Speaking Topics
Book Bill as a speaker for your church event, conference, or retreat.
The 4 Kinds Of Skepticism (and how to engage them)
Based on Bill's popular field guide for faith conversations, Meet The Skeptic, this presentation shows you that there is a better way to engage skeptics than memorizing answers and chasing down all of their objections.
Using Meet The Skeptic's unique model, you will begin to see objections in four categories rather than as a mass of unconnected ideas. Learn to clarify a skeptic’s language, get to the roots of his/her worldview, and share truth in a compelling way.
(1 session – approx. 50 min. + Q&A)
Reframing The "Faith vs. Science" Debate
The discussion surrounding our origins is usually framed as “faith vs. science” as if each is independent of the other. Science is perceived as objective and fact-based while faith is not only internal and subjective but even destructive to scientific inquiry. The goal of this presentation is to expose this faulty characterization.
Learn about the assumptions behind the naturalistic theories that drive evolutionary thinking and prevailing cosmological ideas. Understand why biblically informed faith is reasonable and how naturalism ignores the very scientific principles it purports to espouse.
(1 session – approx. 50 min. + Q&A)
Companion Topics:
• 6 Reasons Why 6 Days Makes Sense
• 10 Reasons That Refute Man-Made Climate Change
• Why Evolution Doesn't Work
How To Read The Bible "Literally"
How do we know when the Bible is speaking figuratively or non-figuratively? What does it mean to read the Bible "literally" and are Bible-believing Christians bumpkins for doing so?
Most people are given a Bible and never taught how to read it. Do you interpret Scripture according to what you've heard or what you read? Scriptural examples in this session will help you identify different genres of biblical writing, interpret figures of speech, and pay attention to context.
Enrich your own study and equip yourself to respond to skeptical scrutiny of the Bible.
(1 session – approx. 50 min. + Q&A)
Companion Topics:
• The Buzz vs. The Bible
• How Can You Defend God in the O.T.?
How Can You Defend God In The Old Testament?
One of the first biblical targets for a skeptic are God’s enigmatic commands in the Old Testament. Is God cruel and malicious? Does he sanction the subjugation of people? What about those odd laws concerning “clean” and “unclean,” and other strange social instructions?
Get a better understanding about what God is really doing in the O.T. and how to answer the skeptics who question his character and his Word.
(1 session – approx. 50 min. + Q&A)
Companion Topics:
• The Buzz vs. The Bible
• How To Read The Bible "Literally"
The Buzz vs. The Bible
Many take for granted that the Bible is a man-made book because they believe the hearsay (buzz) of the secular culture rather than inspecting it for themselves. We need to be able to correct that perception.
This session is not the typical survey of biblical objections. Rather, it steps back and asks, “If God gave us a book, how would we really know it came from him?” Beginning with this question you will learn to reshape a skeptic’s popular perception of the Bible as a basis for rebuilding its credibility.
(1 session – approx. 50 min. + Q&A)
Companion Topics:
• How Can You Defend God in the Old Testament?
• How To Read The Bible "Literally"
Why Evolution Doesn't Work
We're told that only flat-earthers don't buy into evolution, but why do some of the most prominent evolutionists admit that it can't work but believe it anyway? Because evolution ignores fundamental scientific laws, baits and switches the terms, and has the power of the media to prop it up. In this session you'll learn how real science is the worst enemy evolution ever had.
(1 to 2 sessions – approx. 50 min. + Q&A)
Companion Topics:
• Reframing The "Faith vs. Science" Debate
• 6 Reasons Why 6 Days Makes Sense
• 10 Reasons That Refute Man-Made Climate Change
TRUE Social Justice vs. Socialism
Social justice is a controversial topic these days but what is true social justice and can government secure it? Does the Bible speak to ideological systems such as socialism, communism, and capitalism and does it provide insight as to which one provides the best conditions for social justice in an imperfect world? Is Utopia on this Earth possible and what happens when we aim for it?
This is a colorful, example-filled look at how the world really works regarding the morality of rich and poor from a Christian perspective.
(1 session – approx. 50 min. + Q&A)
Companion Topics:
• "Just Be True To You"
• Sexual Identity
• What is Art?
6 Reasons Why 6 Days Makes Sense
Few subjects generate more passion among believers and non-believers alike than Genesis 1. Does it really matter how we understand the six days of creation as long as we believe that God did it? Absolutely.
Is the Young-earth position scientifically valid? Is the Old-earth position theologically tenable? Does the Bible intend to say that creation occurred in six ordinary 24-hour days? Which position is the most legitimate for reaching non-believers? These and other questions will be addressed in this provocative presentation.
(1 or 2 sessions – approx. 50 min. ea. + Q&A)
Companion Topics:
• Reframing The “Faith vs. Science” Debate
• 10 Reasons That Refute Man-Made Climate Change
"Just Be True To You"
Moral relativism is the default “ethic” of our culture. It contends that reality is merely a blank canvas on which individuals project their preferences – truth is what is true for me. But can we liberate society by getting rid of absolute truth?
In this session you’ll become familiar with the two kinds of truth and how the culture confuses them regarding subjects such as justice, sex, and art. Equip yourself to recognize and unravel the convoluted thinking of moral relativism and expose the self-defeating language used to express it.
(1 session – approx. 50 min. + Q&A)
Companion Topics:
• TRUE Social Justice vs. Socialism
• Sexual Identity
• What is Art?
"Getting" The Gospel
The Gospel is more than the training wheels, starting blocks, or diving board for our faith. In this session you'll learn how to break out of the mindset of seeing it as those kinds of faith-starter symbols.
Instead, numerous illustrations in this presentation will help you see how the Gospel is the crux of victorious Kingdom living, and how to stop digging up the old, dead self and trying to live by the Law. You will also gain a greater understanding of how salvation really works and be able to better articulate the Gospel to others.
(1 session – approx. 50 min. + Q&A)
Companion Topics:
• How To Read The Bible "Literally"
• Evangelism 101
Evangelism 101
Although believers are supposed to be salt and light for the world, many of us are not very good at articulating the gospel to those willing to listen. This session will train you in the conversation openers, word pictures, and Scripture references that will help communicate the gospel message clearly and confidently.
(1 session – approx. 50 min. + Q&A)
Companion Topics:
• "Getting" The Gospel
10 Reasons That Refute Man-Made Climate Change
Most people don't realize that there is a big difference between philosophically-driven models and observational science. Unfortunately, regarding climate change the former is being passed off as the latter.
These sessions will expose the philosophical bias driving the presumed scientific proof for man-caused climate change, and how this debate is being framed for the popular culture.
(2 sessions available – approx. 50 min. ea. + Q&A)
Companion Topics:
• 6 Reasons Why 6 Days Makes Sense
• Reframing The “Faith vs. Science” Debate
How The Bible Works
Were you ever taught how to see the big picture of the Bible? We're taught how to apply it but never shown how things fit together. Consequently, we miss seeing much of the Bible's divinely inspired connectedness.
How The Bible Works uses iconic illustrations to explain people, events, cycles, and themes so that you gain understanding about what the Bible is, what kinds of literature it contains, how the Testaments correspond to each other, how covenants carry God's purposes forward, and much more!
(1-3 sessions – approx. 50 min. + Q&A)
Companion Topics:
• How To Read The Bible "Literally"
• How Can You Defend God In The Old Testament?
• The Buzz vs. The Bible
How Revelation Really Works
Because of the symbolic nature of Revelation, people usually adopt an interpretation of it based more on what they've heard rather than on what they read in Scripture. Unfortunately, the most popular interpretations impose a template on this book from the outside rather than from Scripture itself.
However, the Bible does give us direction for how to interpret Revelation. Using the Old Testament as a guide for consistently interpreting the symbols is the key to unlocking this intriguing book.
(2-6 sessions available – approx. 50 min. ea. + Q&A)
Companion Topics:
• Dreams & Visions In Scripture
• How To Read The Bible "Literally"
The Trinity
A great majority of heretical teachings originate from a misunderstanding or distortion of the Trinity. Is the Trinity a contradiction? Is it incomprehensible? Are books like The Shack harmful or helpful in explaining it? How would you explain a common phrase such as “Jesus is the Son of God” to a non-believer?
Gain insight into what Scripture reveals about the Trinity and be able to recognize erroneous teaching that leads to flawed theology.
(1 session – approx. 50 min. + Q&A)
Companion Topics:
• The Buzz vs. The Bible
• How Can You Defend God in the O.T.?
• How To Read The Bible "Literally"
What Is Art? (and why does it matter?)
Most people don't get their philosophy about the world from textbooks but from what they take in that captures their feelings and imagination. Aesthetics impacts worldview through art and entertainment. Is beauty really in the eye of the beholder? In this session you will learn how God is not only the transcendent, objective standard for the Good, and the True, but also the Beautiful, and how that understanding should help us filter what we take in through our senses.
(2 sessions – approx. 50 min. ea. + Q&A)
Companion Topics:
• TRUE Social Justice vs. Socialism
• "Just Be True To You"
Sexual Identity
Few topics are more controversial or prominent right now than this one. This session takes a sober, sensitive look at the formation, feelings, fads, facts, and freedom for a culture trying to find itself.
(2 sessions available – approx. 50 min. + Q&A)
Companion Topics:
• "Just Be True To You"
Logical Fallacies
One of the more humorous sessions in the list. Logic is made up of the rules for how we ought to think. The biblical worldview is not only historical and life-changing but logical. Believers should be equipped to expose logical weaknesses in opposing worldviews as well as their own.
(1 session – approx. 50 min. + Q&A)
Companion Topics:
• Answering the ‘Isms
Answering The 'Isms
There are so many different religions (‘isms) out there. Are they all saying pretty much the same thing? How can Christians prepare for an exchange with someone of another faith and what questions should they ask to be the ones evangelizing rather than being evangelized?
This is a quick survey of 3-4 various religions in one session which can be tailored to the interests of the audience. (Options include Mormonism, Scientology, Islam, and Buddhism among others.) The emphasis is on what they have in common and on what fundamental tenets a believer should focus during a conversation.
(1 session – approx. 50 min. + Q&A)
Companion Topics:
• Is Spirituality Enough?
Is Spirituality Enough?
Can being “spiritual” or “religious” provide the eternal freedom humanity desires? Many people want to get to heaven (or a mystical destination of their choosing) through their own efforts. But can flawed individuals attain a perfected existence on their own?
Find out in this session why the “narrow road” is a more merciful and inclusive path to salvation than the methods man devises.
(1 session – approx. 50 min. + Q&A)
Companion Topics:
• Answering the ‘Isms
© 2024 Bill Foster | HigherWerks, Inc.
No content on this site, written or illustrated, may be reproduced without permission.