Conference Schedule

You won’t want to miss a minute of this conference! In addition to award-winning musicians and Christian comedian Charles Marshall, American Vision is yet again bringing a spectacular group of today’s best apologists, educators, theologians and authors under one roof to present relevant sessions and workshops on a variety of topics that encourage Sovereignty and Dominion under our theme Biblical Blueprints for Victory: Family, Law, Education & Civil Government.

1. Wednesday, July 21
   

10:00 am  -  Registration and Store Opens! Be sure to bring your barcoded ticket (attached to your registration confirmation email) to sign in.

1:00 pm - Congregational singing with Nathan Clark George & Welcome

1:30 pm - Gary DeMar: Why Government CAN Save You (It All Depends on Your Definition of Government) - Government isn’t the same as politics. Before Christians can change our present corrupt political system, we must lay hold of a truly biblical view of government that (1) acknowledges the sovereign, overruling government of God and (2) the limitations of delegated governments created by God. The further we get from God’s sovereign will, the closer we get to the tyranny of men. Gary will develop a biblical definition of government and then show how Christians are obligated to return civil government to its proper and limited role. He will counter a number of arguments (Biblical and Constitutional) that Christians often use for not getting involved beyond the private sphere.

2:30 pm - Reverend David Hall: The Impact of the Reformation on America - John Calvin’s disciple Theodore Beza was the unsung hero of the American revolution. Prior to the time of Calvin’s disciples, a doctrine of unqualified submission to the civil magistrate prevailed within Christendom. Calvin and his followers were forced to re-examine such notions and the result of their exegetical reformulations transformed the West. Without the theology of the Reformation, American government would not have unfolded as it did. The ideas of limited government, checks-and-balances for elected rulers, civic accountability, constitutionalism and individual/family responsibility will be discussed as seeds sown two centuries prior to 1776.

Break

4:00 pm - Nathan Clark George Concert

4:30 pm - Joel McDurmon: One Kingdom, One Law: A Critique of Two-Kingdom Madness - Recently some Reformed theologians have made a concerted effort to revive “Two Kingdoms” theology, a construct that separates society and civil government from God’s redemptive work and revealed law. Following this dualistic view as it influenced Reformed theologians of the past, even John Calvin, these modern teachers wish to divert Christian efforts at reforming politics, law, business, economics, etc. and focus only on “the Church.” Does this doctrine have any Biblical justification or is it merely medieval hangover? Why did many Reformed theologians historically hold a similar view? And why do certain Reformed professors focus so centrally on this issue today? What is their argument? What is their agenda? What influence will they have? Joel McDurmon’s lecture will confront this issue and its implications from the perspective of a Biblical worldview.

5:30 pm - Dinner Provided Onsite (Free Meal!) by California Dreaming; background music presented by Harp of Dixie

7:00 pm - Bojidar Marinov: Europe as a Mirror for America - “Woe to the rebellious children, says the Lord...who make alliance but not of My Spirit” (Isaiah 30:1). Europe, created and formed by the Christian religion, has been a rebellious child against the Lord. She has abandoned the covenant of her God and has made alliances with other gods, against Jesus Christ on Whose foundation she was built as a civilization. America has been wiser for a while; but the same storms that have destroyed Europe are now approaching America. What can we as Americans learn from Europe’s example? Where are we heading? Do we want to preserve America as it was - the land of the free - or will we let her go down the same road Europe has been descending, into tyranny, socialism, chaos and despair? Can American Christians turn the course of history, not adopting Europe’s rebellion and teaching her obedience, common sense, and Biblical wisdom instead? Europe can help us learn to avoid her fate and we can help her to return to her Christian roots.

Break

8:15 pm - Roger Schultz: The Christian Philosophy of History - Covering Biblical teaching about the nature of history, emphasizing creation, God’s sovereignty and providence and theology in contrast to secular approaches. A Biblical and Reformed approach to history is the only consistent and meaningful philosophy of history.

9:30 pm - Store Closes

1. Thursday, July 22
   

8:00 am - Store opens (open all day)

8:30 am - Nathan Clark George & Congregational Singing

8:45 am - Roger Schultz: Christianity and Postmodern Historiography - Postmodern approaches to history, including multicultural and deconstructionist innovations have dominated liberal academia. This presentation is a Biblical critique of the presuppositions, emphases and trajectory of postmodern historians.

9:45 am - Joel McDurmon: Kicking Against the Pricks (Acts 9:5); Christian Political Theory - McDurmon argues that modern Christians need a “Damascus Road experience” in order to wake up to the real challenges of reforming Christian social theory. What will it take? What inertias must we overcome? Why do so many refuse to get involved? Why do mainstream theologians who do address the issue fail to offer real solutions for godly change? Why do those who do offer solutions get attacked and black-listed by mainstream theologians? This lecture will answer those questions and offer practical direction for reforming Christian social theory.

Break

11:00 am - John Eidsmoe: The Church and the IRS - Pastors and churches need to be assured that they can get up in the pulpit and discuss anything related to social issues, pending legislation and particular candidates. Specific details of the law, current legislation, and related issues will be covered. Has any church lost its tax-exempt status and how? What freedom does the Constitution guarantee the church and her pastor?

12:00 pm - Lunch Provided Onsite (Free Meal!) by Chick-fil-A; don’t forget to have your photo taken with the famous Chick-fil-A Cow!

1:00 pm - Nathan Clark George mini-concert

1:15 pm - Bill Potter: John Winthrop and a City on a Hill - The English Puritans who came to America in the “Great Migration” of the 1630s brought the Law of God and the dominion mandate to the Massachusetts Bay Colony. This lecture will trace the theological roots of the “Spiritual Brotherhood” of pastors whose theology was of the most serious and practical kind as they sought to develop a culture based on God’s Sovereignty and dominion over the whole of society.

2:30 pm - Reverend Joseph Morecraft: An Introduction to Authentic Christianity - Culminating a lifetime of learning, preaching and pastoral care, Morecraft will give an overview of his five-volume work which incorporates the most stalwart of Reformed theology from recent centuries as well as past masters. In a time when the church faces many doctrinal challenges, Morecraft calls her back to the foundations of the Reformed faith, directing her to the spiritual power of God’s Word through consistent application and relentless recourse to God’s Word as taught through the Larger Catechism. In this session we will find relevant solutions to the challenges the Church faces and the power to transform individuals, families and our culture.

Break

4:00 pm - Israel Wayne: The Family and Dominion - It seems everything in our culture is fighting against the unity and sanctity of the family. The battle for the hearts and minds of the next generation is being waged by secularists who use the media, education and pop culture to promote their humanistic agenda. How can parents not only defend their homes against this assault, but equip their children to advance the Kingdom of God into every sphere of life? This message will help you learn how to successfully train and equip world-changers.

5:00 pm - 7:00 pm - Break for Offsite Dinner (Meal Not Provided) - We suggest you utilize this opportunity as a time to fellowship with other attendees at nearby eateries! AV hopes to provide discounts, too! Details to follow....

7:00 pm - Charles Marshall: Family Friendly Christian Comedy

8:15 pm - Samaritan Ministries International Workshop - You Can Trust God with Your Health Care, Too: Biblical Faith Applied to Health Care

8:15 pm - Evidence American Workshop: Homicidal Atheists - How atheists are murdering the God of hope and what you can do about it! The worldview promoted by atheists, while loud and seemingly intellectual, is completely devoid of hope in the end. In this talk, President of Evidence America, Wes Moore, will give strong arguments for the Biblical God’s existence, explain death and suffering from a Biblical point of view, and demonstrate how the increasingly atheistic worldview of our culture - along with all other non-biblical worldviews - leads only to hopelessness. Finally, Wes will outline effective strategies for engaging the lost with this powerful truth: The only hope that exists is in the God of the Bible!

9:30 pm - Store Closes

1. Friday, July 23
   

8:00 am - Store opens (open all day)

8:30 am - Nathan Clark George & Congregational Singing

8:45 am - Dr. Gary North: Wish List #1: The Right Home School Curriculum - Why it does not exist, has never existed and is unlikely to exist unless American Vision produces it.

9:45 am - Dr. Gary North: Wish List #2: The Right Christian College - Why it does not exist, has never existed and will never exist in time for your child to attend college.

Break

11:00 am - Samaritan Ministries International Workshop - Health Care After “Reform”: Options that Remain for People of Faith

12:00 pm - Lunch Provided Onsite (Free Meal!) by Dagwood Subs

1:00 pm - Harp of Dixie mini-concert

1:15 pm - Joel McDurmon: Christians in the Trenches - Following his previous discussion of reforming Christian social theory, McDurmon will now attempt to answer the common question for dominion-minded Christians: “What do I do now?” Addressing many areas including education, economics and government, from the family to the state, this talk will offer the desperately needed practical application, tangible actions Christians can take towards reforming civil and social order.

2:30 pm - Bruce Shortt: Conceived in Sin - All too often official history is a myth and the more enduring historical myths are those that play to our conceit, greed and lethargy. One enduring historical myth is the story of the immaculate conception of the public school system. That myth is closely allied to the critical faculty numbing claim that “this generation” (pick any generation) is the “best educated ever.” These falsehoods have consoled several generations of American parents while also puffing them up with pride and absolving them of any sense of responsibility for investigating the true nature of their children’s education. The truth about the origins of the public school system may surprise you and may help you understand why “the little red schoolhouse” would be more accurately described as the “little whited sepulchre.”

Break

4:00 pm - Gary DeMar: Why It Might Be Ok to Eat Your Neighbor - A high percentage of Christian young people go off to college and often lose their faith because they have not been prepared to answer some of the tough questions of the day. Atheism is alive and well in all sectors of society. The media have done a good job propping up the modern-day atheist movement. So what’s the best way to answer atheist objections? While the traditional proofs and reason-alone argumentation coupled with the claim of factual neutrality are the most popular methods, there is a better way. It doesn’t take long to get into the head of born-again atheist when you ask him a series of questions of how he accounts for his new “rational” faith and the moral worldview that he claims is far superior to biblical morality. Gary will show you and your children how to ask the right questions of an atheist and also how to use their words and ideas against them.

5:00 pm - 7:00 pm - Dinner Provided Onsite (Free Meal!) by Williamson Brothers BBQ; Live bluegrass performed by The Carrell Family

7:00 pm - Kevin Swanson: Rousseau vs. God - Two Theories of Education - The core battlefield, the Omaha-Beach of the war of the worldviews is without question, taking place in the field of education. When Jean Jacques Rousseau wrote the book on K-12 education several years after abandoning his own children on the doorstep of an orphanage, he set the direction for the modern humanist state. Here Kevin Swanson will contrast “God’s form of Education” with the Education configured by Cain and that modern vagabond, Rousseau, in sharp and jarring antithesis.

8:15 pm - Evidence American Workshop: Your Worldview is Dying - Relevant strategies to promote a Biblical worldview to the lost around you. The Biblical worldview is all but dead in America, even among professed believers. The worldview of the average American is a cross between ancient Hinduism, secular atheism, and New Age mysticism. Wes Moore will discuss the reasons for this frightening transformation, offer a single, potent cure - a radical obedience to the Great Commission on the American continent - and spell out a non-confrontational, aggressive model for engaging the lost in the believer’s sphere of influence.

9:30 pm - Store Closes

1. Saturday, July 24
   

8:00 am - Store opens (open all day)

8:30 am - Nathan Clark George & Congregational Singing

8:45 am - Kevin Swanson: Creating a Financial Legacy for Your Family - The Platonic-Marxist worldview is committed to the dissolution of the family and the ultimatization of the state. Against this construct, Kevin Swanson presents a biblical socio-economic system in the form of the family. In what ways can families begin to reconstruct a decentralized family-based economic system that will “re-relevantize” the family in the 21st century? This powerful presentation will give families practical ways to build a biblical socio-economic construct, at a key moment in history - as the Keynesian system is on the brink of collapse.

9:45 am - Bojidar Marinov: The Defense of Property Rights - There is no way to define liberty without property rights. The foes of liberty understand this and their first priority is to attack these rights. The defenders of liberty also understand this, and rightly raise their voices to defend these rights but most still view these rights from an evolutionary perspective. The belief that property rights have “evolved” with the evolution of man is widespread among Classical liberals, libertarians and Ayn Randians. But if property rights are only a product of evolution, then there can be no moral defense of them; the best that can be said is that they are an expedient tool for the market and thusly can be disposed of at will. There is only one defense of property rights that is consistent and ethical: The Ten Commandments. In this lecture we will learn how to defend property rights using the only possible defense of them: that man was created in the image of God and his property is part of God’s image in him. Outside of the Bible, property rights and therefore liberty, cannot be defended.

Break

11:00 am - Gary DeMar: The 4 Beliefs That Render Christians Powerless & How to Overcome Them - It’s been said for a long time that ideas have consequences. Bad ideas have bad consequences, and Christians have quite a few of them. If we are going to confront our world with a biblical worldview, then we need to confront the inadequacies of our own worldview. This is a hard thing to do, but it must be done! Gary will discuss the problems of (1) Dualism, (2) Red-Letter Christianity, (3) Gnosticism and (4) Escapism. Irenaeus wrote, “Error, indeed, is never set forth in its naked deformity, lest, being thus exposed, it should at once be detected. But it is craftily decked out in an attractive dress, so as, by its outward form, to make it appear to be inexperienced (ridiculous as the expression may seem) more true than truth itself.”

12:00 pm - Break for Offsite Lunch - We suggest you utilize this opportunity as a time to fellowship with other attendees at nearby eateries!

1:15 pm - John Eidsmoe Presentation: The Worldview of the Founding Fathers

1:15 pm - Evidence America Workshop: James Cameron’s Avatar: The Worldview Battle of Tomorrow - The highest grossing film of all time demonstrates a blatantly Hindu and New Age worldview. This belief system is not simply a product of the silver screen, however; it is taking over the minds and hearts of many in the culture, even many in the church and represents one of the greatest threats to Biblical Christianity in our culture today. In this talk, Wes Moore will define the Avatar worldview, trace its history to ancient Eastern religions, and offer the Christian key strategies to shield the church from its influence and free the non-Christian from its power.

2:15 pm - Evidence America Workshop: American Catastrophe: Reversing the Spiritual Collapse of America - The America we know and love from the past is cooling in the coffin and we all know it. In this talk, Wes Moore will outline the warning signs seen in modern America as confirmed by the Old Testament prophets. Then Wes will contrast contemporary church growth and cultural change strategies with the approach presented in the New Testament. Finally, in order to bring about the change we all desire in the Church and our culture, Wes will outline a biblical strategy for reformation and revival that is the only lasting solution to the spiritual collapse of America.

5:00 pm - Store Closes

* Schedule, sessions, titles, topics and speakers subject to change at the discretion of American Vision.