Baptist practice

INTRODUCTION
The Baptist practice is one of the principal of the protestant Christian denominations. Most Baptist churches stress the belief that only Christian believers should be baptized and the baptism should be by immersion. This is a belief the Baptist churches trace back to the early church. The protestants doctrines have much in common with the practices of the Baptist church. Unlike the Catholic
Church, Baptist church have local autonomy, however, they are connected to each other through various organizations. Baptist churches trace their origin in England in the early 17th century. Part of the congregation in the Church of England disagreed with the churches doctrine. They decided to separate from the church and from local Christian communities with autonomy. They emphasized believers baptism and held the view that the church is primarily a community of believers. Several branches within the Baptist religion vary with regard to theology, worship, and missions. However, most Baptist churches are evangelical in canon, and contrast from extremely conservative to tolerant politically and socially. One of the most influential particular Baptist preachers in history is Charles Surgeon. Charles Surgeon was a strong figure in the reformed Baptist tradition and was known as the Prince of Preachers to many Christians.
BORN AND RAISED
Charles Spurgeon was born to John Spurgeon in 1834 in the small town of Essex east of London. He was the first born in a family of five. Both his father and grandfather were preachers. Because of family poverty, Spurgeon moved from his home in Essex to live with his grandfather until he was five. Spurgeon started reading theological books at a very young age. He converted into a Christian at the age of 15. This happened when he was on his way to an appointment in a snowstorm. The storm forced his to seek shelter in a nearby primitive Methodist chapel. While there, God opened his eyes to the salvation message. That day the sermon in the church was from Isaiah 45:22- Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God, and there is none else. Later that same year he was admitted to the church at Newmarket. At the river Lark the same year, Spurgeon was baptized.
Spurgeon had no formal education beyond Newmarket academy where he attended for less than a year. Despite his lack of formal education, Spurgeon was well read in the Puritan theology and Victorian literature. His lack of formal education did not hinder his preaching career, which he began at the age of 15. Spurgeon started preaching a few months after becoming a Christian. He first started preaching in Teversham where he taught Sunday school. The next year he accepted a pastorate job in a Baptist chapel in Waterbeach. When Spurgeon joined the church it had just a few dozen people, however, the congregation grew to a few hundred as the reputation of Spurgeon spread throughout London. He caught the attention of the leaders at the New Park Street. The New Park Street was London largest Baptist church.
Charles Spurgeon grew up in a church house. His earliest memories are those listening to sermons, learning hymns, and looking at pictures of pilgrims and martyrs. At the age of six, Charles read The Pilgrims progress. he read the book over 100 times and would later recommend it as the best Christian gift for the young children. Unlike other boys who would cultivate or take care of domestic animals, Charles Spurgeon was always reading books. One of the most significant book he read is the Foxes Book of Martyrs. He credited this book for vividly shaping his view toward established religion. Some of his childhood heroes include the brave Protestants burned at Smithfield, and other who were jailed for their faith, such as John Bunyan the valiant Puritans. Charles Spurgeons mother started teaching him the scripture at the age of seven. Charles Spurgeons mother had 17 children, nine of them died at a very young age.  LIFE AS A CHILD
When Charles Spurgeon was just 10 years when the missionary Rev. Richard Knill visited his father in their home. Rev. Knill had come to preach in the town and was impressed by how the young Spurgeon read the bible with emphasis. One morning after breakfast, Spurgeon and the reverend took a walk in the garden. The reverend was speaking to Spurgeon about the lord. In the garden, they knelt down and the reverend prayed on behalf of Spurgeon. Before the reverend left the home, he called the family together and prophesied about the life of Spurgeon. He said Spurgeon would be a great preacher




POWERFUL ENGLISH MINISTER AND AUTHOR



 CONTRIBUTIONS TO CHRISTIAN EDUCATION AND ORPHANAGES



Charles Spurgeon
AS A YOUNG ADULT
As a young adult, Charles bravely proclaimed the word of God through the power of the Holy Spirit, whom he depended upon to move through the people chosen by God to receive faith. He stirred many hearts as he pronounced invitation for everyone to get nearer to the Lord. Spurgeons work went beyond what the prophecy initially spoke. Though he fulfilled Gods prophecy by preaching at the Chapel in Rowland Hill, Spurgeons ministry extended throughout America and Europe as many believers bought his sermons so that they could learn more concerning God through him. His bold sermons, his invitation to the non-believers, his self-assured faith, and his focus on God were all nurtured during his youthful life as God molded him to carry out his work.
 At the age of 19, Charles became the minister of the New Park Street Chapel, which was the biggest Baptist Church in London. He became a very prominent pastor in London within months and became friends with James Taylor, the man who initiated the China Inland Mission. Many people read Spurgeons sermons, which he published on a weekly basis. He also preached in a way that many were conversant with and his sermons were easy to comprehend, whether orally or in prose. Even before the invention of microphones, Spurgeon would preach to a large audience at the Crystal Palace, which had the capacity of accommodating roughly 24,000 people. He got  married in 1856 to his wife Susannah Spurgeon, who had to stay home for most part of  her  life  due to her disabilities. They were blessed with two twins, Thomas and Charles, on September of the same year they got married.      
Just like other Christian leaders who lived in the past, Spurgeon struggled with frequent doubts about his salvation and constantly fought depression in his early adulthood. This is a common problem with Christians, who often distrust their salvation when depression threatens them. On one weekend for example, Spurgeon was so engrossed by depression that he sent a message to his deacons informing them that he would not be sermonizing that Sunday. He was indeed so low that he failed to trust his personal salvation. Depression disturbed him for many years and Spurgeon usually talked of crying for a reason he could not figure out, although his ministry still progressed.      
CALL TO MINISTER
It is the duty and the right of any Christian to spread the gospel of the Lord if they have the ability to do so. Charles Spurgeon accepted salvation in 1849 at an ancient Methodist Church of England. Soon after his conversion, he was requested to become a teacher at the churchs Sunday school. He accepted the request and he became very successful that the church officials asked him to speak to the entire school. While ministering at the Sunday school, he started to have the urge for a life of ministering. He prayed to God to make him a faithful servant. In one of the epistles he sent to his parents, he stated that he wanted to emulate his father who was a very successful minister of the word of God. This indicates that Spurgeon was undergoing a distinctive call to gods ministry with his potent gifts. His heart had so much devotion to do Gods work and he had an unmistakable love for humanitys souls that it was certain he should become a preacher. He identified the very first sign of his call to serve God as a deep and all-absorbing aspiration for the work.
People called to the ministry sense a mounting urge to preach and teach gods word, and to minister to Gods people. Spurgeon believed that only those who have a sense of godly calling should enter His ministry. He emphasized that without such divine calling, one is at a greater danger of backsliding. When a man is called by God to become a minister like Spurgeon, God furnishes him with all the abilities he requires. Spurgeon was called to a great job, and He equipped him for the responsibility with a powerful intellect, a ravenous enthusiasm to learn, and a powerful voice that could preach to thousands of people.

CONSERVATIVE VIEW POINTS
Contemporary conservative Christians uphold a continuing fascination with Spurgeon, who was a conservative Baptist. He preached the bible to uphold it truths of the gospel regardless of the changing and shifting tide within the society. Although he supported teaching the bible in public schools, many people believe that Spurgeon loved the idea of Americans regarding separation of the church and the state. He also supported and often spoke the disestablishment of the Anglican Church. Charles was sensitive to the setbacks of the poor that emerged because of the industrial uprising in the west. He openly supported the liberal policies to tackle poverty.
Most conservative views agree that part of the contemporary Christian interest on Spurgeon is his expansive appeal. Theologically, Spurgeon was a Calvinist ad this makes him fascinating to reformed Christians. Nonetheless, he placed the conversion of non-believers at the centre of his ministry and this makes him fascinating to Armenian Christians. Spurgeons sermons represent the best modification of the Calvinist views. He preached as if everyone could accept salvation, but also insists the Calvinist divinity that leaves the conversion of sinners to God. Thus, although Spurgeon preached like Calvinist, he acted like an Armenian. This is one explanation of the attraction of most people to him. In spite of the rationale conservative Christians admire Charles Spurgeon, it is apparent that many have neglected important facets of his life and ideas. Charles may have been an evangelist and a theologian, but many fail to realize that he was also an antiviolence and anti-colonial poverty supporter.
It is rather complex, however, to draw much development in Charles theology. He shared the general conservative idea that theology contains nothing new, not forgetting the falsity in it. When reworking on the sermons he had published earlier, Spurgeon bragged that although he may alter some terminologies, there was no need to alter any doctrine.  His actions reinforced the beliefs of more conservative views in the Baptist union. The basis for Charles steadiness was that he found the theology of Puritans sufficient material to help him build his own. This serves as a partial explanation as to why his theological emphases differed from those of most evangelicals of the time. In the teachings of the  puritans, he found three factors that he thought were underrepresented  in the up-to-the-minute evangelicalism; affectionate spirituality, humble practicality, and  thorough theology.      THE DOWN GRADE CONTROVERSY
Locked in a debate with John Clifford over the Baptist unions downgrading of the church doctrines, Spurgeon worked tirelessly advocating
EARLY DEATH
Suffering from physical and mental illnesses, some believed brought on by the stress of the downgrade controversy, Spurgeon passed away at the early age of 57. CONCLUSION
Tirelessly preaching to millions during his short life many lives were impacted by Charles H. Spurgeon. Through his books and writings over the years, billions have been impacted and inspired by his passion for preaching the gospel. Surgeons contributions to the Baptist and evangelical community are immeasurable.    



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