In a recent blog entry, Nathan Finn shares this: “Wesley laid out 12 rules for preachers who wished to serve as Methodist itinerants. While some of the rules themselves are not strictly applicable to a settled, non-Methodist ministry, there is still much wisdom to be gleaned from the principles Wesley articulated. The following is taken from John Telford’s The Life of John Wesley, which is available online at the Wesley Center for Applied Theology at Northwest Nazarene University.”

Among Wesley’s rules:
~ Be diligent. Never be unemployed. Never be triflingly employed. Never while away time, nor spend more time at any place than is strictly necessary.

~ Believe evil of no one unless fully proved; take heed how you credit it. Put the best construction you can on everything. You know the judge is always supposed to be on the prisoner’s side.

~ Speak evil of no one, else your word, especially, would eat as doth a canker; keep your thoughts within your own breast till you come to the person concerned.

~ Be ashamed of nothing but sin; no, not of cleaning your own shoes when necessary.”

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