Today is a special day in church history. On May 24, 1738 in London, an Anglican priest by the name of John Wesley reluctantly attended a prayer meeting on Aldersgate Street. He had recently returned from a two-year period of doing mission work in America. He was very discouraged, having no success in his outreach in this country. 

     USA Today recently had an interesting article about Pat Summitt, the legendary women’s basketball coach at the University of Tennessee. (May 2, 2012)

     This Sunday we will honor mothers. My hope and prayer is that this will be a very special day all across our community.

     The other day I was very worried about something. I was having trouble thinking about anything else. This worry seemed to dominate my mind. Have you ever been there?

     A lady recently wrote me to ask a question, “Do you think that we will know each other in Heaven?”

     A recent article in The New York Times had this statement: “A new study shows that people who eat chocolate frequently have lower mass indexes than those who eat it less often.

     This Sunday, April 15, is the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. The reminders have been all around us: articles in newspapers and magazines, and also a reissue of the movie “Titanic” in 3D.

     An old trick question is this: Who is buried in Grant’s tomb? The correct answer is no one. President and Mrs. Grant are entombed at the site, but they are not actually buried there. The place is a huge mausoleum. On my last visit to New York City, I made a special point of visiting Grant’s tomb to see it for myself.

     After being gone for many years, I recently went back to a former church to conduct a wedding for a young man who had been active in our youth group. At the reception another young man came to me and said, “Hey Brother Weldon? Do you remember me?”

     A recent issue of a national magazine called “The Week,”  (March 17, 2012, page 3) had an interesting paragraph about the danger of hostility and anger.

     I love the words of Will Rogers: “The only time that people don’t like gossip, is when the gossip is about them.” An old Turkish proverb affirms: “He who gossips to you, will also gossip of you.”

     Willie Mays was incredible. He had a batting average of .302 over 22 seasons. For eight years in a row he drove in more than 100 runs. He hit 660 home runs.

     Many years ago, the founder of the Methodist Church, John Wesley, was riding his horse late one night, when he was stopped by a robber who demanded, “Your money or your life!”

        Does the name Edward Everett sound familiar to you?

     E. Stanley Jones, the great Methodist missionary to India, told about a doctor in New York City who wrote a prescription for a very sick man, an emotionally sick individual.

     Antony Flew was a famous atheist who argued for years against the existence of God. He had a change of heart.

     I like the old story about a young preacher who went to the front door of the church to greet people after church every Sunday. Most of the time, the church members were nice and said nice things to him about his sermon. However, this one older lady, always gave him the very same comment. 

Former Senator Bob Dole once commented on a disappointing political defeat by saying, "After hearing the results, I slept like a baby that night. I woke up every two hours and cried." Disappointments can do that to us.

I was recently driving through a construction area on a highway. A construction worker held up a stop sign to stop the traffic.

     Abraham Lincoln told the story of a farmer who was trying to teach his son how to plow a straight furrow. He told the boy to keep his eyes on some object at the other end of the field and to plow straight for it.

A friend gave me a unique gift the other day, a Styrofoam brick that was labeled "Bad Call Brick" - - to have by my side as I watch football games on Sunday afternoon.

I normally don’t mind sitting in a waiting room. The name describes it well. A waiting room. So when I am in one, I try to be prepared to wait.

I have an interesting book in my library that is entitled, “The Seventy Great Journeys in History.”  The book highlights many important journeys, including that of Marco Polo, Ferdinand Magellan, David Livingstone, Amelia Earhart, Neil Armstrong, St. Paul, Hannibal, Lewis and Clark, Christopher Columbus, Lindbergh.  

The history books remind us that in the year 1864, Confederate and Union forces were engaged in a brutal battle at Petersburg, Virginia. When evening came after the first day of battle, cheers could be heard from behind the Confederate lines.  General Grant asked what was causing the commotion.