Charles Spurgeon has rightly been acclaimed as the "prince of preachers." Apostles, prophets, pastors, evangelists and teachers honor him as probably history's greatest pastoral leader.

Mr. Spurgeon had a megachurch before the term existed. He ministered weekly to over 10,000 in his Metropolitan Tabernacle pulpit without amplification or the benefit of social media.

Ministering over four decades, he's considered one of Christianity's most prolific communicators. It's unprecedented that his 63 volumes of over 4,000 sermons are still utilized by leaders throughout the world to this day.

In my 46 years of ministry, I've never encountered anyone like him. His incredible blending of evangelistic and pastoral ministry provides us with many insights into healthy church growth. If he were alive today and we tuned in to his podcast, he'd pass along this time-tested wisdom.

Suggestions From Spurgeon

1. Prioritize the primacy of evangelism. "Soul-winning is the chief business of the Christian minister; indeed it should be the main pursuit of every true believer."

Intentionally living the adventure of lifestyle evangelism was atop Charles Spurgeon's shortlist. He didn't make the mistake of merely delegating evangelism to an evangelist or an "evangelistic ministry team"; he engaged in missional living with passion and built it into the culture of the church by his example.

Turn up the volume on your computer to hear him through the corridors of time. In his classic book The Soul Winner, he said emphatically, "Our main business is to win souls!" read more