I’m excited to share with you today, for the first time, all the details about my upcoming book Faithfully Different: Regaining Biblical Clarity in a Secular Culture.
For those familiar with my prior books, I’ll start by saying that Faithfully Different is my first book that isn’t about parenting. Rather, it’s written to help the church at large regain clarity about what it means to have a biblical worldview in a secular culture. More specifically, the core ideas of the book can be laid out as follows:
- If you have a biblical worldview, you’re now in a worldview minority.
- The dominant worldview of the culture around us—a strident secularism—is fundamentally at odds with the biblical worldview.
- This opposing and often hostile secularism is putting extensive pressure on 1) what Christians believe, 2) the ways our beliefs inform how we think, and 3) how we live out our faith.
- We must each regain clarity on what it should like to be faithfully different from today’s world for 1) the health of our own relationship with the Lord and 2) our ability to effectively be “salt and light” to others (Matthew 5:13-16).
If you love the Lord, it’s inevitable to feel the gravity of where we are as a culture and where we seem to be headed. Indeed, many books addressing the intersection of faith and culture are, frankly, pretty depressing. But the last thing I want is for this book to leave you feeling like you’re living under a dark cloud. We do have to confront the grim reality of where we are, but ultimately this is a book to help Christians see our current cultural context as a God-honoring opportunity to be faithfully different.
I’m honored to say that the foreword was written by John Stonestreet, president of the Colson Center for Christian Worldview. Faithfully Different has also received wonderful endorsements from Greg Koukl, Erwin Lutzer, Nancy Pearcey, J. Warner Wallace, Frank Turek, Jeff Myers, Alisa Childers, Sean McDowell, Mike Winger, Scott Klusendorf, Michael Licona, and Dan Kimball.
Below is the table of contents so you can see everything the book covers, and all the endorsements follow. Faithfully Different releases on February 8. I know that sounds like a while away, but if you plan to get it, please go ahead and pre-order now. Pre-orders help authors a LOT because they push books up in rankings so that more people see them. With that in mind, I’d really appreciate your support in ordering it now!
PRE-ORDER NOW on Amazon.com, ChristianBook.com, BarnesandNoble.com, or BooksAMillion.com.
Here is the table of contents:
PART 1: THE NEW NORMAL
1. Welcome to Your Place in a Worldview Minority!
It’s no longer “normal” to be a Christian in our culture.
2. Surrounded by Secularism
Don’t be fooled: Secularism is anything but neutral.
3. Why Secularism is Compelling–Even for Christians
It’s a worldview that’s ready-made for influence.
PART 2: FAITHFULLY DIFFERENT BELIEVING
4. Regaining a Supernatural Worldview
Under the pressure of secular naturalism
5. Reestablishing What We (Should) Actually Believe
Under the pressure of secular individualism
6. Reexamining Beliefs When Confronted with Doubt
Under the pressure of secular deconversionism
PART 3: FAITHFULLY DIFFERENT THINKING
7. Reclaiming What Rightfully Belongs to the Biblical Worldview
Under the pressure of the secular worldview buffet
8. Reaffirming Biblical Morality
Under the pressure of secular virtue signaling
9. Reinvigorating the Spirit of Discernment
Under the pressure of secular indifference
PART 4: FAITHFULLY DIFFERENT LIVING
10. Revitalizing the Call to Biblical Justice
Under the pressure of secular social justice
11. Recommitting to Speaking Truth
Under the pressure of secular cancel culture
12. Reshaping Our Hearts for Sharing the Gospel
Under the pressure of secular relativism
A Final Encouragement: Fruit Under Pressure
ENDORSEMENTS
Gregory Koukl, President, Stand to Reason (str.org); author of Tactics: A Game Plan for Discussing Your Christian Convictions:
Natasha Crain’s Faithfully Different offers a brilliant assessment of our current cultural moment—loaded with insight, yet perfectly practical—in prose that is lucid and crystal clear. Crain strikes a healthy balance between her native kindness and gentleness and her sharp biblical thinking, helping you discover, finally, how all the crazy cultural pieces fit together and what to do about it. Crain’s work is not only an accessible primer for Christians who find themselves overwhelmed by the confusing array of challenges facing their convictions: from deconversions, to relativistic postmodernism, to critical race theory. She also sounds a sobering wake-up call to the multitudes who call themselves Christians yet who naively embrace secular ideologies and worldly ethics.
In my opinion, Crain’s latest work is a masterful achievement, her best yet. If you read just one book to help you understand the present-day secular assaults on Christianity—and the biblical answers to them—make it Faithfully Different.
Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer, Pastor Emeritus, Moody Church, Chicago; author of We Will Not Be Silenced:
This book is faithfully different! Clearly written, relevant, and winsome, it is a fair-minded defense of the Christian worldview. Read it, and you will find it to be of great benefit in understanding how you can withstand the cultural pressures that are swirling around you. A great book to help Christians, but also a wonderful gift to those who are on the margins, dealing with doubts and wondering how Christianity compares with the secular answers of our culture. Read it. Share it. And live it!
Nancy Pearcey, author of Total Truth and Finding Truth:
In her earlier books, Natasha Crain has shown that she possesses a rare gift for unpacking complex ideas and making them clear and accessible. In Faithfully Different, she focuses on the struggles Christians face as society grows ever more secular. Those who follow Jesus are now a minority in Western culture, increasingly cast as extremists and treated as obstacles to social progress. Crain offers a reliable guide to navigating these new challenges.
J. Warner Wallace, Dateline-featured cold-case detective; author of Person of Interest and Cold-Case Christianity:
If ever there was a time to reaffirm biblical morality, revitalize our notions of biblical justice, and recommit to speaking the truth of the gospel, now is that time. Natasha Crain’s new book, Faithfully Different, is the right book written at the right moment. It will help you understand the challenges we face as a community of believers and equip you with the skills necessary to rise to these challenges. It’s a must-read book for a time such as ours. Get a copy for yourself and every Christian you care about.
Frank Turek, President, CrossExamined.org; coauthor of I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist:
Are you being deceived? How would you know? The inherent problem with being deceived is that you don’t know you’re being deceived. Natasha Crain brilliantly exposes how our secular culture often deceives us about God, Jesus, the Bible, social justice, sex, love, and morality. She then points us back to truth so we can live faithfully different lives to achieve our most important mission—knowing God through Jesus Christ and building His kingdom. Read this now!
Jeff Myers, PhD, President, Summit Ministries:
At Summit Ministries, we train tens of thousands of young adults every year in worldview and apologetics. I can tell you this: Natasha Crain gets it. She doesn’t shy away from a biblical response to tough questions. Just as important, she has her finger on the pulse of the culture. She knows its language and how to speak truth into it. Faithfully Different makes a powerful and very readable case that if Christians will learn to think Christianly—that is, with a Christian worldview—they can have a powerful impact in our confusing times. A bracing and timely challenge for the church.
Alisa Childers, author of Another Gospel: A Lifelong Christian Seeks Truth in Response to Progressive Christianity; host of The Alisa Childers Podcast:
Until recently, Christian ideals in America have gone largely unchallenged. But this is rapidly changing, which has left many Christians feeling opposed, silenced, and marginalized. How can we stand for biblical truth in a culture that views that truth to be bigoted, hateful, or harmful? Faithfully Different will give you the tools, resources, and inspiration to live out your Christian values in an increasingly secularized culture. This is the book every Christian needs in this cultural moment.
Sean McDowell, PhD, professor of apologetics, Biola University; author or coauthor of nearly 20 books, including Chasing Love: Sex, Love, and Relationships in a Confused Culture:
Faithfully Different is a timely wake-up call for Christians who want to live out their faith in our secular culture. This book is well researched, full of interesting stories, and grounded deeply in Scripture. I highly recommend it for Christians who want to know what it means practically to follow Jesus today.
Mike Winger, President, BibleThinker Inc.:
As a pastor, one of the biggest issues I see facing Christians today is that they don’t know how much secularism has impacted their worldview and crippled their ability to think biblically about things. Faithfully Different not only successfully identifies and explains the relevant worldview issues but does so in a way everyone can understand. I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to understand and defend the Christian worldview.
Scott Klusendorf, President, Life Training Institute; author of The Case for Life: Equipping Christians to Engage the Culture:
Natasha Crain is absolutely correct. Christian, the world you knew just five years ago has dramatically changed, and not just among unbelievers. An aggressive secularism is sweeping into our churches that is anything but neutral. In the last two years alone, I’ve lost evangelical friends who not only promote ideas at odds with a biblical worldview, but who make agreement with those ideas an acid test for continued relationship. How can Christians live obediently and confidently in a world hell-bent on our total surrender? Natasha provides a refreshing answer that transcends arguing at a fever pitch: True Christians must be faithfully different. And that starts with understanding the secular worldviews that put fellow believers at risk in the first place. I thank God for this book. I now have a roadmap for living (and thriving!) as a minority.
Michael Licona, PhD, Associate Professor of Theology, Houston Baptist University:
Secularism’s growing influence and power is like a raging river, breaching banks and flooding everything in its path. Wading slightly into it risks getting swept in and dragged along with others who have been less careful and those who have jumped in for the ride. In Faithfully Different,Natasha Crain discusses the elements in secularism that seduce us away from our lover Jesus. She also takes readers by the hand and helps them recalibrate their thinking to one that is grounded in the truth of the biblical worldview. This book is well written, refreshingly insightful, and is truly an enjoyable read!
Dan Kimball, author of How (Not) to Read the Bible; on staff at Vintage Faith Church; professor at Western Seminary:
I can’t express my excitement enough for the impact this book will have on people’s lives. I am not an alarmist, but I don’t know if there has been another time when there has been more confusion about beliefs and truth, even amongst Christians. So many Christians don’t know what they believe, so we see them accepting counterbiblical beliefs as normal. Natasha writes practical insights and shows why we must pay attention to the way so many are drifting from historical Christian truths. This is so incredibly critical, as what we believe impacts everything—our decisions, our values, our ethics—everything! I am so thankful for a practical guide to help us see clarity in the midst of so much fog and unclarity, why it matters, and what we can then do about it.
PRE-ORDER NOW on Amazon.com, ChristianBook.com, BarnesandNoble.com, or BooksAMillion.com.