"Strong Enough to Save" - by Tenth Avenue North

I heard this on the radio a little while ago and Googled it to find this video. Really AWESOME song!

Pax Christi,
Jeremy

“He did not study God; he was dazzled by him.”

If you have not yet seen Les Misérables, what are you waiting for?

I haven't seen a live performance of the musical so I can't compare it directly, but I love the book! Victor Hugo's epic is filled with demonstrations of Christ's transformational grace and this new film carried it well. I saw it a few weeks ago and started weeping at the end. It's absolutely amazing :)

This is one of my favorite paragraphs in the book (after Jean Valjean is dragged in my by the police and the Bishop gives him MORE than he originally stole)

“'Do not forget, do not ever forget, that you have promised me to use the money to make yourself an honest man.'Valjean, who did not recall having made any promise, was silent. The bishop had spoken the words slowly and deliberately. He concluded with a solemn emphasis:

'Jean Valjean, my brother, you no longer belong to what is evil but to what is good. I have bought your soul to save it from black thoughts and the spirit of perdition, and I give it to God.'”

 Here is that full scene from the 1998 movie with Liam Neeson and Peter Vaughan

I'm not half the man that Jean Valjean became, but I've experienced the transformational power of  Christ's grace. He has transformed my life in the same radical way. I can also relate to having someone follow you around singing ♫♫"Men like you can never change!" ♫♫  ;)

Pax Christi,
Jeremy


P.S.: Here are some other great quotes from the book: 

"The pupil dilates in darkness and in the end finds light, just as the soul dilates in misfortune and in the end finds God.”  

“...But listen, there will be more joy in heaven over the tears of a repentant sinner than over the white robes of a hundred just men.” 

“Not seeing people permits us to imagine them with every perfection.” 

“For there are many great deeds done in the small struggles of life.”  

“God knows better than we do what we need.” 

“He who despairs is wrong.” 

“We need those who pray constantly to compensate for those who do not pray at all.”  

“There are things stronger than the strongest man...”

“...Man lives by affirmation even more than he does by bread.” 

“The delight we inspire in others has this enchanting peculiarity that, far from being diminished like every other reflection, it returns to us more radiant than ever.” 

“To destroy abuses is not enough; Habits must also be changed. The windmill has gone, but the wind is still there." - old man G--- to Monseigneur Bienvenu Myriel

― Victor Hugo, Les Misérables

Opps! - Scriptural Miscommunication ;)

This is actually pretty funny. My friend sent me a text message just now to encourage me. What he actually wrote was:   

"I am praying (eph 1:17) over you."

Since he didn't capitalize the "e" on "eph" and because of the blurry screen on my cracked phone the "(" looked like a "Z" at first glance so I thought he was saying "ZEPHANIAH 1:17-18." I just didn't look very closely and went straight to my Bible and read:

"because you have sinned against the Lord, your blood shall be poured out as dust and your flesh as the dung."- ZEPHANIAH 1:17

At first I thought, "WOW!  Telling him about my past wasn't such a good idea after all" :) A few minutes later though, I realized that he meant EPHESIANS (of course) and that verse (1:17) says:  

"I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better."-EPHESIANS 1:17

I'm glad to know it was a miscommunication. ;)
Pax Christi,
Jeremy