The Natasha Crain Podcast

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 go) away, why Christians are increasingly blamed for cultural and political unrest (most recently with ICE), and why this moment cannot be explained by politics alone. 
SHOW NOTES:
Get my book, When Culture Hates You: Persevering for the Common Good as Christians in a Hostile Public Square www.amazon.com/When-Culture-Hates-You-Persevering/dp/0736984313
Frank's website, CrossExamined: crossexamined.org/
Donate to CrossExamined: donor.crossexamined.org/
Frank's new kid's book with Brave Books, Milo's Mission: www.bravebooks.com/frank

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-segregated worship, attractional entertainment models, and the growing confusion between the church’s role and parents’ God-given responsibility to disciple their children.

This conversation is not a hit piece on kids ministry. Both of us love and support children’s and youth ministry when they’re aligned with Scripture. Instead, we hope this episode will be a wake-up call for parents, pastors, grandparents, and church leaders to evaluate how their churches can better reach the next generation.

SHOW NOTES:

Go to summit.org/natasha to learn about Summit Ministries' conferences for kids ages 13-22 and use code NATASHA26 to get $500 off an in-person conference when you register by March 31.

Josh's website and podcast: https://gospelshapedfamily.com/

Josh is the Executive Director of Church and Family Ministry at  Renewanation: https://www.renewanation.org/

Josh is a board member of Awana: https://www.awana.org/

Get Josh's book, "Family Ministry: How Your Church Can Shepherd Parents and Grandparents to Make Disciples": https://www.amazon.com/Family-Ministry-Shepherd-Grandparents-Disciples/dp/1951042093

For more on how Dr. George Barna assesses the worldview of survey respondents, see: https://natashacrain.com/what-is-a-biblical-worldview-with-george-barna/.

Learn more about my three apologetics books for parents and teachers: https://natashacrain.com/books/

Curricula recommended by Josh:
Bright https://britecurriculum.com/
Gospel Story https://martymachowski.com/book/gospel-story-curriculum/

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 to operate from a biblical worldview. Christians need to think carefully about the worldview embedded in the tools we use...because when we ask AI for answers, we should be asking who (or what) is discipling us. 

SHOW NOTES:
Check out Dominion AI for yourself: https://dominion.chat/
Subscribe to my new YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@natasha_Crain
Get my latest book, When Culture Hates You: https://www.amazon.com/When-Culture-Hates-You-Persevering/dp/0736984313

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 suffering in their own lives and share very personally how they have lived out biblical truths about suffering in a God-glorifying way.

SHOW NOTES:

Get their new book here: https://www.amazon.com/How-Does-God-Suffering-Good/dp/0736992235

Clay's website: https://clayjones.net/

Jean E.'s website: https://www.jeanejones.net/

Get my latest book, When Culture Hates You: https://www.amazon.com/When-Culture-Hates-You-Persevering/dp/0736984313

Subscribe to my new YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@natasha_Crain

Follow me on:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/natashacrainauthor/
IG: https://www.instagram.com/natasharcrain/
X: https://x.com/Natasha_Crain

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 to know Tyger over email, and in today's episode, we have an in-depth conversation in which she shares her life story of what it's like to struggle with your biological sex. It's a fascinating first-hand account that I hope will give you more insight into the challenges people face and why it's so important for Christians to remain firmly rooted in truth.