Men in Their 20’s and 30’s With a Specific Early Balding Pattern May Be at Higher Risk of Aggressive Prostate Cancer

When I come across a newsworthy article of interest, I usually summarize it on this post and link the reader to the entire article for more information. This is an exception as the original article from the Prostate Cancer Foundation (March 30th, 2017) contains specific visual and verbal information; hence I refer you to the following link.

Finding Useful Prostate Cancer Clinical Trials

Clinical trials are on-going at many institutions across the United States. Many men think about enrolling in a clinical trial only when there are no further treatment options for them. But trials are not just for advanced stages of disease. They can also include men recently diagnosed and treated. The trials cover areas such as screening, diagnosis, imaging and scans, quality of life, as well as surgery, radiation and other specific treatments and combinations. At some time, you might want to go to the clinicaltrials.gov site, and enter your pertinent areas of interest under “Search for Studies”. Hundreds may appear but they can be filtered under categories such as “recruiting”, “active not recruiting”, “completed”, “terminated” etc. You can also search them by location as well. You might want to ask your physician to demonstrate the site by incorporating your specific health status and generating a shorter list of pertinent recruiting trials.  An excellent review of clinical trials (see the link) was recently published online by the Prostate Cancer News Today. It is concise and informative but will not be summarized here. The article also leads the reader to a Bayer Oncology Clinical Trial Finder wherein you can enter specific data and a listing of available trials can be sent to you. There is a wealth of information here and the reader is urged to spend some time perusing these sites. They also provide a picture of the current cutting-edge areas of research.

When God Does Not Heal

Baby robins bathing on way north in late February, 2017; Photo: BJGabrielsen

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.” (Proverbs 3:5-6).

If God is all-powerful, why do we witness so few miraculous healings? There are many reasons for this. Sometimes we do not ask Him. Other times, we might ask but with wrong motives or a lack of faith. And then there is the reason that we do not like to hear: God may choose not to heal.

Beware of theology that promises healing to anyone who asks. This is not biblical. The problem is not inability; God is able to heal anyone and anything. And be careful if someone claims the lingering illness is the result of sin. This may be true, but often our heavenly Father, in His great love and unfathomable wisdom, allows our ailments to persist.

Consider Paul, who asked the Lord three times to remove his “thorn.” (See 2 Corinthians 12:7-8.) Yet it remained. We can learn from his response—he did not question God’s authority, nor did he complain. Instead, recognizing that divine strength would show through his weakness, Paul trusted God.

We, too, can believe that God will work all things for good in His children’s lives (Romans 8:28). In fact, character growth usually occurs in times of suffering, loss, or hurt. While adversity is uncomfortable, we can feel hope and joy in what our Father is accomplishing through painful times.

Ultimately, God brings glory to Himself and good to His children. There are instances when this involves miraculous healing, but He often refines us by allowing the hardship. As with silver and gold, impurities are usually removed from hearts in the fiery furnace of life’s struggles. Trust God’s plan and rest in His love.

From Dr. Charles Stanley, In Touch Daily Devotional, January 13th, 2017.

Help For Our Healing

God cares about our physical well-being. After all, He made our bodies as a temple for His Spirit. And while He is able to heal sickness, His original intention was not for His perfect creation to experience disease.

But in this sinful world, ungodly choices at times lead to illness. So when we’re afflicted, it’s wise to ask God to search our heart and reveal anything He wants us to address (Psalm 139:23-24). Since sin can act like a blockage to prayer (Psalm 66:18), confessing any known wrongdoing is also a good idea.

Most of the time, though, health problems are just part of our human condition—a symptom of mankind’s fallen state rather than evidence of personal sin. The truth is, disease affects just about everyone at some point. So how does God want us to respond?

Certain situations, of course, require prompt medical attention, but even in a crisis, our Father wants us to be aware of His presence and to stay in communication with Him (“pray without ceasing”, 1 Thess. 5:17). Developing a pattern of prayerfulness before an emergency occurs is the best way to prepare for the unexpected.

The Bible’s instructions also include praying for one another and calling the elders of the church to come and pray, anointing the afflicted person with oil in Jesus’ name. (See James 5:14).

Our Father is able to heal even the most deadly disease, but He sometimes chooses to allow the condition to remain. When requesting restored health, we should ask with faith and trust—faith in God’s ability but trust in His perfect will, whether that means healing or suffering-induced growth.

See James 5:13-20. This devotional by Dr. Charles Stanley was published on January 12th, 2017 in the In Touch Devotional Magazine.