Keynote Sessions
A Biblical Perspective on Self and Selflessness (
Listen Now)
Dr. Todd J. Williams
We
live in a world that is conflicted and full or quandaries, especially
about the idea of the self. It is a harsh place where victimization is a
reality. People hurt one another personally and are personally hurting.
But it is also a place where people are often preoccupied with personal
comfort, consumerism, and self-oriented thoughts, emotions, motives,
and behaviors. How are we to order our inner selves in this context?
What does the Bible have to say about caring for and ordering the self
while not allowing it to rule us? In what ways are our sensibilities
about the self influenced by our cultural context? What does vigilance
about the ways in which this world shapes our hearts, minds, and souls
require?
Detecting and Healing Destructive Relationships (
Listen Now)
Ms. Leslie Vernick
Right
thinking and right theology are essential to good mental and spiritual
health. But God has also hardwired us for loving connection. The two
greatest commandments we are given have to do with relationships. We
are to love God first and love others well. But what happens to our
emotional, spiritual and mental health when that fails to happen?
The
church has been rather silent on the devastating consequences of
emotionally abusive and other kinds of destructive relationships because
the damage is not obvious. Physical injuries we see. Wounds to one's
soul and spirit are less easily detected but are just as real and
painful as physical injuries can be.This talk will help us
understand how to "see" destructive relationships patterns and, more
importantly, what we can do as a body to break them and minister to
those who have been wounded.
Visit Leslie's website.
Our Mind and Will: Where spiritual and scientific truths accelerate healing, evangelism, and apologetics (Listen Now)
Dr. Karl Benzio
God
has given human beings two great gifts, our mind and free will.
Unfortunately, we are often poor stewards of these gifts leading to a
myriad of dysfunctions ranging from insecurity, anxiety, irritability,
tantrums, and over eating to extremes such as depression, divorce,
addictions, suicide, and physical violence. Sadly, these problems are
prevalent in the Christian community. Poor stewardship of our mind and
free will adversely impact our ability to be salt and light in this
fallen world. Our neglect of the relevant science in the significant
areas of our mind and decision-making mechanics is a huge obstacle to
good stewardship. The Bible is filled with powerful life transforming
principles and instructions, but partly because of the church's
resistance to science, most people have a limited ability to apply these
great truths to their everyday life management and spiritual formation.
Looking at the sciences through biblical lenses is a life-changing key
to healing the broken hearted and setting the captives free. Powerful
secondary gains of these principles are untapped potential in
evangelism, apologetics, and public policy.
Download the handout 
Parallel Sessions
It Shouldn’t be this Hard: Remedies for the Anxious Heart (
Listen Now)
Dr. Jeff Black
Christians
often wrestle with the anxiety. We are told to be anxious for nothing
but find the thoughts persist despite our efforts to subdue them. Where
do anxious thoughts come from and why do they persist? This talk
explores the role of legalism in the formation and maintenance of
anxiety and the freedom that is found in Christ as believers re-envision
who they are as pardoned law-breakers and learn to transfer their trust
from themselves and their efforts to the God who offers grace and
relief from the anxiety associated with performance and failure.
Which Science is Queen? A Dialogue on the Relationship of Theology and Psychology in the 21st Century (Listen Now)
Miss Thea Gallagher and Mr. Scott Jones
Theology
used to be hailed as the queen of the sciences, a role that Friedrich
Nietzsche said should be assumed by psychology. Integration is a
commonly sought after goal where the relationship of psychology,
clinical method, and theology are concerned, at least in contemporary
Christian circles. But what does integration mean? What are we
integrating? In a culture where therapeutic discourse is increasingly
prevalent, and one in which many theologians and pastors decry
“therapeutic” revisions of the Gospel, how do Christian clinicians and
those involved in the Church’s ministry and mission make their way?
Unless You Have Utterly Rejected Us: Lamentations as an Instrument of Community Renewal (Listen Now)
Mr. Benjamin Giffone
This
presentation will highlight some of the ways in which Lamentations has
been used historically to promote reordering of both the community and
the individual psyche, and suggest some ways in which Lamentations can
be an asset in the church's own communal life and mission to the world.
Download the handout
Download the slide 
Brain Food: How to Eat Smart (Listen Now)
Dr. Paula Gossard
The
brain uses more energy than any other organ in the human body. Up to
20% of the food energy you consume each day allows neurons to fire off
electrical impulses and helps brain cells carry out routine maintenance.
But does it matter what you eat? Can your food choices enhance your
short-term memory, focus your concentration, or sharpen your senses? Can
you avoid dementia or improve cognitive power simply by eating the
“right” foods? This session will investigate these questions by
examining current research on the relationship between nutrition and
brain health.
Download the handout
Replacing Misplaced Dependence: An Assessment of Depression in our Culture (Listen Now)
Mr. Baron King
Statistically,
the United States and other wealthy industrialized nations lead the
world in the prevalence of depression. How could those with the
greatest access to psychotropic medicine have a significantly more
difficult time managing life than those in un-industrialized nations?
This seminar addresses some of the statistics and provides a biblical
analysis surrounding the role that contemporary idols and misplaced
dependence functions in our current post-modern society. It also will
provide suggestions for maintaining a healthy biblical worldview as it
relates to this topic.
Keeping up with the Joneses (Listen Now)
Mr. Chris Palladino
How
living in an age of unprecedented access to material goods and greater
possibilities for realized ambitions has left Americans less fulfilled,
less engaged with community, less inclined to a life of learning, and
more anxious than ever. This seminar serves as a continuation of Agora
2010's presentation, A Fractured Fairytale: Suburbia and the American
Dream, connecting these shared anxieties to pop culture, architecture,
education, society, and beyond.
On Lacking and Gaining a Heart (Listen Now)
Dr. Fred Putnam
Often
obscured in translation, the Hebrew word normally rendered “heart”
occurs nearly one hundred times in the book of Proverbs (almost
one-eighth of its total occurrences in the Hebrew Bible), which suggests
the importance of the “heart” for the pursuit of wisdom. A number of
these verses describe the consequences that befall those who “lack [a]
heart”; some suggest that a person can “get” or “acquire” a heart. This
seminar examines the role and function of the “heart” in a life of
wisdom, and its lack in a life of folly, and suggests how that which is
lacking may be gained.
Download the handout
Pragmatic Ethics, Idealistic Ethics, the Bible, and Contemporary Bio-Ethics (Listen Now)
Dr. Tim Yoder
This
seminar proposes a new conceptual distinction for use in evaluating
moral dilemmas. Although one might assume that biblical ethics is always
idealistic in nature, in fact, there are a number of examples in the
Bible that can be clearly seen as pragmatic ethics. After an examination
of several of these biblical examples, this distinction will be
employed to consider some contemporary bio-ethical scenarios, including
euthanasia, abortion and the use of psychostimulants for conditions like
ADD and ADHD.
