Rev. Daniel Betzer | Dr. Gerald Regier | Dr. Steve Kumar
Advisory Board Resumes
Rev. Dan Betzer
Dan Betzer is the retired Senior Pastor of First Assembly of God in Ft. Myers, Florida. Dan is also a writer, television and radio host, and district and national executive with the Assemblies of God. As a ventriloquist, he is known among multitudes of children through his “Dan and Louie” Bible story recordings.
Dan is a lifelong veteran of broadcasting. In 1940, at the age of three, Betzer began radio work on WNAX in Sioux City, Iowa, doing children’s and religious programs each weekend, singing and acting. By the time he was in college, he was a daily anchor on both radio and television news. Profoundly sensing God’s direction, he entered the ministry and began starting churches in Ohio.
In December 1986, he was elected Senior Pastor of First Assembly of God in Ft. Myers. He has seen the congregation grow from a few hundred to its current 10,000 members, with an average weekend attendance of 6,700, including all campuses. Betzer served as the assistant district superintendent of the Peninsular Florida District of the Assemblies of God for 16 years and carried the portfolio of World Missions. He is now an honorary district presbyter.
He has served as an executive presbyter of the General Council for the Assemblies of God (the denomination’s 20-member general board of directors) for over twenty years and has been a member of the General Presbytery for more than twenty-two years.
From 1979 to 1995, Dan was the speaker on the Assemblies of God syndicated radio broadcast REVIVALTIME, which was heard on over 600 stations each week in over 80 countries. He also wrote and hosted the two-minute weekday radio program BYLINE, heard on several hundred stations, and the one-minute television version, seen on scores of stations worldwide each weekday (TBN, CTN, Family-Net, Cornerstone Network, and Daystar). For twenty years, he was a board member of the National Religious Broadcasters Association.
As a soloist, he has produced 17 albums and has sung with many artists including Ralph Carmichael and his orchestra, Dino, Larry Gatlin, the Blackwood Brothers, Lulu Roman, The Couriers and others.
Pastor Betzer has authored 21 published books, including a best-selling novel and Why Some Churches Are Blessed, a must-read for churches seeking to grow their influence locally and globally.
Dan and his wife, Darlene, have five children and eleven grandchildren. They currently live in Springfield, Missouri.
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Dr. Jerry Regier
Dr. Jerry Regier is the founder of the Family Research Council, a public policy research and educational organization in Washington, DC, and served as its first President.
Prior to that, he served with Campus Crusade for Christ (CRU) for 13 years at the University of Texas and at the Christian Embassy in DC.
Dr. Regier is currently a Professor of Doctoral Public Policy at Liberty University. He is also a Walden University Senior Fellow of the Geneva Institute for Leadership & Public Policy
Dr. Regier has a distinguished career in public service, having formerly served as Secretary in the Cabinet of two state Governors, and as a policy leader for three U.S. Presidents. He recently retired from Public Strategies where he oversaw federal contracts with the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) as project director for Sexual Risk Avoidance (SRAE) performance measures that served all national SRAE grantees and was co-lead for the SRAE National Evaluation.
Previous appointments in state government include Secretary of the Florida Department of Children & Families under Governor Jeb Bush, where he led a department with 25,000 employees, and Secretary of Health and Human Services in the state of Oklahoma under Governor Frank Keating.
Appointments in the federal government at HHS included Assistant Secretary for Policy and Associate Commissioner of Children, Youth & Families, and in the Department of Justice as Administrator of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
He has several academic appointments: Contributing faculty of the School of Public Health and Public Policy at Walden University, where he serves on doctoral dissertation committees, and online faculty of the Helms School of Government at Liberty University, where he teaches social policy and serves on doctoral dissertation committees.
Dr. Regier graduated from Grace University in Omaha, NE, and from Michigan State University with a B.A. degree in history. He has a post-graduate Master of Public Administration from Harvard University, a Master of Arts in Biblical Studies from The King’s University, and a Ph.D. in Public Policy & Public Administration from Walden University.
He lives with his wife Sharyn in the Washington, DC Metro (Ashburn, Virginia). They have four grown children and 14 grandchildren.
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Dr. Steven Kumar
Dr. Steve Kumar is a prominent New Zealand Christian apologist, author, teacher, and speaker committed to answering the tough questions of the skeptics and equipping believers with the tools to think more clearly about their faith. Dr. Kumar has been a regular guest speaker at more than twelve colleges and campuses in New Zealand and worldwide. He has debated several notable skeptics and atheists, including Dr. Alister Gunn (head of philosophy at the University of Waikato), Professor Keith Campbell (Head of Philosophy at Sydney University), and Dr. Bill Cook, president of the NZ Rationalist Society. He co-founded and was president of the New Zealand Evangelical Apologetics Society. Dr. Kumar is a Professor of Apologetics at Christ University in the South Pacific.
Dr. Kumar and Dr. Shilling were seminary classmates and have remained friends as they each pursued their individual ministries. Dr. Kumar has authored several books, including Think Why You Believe, Answering the Counterfeit, and Christianity for the Skeptics, which won the “Angel Award” for excellence in media.
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