The Natasha Crain Podcast

My guest today, Dr. Jonathan Morrow, says college usually doesn’t create a faith crisis; it reveals one that was already happening beneath the surface. But when students set foot on campus, the worldview pressures are everywhere, and most students simply aren't prepared for what they're about to encounter at every level of campus life. Jonathan is the Director of Cultural Engagement and Student Discipleship at Impact 360 Institute and the author of Welcome to College. In this episode, we dis...

Transcribed - Published: 20 May 2026

Today I’m joined by author, speaker, and former US congressional candidate Heidi St. John to discuss the growing and destructive influence of progressivism, socialism, and communism in America...and why Christians should care about saving this country. We connect the dots between leftist ideologies and their unbiblical worldview foundations by considering their assumptions about human nature, moral authority, societal goals, the role of government, the nature of the family, the definition of ...

Transcribed - Published: 6 March 2026

In today’s Christian culture, it often feels like the biggest offense isn’t unbiblical teaching—it’s pointing it out. But if the New Testament is clear that Christians are to divide truth from error, why are so many Christians uncomfortable with public discernment? Today I offer 10 reasons why, using backlash to my recent Unshaken Faith episode with Alisa Childers and Melissa Dougherty as a case study. In that episode, we reviewed the New York Times bestselling book Practicing the Way by Joh...

Transcribed - Published: 17 February 2026

After Trump’s election, many believers assumed cultural hostility toward biblical values in the public square was fading. But subsequent events—from the public celebrations of Charlie Kirk’s murder to backlash tied to Christian support for Trump—have shattered what was always an illusion. On this one year anniversary of the release of my book When Culture Hates You, Frank Turek and I discuss what Jesus said about culture’s perennial hatred of Christians, why the anger hasn’t gone (and won’t g...

Transcribed - Published: 5 February 2026

Are today’s kids ministries actually helping—or unintentionally hurting—the faith of the next generation? Today I’m joined by family ministry veteran Dr. Josh Mulvihill for a candid, biblically grounded conversation about seven key problems in modern kids and youth ministry and why Christians can no longer afford to ignore them. Drawing from Scripture, church history, and current research, Josh challenges some of the most unquestioned assumptions in evangelical churches today, such as age-s...

Transcribed - Published: 30 January 2026

AI isn’t worldview neutral—and that should deeply concern Christians. In this episode, I talk with Brandon Maddick, co-founder of Dominion, a Christian AI platform created as a biblical alternative to tools like ChatGPT, to explore how artificial intelligence is shaping the way we think. We talk about the secular assumptions built into mainstream AI models, why those assumptions matter as people increasingly turn to AI for guidance and productivity, and how Dominion was intentionally designed...

Transcribed - Published: 20 January 2026

Most Christians know the Bible teaches that "for those who love God all things work together for good" (Romans 8:28), but in times of suffering, it can be difficult to reconcile that truth with our experiences. My guests today are best-selling authors Clay and Jean E. Jones. They've written an insightful and very practical new book to help believers do exactly that: "How Does God Use Suffering for Our Good?: Living with Hope While Making Sense of Life." Clay and Jean E. have experienced much ...

Transcribed - Published: 12 January 2026

At the beginning of September, a woman in her 60s named Tyger commented on my ministry's Facebook page. She introduced herself in the comments section as being a transgender atheist and offered some tips on how she thought Christians could best reach trans-identifying people. She continued to comment over the next couple of weeks on various posts. By the end of September, she shared that she had given her life to Jesus at a Charlie Kirk vigil and would be detransitioning. I subsequently got t...

Transcribed - Published: 3 December 2025

How did sexually explicit books make their way into public school libraries — and why are some organizations fighting so hard to keep them there? In this eye-opening conversation, I sit down with Karen England, founder of TakeBackTheClassroom.com, to unpack what’s really happening and what YOU can do to get filth out of your local public school libraries. Explore TakeBackTheClassroom.com: takebacktheclassroom.com Learn more about Summit Conferences: www.summit.org/natasha Use my code NATASHA...

Transcribed - Published: 13 November 2025

More and more people are talking about Christian persecution in Nigeria, but reports are often conflicting. Some Nigerians--even Nigerian Christians--claim the reports are entirely false. Others claim it's only an ethnic dispute, not a religious one. Some say U.S. leaders are blowing the story out of proportion in order to work our way in and take mineral rights. Still others say it's just a sad story of "bandits" taking advantage of people for financial gain...not anything resembling a Chris...

Transcribed - Published: 23 October 2025

There are many competing ideas for how to solve the homelessness crisis in America, and they're often a product of competing worldviews. Today, I'm joined by Bryan Crain (yes, he's my husband!), president of Orange County Rescue Mission, to talk about the homelessness crisis from a biblical worldview and the Trump administration's recent Executive Order on "Ending Crime and Disorder on America's Streets." If you've ever wondered what can and should be done to help the homeless AND make the st...

Transcribed - Published: 7 October 2025

How did we get to a point in America where Christians often believe that the most godly thing they can do is stay out of politics? How did we get to a point where we've accepted the lie that separation of church and state is a guiding rule keeping our faith out of the public square? History gives us a lot of the answers. My guest today is Bill Federer, a nationally known speaker, best-selling author, and president of Amerisearch, Inc., a publishing company dedicated to researching Ameri...

Transcribed - Published: 25 September 2025

Charlie wasn’t killed just because he was a Christian. Charlie was hated and targeted because he was attempting to influence the public square in a way that would shape society according to biblical views that run contrary to the popular moral consensus. As Christians, we need to understand the difference...and why biblical Christianity is, indeed, a public faith. I break it down biblically in this episode. SHOW NOTES 1. Read my social media posts from the following week here: On X: https:/...

Transcribed - Published: 16 September 2025

In this episode, I read my recent article, "The One Big Beautiful Bill Isn’t as Unchristian as Everyone Seems to Think." You've surely heard progressives (both Christian and nonbelievers) lament how unbiblical and "against the teachings of Jesus" the OBBB is, especially due to its reduction in Medicaid and SNAP benefits. But is it inherently unjust to take away government benefits from those in need? That's the question I address today. MENTIONED IN THE SHOW: Original article source: https:/...

Transcribed - Published: 7 August 2025

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, nearly 1 in 4 Americans over eighteen years old suffer from a mental illness. By nearly all accounts, mental illness is surging in this country, with it now being called an epidemic. With so many people seeking mental help today, it's crucial Christians understand the nature of therapy (including counseling, psychology, and psychiatry) and why secular therapy is problematic from a biblical perspective. Spoiler alert: All therapy involves w...

Transcribed - Published: 19 June 2025

The latest worldview research from the Cultural Research Center, led by renowned researcher Dr. George Barna, are shockingly disappointing from a Christian perspective. Most self-identified Christians don’t understand even the basics of biblical Christianity. In this eye-opening episode, George and I dig into some of the key findings on Americans' understanding of God and the implications for the church today. MENTIONED IN THE SHOW (in order of mention): My first interview with George Barna (...

Transcribed - Published: 15 May 2025

Dr. Len Munsil is president of Arizona Christian University, which seeks to be America's premier biblical worldview university. While the vast majority of Christian colleges today are significantly compromising their biblical foundations, Arizona Christian is a great example of one that isn't. So what does that look like in practice? How are many Christian colleges compromising, and what are the keys to changing that? Dr. Munsil shares excellent insights on those questions in this episode. ME...

Transcribed - Published: 6 May 2025

The website and X account protestia.com got ahold of a training video from Andy Stanley's hugely influential North Point Church on how middle school leaders should respond to trans-identifying kids and their families. The video features Britt Kitchen, the middle school ministry director at North Point, effectively encouraging leaders to affirm trans identities (I say effectively because he doesn't explicitly say that, but it's the implication of all he's presenting). In this episode, I play a...

Transcribed - Published: 28 March 2025

Today I’m responding to an X post from author and speaker Preston Sprinkle: “My political theology has allowed me to be so hopeful in this political season. I reject the empire, yet submit to it, because Jesus is king. I embrace and celebrate Christ’s multiethnic kingdom and the many ways we are spreading good in the world. Christians should not be captivated by the binary political playing field that’s been handed to us by Babylon.” I evaluate his frequent political claim that Christians are...

Transcribed - Published: 12 March 2025

Sean and I discuss some fascinating subjects from a new book he edited called Apologetics for an Ever-Changing Culture: A Biblical and Culturally Relevant Approach to Talking about God. Sean is a professor of Apologetics at Talbot School of Theology, Biola University. He is the author, editor, or co-author of more than 20 books and has one of the top apologetics YouTube channels. Check out the book here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0736989277/ Sean's website: https://seanmcdowell.or...

Transcribed - Published: 6 March 2025

In today’s episode, I talk with Melissa Dougherty about her groundbreaking new book, Happy Lies: How a Movement You (Probably) Never Heard Of Shaped Our Self-Obsessed World. As I said in my endorsement of the book, "Happy Lies is the most important book that Christians don't know they need. Melissa connects dots that give readers a wealth of aha moments and provides invaluable insights that bring clarity to some of the most pervasive errors in the church. As a bonus, she does it all in a writ...

Transcribed - Published: 24 February 2025

My new book, When Culture Hates You: Persevering for the Common Good as Christians in a Hostile Public Square, is out TODAY! In this brief episode, I tell you a bit about the book and answer the question some are asking: Does the culture actually hate Christians? GET YOUR COPY TODAY! Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/When-Culture-Hates-You-Persevering/dp/0736984313 ChristianBook.com: https://www.christianbook.com/culture-persevering-christians-hostile-public-square/9780736984317/pd/984311?event=...

Transcribed - Published: 4 February 2025

Today I’m addressing the following tweet from someone who is troubled by Christians and others who are concerned about public policy related to transgender issues: “For all those who are terrified of trans people and believe this is more important than any other issue, can you please let me know just once when a trans person harmed you? One personal, specific story please.”

Transcribed - Published: 5 December 2024

Welcome to my first quick response episode, in which I respond briefly to popular claims I see online that sound good and draw in a lot of Christians, but fail from a biblical and/or logical perspective. Today, I respond to a Tweet from Rev. Benjamin Cremer, a progressive Christian on X who has quickly been gaining influence with a lot of people. Here’s the post: “Dear Christian, If your religion is really about 'saving souls' then you wouldn’t demand for it to be legislated. Because making s...

Transcribed - Published: 22 November 2024

Today I’m talking with my good friends from the Center for Biblical Unity, Monique Duson and Krista Bontrager, about their new book, Walking in Unity: Biblical Answers to Questions on Race and Racism. Ever since 2020, there have been all kinds of discussions about race in the church, and unfortunately a lot of those discussions have included some very unbiblical ways of thinking. I’m so grateful that Krista and Monique have written this excellent and accessible book that counteracts culture's...

Transcribed - Published: 21 November 2024

Today I talk with Seth Gruber about his new documentary that exposes the "hidden history of the secular moral revolution and the architects of our current culture of death." Seth's documentary and corresponding book are called The 1916 Project and reveal the long, devastating trajectory of how we got to where we are today as a culture that celebrates the choice to kill preborn babies. The film and book are both amazing, and I highly recommend them. Seth and I also discuss the importance of Ch...

Transcribed - Published: 28 October 2024

What is the state of Christian colleges today? Is a Christian college education worth the money? How should parents evaluate a given Christian college to determine if it’s biblically sound? What are some signs that a school is going progressive? These are just a few of the questions I discuss with my guest today, Dr. Everett Piper. Dr. Piper was president of Oklahoma Wesleyan University for 17 years, during which time he led his school from relative obscurity to a position of national recog...

Transcribed - Published: 10 October 2024

Cold-case homicide detective, popular national speaker, and best-selling author J. Warner Wallace joins me to talk about his new book, The Truth in True Crime: What Investigating Death Teaches Us About the Meaning of Life. Jim has incredibly unique and valuable insights about life from his many years working homicide cases. In this episode, he shares some of his greatest learnings from "investigating death." GET THE BOOK: https://www.amazon.com/Truth-True-Crime-Investigating-Teac...

Transcribed - Published: 17 September 2024

My guest today is Dr. Erwin Lutzer. Dr. Lutzer is pastor emeritus of The Moody Church, where he served as the senior pastor for 36 years. He is an award-winning author of many books, including We Will Not Be Silenced, and the featured speaker on two radio programs heard on more than 750 outlets worldwide. In this episode, we talk about Dr. Lutzer's brand new book (just released today!), called The Eclipse of God: Our Nation's Disastrous Search for a More Inclusive Deity (and What We Mus...

Transcribed - Published: 10 September 2024

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 ...

Transcribed - Published: 31 August 2024

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...

Transcribed - Published: 7 August 2024

Deception of many different kinds is a pervasive problem in the church today. The problem with deception, of course, is that people rarely know when they're being deceived. In this episode, I talk about some of the most pressing examples of deception in the church with pastor Jack Hibbs based on his new book, Living in the Daze of Deception: How to Discern Truth from Culture's Lies. Pastor Jack is the founding pastor of Calvary Chapel Chino Hills, which is a community of 10,000 members in s...

Transcribed - Published: 26 April 2024

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 tha...

Transcribed - Published: 27 March 2024

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. SH...

Transcribed - Published: 29 February 2024

Super Bowl Sunday is in a few days, and He Gets Us will once again be running ads as part of their $100 million advertising campaign intended to "rescue Jesus's reputation." Last year, I wrote a viral article on 7 key problems with it. Since people will be talking about it all over again this week, I've done an updated evaluation of the campaign, including reviewing all 43 days of their Bible reading plans. Today I walk through my case that the campaign continues to be very problematic. Men...

Transcribed - Published: 7 February 2024

Seth Gruber is a bold and passionate pro-life speaker and the founder of The White Rose Resistance. His mission is to be a voice for unborn children and to educate and expose culture to the evil of abortion until every person has the right to be born. In today's episode, Seth and I talk about the state of the pro-life movement post-Roe, the history of evil that led to where we are today with the killing of babies, the softness of today’s church on cultural issues, and much more. SHOW N...

Transcribed - Published: 18 January 2024

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 ht...

Transcribed - Published: 5 December 2023

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 ou...

Transcribed - Published: 16 November 2023

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 ...

Transcribed - Published: 12 October 2023

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

Transcribed - Published: 27 September 2023

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 confide...

Transcribed - Published: 12 September 2023

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 resp...

Transcribed - Published: 31 August 2023

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 q...

Transcribed - Published: 10 August 2023

You’ve probably noticed that it seems everything is about transgender issues today. Why, exactly, is that? Why is everyone talking about transgenderism in particular? Why are we seeing an explosion of people identifying as trans? What’s even involved in the transition process, in particular for the growing number of teens who are pursuing a gender change? What about the popular claim that if we don’t support transitions, people will commit suicide? How, as Christians, do we respond to all of ...

Transcribed - Published: 25 July 2023

In her newest book, The Toxic War on Masculinity: How Christianity Reconciles the Sexes, bestselling author and speaker Nancy Pearcey explains how secularism has villainized the concept of masculinity. For example, one media researcher analyzed more than 2,000 mass media portrayals of men and found that more than 75 percent of all media representations of men portrayed them as “villains, aggressors, perverts, and philanderers.” How did we get here? How did we get to the point where men ...

Transcribed - Published: 11 July 2023

How you educate your child should be a very intentional choice--certainly not something you default into just because you haven't considered the various options available. But how is that decision best made from a Christian worldview perspective? In Part 1 of this episode, I walk through 6 key principles to keep in mind, followed by my thoughts on and experiences with homeschool in particular. In the next episode (Part 2), I'll go on to talk about Christian private school and then public scho...

Transcribed - Published: 13 June 2023

Today I have the honor of talking with someone who I think is one of the best, if not the best, Christian models of navigating this tough culture with grace AND truth. Dr. Sean McDowell is a gifted communicator with a passion for equipping the church, and especially young people, to make the case for the Christian faith. In this episode, we go deep into the question of how we can better balance grace and truth in our interactions with a hostile culture--and also in our interactions with fello...

Transcribed - Published: 28 March 2023

Cultural Marxism. Equity. Socialism. DEI. CRT. Anti-Racism. Collective Guilt. Christians can no longer stay silent about the divide between the Bible's truth and the world's lies. In today's episode, I talk with Dr. Erwin Lutzer, pastor emeritus of The Moody Church, where he served as senior pastor for 36 years. Dr. Lutzer clearly explains the most prevalent lies today and walks through the reasons we should have the courage to proclaim truth. MENTIONED IN THE SHOW: Get Dr. Lutzer's book, N...

Transcribed - Published: 14 March 2023

Jesus wants us to be humble, but we can misunderstand the nature of that humility and start to believe the world’s claims that we’re being arrogant about things that we’re not being arrogant about. In this episode, I walk you through how to respond to charges of moral arrogance ("Who are you to judge?"), epistemic arrogance ("Who are you to be so confident that you know what’s true better than others?"), and biblical arrogance (“Who are you to think your biblical interpretation is better than...

Transcribed - Published: 13 February 2023

The New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) is a popular and fast-growing new movement of Christians who emphasize signs and wonders and teach that God is giving new revelation through new apostles and prophets today. Some churches associated with those teachings have even become household names—you’ve probably heard of the widely influential Bethel Church, for example. But are NAR teachings consistent with the historic Christian faith? That's the question my guest today, Holly Pivec, seeks to answer...

Transcribed - Published: 3 November 2022