Category: Speakers

Multi-platinum-selling, Grammy-nominated artist Jaci Velasquez shares how she overcame the challenges of early fame and a failed marriage and trusted God to turn her broken pieces into priceless treasures.

After the release of her first album at the awkward age of sixteen, Jaci Velasquez found sudden fame. Five of the songs reached number one, and she became the first and fastest-selling solo artist in Christian music history to reach gold status with a debut album. Despite her initial success, however, her career stalled, and her young marriage ended after little more than a year, leaving her feeling broken, used up, and sometimes useless. But God repurposed those experiences for a greater plan as her renewed faith carried her through a resurrected career, the adventures of a second marriage, and the ups-and-downs of being a wife and mother of two boys, including one diagnosed with autism.

Through a blend of personal narrative, practical strategies, and the truth of God’s word, Jaci invites readers to rewrite their own stories and dream new dreams for their lives. Her life-transforming insights will guide readers in not only overcoming challenges, wrong turns, and often painful circumstances, but also in growing from those experiences and becoming equipped and empowered to help others.

Glenn has worked for the past 25 years as a full-time researcher and sought-after writer, speaker and contributing founder of the growing movement to recover marriage as a social resource in improving the well-being of children, women, men and communities. He greatly enjoys serving as the Director of Global Family Formation Studies at Focus on the Family in Colorado Springs, an international organization working to build thriving families around the globe.

Glenn debates and lectures extensively on the issues of gender, sexuality, marriage and parenting at universities and churches around the country. He served the George W. Bush administration for many years as a consultant on increasing fatherhood involvement in the Head Start program. Glenn is a contributor to Focus on the Family’s Boundless blog,  National Review Online’s The Corner, as well as Christianity Today, First Things, The National Catholic Register, a Senior Contributor at The Federalist and the Gospel Coalition

He is the author of 8 books and a contributor to 9 or so others. He has two brand new books out. The Family Project (Tyndale, 2014), co-authored with Leon Wirth, serves as a practical Christian worldview on marriage, family, and sexuality. This book is a companion to the larger 12-part DVD small group curriculum from Focus on the Family by the same name that he also co-wrote with Leon Wirth. Loving My (LGBT) Neighbor (Moody, 2014) is a very practical look at how Christians can befriend their LGBT neighbors, co-workers, family members and those they sit next to at church in meaningful ways without having to give up our convictions.

His others are The Ring Makes All the Difference (Moody, 2011), a researched-based guide in understanding how marriage and cohabitation are very different kinds of foundations upon which to build healthy, thriving relationships and Secure Daughters Confident Sons: How Parents Guide Their Children into Authentic Masculinity and Feminity(Multnomah, 2011), which explores how mothers and fathers uniquely raise girls and boys to be strong, healthy women and men.

Glenn is working on his 9th book, The Myth of Dying Church, out in June 2019.

His others are Why Marriage Matters: Reasons to Believe in Marriage in Postmodern Society (1997) and My Crazy, Imperfect Christian Family (NavPress, 2004) and Marriage on Trial: The Case Against Same-Sex Marriage and Parenting (InterVarsity Press, 2004) which was featured on C-SPAN BookTV.

He is also the co-author of the wide theatrically released and acclaimed film Irreplaceable.

Activist Mommy Bio-Elizabeth is an activist vlogger, speaker, and author who educates and inspires the public on the burning social and moral issues of the day that are important to families. She and her husband Patrick, who is a medical doctor, author, and movie producer, have been pro-life ministry leaders for many years and home educate their 10 beautiful children. The growing threat to America’s children and the vicious attack on religious liberty is what dynamited Elizabeth out of her comfortzone to inspire a nation of belittled conservatives and Christians to “come out of their closets” and boldly take their country back. Elizabeth daily triggers the left by confronting the lies of abortion, feminism, Islam, and the homosexual agenda with wit and snark like only she can, and she regularly posts viral commentaryvideos which have netted over 70 million views. Elizabeth has been featured on many major media outlets, such as Fox & Friends, The New York Times, The Blaze and Christian Broadcasting Network, as she has become a thought leader on topics of importance to families. The pulse behind all her activism and cultural commentary is her love for her family and her Savior, Jesus Christ.

Dr. Duke Pesta is the Director of FreedomProject Academy, host of the Dr. Duke Show podcast, and a tenured professor of English at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh.

Dr. Pesta is an engaging and animated speaker, whose experiences as an educational reformer, university professor, high school teacher, and the administrator of an online classical school uniquely qualify him to address the current state of education in our country. He speaks at home school conventions and educational conferences across the nation on topics including homeschooling, the decline of morality and critical thinking in the public schools, and the myriad ways that colleges and universities indoctrinate students.

Dr. Pesta is one of America’s foremost authorities on the dangers of Common Core, having delivered more than 700 talks in 46 states. He has also testified about Common Core and educational reform before 20 state legislatures and participated in more than 5000 radio and television interviews, from Canada to China, and from Mexico to the United Kingdom. Dr. Pesta was instrumental in developing and implementing an elective Bible course that is currently available for public high school students in Texas. His collective videos and presentations top more than three million views online, and much of his work is available at FreedomProject.com and FPEUSA.org.