Summit Speakers

Michael Bauman is professor of Theology and Culture at Hillsdale College, where he is also   the Director of Christian Studies. As well as being a former member of the editorial department at Newsweek magazine, Dr. Bauman was also a pastor in the Evangelical Free Church of America, a former president of the Evangelical Philosophical Society, and has published nearly 20 books and 50 articles and  political editorials. As a former World Champion in cycling, he is a contributing editor for Ultra Cycling magazine and co-editor of The Schwarz Report.

Francis J. Beckwith is Professor of Philosophy and Jurisprudence at Baylor University, where he teaches in the departments of philosophy and political science and the Institute of Church-State Studies. He earned a Ph.D. in philosophy from Fordham University and a Master of Juridical Studies (M.J.S.) degree from the Washington University School of Law, St. Louis. He serves as a member of the American Philosophical Association’s Committee on Philosophy and Law. He has authored or edited over one dozen books including Defending Life: A Moral and Legal Case Against Abortion Choice. He has been published in the Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy; American Journal of Jurisprudence; Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly; Journal of Medical Ethics, and many others.  Because of his interest in popular culture, he has contributed to the book, Bob Dylan and Philosophy: It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Thinking). His website is www.francisbeckwith.com and he contributes to the blog Right Reason (www.rightreason.ektopos.com). He and his wife, Frankie, make their home in Woodway, Texas.

Paul Boling is professor of philosophy and Christian Thought at Bryan College and chairman of the Christian Studies division at the college. He has published book reviews in scholarly and popular journals, is active in several professional societies, and is a medical ethics consultant at a local hospital. Dr. Boling is active in a discipling ministry, and he speaks at churches, conferences, and retreats. He holds a B.A. degree in zoology from the University of California at Berkeley, a Th.M. degree from Dallas Theological Seminary, and an M.A. and Ph.D. degree in philosophy from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. He and his wife Lauralee have five children and live in Dayton, Tennessee.

Deborah Brezina is an author and educator. She holds a B.S. in Education from the University of Houston and is a former classroom teacher, textbook evaluator, and home educator. She has campaign experience on the national, state, and local levels and has debated educators, professionals, and attorneys on constitutional issues. Mrs. Brezina serves on the Board of Directors of Tennessee Eagle Forum, the Board of Trustees of the President James Monroe Foundation, and the National Advisory Board of the Churchill Archives Centre, Churchill College, Cambridge University. Debbie has appeared on syndicated radio and local television as well as national programs including “The Oprah Winfrey Show” defending the Judeo-Christian ethic as the cornerstone of cultural stability and societal progress. She authored a high school curriculum based on the Biblical worldview entitled A Legacy of Liberty which chronicles the historical roots of government and law and traces the ancestral legacy of the liberty of men and nations. Her new book, The Spirit of Churchill, passes the legacy of Winston Churchill on to a new generation and delivers the lessons of history to a post-9/11 world. Debbie resides in Knoxville, Tennessee, with her husband, Mark. They have three grown children: Michael, Bonnie, and Zach.

Kevin Bywater is the Director of Curriculum and Research for Summit. He holds a BA in philosophy, an MA in theology, and has pursued advanced studies at several educational institutions. As a former member of the Church of Latter Day Saints, Kevin dedicates much of his time to informing the Church about pseudo-Christian cults and witnessing to members of various cult groups. Along with publishing a variety of essays on the cults, he co-authored Clergy in the Classroom: The Religion of Secular Humanism with Dr. David Noebel and J. F. Baldwin. Kevin and his wife, Angela, make their home in Colorado Springs along with their daughters Elizabeth, Katharine and Emilene. Currently, he and his family are living in Durham England, where Kevin is working towards a PhD in Biblical Studies. www.kevinbywater.com

Carl Ellis is the president of Project Joseph that has developed training manuals for equipping Christians to minister to Muslims. He is a published author and has also pastored several churches and taught at The Center for Urban Theological Studies and Chesapeake Theological Seminary. Contact: 4010 Melinda Drive, Chattanooga, TN 37416. (423) 490-0605.

Mike Haley is the Youth and Gender Specialist for Focus on the Family. Having been involved in the homosexual community as a teen and young adult, Mike offers tremendous insight into this culture and how it affects today's youth. Mike speaks throughout the nation with Focus' “Love Won Out” conference, providing accurate information on how today's Christian leaders and public school officials can effectively address homosexuality's toll on youth. Mike has recently produced the newest resource for Focus called Straight Answers: Exposing the Myths and Facts about Homosexuality. Mike and his wife Angie were married in 1994 and are the proud parents of two children.

Doug Kennard is Chair and Professor of Biblical Studies at Bryan College.  He has a Th.D. from Dallas Theological Seminary in Biblical theology, post-doctoral study at Vanderbilt and an additional M.A. in Philosophy of Religion from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.  He taught 15 years at Moody Bible Institute.  His publications include The Classical Christian God; Deliverance Now and Not Yet: The New Testament and the Great Tribulation; and The Relationship Between Epistemology, Hermeneutics, Biblical Theology and Contextualization.  He has a passion for helping students become: 1) Biblical, 2) tightly reasoned, 3) committed to Christ as the priority, and 4) enjoy life.

Scott Klusendorf, a graduate of UCLA, is the president of Life Training Institute and travels throughout the U.S. and Canada training pro-life advocates to persuasively defend their views in the public square. He contends that the pro-life message can compete in the marketplace of ideas if properly understood and properly articulated. A passionate and engaging platform speaker, Scott has appeared on nationally syndicated programs such as Focus on the Family,  Hour of Decision, The Bible Answer Man, For Faith and Family, Faith Under Fire, and American Family Radio. As a guest speaker in bio-ethics, Scott has taught pro-life apologetics at Biola University's "Defending the Faith Lecture Series," Trinity International University Law School, and Orange Coast College.  He’s lectured to student groups at over 70 colleges and universities, including Stanford, USC, UCLA, Johns Hopkins, Loyola Marymount Law School, West Virginia Medical School, MIT, U.S. Air Force Academy, Cal-Tech, and University of North Carolina. Scott is the author of Pro-Life 101: a Step by Step Guide to Making Your Case Persuasively.

JR Kerr is a Teaching Pastor at North Way Christian Community church in Wexford, PA. JR received his bachelor’s degree in Christian Education from Taylor University; his master’s in divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School; and a master’s degree in communication & cultural engagement from Trinity International University. Currently, he is pursuing the Doctorate of Strategic Leadership at Regent University in Virginia. JR’s vision is for leadership to help bring the church into relationship with culture that is both prophetic and missional. The three movements that JR Kerr is currently engaged in to accomplish this vision are: proclaiming the Biblical narrative that gives meaning to life, developing the next generation of leaders for the church within society, and developing avenues of communication between culture and the church. The unrelenting passion of JR’s life is his beautiful wife, Rachel, and his daughters Madeline Rose and Claire Lane.

Greg Koukl is founder and President of Stand to Reason, a ministry dedicated to training Christians to think more clearly about their faith and to make an even-handed, incisive, yet gracious defense for Christianity and Christian values in the public square. An award-winning writer, Greg has published the
book Relativism; Feet Firmly Planted in Mid-Air with Dr. Francis J. Beckwith, and is also the author of Precious Unborn Human Persons. Greg received his B.A. in Bible from Azusa Pacific University, his Masters in Christian Apologetics from Simon Greenleaf University and is working on his Masters in Philosophy of Religion and Ethics at Talbot School of Theology. He hosts his own radio talk show advocating clear-thinking Christianity and defending the Christian world view.

Terry Moffit has been called “The Christian Indiana Jones.” Over the years he has found himself in the middle of wars in eight countries, had a contract put on his head by organized crime, received death threats from radical Islamic groups and been bitten by a very nasty spider in Australia. Terry is an internationally known speaker who has traveled and spoken on every continent, been a Christian educator for more than 25 years, founded The TCMI Group, a multi-faceted consulting organization specializing in nonprofits, and also teaches Education Law in the graduate school at Columbia International University. He has been featured in such prominent media venues as The BBC, Fox and Friends, MSNBC, Nightline, NBC’s The Today Show, American Family Radio, CBN and TBN; and has also been interviewed for articles in publications such as The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Palestinian Chronicle, USA Today, The Los Angeles Times, The Malaysian National News, The London Telegraph. Terry played basketball, and received his undergraduate degree in Education, from The University of North Carolina; his M.Ed from The University of North Carolina-Greensboro and his Th.D from Jacksonville Theological Seminary. He is currently completing work on two books, to be completed in 2006, Soft Targets in a Hard World: Christian Schools, Security and Terrorism and Was it Something I Said? How to be an Uncompromising Christian in a Compromising World. Terry lives in High Point, North Carolina with his wife Cindy and their neurotic little dog Scottie.

T. M. Moore is editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet). He and his wife and editor, Susie, make their home in Concord, Tennessee.

Jeff Myers is an Associate Professor of Communication Arts at Bryan College. He is also President of Passing the Baton International, an organization dedicated to equipping one million adults to mentor and coach the next generation of culture shaping leaders. He speaks to more than 50,000 people each year in corporations, schools, homeschool conferences, parent groups and youth-serving organizations. Over the last decade Dr. Myers has worked with Summit Ministries to develop cutting-edge leadership experiences in Colorado, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Alberta, Canada. He is the author of six books and three video coaching systems including Understanding the Times, the curriculum that introduced worldview training to America’s Christian schools, and Secrets of Great Communicators. Dr. Myers earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of Denver. He and his wife Danielle have four children--Graham, Emma, Cate and Stuart--and live in Tennessee.

David Noebel is the President of Summit Ministries and edits and writes the Summit’s monthly publication, The Journal. He is a graduate of Hope College in Holland, Michigan (B.A.), the University of  Tulsa (M.A.) and was a Ph.D. candidate in philosophy at the University of Wisconsin. He is also a graduate of Milwaukee Bible College (now Grace Bible College, Grand Rapids, Michigan). Dr. Noebel has written extensively on the subject of Western Civilization's moral and spiritual decline including Understanding the Times: The Religious Worldviews of Our Day and Mind Seige. Dr. Noebel and his wife, Alice, have two children and five grandchildren. Contact: C/O Summit Ministries, PO Box 207, Manitou Springs, CO 80829; (719) 685-9103; E-mail: info@summit.org.

 Gary Phillips is pastor of Signal Mountain Bible Church in Chattanooga, Tennessee. His degrees are from Vanderbilt University (B.A.), Dallas Theological Seminary (Th.M.), and Grace Theological Seminary (Th.D.). He was Chairman of Biblical Studies at Bryan College, where he taught for 24 years, and was named by the trustees "Distinguished Professor of Biblical Studies." He has aurthored articles and books (including Making Sense of Your World with W. E. Brown, nominated for Christianity Today’s “Reader’s Choice” book of the year), and has served as an officer in both the Evangelical Theological Society and the Evangelical Philosophical Society. Most recently he contributed several articles for The Encyclopedia of Theology and wrote a commentary entitled Judges and Ruth. In 1985 Dr. Phillips planted a church on Signal Mountain where he served part-time for 16 years while teaching at Bryan, and in 2001 became its full-time pastor. He and his wife Betsy have three grown children.

Frank Turek is a professional speaker and author who co-wrote two award-winning books including Legislating Morality, and I Don’t have Enough Faith to be an Atheist. Frank is a sought-after speaker who has appeared on numerous TV and radio programs including: The O’Reilly Factor, Hannity and Colmes, Faith under Fire, Politically Incorrect, Focus on the Family (as a guest with Dr. Noebel!) and The Bible Answerman. Frank has earned a Doctorate Degree in Apologetics from Southern Evangelical Seminary and a Masters Degree in Public Administration from George Washington University. He is an eight-year veteran of the United States Navy having served as a Naval Aviator in the Pacific, Indian Ocean, and Persian Gulf. In addition to his work defending Christianity and moral truths, Frank also helps businesses and organizations improve their leadership and sales results. He and his wife Stephanie reside near Charlotte, North Carolina, and are blessed with three incredible boys. His website is www.FrankTurek.com.

John Stonestreet is the Executive Director of Summit Ministries. A popular speaker at camps, conventions, and conferences, he works annually with thousands of parents, teachers, and students on developing a biblical worldview, understanding comparative worldviews, defending the Christian faith, applying a biblical worldview to education, and engaging important cultural issues. Since joining the Summit team in 1999, John has directed the Summit conferences in Tennessee, Ohio, and Virginia. John holds an M.A. in Christian Thought from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and is on the Biblical Studies faculty at Bryan College. He, his wife Sarah, and daughters Abigail and Anna live in Colorado Springs, CO.

Charles Van Eaton is Distinguished Professor at Large at Bryan College and Director of the Bryan Center for Critical Thought and Practice. He holds the Ph.D. in Economics from Tulane University.  Prior to coming to Bryan, Dr. Van Eaton was the John M. Ohlin Professor of Economics and Public Policy in the Graduate School of Public Policy at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California. He was a student of Biblical Studies at Freed-Hardeman University and Harding University before entering the study of Economics at the University of Memphis and served as the Chair of Economics at Hillsdale College in Michigan for 20 years before his service at Pepperdine.

Kurt Wise is Professor of Science and Theology and the Director of the Center for Theology and Science at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. He earned his B.A. in geology from the University of Chicago, M.A. and Ph.D. in paleontology from Harvard University. Dr. Wise is working to develop a young-age creation model which fits both the data of scripture and the data of creation. To that end he has published numerous resources, including videos, notes, letters, reviews, abstracts, and articles in the area of creation science and is active member of a number of creation organizations. Dr. Wise also published Faith Form and Time: What the Bible Teaches and Science Confirms about Creation and the Age of the Universe.