2010 Conference Sessions

Gary E. Gilley

Is the Modern Church Reaching Out or Selling Out?
Many church leaders, riding the faddish waves of our times, have adopted philosophies of ministry that they believe will enable the Church to better reach out to people. But what price has these leaders and their churches paid in order to fill the pews? This plenary lecture will briefly examine both the “seeker sensitive” movement (including Rick Warren) and the emergent “conversation” in the light of Scripture. It will also call on God’s people to remain faithful to both the biblical teachings and God ordained paradigm for His Church.

• Are There Alternative Christianities? – Bart Ehrman and the Gnostics (G. Richard Fisher)
Were there competing Christianities in the early Church each vying to become the “truth”? Is the Bible untrustworthy and merely a human production, rather than the inspired and infallible Word of God? Best-selling author and Bible scholar Bart Ehrman wants us to believe both to be the case. This session will examine Ehrman's view of the Bible and why he thinks “truth” is up for grabs. We will also look at “Who are the Gnostics?” “Why are they having a twenty-first century revival?” and “What is the basis for their attack on the Christian faith?”

• The Godless Crusade of the New Atheism (Gary E. Gilley)
Atheism in any form and any era is deadly. Consider the impact on our modern society of such 19th century atheists as Charles Darwin, Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud, and Albert Nietzsche. Yet the 21st century is not without its activists engaging in an atheistic campaign. The New Atheism of men like Richard Dawkins (The God Delusion) and Christopher Hitchens (God Is Not Great) is aggressively seeking converts and disciples, taking their godless crusade to the masses. This workshop will consider key factors of this movement, including its environment, gain of popularity, major themes and arguments, and a defense of Christian theism.

• Oprah and the Invasion of the New Spirituality: A Biblical Responss (Marcia Montenegro)
Oprah is one of the most influential women today. Receiving her “endorsement” can place one on the fast track to fame and fortune. But just what are her spiritual beliefs and those of many of her guests, and how do they line up to a Christian worldview? This workshop will explain and discuss the roots of this new spirituality, the God and Jesus of the New Age, the deception of New Thought, what Oprah has said she believes, and how this conflicts with Christianity, so that the believer can be better equipped at recognizing and responding to this new spirituality.

• Unlocking the Mysteries of Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol (Ron Rhodes)
Following the phenomenal success of his novels, The DaVinci Code and Angels and Demons, author Dan Brown has written yet another runaway best-seller, The Lost Symbol. However, every literary offering Brown serves up is an affront and attack on the very heart and foundation of the Christian faith. While he writes under the “banner” of fiction, he presents his plotlines as fact. This workshop will evaluate the alluring seduction of mysticism (which is a thread that runs throughout his latest book). Various claims made by Brown, including how mystical religions like Rosicrucianism and Kabbalah contain "truth" for us, the deification of man, and man controlling reality by the power of the mind, will be biblically disproved. Also Brown’s esoteric approach to the Bible (so that the Bible is made to appear to support such ideas) will be considered and refuted. This session will deconstruct Brown piece by piece.

• Decision Making Questions – The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (Dave Swavely)
Life is made up of more decisions than we can count. We face so many choices every day that often lead us to anxiety and desperation. This confusion occurs, in large part, because many Christians have misconceptions in their minds about how God leads and directs them in their personal decision making. This workshop will present what biblical decision making is by investigating what questions we should ask ourselves, and what questions we should not (even though most Christians do!).

Robert Lightner

Contending for the Faith Without Being Contentious
Christians are called to hold fast to sound doctrine, contend for the faith once for all delivered unto the saints, and be always ready and able to give a defense to everyone who asks a reason for the hope that is in them. Yet the same Scriptures which command us to “hold fast,” “contend,” and “be ready” also instruct us to “speak the truth in love.” Our objective as believers is not to defend the faith in a gangbuster manner — a way which dishonors God and disgusts the hearer — but to employ meaningful influence and significant persuasion. This session will define how the Christian can be on the offensive without being offensive.

Richard Fisher

The Bondage of Ancestral Bondage Teaching
‘‘Are we determined by our ancestors’ sins?’’ ‘‘Are we trapped because of the transgressions of our grandparents?’’ Such admired teachers as Bill Gothard, Neil Anderson, Rebecca Brown and others say ‘‘Yes!’’ They instruct that the bondage of personal or ancestral sins has to be broken with special prayers or rituals. This session will explore and answer questions such as: ‘‘Is the ancestral bondage teaching truly biblical or is it merely another form of bondage?’’ ‘‘Why do we function so much like our parents, and why do we repeat their sins and failures?’’ ‘‘Does God really visit iniquity to the third and fourth generation?’’ Join us for answers to these questions.

• The Ancient-Future Faith Movement (Gary E. Gilley)
The Ancient-Future faith movement is one of the newer stages in the emergent church movement. It is seekers who repudiate Church history and behave as if the Church was born yesterday. The Emergent adherents not only want a link to the past, but a return to the past. While these elements have always been present in Emergent, they are just now rising to the top of the conversation. For them it is not enough to complain about the modern Church or to brush aside all truth-claims as relative. Roots of some kind must anchor the movement if it is to last. What is it that will give this conversation a fixed point of reference and at the same time launch it into the next stage? This seminar will contend that it appears to be what some call “Ancient-Future faith.”

• The Angel Called God and His Angels (Robert P. Lightner)
The names and titles of Christ used in the Old Testament often lend strong support for His eternal existence as the second person of the Godhead. This workshop will first present a biblical study defining “the Angel of Jehovah” as none other than Christ in His pre-incarnate state. Several common descriptions of the work of Christ’s angels are given in the Bible — one of which is “ministers.” This session will then examine, from the Scriptures, the general and continuing ministry of holy angels to God’s people in our present day.

• What’s Your Sign? The Bible & Astrology in the Age of Aquarius (Marcia Montenegro)
Do you know what to say when someone asks, “What’s your sign?” While some see horoscopes as amusement, others take astrology in a more serious vein. Astrology’s influence continues to be a factor in a world looking for guidance and direction in all the wrong places. This session will discuss the difference of astrology with astronomy, what a horoscope is based on, the worldview of astrologers, the Age of Aquarius, what the Bible says about astrology, as well as a good way to respond to the issue of reading horoscopes and how to answer those who say astrology works.

• An Overview of World Religions (Ron Rhodes)
For most Christians, the religious beliefs of non-Christians are a collection of confusing beliefs, practices and worldviews. And earlier generations would have had to embark onto a foreign mission field to encounter those who held beliefs other than their own; not so today with the invasion of world religions into America. This session will be your guide for answers and understanding to the world’s major religions. Various world religions, including Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Jainism, Sikhism, Taoism, Confucianism, and Shinto will be compared and contrasted. Also examined is why Christianity is utterly unique in terms of divine revelation, its view of God, Jesus Christ, sin, salvation, and the afterlife.

• A Foundationalist Christian Epistemology and Postmodernism (Steven Tsoukalas)
This seminar begins with an outline of a Foundationalist Christian Epistemology (Epistemology: How we as Christians come to know what we know) and ends with a short discourse on Postmodernism. Relatively recently, Postmodernism has posed a threat to the unique truth claims of Christianity, and many theologians have embraced it, even those who call themselves Christian. Moreover, many professors in secular universities set forth Postmodernism as the way to view various truth claims. Through this seminar, Christians can begin to possess a solid epistemology that aids in combating the philosophical and theological relativism of Postmodernism.

• Joel Osteen – The Prosperity Gospel Goes Mainstream (Gary E. Gilley)
Many Christians can discern the obvious error of New Age teachings behind The Secret and Eckhart Tolle’s The New Earth, as well as the over-the-top proclamations of many within the prosperity gospel movement. However, when similar teachings are repackaged, reworded, and presented in a winsome fashion, a larger number will fall prey. Enter Joel Osteen and his brand of the prosperity gospel-lite. As some have observed, Osteen has achieved the dubious success of making the “name-it-and-claim-it” philosophy mainstream. This workshop will explore how Osteen teaches essentially the same theology as his Word Faith mentors, but he gives it an updated twist.

• The Angel Called Satan and His Angels (Robert P. Lightner)
With the rise of the occult, interest in demonology and Satanology have become very prominent — both within Christian and non-Christian circles. However, systems of theology generally include very little about Satan and his demons. Thus into the vacuum created by this dearth of information have come subjective and unscriptural teachings. Regrettably, much of what is offered today in the books by best-selling authors is more fiction than fact. This workshop is a study which biblically defines Satan and his demons, wicked angels, and their opposition to God’s people.

• The Reformation – Reclaiming the Church from Corruption (Paul L. Maier)
The Christian Church emerged from the Middle Ages encumbered with medieval spirituality, mysticism, religious abuse, and a denial of the Gospel of grace alone. While there were those who made attempts to rescue a Church gone astray, it was Martin Luther, “a man who changed the world,” whose efforts succeeded when others had failed. This workshop will explore the history and background of reformation efforts by the prime catalysts of sixteenth century reform such as Luther, Ulrich Zwingli, John Calvin, and others.

• What You Need to Know About Homosexuality (Ron Rhodes)
One of the most “hot button” concerns facing the Church today is the issue of homosexuality. In their response to “political correctness,” some local churches reject with contempt and entirely ignore the homosexual, while other congregations welcome them in open and affectionate fellowship. How are Christians to understand the balance between compassion and biblical principle? This session will focus specifically on what the Bible says about homosexuality, including misinterpretations of specific Bible verses. Also examined will be the charge that the Apostle Paul was only giving his private opinion when he spoke on the matter of homosexuality. Modern arguments related to twin studies, hypothalamus studies, and the issue of whether homosexuals are born or made will also be addressed.

• Uniqueness of Christianity: Highly Probable or Absolutely Certain? (Steven Tsoukalas)
It has been stated that one cannot be absolutely certain about anything! Employing a Foundationalist Christian Epistemology learned in the Epistemology and Postmodernism workshop, we probe an answer to the question, "Can we be absolutely certain that Christianity is uniquely true?" There are practical consequences that follow the answer to this question, positive or negative depending on your view. We shall probe these consequences in a practical way, with the hope that each seminar attendee will be equipped to walk in this world of doubt and unbelief with confidence and compassion.

Paul L. Maier

Jesus of Nazareth – What Else Do We Know?
In the past four decades we have seen an outpouring of sensationalist books, motion pictures, and television specials in which Jesus is barely recognizable. Drawing scantily from the New Testament, these Bible “scholars” and critics often subtract from Scripture and add events to the life and person of Christ until He is radically different and beyond recognition. This seminar will examine, with emphasis, the sources of information on Jesus outside the Gospels — what’s fact and what’s fiction. A discussion of biblical manuscript transmission will also be presented.

Ron Rhodes

Where Is the Discernment?
‘The modern Church shows a real lack of — and disdain for — discernment. In losing its will for discernment, the Church has given way to mysticism, the Word-Faith movement, eschatological extremes (date-setting), “Christian” psychics and psychic phenomena (even among our kids), “Christian” Wicca and paganism (and vampirism), and a host of horrible books including The Shack and Your Best Life Now. Yet, as the Scriptures prove, God cares about biblical discernment; and true biblical discernment answers each of these issues. This session will also provide a summary of the benefits of discernment, setting forth tips on how to increase discernment, and closes with a call to urgency.

• Does Beth Moore Have a Hermeneutic? (G. Richard Fisher)
Beth Moore is one of today’s most popular Christian authors and seminar leaders — her books sell by the millions and she speaks to auditoriums packed with her adoring fans. Yet few know or care to ask what is Moore's hermeneutic or method of Bible interpretation? By her own admission, she employs hyperbole and overstatement — and in other cases she ignores the historical, generational, and cultural setting of the Bible. This workshop will consider Moore’s hazardous method of handling Scripture; how she has an interpretive scheme in which she mishandles the Bible leading to misinterpretations, misapplications, and aberrant teachings.

• The Apostle Paul and the Spread of Christianity (Paul L. Maier)
The book of Acts as well as Paul’s Epistles offer us a powerful and dynamic source of information to illuminate the life of this great missionary and church planter. Yet secular writings also exist which shed light on the missionary journeys of Paul, as well as his voyage to Rome, his trial there, and his death. This workshop will survey and present both the “sacred and the secular” sources about the enormously successful preaching efforts by Paul and how God used this man and his ministry to change the course of history.

• The Vampire Bites – A Biblical Look at Today’s New Heroes (Marcia Montenegro)
Books, television, and movies in our culture have featured psychics, witches, vampires, and other similar figures as heroes and heroines. Is this trend merely a passing fad, innocent fun, and harmless entertainment — or should Christians be concerned? This workshop will explore this modern phenomenon of the supernatural and bring you up to date on recent “new heroes,” especially in literature and movies for young people. Also discussed will be relevant biblical issues, as well as how the believer can respond.

• The Seven E’s of Entertainment (Dave Swavely)
What kinds of movies, television programs, music, novels, et cetera, can a Christian enjoy and still be honoring to the Lord? No other issue has been the source of more friction between Christians in our media-soaked, pleasure-worshipping society, and no other issue has given rise to so many legalistic rules in an attempt to keep us from being contaminated by the world. This workshop will examine how — using “The Seven E’s of Entertainment” — the Christian can understand the issues in a way that avoids the extremes, maintains a biblical, God-honoring balance, and makes their entertainment choices easier.

• Christ as God through What He Says and Does (Steven Tsoukalas)
In presenting Jesus to cultists, an area that is somewhat neglected by Christians is this: What Jesus does and says is what Yahweh in the Old Testament did and said. This seminar will offer some exegetical (and therefore practical) insights on, for example, "The Storm Stiller" of Matthew 8 and Psalm 107, and "The Cloud Rider" of Matthew 24 and Isaiah 19. A wonderful outcome of this evangelistic goal is not only more effective evangelism of cultists, but also getting to know Jesus better!

Gary E. Gilley

A Faithful Church in Deceptive Times
From its inception, the Church of Christ has had to “contend earnestly for the faith” against those who can only be described as deceivers. But in an age in which even kind critique is considered repulsive and un-Christlike, it has become increasingly difficult to take a stand for the truth. The pressure is immense for even the most conservative of Christians and churches to ignore serious error in order to avoid being labeled negative and unloving. Yet the Lord has called for His people to expose and refute heresy. What are we to do?