One of my favorite author/preachers is Charles Haddon Spurgeon. He was alive in the Victorian era, and his words reflect the style of the day.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Spurgeon


"The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land."—Song of Solomon 2:12.

C. H. Spurgeon:

Sweet is the season of spring: the long and dreary winter helps us to appreciate its genial warmth, and its promise of summer enhances its present delights.

After periods of depression of spirit, it is delightful to behold again the light of the Sun of Righteousness; then our slumbering graces rise from their lethargy, like the crocus and the daffodil from their beds of earth; then is our heart made merry with delicious notes of gratitude, far more melodious than the warbling of birds—and the comforting assurance of peace, infinitely more delightful than the turtle's note, is heard within the soul.


Now is the time for the soul to seek communion with her Beloved; now must she rise from her native sordidness, and come away from her old associations.

If we do not hoist the sail when the breeze is favourable, we shall be blameworthy: times of refreshing ought not to pass over us unimproved. When Jesus Himself visits us in tenderness, and entreats us to arise, can we be so base as to refuse His request? He has Himself risen that He may draw us after Him: He now by His Holy Spirit has revived us, that we may, in newness of life, ascend into the heavenlies, and hold communion with Himself.

Let our wintry state suffice us for coldness and indifference; when the Lord creates a spring within, let our sap flow with vigour, and our branch blossom with high resolve.


O Lord, if it be not spring time in my chilly heart, I pray Thee make it so, for I am heartily weary of living at a distance from Thee. Oh! the long and dreary winter, when wilt Thou bring it to an end? Come, Holy Spirit, and renew my soul! quicken Thou me! restore me, and have mercy on me! This very night I would earnestly implore the Lord to take pity upon His servant, and send me a happy revival of spiritual life!

http://www.spurgeon.org/

Where's your soul?

"It’s 2009. Do You Know Where Your Soul Is?"

Did you catch Bono’s article in the New York Times?

Bono is a multi media artist in many a sense of the word, when I read his articles it's not only print on paper, his words have color and music. He packs a lot of idea into one inch of paragraph, and I read it twice and think about something completely different than what I thought the first time through. I like how he is so down to earth about God. And I love how he is so politically opinionated. I don’t know what his labels are, right left, left right, quasi-closet mainstream, but his opinion really sparks my interest. No matter if you love him or hate him, there’s no doubt he’s involved, totally inhabits his brain space and puts it to good use.

A quote from: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/19/opinion/19bono.html?ex=1255492800&en=45d1c4ee55b8d75f&ei=5087&WT.mc_id=OP-D-I-NYT-MOD-MOD-M093-ROS-0409-PH&WT.mc_ev=click

I come to lowly church halls and lofty cathedrals for what purpose? I search the Scriptures to what end? To check my head? My heart? No, my soul. For me these meditations are like a plumb line dropped by a master builder — to see if the walls are straight or crooked. I check my emotional life with music, my intellectual life with writing, but religion is where I soul-search…

… Your soul.

So much of the discussion today is about value, not values. Aid well spent can be an example of both, values and value for money. Providing AIDS medication to just under four million people, putting in place modest measures to improve maternal health, eradicating killer pests like malaria and rotoviruses — all these provide a leg up on the climb to self-sufficiency, all these can help us make friends in a world quick to enmity. It’s not alms, it’s investment. It’s not charity, it’s justice.


So cheap of me to take a fragment of the article and make a blog post out of it. The link below is live, take the minute and get your own opinion wrapped around an interesting read.http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/19/opinion/19bono.html?ex=1255492800&en=45d1c4ee55b8d75f&ei=5087&WT.mc_id=OP-D-I-NYT-MOD-MOD-M093-ROS-0409-HDR&WT.mc_ev=click

"Until the End of the World" is the fourth track from U2's 1991 album, Achtung Baby. The lyrics describe a conversation between Jesus Christ and Judas Iscariot.[1] The first verse discusses The Last Supper; the second is about Judas identifying Jesus with a kiss on the cheek in the Garden of Gethsemane; and the final is about Judas' suicide after being overwhelmed with guilt and sadness.

Lyrics:
Havent seen you in quite a while, I was down the hold, just passing time. Last time we met was a low-lit room. We were as close together as bride and groom. We ate the food, we drank the wine. Everybody having a good time. Except you. You were talking about the end of the world. I took the money, I spiked your drink. You miss too much these days if you stop to think. You led me on with those innocent eyes. And you know I love the element of surprise. In the garden I was playing the tart. I kissed your lips and broke your heart. You, you were acting like it was the end of the world. In my dream I was drowning my sorrows. But my sorrows they learned to swim. Surrounding me, going down on me. Spilling over the brim. In waves of regret, waves of joy. I reached out for the one I tried to destroy. You, you said you'd wait until the end of the world.