Speaking

Most presentations in this catalog are based upon chapters in my three-volume book, “Jesus” Is Not the Answer to Every Sunday School Question. I am also open to customizing or combining messages, or even to craft entirely new presentations if given sufficient notice.

More videos can be found on my YouTube channel.

Apologetics

Apologetics Is Not What You Think (50 minutes)

When I first got started in apologetics, I thought it was basically about two things: a) proving God exists, and b) providing evidence to prove the truth claims of the Bible. It seemed what every big-name apologist had done before me, and it seemed to be an entirely reasonable, rational, and sensible approach...so for years, that's the path I followed. I never stopped to ask myself, "But is it biblical?"

In this presentation, using as many of God's words and as few of mine as possible, I pass on what God taught me from His Word about what apologetics really is, and how He showed me, "Dan, apologetics is not what you think."

The Bible

Why Should Anyone Believe the Bible? (60 minutes)

Why should anyone believe the Bible? If you think you're about to hear about a bunch of evidences or arguments for the truth of Scripture, you're in for quite a surprise....because it's not about evidences, and it's not about arguments. Basically, it's not about you at all.

This is a complete rewrite of the original version of this presentation. I talk about why in the presentation itself.

Creation & The Flood

Does studying long lists of funny-sounding names so enrapture you that you find yourself studying them deep into the night, or do you keep them on hand as a homeopathic cure for insomnia?

In this humor-filled presentation, I do the unthinkable–I make "the begats" fun. Learn what the purpose is for each of the five major genealogies in the Bible, and find out if we really can use them to estimate the age of the earth; the answer may surprise you.

The Problems with Distant Starlight (60-90 minutes)

Many Christian laymen and apologists alike stumble over the what has been dubbed “the distant starlight problem,” citing it as a key obstacle to their acceptance of a young (i.e. ~6,000 year) creation.

In this presentation, I'll take this difficult topic by the horns and demonstrate to non-technical audiences how the distant starlight problem is a double-edged sword that cuts both ways–against young- and old-earth creationists alike; it is not the proverbial nail in the young-earth coffin that many think it is.

Dissecting "The Math of the Great Flood" (60 - 90 minutes)

Years ago, I ran into a YouTube video that uses mathematics to prove that Noah’s flood could not have happened, and it made me ask "What if everything I've believed about the flood is wrong?" We'll take a look at this video and see why there's nothing to be afraid of. This is a fun introduction to rubber-meets-the-road apologetics that demonstrates how to think critically, how to spot logical fallacies, and the dangers of not looking up scriptures that others quote.

Did God Use the Big Bang? (30-45 minutes)

In an attempt to reconcile the tension between a plain reading of Genesis 1:1 - 2:3 with the secular scientific theories of our day, many well-meaning Christians have adopted a compromise approach that suggests that God created everything in the Big Bang and used natural processes over the course of 13.8 billion years to bring us to where we are today. In this talk, I demonstrate that the Big Bang as taught by materialistic philosopher-scientists is not compatible with the clear teaching of Scripture.

Theology Proper

Who Is God? (40-50 minutes)

It has been said that nearly every single theological heresy begins with a misconception of who God is. God appears in the fourth word of the Bible abruptly, without introduction and just starts creating things left, right, and center. Who is this “God” and who put Him in charge? In this talk, we’ll examine six of God’s non-communicable attributes–attributes that He reserves for Himself–and learn why God has to have each attribute.

Q: What do eggs, avocados, apples, water, and people all have in common?

A: They’re all lousy at explaining the trinity.

The trinity is probably the single most difficult biblical doctrine to understand, and as a result it is often misunderstood by those outside the church as well as those inside. The Jehovah's Witnesses claim that the doctrine is of pagan origins, and well-meaning Sunday school teachers everywhere inadvertently lapse into idolatry as they use analogies to help their students understand God's nature.

In this presentation, I demonstrate the doctrine's origins from Scripture alone, poke holes in some of the more commonly-used trinitarian analogies, and offer my suggestions for how to help others understand this difficult teaching.

What's All the Fuss About Jesus? (20 minutes)

More people get into theological “fist fights” over the nature of Jesus Christ than perhaps any other issue. Is He God in the flesh, a good moral teacher, or was he a deranged lunatic? Why don’t people have the same arguments over the Father or the Holy Spirit? The answer is surprisingly simple, and may leave you thinking “Now, why didn’t I think of that?”

Muslims tell us that He wasn't–that someone who looked like Him was crufied in His place. Others say that the body was stolen, or that Jesus just "swooned" and was revived by the cool air in the tomb and came out a feeling fresher than a bar of Irish Spring soap. In this presentation, I walk you through the evidences for Christ's resurrection and demonstrate how the skeptics' arguments don't even pass "the giggle test."

Mormonism

A Game Plan for Dialoguing with Mormon Missionaries (60 minutes)

When a pair of bright-eyed lads bedecked with black slacks, white shirts, ties, and black name tags ring your doorbell, what should you do? Should you just ignore them until they go away? Is it okay to let them in, or does the Bible prohibit that? If you do talk to them, what should you say? I'll answer these questions and more, and lay out a simple game plan to keep your time with Mormon missionaries productive and God-honoring.

Other Topics

Winning at Fatherhood (30 - 60 minutes)

What are you afraid of? Throughout childhood and into my time as a NCAA Division I basketball player, and later as a professional basketball player, I appeared to many to be afraid of nothing. But there was one thing I was afraid of–being my dad. In this emotional rollercoaster ride, I tell the story of how God used two different fathers to annihilate my misconceptions of fatherhood, and how God ultimately brought about reconciliation with my own dad.

When Sunday School Fails (60 minutes)

What would you do if God called you to teach Sunday school and then convicted you after seven years of faithful service that you were part of the problem of 2/3rds of teens abandoning the faith?

In this talk, I tell my personal story of how God led me to jettison a curriculum that I co-authored, forget all I knew about teaching the Bible, and start all over again. If you teach Sunday school, you'll want to hear this.

Marriage, Divorce, and Remarriage (60 - 90 minutes)

What's the purpose of marriage? Doesn't the unfaithfulness of a spouse constitute a biblical grounds for divorce? Is remarriage okay?

This is a very difficult topic to address due to the emotions involved, but the Word of God is sufficient for us to understand God's perspective on things. We'll systematically walk through Scripture to find the answers to these questions, and examine the critical context of Matthew 5:32 that many believers miss.

The outline for this presentation is on my blog: Do I Have Biblical Grounds for Divorce?

Mark Twain once famously said, "Faith is believing what you know ain't so." But is that true? Is that what biblical faith is, or is it something else?

Let's walk through Scripture, ask some thought-provoking questions, and see what kind of faith it is that God truly wants from us.