Schedule
Friday, April 28, 2023
| 8:00-10:00 AM | Exhibitors can set up tables |
| 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM | EMNR Member Summit, lunch provided |
| 1:00 PM | Registration for conference opens |
| 2:00-3:15 PM | Plenary #1, Dr James Bjornstad, “EMNR: I Remember When . . .” |
| 3:15-3:30 PM | Break (15 mins.) |
| 3:30-4:45 PM | Workshop #1 |
| 4:45-6:30 PM | Dinner (1 hour, 45 minutes) |
| 6:30-7:30 PM | Workshop #2 |
| 7:30-7:45 PM | Break (15 mins.) |
| 7:45-9:00 PM | Plenary #2, James Walker and Bill Kluck: Live discussion, “Does God Exist?” |
Saturday, April 29, 2023
| 8:00-8:45 AM | Exhibitor tables and Registration open |
| 8:45-9:45 AM | Workshop #3 |
| 9:45-10:00 AM | Break |
| 10:00-11:15 AM | Plenary #3, Pastor Rich Day: “Using Their Own Material” |
| 11:15 AM – 1:00 PM | Lunch (1 hour, 45 minutes) |
| 1:00-2:00 PM | Workshop #4 |
| 2:00-2:15 PM | Break (15 mins.) |
| 2:15-3:30 PM | Plenary #4, Elaine Bales: “The Watchtower’s Occult Background” |
| 3:30-3:45 PM | Break (15 mins.) |
| 3:45-4:45 PM | Workshop #5 |
| 4:45-5:00 PM | Break (15 mins) |
| 5:00-6:15 PM | Plenary #5, Dr Doug Groothuis: “Failed Discipleship in Politics: Critical Race Theory on Trial” |
Workshop Titles and Presenters
Workshop #1 – Friday, 3:30-4:45 PM
| Room | Speaker | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Fellowship | Rich Day | The Importance of High School Apologetics |
| SS 1 | Mark Tabladillo | How the Worldwide Church of God Failed Its Disciples |
| SS 2 | Bill Honsberger | To Be Announced |
| SS 3 | ||
| Sanctuary | Bill McKeever | Joseph Smith’s First Vision and the Book of Mormon: Evidence Pro and Con |
Day : The Importance of High School Apologetics. After spending a good bit of time on college campuses, I see the need even more to work in local settings to teach and train high school students with apologetic tools. This workshop will give an overview of how to approach this, how to plan for training sessions and where to get materials from. This is part of the “Ratio Christi Track.” (Read my bio.)
Tabladillo : How the Worldwide Church of God Failed Its Disciples. Herbert Armstrong’s Worldwide Church of God built a membership over 100K people, a religous media empire across television, radio and print, and established charitable relationships across the world. This talk will outline discipleship successes and failures for three groups: the general public, the church membership, and the church leadership. (Read my bio.)
Honsberger : To be announced.
McKeever : Joseph Smith’s First Vision and the Book of Mormon: Evidence for and Against. Mormonism’s 15th President Gordon B. Hinckley said if Joseph Smith really did not see both God the Father and Jesus Christ, Latter-day Saints are engaged in blasphemy. Mormon Apostle Jeffrey R. Holland insisted that if the Book of Mormon is not what Joseph Smith said it is, “this Church and its founder are false.” In this workshop we will accept these challenges and look at the history behind both the First Vision and the Book of Mormon. (Read my bio.)
Workshop #2 – Friday, 6:30-7:30 PM
| Room | Speaker | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Fellowship | Steve Matthews | World Mission Society Church of God |
| SS 1 | Andre Traversa | Discipleship vs Salvation: Is there a Difference? |
| SS 2 | Ron Henzel | To be announced |
| SS 3 | ||
| Sanctuary | Jim Bjornstad | Problems in Witnessing to Cults of Christianity |
Matthews : The World Mission Society Church of God. The World Mission Society Church of God is one of the fastest growing and most aggressive cults that has appeared on the scene in years. Spreading the message of God the Mother from door to door as well as on college campuses and in Walmarts, WMSCOG members are arguably the most committed and best trained groups among the new breed of cults today. This presentation will cover the history and beliefs of this controversial group as well as provide a critical evaluation and response. The cult landscape has dramatically changed in recent years, so join us in learning about this rapidly-growing deceptive and coercive group. (Read my bio.)
Traversa : Discipleship vs Salvation: Is there a Difference? A former pastor of mine once claimed, from the pulpit, that any distinction between believing in Jesus and following Jesus is heresy. But is this really true? Is discipleship necessary for salvation, or even a logical byproduct of salvation? Is bearing fruit necessary for salvation? In this workshop, we will examine these questions through the clear light of Scripture. I will take the strong position that a distinction between salvation and discipleship is all over the Bible. Salvation is free, and only requires belief; the word believe is used 95 times in the Book of John. Discipleship will cost us, though the cost varies from culture to culture, depending on historical circumstances. After all, Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s classic book is called The Cost of Discipleship, not The Cost of Salvation. This difference is also critical in terms of assurance. If I have to follow Jesus to be saved, then how can I be sure of my salvation? What if I don’t live up to God’s standard of discipleship? Let me state right up front that I take a free grace position on salvation and reject any doctrines of Lordship, surrender to Christ, or anything other than simple faith and trust. (Read my bio.)
Henzel : To be announced
Bjornstad : Problems in Witnessing to Cults of Christianity: Miscommunication and Misinterpretation. Everyone uses their meanings of words to understand others, which can cause misunderstanding. While we should believe what the text say, many interpret texts according to their theological beliefs. This workshop will help us understand what is happening and how we can be more effective in our witness. (Read my bio.)
Workshop #3 – Saturday, 8:45-9:45 AM
| Room | Speaker | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Fellowship | Steve Matthews | Shincheonji: The Cult Infiltrating Our Churches |
| SS 1 | Lora Brown | Freemasonry 101: What Christians Need to Know |
| SS 2 | Mark Tabladillo | A Christian Worldview on Artificial Intelligence |
| SS 3 | ||
| Sanctuary | Don Veinot | Is the Enneagram the Road Away From Scripture? |
Matthews : Shincheonji Church of Jesus: The Cult that is Infiltrating Our Churches. Shincheonji is a very aggressive, high demand, secretive, Korean apocalyptic cult that is specifically targeting Christians for “harvesting” into their ranks. This deceptive movement allows members to speak a “righteous lie” if it will further God’s kingdom, and they are now infiltrating churches in order to draw in members, as well as looking for Christians to convert on social media, apps, and even dating sites. Christian leaders must be aware of the danger of this insidious cult that is coming to steal members from our churches in ways that we have never seen before from any other group. (Read my bio.)
Brown : Freemasonry 101: What Christians Need to Know. As Christians, we share our faith. But have you ever conversed with a Freemason? What about a “Christian Freemason”? This quick course in Freemasonry will give you the basics of Masonic structure, doctrines, symbols, and blood oaths. I’ll explain the Legend of the Third Degree which every Mason participates in during his initiation. Playing “Hiram Abiff,” the candidate is symbolically killed, buried, and resurrected. The last topic will be Ex=Masons for Jesus. (Read my bio.)
Tabladillo : A Christian Worldview on Artificial Intelligence. Artificial intelligence continues to attract people developing technology. Scenarios once only science fiction have become science reality. One company OpenAI has attracted energy with its ChatGPT (which generates text answers), Codex (which generates text), and DALL-E (which generates images). This talk will outline some current use cases of AI and map some principles and ethics from the Christian worldview to help individuals, families, communities, and nation states. (Read my bio.)
Veinot: Is the Enneagram the Road Away From Scripture? The Enneagram was introduced into the church from the New Age and occultism in 2016 by a Christian publisher. It is marketed as a spiritual tool and is being used by pastors for a nine-week sermon series. It has become the new spiritual tool for church membership classes, discipleship, and marriage classes. The Enneagram is now Sacred, it is The Road and the gospel, but is it biblical? Is it even a valid personality tool? (Read my bio.)
Workshop #4 – Saturday, 1:00-2:00 PM
| Room | Speaker | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Fellowship | Rafael Martinez | The Absence of Love in Abusive Spirituality: Two “Christian” Case Studies |
| SS 1 | George Carneal | From Queer to Christ (testimony) |
| SS 2 | James Lopez | Death and Deconstructing Word of Faith Beliefs |
| SS 3 | ||
| Sanctuary | Doug Groothuis | Defending the Atonement |
Martinez : The Absence of Love in Abusive Spirituality: Two “Christian” Case Studies. This is a review of how Biblical agape is absent from the indoctrination of cultism, specifically in the toxic formation practiced by two Ohio Valley cults completely off the radar of countercult discernment, who have been enthusiastically abusing their recruits for a total of some seventy years. Our case studies will focus on Xenos Christian Fellowship (now called Dwell Community Church) and Gladstone Community (now called Madison Place Community Church), fulfilling Matthew 24:12. Their evil-doing proves that passing doctrinal muster alone never guarantees the spiritual integrity or veracity of any claimed “church” or “ministry.” This is a clarion call for the church to recognize the need to discern, counter and respond to their brazen challenge to Biblical faith and discipleship. (Read my bio.)
Carneal : From Queer to Christ. George shares his testimony, as well as exposes the reality of the LGBT lifestyle vs. the sanitized version being portrayed by the media, Hollywood, the LGBT activists, and the liberal theologians. He will expose the transgender ideology and reveal what the public is not being told, as well as debunk the lies from the liberal theologians with Scripture. (Read my bio.)
Lopez : Death and Deconstructing Word of Faith Beliefs. In this workshop, I am attempting to help bring about a Biblical perspective of those that have lost loved ones and contrasting it with the emotional baggage that the Word of Faith and hyper-charismatic theology brings. (Read my bio.)
Groothuis : Defending the Atonement. I argue for a rich, biblical view of the atonement made by Jesus Christ, with special mention of propitiation, which has been recently attacked, even by Christians. (Read my bio.)
Workshop # 5 – Saturday, 3:45-4:45 PM
| Room | Speaker | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Fellowship | David Clark | New Apostolic Reformation, MAGA, and conservative Christian culture |
| SS 1 | Al Stewart | Sharing with People in Pseudo-Christian Sects |
| SS 2 | ||
| SS 3 | ||
| Sanctuary | Ivani Greppi | Escaping the Darkness of Yoruba |
Clark : The Cost of Doctrine and Discipleship with the New Apostolic Reformation, MAGA, and conservative Christian culture. This part four of a series on the New Apostolic Reformation and the Christian conservative culture in America. This continues and expands on previous conference topics presented at EMNR conferences in the recent past. The spiritual dimension is not fully known by the average church attending Christian. Biblical discernment and sound doctrine need to be explored. The history of this mixture should be presented and apologetic equipping and examination will be provided according to Jude 3 consideration. (Read my bio.)
Stewart : Sharing with People in Pseudo-Christian Sects. This is to be a workshop geared toward reaching those in sects like Jehovah’s Witnesses and LDS (Mormons) mainly. However, I will also share a little on how to share the Gospel in general as well! (Read my bio.)
Greppi : Escaping the Darkness of Yoruba. Ivani Greppi was introduced to the Umbanda (Yoruba) religion in Brazil at the age of fourteen. She was considered a medium from birth due to her psychic “gifts” of seeing the spirit world from early childhood. Then she found deliverance through Jesus Christ. Her testimony, From Spirit Guides to the Holy Spirit, is available in English and Portuguese from her website, ivanigreppi.com (Read my bio.)