Page 114: Monte Gannon & Michael Smith: Pastor Forgives Man Who Burned Church (From the Archive)
The Unfolding
Northwestern Media
4.9 • 867 Ratings
🗓️ 17 March 2023
⏱️ 50 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
When police knocked on Pastor Monte Gannon's door, he never could have imagined it was the start of something beautiful. Everything his church-owned was packed in a trailer that had been stolen and burned to the ground. As Monte prayed, he remembered two things- desperate people do desperate things, and God can take what was meant for evil and turn it for good. In a video that went viral, Monte reached out to whoever was responsible for the crime saying, "You are valuable. God has hope for you. You are invited to Meadows Church." He had no idea how those words would come true.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey, this is Meredith. I can't say that I have favorite episodes of the unfolding because that's like |
| 0:04.9 | saying I have a favorite child. Every story, and I really mean this, every story has taught me something. |
| 0:10.4 | But there are certain episodes that have grabbed my heart, and this is one of them. When police |
| 0:17.3 | knocked on Pastor Monti Gannon's door, he never could have imagined that it would be the start of something beautiful. |
| 0:24.4 | Enjoy this episode from the archives. |
| 0:27.0 | Page 114 of The Unfolding is the story of Monty Gannon and Michael Smith. |
| 0:32.6 | I'm telling these guys and I'm trying to keep it together. |
| 0:34.8 | I said, this pastor, this church just, you know, offered me forgiveness and wants to try to change my life. |
| 0:40.8 | I was like, maybe there is a God. |
| 0:43.5 | I mean, who does that? |
| 0:45.3 | God's story has been unfolding. |
| 0:48.6 | Since the beginning of time. |
| 0:51.7 | He invites you to be a part of it. |
| 0:58.1 | Oh. of time. He invites you to be a part of it. Another page in the unfolding. |
| 1:10.2 | Hey, this is Meredith Foster. |
| 1:12.6 | Every week on the unfolding, we share a God's story, how God uses the events and experiences |
| 1:18.3 | of our lives to transform our faith. |
| 1:20.7 | When I first heard about this week's story, I thought, that is so incredible. |
| 1:25.3 | There's no other explanation, but God. When you've heard it, I think you're |
| 1:30.8 | going to feel the same. Monti Gannon is a pastor. His church experienced something awful. |
| 1:37.5 | As Monty was grappling with this turn of events, he sensed God saying, you know, this looks |
| 1:42.8 | terrible, but I'm about to do something beautiful. |
... |
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