Unshaken Faith

In this episode of Unshaken Faith, we take a careful, biblical look at Practicing the Way by John Mark Comer, a book that has quickly gained popularity in Christian discipleship and spiritual formation circles. Many listeners have asked whether we recommend it and after a thorough review, the answer is no. We walk through the book’s core framework, its view of spiritual formation, and how it defines discipleship and transformation. While some of the practices it encourages may sound helpful on the surface, we found deeper theological concerns underneath including influences that overlap with contemplative spirituality, charismatic/NAR-style formation models, progressive-leaning theology, and sacramental or mystical streams more commonly associated with Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic spirituality.Most importantly, we evaluate the book’s message against the biblical gospel. Does it clearly present salvation by grace through faith? Does it ground transformation in the finished work of Christ or shift the center toward practices and processes? We explain where we believe the message drifts and why that matters for everyday Christians.Our goal is not to attack people, but to equip believers with discernment. We encourage you to think biblically, test everything against Scripture, and stay rooted in the true gospel.If this book has been recommended to you, or if you’re already reading it, this episode will help you evaluate it through a clear theological lens.Consider the Lillies, by Johnny ArdavanisHappy Lies, by Melissa DoughertyAlisa's video on generational curses

Merry Christmas from Unshaken Faith! In this special holiday episode, we’re mixing some festive fun with some serious discernment.We’ll kick things off with our annual "Christmas Karens" who need to have some discussions with managers (if you're new to the Christmas livestream event, you'll soon understand what that means). Then we'll be doing a fun "Year in Review" where we talk about things like the most overconfident thoughts we had this year that reality quickly corrected. Then we’ll pivot to a timely and important conversation as we review the progressive Christian book Better Ways to Read the Bible by Zach Lambert. We’ll walk through the interpretive “lenses” Lambert proposes, explain where we agree, and then take a careful look at where this approach goes wrong. If you want to skip the Christmas banter, the book review begins at the 01:13 mark. This episode originally aired on YouTube on Dec. 16th. Be sure and subscribe if you want to watch the video!

In this episode of Unshaken Faith, Alisa and Natasha take a deep dive into Jen Hatmaker’s new best-selling memoir, Awake—a book that has already sold over 100,000 copies and is captivating Christian women across the country.Hatmaker describes Christianity as the greatest source of oppression in her life—and replaces it with what Alisa calls the “unholy trinity” of feminism, critical pedagogy, and even witchcraft. Together, Alisa and Natasha unpack the book’s six central themes, reading key quotes directly from Hatmaker and comparing them with biblical truth.You’ll hear:Why Awake is far more than a personal memoir—it’s a theological manifesto.How post-Christian spirituality often replaces Scripture with self-worship and emotional “truth.”The danger of calling something “Jesus” when it’s crafted from our own imagination.How witchcraft, energy rituals, and self-trust have become the new spirituality for many women.A biblical response to the cultural message: “Follow your heart.”Alisa and Natasha approach the topic with both compassion and conviction, acknowledging the heartbreak in Hatmaker’s story while showing why her conclusions lead women away from the true gospel.???? Listen to the end as they remind listeners that real freedom isn’t found in rejecting God’s authority—it’s found in surrendering to it.

The Unshaken Faith Podcast is back! After a season of hiatus, Natasha Crain and Alisa Childers return with a fresh new format—and we’re excited to share that we’re now on YouTube as well as audio platforms.In this kickoff episode, we talk about the vision behind the relaunch and why we believe this new format will help equip Christians to stand firm in their faith in today’s culture. We also reflect on six ways Charlie Kirk inspires an unshaken faith, highlighting his courage, his willingness to be misunderstood and called names, his gentleness and kindness, and his bravery in the face of real danger.If you’ve been waiting for Unshaken Faith to return, this is the episode to jump back in!

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 biblical worldview, why it matters, and who gets to decide what it really is.

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 Vischer, whom you probably know as the creator of Veggie Tales. Today, Alisa and Natasha talk through several of its major points using it as a case study of how commonly heard statements about politics within the church right now can sound good but are actually quite misleading.

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 IN THE SHOW:Ryan T. Anderson's article, "Kamala's Abortion Extremism" https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2024/08/kamalas-abortion-extremism

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 the world launching at No. 1 both the Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Gloabal Excl. U.S. charts. Last week, Alisa listened to several songs on the album and forced Natasha to listen to a couple of them and they have thoughts!

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 three of their biggest parenting failures specifically as it relates to discipleship…as well as three of their biggest successes.

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 relationship. In today’s episode, Natasha and Alisa talk about how to process the moral failings of leaders of Christian organizations and share three takeaways on how to process events like this. They also offer some hope they have for Orange going forward.

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 good. So if that’s the case, how did we get to this point where Christians feel like we’ve done something wrong if we bring up politics with other Christians or if we feel like we can say something…but just not too much?

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, Social-Emotional Learning, and Gentle Parenting, Alisa and Natasha will define those terms and show how they represent a massive shift in the worldview of our current culture. They also explore how those topics are related to the deconstruction phenomenon.

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 understanding why Christians care about the resurrection so much and why we should even believe a resurrection happened. In today’s episode, Natasha and Alisa highlight some important conversations churches need to have surrounding Easter that tend to be ignored.

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 holds the title of Founder of The Center for Non-Religious Spirituality says. In today’s episode, Alisa and Natasha unpack some of these claims.

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 church near you. In today’s episode, Alisa and Natasha give a quick primer on what side B theology is, who are some of the main players, and share some concerns for you to consider as you think through these questions for yourself.

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 columnist), Russell Moore (the Editor-in-Chief of Christianity Today), and Curtis Chang. Natasha and Alisa did an episode on their concerns about the After Party last March when the curriculum was first announced. The reason they're talking about it again today is that it’s now been released and it's getting high profile promotion with churches and pastors nationwide. In fact, they’re making it available for free through the 2024 election. Tune in to today’s episode for some things you should be aware of before your church considers rolling this out.

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 discuss some thoughts on how he’s become the poster child for transgenderism, and the interesting worldview insights that can come from considering that question.

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/alisachildersyoutube.com/alisachildersfacebook.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, Alisa and Natasha share some thoughts on prayer and encourage you to pray through this conflict.

Recently, Natasha wrote an article called, “A Christian Response to a Viral Deconstruction post,” about a woman who deconstructed and has continued to post about her deconversion online. In today’s episode, Natasha and Alisa respond to one of her comments in which she makes the popular claim that you can trust your heart because your heart is “pure.” In popular deconstruction stories, it’s common for people who are leaving the faith to claim that the teaching of Original Sin (that humans are inherently sinful) is actually toxic and abusive. They teach that humans are actually good by nature, so we can trust our hearts to guide us rightly. How can Christians respond?

After wrapping up the Tucson Unshaken conference a couple of weeks ago, Alisa and Natasha noticed a recurring theme in their conversations with attendees. It went something like this: “It’s so nice to know we’re not crazy. It’s so nice to be with other believers who hold to the truth of Scripture and not feel so alone.” That says so much about the state of the church. It can be lonely WITHIN the church to have a biblical worldview and if you’re feeling that, we hope today’s episode will encourage you.

Back in 2018, mega church pastor Andy Stanley came under fire for suggesting that as New Testament Christians, we should “unhitch” ourselves from the Old Testament. At times, Stanley seemed to be walking back his comments, while Stanley’s confusing comments about homosexuality and LGBTQ inclusion have left many Christians wondering if Stanley is sliding into progressive Christianity. Is it time to put Stanley into the category of mark and avoid? That’s the question Alisa and Natasha are asking in today’s episode.

An article has been making the rounds in which Shannon Harris, ex-wife of 90’s purity culture icon Josh Harris, claims that complementarian theology caused her harm and trauma. In the late 1990s, purity culture emphasized abstaining from sex until marriage while often employing a lot of unfortunate fear and shaming tactics along the way. Fast forward to 2018. Josh Harris disavowed the book and apologized for the harm he says he caused with his writings. A year later, he announced he was leaving Christianity completely and ending his marriage to his wife, Shannon. That’s where our episode today picks up. Shannon is now speaking out about her own deconstruction and about the harm she says she suffered while living as a Christian wife in a complementarian church environment. In today’s episode, Alisa and Natasha talk about some of her claims and her understanding of complementarian theology that she believes is so harmful.

So much happened while we were on hiatus this summer! In today’s episode, Natasha and Alisa hash through all the stuff we missed. We talk about drag queens taking the #1 spot on Christian itunes, Oliver Anthony going viral with a modern day protest song, the Barbie movie, Taylor Swift Eras tour, and the strange Christianity today article that praised Barbie and Taylor Swift for bringing us all together while panning Oliver for dissing welfare.

Should Christian parents send their kids to public school in order to be a light and influence on their local campus? What do we do about people who claim that their new age practices or beliefs from other faiths have produced long term good changes in their lives? How do I have any right to tell someone to live more like a Christian when I am a sinner? And finally, Paul said in 1 Timothy 2:12 "And I do not permit a woman to teach or have authority over a man, but to be in silence." How does that apply to two women co-hosting a podcast and speaking at a national conference? These are the questions we're going to tackle today in a rapid-fire manner.

Whether you’re a Christian, a secular humanist, a Muslim, a Mormon, or anything else, you almost certainly agree that love is one of the most important values for humans. In recent years, love has taken such pride of place in the American culture that it has ousted pretty much every other value. People have boiled everything in life down to a singular focus on love, and in a very practical sense they have made it their religion, effectively claiming that if everyone would just choose love, the world would leave behind all its current divisions. Today, Natasha and Alisa respond to several quotes and memes around the theme that love is all that matters—particularly because it’s a claim that people often use to oppose biblical doctrine, morality, and Christianity in general.

Jesus often clashed with members of a Jewish sect called the Pharisees, who were strong opponents of His ministry. The Pharisees strictly kept the law given to Moses centuries earlier and followed an elaborate system of oral tradition to help them do so. Today, many people have an inclination to label a Christian a “modern day Pharisee” when they don’t like what that person has to say. The Pharisees are trotted out for all kinds of claims that have nothing to do with the problems Jesus actually had with them. Natasha and Alisa talk about several of these myths to clarify what the problem actually was with the Pharisees and how that’s very different than how many people speak of them today.

Jimmy Donaldson, better known as MrBeast, has over 147 million subscribers, and is a favorite among American families everywhere. Until recently, Jimmy has remained fairly neutral when it comes to politics and religion. That all changed when one of his best friends and costars Chris Tyson, recently announced that he is transitioning from male to female. Since then, Jimmy has ardently defended his friend’s choices and his Wikipedia page now describes him as an “American YouTuber, philanthropist, and transgender rights activist.” Today, Natasha and Alisa discuss what it looks like to talk with our kids about sensitive issues like transgenderism, and when their favorite youtube celebrity goes woke.

The Orange organization may be the most influential organization you’ve never heard of when it comes to church curriculum for the next generation. According to the Orange website, at thinkorange.com, they have 10,000+ partner churches, influence over 1 million kids and teens per year, and serve over 80 denominations. They also report that 49 percent of the fastest growing churches use Orange. We have long had concerns that this widely used curriculum is primarily moralistic (meaning it’s focused more on so called good values rather than on the Gospel) and that it’s becoming increasingly progressive. In today’s episode, we’ll focus on three recent events which we think demonstrate our continued concern—particularly about progressivism—and bring awareness to these issues.Why is the Gospel Good News? Orange Leaders Dan Scott, Director of Orange 252 Kids & Preteen CurriculumOrange Resources on RacismNeil Shenvi's review of "How to Be an Antiracist"

Today, Natasha and Alisa respond to a social media comment that read, “In my opinion, red letters/Jesus’ words are the most important in all the Bible.” Some progressive Christians will say that the word of God is Jesus himself, not the Bible. For Christians who are trying to live their lives according to God’s word, this can be incredibly confusing…especially if they can’t even agree on who or what the “Word of God” even is. Are the Red Letters more important than the black letters?

What happens when one person refuses to bow their knee to the cultural gods? Others tend to follow because courage is contagious. That’s exactly what has been happening in the world of professional hockey. It all started back in January, when Ivan Provorov, a defenseman for the Philadelphia Flyers decided that he would not join his team in the warmups while they wore Pride-themed jerseys and wrapped their hockey sticks in rainbow-colored tape. After some significant backlash, his team and the NHL actually stood by him. Since then, entire teams have opted to not wear the pride jersey. What does this all mean? We’ll break it down in today’s podcast.

Russell Moore, David French, and Curtis Chang are coming out with a small group curriculum for churches called "The After Party." In anticipation of the presidential election cycle next year, they say they want to counter the "dangerous trend" of evangelicals having their political identity "formed by partisan forces, not by true Biblical faith." Russell Moore says that this After Party Curriculum was originally going to be titled, "The Post-Partisan Church." But should that be the goal? Should the church be post-partisan?

Theological conversations can be stopped in their tracks if someone simply pulls out the old, “Don’t put God in a box!” The most common way this phrase is used is by those who don’t want to be confined by the moral teachings of the Bible. Today, Natasha and Alisa discuss the implications and logical inconsistencies of this conversation stopper.

A public school district in Arizona recently terminated a contract with a Christian University who provided free labor for the past 11 years. Why? Not because any complaints or incidences had involved the Christian students. It's because school board members claimed the University's religious beliefs about biblical marriage and sexuality would make local students feel "unsafe." Today, Natasha and Alisa dig into the implications of this very important story, as well as unpack why woke culture thinks Christians are unsafe.

There is so much information available online. From where to find good Thai food to how to find a good pediatrician to how to fix your dishwasher, there is no end to the tutorials, websites, and social media platforms just waiting to answer all your burning questions. People also turn to the internet for church recommendations. It can be tricky to discern what’s going on at churches from looking at their online presence. Whether you’re looking for a new church for yourself, helping a friend evaluate churches in another city, looking for a church in your college student’s new town, or anything else, we hope today’s episode will give you some guidance on what to look for online…and what to watch out for.