Friday, August 15, 2025
| 8:00-10:00 AM | Exhibitors can set up tables |
| 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM | EMNR Member Summit. For members of EMNR, Ratio Christi, and guests. Not open to the public |
| 1:00 PM | Registration for conference opens |
| 2:00-3:15 PM | Plenary #1 – Rev. James Pittman Jr., pastor of New Hope Challenging the Culture with Their Own Language |
| 3:15-3:30 PM | Break (15 mins.) |
| 3:30-4:45 PM | Workshop #1 (Bowman, German, E. Pement) |
| 4:45-6:30 PM | Dinner (1 hour, 45 minutes) |
| 6:30-7:30 PM | Workshop #2 (Veinot, McKeever, Wolski) |
| 7:30-7:45 PM | Break (15 mins.) |
| 7:45-9:00 PM | Plenary #2 – Corey Miller, president of Ratio Christi The Third Revolution and the Scandal of the Evangelical Mind |
Saturday, August 16, 2025
| 8:00-8:45 AM | Exhibitor tables and Registration open |
| 8:45-9:45 AM | Workshop #3 (Miller, House, Lagoon, Walker) |
| 9:45-10:00 AM | Break |
| 10:00-11:15 AM | Plenary #3 – Robert M Bowman Jr, president of IRR Logic, the Trinity, and Other Religions |
| 11:15 AM – 1:00 PM | Lunch (1 hour, 45 minutes) |
| 1:00-2:00 PM | Workshop #4 (Lagoon, Williams, Clark) |
| 2:00-2:15 PM | Break (15 mins.) |
| 2:15-3:30 PM | Plenary #4 – Aynaz Anni Cyrus, survivor of Islamic sharia Will He Find Faith … in the Face of Sharia? |
| 3:30-3:45 PM | Break (15 mins.) |
| 3:45-4:45 PM | Workshop #5 (Honsberger, B. Pement, Wolf) |
| 4:45-5:00 PM | Break (15 mins) |
| 5:00-6:15 PM | Plenary #5 – Donald T. WIlliams Why We Lost the Culture War, and How to Make a Comeback |
Workshop Titles and Presenters
NOTE: Workshop rooms may be revised.
Workshop #1 – Friday, 3:30-4:45 PM
| Room | Speaker | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Parlor | Robert M Bowman Jr | Book of Mormon Problems: What They Teach Us about Biblical Reliability |
| SS #1 | Igal German | Exposing Trojan Horses in American Evangelicalism |
| Lounge | Eric Pement | Robotheism: The Deification and Worship of Artificial Intelligence |
| West #1 |
Book of Mormon Problems: What They Teach Us about Biblical Reliability. Mormons often claim the Bible has the same kinds of difficulties as the Book of Mormon. As a result, once Mormons find out the Book of Mormon is not authentic, they tend to throw out the Bible as well. With this concern in mind, the workshop discusses such issues as the original-language texts, locations of places mentioned, external evidence, and problems of interpretation. In short, while the Bible indeed has “difficulties,” it has the kind of difficulties that ancient books should have, while the Book of Mormon has the wrong kind of difficulties. The workshop should enhance Christians’ confidence in the Bible while equipping them to challenge the Book of Mormon.
Robert M. Bowman Jr. is the president of the Institute for Religious Research (IRR), a Christian apologetics ministry based in Cedar Springs, Michigan. He holds MA and PhD degrees in biblical studies from Fuller Theological Seminary and South African Theological Seminary. Dr. Bowman has taught at Biola University, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, and elsewhere.
Exposing Trojan Horses in American Evangelicalism. Recent decades have seen a dangerous rise in false teachings impacting evangelical churches, leading believers away from the biblical doctrine and undermining their relationship with God (1 John 2:22-23, 4:1-4). False teachings are masterminded by “seductive spirits” which preach “another Jesus” and “another gospel” (1 Timothy 4:1; Galatians 1:6-12; 2 Corinthians 11:1-4). Recognizing the urgency of the situation, this workshop is dedicated to exposing the Trojan horses in American evangelicalism. Drawing on Scripture, it not only highlights the problem but also offers a powerful biblical remedy for the spiritual crises that are currently threatening many evangelical churches.
Dr. Igal German is a professor of the Hebrew Bible, a Messianic Jewish apologist, and the founding director of Yesod Bible Center and the International Biblical Apologetics Association. Dr. German has extensive teaching experience in theological institutions across Canada and the United States, most notably at Moody Theological Seminary and Denver Seminary.
Robotheism: The Deification and Worship of AI. This presentation will show the increasing numbers of people who believe that generative AI (artificial intelligence that generates contextual responses) has become not only sentient but also divine, with godlike knowledge and wisdom. Many have come to not only treat AI as as higher order of intelligence but have come to worship it. Much of this session will include YouTube documentaries and interviews.
Eric Pement is one of two chapter directors for Ratio Christi at the University of North Florida. A former EMNR director and past-president, he has been involved in Christian apologetics for over four decades. His special interests include Islam, LDS and RLDS, William Branham, the Urantia Book, UFO and UAP, channeling, and cult controversies. He has worked as a full-stack web programmer, Unix engineer, system administrator, information security, and technical specialist in enterprise monitoring and job scheduling.
Workshop #2 – Friday, 6:30-7:30 PM
| Room | Speaker | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Parlor | Don Veinot | The Michael Heiser Dilemma |
| SS #1 | Bill McKeever | Where Are the Book of Mormon Lands? |
| Lounge | Tom & Pam Wolski, Ernst Boogert | Artificial Intelligence: Challenges for Today’s Christians |
| West #1 |
The Michael Heiser Dilemma. The late Michael Heiser’s book, The Unseen Realm, has garnered a large following among those who believe he has provided answers to some of the more obscure biblical passages. For example, who were the Sons of God in Genesis 6:2? Did God create other gods that are higher than angels but lower than YHWH and create a Council of Gods? Many of Heiser’s followers have embraced what they call a “divine council worldview.” The Book of Enoch is also drawn on for support of Heiser’s views. Are his new answers true answers or are his followers giving “heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith” (1 Timothy 1:4)?
L.L. (Don) Veinot Jr. is co-founder and President of Midwest Christian Outreach, Inc., a national apologetics ministry and mission to new religious movements based in Wonder Lake, IL., with a branch office in Quincy, IL, and Cape Coral, FL. He, along with his wife of 54 years, Joy, has been involved in discernment ministry as missionaries to cults and New Religious Movements since 1987.
Where are the Book of Mormon Lands? Christians have historically believed that the Bible is a book of real people, real places, and real events. Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believe that the Book of Mormon is also a book of real people, real places, and real events. But does the Book of Mormon have the rich archaeological and historical evidence as does the Bible? If the Jaredites, Nephites, and Lamanites mentioned in the Book of Mormon really existed, where did they live? What do the LDS Church and its apologists say about this?
Bill McKeever is the founder/director of Mormonism Research Ministry that has been challenging the truth claims of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints since 1979. MRM operates the Utah Christian Research and sponsors the daily radio program, Viewpoint on Mormonism. Bill lives in the Salt Lake City area with his wife Tammy. They have been married 50 years.
Artificial Intelligence: Challenges for Today’s Christians. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is everywhere these days, from online business and research to personal “assistants and chatbots.” Some consider it essential for our survival/advancement, and others see its threat to our creativity, independence, and privacy. Our interest/concern has led us to deeper study, and together with you we will examine the following questions, and others: How is AI impacting our ability to discern truth from error? What are some of the obvious, and hidden, dangers of AI? Can we use AI for building up God’s Kingdom and for His glory?
Ernst Boogert (in this workshop via video recording) owned an AI company for many years, and has a theological degree from a Bible College in the Netherlands. He has worked in Israel for several years with the Christian Missionary Alliance. Tom and Pam Wolski were involved in Eastern/New Age teachings before coming to Christ in the mid-1980s, and they’ve been involved in apologetics/discernment ministries for 40 years. Since spring of 2023, they’ve been studying AI to determine its possible challenges to a Christian worldview. Since fall of 2023 they’ve been serving as church workers at Narkis Street Congregation in Israel.
Workshop #3 – Saturday, 8:45-9:45 AM
| Room | Speaker | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Parlor | Corey Miller | The Golden Rule as Evidence for Christianity: A Worldview Comparison |
| SS #1 | Dr. H. Wayne House | How Do We Recognize Heresy and What Should Be Our Response? |
| Lounge | Steve Lagoon | In Defense of Luke’s Census |
| West #1 | Keith Walker | Discussing the Deity and Personality of the Holy Spirit with JWs |
The Golden Rule as Evidence for Christianity: A Worldview Comparison. A new consideration of the gold behind the golden rule (GR). There is more than meets the eye. Whereas GR is typically looked at for its ethical value, we’ll examine its apologetic value, factoring in part of a moral argument for God’s existence by analyzing its meaning and placement in science and religions from east to west.
Corey Miller is a convert to Christ from being a 7th-generation Mormon, a former pastor, a professor of philosophy and comparative religions, and president of a campus ministry on over 100 college campuses. He is the author of six books, including the forthcoming The Progressive Miseducation of America (Harvest House, Oct 2025).
How Do We Recognize Heresy and What Should Be Our Response? My presentation is first to discuss the nature of heresy as defined in the New Testament. Second, I will distinguish heresy from improper understanding of biblical teaching in the New Testament. Third, I will deal with the biblical admonitions given by Jesus and the apostles regarding those who follow or teach heresy in the life of the church. Fourth, I will present suggestions on how the church should deal with heretical teaching, particularly of several forms that are present in the contemporary church.
H. Wayne House is Distinguished Research Professor of Theology, Apologetics, and Biblical Archaeology at Faith International University. He has taught theology at Dallas Theological Seminary and law at Trinity Law School. He holds several academic degrees, including doctorates in both theology and law, and is completing a doctorate in biblical archaeology, He is author and general editor of more than forty books.
In Defense of Luke’s Census. This workshop will offer a defense of the census described in chapter two of the gospel of Luke. Luke’s historical accuracy has been a regular target of skeptics and biblical critics. Steve will review the various explanations offered by Bible-believing scholars. We shall find that there are several possible solutions to the apparent historical problems raised by critics, and therefore, there is no reason for Christians to doubt the accuracy of Dr. Luke’s narrative of the nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Steve Lagoon is the President of Religion Analysis Service, a Christian apologetics and counter-cult ministry based in Minnesota and publishers of the quarterly journal The Discerner since 1947. Steve has a Bachelor’s degree in Biblical Studies and a Master of Divinity degree, both from the University of Northwestern–Saint Paul. Steve is the author of numerous articles and books critiquing the cults and false teachers.
Discussing the Personality and Deity of the Holy Spirit with Jehovah’s Witnesses. Much has been written about the Deity of Christ and how to prove this doctrine to Jehovah’s Witnesses, but very little has been written about discussing the Holy Spirit. This workshop will lay a foundation for the doctrine of the Trinity, by proving the personality and Deity of the Holy Spirit..
Keith Walker and his wife Becky founded Evidence Ministries in 1995 as a missionary outreach to Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons. Keith has been full-time with Evidence Ministries since 1999. The Walkers were both saved in 1988; Keith at a Billy Graham Crusade in Rochester, New York, and Becky through an independent study of 1st John in Mililani, Hawaii. Keith jokes that his degree in Bible is only a Bachelor’s degree (Emmaus Bible College, Dubuque, Iowa), but that he also has two black belts in cult evangelism. One in Jehovah-Jitsu and the other in Mixed Mormon Arguments. With thousands of hours of experience in witnessing to those lost in the cults, he enjoys training Christians how to witness with gentleness, respect, practical wisdom, and humor.
Workshop #4 – Saturday, 1:00-2:00 PM
| Room | Speaker | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Parlor | Steve Lagoon | A Biblical and Philosophical Examination of Reincarnation |
| SS #1 | Dr. Donald T. Williams | C.S. Lewis’s Defense of the Doctrine of Eternal Punishment |
| Lounge | David Clark | Post-Reformation Christianity & Post-Biblical Worldviews |
| West #1 |
A Biblical and Philosophical Examination of Reincarnation. Public opinion polls show that from 20% to 30% of Americans believe in Reincarnation, the idea that after our lives end, our souls will be reincarnated in another body, over and over again. This is an Eastern idea closely associated with the concept of Karma, in which each must pay for their sins (negative karma) before they can escape the wheel of rebirth. In this workshop, Steve Lagoon will provide an overview of reincarnation beliefs before providing a biblical and philosophical critique of the doctrine.
Steve Lagoon is the President of Religion Analysis Service, a Christian apologetics and counter-cult ministry based in Minnesota and publishers of the quarterly journal The Discerner since 1947. Steve has a Bachelor’s degree in Biblical Studies and a Master of Divinity degree, both from the University of Northwestern–Saint Paul. Steve is the author of numerous articles and books critiquing the cults and false teachers.
Into Aslan’s Shadow: C. S. Lewis’s Defense of the Doctrine of Eternal Punishment. C. S. Lewis believed that there is a Hell and that there will be people in it for eternity. His rationale for it is that God will give everyone what he has chosen, so that those who have chosen to reject God must then necessarily experience the fullness of what they have chosen: life without Him. If this perspective is true, it weighs against conditional immortality or annihilationism, because most of the reprobate have not chosen non-existence, as evidenced by the fact that they did not commit suicide. There are other and more clear biblical reasons to reject conditional immortality (God’s justice, the nature of the soul, etc.), which Lewis does not stress. But neither does he deny them, and his
perspective, which is not inconsistent with anything in Scripture, does add some weight to the case for the traditional doctrine.
Donald T. Williams, PhD, is Professor Emeritus of Toccoa Falls College and a past president of the International Society of Christian Apologetics. An ordained minister in the Evangelical Free Church of America, he has spent several summers training local pastors in Africa and India for Church Planting International. He is a border dweller, permanently camped out on the borders between serious scholarship and pastoral ministry, theology and literature, Narnia and Middle-earth. He is the author of fourteen books, including Answers from Aslan: The Enduring Apologetics of C. S. Lewis (Tampa: DeWard, 2023)
The Rise of Post-Reformation Christianity and Post-Biblical Parallel Worldviews. A churched nation is not the same thing as a gospel-literate nation, and the massive growth of word-faith teaching and its growing legacy points to the rise of a “parallel Christianity,” a Christianity that is effectively post-Biblical. This workshop will present the critical and essential history, doctrinal development and Biblical comparisons needed to discern sound doctrine. All Christians should be aware of this new “parallel Christianity” and be Biblically equipped to understand and refute it.
David Clark is a Christian countercult apologist, a professional Thought Reform consultant, and a court-certified expert on cults. He was a former member of Church of the Living Word from 1972 to 1974. This pseudo-Christian movement, also known as “The Walk,” was a predecessor to the New Apostolic Reformation. In 1983, Clark was a script writer and associate producer for Vain Glory, a documentary on the Walk by filmmaker Tony Cox, who joined the Walk after his marriage to Yoko Ono collapsed.
Workshop # 5 – Saturday, 3:45-4:45 PM
| Room | Speaker | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Parlor | Bill Honsberger | Deconstructing the Faithful and the Faithless |
| SS #1 | Barbara Pement | Woke: Do You Know What Time It Is? |
| Lounge | Joe & Susan Wolf | Historic Orthodox Faith Tenets vs Jehovah Witnesses |
| West #1 |
Deconstructing the Faithful and the Faithless. Abandoning the Christian faith has been all the rage, especially on social media, for several years now. Virtually everyone I talk to at events like Paganicon and the atheist conventions is a former “Christian” of some sort. This workshop will discuss the phenomenon, address the reasons that are stated and offer a deeper reason that might instead explain what is happening. A view towards Gospel responses will be offered as well.
Bill Honsberger is a missionary with Haven Ministries, which is dedicated to sharing the Gospel with non-Christians of every variety. Haven goes to Wiccan events, atheist events, LDS events, Burning Man, college campus’s and so many others. We teach at churches, colleges and with individuals who are trying to understand the diverse pagan/religious landscape of this fallen world.
Woke: Do You Know What Time It Is? “Woke: alert to injustice and discrimination in society, especially racism.” We will discuss how to deal with the challenges in an age where everything becomes “political,” where good intentions become hijacked by worldly proponents with unholy agendas. This workshop will focus on recognizing the real dangers and how to keep from being snared by deceit, hypocrisy, and division. How do we handle issues that should be addressed in a biblically sound manner without feeling antiquated or defensive? We will look at historical examples of believers who were “woke” for their time but didn’t allow their awareness to deter them from being used of God.
Barbara Charles Pement, former Continuity Director of ABC in Battle Creek, MI, and former Senior Editor of Cornerstone magazine of Chicago, is a writer, teacher, mother of 3, and grandmother of 3. Barbara grew up on Chicago’s Southside in Maple Park. Barbara joined Jesus People USA in her 20s where she met her husband Eric. They have been married for 44 years. Last year Amazon released her well-received memoir, Was … Was That Jesus? 23 Years in a Jesus Commune (2024), detailing her incredible communal experience.
Historic Orthodox Faith Tenets vs Jehovah Witnesses. In this workshop attendees will learn how to compare and contrast the pseudo-Christian religions with the tenets of the Historic Orthodox Faith, the non-negotiables of the Christian Faith. We will start with definitions for the tenets, talking about what is truly non-negotiable and what can be discussed. We then compare the doctrines of a false religion—in this case, Jehovah’s Witnesses—with these tenets to see if they line up or not. This method gives people a tool to determine for themselves if a group is legitimate or not.
Joe and Susan Wolf formed OddDuck Ministries out of a desire to help people learn about the psuedo-Christian religions. By first teaching the difference between the non negotiables of Christianity vs what is open for discussion, they then compare it all to the false religion’s beliefs. Their intention is to give people tools to be able to discern for themselves the difference between a false religion and sound doctrine.