Defending Biblical Creation and Sexuality
2018 Invitation from Rev. David Thompson
The Christian understanding of creation, marriage and now gender are continually undermined and ridiculed in culture. Schools, businesses, the media, sports teams, courts, legislatures, and churches have joined the bandwagon against these biblical and confessional Lutheran teachings. What is needed is not only the truth, but the truth defended – reasonably, earnestly, and with compassion. For what is at stake is the One who is the Truth, and faith is this One who is the Truth: Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who has taken away the sins of the world.
This timely conference is designed to equip Christians with discernment and prepare them to defend and share the saving Gospel with a desperate and lost world.
Presentations and Presenters:
- The Creator, the Created World, and the Created Order. Pastor Jay Webber (Redeemer Lutheran Church, Scottsdale, AZ)
- Transgenderism and Homosexuality – A Reasonable, Compassionate, and Biblical Response. Dr. Joshua Mears (Clinical Psychologist, Christian Therapist, Clinical Director of Christian Family Solutions in Lakeville and Mankato, MN)
- Creation or Evolution – Evidence and Consequences. Dr. Doyle Holbird (Professor of Biology and Biochemistry at Bethany Lutheran College, Mankato, MN)
- Apologetics – Answering Questions, Defending the Faith (focusing on challenges faced by youth and young adults). Dr. Jan Lohmeyer (Apologetics Instructor, Lutheran High North, Houston; Adjunct Professor, Concordia University Texas)
Descriptions and Bios
Rev. David Jay Webber. The Creator, the Created World, and the Created Order: The biblical teachings on who God is in relation to his creation, how he brought about the world, and how he continues to order it, organize it, and provide for it – temporally and spiritually – are realities that have been obscured. These need to be taught to and impressed upon the hearts and minds of Christians so they in turn can share such truths with their neighbor and the next generation.
Rev. Webber received his M.Div. Degree at Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and his S.T.M. Degree from the Institute of Lutheran Theology in Brookings, South Dakota. He previously served congregations in Missouri and Massachusetts, and since 2005 has been Pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church in Scottsdale, Arizona. From 1997 to 2005 he also served as Rector and Professor of Theology at Saint Sophia Ukrainian Lutheran Theological Seminary in Ternopil’, Ukraine. Pastor Webber has been a frequent speaker and essayist at various theological conferences over the years, both in Europe and in North America. He has written numerous essays and articles in the areas of theology, liturgics, and church history; contributed three chapters to the book, Here We Stand: A Confessional Christian Study of Worldviews (2010, NPH); and is author of the book, Spiritual Fathers: A Treatise on the Lutheran Doctrine of the Ministry (2013). He has been married for 33 years to the former Carol Wimble. They have three grown children and four grandchildren with one on the way.
Dr. Joshua Mears. Transgenderism and Homosexuality – A Reasonable, Compassionate, and Biblical Response: Transgenderism and homosexuality are assumed to be normal and good according to culture. But what is the reality? What does sound social science say? What does Scripture say? And how are Christians to think about, deal with, and approach those who think or live contrary to biblical realities and teachings?
Dr. Mears is a Christian Psychologist with Wisconsin Lutheran Child and Family Services, a para-synodical social services agency of the Wisconsin Synod. He serves as the Clinical Director of WLCFS and oversees operations in Minnesota. He received his Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from Argosy University-Twin Cities, a Master’s degree in Counseling Psychology from Bethel University, and his undergraduate degree in Psychology from Bethany Lutheran College. His clinical experiences and specialties include working with inmates in Minnesota’s maximum-security correctional facility, crisis and aggression reduction interventions, directing a dual diagnosis addictions program, and serving as a forensic evaluator for court-ordered risk assessment evaluations for perpetrators of sexual violence. Dr. Mears also serves on the Board of Regents at Bethany Lutheran College as well as having been on his synod’s Board for Youth Outreach. He serves as an Elder at his local congregation, Heritage Lutheran in Apple Valley, MN. He and his wife Laura have four children and are homeschool parents.
Dr. Doyle Holbird. Creation or Evolution – Evidence and Consequences: If a young earth and a special creation are true, where is the evidence? Why do so many scientists accept evolution? And why have so many Christian clergy and laity bought into an old-earth creation? If evolution or old-earth creation is true, what is at stake regarding biblical teachings?
Dr. Holbird graduated from Northeastern Oklahoma State University with a double major in Biology and Secondary Education. Soon after he attended and graduated from Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, IN, after which he served as a hospital chaplain and as a pastor for several churches in Arkansas and Illinois (Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod). A desire to teach college students led him back to school in 1993. He received an MS in Zoology in 1995 from Southern Illinois University. In 2000 he graduated with a Ph.D. in Physiology from the SIU School of Medicine. He was then called to teach at Concordia College in Selma, AL. In 2007 he was hired by Bethany Lutheran College of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod in Mankato, MN. At Bethany he and his fellow creationist colleagues in the Biology Dept. develop cell and molecular biology courses. He is the author or co-author of several articles in scientific journals and has presented at several regional and national meetings. He and his wife, Mary (a registered nurse) have three grown children.
Dr. Jan Lohmeyer. Apologetics – Answering Questions, Defending the Faith (with a focus on challenges faced by youth and young adults): Christians, especially youth and college students, face challenges to biblical teachings and faith in Christ on a regular basis. Older Christians often don’t even realize what is being thrown at younger Christians. What are these challenges and how can they be answered? And what is the evidence that says “yes” to the truth of Christ and his Word?
Dr. Lohmeyer is the Apologetics Instructor at Lutheran High School North in Houston, Texas. He also works for Concordia University – Texas as an Adjunct Professor in Education and English. He served on the Catechism Review Committee for the Luther Church-Missouri Synod, as well as a Genesis consultant. He has a PhD in Education and instructs teachers in the Houston area who are working on their Master’s Degree for Concordia University. He has taught at every level of education and has been a principal of three schools. He teaches and speaks on Christian Apologetics in churches and in a variety of public venues. He is also an author, which includes his book The Unaware Church where he explains how to teach apologetics in the church and school. He has written numerous articles for a variety of journals, magazines, and newspapers, and been a guest on the Issues, Etc. radio program. He is married to Rhonda Bolin Lohmeyer and together they have three sons.