If you haven't seen the documentary movie based on the famous 18th century English preacher, John Wesely's life titled, A Heart Transformed, you can do so now for a limited time on Amazon Prime video for free.
source: Christianitytoday.com
John, and his equally famous hymn writing brother Charles, are credited for starting a religious movement that revolutionized church life in Great Britain and, eventually, many other parts of the world. Banned by the Church of England for preaching salvation by faith and grace alone, John joined the itinerant preacher, George Whitfield, in holding open air meetings under sometimes very hostile conditions.
The Wesley brothers faced great resistance by established religious leaders of their time for trying to bring the gospel message to ordinary people who were often looked down upon by more affluent churchgoers. Their fervent preaching radicalized the ways things were done and they were constantly on the defensive as their main priority was winning souls for the kingdom of God no matter where they were led to go.
Today, many of the over 6500 hymns that Charles wrote for church services are still sung around the world but at the time of their writing, they were condemned not because of their content but because the congregation was encouraged to sing along--something that was unheard of that time. This pluralization of worship music among the masses is one of the things that I found most interesting about the Wesley brother's amazing story of witnessing for God because today singing during service by all is a standard part of the liturgy. Dare to appear mad before a scoffing world for the purpose of God and one day your message will resonate in perfect harmony with the eternal saints.
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