FULLERTON, CA (ANS) -- The first annual Moriel Women’s Conference will be examining the trends in the church today that threaten to shipwreck many believers’ faith on the same weekend as another conference down the street will be “Re-thinking Christianity” to appeal to the modern culture.

Featuring five women who are sought-after experts in their fields of study, “Spiritual Perils in the Last Days” will equip Christians to think through the implications of compromising on the essentials of the faith and give them biblical reasons for taking a strong stand against error.

“Today, as never before in the history of the church, the times we live in compel us as women to be on alert for the snares of the devil that are dressed up in modern packaging,” said conference coordinator Jackie Alnor, Founder of Apostasy Alert. “We need to resist the pressure that both society and the liberal church put on us to conform to being politically correct, yet biblically incorrect. Our spiritual well-being and our relationship with our Creator are at stake.”

New Age influences in our society have come into the church under a cloak of spirituality. Ideas and practices such as contemplative prayer, Christianized yoga, inner healing, feminism, quantum spirituality and other deceptive teachings have drawn many professing believers into a compromised gospel. What was once called “secular humanism” is now the predominant worldview of people both inside and outside the four walls of the church. We need to look out for our families and for one another during this time preceding the Lord’s return that the Bible characterizes will be marked by an increase in false teachers, false christs, and widespread apostasy.

Conference Speakers are:

Jackie Alnor, a veteran researcher, writer, activist, and defender of the faith. She is the founder of “Apostasy Alert,” a website that monitors trends in the church that corrupt the truth of the Christian faith. In the mid-1980s Jackie published a newsletter called “New Age Alert” to raise awareness to the infiltration of occultic ideas creeping into the church. In the 1990s, along with her husband, she co-founded the “Christian Sentinel,” a news magazine that examines the activities of cults and dangerous religious groups. Jackie has appeared on national television and radio discussing televangelism, the prosperity gospel, and end times deception. She produced the 1999 video "The Great Apostasy: The Lost Sign" in an effort to expose the influence "Christian Television" has played in spreading the great falling away.

Deidre Bobgan who, with her husband Martin, has coauthored 18 books, including the groundbreaking books, PsychoHeresy and Christ-Centered Ministry versus Problem-Centered Counseling. In 1992 they founded PsychoHeresy Awareness Ministries, which publishes a free bimonthly newsletter. Her website contains most of the past articles from the newsletters, and thirteen of their books are posted there as free ebooks. In addition to teaching Bible classes, speaking in various churches, and being interviewed on Christian media, Deidre has ministered personally to countless individuals through the years.

Dwayna Litz, who grew up singing hymns in churches and crusades as a soloist for revival meetings. She is president and founder of “Lighting The Way Worldwide,” which is an aggregate of street ministries of apologetics. It is front line evangelism to the lost with locations in California (Venice Beach, West Hollywood, Santa Monica, and Long Beach), Colorado (Boulder), and New York City. This ministry also actively takes a stand against evangelical feminism, contemplative prayer practices, and the emergent church movement. Dwayna is a contributor for Christian Research Net and a columnist for Christian Worldview Network, Walter Martin Ministries, and California Christian News. She has been on national radio shows sharing her testimony, warning of New Age deception, and exposing the "mother-god" teachings and dangers of evangelical feminism. Research and updates can be found on her blog daily at (www.lightingtheway.blogspot.com).

Johanna Michaelsen, a noted author, researcher, lecturer and authority on the occult. Her internationally bestselling autobiography, The Beautiful Side of Evil, tells the story of her involvement with the occult, yoga, Silva Mind Control, a psychic surgeon in Mexico City, and her eventual rejections of all such practices. Her second book, Like Lambs to the Slaughter, clearly documents the invasion of occultism and dangerous religious practices into America’s public education system, movies, television, and more. Since Johanna’s exit from the occult in November, 1972, she has devoted her time to studying current trends and occult practices for the purpose of warning and equipping the church in these last days. She has appeared on dozens of radio and television programs.

Jill Martin Rische, the eldest daughter of the late Dr. Walter Martin. She has a degree in Old Testament Literature and is currently completing her Master's degree in Humanities/History. Jill is the co-author of the soon to be released The Kingdom of the Occult (Nelson, 2008) and author of Through the Windows of Heaven, 100 Powerful Stories and Teachings from Walter Martin, the Original Bible Answer Man. Jill and her husband Kevin are the Directors of Walter Martin Ministries (www.waltermartin.com), the Managing Editors of the bestseller The Kingdom of the Cults and the Producers of the nationwide radio program Essential Christianity, featuring Dr. Walter Martin as the Original Bible Answer Man.

The conference will conclude with a panel discussion with all the speakers; presentations will cover:
* Sorcery & the Judgment of God
* False Prophets: Preparing the Way
* The Evolution of the Mother of Harlots
* Matriarchal Shift: Evangelical Feminism
* Goddess Worship in the Church
* Stand up for Jesus: Spiritual Warfare Basics
* Victimization of the Believer

“Spiritual Perils in the Last Days” will be held on January 18-19, 2008 in the Campus Theatre at Fullerton College, 321 E. Chapman Avenue, Fullerton, California, starting at 6:00 pm on Friday and 10:00 am on Saturday.

Media interested in interviewing any of the speakers can contact Jackie Alnor, conference coordinator, at jalnor@yahoo.com.