ARTICLES

08/04/2026

11/20/2025

Why your brain -- and God -- won't settle for a screen A recent survey found that nearly 40% of teenagers have now turned to an AI chatbot for emotional support or companionship. Not for homework help. Not for trivia. For comfort. For someone — something — to talk to when the day fell apart. I don't think that statistic should surprise us, and I don't think it should just alarm us either. It should make us curious. Because underneath it is a question every counselor eventuall

There is a memory somewhere in you that you did not choose to keep. You kept it anyway. Neuroscientists who study memory consolidation have long observed that the brain does not archive experience the way a filing system stores documents — chronologically, comprehensively, neutrally. It stores what matters emotionally. The hippocampus, working in close partnership with the amygdala, encodes experience based on emotional intensity and relational significance. The stronger the

Neurotheology and the Practice of Presence Whether or not you pray, your brain is doing something when you sit in silence, slow your breathing, and direct your attention toward something larger than yourself. Neuroscientists call it a shift in default mode network activity -- a measurable reorganization of how your brain allocates attention when it moves from reactive processing to something more intentional, more still. Contemplatives have called it communion for centuries.

There is a verse so familiar it has nearly lost its edge. If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land." 2 Chronicles 7:14 We quote it at prayer gatherings. We post it in times of national crisis. And somewhere in the repetition, we've let it become a banner rather than a summons. But read it again slowly. God isn't

Grace and Caution – Matthew 18:10-14 Hook: I never had a sister and I was never given a daughter, but I have been blessed with a wonderful granddaughter. She is a bundle of energy and like her grandpa Gary she has a delightful sense of humor, but she lives in Kansas City and that is a long way from Tucson. When she was four years old, and it was time for her baby brother to be born, I went to Kansas City to babysit her while her mom was giving birth at the hospital. Normally,

My youngest daughter Bronwyn has always pushed the envelope, sticking her hairy toe across any line drawn before her. Bronwyn, or “White Breast” was a Welsh heroine in her father’s favorite book, “ How Green Was My Valley.” We never told her what her real name meant until much later. We just called her “pure heart” which matches her nature now. Her “pure heart,” however, was coupled with a predilection for stubbornness and extreme sports. Life with the Bronskie was never dul

The Power of the Indwelling Holy Spirit In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul writes, "to each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good" (v. 7). He goes on to list various spiritual gifts like healing, wisdom and faith, and then explains, "All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills. For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Chr

Dear Roger & Friends, How am I supposed to relate to a God I can't fully explain? I feel like my confusion gets in the way of my faith. Sincerely, Jamie Hi Jamie, That question lingers like a stone in your shoe—the kind you can't ignore, no matter how much you want to, because it gets right to the heart of something we all experience. It takes me back to a morning years ago on the Oregon coast with my kids. I remember the cool, damp air and the sand between my toes as I w

Fear, guilt, and shame are silent killers And so, this article will examine doubt and see how slyly it sneaks in to spy out our joy and hope in Christ. Many of us understand doubt. If we’re honest with ourselves, we will even grant that doubt is part of living. Indeed, our doubts are actually pretty wide and diverse. Take, for example, the political landscape and sports. I’ll start with sports. As an Aggie, I have gotten used to letdowns each fall. I begin with high hopes, lo

https://www.russellmoore.com/2026/02/04/when-christians-contemplate-assisted- suicide/ A reader of my newsletter asked me if he might be going to hell. Actually, the reader’s question was quite a bit more nuanced. He’s a Christian, a committed follower of Jesus. He’s also suffering from a debilitating, painful, and slowly terminal disease. Let’s call him Max. He lives in Canada, where physician-assisted suicide—or “aid in dying,” as the euphemism goes—is now legal and ubiquit

In this week's episode of The Dr. Leaf Podcast, we dive deep into why this happens and how you can rebuild real adult friendships without forcing those awkward "we should catch up" conversations that never quite materialize. The Quiet Fade: Understanding Adult Friendship Loss A lot of friendship loss after 30 isn't a dramatic blow-up or a specific falling out. It's the slow stuff: delayed text replies, plans that keep getting pushed back, long gaps between conversations that

“That isn’t a toy!” parents warn a child playing with a knife or a hammer. Pharaoh thought he could play a game with God and win. He lost. Your heart is not a toy. The story of God’s battle with Pharaoh in the book of Exodus is the story of the consequences of a hardened heart. It’s the story of someone who thought they could toy with God and with their heart. We cannot. In the first five plagues, Pharaoh’s hardens his heart three times and his heart “is hardened” (it’s ambig

As I’ve considered my last year of life and ministry, I look ahead to what is to come. At this stage of my life I know there are fewer days ahead of me than there are behind. I want my life to count for something. So in the last few years I’ve done something to deepen my spiritual life and make me more effective in my ministry and witness. I’ve increased my time in scripture and in prayer. As I’ve done this it has occurred to me that I’ve never met a person who regretted spen

Just as the Minaret calls the Muslim to prayer, so too Allah is calling Muslims to consider the truth of His revelation found in the Injeel. Do you sometimes wonder if you will really enjoy eternal paradise? Do you know without a doubt that you will be in paradise? You can know without a doubt! What became of the Injeel? What relationship do other early writings about Isa have with the Quran? Where is the real Injeel? The path of Islam is revealed in the Quran as being the fi

When my children were growing up one of their favorite meals was steak. I would buy steaks when they went on sale and then freeze them until we needed them for a special occasion. When they were real small I had to cut up their steaks for them to eat, but as they aged I learned I could trust them with a steak knife to cut their own steak without hurting themselves, or their neighbor. Finally, after they were much older they wanted me to teach them what was in my overnight mar

Where would the bread come from? Jacob heard his grandchildren’s whimpers as they rustled in the neighboring tents. He knew tears were running down their faces as their tiny empty bellies cried out. Where would the next meal come from? The drought had devastated the crop. Travelers from the North had spent the night. They carried bags of grain and shared news that the Pharaoh had storehouses of grain. They had met with his right-hand man, Zaphenath-paneah. Seven years earlier

Options for church unity are wider than we admit. After all, unity does not require uniformity. But if it’s true that unity does not require uniformity, what do we do when we find we are not uniform in belief and practice? And if the areas of difference are important rather than superficial, how do we keep that lack of uniformity from threatening or resulting in disunity? It seems to me these are the questions the church now faces and has been facing for a while. In congregat