***NEWS RELEASE***
For Immediate Release
February 7, 2017
CONTACT:
Jen Retallick, Hamilton Strategies, 610.584.1096, ext. 100, Media@HamiltonStrategies.com, or Deborah Hamilton, 215.815.7716 or 610.584.1096, ext. 102
Evangelism Event at Southern Evangelical Seminary Focuses on World Religions and Cults, as Immigration Debate Rages On
Seminar on March 4 on SES Campus Will Explores Topics Such as ‘Jesus, the Messiah and the Jewish People,’ ‘The Basic Beliefs of Islam,’ ‘Can I Trust My Bible?’ and ‘Why Are You a Christian?’
CHARLOTTE, N.C.—What’s at the heart of the immigration and refugee debate across the world? It’s not entirely about American safety or the Constitution or even welcoming others to the melting pot of America.
In many cases, it’s about religion and faith. What do we believe? Is a religion violent? At its core, does it instruct to harm others for the greater good? Can we really trust what we believe?
These are the types of questions that will be explored at the upcoming Tactical Evangelism Seminar at Southern Evangelical Seminary (SES, www.ses.edu) on March 4. For 25 years, SES has been teaching students of all backgrounds and stages of life to rationally, intelligently and lovingly defend their beliefs, as well as know what they believe and why they believe it. And the upcoming seminar will help educate attendees about other beliefs and how to defend their own.
“The most intense, ongoing debate in our culture continues to center on the beliefs and values of some world religions and how those translate into safety issues for Americans,” said SES President and Evangelical leader Dr. Richard Land. “For a quarter-century, Southern Evangelical Seminary has been teaching and equipping Christians to know their beliefs and defend them. At the Tactical Evangelism Seminar on March 4, we will explore how defending our beliefs impacts the most pressing issues and headlines of the day.”
The March 4 event, beginning at 9:30 a.m. with doors opening at 9 a.m., focuses on “Cults & World Religion.” A central question—“Why are you a Christian?”—will explore the fact that a large part of evangelism is loving people enough to answer their honest questions about Christian convictions.
The one-day training session will prepare participants to better defend the truthfulness of Christianity. It will also help them to have a better understanding of what other religions believe and will prepare them to more effectively share the Gospel with adherents of other religions and those with no religion.
Plenary and breakout sessions, designed to be informative, interactive and practical, will focus on the following topics:
- A Game Plan for Evangelism
- Testimony of a Former Mormon
- Hi, My Name is Elder Smith … A Conversation with a Mormon
- Knock. Knock. A Conversation with a Jehovah’s Witness
- Jesus, the Messiah, and the Jewish People
- God or Allah: The Basic Beliefs of Islam
- But Jesus Never Claimed to Be God, Did He?
- Can We Really Trust Our Protestant Bibles?
- New Age Beliefs and the Church: Paganism in Disguise
- The Existence and Nature of God: Why Only the God of the Bible Can Be True
The Tactical Evangelism Seminar is presented by T.E.A.M. (Truth, Evangelism, and Apologetics Mission), the missions/outreach arm of SES. T.E.A.M. consists of SES students, alumni and faculty who are both training and willing to go wherever invited to help others think well about the truthfulness of Christianity. Given T.E.A.M. members’ various backgrounds and expertise, seminar attendees will be well-equipped and will glean from firsthand experience of being part of and witnessing to those who believe in false religions. Learn more about T.E.A.M. here.
Cost for the March 4 event is $7, plus a small processing fee, which includes lunch. Groups are welcome to attend, and registration is required. View a promotional video here. Registration will close March 2.
SES recently announced the 2017 National Conference on Christian Apologetics, one of the largest events of its kind, with the fitting and timely theme of “Pursuing a Faith That Thinks.” The conference, offered for 24 out of SES’s 25 years, is set for Oct. 12-14, 2017, at Calvary Church in Charlotte, N.C.
The conference will welcome the nation’s top apologists, who will give the thousands in attendance new presentations on studies, research, history and insight into apologetics and other intellectual, scientific and religious fields. In addition to Land and SES co-founder Norman Geisler, confirmed conference speakers include Richard Howe, Greg Koukl, Jay Richards, Hugh Ross, Frank Turek and J. Warner Wallace, along with many others.
The conference will also feature a debate between SES professor emeritus Richard Howe and co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, minister turned atheist Dan Barker, on the topic “Is There A God Who Speaks?”
SES was incorporated on Jan. 6, 1992, and began offering classes on Sept. 10, 1992. The year-long 25th anniversary celebration will culminate at the conference.
At SES’s apologetics blog, www.WhyDoYouBelieve.org, Land and other SES voices address the most pressing issues of the day. SES also explores ethical issues through its “Ethics in Emerging Technology” program; for more information, visit www.ethics.ses.edu.
Land is featured in his nationally syndicated daily radio commentary, “Bringing Every Thought Captive,” which airs on nearly 800 stations nationwide, including nearly 200 on the American Family Radio Network, 100 on the Bott Radio Network and almost 400 on the CSN radio network. “Bringing Every Thought Captive” is also podcast daily on the free SES mobile app and airs locally in the Charlotte, N.C., area every weekday. The “Bringing Every Thought Captive” television program, hosted by Land, airs on the NRB Network Wednesdays at 8 p.m. and midnight EST. “Bringing Every Thought Captive” also reaches nearly 2 million households in the Chicago area on the Total Living Network. For details about stations, times, downloads and more, click here.
Land has taught as a visiting or adjunct professor for several seminaries and has authored or edited more than 15 books. He earned his Doctor of Philosophy degree from Oxford University in England and his bachelor’s degree (magna cum laude) from Princeton University. Land also earned a Master of Theology (Honors Program) degree from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, where he received the Broadman Seminarian Award as the Outstanding Graduating Student. Dr. Land was the 2013 Watchman Award recipient from the Family Research Council for his leadership on moral and cultural issues. He also received the Phillip E. Johnson Award for Liberty and Truth from Biola University in 2010. Land served previously (1988-2013) as president of The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, the Southern Baptist Convention’s official entity assigned to address social, moral and ethical concerns, with particular attention to their impact on American families. In 2014, he was appointed as a Senior Research Fellow of the ERLC’s Research Institute, and in 2015, he was named in the top 15 of Newsmax’s “Top 100 Christian Leaders in America.”
Southern Evangelical Seminary invites visitors to its web site to join the more than 20,000 people who have already downloaded the SES Apologetics App for Windows mobile devices and Android and Apple phones and tablets. Those with the app can get the very best news and information in Christian apologetics, including articles, audio, video, blogs and more from today’s most able defenders of the Christian faith—William Lane Craig, Lee Strobel, Josh McDowell, William Dembski, Frank Turek, Hugh Ross, Gary Habermas and other well-known speakers, authors and teachers.
Southern Evangelical Seminary has been ranked as one of the top graduate programs for General Christian Apologetics by TheBestSchools.org’s “Top 10 Graduate Programs in Christian Apologetics.”
For more information on SES, visit its web site at www.ses.edu or its Facebook page, follow the SES Twitter feed, @sesapologetics, or call (800) 77-TRUTH. For more information about SES’ “Ethics in Emerging Technology” program, visit www.ethics.ses.edu.
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For information on SES or to set up an interview, contact Jen Retallick, 610-584-1096, ext. 100, Media@HamiltonStrategies.com, or Deborah Hamilton, 215-815-7716 or 610-584-1096, ext. 102.
Southern Evangelical Seminary is a leader in apologetics education—teaching students to defend their faith and talk intelligently, passionately and rationally about what they believe and why they believe it. The Christian college and seminary offers a wide variety of bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees. Programs can be completed through residence in the Charlotte area or online. The award-winning education at SES is distinctively Christian and focused on evangelism and world-engaging defense of the Christian faith—Christian Apologetics.