George Kreger

Spurgeon on Hell

Christopher Morgan passed along these words from Charles Haddon Spurgeon as he encouraged unbelievers, “To be laughed at is no great hardship for me. I can delight in scoffs and jeers. But that you should turn from your own mercy, this is my sorrow. Spit on me, but oh repent! Laugh at me, but, oh, believe in my Master! Make my body as the dirt in the streets, but do not damn your own souls.”

Morgan quotes Spurgeon further, “If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to hell over our bodies. And if they perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees, imploring them to stay. If hell must be filled, at least let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one person go there unwarned and unprayed for.”

And he adds one more admonishmnet from Spurgeon, “The Holy Spirit will move them by first moving you. If you can rest without their being saved, they will rest, too. But if you are filled with an agony for them, if you cannot bear that they are lost, you will soon find that they are uneasy, too.”

Spurgeon's words stand in stark contrast to the growing universalistic tenor of our day.  May we see more Spurgeons rise up in our midst!

God's Rest

I have spent 30 plus years of ministry working six-day, seventy hour weeks.  Sad, but true!  Now while on my first-ever sabbatical, I have found myself struggling with the whole concept of rest.  It just is so foreign to me.  This concern shared to a missionary in Uganda cautioning him regarding his view of work is one I'm reflecting on and desiring to take seriously in my life:

“Make sure you are enjoying yourself and not taking your work too seriously. You don’t have anything to prove to us or the world. The work is finished at Calvary, and that work alone has unlimited meaning and value. Keep your focus there."

Some Great Questions!

I loved this paragraph from a recent post by Kevin DeYoung that provides such a capsualization of the church in our day.  Kevin has become one of my must reads.  In sharing some thoughts about the church in light of the ongoing Rob Bell saga, he writes:

As many have noted, this blow up is probably more symptom than disease. This is not going to divide evangelicalism, but it may prove that evangelicalism is already divided. What is the biggest problem in the church: people can’t stand us or we can’t stand the gospel? What is the goal of theology: to paint an attractive picture of Jesus or to say what God has already said? What is our biggest failure: we’ve turned people off or we’ve compromised our beliefs? Does the future of evangelicalism lie with progressives who can adapt and change or with conservatives who remain faithful to the old paths? Are Christians today basically too mean or too cowardly? Is our God too big and scary or too small and puny? Of course, some will not like the way I’ve framed the options, but these are some of the issues going on under the surface.

Transitions

This morning this post by Scotty Smith was very meaningful to me!

Paul Johnson

While on my first ever "sabbatical" I have enjoyed some time of reading each day.  One of the books I have been working my way through is a biography of Winston Churchill by historian Paul Johnson.  While reading the Wall Street Journal this week, I came across this inteview of Paul Johnson about America.  It's a fascinating read and well worth your time.