Magnificence. What comes to mind when you hear that word? Webster does little to do the word justice. It defines magnificence with words like splendor.

OK. But what is truly magnificent?

If you like Westerns, you are surely familiar with The Magnificent Seven. Yul Brynner, Eli Wallach, Steve McQueen, Robert Vaughn, Charles Bronson, James Coburn — all carrying guns! It’s hard to get more magnificent than that!

Every Father’s day, I think of my dad. So in that sense, Father’s day is no different than any other day in my life. Even though he’s been dead almost a decade, I think of him every day. When I think of my dad these days, I think he was magnificent.

It’s like that with Pennsylvania. When I was in grade-school, our family took a trip and crossed the United States with a truck camper. I saw the Rocky Mountains, the Redwood Forest, the Grand Canyon. Colorado, California beaches. When we returned home, my mother, who was about the age I am now, said, “I don’t think there is anything prettier than these hills of Pennsylvania on a summer’s day.” I thought she was out of her mind. But I caught myself saying the same thing this past week. When I look at these Penn’s Woods, I think they are magnificent.

But there is something more magnificent than any of these things. It’s found in the story of Peter’s denial.

This podcast speaks of the magnificence of God’s grace, helping us overcome our own failures.

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