Hitchens on cancer and people praying for him

It is no secret that Christopher Hitchens is an irreverent and outspoken atheist. He has penned books like God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, and he has also invested a fair amount of time debating theists. In fact there is a long laundry list of his debates on You Tube.

While he appears to maintain a stiff upper lip regarding his cancer diagnosis, his reaction is interesting when he speaks about people praying for him. It is certainly my hope and prayer that his eyes are opened and he is spared a Christ-less eternity.

Related articles:

• Tale of two brothers: One an atheist, the other a believer (ictabletalk.blogspot.com)
• Hugh Hewitt: Hitchens Writes On His Recovery (hughhewitt.com)
• Christopher Hitchens Diagnosed with Cancer: Suspends Book Tour... (blog.beliefnet.com)
• A Prayer for Christopher Hitchens (blog.faithandfreadom.us)

We Are Born Proud and Need Humility - J.C. Ryle Quotes

Humility like this is one of the strongest evidences of the indwelling of the Spirit of God. We know nothing of humility by nature, for we are all born proud. To convince us of sin, to show us our own vileness and corruption, to put us in our right place, to make us lowly and self-abased–these are among the principal works which the Holy Spirit works in the soul of man. Few of our Lord’s sayings are so often repeated as the one which closes the parable of the Pharisee and Tax-collector–“Every one that exalts himself shall be abased, and he that humbles himself shall be exalted.” (Luke 18:14.) To have great gifts, and do great works for God, is not given to all believers. But all believers ought to strive to be clothed with humility.

~ J.C. Ryle


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Deepak Chopra: 'All belief is a cover up for insecurity'

This is a funny moment I had forgotten about. During a debate on ABC, Deepak Chopra got a lesson on self-refuting arguments. You can see the entire debate at the Nightline Face-off home page near the bottom of the page.

Free audio book

This month Christianaudio.com is offering Tim Keller's Ministries of Mercy free of charge. Coupon code is AUG2010. Prepare to be challenged.


Tim Keller: The Gospel and the Poor: A Case for Compassion from Here's Life Inner City on Vimeo.

Speaking of Tim Keller, he also taught an excellent series from his recent book, The Prodigal God, in which he examined the familiar parable of the Prodigal Son.

You can download the series here, and they are also linked below (click to listen or right click to download). I can't recommend them enough. This is the kind of insightful teaching that stirs the faith and kindles the heart.

1. He Welcomes Sinners

2. Give Me Mine

3. He Came to Himself

4. To Be Called Your Son

5. And Kissed Him

6. We Had to Celebrate

7. The True Older Brother

Life meets art

Let your soul lose itself in Holy wonder

“All they that heard it wondered at those things.”
- Luke 2:18

We must not cease to wonder at the great marvels of our God. It would be very difficult to draw a line between holy wonder and real worship; for when the soul is overwhelmed with the majesty of God’s glory, though it may not express itself in song, or even utter its voice with bowed head in humble prayer, yet it silently adores.

Our incarnate God is to be worshipped as “the Wonderful.” That God should consider his fallen creature, man, and instead of sweeping him away with the besom of destruction, should himself undertake to be man’s Redeemer, and to pay his ransom price, is, indeed marvellous! But to each believer redemption is most marvellous as he views it in relation to himself. It is a miracle of grace indeed, that Jesus should forsake the thrones and royalties above, to suffer ignominiously below for you.

Let your soul lose itself in wonder, for wonder is in this way a very practical emotion. Holy wonder will lead you to grateful worship and heartfelt thanksgiving. It will cause within you godly watchfulness; you will be afraid to sin against such a love as this. Feeling the presence of the mighty God in the gift of his dear Son, you will put off your shoes from off your feet, because the place whereon you stand is holy ground. You will be moved at the same time to glorious hope.

If Jesus has done such marvellous things on your behalf, you will feel that heaven itself is not too great for your expectation. Who can be astonished at anything, when he has once been astonished at the manger and the cross? What is there wonderful left after one has seen the Saviour? Dear reader, it may be that from the quietness and solitariness of your life, you are scarcely able to imitate the shepherds of Bethlehem, who told what they had seen and heard, but you can, at least, fill up the circle of the worshippers before the throne, by wondering at what God has done.

- Charles Spurgeon