ARTICLES

08/08/2026

True identity doesn't come from your job, generation, relationships, or achievements—it comes from Christ alone. Ephesians 4:1 calls us to "lead a life worthy of your calling," and that calling starts with knowing who we are in Jesus: children of God, forgiven, and purposeful. When we root our identity in Him, sin and failure can't shake it, and neither can circumstance. Have you ever caught yourself introducing someone by their job title before their name? Or scrolled past a

We are all familiar with the mark of the beast. Fear and confusion surrounding it seem to swirl around it. As a child, I remember hearing a preacher declare that the birthmark on Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev’s head was the mark of the beast. We were warned that Visa cards or barcodes might be the mark. Today, rumors abound that the mark is a QR code, a vaccine, or something connected to artificial intelligence. Such speculation dramatically misunderstands John’s explana

Was Dolly Parton a Christian? The recent death of Dolly Parton has Americans mourning this cultural icon. She was a much-loved and accomplished entertainer who brought joy to millions through her music, theme park, and philanthropic activities. Almost immediately after her death, social media was inundated with tributes and reviews of her life, with many making the specific note that she was a Christian who was open about her faith in an industry that often shuns Christians.

You are on a date night with your wife, observing the people around you. “First date?” you ask. “For sure!” she says, noticing the telltale signs. The young lady carries a single rose. The young man is a little nervous. They are slightly overdressed for the restaurant. Eyes locked, their attention is rapt on one another. Cell phones never make an appearance. Young love. A mom and dad in their late thirties burst into the restaurant with three boisterous children guffawing a

There is no topic we love discussing more than ourselves. The self-discovery industry has never had more pull than it does in the contemporary West. In the immortalized words of the country singer Toby Keith, “I wanna talk about me, wanna talk about I, wanna talk about number one, oh my me my. What I think, what I like, what I know, what I want, what I see.” We laugh because it’s true and we laugh because it reveals our narcissism. Christians might be tempted to push back on

There is a particular kind of shame that shows up in my office more than almost any other. It sounds like this: “Everyone talks about feeling God’s presence. I don’t feel anything. I must be doing something wrong.” For most of the people who say this to me, the problem isn’t their faith. It’s their nervous system running a prediction it hasn’t updated yet. NOT A SCAR. A MISCALIBRATED ALARM.. For a decade, the dominant popular image of trauma has been that the body stores it —

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

There are seasons when loss alters the structure of your entire world. A death. A betrayal. A diagnosis. A shattered expectation. Grief is not simply sadness. It is the disruption of love, attachment, identity, and future hope. And Scripture does not dismiss that disruption. It dignifies it. As a Christian counselor, I believe grief requires both clinical wisdom and deep Biblical theology. God does not call us to suppress sorrow. He invites us to bring it honestly before H

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