When PB asked me what I wanted to do for my birthday, I was ready with an answer.
“I want to go to Kansas City and visit the Charles Spurgeon Library on the campus of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.”
Not your typical birthday request, I know. Even PB raised his eyebrows at that one, but he’s always game for a road-trip-adventure. And I promised him some KC barbeque.
As we crossed the state line into Missouri, we played “Kansas City, Here I Come” by Wilbert Harrison, recorded in 1959, which seemed appropriate since it was my birthday trip and that’s my birth year.
See? I wasn’t making it up. Not every old dead guy gets his own library.
Spurgeon had a 12,000-volume personal library. After he died, half of his books were sold and ended up in America. They sat in boxes for 100 years in a basement. Then Midwestern Baptist rescued them and someone donated several million dollars to build a library to house and display them. Everything you ever wanted to know about Charles Spurgeon is there. We spent three hours soaking up every bit of it.
PB was a trooper.
Down deep, I think he loved seeing everything as much as I did.
This is the pew Charles was sitting on when he came to saving faith in Jesus.
He was 15 years old.
He started preaching at 17 and had his first church when he was 19.
Spurgeon’s desk—we were allowed to touch it.
So Many Books. The man read six books every week.
That’s 312 books per year.
But then, Spurg didn’t have TV or Internet or Automobiles.
The paintings all over the library were really beautiful.
Every little enclosed case had a story.
There were three cigars in his coat pocket when he died.
To the glory of God.
A good time was had by all.
My admiration for CHS grew exponentially.
I sure hope he teaches and preaches in the New Earth.
I’ll be in the front row, grinning from ear to ear.
We celebrated at Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que with brisket and burnt ends.
Thanks, honey, for making my birthday dreams come true.
You’ll always be my #1 preacher.
a small drop of ink 
This is so much fun. You pick such neat places to go! Theo and family have made it to Viroqua’s Driftess bookstore, and I hope to. I’m going to enjoy sharing this post with Theo (who reads more than many of us) when he’s over someday. 😁 I’m curious, do you mostly stick with older, tried and true authors? Have you read any of N. T. Wright’s books?
Hi Nancy! I try to read a mix of newer books and books by “old dead guys.” I was once told to read two old books for every one contemporary book. I set some reading goals at the beginning of each year, like: one book by C. S. Lewis, one book by Eugene Peterson, one book by Andrew Murray, one Christian classic, one memoir/biography, one book of poetry, one on writing, one book on prayer, one literary classic. I’m going through the fruits of the spirit — 2025 was patience, so I read one book on that topic. Next year will be kindness. I’m attempting to read through the Harvard Classics, but it’s slow going. That’s more than you probably wanted to know! Maybe I should add N.T. Wright to my 2026 list! What would you recommend?