October 29, 2025
Dear Friends,
This week one man prayed with me according to the pattern of Luke 18:13 & Romans 10:9.
He lives in Switzerland, in his mid-30s. Unmarried and no children. He first heard of me when listening to a YouTuber who repeatedly spoke ill of me. The Swiss man finally decided to listen for himself to what I had to say because he was hearing so many negative things about me. He then reached out to me, writing a long message, of which I share parts here:
Dear Dr. Tour,
I have considered several times whether I should even reach out to you, as I greatly respect your time and feel unworthy of it. However, since you frequently mention the possibility of correspondence in your videos, I thought perhaps you might be able to spare a little time to respond. I have been searching for faith for quite some time. In my early twenties, I struggled with severe depression after a car accident and attempted to draw closer to God. I have never read the Bible in its entirety, only partially. Currently, I am making an effort to read the Bible from start to finish. I find the Old Testament quite harsh at times, but I am trying to persevere so I can understand the full context.
My mother is a deeply faithful Christian, and we are Roman Catholic….Furthermore, I live in Switzerland, a very secular country… I have watched almost all of your videos and found them incredibly motivating. I even shared them with my mother, translating the content for her since I do not speak English. She, too, was impressed that someone like you could open the door to God for people who seek scientific reasoning…I would be very grateful for any response. With warm regards from Switzerland…
Brandon checked him out and confirmed that this Swiss man did not believe in the resurrection, so I met with him. After reading the Bible so much and having a praying mother, this man naturally and readily gave his heart to Jesus. He was not far from the kingdom of God.
Mark 12:34, “When Jesus saw that he had answered intelligently, He said to him, ‘You are not far from the kingdom of God.’…”
That YouTuber’s slander is meant for evil, but God uses it for good.
Philippians 1:18 “What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed; and in this I rejoice, yes, and I will rejoice.”
I just spent the last three days at the University of Cambridge in the UK delivering three lectures, all of which were filmed and will go up on my YouTube channel over the next month. Thursday evening, I had a “High Table Dinner” with the faculty at Cambridge’s Pembroke College, a three-course formal gathering with gongs, teams of waiters, and liturgical prayers in Latin (sadly devoid of personal passion). Then we proceed to the dessert room where bowls of fresh fruit, sweets, and multiple wines and ports are served, though I don’t drink. I had engaging conversations with my host from Physics, and also with professors of English Literature, Neurology, Signal Processing (Electrical Engineering), and Anthropology. It was a grand and memorable occasion. Due to my jetlag, I was restricted from attending past 1030 PM in that gathering, which was destined to go for several hours longer after I departed.
The first lecture was on Friday afternoon at the university’s Graphene Center, where I had spent the day with the students and postdocs, and then presented “Flash Joule Heating for Synthesis, Remediation and Valorization”. The students showed me the Cavendish Laboratory museum, where the Physics Department has secured 62 Nobel Prizes. Below is a picture of me standing next to the classic model of DNA, as built by Watson and Crick when they first discovered the double helix structure of that information-bearing biological system. (I met Watson about 20 years ago at a dinner event in Houston). I could see, firsthand, the fascinating equipment that many researchers had designed to make the fundamental measurements in science. The next lecture was on Friday evening, which had an overflow crowd, where we had to bring in more chairs to accommodate all the interested individuals for the Whewell Autumn Lecture in Christ’s College, presenting on “The Origin of Life” back-to-back with Steven Meyer presenting on “Design of Life”. Question followed, and then further one-on-one questions from those that stayed behind.
On Saturday afternoon, Steven and I had a delightful 2-hour lunch with an important figure, a professor at Cambridge, in the field of the origin of life. I have contested with him on YouTube regarding the origin of life research. When I prayed over the meal before it began, I also prayed for this professor’s son, who has autism. After the meal, the professor told me how much that prayer had touched him, and how that mealtime turned out to be far different from what he had thought it would be. It was fascinating for me to hear of his theories on the early Earth formation of some of the simplest inorganic chemicals: ammonia, molecular hydrogen, and hydrogen cyanide. This was particularly interesting for me because my group has discovered a way to make all of these compounds from air, water, and carbon (the dust of the ground) without doing any traditional electrochemistry. My interest stems from my desire to develop an efficient and high-production-rate approach to these important commercial building blocks, but it has clear origin-of-life implications.
On Saturday night, we had another gathering in the “Round Church,” the second oldest building in Cambridge, built in 1130 AD by the Crusaders. Steven Meyer, a philosopher of science; Andrew Fellows, a Christian apologist and theologian; and I each spoke for 5 minutes on why we embrace Christianity, followed by 1.25 hours of questions from the audience. This was chiefly fun for me because all the “hard” questions I could direct to the other two.
Sunday morning, I took a 430 AM limo and then I flew to Austria for a weeklong eclectic meeting where my speaking topic was chosen for me: “Space alien designers: how implausible origin-of-life hypotheses are making it harder to be an intellectually fulfilled atheist.” I am looking forward to it. The Austrian view from this secluded resort on a lake is surrounded by breathtaking mountains: I’m not in Texas anymore. On the flight from the UK to Austria, I sat next to a young German student in his early 20s, who boasted of a mix of Buddhism and Evangelicalism stemming from his two parents. We had an engaging conversation on the resurrection, upon which he soon declared he needed no more evidence because it was clear to him that Jesus rose from the dead. But he could not bring himself to openly confess the Lordship of Christ, knowing the ramifications of such a proclamation.
Mark 10:17-22
…Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, "One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me." But at these words he was saddened, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property.
God bless,
Jim Tour
