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Are you “doomscrolling” or “bloomscrolling”? · The Daily Article

• 0:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: Good morning and welcome to the daily article podcast from Denison Forum.
• 0:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's Friday, October 2nd, 2026.
• 0:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: This is an automated reading of today's daily article authored by Dr. Jim Denison.
• 0:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: Today's article is titled, Are You Doom Scrolling or Bloom Scrolling?
• 0:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: One of the occupational hazards of my work is that I spend much of my day engaging with
• 0:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: much of which is more discouraging than encouraging.
• 0:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: Such doomsgrowing is so common that it was one of the Oxford English Dictionary's words of the year in 2020.
• 0:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: But constantly consuming bad news causes the amygdala in our brain to sense danger, alerting our hypothalamus to tell our sympathetic nervous system to activate our fight or flight response.
• 0:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: This causes our bodies adrenal glands to release stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol, which contribute to high blood pressure and impaired cognitive abilities such as concentration, decision-making, and emotional regulation.
• 1:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: This reaction reinforces negative thoughts and feelings, increases anxiety and depression, leads to mental fatigue, impairs concentration, and reduces productivity.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: nausea, headaches, muscle tension, neck and shoulder pain, and difficulty sleeping often result as well.
• 1:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: In other words, doom scrolling is bad.
• 1:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: Now to the good news.
• 1:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: I read an article recently in which therapists are recommending bloom scrolling as a counter to the bad news in the news.
• 1:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: This means intentionally seeking out uplifting content online such as nature videos, heartwarming stories, and hobbies.
• 1:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: hormones that are released in response to positive social interactions.
• 1:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: To this end, let's look at a story that is encouraging me greatly these days.
• 1:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: Dr. Todd Johnson is co-director of the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary and co-author of the World Christian Encyclopedia, an authoritative resource I use often.
• 2:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: He recently gave an interview in which he discussed the surprising growth of Christianity in our time.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: After spending a year on sabbatical traveling around the world, Dr. Johnson said, it's really a terrific time to be a Christian.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: For example, he spent time in Albania, known historically as the most atheistic country in the world, where he met with 650 Christians from 150 countries.
• 2:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: He said the experience reminded him of Revelation 7-9, where people from all tribes and peoples and languages gather in heaven for worship.
• 2:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: He noted that in 19082% of all Christians were European.
• 2:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: By the time he published the World Christian in Cyclopedia, only 31% were European.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: 69% were African, Asian, Latin American, and Pacific Islander.
• 2:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: He believes that by 2075, 83% of all Christians are going to be Asian and African.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: As Dr. Johnson noted, the advance of the gospel is good news for all believers.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: He explained that when the spirit moves in one part of the world, the global Christian community is affected because we are a global faith, each of us part of the larger body of Christ.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: How can we be part of this advance today?
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  [SPEAKER_00]: We'll close with seven practical responses, along with some of my favorite quotes for each.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: Perhaps one is especially God's invitation to you today.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: One, seek to experience God every moment of every day.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: As Wendell-Berry noted, there are no unsecret places, only sacred places and desecrated places.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: Two, trust him in the hard places.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: Edwin Lewis Cole observed, you don't drown by falling in the water.
• 3:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: You drown by staying there.
• 3:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: The motivational speaker, Jesse Itzler, has popularized the phrase, you didn't come this far only to come this far.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: Three, bring temptation immediately to Jesus.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: John Piper warned, sin gets its power by persuading me to believe that I will be happier if I follow it.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: The power of all temptation is the prospect that it will make me happier.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: But Jesus will give us his discernment and strength to defeat temptation if we will seek them from him.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: For, trust your father to do what is best.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: Chuck Swindall is right.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: Quote, we must see striving and trust God to provide what he thinks is best and in whatever time he chooses to make it available.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: But this kind of trusting doesn't come naturally.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: It's a spiritual crisis of the will in which we must choose to exercise faith and quote.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: Five, align your money with your faith.
• 4:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: The writer Haruki Morakami suggested, spend your money on the thing's money can buy.
• 5:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: Spend your time on the thing's money can't buy.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: The Norwegian writer Arnie Garborg listed such things.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: Quote.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: You can buy food, but not appetite.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: Medicine, but not health.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: Soft beds, but not sleep.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: Knowledge, but not intelligence.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: Glitter, but not comfort.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: Fun, but not pleasure.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: Aquatenses, but not friendship.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: Servants, but not faithfulness.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: Grey hair, but not honor.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: Quiet days, but not peace.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: And quote.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: Six, measure success by faithfulness, Robert Lewis Stevenson suggested, don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds you plant.
• 5:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: Seven, most of all, submit your life to the living Lord Jesus so he can live in and through you.
• 5:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: One of the most important paragraphs in one of the most important devotional books in Christian history is this statement in Oswald Chambers, my utmost for his highest.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: quote, the expression of Christian character is not good doing, but God likeness.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: If the Spirit of God has transformed you within, you will exhibit divine characteristics in your life, not good human characteristics.
• 6:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: God's life in us expresses itself as God's life, not as human life trying to be godly.
• 6:20
  [SPEAKER_00]: The secret of a Christian is that the supernatural is made natural in him by the grace of God,
• 6:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: The writer and Voscomp is right.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: Our fall was, has always been, and always will be, that we aren't satisfied in God and what he gives.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: We hunger for something more, something other.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: This hunger is a signal of transcendence, an indication that we were made for more than this, that as St. Augustine said, our hearts truly are restless until they rest in God.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: How restless is your heart today?
• 6:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you for listening to the daily article podcast.
• 7:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: For links, scripture references, or to find out more about Denison Forum.
• 7:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: Visit us at DenisonForm.org or click the link in today's show notes.