On Oct. 31, 1517, a young university lecturer and Augustinian monk named Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of the All Saints Church at Wittenburg. His 95 theses constituted a list of objections to the dominant Roman Catholic beliefs and practices of his time.

Recently, a group of archaeologists announced a major new find in the ancient city of Petra in Jordan. Petra is one of the world’s most significant archaeological sites. It had seemed that all the major archaeological structures had been found at this site.

Perhaps the most famous story of fraud in modern history is that of New York stock broker Bernie Madoff. Madoff was one of the biggest names in finance in New York, and his 4800 clients were devoted to his fund as a remarkably solid performer.

Life can indeed be a perilous journey. John Newton’s famous hymn, “Amazing Grace”, speaks of "dangers, toils and snares" that he experienced firsthand. On one occasion, he was thrown from a horse, narrowly missing impalement on a row of sharp stakes.

In many Hollywood movies, there is a hero or heroine who comes to the rescue of others at the very end. Think of your favorite movie and identify the hero or heroine. It is almost always a human being. In contrast, the hero of Biblical stories is not the human actor but God himself.