On June 17 1703 John Wesley was born. While he always
considered himself a loyal member of the Church of England, he and his brother
Charles founded the Methodist Church. The name Methodist came from their
original legalistic viewpoint and tireless generosity and was given to “The
Holy Club” by other students at Oxford University.
When John was about five he was rescued from a fire, the
fire devastated his family financially. His mother, Suzanna, always told John
he was “A Brand Plucked out of the Fire.” His mother taught him and the rest of
the siblings, 24 were born but only 10 lived. John’s father was the rector of
Epworth.
John decided to go to America to try and convert American
Indians, and on the way a terrible storm struck and the mast of the ship
collapsed. While John was terrified for his soul, he discovered Moravians,
German Protestants who were also travelling to America, were not afraid to die,
and were calm during the calamity. This was even true of their children. He was
deeply affected by the contrast and began to listen to their theology.
John found himself entangled in a romantic affair, which
ended with the target of his romantic attention being married to another man.
He left for England soon after. Charles and John also had trouble because of
their strict, legalistic ways. As time passed John doubted his own salvation,
but kept on seeing how what the Moravians taught seemed to be what the Bible
said. John was saved; he felt a warming of his heart when he heard Martin Luther’s
Preface to Romans.
This was just the beginning; he kept his vigorous schedule
and travelled throughout England, Ireland, and America spreading the Word of
God. He read the Bible or other books while he was riding, he wasn’t the type
of man to rest. Stephen Tomkins wrote that he "rode 250,000 miles, gave
away 30,000 pounds ... and preached more than 40,000 sermons.”
My new book is now available to order from Amazon.com Would You Do What They Did? - Great Christian Leaders From Our Past
It is also available to order now or shortly from anywhere that sells books. It is a creative nonfiction collection of biographies of Martin Luther, Francis of Assisi, John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church, and Thomas Becket. Come, tame a wolf, flee from the wrath of the king, feel the horror of impending doom on a ship, and the uncertainty of one’s own salvation with these great heroes of the faith. I have excepts of the book on my website williamdeanhamilton.net
Thank you for reading.
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