Nat Crawford - Executive Coach, Speaker, Leader

Okay, first I know this seems like a weird topic to target in July. Maybe, but I have a reason. A month ago I boarded a plane for Los Angeles. It was in LA that I spent two weeks learning from the greatest minds in apologetics, as well as being at the "Star Trek Convention" for Christian apologists. It was great. On a personal note, I walked away from my time with some great friends and a renewed (and challenged) belief in Christianity. It was during one of my lectures the topic of Halloween came up. Hence, this is why I blog now. So, should Christians "celebrate" Halloween? By celebrate I really mean partake in it. Okay, a brief history lesson to understand where Halloween comes from. It originally was a Celtic feast of Samhaim. It was a night that Druids believed the separation between the natural and supernatural was breached. Druids believed demons and witches were released to bully humans. Those concerned with the Druids beliefs would camouflage themselves...

Again, I will start with an apology for my tardiness in blogging. The selling and purchasing of homes, as well as reading and writing of papers for graduate work, as well as being a father and husband have been my focus for a few months. Moving on, there is much discussion today about hell and its fairness. Today this debate carries on in secular circles as well as "Christian" circles. After a far-too-long hiatus, I want to tackle the topic of the fairness of hell. Do you realize every minute 107 individuals die world-wide.[1] That means on average 154,080 people die every day. The number of people who have died since Adam and Eve is incalculable. The thought of those who will not be saved from God's judgment and hell is a sobering, and frankly depressing. But there are those in today's culture who are challenging the fairness of hell - even the existence of hell. This challenge first comes from the atheist and agnostics. John Lennon encouraged his listener's t...

A common statement to defend an atheistic world-view is “There have been more massacres in the name of Christianity than any other religion. Religion is the cause of all our problems.” This is a straw man argument.  It is illogical and frankly worn out. Let me explain: The term Christian is quite loose now days. The term Christian blankets a wide variety of denominations, cults, agnostics, universalists, and pluralists. So what am I saying? There are “Christians” and then there are Christians. I may say “I’m a vegetarian.” But if you see me eating bacon double cheeseburger, you will call me on my hypocrisy.  When a “Christian” creates a heinous crime, rarely is authentic Christianity into question, rather the baby is thrown out with the bath water. Jesus Christ Himself knew His follower’s life would be under radar. That’s why in John 15:8 He said, “ This is to my Father’s glory,   that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” In the same way Ja...

Enjoy this article by Gary Manning Jr. in response to the new gnostic fragment regarding Jesus' alleged wife. According to an   article   in the Washington Post, an ancient manuscript claiming that Jesus had a wife has just been discovered. I’ll tackle this new discovery with some Q&A. What is this new find? Karen King, the Gnostic scholar who published the manuscript, has titled it the   Gospel of Jesus’ Wife   (see the scholarly article   here ). It is a very small fragment, only 12 partial lines, of an ancient Gnostic book. The fragment, written in Coptic, dates from the fourth century, but it is a copy of an older book, perhaps written in the late second century. According to the fragment, Jesus refers to “my wife.” Is the manuscript genuine? Read On

In light of some recent tragedies, I have heard this discussion come up again. This is a sad debate, but one that rages on.  So, can a Christian lose their salvation? Some Christians argue that believers can lose their salvation and they must be born again and again and again. . Remember the words Jesus to Nicodemus in John 3:7 “…you must be born again.” It was not that you must be born again…and again…and again. Some use Matthew 10:22 “ You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.” Others quote John 15:6 , “ If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. ” There are other verses as well.  Let’s look at the Luke 13:27 “ and He will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you are from; depart from Me, all you evildoers .’ ” What these verses are referring to are the false convert and not at true Chr...

Did you know that Capernaum was a major fishing village on the shores of the Sea of Galilee? It was a major player along the international highway from Syria to Egypt. It was in Capernaum Jesus had his ministry camp. This was no doubt strategic as Capernaum would be ideal to spread the Gospel rapidly.  Even so, Jesus would eventually condemn Capernaum because of its disbelief in Him (Matthew 11:20-24). Since 1968 Capernaum has been heavily excavated. One of the major finds was the apostle Peter's house! Well, how about that?

Two weeks ago I began dealing with the validity and authenticity of the Scriptures. We discovered it is by far the most reliable ancient texts! This week we will look at it light of historical reliability. There are references in the New Testament to supposed historical people, such as Pontius Pilate, Caesar Augustus, Gallio, and so on. There's also references to places, such as the Sea of Galilee, Jericho, etc. There are also references to moments in time, such as the Roman census, droughts, the crucifixion of Jesus, etc. Take Luke 1:5, "In the time of Herod king of Judea" or Luke 3:1, "In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar- when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene-." He gives us checks to back up his Gospel. Proof in Archaeology The People Pontius Pilate - In the last century archaeology has given us many items th...