The Natasha Crain Podcast

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/ 

This is the third part of my series on educational choices for Christian families. In today's episode, I interview Andy White, a Christian who has been a public high school principal for the last 19 years. Our purpose is NOT to tell every Christian parent to leave public schools; we know that every family has different considerations and opportunities. Rather, our purpose is to educate Christian parents who do continue to have their kids in public schools on what concerns they should watch out for. A subsequent episode will address what parents can do in response.

Many Christians are finding that it's getting harder and harder to engage in faith conversations with nonbelievers. With culture becoming increasingly hostile to Christian beliefs (particularly on morality), it's natural to want to just slink away...but that's not what we're called to do. The good news is, it can be easier than you think to have fruitful conversations. Today I talk with Greg Koukl, president of Stand to Reason, about how Christians can learn to engage more effectively simply by asking good questions. We'll show you how. MENTIONED IN THE SHOW:Greg's newest book, Street Smarts: Using Questions to Answer Christianity's Toughest Challenges: https://www.amazon.com/Street-Smarts-Questions-Christianitys-Challenges/dp/0310139139Greg's organization, Stand to Reason: www.str.orgGreg's recent podcast episode, "Decision Making and the Will of God": https://www.str.org/w/decision-making-and-the-will-of-god-the-biblical-model

We're raising kids in an increasingly challenging world--which means we have to be intentional in raising them in a counter cultural way. But if we’re not careful in how we do it, it can lead to our kids’ resentment of Christianity over time. In today's short episode, I talk about four ways that can happen and how to avoid it. MENTIONED IN THE SHOW:Talking with Your Kids about God: https://www.amazon.com/Talking-Your-Kids-about-Conversations/dp/0801075521

Even Christians struggle with believing what the Bible says sometimes. We want to believe it's God's Word, but there can be doubts that nag at us. Can miracles really happen? If they can, why should we believe some of the stranger miracles in the Bible like a talking donkey? Why would God leave enough uncertainty around what the Bible says that people can come to such different conclusions about it? Even if we believe that the Gospels report some true things about Jesus, how can we be confident that we should believe everything  the Gospels say?  Today, cold-case homicide detective, national speaker, and bestselling author J. Warner Wallace joins me to discuss these questions and more, in honor of the release of the updated and expanded version of his modern classic, Cold-Case Christianity.  MENTIONED IN THE SHOW:Cold-Case Christianity (Updated & Expanded Edition) J. Warner Wallace's website: www.coldcasechristianity.comInvestigating the evidence for Mormonism: https://coldcasechristianity.com/writings/investigating-the-evidence-for-mormonism-in-six-steps/

Social media has been a popular place to share deconversion stories over the last few years, and sometimes so many people resonate with those posts that they go viral to some extent (being liked and shared by thousands of people).There’s one that’s being shared all over Facebook right now, written this week by a lady named Myndee Mack. At the time of this writing, it has 8,000+ likes/loves, 7,000+ comments, and over 3,000+ shares. Clearly, Myndee’s post is compelling to many.Here is my response to the reasoning and theological clarity/accuracy of what she wrote.NOTE: This is an audio version of a written blog post--many people requested I do a recording. You can find the original post here: https://natashacrain.com/a-christian-response-to-a-viral-deconversion-post/

This is part 2 of my episode, "Public, Private, or Homeschool: Thinking Through Your Child's Education (Part 1)." In this part, I talk about the widely varied types of Christian private school options available to parents, breaking them into four general categories: progressive Christian schools, nominally Christian schools, committed Christian schools with a mainstream educational philosophy, and committed Christian schools with an alternative educational philosophy. Additionally, I answer questions listeners submitted online, such as:--How do you prevent your kids from being in "Christian bubble" if they aren't in public school?--How do you discern if a "Christian" school is really Christian?--How do you prevent your kids from being jaded by the nominal Christianity they are likely to encounter with classmates at a Christian school?--What should you do if the administration and/or teachers at your current Christian school are leaning leftward?--How much does a school's denomination matter?...and more.Note that I was originally going to discuss public school as well in part 2, but due to length, I've made this a stand alone episode. Part 3 will discuss public school and is forthcoming.Mentioned in this episode:Episode 9 of the Unshaken Faith podcast: "How to Discern a Church Website" https://blubrry.com/1470671/94556853/9-how-to-discern-a-church-website/Battle for the American Mind book by Pete Hegseth: https://www.amazon.com/Battle-American-Mind-Uprooting-Miseducation/dp/0063215047