John Wesley is famous for his field preaching, and he believed it was the most effective way of proclaiming the gospel to people who were outside the church, but he never "enjoyed" it, considering it a cross he had to bear. He wrote in his journal in April 1739,
"I could scarce reconcile myself to this strange way of preaching in the fields, of which he [Whitefield] set me an example on Sunday; having been all my life till very lately so tenacious of every point relating to decency and order, that I should have thought the saving of souls almost a sin if it had not been done in a church."
updated 20240815 존 휘테커 페이스북
When John Wesley was preaching in a barn, several villagers conspired to break into the meeting and disrupt the service. A man hid himself in a sack inside the barn before the service began and planned to get out of his hiding place after the meeting had started, and let his fellow trouble-makers in so they could help him stop the service.
As he lay concealed in the sack, the Methodists began to sing. He liked the tune so well that he would not get out of the sack until he had heard it through. Then followed a prayer, and during that prayer, God worked on the man’s heart inside the sack so much that he began to cry for mercy. The good people looked around and were astonished to find a sinner in a sack seeking the Savior. The door was never opened to let the mob in, as the man was converted and only longed to hear more from the Word of God.