The Natasha Crain Podcast

J. Warner Wallace, a cold-case homicide detective and best-selling author, dives into unique insights on life from his experiences investigating death. He discusses how relationship choices shape life trajectories, emphasizing intentionality in partnerships. Wallace also explores finding meaning in suffering and the importance of personal growth through trauma. Additionally, he highlights the balance between compassion and wisdom in helping others, along with the transformative role of prison ministry in fostering faith and change.

Erwin Lutzer, pastor emeritus of The Moody Church and award-winning author, dives deep into America's shifting spiritual landscape. He explores how cultural Marxism and Darwinism have distorted our understanding of God and morality. Lutzer critiques the trend of equating personal identity with sexual freedom, drawing attention to Freud's views on religion. He emphasizes the dangers of a self-made deity and advocates for a return to biblical teachings as a compass for navigating today’s confusing cultural terrain.

The After Party is a small group curriculum and corresponding book that's being heavily promoted this election year to individuals, churches, and Christian institutions. The marketing is designed to attract churches who would like to simply encourage charitable communication around politics, but the execution is designed to convince Christians that they shouldn’t be so conservative. In this episode, I do a deep dive on the book to make the case that it's not what it's marketed to be and that it should absolutely be avoided by the church. This podcast is available in article form at https://natashacrain.com/how-the-after-party-curriculum-is-sowing-political-confusion-in-the-church/. 

Megan Basham's new book, Shepherds for Sale: How Evangelical Leaders Traded the Truth for a Leftist Agenda, has become the source of much discussion and controversy in the few days it's been out. In this episode, Megan and I talk about the central thesis of her book, the evidence for it, and why Christians should be concerned. She also responds to many of the objections people have had to it over the last few days. Get the book here: https://www.amazon.com/Shepherds-Sale-Evangelical-Leaders-Leftist/dp/0063413442

Pastor Jack Hibbs, founding pastor of Calvary Chapel Chino Hills, discusses recognizing deception in Christianity, distinguishing biblical unity, navigating disagreement fatigue, questioning authority, and emphasizing self-care for ministries in a culture of deception.

Culture has gone through an enormous shift in the last few years, and raising kids with a confident faith is more challenging than ever. Today I talk with Dr. Jeff Myers about the biggest faith challenges today and how parents (and grandparents!) should respond. Dr. Jeff is the president of Summit Ministries and is one of America’s most respected authorities on youth leadership development. This is a conversation that every Christian concerned about the next generation needs to hear (and that should be all of us!). MENTIONED ON THE SHOWRegister for a Summit Summer Conference and get $200 off with code NATASHA200 at summit.org/natasha (and an additional $100 off if you do so before March 31!)Unshaken Conference https://unshakenconference.com/My apologetics books for parents:Keeping Your Kids on God's Side https://www.amazon.com/Keeping-Your-Kids-Gods-Side/dp/0736965084 Talking with Your Kids about God https://www.amazon.com/Talking-Your-Kids-about-Conversations/dp/0801075521Talking with Your Kids about Jesus https://www.amazon.com/Talking-Your-Kids-about-Jesus/dp/080107553X/Parenting Gen Z by Jason Jimenez https://www.amazon.com/Parenting-Gen-Guiding-through-Hostile/dp/1646070070Legacy Coalition https://legacycoalition.com/

Today I'm featuring the work of a very important organization that every Christian should know about: Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF). ADF is one of the leading Christian law firms committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, marriage and family, parental rights, and the sanctity of life. Ryan Bangert, Senior VP at ADF, joins me to talk specifically about parental rights in this episode. He offers a wealth of information on this subject that is vital for parents to understand.SHOW NOTES:ADF's website: https://adflegal.org/Sign up for ADF email updates here: https://adflegal.org/email-sign-upADF Ministry Alliance (affordable religious freedom legal help for ministries): https://www.adfministryalliance.org/Financially support ADF here: https://adflegal.org/support/grants-funding

The podcast discusses the problematic aspects of the 'He Gets Us' campaign, a $100 million advertising campaign aimed at rescuing Jesus's reputation. They evaluate the campaign's portrayal of Jesus in progressive terminology, analyze various Bible reading plans presented by the campaign, and express concerns about the lack of theological accuracy and vetting in the campaign.

Exploring the history of evil that led to abortion, the softness of today's church on cultural issues, and the urgent need to address critical pro-life issues like Roe v. Wade fallout and interconnected industries. The clash between conservative values and societal acceptance, the power of language in shaping perceptions, and the call to join the White Rose Resistance for active community engagement in the pro-life movement.

In this part 2 on public schools (see episode 34 for part 1), my guest Andy White explains seven things Christian parents can and should be doing to know what's going on in their child's school and classroom. In the second hour, Andy answers a dozen questions from listeners.MENTIONED IN THE SHOW:Gateways https://gogateways.org/Rise Up Christian Educators https://riseupchristianeducators.com/Prepare the Way https://www.preparetheway.us/ Association of Christian Schools International https://www.acsi.org/ Christopher Rufo https://christopherrufo.com/ Daily Signal from the Heritage Foundation https://www.dailysignal.com/ Critical Dilemma by Neil Shenvi and Pat Sawyer https://www.amazon.com/Critical-Dilemma-Theories-Justice-Ideology_Implications/dp/073698870X/