C. H. Spurgeon Makes the Front Page of etsy.com!

C. H. Spurgeon is still making an impact on the world in the year 2012.  For those of you who may be unfamiliar with "etsy", it is a worldwide online marketplace for artisans and sellers of vintage items to market their wares.  This morning C. H. Spurgeon made the front page!

Why is this news worthy?  This is news worthy, because this made it possible for many people who may have never heard of C. H. Spurgeon in their entire life to actually be introduced to him and to what he lived for.  This also made it possible for thousands of people to visit my shop where they would have learned even more about the Christian faith and the Gospel.  Here are the stats:

Etsy Stats

• Over 15 million members
• Over 875,000 active shops
• 42 million monthly visitors
• 150 Countries with annual transactions
• Monthly Over 1.4 billion monthly page views
• Over 13 million items listed for sale
• 1.6 million Twitter followers
• 730,000 likes on Facebook

A Little history:  I started a line of wearable theology art a year ago as a hobby.  My "Theology Art" is primarily hand-illustrated suede and leather boots, vests, jackets, handbags, and shoes depicting great theologians and pastors; scripture passages; great quotes, along with beautiful flowers, butterflies and birds.  I even have a "Resolved" conference themed pair of boots.  One of my items is a pair of suede mules with C. H. Spurgeon on the right foot and a passage from Romans on the left.

In the year that I have been on etsy, I have only sold 7 items.  Making money was never my motivation.  I wanted to use my art as a way to share the gospel with others and to introduce others to the Reformers and the Puritans, through my item description (which not only describe the item; but, also provide history, facts, and links for further research.)  I also was hoping that my wearable art would be evangelistic in nature, in terms of it opening up doors of conversation for those who might be crazy enough to actually wear it.  Knowing what I know about etsy and about the type of items that make the front page; I can say with little doubt in my mind, that this was an act of God's sovereignty.  Over the entire year my shop has been viewed by 16,152.  In this one day alone, because Spurgeon made the front page, my shop was viewed over 1,400 times and several people have sent me messages which open up doors of communication.

This was a great day!  One must admit, for a man (who was used so mightily by God while he was alive), to make the front page of a world-wide website with over 15 million members, viewed by millions of people from countries all over the world, 120 years after his death, is pretty amazing and wonderful!

To visit my shop:  http://www.thewoodssecretgarden.etsy.com/