories of changed lives through these printed sermons, including one woman who was converted through reading the single page of a sermon that had been used to wrap some butter that she had purchased.[2]

Spurgeon joyfully retells these stories, and he was clear as to the source of his evangelistic influence: he was a man filled with the Holy Spirit. Spoiler Alert: CHS considered himself a cessationist. But as with all our great heroes of the Christian faith, the power of the Holy Spirit is deeply embedded in his story and his experience.

Words of Knowledge
His descriptions of his own words of knowledge (cf. 1 Cor 12.8) mid-sermon suggest a happy freeness in his spirit to follow the gift of the Holy Spirit. And with wonderful results. He writes, 

‘I could tell as many as a dozen similar cases in which I pointed at somebody in the hall without having the slightest knowledge of the person, or any idea that what I said was right, except that I believed I was moved by the Spirit to say it; and so striking has been my description, that the persons have gone away, and said to their friends, “Come, see a man that told me all things that ever I did. He must have been sent of God to my soul, or else he could not have described me so exactly.”‘ [3]

In the next few posts we’ll look at these cases and, I hope, be challenged afresh to ‘earnestly desire spiritual gifts’ as the Bible exhorts us.

To read about Spurgeon’s openness to the Holy Spirit click here
To read the first article in this series on CH Spurgeon click here

[1] https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/spurgeon-did-you-know/
[2] ibid
[3] CHS, The Early Years, (1985 edition Edinburgh: Banner, p532)

©2020 Lex Loizides / Church History Review

In Evangelism, just do a little thing

CH Spurgeon’ Autobiography reissued by the Banner of Truth Trust

In Evangelism, just do a little thing
I suppose the danger is that if we think we can’t make a significant impact, like bringing someone to the point of conversion, or something that seems powerful or meaningful, we tend to just back off. The small seems trivial, even superficial.
CH Spurgeon didn’t think so. At the age of sixteen, as a new believer in Christ, he wanted to make the most of every opportunity to somehow share his faith.
He writes, ‘The very first service which my youthful heart rendered to Christ was the placing of tracts in envelopes, and then sealing them up, that I might send them with the hope that God would bless them.’ [tract = small leaflet containing brief explanation/story/illustration of the gospel message. Note: this article is not about tracts, but more here.]

If Spurgeon had bumped into one of today’s believer he may well have been advised to stop doing something so superficial and apparently ‘non-relational’. But, as with most compassionate believers, Spurgeon wasn’t only giving information but actually trying to connect with people. He continues, ‘I well remember taking other tracts, and distributing them in certain districts of Newmarket, going from house to house, and telling, in humble language, the things of the kingdom of God. I might have done nothing for Christ if I had not been encouraged by finding myself able to do a little.’
Spurgeon went on to become one of Christianity’s most effective, and celebrated church-based evangelistic preachers.

Do those things you did at the beginning…
Writing of his earlier experiences he says, ‘ I could scarcely content myself even for five minutes without trying to do something for Christ. If I walked along the street, I must have a few tracts with me; if I went into a railway carriage, I must drop a tract out of the window; if I had a moment’s leisure, I must be upon my knees or at my Bible; if I were in company, I must turn the subject of conversation to Christ.’ He was sixteen years old. [i]
Happily for those around him Spurgeon refused to give up his youthful ways. Later in his journals we read that at age thirty-nine, ‘We have been for a drive to Lymington…I had a fine supply of tracts and sowed the region well.’ [ii]

Don’t despise the small opportunities you have to ‘sow’, whether inviting someone to Alpha, or to watch your church’s online service, or help a neighbour, or share an inspiring video on social media. Just do a little thing, and bring a blessing to your not-yet-convinced friends and folk around you.

[i] and prior quotes, CHS, The Early Years, (1973 edition Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, p156)
[ii] CHS, The Full Harvest, (1973, Edinburgh: Banner p228)

More next time…
To read the first article in this series on CH Spurgeon click here

©2020 Lex Loizides / Church History Review

Blessed Isolation #7 Learning to share the whole gospel, with CH Spurgeon

Is the gospel just an offer of forgiveness? Is there not a call to repent, to turn away from what’s wrong? How do we understand our responsibility to get the message out? Are we to be passive or active? And what are the joys of seeing people come to faith in Christ? Hearing several wonderful quotes from the book, I’m sure you’ll be inspired to speak up for the gospel.

The Soul Winner is available on Kindle
For more on CH Spurgeon click here
For a review and more quotes from this book click here
©2020 Lex Loizides / Church History Review

Blessed Isolation #4 On the Urgency of Sharing the Gospel

Many of us are spending more time on our computers and less time with people. But we still have opportunities to share our faith with respect, wisdom, and confidence.
Puritan Joseph Alleine was keen to share the gospel in his day and can, at the very least, inspire us to be more confident about sharing our faith today. (Recorded before the lockdown)

More on Joseph Alleine’s passion for souls here and here
Alleine’s book is available very cheaply on Kindle
©2020 Lex Loizides / Church History Review

The Romance of Conversion – CH Spurgeon

CH Spurgeon

What do we mean by ‘Preaching the Gospel’?
After an intense period of internal unease which Spurgeon frankly described as ‘conviction of sin’, he at last found peace. Having visited numerous churches where good, solid sermons were preached, but preached only to the Christian, he finally stumbled into a Primitive Methodist meeting and heard the gospel preached to the non-believer. Good Bible teachers may think they have preached the ‘gospel’ when they have merely expounded a passage of the Scriptures for the edification of the believer. That is not quite the same thing as would have been understood by figures like Spurgeon, Whitefield, or Hudson Taylor. Proclaiming the gospel generally meant declaring who Christ is, and what He has done, and would include the need for the ‘sinner’ to respond by repenting of sin and putting their faith in Christ. Preaching the gospel was generally understood as an evangelistic declaration to the non-believer (to that person who has not yet put their trust in Christ). The rest was often referred to merely as ‘preaching the whole counsel of God’.
CH Spurgeon was very clear about this distinction and emphasised the difference constantly. As we’ll see in future posts, one of the reasons the Metropolitan Tabernacle (the congregation Spurgeon led) grew to 5000 was because he was determined not to make the very mistake those wonderful Bible-believing churches had made when he was searching for God. Instead he preached the gospel faithfully week in and week out, sometimes preaching an exclusively evangelistic message, but usually dedicating a large section (often the final third) of his message to the non-Christian. The point is he did both. He addressed everyone in his audience. He always had an eye to connect with those who had not yet come to Christ, simply because he had personally experienced the difficulty of good expositions of biblical passages or themes but which were irrelevant to him prior to conversion. 

The Romance of Conversion
And he never lost the wonder of the grace of God expressed to him in his conversion. ‘Home, friends, health, wealth, comforts,’ he wrote, ‘all lost their lustre that day when He appeared, just as stars are hidden by the light of the sun. He was the only Lord and Giver of life’s best bliss, the one well of living water springing up unto everlasting life. As I saw Jesus on His cross before me, and as I mused upon His sufferings and death, methought I saw Him cast a look of love upon me; and then I looked at Him, and cried, “Jesu, lover of my soul, Let me to Thy bosom fly.”
He said, “Come,” and I flew to Him, and clasped Him; and when He let me go again, I wondered where my burden was. It was gone! There in the sepulchre it lay, and I felt light as air; like a winged sylph, I could fly over mountains of trouble and despair; and oh! what liberty and joy I had! I could leap with ecstasy, for I had much forgiven, and I was freed from sin. With the spouse in the Canticles [Song of Songs], I could say, “I found Him;” I, a lad, found the Lord of glory; I, a slave to sin, found the great Deliverer; I, the child of darkness, found the Light of life; I, the uttermost of the lost, found my Saviour and my God. [1]

Memorial Stone
In Bexhill-on-Sea in Sussex, when the church had completed its construction of a school hall, they laid a stone in memory of Spurgeon with this inscription:

HOW C. H. SPURGEON FOUND CHRIST.
“I looked to Him ;
He looked on me ;
And we were one for ever.”—C. H. S.
‘Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends 0f the earth; for I am God, and there is none else.’ —Isaiah xlv. 22.  [2]

More next time…
To read the first article in this series on CH Spurgeon click here
To read an encouragement from CH Spurgeon to help you begin to tell others about Christ click here

[1] The Autobiography of Charles H Spurgeon, Vol 1. (1897) London: Passmore and Alabaster, p. 109-110
[2] ibid p.109

©2020 Lex Loizides / Church History Review

The Irresistible Power of a Praying Mother

A Mother’s Influence
There were numerous positive influences in young CH Spurgeon’s life: he lived for a season with his grandfather, an Independent Pastor who faithfully preached the gospel; his father was also a pastor; a school cook, from whom he first heard unashamed confidence in the sovereignty of God; and the various teachers who impressed upon him the importance of the Bible. But there was a very special place reserved for the most influential spiritual voice during his childhood and teenage years – his mother, Eliza Spurgeon. 

Christian mothers should take heart from Spurgeon’s story and never give up praying for their children. Spurgeon describes more than prayer, as his mother was also instructing her children from the text of Scripture. Spurgeon mentions four key practices:

1. Sincere, heartfelt prayer, in private as well as with her children.
2. Time with the Bible, not only a Bible storybook, but actually reading a ‘grown-up’ Bible verse by verse.
3. This was followed by relevant application to each child of the verses that they read together.
4. In addition to that, she also read from the most relevant evangelistic books available. One of them was Joseph Alleine’s Alarm Call to the Unconverted – a passionate appeal (Spurgeon uses the word ‘pleading’) for those not yet right with God to consider their practices and beliefs.

‘I cannot tell how much I owe to…my good mother.’
Maybe there are some clues and keys in Spurgeon’s experience that will encourage us to be more confident in teaching our children so that they can make a well informed decision about their own faith and future. CHS writes:
‘I was privileged with godly parents…and taught the way of God from my youth up. There came a time when the solemnities of eternity pressed upon me for a decision. … When I was under concern of soul, the last persons I should have elected to speak to upon religion would have been my parents, not through want of love to them, nor absence of love on their part; but so it was. A strange feeling of diffidence pervades a seeking soul, and drives it from its friends. Yet I cannot tell how much I owe to the solemn words of my good mother. It was the custom, on Sunday evenings, while we were yet little children, for her to stay at home with us, and then we sat round the table, and read verse by verse, and she explained the Scripture to us. After that was done, then came the time of pleading; there was a little piece of Alleine’s Alarm, or of Baxter’s Call to the Unconverted, and this was read with pointed observations made to each of us as we sat round the table; and the question was asked, how long it would be before we would think about our state, how long before we would seek the Lord.’

A Mother’s Prayer
‘Then came a mother’s prayer, and some of the words of that prayer we shall never forget, even when our hair is grey. I remember, on one occasion her praying thus: ‘Now, Lord, if my children go on in their sins, it will not be from ignorance that they perish, and my soul must bear a swift witness against them at the day of judgment if they lay not hold of Christ.’ That thought of a mother’s bearing swift witness against me, pierced my conscience, and stirred my heart. …
I am sure that, in my early youth, no teaching ever made such an impression upon my mind as the instruction of my mother; neither can I conceive that, to any child, there can be one who will have such influence over the young heart as the mother who has so tenderly cared for her offspring. A man with a soul so dead as not to be moved by the sacred name of “mother” is creation’s blot. Never could it be possible for any man to estimate what he owes to a godly mother. Certainly I have not the powers of speech with which to set forth my valuation of the choice blessing which the Lord bestowed on me in making me the son of one who prayed for me, and prayed with me. How can I ever forget her tearful eye when she warned me to escape from the wrath to come.
I thought her lips right eloquent; others might not think so, but they certainly were eloquent to me. How can I ever forget when she bowed her knee, and with her arms about my neck, prayed, “Oh, that my son might live before Thee!” Nor can her frown be effaced from my memory,—that solemn, loving frown, when she rebuked my budding iniquities; and her smiles have never faded from my recollection,—the beaming of her countenance when she rejoiced to see some good thing in me towards the Lord God of Israel.’’

Abundant answers to Prayer
Of course, those of us who have benefited from the ministry of CH Spurgeon are still enjoying the results of his mother’s prayers. And she was, herself, thrilled at the incredible fruit that Charles saw through his work. Long after his preaching and church-planting ministry was established he recalled a conversation with his mother about her prayers:
‘My mother said to me, one day, “Ah, Charles! I often prayed to the Lord to make you a Christian, but I never asked that you might become a Baptist.” I could not resist the temptation to reply, “Ah, mother! The Lord has answered your prayer with His usual bounty, and given you exceeding abundantly above what you asked or thought.”‘[i]
More next time…

[i] The Autobiography of Charles H Spurgeon, Vol 1. (1897) London: Passmore and Alabaster, p.67-69

To read the first article in this series on CH Spurgeon click here
To read how Spurgeon was ‘convicted of sin’ click here

©2019 Lex Loizides / Church History Review

CH Spurgeon – the Prince of Preachers

CH Spurgeon the great Baptist preacher

‘Minnows! Minnows!’ said my colleague and much-loved pastor Don Smith, as he threw the book down on to the table. It span towards me. ‘Don’t bother with these minnows!’
I could see that the book was a new volume about the great 19th century preacher CH Spurgeon. ‘It’s like reading about a mighty whale through the eyes of a minnow: they want to tell you his secret, or make him agree with their views, or try and make him more respectable. You’re better off going to the man himself!’

Don and I were in the early stages of planting a church in the English coastal town of Eastbourne and our respect for each other, and our friendship, instantly sprang from our mutual admiration of the great preachers of church history, and especially Spurgeon.
There are a number of factors which make Spurgeon such an attractive subject for preachers and leaders in church life today, and as this series develops, we’ll enjoy them, drawing primarily on his own statements so that you get the whale and not the minnow. And all hopefully in bite-sized chunks.

We will be inspired by the fact that:
– After his conversion Spurgeon immediately began evangelising, and many doors opened for him
– He was an instant success with the working class, but treated with suspicion by well-educated, respectable ministers
– His sermons were so effective that literally thousands were converted
– His initial preaching in London drew sensational crowds and the interest of the secular press
– He was unashamedly committed to preaching from the Bible
– He was a proud Dissenter, never giving in to the pressures of elitist Christianity
– He was solidly calvinistic in doctrine and without doubt one of the most effective evangelists of the 19th century
– He was a master of off-the-cuff preaching, with an astonishing gift for illustration
– His collected sermons fill sixty-three large volumes. That series is the largest set of sermons by a single author in the history of Christianity
– Spurgeon is history’s most widely read preacher apart from the Biblical ones
– He was able to plant over two hundred churches from the time he founded a pastor’s college
– He suffered terrible losses in his personal life, and drew close to God, finding such tenderness in the presence of God that it deeply affected his preaching and writing
– He was committed to prayer, and to the church prayer meeting
– He enjoyed a beautiful family life, caring for his wife through her disability, and enjoying raising his sons
– He was theologically conservative but wide open to the supernatural activity of the Spirit
– He was committed to personal evangelism
– He was entirely self-educated, having neither university nor seminary training
– He was a voracious reader who soon became a bestselling author

The list goes on. If you’re a leader or a preacher in the Christian church the example and the wisdom of CH Spurgeon will delight your soul, inspire your faith, and spur you on to love and good works. I hope you enjoy this series.

To read how Spurgeon first questioned infant baptism click here
©2019 Lex Loizides / Church History Review

Catherine Booth – Mother of the Salvation Army

Catherine Booth

by guest writer, Sharon Bussey

‘While we have been standing upon our dignity, whole generations have gone to hell.’ Catherine Booth (1880)

These words penned by Catherine Booth over a hundred and thirty years ago, echo through the halls of time and rock our sense of complacency and self-satisfaction.

The co-founder of The Salvation Army, a slight woman of 5.6” with fiery eyes and dark hair, might have appeared weak and inferior to the untrained eye, but within her beat a heart of passionate love for the lost that forged her life’s choices from childhood until her untimely death at the age of sixty-one.

Her children knew her as mother and warrior: one who darned socks at the fireplace while, at the same time, preparing a sermon that she was to preach later that week. Her husband William cherished her as both wife and teammate in the daily war waged for the souls of men and women. In a world where women were considered more  ornament than orator, this Woman-Warrior stood firm on the spiritual battleground representing both the ‘fairer sex’ and the ‘fighting soldier’.

Perhaps some of her seminal writings can be found in Aggressive Christianity.[i] This compilation of The Army Mother’s sermons became the missional pulse that propelled the early Salvation Army into the dark streets and dirty alleys of the East End of London and across the seas into countries around the world.

The writings of Catherine Booth should come with a warning to all would be readers: CAUTION: READ AT YOUR OWN RISK. THIS WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE!

With the focused logic of a lawyer, Mrs. Booth laid out the foundations for Christian ‘warfare’.

Our warfare must be Aggressive
Booth describes a burning building. A family is asleep within the consuming flames and their death is imminent. How would we go about rescuing them? Would we quietly invite them to exit the burning building? Would we give them a choice and if they do not respond, say ‘Oh well, I’ve done my duty’? Or would we rush through the flames, forcibly wake them from slumber and pull them out of the fire? This, she asserts, is ‘aggressive warfare’.

Too often Christians have allowed themselves to become compromised. The world has convinced us that not all sin is sin; that being inclusive is more important than being holy. Others begin to set the standard of Christlikeness and very soon God’s standards are forgotten.

Similarly, she asserts, Christians allow themselves to become complacent. Our love for the lost gradually diminishes while our expectation of personal comfort increases. We begin to believe that the desire for salvation is the responsibility of the sinner and excuse ourselves of the responsibility to speak up.

Compromise and complacency are the silent killers of aggressive warfare.

‘Don’t let your relatives, and friends, and acquaintances die, and their blood be found on your skirts!!!!’

Our warfare must be Adaptive
‘There is no improving the future, without disturbing the present, and the difficulty is to get people to be willing to be disturbed.’

Here the analogy Booth uses is a cup, representing the methods we often engage to share the gospel. The water poured into the cup represents the pure gospel, the life-giving refreshment from God.

She contends that too often we are more concerned with the shape, colour and size of the cup than we are the purity of the water being poured. We can become rigidly committed to ‘form and ceremony’ while being oblivious to the fact that, in our determination to stay in the rut of ‘we have always done it this way’, we may be compromising the purity of the gospel.

Again Booth calls us out of our routines, our personal preferences, and comfort zones with these words: ‘Here is the principle laid down, that you are to adapt your measures to the necessity of the people to whom you minister; you are to take the Gospel to them in such modes and habitudes of thought and expression and circumstances, as will gain for it from them a hearing.’

Our warfare must be Anointed
The third analogy that the Army Mother employs is that of a witness in a courtroom. She reminds her readers that God needs witnesses who will stand up for Him – people who can honestly say: ‘Look at me: – the way I live and act – what I am – this is the religion of Jesus Christ.’

She goes on to state that there are four qualifications of a consistent witness for Jesus:

– The witness must be good – someone whose character matches their words.

– The witness must be faithful – someone who personally knows the truth and is willing to tell the whole truth; the convicting and healing truth of the gospel.

– The witness must be reliable – someone who is willing personally to go to those who need to hear the message; someone who accepts personal responsibility rather than merely sponsoring others to go.

– The witness must be courageous – like Daniel who was not ashamed or afraid of the consequences for his devotion to the Lord. A good witness must be willing to  speak out for God whatever the cost.

Catherine sums up her thoughts with this rhetorical and yet profound question:

‘What is [the world] dying for? – downright, straightforward, honest, loving, earnest testimony about what God can do for souls. That is what it wants.’

The challenge issued by Catherine Booth to her generation is as relevant and challenging today as it was then. Such a challenge is seldom easy to swallow.

PURITY of heart is required as we seek to set aside complacency and root out compromise in our lives.

PASSION is needed to courageously disturb the present and improve the future.

Holy Spirit POWER must be sought after if believers are to be consistent and effective witnesses for Jesus Christ.

Is this PURITY, POWER and PASSION evident in your life?

Sharon Bussey
Co-Director of Salvation Factory
The Salvation Army, USA Eastern Territory

[i] All quotes in this post are from Catherine Booth, Aggressive Christianity, (1986 edition, USA: The Salvation Army, ISBN: 0-86544-031-X)

To read Aggressive Christianity and another articles by Catherine Booth, please click here http://www.salvationfactory.org/catherine-booth-collection/

To read the next post in the series, about the African Apostle Mbambo Matunjwa, click here
To read the first post in this series on the Salvation Army click here

The Phenomenal Growth of the Salvation Army

The Phenomenal Growth of the Salvation Army

William Booth in 1905, receiving the Freedom of the City of London

There were many outstanding features of the Salvation Army that challenge every church-planter and church-planting movement:

Firstly, they were unashamedly committed to preaching the gospel, as raw, as clear, as directly as possible. They preached for conversion. They preached repentance and faith in Christ in language that was easily understood.

Secondly, they were obsessively active in each of their locations. They wouldn’t accept a place as being ‘hard’ or ‘resistant’. They developed techniques that attracted people to the gospel message; whether musical or theatrical, even gimmicky. They were determined to get a hearing amongst those in their respective mission fields.

Thirdly, they were not afraid of reaching the poorest, and those who might be considered ‘forsaken’ by society at large. This evangelistic impulse led to an incredible number of social ministries for which the Salvation Army today is largely known.

Fourthly, they trained huge numbers of very young leaders and sent them into new areas to open Salvation Army ‘Corps’.

Fifthly, their prayer meetings, and even their Sunday meetings were marked by spiritual power. They were dependent on the power of the Holy Spirit and didn’t shy away from what may appear to outsiders as overt displays of emotion.

Phenomenal Growth
As a result of these (and other) factors, the Salvation Army grew at a phenomenal rate.
Norris Magnuson writes,

William Booth commanded fewer than 100 British Isles stations in 1878, but two decades later his world-wide organization numbered about 3500 posts, and by 1904 there were more than 7000. Though the founder died in 1912, rapid growth continued; 4600 new corps came into being during the thirteen years immediately following his death. This long-term expansion drew repeated praise from such leaders of American social Christianity as Josiah Strong and Charles Stetzle. The former, writing in the early 1890s, declared that the Army’s ‘amazing success,’ which would have been ‘phenomenal in any class of society,’ was in fact more amazing because it had occurred among those whom the churches had ‘conspicuously failed to reach.’

Throughout the era before World War I, neither William Booth nor his Army lost the fervor for evangelism that had driven the founder into the slums of East London. If anything, it increased across the years. ‘Souls! Souls! Souls!’ was the headline in one issue of the War Cry, and those words and spirit were everywhere in evidence. George Railton, in an article written during his brief foray in America, declared that ‘this willingness to sever ourselves, if needs be, from the whole world, in order to save somebody,’ to ‘plunge down to the very depths of human contempt,’ was ‘the essence of the life of Jesus Christ.’ [i]

As I read such reports from the Christianity of yesterday, I am convinced I should be, by the grace of God, doing more to serve others today.

How about you?

To read a guest post by a Salvation Army leader on Catherine Booth, click here
To read the first post in this series on the Salvation Army click here

©2017 Lex Loizides / Church History Review

[i] Norris Magnuson, Salvation in the Slums – Evangelical Social Work, 1865-1920 (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House), p.6

William Booth’s Four Keys to Church Growth

William Booth in 1884

In 1880 William Booth, Founder of the Salvation Army, was invited to speak at the Wesleyan Methodist Conference in the UK.

This was a generous invitation since it was well known that he had left Methodism to begin a more rigorous evangelistic ministry. Although he had been operating independently for several years, his organisation had only formally adopted the name The Salvation Army three years earlier.

During his message to the conference he explained the impulse that created his evangelism and church-planting movement and gave four keys to their continued success.

A Gospel emphasis that drew non-believers and leaders to the work
‘I was told that ninety-five in every hundred of the population of our larger towns and cities never crossed the threshold of any place of worship, and I thought, ‘Cannot something be done to reach these people with the Gospel?’

Fifteen years ago I thus fell in love with the great crowds of people who seemed to be out of the pale of all Christian Churches. It seemed to me that if we could get them to think about Hell they would be certain to want to turn from it. If we could get them to think about Heaven they would want to go there. If we could get them to think about Christ they would want to rush to His open arms.

I resolved to try, and ‘The Salvation Army’ is the outcome of that resolution. In August, 1877, we had 26 Stations. We have now, in 1880, 162. In 1877, we had 35 Evangelists. We have now 285 Evangelists, or, as we now call them, Officers, and in many instances they have the largest audiences in the towns where they are at work.

We have got all those Officers without any promise or guarantee of salary, and without any assurance that when they reach the railway station to which they book they will find anybody in the town to sympathise with them. The bulk would cheerfully and gladly go anywhere.’

Key #1 The Gospel to the needy
‘If asked to explain our methods, I would say: Firstly, we do not fish in other people’s waters, or try to set up a rival sect. Out of the gutters we pick up our converts, and if there be one man worse than another our Officers rejoice the most over the case of that man.

When a man gets saved, no matter how low he is, he rises immediately. His wife gets his coat from the pawn-shop, and if she cannot get him a shirt she buys him a paper front, and he gets his head up, and is soon unable to see the hole of the pit from which he has been digged, and would like to convert our rough [meeting place] into a chapel, and make things respectable. That is not our plan. We are moral scavengers, netting the very sewers. We want all we can get, but we want the lowest of the low.’

Key #2 Contextualisation and flexibility
‘Secondly. We get at these people by adapting our measures.
There is a most bitter prejudice, amongst the lower classes, against churches and chapels. I am sorry for this; I did not create it, but it is the fact. They will not go into a church or chapel; but they will go into a theatre or warehouse, and therefore we use these places.

In one of our villages we use the pawnshop, and they gave it the name of ‘The Salvation Pawnshop,’ and many souls were saved there.

Let me say that I am not the inventor of all the strange terms that are used in The Army. I did not invent the term ‘Hallelujah Lassies.’ When I first heard of it I was somewhat shocked; but telegram after telegram brought me word that no buildings would contain the people who came to hear the Hallelujah Lassies. Rough, uncouth fellows liked the term. One had a lassie at home, another went to hear them because he used to call his wife ‘Lassie’ before he was married. My end was gained, and I was satisfied.’

Key #3 Getting new believers involved immediately in evangelism
‘Thirdly. We set the converts to work.
As soon as a man gets saved we put him up to say so, and in this testimony lies much of the power of our work.

One of our lassies was holding a meeting in a large town the other day when a conceited fellow came up to her saying, ‘What does an ignorant girl like you know about religion? I know more than you do. I can say the Lord’s Prayer in Latin.’ ‘Oh, but,’ she replied, ‘I can say more than that. I can say the Lord has saved my soul in English.”
[This comment caused loud laughter and cheering in the meeting]

Key #4 Hard work
‘Lastly, we succeed by dint of hard work. I tell my people that hard work and holiness will succeed anywhere.’[i]

Booth as a multi-site church leader
If Booth’s Salvation Army ‘stations’ in London alone were considered congregations of a multi-site church we would be celebrating him as the pastor of the largest protestant church in the 19^th century.

That, of course, wasn’t his goal. He was determined to see more stations planted and more of those outside the orbit of the church’s influence coming into a relationship with God and a transformed life.

Getting the gospel to those who need it; being flexible in our strategies; including new converts in evangelism; working hard to keep moving forward into the mission.

Of course, more than these four principles were necessary to form a church-planting movement. And more than these are necessary for growing a healthy church. But how are you applying these four in your setting?

To read the next post, on serving the poor in the power of the Holy Spirit, click here
For the first part of the story of the Salvation Army click here
©2016 Lex Loizides / Church History Review

[i] George Railton, General Booth (London: Hodder and Stoughton 1912) p.76-78

Amazing work – Amazing Results. The Salvation Army in Canada

The teenage founders, Jack Addie and Joe Ludgate

The Salvation Army in Canada
Before long, the Salvationists were spreading. If they were determined enough to try the zaniest ideas on British audiences, they were willing to travel long distances to take their message elsewhere.

I read this short account of the work of Abbie Thompson in 1883. She was a 19yr old Salvation Army Captain who sought to bring the gospel to Kingston, Ontario, Canada. I’ll let the statement stand on its own, except to give a brief introduction by quoting from two contemporary sources, both of which are hilarious.

The Salvation Army had already ‘opened fire’ in Canada, and were not altogether well received. Their youthful working-class roots were difficult to conceal and some didn’t like it. After all, the two founding officers were still teenagers.

On November 8^th 1882, the Toronto Globe recorded,

Rev Mr.Bray of Montreal, is opposed to The Salvation Army and its methods. The Reverend gentleman particularly objects to the hymnology of the Army, portions of which contain, in his opinion, very little of religious fervour. Certainly it is hardly possible to escape the conclusion that there is something irreverent in the hymn, "Elijah was a jolly old man, and was carried off to heaven in a fiery van." Yet its intent is good. It is designed to convey to the untutored mind a biblical truth in language suited to the capacities of the persons on whose behalf The Salvation Army labours.

The amazing Abbie Thompson

Abbie Thompson made her first appearance in 1883. The Toronto Mail actually made reference to her arrival:

(Kingston) This morning a trunk arrived from the Cape upon which were written the words ”Captain Abbie Thompson” “Hallelujah” “Fire”. The Customs officer eyed it suspiciously, and thought of dynamite, infernal machines, and fenians. He refused to search it, and ordered its removal to the warehouse to await its owner.[i]

12,000 attending each night!
Richard Collier puts this early work in Canada in a condensed but baffling paragraph:

And Canada, where two like-minded pioneers had begun on their own initiative, needed organisers too. From May, 1882, when Jack Addie, an eighteen-year-old dry goods salesman and Joe Ludgate, a clothes presser, paraded the streets of London, Ontario, in blue tunics and helmets like British bobbies, The Army’s cause spread like fire under a leaning wind. At Bowmanville, where every leading citizen became a local officer, new ordinances soon forbade men swearing in the streets. At Guelph, one-ninth of the entire population were Salvationists. When Captain “Hallelujah Abbie” Thompson, a vivacious nineteen-year-old brunette, began drawing crowds of 12,000 a night, a sharp-witted Kingston, Ontario, cosmetics manufacturer was quick to cash in. Swiftly he launched a new line in toiletries – “Hallelujah Abbie Soap.”[ii]

Booth seemed entirely confident in his young, energetic, working-class leaders. And their ability to attract large crowds is almost baffling. Perhaps we are too keen to polish up our new leaders or wait a little too long. Perhaps we could learn a little from history and release more of that youthful energy into ministry (just wait ‘til we get to Spurgeon).

To read the next post, on William Booth’s four keys to church growth, click here
For the first post in this series on the Salvation Army click here


©2016 Lex Loizides / Church History Review

[i] Both newspaper quotes from http://salvationist.ca/docs/crest/Crest_Spring05.pdf
[ii] Richard Collier, The General Next to God (Glasgow: Fontana/Collins 1965) p.76

Crazy Evangelism

The first Salvation Army Brass Band.

How will they hear without a preacher?
Paul’s stirring exhortation to evangelism in Romans 10[i] was deeply woven into every aspect of the early Salvation Army.

William Booth and Elijah Cadman aimed to build an evangelistically vigorous organisation. Their approach wasn’t based on the ‘openness’ of the non-believers they felt called to serve. And Booth wasn’t sympathetic to his leaders’ complaints about this or that town being a ‘hard place’. Rather, they should use every possible means to reach people with the gospel.

Why should the devil have all the good tunes?
The development of decent musical bands was a key to their success. Rather than just ‘giving out a hymn’ a cappella as the older Methodists would do, the Salvationists developed bands that could quickly draw a crowd.

The music was modern, and the musicians often shamelessly (and humorously) replaced the words of popular music-hall and pub songs with Christian lyrics.

A famous example was ‘Storm the Forts of Darkness, Bring them Down’ which had replaced the well-known, ‘Here’s to Good Old Whisky, Knock it Down!’ (See below if you’re interested in the songs) [ii]

Today there’d be questions about copyright infringement, but when Booth discovered what his musicians were doing, he asked, ‘Why should the devil have all the best tunes?’

By the early 1880s there were 400 Salvation Army bands seeking to gain attention for the evangelistic preaching that would follow.

Getting the attention of the uninterested masses
But the evangelists didn’t rely on music – they would try just about anything to get a hearing.

Richard Collier in his classic biography of Booth, The General Next to God, lists just some Salvation Army strategies.[iii] In considering these we mustn’t miss the underlying determination of this missional movement to reach those who would never come to church.

Having said that, a ‘Do not try this at home’ notice is probably advisable. Sometimes ‘Dodgy’ was the order of the day.

First up, something that shocked Booth: the announcement to come and watch ‘The Hallelujah Lasses’. Collier writes, ‘No building on Tyneside could contain the crowds flocking to hear “The Hallelujah Lasses.” Miners and dock-workers, used to calling their own wives “lassie” were moved to hear more about this strange new religion.’

Lieutenant Theodore Kitching rode into Scarborough on a crimson-draped donkey while ringing the school bell to get a crowd. Sometimes he attended the open-air meetings disguised, and in full make-up, as a drunk to create a scene.

Jumping off the Pier!
Captain John Lawley dived – mid-sermon – into the sea from a pier, in order to illustrate the ‘boundless ocean of God’s love’. He carried on preaching from the sea.

James Dowdle, the six-foot ‘Saved Railway Guard’, slammed his violin case down on a busy sidewalk and shouted, ‘Stand back! It might go off!’ Then as people gathered he opened it slowly, took out the violin and played. [NOT recommended today in almost any context anywhere in the world!]

One Salvationist toured the streets dressed as John the Baptist; bearded, robed, bare-footed and all. Today we’d just think he was a hipster going to get his morning Latte.

One former violent criminal, dressed again in his prison clothes and preached in the street.

The Lingerie Lasses!
Not to be outdone, the Hallelujah Lasses ‘drew record crowds parading the streets wearing their nightgowns over their uniforms’. Collier says Booth suggested it.[iv] That’s an odd one.

In Leicester, Captain William Corbridge handed out realistic-looking railway tickets which read, ‘Hallelujah Railway – Leicester to Heaven’.

One led a live calf through the street, some beat frying pans with rolling-pins. One nutcase spent a week of winter evening lying silently in the snow, and, at the end of the week, when a large crowd had gathered around him jumped up to and preached the gospel.

Raising the Dead!
Some carried a coffin through the town. Once they had gained a sympathetic crowd they then scared the life out of them by having the man inside the coffin suddenly throw open the lid, sit up and preach the resurrection to them.

This sounds crazy, but one genuinely huge Victorian celebrity was a Salvation Army leader called Eliza, a ‘factory girl’ from Nottingham, who would ride through the streets with streamers trailing from her hair and clothes and proclaiming ‘I am Happy Eliza!’ There were even sweets named after her. But maybe more about her later.

These determined evangelists rented huge billboards to advertise their meetings, and also spoke one-on-one to thousands.

We may not imitate their methods but surely, Pastors, in a day when apathy is the norm, we ought to imitate their faith?[v]

To read the next post, on thousands gathering to the gospel in Canada, click here
For the first post in this series on the Salvation Army click here


© 2016 Lex Loizides / Church History Review

[i] Rom 10:14
[ii] For a new version of the old Salvation Army song see: https://soundcloud.com/lex-loizides/save-the-lost-ccli-song-no
For a rendering of the original whisky song see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92iaBztkfjM
[iii] Richard Collier, The General Next to God (Glasgow: Fontana/Collins 1965) p.66f
[iv] ibid p.67
[v] Most of the above adapted from Collier p.66-68

Why is the Salvation Army called the Salvation Army?

The original proof. The Christian Mission is a volunteer army.

Names
In 1865 Booth and his team set up headquarters in Whitechapel, London. But they had difficulty deciding on a suitable name.

Here are the early variations they used:
‘The East London Christian Revival Society’ (it’s quite an accomplishment to create a name from which even the most diligent can’t force some kind of acronym).
This soon became ‘The East London Christian Mission’. This was definitely better but, as George Railton tells us[i], they had to drop ‘East London’ because the work was so successful they opened mission sites outside London. ‘East London’ was now only one sphere of their activity.
Finally, ‘The Christian Mission’ remained.
And they kept it for a while but there was an obvious problem with this name. Theirs was one among many good and definitely ‘Christian’ missions operating in England and, by defining their mission as the Christian one, the name seemed to imply haughtiness on their part and a snub towards the others.

So for six years[ii] they were in a kind of awkward limbo. A dynamic work with a not very helpful name. Another interesting intermediary link in the evolution of the Salvation Army’s name was that Booth was then called the General Superintendent. When they became The Salvation Army the shift to General was easy.

Not a Church but an Army!
William Booth recalls,
After a while the work began to spread and show wonderful promise, and then, when everything was looking like progress a new trouble arose…Some of the evangelists whom I had engaged to assist me rose up and wanted to convert our Mission into a regular Church…They wanted to settle down in quietness. I wanted to go forward at all costs…so I called them together and said, ‘My comrades, the formation of another Church is not my aim. There are plenty of churches. I want to make an Army.’

He then offered to help those who wanted to leave to find work amongst the churches, but all decided to stay.
By 1878 (13 years from the formation of the London Mission) they had grown to 80 mission sites, which they didn’t name as churches but Stations, and then later – in keeping with army-sounding designations – ‘corps’.

The growth was phenomenal. By 1880, they had 162 Stations. They weren’t just fussing over names – there was such growth behind them that the name had to encapsulate the spirit of what was quickly being recognised as a missionary movement. Remember, their appeal was not to Christians who were restless and unhappy in their churches – their first aim, and the primary pool from which they gained members, was to reach the unbelieving working classes who had no interest in church-going.

A Volunteer Army?
Richard Collier writes,
Early one morning in May 1878…Bramwell and Railton were summoned to Booth’s bedroom for the day’s instructions. As Booth, who was recovering from flu, paced the floor in a long yellow dressing gown and felt slippers, Railton scanned the proofs of the pink eight-page folder which was the Mission’s annual report.

It’s preliminary was bold and succinct:

THE CHRISTIAN MISSION
Under the superintendence
of the Rev. William Booth
is
A VOLUNTEER ARMY
Recruited from amongst the multitudes who are without God and without hope in the world…

At this time the Volunteers, a part-time citizens’ Army … were a favourite butt of cartoonists. Bramwell, aged twenty-two, was stung by the imputation.
‘Volunteer!’ he exclaimed … ‘Here, I’m not a volunteer. I’m a regular or nothing!’
Booth stopped dead in his tracks … Abruptly, he crossed to where Railton sat, taking the pen out of his hand. He struck decisively through the word ‘volunteer’ and substituted the word ‘Salvation.’ Simultaneously, they scarecely knew why, Bramwell and Railton leapt from their chairs, crying, ‘Thank God for that!’[iii]

The corrected proof. The Christian Mission is a Salvation Army!

The Salvation Army it is then…

To read the next post, on some pretty crazy evangelistic efforts, click here
For the first post in this series on the Salvation Army click here


© 2016 Lex Loizides / Church History Review

[i] George Railton, General Booth (London: Hodder and Stoughton 1912) p.68
[ii] ibid p72
[iii] Richard Collier, The General Next to God (Glasgow: Fontana/Collins 1965) p.56

Writing Your Own Story

Not for Nutters
Evangelistic leaflets (what used to be called ‘tracts’) have seriously fallen out of favour over the last thirty or forty years. For many Christians the very word ‘tract’ conjures up images of nutters on street corners shouting at passers-by or holding up boards which warn of Coming Doom! Those attracting attention by doing such things presumably also press little explanatory leaflets into the palm of any hapless shopper who shows the tiniest glimmer of interest. Later the tracts will be collected by street cleaners.

Well OK. But I am enthusiastic about tracts not because I fit that personality type. What I’m suggesting is a different type of tract – it’s a personal one. Something written by you. And the kind of encounter in which you would offer someone your own personal tract is not impersonal or forced but friendly.

Brief Encounters
I’m speaking about those brief moments where you meet someone – a complete stranger – and a few words might be exchanged, perhaps of thanks, and off you go into the rest of your day: you purchase something at a store; you pay for your meal at a restaurant; you speak with a teller at the bank.

I concede that these moments of friendly encounter don’t strike every follower of Christ as a potential opportunity to share the gospel. In fact an attempt to merely speak about your faith then and there would usually feel awkward.

We meet several of these strangers every day. They are usually serving us and yet don’t feel the need to serve them. Why?

An Opportunity for Light to Break in
A young woman in our church in Missouri asked Jo and I to pray for her. She was genuinely distraught. She told us that she works in MacDonald’s and that it was wearing her down. She felt that customers had no respect for her, they were rude and impatient. Added to that, they were hungry and irritable and if she made any mistakes they were utterly unforgiving. Customer after customer, hour after hour, day after day. It was soul-destroying. Obviously we prayed for her, but I thought to myself, what a difference Christians could make! Instead of moaning about how slowly they were being served they could serve the person with a smile and a simple word of encouragement. What a difference that might make to a discouraged person’s day. And then if they were able to add to that encouragement by giving the person their own story of how God’s grace has impacted their lives they certainly would be ‘making the most of every opportunity’ (Eph 5.16).

Lex’s Personal Tract

That’s what personal tracts are about. They’re not for your work colleagues or those who are already your friends. They’re for those chance encounters, where your willingness to serve might be the only moment of light breaking into someone’s darkness.

Check out this amusing 18 minute video to find out how you can write and produce your own.
And please feel free to leave a comment on your own adventures.

©2015 Lex Loizides

 

 

Effective Evangelism – the launch of the Salvation Army

William Booth preaching

Rapid conversions
When William and Catherine Booth moved into the east end of London in 1865 their goal was to preach the Christian message and bring people to faith in Christ.

The plan was that any converts would join existing churches. But it didn’t really work out like that.

Booth’s preaching was dynamic and urgent. Many, who would never go to church, heard him and many hundreds were converted. But after their conversion they still wouldn’t go to the churches and, if they did, the churches didn’t seem to want them.

Booth began to look for meeting halls and somewhere to create a headquarters for the London mission. But he needed funds.

One minister, writing for a Christian magazine, describes a meeting he attended with William Booth one Sunday afternoon. I’ve edited down his article but it gives us a flavour of the amazing power of the Holy Spirit working in a context of consistent evangelism.

The structure of the meeting was that, after an introduction, several people would briefly tell of their experience of conversion or of adventures in evangelism and then a hymn would be sung, followed by yet more testimonies. At the end Booth preached and prayed.

As you read through this abbreviated account of the meeting, maybe you could pray for similar evangelistic zeal to characterise your life and the life of your church, and that God would similarly begin to bring large numbers of people to a personal and life-changing faith in Christ.
Here we see personal boldness in evangelism, conversations happening in homes, and in the streets. There are several references to the effective use of tracts (short, easy to read leaflets or brochures which explain the gospel) as well as public preaching. Perhaps one of the reasons the churches used to ‘reap’ more was that, quite simply, they ‘sowed’ more. Enjoy!

The Experience Meeting
‘On the afternoon of Sunday, January 31st, I was able to see some of the results of William Booth’s work in the East of London, by attending his Experience Meeting, held in the East London Theatre. About 2 o’clock some of his helpers and Converts went out from the Mission Hall, where they had been praying together, and held an Open-Air Meeting in front of a large brewery opposite the Hall. The ground was damp and the wind high, but they secured an audience, and then sang hymns along the road, till they came to the theatre, taking in any who chose to follow them. Probably about five hundred were present, though many came in late.

The Meeting commenced at three, and lasted one hour and a half. During this period fifty-three persons gave their experience, parts of eight hymns were sung, and prayer was offered by four persons.
After singing Philip Philips’ beautiful hymn, ‘I will sing for Jesus,’ prayer was offered up by Mr. Booth and two others.
A young man rose and told of his conversion a year ago, thanking God that he had been kept through the year.
A negro, of the name of Burton, interested the Meeting much by telling of his first Open-Air Service, which he had held during the past week in Ratcliff Highway, one of the worst places in London. He said, when the people saw him kneel in the gutter, engaged in prayer for them, they thought he was mad.
A middle-aged man, a sailor, told how he was brought to Christ during his passage home from Colombo. One of the tracts, entitled, ‘John’s Difficulty,’ was the means of his conversion.

A cabman said he used to be in the public-houses constantly; but he thanked God he ever heard William Booth, for it led to his conversion.
Three young men then spoke. The first, who comes five miles to these Meetings, told how he was lost through the drink, and restored by the Gospel; the second said he was unspeakably happy; the third said he would go to the stake for Christ.
A sister spoke of her husband’s conversion, and how they were both now rejoicing in God.
A young man testified to the Lord having pardoned his sins in the theatre on the previous Sunday.
Two sailors followed. The first spoke of his conversion through reading a tract while on his way to the Indies four months ago. The other said he was going to sea next week, and was going to take some Bibles, hymns, and tracts with him, to see what could be done for Christ on board.

A young man of the name of John, sometimes called ‘Young Hallelujah,’ told of his trials while selling fish in the streets; but he comforted himself by saying, ”Tis better ‘an before.’ He had been drawn out in prayer at midnight on the previous night, and had dreamed all night that he was in a Prayer Meeting.
A converted thief told how he was ‘picked up’ and of his persecutions daily while working with twenty unconverted men.
A man who had been a great drunkard, said, ‘What a miserable wretch I was till the Lord met with me! I used to think I could not do without my pint, but the Lord pulled me right bang out of a public-house into a place of worship.’
A young woman said: ‘I well remember the night I first heard Mr. Booth preach here. I had a heavy load of sin upon my shoulders. But I was invited to come up the stage. I did so, and was pointed to Jesus, and I obtained peace.’

Another told of his conversion by a tract, four years ago, on his passage to Sydney. ‘To my sorrow,’ he said, ‘I became a backslider. But I thank God He ever brought me here. That blessed man, Mr. Booth, preached, and I gave my heart to God afresh. I now take tracts to sea regularly. I have only eighteen shillings a week, but I save my tobacco and beer money to buy tracts.’
A stout man, a navvy, who said he had been one of the biggest drunkards in London, having briefly spoken, was followed by one known as ‘Jemmy the butcher,’ who keeps a stall in the Whitechapel Road. Some one had cruelly robbed him, but he found consolation by attending the Mission Hall Prayer Meeting.
Two young lads, recently converted, having given their experience, a dock labourer, converted seventeen months ago, asked the prayers of the Meeting for his wife, yet unconverted.
A young woman gave her experience very intelligently. It was a year and a half since she gave her heart to the Saviour; but her husband does not yet come with her.

The experience of an old man, who next spoke, was striking. Mr. Booth had announced his intention, some time back, of preaching a sermon on ‘The Derby,’ at the time of the race that goes by that name. This man was attracted by curiosity, and when listening compared himself to a broken-down horse. This sermon was the means of his conversion.
A young man told how his sins were taken away. He worked in the city and, through a young man talking to him in the street, he was able to see the way of Salvation, and rejoice in it. He used to fall asleep generally under preaching. ‘But here,’ he said, ‘under Mr. Booth, I can’t sleep.’
A blind girl, whom I had noticed earlier singing heartily in the street, told of her conversion.

Then Mr. Booth offered a few concluding observations and prayed. The Meeting closed by singing. Such is a brief outline of this most interesting Meeting, held Sunday after Sunday.
I could not but wonder at the change which had come over the people. The majority of those present, probably nearly five hundred, owed their conversion to the preaching of Mr Booth and his helpers.
In the evening I preached in the Oriental Music Hall, High Street, Poplar, where five or six hundred persons were assembled. This is one of the more recent branches of Mr. Booth’s work, and appears to be in a very prosperous condition. I found two groups of the helpers singing and preaching in the streets, who were only driven in by the rain just before the Meeting commenced inside. This is how the people are laid hold of.

Shall this good work be hindered for the want of a few hundred pounds?’ [i]

For the next post in the series, on why they’re called The Salvation Army click here
For the first part of the Salvation Army story click here

[i] George Railton, General Booth (London: Hodder and Stoughton 1912) 59-64

© 2015 Lex Loizides / Church History Review