There are few things more controversial than whether Christians should be involved with politics, and if so, to what degree and how that involvement should happen. In this episode, I break down two basic premises for thinking well about this subject:

1. Christians have the right, politically speaking, to advocate for our views in the public square.
2. Christians have the calling, spiritually speaking, to advocate for the good of others.

I then respond to seven problematic ideas on the topic found in Pastor Andy Stanley's new book, "Not In It to Win It." (To be clear, these are problems I believe there are with what he wrote, not problems he is presenting.)

My guest today is the best-selling author and nationally known speaker Dr. Frank Turek. Frank has a fascinating new book out called Hollywood Heroes: How Your Favorite Movies Reveal God. Hollywood Heroes shows how our culture's favorite movie heroes are patterned after the ultimate hero—Jesus of Nazareth— and how the stories we see played out on the big screen parallel the real-world fight between good and evil. This is a unique and powerful book for starting faith conversations with people you may otherwise have trouble engaging with...especially teens! In this episode, we walk through examples from the book, show how they can be used to initiate conversations, and discuss the importance of Christians engaging with culture.

Mentioned in the show:

• Frank's website: CrossExamined.org
• Frank's radio broadcast with Pastor Jack Hibbs on California bill AB-2223: https://crossexamined.org/jack-hibbs-vs-infanticide/
• For more on AB-2223, see this brief article from Focus on the Family: https://dailycitizen.focusonthefamily.com/california-legislation-would-decriminalize-killing-newborns/
• Hollywood Heroes information and purchase links: https://hollywoodheroesbook.com/
• Information on and application for Cross Examined Instructor Academy: https://crossexamined.org/what-is-cia/
• Follow Frank and CrossExamined on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/CrossExamined.org), Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/drfrankturek/), and YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/c/CrossExamined). 

Author, speaker, and podcaster Alisa Childers joins me to discuss a series of popular ideas found in progressive Christian writings, using the recent bestselling book If God is Love, Don't Be a Jerk by John Pavlovitz as a case study. We explain why each idea is in conflict with a biblical worldview for those who accept the inspiration and authority of the Bible as God's Word. 

Mentioned in this episode:

My newly released book, Faithfully Different: Regaining Biblical Clarity in a Secular Culture
My Facebook read along group for Faithfully Different
Alisa's book, Another Gospel

Connect with Alisa online:
Facebook
Instagram
YouTube
Website

Connect with me online:
Facebook
Instagram
Website

This weekend, Saturday Night Live cast member Cecily Strong played a character called Goober the Clown who had an abortion when she was 23 and now talks to people about how normal abortion is in between clown jokes.

Every single one of us should be asking how on earth we, as a culture, have arrived at such a moment.

Here's my answer.

Mentioned in the episode:

• Faithfully Different launch team details and application link: https://natashacrain.com/join-the-book-launch-team-for-faithfully-different/
• Form to redeem offer for the pre-order bonus of a FREE audiobook for Faithfully Different: https://natashacrain.com/faithfully-different/
• Blog post on which this episode is based: https://natashacrain.com/how-culture-got-to-the-point-where-saturday-night-live-is-promoting-abortion-in-a-clown-outfit/
• Saturday Night Live skit video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exSZQICbSb8
• Carl Trueman's book, The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self: Cultural Amnesia, Expressive Individualism, and the Road to Sexual Revolution: https://www.amazon.com/Rise-Triumph-Modern-Self-Individualism/dp/1433556332

There are plenty of high profile cancel culture examples that grab sustained public attention, but it’s the everyday cancel culture that picks off person after person without national attention that’s far more insidious...because the cumulative seriousness of what’s happening isn’t obvious to many people. In this episode, I discuss a recent example and walk through three things every Christian should understand about the fast but quiet creeping of everyday cancel culture.

Mentioned in the episode:

Pre-order details for my new book, Faithfully Different: https://natashacrain.com/faithfully-different/

My article from last year on why secular social justice "warriors" often hate Christians so much: https://natashacrain.com/how-to-explain-to-your-kids-why-social-justice-warriors-hate-christians-so-much/

When parents start to see the importance of teaching their kids apologetics (how to make a case for and defend the truth of Christianity), they often start reading books but then feel stuck as to HOW to pass the knowledge on to their kids. At what age do you start? What if your kids aren't interested? What subjects should you cover? What subjects should you start with? What if you can't answer the questions that come up? In this episode, I cover all kinds of ideas for how to make apologetics part of your discipleship--for kids of all ages.

Mentioned in this episode:

• Information on the new Talking with Your Kids about Jesus curriculum releasing in October 2021: https://natashacrain.com/talking-with-your-kids-about-jesus-video-curriculum-now-available-for-pre-order/
• My three apologetics books for parents are Keeping Your Kids on God's Side, Talking with Your Kids about God, and Talking with Your Kids about Jesus. You can read about the differences, see the tables of contents, and view endorsements here: https://natashacrain.com/books-by-natasha-crain/
• My podcast episode "How to Teach Your Kids about Non-Christian Worldviews" is episode #2 in your podcast player.

Have you noticed how any view that doesn't track with the mainstream secular consensus today is considered "extreme"? Even Facebook is now encouraging people to report when they've been exposed to so-called "extremist" content. While it used to be that extremists were those who committed ideological acts of violence, today extremism is increasingly being defined with respect to how far a view lies from popular consensus.

And guess what? Christians with a biblical worldview fall squarely in the newly defined extremist camp. (Welcome!)

It's really important to understand--and, in many ways, embrace--your position here. I explain why in this episode. 

Blog version available at: https://natashacrain.com/are-christians-the-new-extremists-yes-and-thats-okay/

There’s something that often goes unsaid in discussions about the importance of critical thinking: Not everyone we interact with will actually VALUE good logic and critical thinking. Many people think emotionally rather than critically and that has a lot of implications for Christians engaging with culture. It’s not enough to learn to think well...we have to learn how to think well AND how to deal with the fact that a lot of people don’t CARE about thinking well. In this episode, I highlight eight points to consider when thinking logically in an illogical culture.

If you spend any time around Christians, you’ll hear about the “hope we have in Jesus.” But  we’re often trying to offer people (including our kids) something they’re not even hungry for. In this episode, I share why kids need to more fully understand the true hopelessness of the world in order to hunger for the hope we have in Jesus.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

My book, Talking with Your Kids about Jesus.

Original article: "One of the Greatest Gifts to Give Your Kids This Easter is a Sense of Hopelessness."

In an opinion piece for The New York Times titled, “Progressive Christians Arise! Hallelujah!” Nicholas Kristof made the case this week that “with a churchgoing Democrat in the White House, faith becomes more complicated in America”…and that that’s a good thing. In this episode, I explain why that's NOT the case, and break down Kristof's article point by point. This is an audio version of my blog post, "No, The Growth of Progressive Christian Politicians is Not a Good Thing for America [A Response to the New York Times Opinion Piece by Nicholas Kristof]."