How can we as Christians continue to be salt and light in our culture after this contentious election? Natasha and Alisa share their reflections on how they are processing the election, and give biblical advice on how to engage with people who disagree, and how to navigate social media in a godly way.
The election is right around the corner and there are a LOT of misconceptions Christians have about politics. So, we want to leave you with some final thoughts to consider as you think through how to navigate this important election.
How can we engage with progressive thought leaders? It might be different from how you might engage with a biblical scholar who believes the Bible is the Word of God, or even a secular atheist who believes in objective truth. In today’s podcast, Natasha and Alisa offer some tips that might help you navigate discussions with progressive Christians, and hopefully to help you spot some errors in logic that often occur.
At each of the Unshaken conferences, the day ends with Q&A. Attendees are able to submit questions throughout the day and several are chosen to answer. In Buffalo last month, several questions were submitted that were similar to the following one. “Sincere, God-fearing, Bible-believing, Bible-studying Christians disagree with each other. They all believe their perspective is based on the Bible. Who should get to claim a biblical worldview? Today Alisa and Natasha talk about the concept of bi...
Today, Alisa and Natasha discuss trends among evangelicals to turn to big evangelical platforms that have a lot of influence but little accountability. They talk about “Big Eva”, political manipulation, and give a general “no, you’re not crazy” encouragement to every Christian who has felt gaslit over the past few years.
In today’s episode, Natasha and Alisa analyze a popular slogan among Christians that claims we should try and be more positive and be known more for what we stand for than what we stand against. But is this a biblical approach?
In the last few years, various groups of evangelicals have gotten together to write position statements on cultural subjects for believers to sign onto in an effort to establish and gain consensus on some controversial things. Some have been good, some not so good. The latest one, called the “Confession of Evangelical Conviction,” aims to establish principles around political thought for Christians. The lead author of the statement is Skye Jethani, who co-hosts the Holy Post podcast with Phil Vi...
In their first episode of the new season, Natasha and Alisa tackle the topic that has many Christians fired up this election season: how should we vote? Many Christians don’t hear much in church about how to view the nature of government and its role in society, even though the Bible has a lot to say about it! This leads some to have unbiblical beliefs about politics, and leads others to be silent and/or reject politics altogether. Natasha and Alisa break down the biblical principles. MENTIONED ...
Alisa, Natasha, and Frank just returned from their 6th Unshaken Conference in Pittsburgh. Thank you to everyone there who played a part in making this Unshaken such a success. As always, they ended the day with a Q&A session, and also as always, they received far more questions than they could take. So today Alisa and Natasha wanted to answer a grab bag of questions they especially liked from the ones they couldn’t get to Saturday.
Quick Update
Taylor Swift is one of the biggest pop stars alive today. Her recent album, The Tortured Poets Department debuted with a total of 2.6 million sales, which is her biggest debut and the top selling single-week sales since Adele’s 25 almost 10 years ago. CNN reported that it became the first album to draw over 300 million streams in a single day in and the first album to reach one billion streams in a single week on Spotify. Slate reported that her single Fortnight debuted as the biggest song in th...
Alisa and Natasha both have kids in the teen years, and it’s a very interesting time for parents. You start to see how some of the things you did well as a parent in the younger years are bearing fruit and feel a sense of gratitude (and relief!). But you also start to see how the things that you maybe didn’t do as well are bearing some of their own less-than-desirable fruit. So, parenting teens is certainly a time for reflection. In today’s episode, Alisa and Natasha share what they feel are thr...
Orange Curriculum is considered to be the most widely used Sunday school curriculum in the country. Last week, it came out that the founder, Reggie Joiner, and the CEO, Kristen Ivy have both resigned due to their admission of having an inappropriate relationship together. This came out just days before Orange's huge annual conference. These things can be rattling to those who have been somehow touched by the ministry in question, and by those who are connected to it by family or other relationsh...
A few weeks ago, Alisa and Natasha recorded an episode called “Why the church must divide on (some) political issues.” They talked about why Christians need to care about and get involved in politics and that we shouldn’t be concerned about it being divisive. Today they talk about a related issue—why is the church so afraid to talk about politics? As Christians, we have just as much say in how our communities and our country function as anyone else. We should be EAGER to advocate for the common ...
We’ve all seen the deconstruction stories that flood our social media news feeds. We’ve heard the claims of “toxic theology,” and the #exvangelical propensity to identify historic Christian doctrine and ethics as oppressive and harmful. But what if there is a connection between deconstruction and modern impulse to seek therapy, psychological diagnoses, and therapeutic language to explain away objective truth claims about God and morality? If you haven’t heard words and phrases like Iatrogenesis,...
This Sunday is Easter, and churches everywhere will rightly be proclaiming the joy and hope we have because Jesus victoriously rose from the dead and is alive today. It’s also a time when a lot of people come to church who don’t normally do so. Some are nonbelievers and some are Christians who just aren’t already connected to a church home. But in an increasingly secular and skeptical culture, churches really can’t take for granted anymore that people coming have a reference point for understand...
Have you ever that if you grew up as a conservative Christian, you were indoctrinated into a fear-based view of God and shame-based view of yourself? Or that the fundamentalist “Christian Gospel” damages children by telling them that they are born into this world intrinsically bad and repulsive to God, learning that their sinfulness is to blame for the brutalization, torture, and death of God’s son? Well this is exactly what Jim Palmer, the chaplain for the American Humanist Association who also...
While Christians rightly value unity, some believe that we should not “get political” or divide over politics. Some advocate for Christians to keep their politics to themselves, while others teach we should “just preach the gospel.” In today’s episode, Natasha and Alisa discuss what true biblical unity looks like, and how Christians should engage politically in this cultural moment.
Frank Turek joins the podcast to talk about the mantra “Follow your heart” and how that is leading culture into the chaos of social media narcissism, divorce, and transgender ideology.
Over the last ten years, there have been all kinds of shifts in how culture thinks about sexuality. Clearly, the evangelical church has especially grappled with questions of homosexuality and gender identity. But there’s a whole other sexual revolution that’s been bubbling up during that time, and it’s one that the church rarely talks about. It’s the revolution of polyamory. In today’s episode Natasha and Alisa break down this cultural phenomenon from a biblical perspective.
Is it okay to come out and call yourself a “Gay Christian,” as long as you don’t act on your desires? If someone struggles with same-sex attraction or gender confusion, can they accept those as part of their identity, adopt preferred pronouns and even identifying as “trans?” According to Side B theology, the answer to both of these questions is yes. These are ideas that are being heavily promoted in conservative evangelical circles, and Christians really need to be aware of what’s coming to a ch...
He Gets Us is at it again with a new round of Super Bowl commercials. In today’s episode, Alisa comments on the broader campaign, asking who’s behind it, what’s their agenda, who are they trying to reach, and how effective are they in reaching those goals?
There’s a new small group curriculum for churches available, and you’re probably going to hear a lot about it this year because it’s both very timely and being produced and promoted by some big Christian names. It’s called The After Party, and according to its creators, it’s designed to counter the "dangerous trend" of Evangelicals having their political identity formed by “partisan forces, not by true Biblical faith." The curriculum was developed by David French (who’s a New York Times columnis...
It’s no secret that social media carries a tremendous amount of influence in our lives. Virtually everyone has a megaphone into the world into which they can entertain, shout their opinions, and highlight their brands. Today we’ll be discussing the influence of social media.
Dylan Mulvaney is probably the most visible transgender person in the US today. If you’re not familiar with him, he’s a biological male who documented his transition to supposedly becoming a woman through a series of TikTok videos a couple of years ago. He quickly rose to TikTok fame and has over 10 million followers there today, and huge followings on other platforms as well. In certain sense, Mulvaney has been pivotal in giving the transgender movement a new face. Today, Alisa and Natasha disc...
What is up with the #exvangelical hashtag? If you’re on social media, you’ve probably seen this hashtag used alongside the deconstruction hashtag, and in many cases, followed by a deconversion story. In today’s episode, Natasha and Alisa talk through the history and the meaning of the exvangelical hashtag, and discuss what it is really all about.
Join Natasha Crain and Alisa Childers for a special Unshaken Faith Christmas Livestream. Alisa and Natasha will talk about Christmas pet peeves, their favorite Christmas traditions, and will share their ugliest Christmas ornaments. PLUS, they’ll take your questions live and be announcing some new Unshaken Conference dates. And it wouldn’t be Christmas without some fun giveaways. Don’t miss it! facebook.com/alisachilders youtube.com/alisachilders facebook.com/natashacrainauthor...
In today’s episode, Alisa and Natasha respond to several questions they’ve encountered lately in both ministry and their personal lives. Instead of focusing on one subject like they usually do, each picked 3 questions that have come up recently. We hope you’ll enjoy the variety in subjects packed into this episode, and the “quick hits” answers they provide to these tough questions.
Many Christian parents feel the tension between what their kids want out of church vs. what they need. Every once in a while these two goals line up perfectly and the whole family is happy about what church they attend. However, this is not always the case. Should we choose our church based on their kid’s likes and dislikes, and potential social opportunities? In today’s episode, Natasha and Alisa ask the question, should you change churches for your kids?
We grieve along with you and the rest of the world about all that's going on with the Israel-Hamas war. The pain so many people are in is simply overwhelming. As Christians outside the impacted region, we can feel pretty helpless, be we also believe in the power of prayer. WE can't get so overwhelmed that we forget to turn to the Lord, who is infinitely more powerful than any human force. But we also want to acknowledge today that it can be hard to pray during times like this. In today’s episode...
