Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
How do we move forward when everything around us is crumbling? How do we hold on to hope?
Drawing from her own experience of losing an infant son, losing her marriage, and being diagnosed with a debilitating disease, Vaneetha Rendall Risner shares questions she asked God in suffering, the beautiful ways God answered her, and the three anchors that have given her hope and grounded her faith.
This talk was recorded at TGCW24.
📝ON THIS VIDEO:
0:00 – Introduction
1:54 – Early life and health challenges
4:02 – Discovering faith
8:16 – Grief and reconnection with God
10:08 – Divorce and aftermath
13:26 – The presence of God in suffering
25:52 – Experiencing God's presence
31:05 – The purpose of suffering
40:50 – The promise of heaven
43:02 – Conclusion and final thoughts
———
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How do we move forward when everything around us is crumbling? How do we hold on to hope?
Drawing from her own experience of losing an infant son, losing her marriage, and being diagnosed with a debilitating disease, Vaneetha Rendall Risner shares questions she asked God in suffering, the beautiful ways God answered her, and the three anchors that have given her hope and grounded her faith.
This talk was recorded at TGCW24.
📝ON THIS VIDEO:
0:00 – Introduction
1:54 – Early life and health challenges
4:02 – Discovering faith
8:16 – Grief and reconnection with God
10:08 – Divorce and aftermath
13:26 – The presence of God in suffering
25:52 – Experiencing God's presence
31:05 – The purpose of suffering
40:50 – The promise of heaven
43:02 – Conclusion and final thoughts
———
🎁 Help The Gospel Coalition build up a renewed church for tomorrow. Let's Build Together: Donate Today at tgc.org/together
🎧 Don’t miss an episode of TGC Podcast:
▫ Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tgc-podcast/id270128470
▫ Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/1iE3aJkf8fJ2FVTvJGFd4h
✅ SUBSCRIBE: youtube.com/@thegospelcoalition
![AI and Ethics: Can AI Promote Truth and the Common Good? [Silicon Spiritualities - Ep. 7]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/z-Fn0rmLPMU/mqdefault.jpg "AI and Ethics: Can AI Promote Truth and the Common Good? [Silicon Spiritualities - Ep. 7]
The question isnt simply whether AI is good or bad, but good or bad for whom?
This is a question that shapes this episode with Joshua Baru. Joshua is an AI researcher and data science lead in Nairobi, and he brings a perspective too often missing from Western AI conversations: the perspective of justice, labor, and the common good. In our conversation, he challenges the idea that AI is a neutral tool floating above human realities. Instead, he asks who designs these systems, who benefits from them, and who bears the cost when they go wrong.
We talk about AI in the courtroom, the importance of human accountability, and the hidden labor behind supposedly frictionless tools. Joshua also introduces the idea of digital colonialism: the extraction of data, land, and labor from the global majority for the benefit of powerful corporations elsewhere. It is one of the most illuminating and unsettling conversations in the series.
Again and again, Joshua brings the discussion back to distinctly Christian ground. Christ is sovereign over AI, our deepest problem is not technological but spiritual, and our calling is to love God and love our neighbor even here. Joshua joined me on Silicon Spiritualities to explore what AI reveals about justice, power, and human sin, and how Christians can pursue technological wisdom without losing sight of the people hidden beneath the system.
*Resources Mentioned:*
_The Abolition of Man_ by C. S. Lewis - https://www.amazon.com/dp/0060652942?tag=thegospcoal-20
_The Chronicles of Narnia_ by C. S. Lewis - https://www.amazon.com/dp/0061992887?tag=thegospcoal-20
_Amusing Ourselves to Death_ by Neil Postman - https://www.amazon.com/dp/014303653X?tag=thegospcoal-20
_AI Snake Oil_ by Arvind Narayanan - https://www.amazon.com/dp/069124913X?tag=thegospcoal-20
_Authority_ by Jonathan Leeman - https://www.amazon.com/dp/1433587637?tag=thegospcoal-20
00:00 Welcome to Silicon Spiritualities
01:43 Should AI be used in criminal sentencing?
03:02 Why AI justice raises biblical concerns
05:47 Why accountability matters
06:09 Are humans also a black box?
07:33 AI safety, warfare, and judgment
09:34 Why most people still want human judges
10:44 AI as tool, authority, or deity
12:06 AI development from Nairobi
13:25 Six pillars for AI development in Africa
15:04 Kenya and AI adoption
17:21 Bible passages for thinking about AI
18:10 Jesus is sovereign over AI
20:35 Why AI cannot be our hope
24:37 AI and the first commandment
25:58 AI as a mirror of human sin
28:50 AI, neighbor love, and the hidden supply chain
30:43 Data workers and the cost of clean AI
33:14 Advocating for fair work in AI
36:15 Prayer and the AI supply chain
37:23 Should Christians stop using AI tools?
37:59 How to choose safer AI models
40:25 What churches can do
41:53 What is digital colonialism?
43:24 Technology and modern imperialism
47:43 Land, labor, and data
48:50 Carbon offsetting and AI infrastructure
50:25 Data extraction and exploitation
51:19 Can AI help the global majority?
54:22 AI as a democratizing force
55:44 AI snake oil and technosolutionism
57:41 What AI developers need to hear
1:01:04 The inefficient habit Joshua is keeping
1:03:08 What AI reveals about Joshua’s heart
1:07:10 Closing invitation
———————
PREORDER The AI Apocalypse: A Survival Guide for Humanity, featuring Ridenour, Watkin, Brett McCracken, and many others, such as Ben Sasse and Alan Noble - https://store.thegospelcoalition.org/product/9781956593211/the-ai-apocalypse-paperback
JOIN the conversation on Discord, along with other Silicon Spiritualities listeners - https://discord.gg/6FDsErApG8
Help The Gospel Coalition renew and unify the contemporary church in the ancient gospel: Donate today - https://www.tgc.org/together
#ai #formation #ethics #technology #christianity #altools #christianformation")
![New Resources Help You See God by Connecting Scripture (with Ben Gladd) [Gospelbound Ep. 185]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/zVmVinx1PnU/mqdefault.jpg "New Resources Help You See God by Connecting Scripture (with Ben Gladd) [Gospelbound Ep. 185]
Different preachers get excited about different aspects of the sermon. Some collect and deploy excellent illustrations. Others just nail the application week after week. Others can really reach your heart.
What really fires me up are the connections between the Old and New Testaments, the way God’s plan of redemption unfolds in familiar and new ways from Genesis to Revelation. So you know I’d be excited about an excellent new resource, the CSB Connecting Scripture New Testament, edited by G. K. Beale and Benjamin Gladd. This study Bible includes a robust cross reference system that will help you see Old Testament quotations, allusions, and parallels within the New Testament so you can see all 66 books as a unified story from God. You’ll also find book introductions, study note commentary, articles, charts, and infographics.
*In This Episode*
00:00:00 – Why continuity between Old and New Testament wording matters
00:00:41 – Introducing the CSB Connecting Scripture New Testament
00:01:53 – Ben Gladd and the mission of the Carson Center
00:04:06 – Why another study Bible?
00:07:06 – Green and blue fonts: changing the reading experience
00:08:24 – Quotations, allusions, and the “connective tissue” of Scripture
00:11:06 – Why Old Testament allusions matter for Bible study
00:12:46 – John 6, grumbling, and Israel in the wilderness
00:13:46 – Mark 1, John the Baptist, and the burning bush
00:15:41 – “Fishers of men” and Jeremiah 16
00:18:55 – Reading Revelation through Old Testament “emojis”
00:22:07 – John 1:1, Genesis 1:1, and Christology
00:27:47 – How the apostles read the Old Testament
00:31:19 – Guardrails for identifying legitimate allusions
00:35:36 – Do English translations obscure biblical connections?
00:42:27 – How pastors can use the study Bible in sermon preparation
00:44:19 – Why pastors should use the Old Testament for illustrations
00:48:31 – The Carson Center’s Concise Bible Commentary
00:53:44 – Learning from Don Carson and G. K. Beale
01:00:11 – Dictionary of the New Testament Use of the Old Testament
01:00:44 – Biblical Theology Briefing podcast
01:02:34 – A future Connecting Scripture Old Testament
01:05:19 – Closing
*Resources Mentioned*
_CSB Connecting Scripture New Testament_ edited by G. K. Beale and Benjamin L. Gladd - https://www.amazon.com/Connecting-Single-Column-Cross-Reference-Color-Coded-Introductions/dp/B0DT886X8M/?tag=thegospcoal-20
_Keep Watch for Biblical Allusions_ by Ben Gladd - https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/watch-biblical-allusions/
_ESV Study Bible_ - https://www.amazon.com/ESV-Study-Bible-Bibles-Crossway/dp/1433502410?tag=thegospcoal-20
_CSB Study Bible_ - https://www.amazon.com/Study-Bible-Hardcover-Bibles-Holman/dp/1433648091?tag=thegospcoal-20
_NIV Study Bible_ - https://www.amazon.com/Study-Revised-Hardcover-Letter-Comfort/dp/0310448948?tag=thegospcoal-20
_Concise Bible Commentary_ from the Carson Center and Crossway - https://www.amazon.com/Concise-Bible-Commentary-One-Hardcover/dp/143359935X?tag=thegospcoal-20
_Dictionary of the New Testament Use of the Old Testament_ edited by G. K. Beale, D. A. Carson, Benjamin L. Gladd, and Andrew David Naselli - https://www.amazon.com/Dictionary-New-Testament-Use-Old/dp/1540960048?tag=thegospcoal-20
_New Studies in Biblical Theology series_ - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BKPQKTF5?binding=hardcover&ref saga_sdp_cft_dsk?tag=thegospcoal-20
_Pillar New Testament Commentary series_ - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08C5LRPVC?binding=hardcover&ref saga_sdp_cft_dsk?tag=thegospcoal-20
_Biblical Theology Briefing Podcast_ with Ben Gladd and Matthew Harmon - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-carson-center-podcast/id1748880310
— — —
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https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/podcasts/gospelbound
🎁 Help The Gospel Coalition build up a renewed church for tomorrow. Lets Build Together: Donate Today at https://www.tgc.org/together
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![AI and the Image of God: What Does it Mean to be Human? [Silicon Spiritualities - Ep. 3]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/zr2UM7BDMZo/mqdefault.jpg "AI and the Image of God: What Does it Mean to be Human? [Silicon Spiritualities - Ep. 3]
What if the rise of AI is exposing a crisis that was already there?
That question lies at the heart of this episode with Stephen Driscoll. As AI becomes more capable, many people feel a growing sense of anxiety about what human beings are for. If our value rests on intelligence, creativity, or productivity, then AI will always seem to threaten our worth. But Stephen argues that this fear reveals a deeper problem: we were never meant to ground our identity in performance in the first place.
Stephen is a Christian ministry worker in Australia and the author of Made in Our Image: God, Artificial Intelligence and You (https://www.amazon.com/Made-Our-Image-Stephen-Driscoll/dp/1922980196/?tag=thegospcoal-20). In our conversation, he turns to Genesis 1 and 2 to show that human dignity is not something we achieve but something we receive. We are made in the image of God, and that means no machine can take away what God has given.
Stephen joined me on Silicon Spiritualities to explore why AI is forcing fresh questions about identity, and why the Christian answer offers a surer foundation for human worth than any technological vision ever could.
*Resources Mentioned:*
_Made in Our Image_ by Stephen Driscoll - https://www.amazon.com/dp/1922980196?tag=thegospcoal-20
_Dominion_ by Tom Holland - https://www.amazon.com/dp/0465093507?tag=thegospcoal-20
_The Experience Machine_ by Robert Nozick - https://rintintin.colorado.edu/~vancecd/phil3160/Nozick1.pdf
_Your Brain on ChatGPT_ by MIT Media Lab - https://www.media.mit.edu/projects/your-brain-on-chatgpt/overview/
00:00 Welcome to Silicon Spiritualities
00:56 Why Stephen wrote a book on AI
02:48 A new dad, a newborn baby, and AI anxiety
04:18 Three identity threats from AI
05:50 What happens when machines outthink us?
09:51 The “humanity of the gaps” problem
12:32 Genesis 1 and the image of God
15:41 Identity as gift, not performance
16:21 God does not choose us because we are the best
17:43 Babel, Abraham, and receiving a name from God
20:15 Why AI is not a person
22:22 The difference between what AI can do and what AI can be
25:50 Galatians 3 and the equality of human beings
27:00 Two worlds for the age of AI
29:04 AI, comfort, and the experience machine
31:27 Are we already living inside experience machines?
35:06 Is AI just another time-saving tool?
38:27 The horse, the car, and AI replacement
40:17 Avoiding AI hype and AI doom
41:28 Four biblical pillars for thinking about AI
43:49 What Stephen is seeing in university ministry
46:24 How should pastors, parents, and leaders use AI?
48:43 The danger of AI-edited Bible studies and sermons
50:16 Writing as thinking
51:50 Narrow efficiency vs. deeper formation
53:49 One inefficient human habit Stephen wants to keep
54:32 What AI reveals about Stephen’s heart
55:14 Closing invitation
———————
REGISTER for our 6-week cohort, Get Ready for the Age of AI - https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/cohort/getting-ready-for-age-of-ai-2026/
PRE-ORDER The AI Apocalypse: A Survival Guide for Humanity - https://store.thegospelcoalition.org/product/9781956593211/the-ai-apocalypse-paperback
JOIN the conversation on Discord, along with other Silicon Spiritualities listeners - https://discord.gg/6FDsErApG8
Help The Gospel Coalition renew and unify the contemporary church in the ancient gospel: Donate today - https://www.tgc.org/together
#ai #formation #ethics #technology #christianity #altools #christianformation")
