Les Miserabl eacute s begins with paroled convict Jean Valjean stealing a priest rsquo s silver He rsquo s caught and he expects to be returned to the mines But the priest shocks everyone when he claims he rsquo d given the silver to Valjean After the police leave he turns to the thief ldquo You belong no longer to evil but to good rdquo Such extravagant love points to the love that flowed from the fountain from which all grace comes On the Day of Pentecost Peter told his audience that less than two months before in that very [... more]

In the wake of the coronavirus retrieving something from my safety deposit box required even more layers of protocol than before Now I had to make an appointment call when I arrived to be granted entrance to the bank show my identification and signature and then wait to be escorted into the vault by a designated banker Once inside the heavy doors locked again until I rsquo d found what I needed inside the metal box Unless I followed the instructions I wasn rsquo t able to enter In the Old Testament God had specific protocols for entering part of [... more]

In today's episode you can hear Pastor Greg's Laurie's daily devotional from November Learn how you can get this daily encouragement delivered to you in both text and audio form by going to https harvest org resources devotions Read the full devotion below --- Then Peter called to him 'Lord if it's really you tell me to come to you walking on the water ' 'Yes come ' Jesus said Matthew Courage or Fear Let's give credit where credit is due No one else volunteered to walk on water not James not John and not any of the other disciples [... more]

When BBC Music Magazine asked one hundred fifty-one of the world rsquo s leading conductors to list twenty of what they believed to be the greatest symphonies ever written Beethoven rsquo s Third Eroica came out on top The work whose title means ldquo heroic rdquo was written during the turmoil of the French revolution But it also came out of Beethoven rsquo s own struggle as he slowly lost his hearing The music evokes extreme swings of emotion that express what it means to be human and alive while facing challenges Through wild swings of happiness sadness and eventual [... more]

After breaking with our longtime church my husband and I reunited with the fellowship after three long years But how would people treat us Would they welcome us back Love us Forgive us for leaving We got our answer on a sunny Sunday morning As we walked through the big church doors we kept hearing our names ldquo Pat Dan It rsquo s so great to see you rdquo As children rsquo s author Kate DiCamillo wrote in one of her popular books ldquo Reader nothing is sweeter in this sad world than the sound of someone you love calling [... more]

My grandchildren are running around my backyard Playing games No pulling weeds ldquo Pulling them up by the roots rdquo the youngest says showing me a hefty prize Her delight as we tackled weeds that day was how much we enjoyed plucking the weedy roots mdash clearing away each pesky menace Before the joy however came the choice to go after them Intentional weeding is also the first step in removing personal sin Thus David asked the Lord ldquo Search me God and know my heart See if there is any offensive way in me Psalm ndash What a wise [... more]

ldquo Watch my fairy princess dance Grandma rdquo my three-year-old granddaughter gleefully called as she raced around the yard of our cabin a big grin on her face Her ldquo dancing rdquo brought a smile and her big brother rsquo s glum ldquo She rsquo s not dancing just running rdquo didn rsquo t staunch her joy at being on vacation with family The first Palm Sunday was a day of highs and lows When Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey the crowds enthusiastically shouted ldquo Hosanna blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord rdquo [... more]

During an episode of the popular US television talent competition ldquo America rsquo s Got Talent rdquo a five-year-old girl sang with such exuberance that a judge compared her to a famous child singer and dancer in the s He remarked ldquo I think Shirley Temple is living somewhere inside of you rdquo Her unexpected response ldquo Not Shirley Temple Jesus rdquo I marveled at the young girl rsquo s deep awareness that her joy came from Jesus living in her Scripture assures us of the amazing reality that all who trust in Jesus not only receive the promise of [... more]

In when South Africa made the transition from government by apartheid imposed racial segregation to a democracy it faced the difficult question of how to address the crimes committed under apartheid The country rsquo s leaders couldn t ignore the past but merely imposing harsh punishments on the guilty risked deepening the country s wounds As Desmond Tutu the first black Anglican Archbishop of South Africa explained in his book nbsp No Future Without Forgiveness We could very well have had justice retributive justice and had a South Africa lying in ashes Through establishing the Truth and Reconciliation Committee the [... more]

Pennies nickels dimes quarters and occasionally a half-dollar That rsquo s what you rsquo d find on the nightstand beside his bed He rsquo d empty his pockets each evening and leave the contents there for he knew eventually they rsquo d come to visit mdash they being his grandchildren Over the years they learned to visit his nightstand as soon as they arrived He could have put all that spare change in a coin bank or even stored it away in a savings account But he didn rsquo t He delighted in leaving it there for the little ones [... more]

We stared at the piles of donated shoes as we entered a local homeless shelter The director had invited our youth group to help sort through the heaps of used footwear We spent the morning searching for matches and lining them up in rows across the concrete floor At the end of the day we threw away more than half of the shoes because they were too damaged to give to people Though the shelter couldn rsquo t stop people from giving poor quality items they refused to distribute shoes that were in bad condition The Israelites struggled with giving [... more]

In the Netherlands a group of fashion designers offer a ldquo Golden Joinery rdquo workshop Inspired by the Japanese technique Kintsugi where broken porcelain is visibly repaired with gold participants collaborate in mending clothes in ways that highlight the mending work rather than trying to mask it Those who are invited bring ldquo a dear but broken garment and mend it with gold rdquo As they remake their clothes the repair becomes ornament a ldquo golden scar rdquo Articles of clothing are transformed in ways that highlight the places where they were torn or frayed Perhaps this is something like [... more]

After a recent move Mabel rsquo s seven-year-old son Ryan fussed as he prepared to attend a summer camp at his new school Mabel encouraged him assuring him that she understood change was hard But one morning Ryan rsquo s out-of-character grumpiness seemed excessive With compassion Mabel asked ldquo What rsquo s bothering you Son rdquo Staring out of the window Ryan shrugged ldquo I don rsquo t know Mom I just have too many feelings rdquo Mabel rsquo s heart ached as she comforted him Desperate for a way to help him she shared that the move was hard [... more]

In the towering dome of London rsquo s St Paul rsquo s Cathedral visitors can climb steps to access The Whispering Gallery There you can whisper and be heard by another person anywhere along the circular walkway even across the enormous abyss some thirty meters away Engineers explain this anomaly as a result of the spherical shape of the dome and the low intensity sound waves of a whisper How we long to be confident God hears our agonized whispers The Psalms are filled with testimonies that He hears us mdash our cries prayers and whispers David writes ldquo In [... more]