Monday 25 June 2012

The Handshake that Changed a Nation

Despite the fact it was meant to be summer, it had been raining most of the day, and by the evening it looked set to continue. The fine rain blew in his face but George was a man on a mission. Having met Charles, the younger brother, George was on his way to meet John and the rest of the ‘Holy Club’ as they were called.
A scrawny youngster with a squint, George wasn’t much to look at as he ran across the quadrangle at Oxford. Through the rain and down more university corridors, up a staircase and eventually to the door.
John heard the knock and answered. George offered his hand. As the two men shook hands, early in the summer of 1733, the future of our nation was to be radically changed as a result.
George Whitefield (1714 - 1770) and John Wesley (1703 - 1791) were to head up one of the most far reaching revivals ever to affect our shores. Their open air preaching (unheard of in those days) was to be talked of through the country and thousands from every walk of life responded to the good news of Jesus Christ. It is said the revival throughout the UK was the key reason that the bloodshed and anarchy in France never reached our shores.

Further Reading:

'John Wesley' by John Pollock (second hand only)
'George Whitefield and the Great Awakening' by John Pollock
'Great Revivals' by Colin Whittaker (second hand only)

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