Loving Christopher Hitchens

A recent story highlighted in the UK's Daily Telegraph should inspire us all. Renowned atheist and secular apologist, Christopher Hitchens, who is gravely ill with stage 4 esophageal cancer is finding help at the hands of an evangelical scientist. Dr. Francis Collins contended against Hitchens in a number of debates over the existence of God. Against the odds the two over time have become friends and Collins is now treating Hitchens with revolutionary genetic therapy to try and save him from the almost certain death he faces from the cancer. See the posted story below.

Here is a wonderful example of a Christian going out of his way to love an "enemy" by seeking to save his life. But even more amazing I think is the fact that the two ever became friends in the first place. Could it be that when we are obedient to God in actually loving our enemies that God will work it out that some of those very same people will become our friends? It would seem so. How cool and wonderful is that?

Christopher Hitchens is a guinea pig for a cancer treatment that involves mapping his genetic make-up Photo: PA

By Richard Alleyne, and Mick Brown 6:30AM GMT 26 Mar 2011

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The author of God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything said that he is a "guinea pig" for a new personalised medicine partly developed by Dr Francis Collins, a geneticist with very strong religious views.

The two had often met in the past as adversaries in the debate about whether God exists.

Against the odds they had become friends.

Now Hitchens is one of the few people in the world who has had his entire genetic make up mapped and is receiving a new treatment that targets his own damaged DNA.

"I’m an experiment," Hitchens said.

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"These are early stages, but in theory it should attack the primary site of the tumour.

"If that does happen, it won’t just be good news for me, it will be very exciting in the general treatment of cancer."

Dr Collins is a former director of the National Human Genome Research Project and is now the director of America’s National Institutes of Health.

He is the author of a bestselling book, The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief.

"It is a rather wonderful relationship,’ said Hitchens.

"I won’t say he doesn’t pray for me, because I think he probably does; but he doesn’t discuss it with me.

"He agrees that his medical experience does not include anything that could be described as a miracle cure – he’s never come across anything."

Hitchens, 61, originally from Portsmouth but now living in Washington DC, is an old Oxford University friend of the writer Martin Amis and has had a long journalistic career on both sides of the Atlantic.

In September 2005, he was named one of the "Top 100 Public Intellectuals" in the world by Foreign Policy and Prospect magazines.

Since the publication of his book he has become a hero of so-called New Atheism movement.

His pre-eminence has been enhanced by his steadfast refusal to change his views even after he was diagnosed with cancer of the oesophagus last year.

The prognosis looked very grave until a few weeks after his diagnosis he was asked if he would like to be a guinea pig in the new science of genome sequencing as a possible cure for cancer.

Samples were taken from healthy tissue and from his tumour and on each of them six billion DNA matches were run, in order to catalogue any mutations found in the cancerous cells.

He was warned to have no expectations.

But in the New Year came the good news that there is a genetic mutation found in the tumour for which there already exists a drug.

Having been on varying types and doses of chemotherapy, he is now on a regime of one pill a day.

"At least it spares me some of the boredom of being a cancer patient because what I’m going through is very absorbing and positively inspiring," he said.

"But if it doesn’t work, I don’t know what they could try next."

He remains hopeful, although he has been told that of 1,000 men of his age and in his condition, half could expect to be dead within a year.

Hitchens said that he is constantly contacted by other atheists telling him he can beat the cancer and this in itself makes him feel "alarmed to be a repository of other people's hope".

People have even started asking him to officiate at their weddings.

"It started a couple of years ago," he said.

"It’s something I shall have to resist if I survive, and even if I don’t – this very slightly cultish stuff starts to happen.

"You get letters from people you can hardly remember meeting: “I shall never forget the kindness …

"Unbelievably trivial stuff, but they’ve made it into a thing in their minds."

Transformed or Merely Forgiven

Recently I published an article in the Guelph newspaper in which I argued that Christians must be careful to call for and expect life transformation, as Jesus did, as opposed to preaching a good news that only deals with the guilt of sin and never addresses the power of sin. A fellow pastor wrote me a detailed letter challenging me on some of my points. Below I have posted my response(edited to protect confidentiality) to him.

Dear Pastor,

Thank you for your courteous, gracious and rather thorough response. I will try and respond in kind, but you may be a nicer person than me. Not sure I can get to all the points you raise, but I will at least address the salient ones.

But, before I touch those I have to note that unless I missed it I did not detect your yea or nay to the fundamental point in the article...that the gospel involves more than forgiveness and grace, as important as they are, but it also calls for transformation. I consider the point to be of utmost importance for if the call to discipleship and transformation is ignored, or even just relegated to the back room, we will end up with antinomianism. Indeed it seems to me that parts of the church are already swimming in those dark waters. Interesting that you should mention Bonhoeffer for if he were alive to day I think that he would describe some parts of modern day Christianity as having fallen prey to cheap grace. He, as you know held up discipleship, and advocated going against the grain of popular culture in order to be obedient to Christ.

I personally think that relativism is one of the chief enemies of the gospel in our age. If it cannot be in some way answered all we have left with is a pitiful, "We have a belief too, we have a belief too...” which is a far cry from the apostolic preaching of certainty that there was but one Lord and one way of salvation.

As for Calvinism, I find myself standing with the great Charles Spurgeon who said (more or less), that Calvinism was nothing more than biblical Christianity.

We are in agreement that the gospel spreads by love. But, only by love? No, for surely we also must both agree that the presentation of truth was essential. A quick read of the Acts reveals that over and over again the proclamation of truth by the apostles was a major way that people came into the kingdom. Should we not always be careful to insist that it is Word and deed that has been committed to us?

The culture war is a big issue all on its own. I will limit myself to saying that every Christian generation is bound to in some way fight that war. For in a broad brush way of speaking the world constantly seeks to evade the truth of sin by redefining sin on its own terms or denying that it even exists. Yes, the church can sit passively by and speak of other things, but for my part I think she is unfaithful to her Lord and her calling when she goes AWOL. I further think that to not speak and proclaim the hard truths of scripture is a terribly unloving act toward our neighbor who by our silence is left to figure out on his/her own what God requires. By refusing to point out clearly God’s way to them we, who are called to be salt and light, essentially hide God’s light from them. Will all joyously receive our message? No, but some will. But some might insist that it would be better to mute our message so that it is more attractive to seekers and will therefore get a better response. For my part I am persuaded that it is a most dangerous strategy to attempt to be more loving than Jesus by muting truth, and accommodating sin. More comfortable for us to be sure, but dangerous in the long run.

You raise the question of sex and won’t the world think that we’re prudish because we insist on God’s guidelines for it. The answer to that of course is to preach the full message of how good it is, as well as the importance of guarding its God-designed use. But, should we speak of it so much and so often? Good question. Doubtless we must be careful to cover the whole panoply of sins. That said, when one of the overwhelmingly prevailing sins of our culture is precisely sexual sin in its various forms how can we be silent over this particular form of idolatry anymore than Christians could be silent to the Nazi idolatry in the time of Bonhoeffer. Sadly, you and I know that in the main, Christians in that time were muted except for a few notable exceptions.

I must bring this note to a close. I apologize for making it so long a response, but you actually rung a whole lot of different bells. Do forgive me where I may have spoken harshly or accusingly, it is not my intention to offend. Thank you again for your willingness to dialogue.

Grace and peace,

Royal Hamel

Absolutely Amazing Video Clip on Shining Your Light

I must share this marvellous video clip with you'all. It's all about being light of the world, shining into the darkness, being willing to go into the darkness. I guarantee you will love it...it may even transform your life. It sure encouraged mine.

Grace and peace to all,

Royal

It's called: Who do you think you are-Salt and Light! Check it out. It's worth it.

http://video.christianpost.com/20110314/who-do-you-think-you-are-salt-and-light/

Losing Weight: Truly Difficult, but Possible

Losing weight is not for the faint of heart. It is for most people a huge, ongoing challenge. It is made even more difficult by those who falsely paint a picture of how easy it is. The following article blows that false picture away and brings us face to face with the reality of the struggle. Oddly enough the portrait of reality is encouraging and brings hope.

Keeping the Weight Off: An Interview with Ellen Granberg, PhD

Diabetes Health Staff
Feb 27, 2011

Ellen Granberg is an obesity sociologist who studies the processes that people go through when they lose weight and keep it off. As she says, "If the problem were that we don't know what people should eat to lose weight, that would be one thing, but we don't have that problem. There are a hundred weight loss plans out there that are perfectly good. We understand all about the physiology of weight loss maintenance and the metabolic impacts, but nothing about the social and emotional impacts. People who sustain weight loss over time move through a lot of different challenges."

Dr. Granberg lost 120 pounds 15 years ago. She says, "To this day, I weigh pretty much everything that goes into my mouth. It took me a while to make up my mind that it was worth it. Our cultural lore encourages the idea that losing weight is the most important thing you can do to bring about the life that you want. But people who successfully lose weight are motivated by rewards that are very specific and concrete--like lowering their blood pressure or being able to lower their insulin. It's all about coming down to earth and being motivated by something that could actually happen."

"It is a real learning process. You lose, you gain, you lose, you gain, you lose, and through that process, people who eventually do keep it off learn a little bit each time. Letting go of the idea that your life will be perfect if you lose weight is not easy. For the people who make it, that idea basically gets beaten out of them, until they are willing to trade ‘I'm going to be a movie star' for ‘I can walk up stairs more easily.'"

For people struggling to lose weight and keep it off, Dr. Granberg suggests "asking yourself if there are smaller, more manageable goals that losing weight could help you attain. Ask ‘Are there things going on in my life today that it would be really nice if they were easier? Maybe I could get in and out of the car easily, or could go up the stairs without difficulty.' Often we look at those kinds of goals and say ‘Well, that's just not enough to give up eating what I want.' It's important to keep in mind that people who do sustain weight loss over time take fulfillment from those small victories. In fact, those small victories are a big deal."

Dr. Granberg says, "You need to be motivated by immediate things, the near-term, pragmatic benefits that will sustain you in the end. The people who sustain weight loss talk about how happy it makes them that they can cross their legs." She adds, "People who are diabetic experience some important benefits right away. Many are able to reduce the amount of medication that they use. Don't focus on the distant future, long-term dangers of diabetes, but think about the immediate payoffs of losing weight. There are a lot of them."

Dr. Granberg also notes that if you feel disappointed at the results of your weight loss, remember that those feelings are normal and to be expected. In fact, they're just a predictable phase in the process. For people who have been heavy for years, it takes two or three years before they feel normal at their new weight. "It's really ‘slow and steady wins the race,'" says Dr. Granberg. "We are so conditioned to expect that it's going to be the hare and not the tortoise who wins the race. If it's not the hare, we immediately think that something's wrong, but weight loss is a tortoise thing."

"If you can just wait it out, hold on and not get frustrated, just live in the thinner body and hang on for a while, you will start to find things to appreciate about it, the small rewards."