For those of you who didn’t mark your calendars, yesterday was the anniversary of an interesting date in Christian history: when Charles Haddon Spurgeon, prince of preachers, was converted. On that day in 1850, at the age of 15, Spurgeon heard the voice of God calling him in the words of Isaiah 45:22 through the sermon of a Primitive Methodist preacher: “Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth.”

He told his story of conversion 280 times in his published sermons. Here is an excerpt from one of the stories:

“I sometimes think I might have been in darkness and despair now, had it not been for the goodness of God in sending a snowstorm one Sunday morning, when I was going to a place of worship. When I could go no further, I turned down a court and came to a little Primitive Methodist Chapel. In that chapel there might be a dozen or fifteen people. The minister did not come that morning: snowed up, I suppose. A poor man, a shoemaker, a tailor, or something of that sort, went up into the pulpit to preach. He was obliged to stick to his text, for the simple reason that he had nothing else to say. The text was, ‘Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth.’ He did not even pronounce the words rightly, but that did not matter… 

Then he looked at me under the gallery…and said, ‘Young man, you look very miserable…And you will always be miserable if you do not obey my text. But if you obey now, this moment, you will be saved.’ Then he shouted, as only a Primitive Methodist can, ‘Young man, look to Jesus Christ.’ There and then the cloud was gone, the darkness had rolled away, and that moment I saw the sun; and I could have risen that moment and sung with the most enthusiastic of them of the Precious Blood of Christ.”

What’s your conversion story?

Your partner in ministry,

Nelson

P.S. – My friend and church growth expert Dr. Gary McIntosh was asked three times by his Sunday School teacher – three different Sundays – before finally coming to faith in Christ.

Years later, Dr. McIntosh recognized the need to know how men and women are finding faith in today’s world and conducted a 10-year study.

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© Nelson Searcy. All Rights Reserved.

About Nelson Searcy

Nelson Searcy is an experienced church growth strategist, pastor, church planter and coach, consulting with churches around the world. As founder of Church Leader Insights and the Renegade Pastors Network, he has personally trained more than 3,500 church leaders in over 45 denominations through live events, seminars and monthly coaching. Nelson is also the Founding and Lead Pastor of The Journey Church, with locations across New York City and in Boca Raton, FL. Nelson and his church routinely appear on lists such as “The 50 Most Influential Churches” and “The 25 Most Innovative Leaders.” He is the author of over 100 church growth resources and 18+ books, including The Renegade Pastor: Abandoning Average in Your Life, Ministry and The Difference Maker: Using Your Everyday Life for Eternal Impact, and At the Cross with the People Who Were There. He and his wife, Kelley, have one son, Alexander.