Actscelerate.com Forum Index Actscelerate.com
Open Any Time -- Day or Night
 
 FAQFAQ   SearchSearch   MemberlistMemberlist   UsergroupsUsergroups   RegisterRegister 
 ProfileProfile   Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages   Log inLog in 
r/Actscelerate

When Spurgeon Was Invited to Preach at Barnum & Bailey Circus (L)

 
   Actscelerate.com Forum Index -> Acts-Celerate Post new topic   Reply to topic
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Message Author
Post When Spurgeon Was Invited to Preach at Barnum & Bailey Circus (L) Dave Dorsey
http://garrettkell.com/spurgeon/

Quote:
On one occasion P.T. Barnum, head of the great Barnum & Bailey Circus, invited Charles Spurgeon to speak in the large tent at his traveling circus. Spurgeon’s preaching would often draw crowds exceeding 10,000 people and Barnum saw great opportunity to increase his show attendance if Spurgeon would join him.

Barnum’s pitch to Spurgeon was an attractive one. He offered to supply the musical talent, unless Spurgeon wished to provide his own. Any equipment, side show, or manpower would be at his disposal. And Spurgeon had freedom to speak as long or briefly as he desired.

The only catch was that the Barnum Circus Association would keep all profits from the gate tickets and in return compensate Spurgeon with a thousand dollar per sermon honorarium.

This was a generous offer in Spurgeon’s day and likely would have persuaded many preachers to chase the opportunity.

But not Spurgeon.

He saw through Barnum’s offer and sent him this reply…

Thought this might spark some discussion!
[Insert Acts Pun Here]
Posts: 13654
1/10/18 1:22 pm


View user's profile Send private message
Reply with quote
Post UncleJD
Interesting. I just watched "The Greatest Showman", and I liked it for the most part (there was some obvious LGBTQRSTUV stuff in it but the pro-marriage content trumped all that).
I read some of the comments questioning why Spurgeon would pass on the opportunity. My guess is that he probably preached against such worldly amusements as this considering the times, and wouldn't compromise that conviction. Neither did he want to present the gospel as being for sale or for amusement in any way. That assumes his response is verifiable, I note it obviously is second hand at best without even a photo of the original letter.
Golf Cart Mafia Consigliere
Posts: 3137
1/10/18 1:58 pm


View user's profile Send private message
Reply with quote
Post Dave Dorsey
UncleJD wrote:
That assumes his response is verifiable, I note it obviously is second hand at best without even a photo of the original letter.

The account first appears in The Wit and Wisdom of Charles H. Spurgeon, p. 228, written by Rev. Richard Briscoe Cook and published in 1892. Beyond that I am not sure we can say.
[Insert Acts Pun Here]
Posts: 13654
1/10/18 2:10 pm


View user's profile Send private message
Reply with quote
Post Old Time Country Preacher
This here is what a feller calls a no-brainer. There is no question as to why Spurgeon would decline an invitation to preach at the circus---even for such a generous honorarium.

Spurgeon would no more preach at a Barnum/Bailey Circus than OTCP would preach at a Copeland/Hagin/WOF Circus.
Acts-pert Poster
Posts: 15559
1/10/18 3:20 pm


View user's profile Send private message
Reply with quote
Post Link
UncleJD wrote:
Interesting. I just watched "The Greatest Showman", and I liked it for the most part (there was some obvious LGBTQRSTUV stuff in it but the pro-marriage content trumped all that).
I read some of the comments questioning why Spurgeon would pass on the opportunity. My guess is that he probably preached against such worldly amusements as this considering the times, and wouldn't compromise that conviction. Neither did he want to present the gospel as being for sale or for amusement in any way. That assumes his response is verifiable, I note it obviously is second hand at best without even a photo of the original letter.


I saw that too with the kids. A friend had posted on facebook how family-friendly it was, no cuss words.

I didn't catch any LGBTQ, etc. stuff in there. We got the last tickets on the front row, so I might have missed something on the other side of the screen. I didn't take a woman having a genetic condition that made her grow a beard to be LGBT, though I could see how LGBT people would relate to that considering the narrative they spin about LGBT.

I did see some themes and content that were either not family friendly that I don't care for:

- Main character's getting married without the bride's fathers' approval. Dad was the bad guy.
- Scantily clad legs all over the place.
- The kids said they heard 'the D word' in one of the songs. I didn't pick up on it.
- They had the Jenny Lind character kiss P.T. Barnam on stage in front of everyone. He was married. There was a real woman with that name, and from what I read there was no evidence of a scandal like this. She apparently married a fellow musician and stayed married until one of them died. They drug a dead woman's name through the mud for the sake of their movie plot.

I wonder how Hollywood gets away with dragging dead people's names through the mud. Someone ought to take that to court, pick someone who just died, and choose a case where the movie says a woman wasn't a virgin before marriage, which has low standards of proof under common law. Then other cases can extend it back to people's ancestors. Are the dead exempt when it comes to bearing false witness.

If actors hadn't presented Socrates in a bad light, he might still be alive today. Okay, maybe not, but that makes a good quote.
_________________
Link
Acts-perienced Poster
Posts: 11846
1/12/18 3:36 am


View user's profile Send private message
Reply with quote
Post Link, are you serious???? Aaron Scott
Link wrote:
UncleJD wrote:
Interesting. I just watched "The Greatest Showman", and I liked it for the most part (there was some obvious LGBTQRSTUV stuff in it but the pro-marriage content trumped all that).
I read some of the comments questioning why Spurgeon would pass on the opportunity. My guess is that he probably preached against such worldly amusements as this considering the times, and wouldn't compromise that conviction. Neither did he want to present the gospel as being for sale or for amusement in any way. That assumes his response is verifiable, I note it obviously is second hand at best without even a photo of the original letter.


I saw that too with the kids. A friend had posted on facebook how family-friendly it was, no cuss words.

I didn't catch any LGBTQ, etc. stuff in there. We got the last tickets on the front row, so I might have missed something on the other side of the screen. I didn't take a woman having a genetic condition that made her grow a beard to be LGBT, though I could see how LGBT people would relate to that considering the narrative they spin about LGBT.

I did see some themes and content that were either not family friendly that I don't care for:

- Main character's getting married without the bride's fathers' approval. Dad was the bad guy.

Dad WAS a bad guy! He was wealthy and treated the Barnum (as a boy) with utter contempt and even slapped the boy. If Barnum had punched him in the nose, he had it coming. And the reason people marry without the father's approval is because sometimes the father is an utter jerk. Yes, approval should be sought. But the father should not have utter veto power over an adult daughter. Advise, yes. Counsel, yes. Veto, no.


- Scantily clad legs all over the place.

It WAS the circus, you know. The Olympics have worse. Shall we call the games ungodly because people need form-fitting clothing for aerodynamic reasons...or movement reasons?



- The kids said they heard 'the D word' in one of the songs. I didn't pick up on it.

I think I did hear that in one of the songs, but I couldn't make it out very well.


- They had the Jenny Lind character kiss P.T. Barnam on stage in front of everyone. He was married. There was a real woman with that name, and from what I read there was no evidence of a scandal like this. She apparently married a fellow musician and stayed married until one of them died. They drug a dead woman's name through the mud for the sake of their movie plot.

I had read that there was a supposed romantic link. But the good news is the man didn't fall for it. He was blindsided by the kiss. And, in the interest of artistic license, I cannot imagine that such a portrayal did any actual harm to events so far removed from us.

At the same time, it points up a very important fact, I think: We cannot help to whom we are ATTRACTED...but we CAN help ACTING on it and dwelling on it.



I wonder how Hollywood gets away with dragging dead people's names through the mud. Someone ought to take that to court, pick someone who just died, and choose a case where the movie says a woman wasn't a virgin before marriage, which has low standards of proof under common law. Then other cases can extend it back to people's ancestors. Are the dead exempt when it comes to bearing false witness.

If actors hadn't presented Socrates in a bad light, he might still be alive today. Okay, maybe not, but that makes a good quote.
Hon. Dr. in Acts-celeratology
Posts: 6027
1/12/18 7:35 am


View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Reply with quote
Post Re: Link, are you serious???? Link
Aaron Scott wrote:

- Main character's getting married without the bride's fathers' approval. Dad was the bad guy.

Dad WAS a bad guy! He was wealthy and treated the Barnum (as a boy) with utter contempt and even slapped the boy. If Barnum had punched him in the nose, he had it coming. And the reason people marry without the father's approval is because sometimes the father is an utter jerk. Yes, approval should be sought. But the father should not have utter veto power over an adult daughter. Advise, yes. Counsel, yes. Veto, no.


You know they usually make this stuff up, right? It's a guess, but I'd be surprised if the slapping scene wasn't totally made up. Wikipedia says he was the son of an inn-keeper, tailor, and store-keeper. What was he in the move, a chimney sweep?

In the Old Testament, the father had veto power. The New Testament mentions fathers giving their daughters in marriage. Even the Canaanites knew they needed to get the father's permission. I'm trying to engrain the full veto concept into my kids now. Indonesians tend to think that way. It's technically legal to get married, but government officials might not sign if parents don't consent.

Quote:

- Scantily clad legs all over the place.

It WAS the circus, you know. The Olympics have worse. Shall we call the games ungodly because people need form-fitting clothing for aerodynamic reasons...or movement reasons?


I looked up some photos out of curiousity to see if this is what Spurgeon might have objected to. They showed a bit of leg, not hips and buttocks. It could have been scandalous in the Victorian era. I don't know. Some entertainers push the edge of the enevelope.

Quote:

I had read that there was a supposed romantic link. But the good news is the man didn't fall for it. He was blindsided by the kiss. And, in the interest of artistic license, I cannot imagine that such a portrayal did any actual harm to events so far removed from us.


From what I read, it sounds like the idea of a romance came from a stage play, not real life. The kissing on stage thing seems to have been invented for the movie.

Quote:

At the same time, it points up a very important fact, I think: We cannot help to whom we are ATTRACTED...but we CAN help ACTING on it and dwelling on it.


It was good that in the movie he avoided temptation.
_________________
Link
Acts-perienced Poster
Posts: 11846
1/14/18 11:23 am


View user's profile Send private message
Reply with quote
Display posts from previous:   
Actscelerate.com Forum Index -> Acts-Celerate Post new topic   Reply to topic
All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Page 1 of 1

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum




Acts-celerate Terms of Use | Acts-celerate Policy
Contact the Administrator.


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group :: Spelling by SpellingCow.