God's General - John Wesley

GOD'S GENERAL - JOHN WESLEY(FOUNDER OF METHODISM)

John Wesley was born in 1703 to Samuel and Susanna Wesley. John was born into a Christian family with his father being a Reverend Minister in an Anglican Church.

EARLY LIFE

As a young man, John had the conviction that God wanted to use him. At the age of six, he was rescued from a fire that burned their home. Through the firmness of his mother, John had a good early Christian foundation.

Whilst at Lincoln College, John and his brother, Charles Wesley established the "Holy Club". The group engaged in Bible studies and lived an organized life according to a fixed plan. This earned them the name "METHODISTS".

MISSIONARY WORK

In 1734, John Wesley felt God's call on his life to be a missionary to the Indians at Georgia. On the voyage to Georgia, John met a group of Moravian Christians and after speaking with them, he realized he didn't have a saving faith in Jesus.

John's first missionary work to Georgia failed. John felt devastated by this. At this point, he felt his heart wasn't fully converted to Jesus Christ. In 1738, Wesley attended a Christian meeting where he had a divine encounter with Jesus Christ. Three days before that day, his brother, Charles Wesley had a similar evangelical conversion.

Few months later, John met with George Whitefield, who was a renowned open-air preacher. Whitefield invited John to take over one of his open-air crusades. In that crusade, Wesley preached to about three thousand people. The success of this crusade encouraged Wesley to continue preaching salvation at everywhere he could find audience.

Wesley's association with Whitefield didn't last for long. The two parted ways over doctrinal differences. Wesley however carried on alone. He believed all the world was his parish. So he began itinerant ministry which cut across England, Scotland and Ireland.

Traveling mostly on horses, John Wesley preached over 40,000 sermons.

In 1740, Wesley began organizing his converts into groups and societies. He appointed local preachers over all the groups. Wesley also visited prisons, poor homes and assisted the poor. Wesley encouraged his converts to pursue holiness.

WESLEYAN METHODIST CHURCH

John Wesley continued his evangelistic work till his death in 1791. In his death, Wesley was described as "the best loved man in England". In 1795, a conference of Wesley's church severed any link with the church of England. This heralded the emergence of Wesleyan Methodist Church in Britain.

SOURCE: "70 GREAT CHRISTIANS" GEOFFREY HANKS.