Nat Crawford - Executive Coach, Speaker, Leader

Oprah Winfrey turned her back on Christ because of a sermon she heard. A charismatic, baptist preacher taught on God being a jealous God. During a television show, Oprah said "I was raised a Baptist and we were too hung up on traditional ways. I was sitting in church and heard that God is a jealous God. I asked 'Why?' Come on-let's get over it!"  I thought this was odd. Why would the jealousy of God offend Oprah to the point of denying Him? I believe her thinking would be summarized as this: "If God is supreme, and the best, why and of whom would He be jealous?" If this was her thought, I think she was asking the wrong question. I think she should have asked, "Am I making God jealous? What in my life is taking my attention and my worship away from God? What do I believe is better than God?" "for you shall not worship any other god, for the LORD , whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God" (Exodus 34:14 NASB). There it is. God is a jea...

First, let me apologize for my tardiness! I recently was on a missions trip for two weeks and starting my final undergrad class. But I am glad to be blogging again! Today, I want to keep it brief. It is the Easter season. This is the time we remember the triumphant work of Jesus Christ. Christ took on Himself the sin of humanity. The sinless lamb was slain. But that is not where it ends. After three days in the grave He rose and exited the tomb. That is what I want to address today.  How do we know Jesus' resurrection is legit? An important starting point is that scholars, both Christian and non-Christian agree that Jesus was buried in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea. "When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him . And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in ...

There is a tension in our culture today. Some are shouting “God is dead! There is no God!” While others contend that if there is a god, surely he is unworthy of any praise. He has abandoned us. Richard Dawkins states in his book The God Delusion “ The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully.”  Is this assessment true? If God is a God of love, can He truly be a God of judgment?  Is Dawkins right? Was God more focused on justice in the OT and focused on grace in the NT?  And why does God seem so different between the Old Testament and the New Testament?  With the daunting task of reading you will find God’s love, mercy, and judgment in the Old Testament and God’s lo...

           Jesus Christ taught and did many things during His life. But did He teach social justice?  What do we mean by social justice?  Social justice is giving each person what is rightfully theirs.  Most people would put say “It is helping those in need get the things they need.” Social justice is a hot topic both in the political and Christian realms.  Depending on who is talking, you may hear the terms redistribution of wealth, socialism, entitlement and communism.  I will not attempt to deal with whether food, clothing, shelter and healthcare are entitlements or whether or not it is the government’s role to fulfill these shortfalls. I will focus on the teachings of Christ in regards to the poor, the sick and taxes. In the synoptic gospels, there are over ten recurring records of teaching on the poor and over twenty on healing. The book of John contains similar passages. Clearly, Jesus had an opinion on ...