The Opiod Crisis and the Church

Dave Sayers

Denise Sayers

Dave and Denise Sayers of Real Life Ministries in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho share information about the opiate crisis in the US, it's causes and various waves. Speaking as both recovered addicts and Christ-followers, they give information and details about Real Life's program for recovery that has led many to both physical and spiritual healing.

What was Meant for Evil, God Uses for Good

Joke Van Opstal

Revelation 21:3-4

Being a Christian does not exempt anyone from suffering. No matter how many good things we may do for God, we will still experience suffering, because suffering is not the result of God's punishment on us. Suffering is a tool for our sanctification, to help us grow and develop stronger character. As we grow to know our God, we see that his picture is much bigger than ours, and he is weaving a story through our suffering to bring about good, though we may not see it in the midst of our trials. We have a choice to make in how we respond when faced with suffering: we can give up in bitterness or hold fast to the Lord's promises and His eternal hope.

Evidence of Evil

J. Warner Wallace

Revelation 21:3-4

One evidence for the existence of God is the reality that transcendent, objective moral truths exist. Through personal examples and through our own justice system, there emerges a transcendent, objective being to whom we are obligated, above even the current law itself. If moral truths do not come from individuals nor from groups, they are either an illusion or an evidence for a creator God. The persistent presence of evil and injustice causes us to turn toward an objective source to define evil. As we explore the idea of evil, we begin to explore the character of God and how a loving and all-powerful being could allow evil to exist in our world.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly - The Use and Misuse of Presuppositions in Apologetics

Dennis McCallum

Revelation 21:3-4

There are several main types of apologetics, including classical, evidential and presuppositional. While presuppositional apologetics can be good, there are many bad examples as well. A good example of a presuppositional apologetic would be one in which there is internal consistency, where one matches his or her conclusions with the presupposition, and where one can show inconsistency between non-Christian assumptions and desired conclusions. If this occurs, we can show friends the need for a different starting point, a different underlying and foundational belief. As we examine bad examples alongside the good, we can better use this type of apologetic in our own lives.

Trinity Basics for Spiritual Conversations

Dave Schutter

John 3:16

The reality of the Trinity is an important truth both to support our discipleship and our evangelism. As we see Scripture's witness to God as the Trinity, we mature in our faith and grow in our confidence, which in turn helps our evangelistic conversations improve. Through studying the Trinity in Scripture, this doctrinal truth can become a truth that is both relational and relevant for us. This workshop helps us extract key truths about the Trinity from Scripture and consider how to thoughtful converse about this topic with non-Christians.

Does Science Contradict Christianity?

Kate Mizelle

Jeremiah 33:25

Many critics of Christianity align science and Christianity against each other in the fighting ring. But is this a proper debate? This workshop addresses two major questions. First, can we believe in both science and God? And two, where does the evidence lead? As we explore the evidence in our physical world, we see that belief in science and God are not two mutually exclusive areas. In fact, science helps defend the Christian faith, and the Christian faith helps propel science.

Evangelism Insights from Francis Schaeffer

Josh Benadum

Romans 10:14

Francis Schaeffer, a nineteenth century, prominent theologian, provides several key insights into faithful and biblical evangelism that is transcendent across culture and time. Schaeffer was convinced that we must become preoccupied with reaching the people of our current generation. We should not settle for a superficial knowledge of secular ideology, and we should hold loosely to language or methods that may be barriers to the gospel. While we want to adorn the gospel with authentic Christian love and community, we never want to compromise the truth as we do so. Finally, we can have confidence to point every individual toward a God who is truly there.

Created for Good - Restoring Hope in Our Christian Lives

Brian Adams

Katie Adams

Romans 7:24-25

The fear of falling from grace can at times cripple us, especially when we see other spiritual leaders fall. But while we are capable of evil, we have been created for glory. God created us for good, and he offers his comfort for the fearful. By observing the transformation of the apostle Peter we see a model of grace's power to provide hope and change. In fact we see powerful transformations scattered across the Bible! These examples and truths give us hope in our own Christian lives.

Ways of Knowing: How the Bible Speaks to the Whole Person

Jim Leffel

John 17:20-21

Francis Schaeffer, in his book "The God Who is There," states that we must make a biblical case for Christ in every generation, meaning that we begin with the question of what is truth and how we may know it. There are several ways of knowing, and through examining these different ways, we can adopt a holistic and biblical view of both truth and knowledge. We find truth through our head, heart and hands. Another way to explain this would be knowing through propositional truth, personal truth and practical truth, all tests for identifying truth. As we explore this topic, we see how imperative discovering real truth is to our world and to our faith.