A Christmas Prayer

Thoughts from Charles Spurgeon on Chronic Pain

Dear Friends, Life is not always easy. Things come our way that inflict pain and wound the heart. Sickness can steal away our energy and strength for a time – though it is more difficult when it is chronic. My father was diagnosed with Rheumatoid arthritis at the age of 43 and struggled with its effects until he passed away at 85 – being told close to that time that his physical body was like that of a 110-year-old. Being in constant pain earned him the occasional nick-name, “Grumpy Grampy.” I could understand why. Pain is no fun. I’m not the easiest to be around when I’m in constant pain either. And as John Owen once pointed out, “It is not the intensity of the trial, but its longevity, that eats away at our resolve.” Therefore, if you are struggling in this area (or know someone who is), today I offer you some helpful words from Charles Spurgeon. Yet, it helps to point out he was not giving advice as one who did not himself struggle. He battled much of his life with depressi...

Thoughts From Charles Spurgeon

Dear Friends, Sometimes spiritual truths are best understood using illustrations that include things familiar to us in our everyday lives. To come up with some of his best illustrations Charles Spurgeon would spend considerable blocks of time walking down the street, through gardens, into the fields and woods, and visiting those places where his parishioners worked and lived. It is surely one of the reasons he has been called, “The Prince of Preachers." One of the best preachers in all church history. He gives some credit for learning to do this to the Puritan Thomas Manton. Speaking of Manton’s writings (which consist of 22 volumes, mostly sermons), Spurgeon says, “There is not one poor discourse in the whole collection; he is evenly good, constantly excellent.” Along with Richard Sibbes (another Puritan) Manton was one of Spurgeon’s ‘mentors’ as a preacher. His first book of illustrations, entitled “Feathers for Arrows” was phenomenally popular, so 13 years later he wrote...

Thoughts On Anxiety

Dear Friends, Recent studies have shown that 32.3% of the U.S. population (110,618,560 people) report dealing with anxiety/stress/worry symptoms (*2023 Household Pulse Survey of the U.S. Census Bureau). That’s down about 10% from November of 2020 when 42.6% of the population (147,260,958 people) reported symptoms. Yet it’s still very high – with the highest percentage of those being between 18-24 years old. Therefore, today, I wanted to pass along some “thoughts” (20 to be exact) that speak to the issues of anxiety/stress/worry. If you happen to be one of the people who wrestles with any of these, I hope you find this selection helpful. Enjoy. “Anxiety is contemplating your future apart from seeing the hand of a loving and sovereign God directing and guiding it.” “Though there is much to be puzzled about, there is nothing to be worried about.” C. S. Lewis “We fly off the handle because we flew away from anything having a handle to hold on to a long time ago.” Gar...

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