Nat Crawford - Executive Coach, Speaker, Leader

I first read the original Josh McDowell’s Evidence That Demands a Verdict a number of years ago for an apologetics course and found it to be helpful. Then a new version came out in 1999, which I enjoyed as well. Then I heard about another version coming out in October of 2017. I first thought, “Come on! Another one?!?” But now that I have it in hand and have read through it, I can say, it is a must have.   The claim of “completely updated and expanded” is true. Part 1: Evidence for the Bible is a must have for the Christian. Many today inside Christendom don’t trust the Bible, which is deeply troubling. Christians are people of a book: the Bible. Yet, they struggle with viewing the Bible as wholly unique, historical, and reliable. This section is an honest look at the evidence for a solid trust in the contents of the Bible. Part 2: Evidence for Jesus puts forward a compelling case for the historical Jesus as well as evidence for Jesus, the Son of God. But Josh an...

Legalism. Legalism is a word Christians are prone to use and prone to be afraid of. Some Christian’s tout “I am not a legalist. or "I don't want to be legalistic about that..." I often wonder, what do they mean by "legalistic". If they mean by legalistic is that they don’t put works ahead of the gospel of grace, then good. The true gospel is salvation by grace through faith (Eph 2:8). But if they mean, the gospel is good news for your soul, but indifferent for your life. In other words, as a Christian, obedience is nice, but not a result of salvation. If this is what they mean, they’ve bought into the myth of Christian legalism. Too many Christians believe that the gospel is potent enough to save your soul but impotent to change your life. Your soul will be saved from hell, but your life will look like you belong there.  They equate obedience to God as legalism. If you believe this, you have bought into the myth of Christian legalism. If you...

Are Christians crazy for believing that Jesus physically rose from the dead? Each and every Easter, we are faced with the claim that Jesus Christ rose from the dead. That is if you can get past all the fluff of Easter bunnies and Cadbury Eggs. Beyond the commercialized and secularized version of "Easter" is the true Easter. The real reason why we celebrate each Spring. But I think the question of “Is an actual resurrection of Jesus the best possible explanation for the claims of the apostles that Jesus historically and physically rose from the dead?" should be explored. Skeptics and believers should wrestle with this question. Because as the apostle Paul wrote, “If Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless” (1 Cor. 15:14). So is an actual resurrected Jesus the best explanation for the claims of the apostles? Let’s look quickly at the many possibilities and let us all be willing to follow truth to wherever it leads. Th...

“But I say,   walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify   the desires of the flesh.   For   the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other,   to keep you from doing the things you want to do.   But if you are   led by the Spirit,   you are not under the law.   Now   the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality,   idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions,   divisions,   envy,   drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that   those who do   such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.   But   the fruit of the Spirit is   love, joy, peace, patience,   kindness, goodness, faithfulness,   gentleness,   self-control;   against such things there is no law.   And th...

“This is going to hurt me more than it does you.” We’ve all heard that before in a movie, a book, or in real life. Often this involves some kind of discipline or consequences for one’s actions. The one saying it means it. The one hearing it never believes it. The apostle Paul said some very similar in his second letter to the Corinthian Church: For though I caused you sorrow by my letter , I do not regret it; though I did regret it —for I see that that letter caused you sorrow, though only for a while— I now rejoice , not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, so that you might not suffer loss in anything through us. For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death. Today, as I read Paul’s words, it struck me that many of us struggle with holding people a...