Keynote Speakers
Ken Ham
The president/CEO and founder of Answers in Genesis-U.S. and the highly acclaimed Creation Museum, Ken Ham is one of the most in-demand Christian speakers in North America. Ham, a native Australian now residing near Cincinnati, Ohio, is the author of numerous books on the book of Genesis, the accuracy and authority of the Bible, dinosaurs, and the destructive fruits of evolutionary thinking (including his new co-authored book Already Gone on why so many young people are leaving the church, a hard-hitting book on the “races” and racism, Darwin’s Plantation, and the bestseller, The Lie: Evolution). He appears frequently on American TV (in one year alone: Fox’s The O’Reilly Factor and Fox and Friends, CNN’s The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer, ABC’s Good Morning America, the BBC radio/TV, etc.).
Carol Barnier
Carol Barnier is a fresh, fun and popular conference speaker unlike any you’ve heard before. Her objective is to have the wit of Erma Bombeck crossed with the depth of C.S. Lewis, but admits that most days, she only achieves a solid Lucy Ricardo with a bit of Bob the Tomato. She is a frequent guest commentator on Focus on the Family’s Weekend Magazine broadcast, where she’s spoken on a variety of humorous topics ranging from not being ready to be a Titus woman (It’s the name: Titus. Anything that rhymes with Phlebitis is automatically suspect.) to why angels need a new public relations manager. She has been a guest on many radio programs, contributor to many magazines, and is a speaker at conferences nationwide.
John Erickson
John R. Erickson, a former cowboy and ranch manager, is gifted with a storyteller’s knack for spinning a yarn. Through the eyes of Hank the Cowdog, a smelly, smart-aleck Head of Ranch Security, Erickson gives readers a glimpse of daily life on a ranch in the West Texas Panhandle. This series of books and tapes is in school libraries across the country, has sold more than six million copies, is a Book-of-the-Month Club selection, and is the winner of the 1993 Audie for Outstanding Children’s Series from the Audio Publisher’s Association. Publishers Weekly calls Hank a “grassroots publishing phenomena,” and USA Today says this is “the best family entertainment in years.
Mark Hamby
Mark Hamby is the founder and president of Lamplighter Ministries where he serves with a dedicated staff to make Lamplighter Publishing, Lamplighter Theatre, Lamplighter Guild, Lamplighter Life-Transforming Seminars, and Lamplighter Moments Daily Radio Broadcast a reality. It is his mission to make ready a people prepared for the Lord by building Christlike character–one story at a time. You can read or listen to the most recent Lamplighter production at www.lamplighter.net.
Workshops
At the 2013 THSC Southwest Convention and Family Conference, you will find an abundance of workshops covering a variety of topics from getting started to preparing for college. You will gain practical how-tos and hear inspirational advice from a dynamic lineup of speakers you will not want to miss.
Ken Ham
Genesis and the Authority of Scripture
Often families choose to home school in order to personally pass along their faith. Therefore it is imperative that they possess a sound understanding of the basis for a Christian worldview and how it affects every area of study and life.
The key to developing a Christian worldview and rebuilding the biblical foundation, which has been so undermined in our culture, is to use the Bible’s history as a pair of Biblical glasses. The Bible’s history enables us to correctly interpret the scientific evidence of the present so we can then use observational science to confirm the biblical interpretation.
Learn the foundational reasons why we see the decline of Christianity and the collapse of Christian morality in this culture and how to deal with it.
Learning How to Defend the Christian Faith in Today’s World
Many home school parents want to teach their children to confidently defend their faith. Many people have the idea that the battle between Christianity and humanism (or creation and evolution) is a battle over “facts.” However, it’s not that Christians need more facts than non-Christians to supposedly win the argument, for the real battle is actually over the interpretation of the same facts.
Until Christians understand that everyone has the same facts but different interpretations of those facts (based upon different presuppositions or biases), they will not be successful in learning how to defend the Christian faith and think in a true biblical manner. It’s very possible you will never think the same way about this world after attending this workshop!
One Race, One Blood
Because much of the church has adopted the secular world’s teachings regarding the different “races” and has not accepted the biblical view, most Christians have lost a vital truth concerning the scriptural teaching on the two spiritual races (but only one physical race), as opposed to the false idea of different biological races.
This discussion will cover such intriguing topics as: the origin of so-called “races,” skin “color” (Is there really more than one color?), “inter-racial” marriage, the curse of Ham, and the devastating effects of racism in the culture and the church. There is only one race—the human race! And we are all descendants of one man: Adam.
Dinosaurs Explained for Kids and Adults
Dinosaurs are probably used more than anything else to convince children and even adults that the Bible is not true and that you must believe in an earth that is millions of years old. Sadly, many people think that the Bible has nothing to do with dinosaurs. However, once you accept the true history of the world as given in the Bible (and particularly the first eleven chapters of the book of Genesis), you can easily understand dinosaurs and thus correctly interpret the fossil evidence to correctly understand dinosaurs. Evolutionists speak of an “age of dinosaurs” over millions of years, but in this session, we will talk about the five ages of dinosaurs—but they have nothing to do with millions of years!
How to Reach the Secularized World with the Gospel
Most evangelistic programs today—and most missionaries and evangelists—do not see Genesis as a key part in reaching people with the Gospel. In these times, however, an understanding of the history in Genesis (e.g. the origin of sin) is foundational to a full understanding of the Gospel message. Also, realizing how our culture now thinks (and has changed in its thinking) in relation to earth history is key to knowing how people should be approached in presenting the Gospel.
To reach today’s culture (including America, which has been the greatest Christian nation on earth) with the Gospel, Christians need to understand the foundational change that has occurred in the culture—and thus the need to use “creation evangelism” if we’re going to be successful in reaching people with the Gospel (and also its message of Christian morality).
Carol Barnier
17 Years of Homeschooling and I Hardly Twitch at All Anymore
Homeschooling is a unique experience. There are as many ways to home school as there are homeschooling families. Yet there are many things we share…like the standard questions strangers ask our kid when they learn we home school. So what are some of the best, most practical ways to walk through this unique journey? Come listen and laugh as Carol shares some of what she’s learned through the many ups and downs in her years as a homeschooling mom.
Margins for Moms: Limits that Liberate
Too often we’ve just accepted how busy our lives are supposed to be. But many of us are running through life in a frenzied fog. We have a nagging sense that it shouldn’t be this way, but don’t know how it should be. Even if we did, we often don’t know how to get from here to there. With a bit of laughter and an unabashed challenge of the status quo, learn from Carol how to take control of the input and output of your family’s lives.
A Prodigal Speaks Out
Do you have a child who is doubting his faith? Or perhaps a daughter who has rejected your beliefs completely? Are you convinced you’ve failed—and the state of this child’s heart is weighing heavily on you and your spouse? Come and listen to Carol share her own journey away from and back to her faith after 13 years as an atheist. She’ll share thoughts and views from inside the mind of a lost child. You’ll learn the best thing you can do for this child and for yourself. Come and find an understanding heart that hurts and rejoices along with your own.
What are you THINKING? – Learning Styles and Beyond
This talk is BIG on the beyond. So often learning style materials pour all their time and energy into finding the right label for your child’s learning style. (Yes, we now know he’s a right brained, global, sub-dominant, argyle wearing, rational wombat. But how do I teach him to spell?) And while there are many different tools for assessment, too often these same materials are light on just what you should do after the label. How do you teach history so it sticks? What if she can’t understand fractions? What if he loves language but hates to write? This workshop will be all about “What do we do now?” Come away with lots of ideas you can use Monday morning.
Don’t Miss the Gift in This Child
Have you ever heard someone say “All children are gifts from God” only to roll your eyes and think, “Ha! They don’t know what goes on in my house!” If you don’t look for God’s gifts, you may be missing some of His best. Come laugh and be encouraged to see just what God had in mind when he designed your child. Learn how to see your child through God’s spectacles and how to stay focused on God’s vision of your child, not the world’s.
Mark Hamby
A Great Awakening: The Mind, Media, and Moral Imagination
In a culture sedated by images that deaden our senses and rob us of who we are created to be, the verdict is out that Americans, particularly Christian Americans, are “amusing themselves to death.” Join Mark as he exposes the damaging effects that certain kinds of media, electronic games, and literature have on the brain, the conscience, the imagination, and on a child’s moral and spiritual development. Most importantly, Mark will introduce initiatives that ignite motivation, revive the imagination, and inspire excellence. Parents will be able look behind the scenes as to what inspired and motivated the great minds of Beethoven, Bach, Mozart, Einstein, Edison, and the more modern initiatives of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. They all had something in common–something available to all!
Raise Them Up; Don’t Crush Them Down: The Strong-Willed Parent
One only has to listen to discover the heart of a child. Our goal as parents and teachers is to reach the heart rather than simply realign behavior. Too often we depend on rules as the primary enforcer of behavior. Rules can change behavior, but they can’t change the heart. When parents and teachers begin to discern the difference between character flaws and purposeful disobedience, they will implement a gentler approach to reaching and understanding their children. As a result, children will more willingly admit their faults and seek help from those they love. Children need to hear the beating of our hearts rather than the beating of our voices. Join Mark as he relates his experience as a shepherd and the important lesson that you don’t become a shepherd just because you own sheep.
Let Go, or I’ll Break Your Leg: Resolving Conflicts and Restoring Relationships
Sibling rivalry, deceitfulness, manipulation, insecurity, fear, anger, parental favoritism, and selfishness are just some of the topics that will be addressed as we go back in time and learn how one of the most unlikely children, teenager, and adults could become the recipients of God’s greatest blessing. Like Jacob of the OT, in order to receive this blessing, we need to first learn some important lessons about ourselves; we must come face-to-face with who we really are. Without this knowledge, spiritual maturity and relational stability are impossible. Once learned, the next step is to embrace a truth that leads to our greatest conflict but results in our most fulfilling blessing. Join Mark as he shares what he believes to be the most important truth learned during his 33 years as a parent and spouse.
Angry Jonah and the ?
How do you respond when you are faced with a difficult assignment? How do your children respond? In the book of Jonah, we find a reluctant man who was given a difficult assignment and, as a result of his resistance, found himself on a downward spiral through life. In this seminar you will discover the root causes of anger, depression, and purposeful disobedience. Learn about Jonah and the cows, and you will learn how to help your children experience the pleasure of completing a difficult task!
Building Character…One Story at a Time!
It has been said that you will be the same five years from now as you are today, except for the people you meet and the books you read! Inspiring literature that models unwavering character can be one of the catalysts that awakens a child’s drive to first think differently and then act accordingly. “Without biblical thinking, there is short-term obedience and long-term frustration.” Through an inspiring, informative, and dramatized lecture, Mark will make you laugh and cry as he “demonstrates” the power of character-based literature. This lecture will be followed by an in-depth look at the ancient steps of character development from early childhood through adulthood. In conclusion, an annotated bibliography for preschoolers through adults will introduce powerful, life-changing Christian literature from the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. This life-transforming session will lay the foundation for children to live a creative, skillful, and godly life.
John Erickson
Hanks Family in Concert: Friday Evening Program (Free to all registered attendees. Additional tickets for friends and family not attending the Convention are available online or onsite for $5 each.)
