Category: beth moore

Posted in beth moore, discernment, false doctrine, false teacher

At what point does one declare a teacher like Beth Moore false? Here’s some help.

Posted on by elizabethprata

I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once.”
― John Green, The Fault in Our Stars

Isn’t that an evocative and a sweet description of how we fall asleep! I’ve always loved it.

Apostasy is like that. It shows up slowly, then all at once.

In Philemon 1:24, Paul called Demas a fellow worker. By 2 Timothy 4:10, Paul had declared him a friend of the world. There was approximately an 8-10 year span between the two verses.

Judas was never in the faith. For three and a half years, he followed Christ. But unknown to the disciples, Judas held secret sins in his heart, he stole from the group purse, he met with Pharisees…By the end, he sold Jesus for 30 pieces of silver.

Demas and Judas never abandoned the faith, because they never were in it in the first place.

They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. (1 John 2:19).

A tweet by Joyce Meyer and Beth Moore this week is causing dismay and consternation. I wrote about it here. Here is the tweet:

Beth Moore and also Christine Caine on her Facebook page, confirmed the partnership. The topic of the program series will be “unity,” Moore tweeted. Meyer said on her own Facebook page that they haven’t scheduled the programs for broadcast yet. But that the programs will be on soon.

From Christine Caine’s Facebook page

Since Meyer is well-known heretic who teaches unorthodox and unbiblical doctrines, Moore’s partnership on Meyer’s program has disappointed many. Yet for others who have been sounding the alarm about Beth Moore for many years, (including myself) this comes as NO surprise. We are hopeful that at last, this will be the evidence your church needs to root out FALSE TEACHER Beth Moore from your church.

In Numbers 32:23 we read that our sin will find us out. Can any apostate keep their position hidden forever? Of course, Jesus knows all. He knew Judas was not of the faith, because Jesus sees the heart. He knows what is in a man. (John 2:24). But what about us, who cannot see the heart, but only the fruit?

Apostasy is a funny thing. It is like a chain that keeps lengthening. At which link does a person declare a false teacher false (if they are)?

Public Domain

No sensible person will declare a teacher false after only one link appears. That is not discernment, it is Pharisaical judgment. But how about after four links? It depends on the link. It depends on what they have said or done. If the teacher has said “Jesus never came in the flesh” then that’s good enough, because the 2 John 1:7 declares that people who say that are deceivers and antichrists.

If a person declares that they do not believe in Jesus as the Resurrected Son of God, and are in fact an atheist, as the Christian metal band singer Tim “I was faking faith the whole time” Lambesis said recently, then one need not wait for more links in the chain in order to know they are false.

But what of Beth Moore, who has been on the forefront of the Christian scene teaching and preaching since 1997? At what point in the chain does one say, ‘cut it off, I know she’s false?’ Some said it early and some say it late and others say it not at all.

As Justin Peters said on Brannon Howse’s World View Weekend radio program this week, a person can follow a false teacher for a season. It stands to reason that a false teacher can teach a false doctrine for a season, too, but correct it. That is why we must be vigilant, but not hasty.

For me the final straw that broke the camel’s back moment came when Moore claimed to have been visited by Jesus. Moore said he lifted her into another dimension to see the church as “He” sees it. Moore claimed that during that vision, “Jesus” told her “My Bride is paralyzed by unbelief”. “Jesus” then told Moore to return and teach this new revelation to the church.

Jesus would never say His Bride is unbelieving. To be part of the Bride, one must believe. If one doesn’t believe, they are not the Bride. Moore’s supposed revelation is an internally contradictory statement. And since Jesus doesn’t contradict Himself, it must be Moore who is false.

Others gave the benefit of the doubt for longer periods. And still other things that we could add to the pile of proof, links in the apostasy chain as it were, stayed mostly hidden. Unless one cared to look. I did.

When the bible says to be vigilant (1 Peter 5:8, 1 Corinthians 16:13) it means be vigilant. Observant. Watchful. Once the alarm bell went off about Moore, I listened closely and I researched for evidence. This is so one can either confirm or exonerate.

For example, Non-profit tax returns are public. I read all of the tax returns from Moore’s Living Proof Ministries, as far back as they were available, to 2000. That was how I discovered that Moore donated significant money to Lakewood Church as long ago as ten years.

Or when Moore made a statement that though she travels a lot, that she is a biblical wife and leaves Friday night and is home by Saturday afternoon, thus retaining her stay-at-home status, it hit me wrong. So I researched her schedule. I knew that she had many Living Proof conferences that year, and was on a book tour that year, spent time writing alone in a cabin in the woods, and did weekly TV shows. So I looked through her public calendar, pieced together the weekends, and found the truth was the opposite. But unless one did the research, one would not know she had told a falsehood.

Link by link I built my case.

So, when did Beth Moore’s apostasy show through? For me, early. Others, later. Still others do not have ears to hear, so they don’t remain vigilant. They are not watchful. When does the tip of the iceberg of apostasy show above the surface?

Jude 1:4 says,

For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

 Unnoticed…Yet at some point, they stumble, their sin shows. They are seen by the discerning. The discerning raise the alarm. Some don’t see it. The wolf remains unnoticed still.

Was it in 1994 when she founded Living Proof Ministries and set herself as President, (and her husband as Vice-President) and claimed on her (2000) IRS tax form that she worked 50 hours a week, yet said in interviews she was a stay at home mom at the same time?

Source: Publicly available IRS tax return for tax year ending 5/2001

Was it in 2003 when she donated $1000 to Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church, for “ministry support?”

Or in 2003 when she described writing her book “When Godly People do Ungodly Things” as having been taken over by a force which wrote the book FOR her? (a process known as automatic writing/channeling the occult/Spiritism)

Or in 2004 when she donated $34,429 to Joel Osteen’s church for “ministry support”?

Was it in 2005 when Moore claimed to have been visited by Jesus, who lifted her into another dimension to see the church through His eyes, at which time He told gave her new revelation- that, and I quote her quoting Jesus, “My Bride is paralyzed by unbelief”, and that Moore was to return to earth and teach this? (Jesus would NEVER say His Bride doesn’t believe, it is an internally contradictory statement!!)

Or in 2006 when Moore participated in a DVD program called “Be Still” and promoted the Catholic mystical practice of contemplative prayer?

Or in 2008, when her pop psychology tainted with faith conditions (legalism) began to show through, when she wrote for example, in her book Looking Up When Life Is Looking Down, that “I believe God has scheduled a time and a way for you to get out of our pit. You’re going to need to show up for the appointment, though.”

Or in 2009 when Moore taught from Deut. directly and blatantly allegorized the passage, twisted it, and made it about ourselves when the verse was clearly about God? (which she does with all her verses in all studies?) [Living Proof Conference, Charlotte NC]

Or again in 2010 when Moore taught a passage from Hebrews in one of her studies and completely allegorized it, twisted it, and made it about ourselves, beginning an obvious pattern of bible eisegesis?

Or in 2011 when her programs on Life Today with James Robison became more about “mistakes” and not sins, and more about pop psychology and earthly desires than honoring God and learning His word? When she said “I believe” more than “The bible says”?

Or in 2012 when at the Georgia Passion conference when she led the youths in the Catholic Mystical practice of Lectio Divina and prayer walking?

Or perhaps 2013 when her language while teaching included much more of “God told me to teach you this” or “I heard God say to me” and taught from her own vain imaginings and visions than the word itself but called it ‘teaching the word’?

Or in 2013 when she praised Catholic Mystic Roma Downey and Word Faith prosperity teacher Victoria Osteen at Lakewood Church during women’s conferences they did together?

Or in 2014 when Moore said “God told her” that there will come an awakening and an outpouring, and that she and others who speak “the genuinely prophetic” will be called false, but not to believe them, the people (us) who will say she is false will be bullies?

Or finally in 2014, when she linked with heretic Joyce Meyer?

Justin Peters is a pastor, teacher, and has been invited by John MacArthur to participate with him in several conferences. Peters teaches discernment. He spoke about the Joyce Meyer/Beth Moore partnership this week. He said in the past he has declared Moore’s teachings bad, her bible hermeneutics terrible, and her approach too casual. He has said she is not qualified to do the things she has been doing. He said he’s urged women to study under other women, like Susan Heck, rather than Moore…but has been hesitant to say outright that she is false. However, this Moore-Meyer link has pushed him over the edge, and unfortunately Moore can be seen to be a wolf. Many others are finally saying the same.

Those of us with the gift of discernment who spot it early, it is often a mournful time. It’s hard to be practically the only ones saying “watch out, Moore is false” not because we want everyone to see we’re right, but because we can see the wolves carrying off the lambs and the sheep! It hurts to see women impacted negatively by false teachers. It is a grief to see them absorb and adopt the false hermeneutics Moore teaches, false approaches to the bible that these women carry with them. It is a pattern of destruction that Moore embeds, which women then use as the filter to see God’s word and His attributes. The Spirit in His will gives gifts, one of them is discernment. If you have a discerning person in your church, please understand it is a gift from Jesus, not a harassment to torture you in your love for certain teachers.

“Plate facing page 10, An Argosy of Fables” by Paul Bransom,
New York: Frederick A. Stokes Company. 1921. Wiki CC

You would not believe how wide Meyer’s sphere of influence is. Meyer’s social media influence is huge too. Meyer has 7.6 million followers on Facebook.

Moore is extremely popular. Women trust Moore and trust what she says, so when Moore promotes and endorses books like Jesus Calling, teachings like heretic Meyer’s, and practices like direct revelation as normative, women believe it. Then women get defeated because they aren’t hearing directly from God, they aren’t climbing ‘out of their pits’ in their own strength, and they aren’t having visions where all these lively experiences happen. “Why Beth Moore and Not Me?” Moore’s sphere of falsity widens ever larger, but the more women trust her the more they are entrapped into sin and bondage.

Justin Peters said this week in an interview with Brannon Howse on World View Weekend, “If the SBC had a pope, it would be Beth Moore.”

Moore and Meyer are the two most followed and best selling women bible ‘teachers’ in Christendom. In partnering, they have become the face of falsity for most women who claim to love Jesus. It is a dangerous time.

You might be familiar with the good Christian movies Flywheel, Facing the Giants, Fireproof, and Courageous. They were made by the Kendrick Brothers at their home church in South Georgia, Sherwood Baptist. Did you know that the Kendrick Brothers are now making a fifth movie, but have have struck out on their own, apart from Sherwood church? Their new movie is about prayer…and did you know Priscilla Shirer AND Beth Moore appear in it?

Discernment is a never-ending process. It is important to be vigilant! (1 Peter 5:8, 1 Corinthians 16:13)

Why am I saying all this? Because women in our church have to know. They have to be told that Moore, Meyer, etc are destructive to their walk. We have to gently approach our sisters, to tell them. We ask the husbands and the leaders to be attentive to discernment issues. It seems to me that the noose is tightening and that false teachers and false doctrines truly abound.

Because of these verses:

But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. (2 Peter 2:1)

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. (1 John 4:1)

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Further Reading:

Here is a tremendous article from Dan Phillips, called Red Lights. He is referring to the red light warnings we can see in teachers or pastors who are not yet false but heading that way. He listed 24 of them, with scripture attached to each. Red Lights

Posted in beth moore, discernment, false teachers, heretic

Beth Moore and Joyce Meyer: Bad company (UPDATED)

Posted on by elizabethprata

Updates here and at bottom.

At what point does one declare a teacher like Beth Moore false? Here’s some help. 

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Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm. (Proverbs 13:20)

Joyce Meyer tweeted this tweet and photo today:

In the photo are Beth Moore, left, and on the right is Joyce Meyer.

For her part, Beth Moore tweeted this:

Joyce Meyer is a heretic. There is no doubt about this. She preached that we are little gods, that Jesus stopped being the Son of God, that Jesus paid for our sins in hell, that she herself is not a sinner, and more. Though Meyer is a gifted speaker, and uses the scriptures correctly sometimes, she teaches too many doctrines that are contrary to the truth to be called a woman of faith.

Beth Moore is a heretic. Readers of this blog and those who have read other blogs concerning problems with Beth Moore will know that many have been writing that Beth Moore has gone wayward. Moore says she speaks to and hears from God audibly, in full sentences, that He gives her revelation that is not in the bible, and that He tells her to teach these new concepts. Moore says she has visions sent by God. She says she had a supernatural experience writing her book “When Godly People Do Ungodly Things” which was actually occult channeling, or ‘automatic writing.’  She promotes and practices the Catholic mystical activity of contemplative prayer, does not handle the word rightly, and infuses all her teachings and studies with pop psychology and personal experience, which she tacitly AND and not so tacitly demonstrates by her teaching as equal to scripture.

To see a pairing above should not be surprising, because that is the natural trajectory of the natural man. Evildoers gather together. Last year Moore partnered with non-believer Roma Downey at a new bible study/convention. Last year Moore also praised and recommended the book Jesus Calling by Sarah Young, another book written by a woman claiming to have heard directly from God.

It is ironic that Meyer and Moore met at Meyer’s broadcast studio to talk about “unity.” They are already united – in satan. For all are either under satan, or under Jesus. There is no in-between. There is no gray area. Either one is in the truth or he hates the truth.

I do not sit with men of falsehood, nor do I consort with hypocrites. I hate the assembly of evildoers, and I will not sit with the wicked. (Psalm 26:4-5)

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Psalm 1:1-4

Do I not hate those who hate you, LORD, and abhor those who are in rebellion against you? (Psalm 139:21)

From Christine Caine’s Facebook page Aug. 13: That time you sat and watched
Beth Moore & Joyce Meyer talk about unity
& you could not stop the tears streaming down your face…

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Further links on this topic:
At what point does one declare a teacher like Beth Moore false? Here’s some help.  

World View Weekend, Topic: Joyce Meyer and Beth Moore, Brannon explains why he is now willing to call Beth Moore a false teacher after several years of giving her the benefit of the doubt. Guest, Justin Peters. Topic: Our phone lines fill up with listeners that want to respond to the actions and statements of Beth Moore. [Ed Note: sometimes certain of the WVW clips and programs go behind a paywall after a week. If you plan to listen, listen soon.]

Do Not Be Surprised: Beth Moore talks ‘Unity’ with Word Faith Teacher Joyce Meyer

Posted in beth moore, david platt, discernment, ebola, encouragement, gatwick, priscilla shirer, prophecy

[UPDATE: Woman tested negative for Ebola] News Briefs: Woman de-planes at London Gatwick & dies of Ebola; Priscilla Shirer & Beth Moore in Kendrick Brothers’ new movie; Platt; "You Twit Face"

Posted on by elizabethprata

[UPDATE]
The BBC is reporting the following this afternoon

The Department for Health said the test on the elderly woman, who landed at Gatwick Airport, came back negative on Sunday afternoon. … “The correct procedures were followed to confirm there was no reason to quarantine the airplane, the passengers or staff. PHE can confirm there was no public health risk around the sad death of this individual.”

 ——————————————–

Some news briefs for you-

Ebola terror at Gatwick as passenger collapses and dies getting off Sierra Leone flight
Staff tell of fears as jet from Africa is quarantined after the death of passenger who was ‘sweating and vomiting’ before she collapsed

Airport staff tonight told of their fears of an Ebola outbreak after a passenger from Sierra Leone collapsed and died as she got off a plane at Gatwick. Workers said they were terrified the virus could spread globally through the busy international hub from the West African country which is in the grip of the deadly epidemic. The woman, said to be 72, became ill on the gangway after she left a Gambia Bird jet with 128 passengers on board. She died in hospital on Saturday. Ebola has killed 256 people in Sierra Leone. A total of 826 have died in West Africa since the outbreak began in February. Tests were carried out to see if the woman had disease. The plane was quarantined as ­officials desperately tried to trace everyone who had been in contact with the woman. Airport workers faced an anxious wait to see if the woman had Ebola. One said: “Everyone’s just ­petrified. “We’ve all seen how many people have died from Ebola, especially in Sierra Leone, and it’s terrifying.”

Yes, its terrifying. Imagine how much more terrifying it will be when billions are dying at once, as Revelation 6:7-8 and Revelation 9:15 and Luke 21:11 tell us. The door to heaven is open to all right now during this Age of Grace. Repent and turn to Jesus as Savior.

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The Kendrick Brothers finish making their fifth movie. The Albany GA brothers are known for Christian movies Flywheel, Facing the Giants, Fireproof, and Courageous. Their fifth movie is reportedly about prayer, and includes Priscilla Shirer in a large role and Beth Moore in a cameo role. I dont’ ant to jump to any conclusions, because the Kendrick Brothers have a solid grounding in doctrine and their previous movies have been good. However, the combination of the subject of prayer and the inclusion of two women noted for un-orthodoxy in this subject, does not bode well. Both Shirer and Moore engage in and promote contemplative prayer. Further, Moore is known for having unbiblical visions and hearing the voice of God audibly, and explains during her “bible lessons” that this is or should be normal activity for all Christians. Perhaps Moore’s smaller role means that any negative impact on the movies direction would be minimal. However it is also true that we should “not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.” (1 Corinthians 15:53.) In laymen’s term,s when the glove drops in the mud, the mud doesn’t get glovey.

My hope and prayer is that the movie will still be doctrinally solid. When it is released in a few months, please be discerning about it. Here is an essay with more information about Priscilla Shirer.

Here is the press release of information about the Kendricks’ new as yet untitled movie:

Kendrick Brothers Wrap Filming on Anticipated Fifth Movie

CHARLOTTE, N.C., July 29, 2014 /Christian Newswire/ — Alex and Stephen Kendrick–creators of hit faith films FIREPROOF and COURAGEOUS–have just wrapped principal photography on their anticipated fifth movie–a family drama with humor and heart focused on the power of prayer and its primary role in the Christian life…. The film features New York Times best-selling author and Bible teacher Priscilla Shirer in her film debut. “I’m honored to be working with the Kendricks, and to be part of a story that encourages people to pray,” Shirer said. “Prayer is the most powerful weapon the church has to unlock the activity of heaven on earth.”…  “It’s time for fierceness in prayer, and I cannot think of a more crucial message for a movie to convey,” Moore said. “God waits to see a generation that will take Him at His Word. Let’s be that generation.”

I have a peeve about teachers claiming that ‘we are the generation’ to finally get it right. Has no other generation in 6000 years ever taken God at His word? Apparently not, according to Moore. How narcissistic. As if God hasn’t used every generation to further His will and plan. If I may be allowed to echo the words of the eminent Dr Craig of the long-departed television drama St. Elsewhere,

“Oh for crying out loud.“
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A good word from Pastor David Platt:

Twitter wisdom, and apparently from an 11-year-old no less: ‏@JonathanDLeeman:

A friend’s 11 year old boy: they should combine YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook and call it You Twit Face.

I deactivated my Facebook account. The constant drama, me-orientation, superficiality, time-wasters, temptation to sin, and false doctrine abounding finally got to me. And you know what? I haven’t missed it.

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If you’re struggling financially, living in an urban ghetto, a third world nation, your car, or just barely hanging on, I leave this verse with you-

Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? (James 2:5)

Posted in beth moore, false teacher, listening to the Lord

Beware of bible teachers who preach themselves

Posted on by elizabethprata

“See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.” (Colossians 2:8)

Some years ago, some women gathered in a living room to do a Beth Moore study. It involved a

Source

DVD of Moore and some workbooks. Back then, Moore was more cloaked in her language about receiving personal revelation. She would say, “God laid it on my heart” or “God impressed upon me” which is still wrong because she was teaching from these impressions, and not the scripture.

In one segment of her study, Moore had shared a long story about how God was directly giving her specific instructions on how to act in a certain situation, and was delivering sentences directly to her ears. For a teacher that says “God laid it on my heart” so often, she was certainly telling a story with a lot of specifics and many quotes from God. In the DVD, Moore repeated the things God had “told” her to do in this situation. The story Moore was telling involved Moore’s reactions to God’s directions, and Moore sharing the result of having ‘listened’ to His revelations. Anyone who has seen Moore in television or at a conference or any other venue knows this is how Moore teaches. After her personal story, she applies an out of context bible verse to it and finishes it up. It’s like backdating a check, fraudulent and dangerous.

The ladies got done listening to this particular segment on DVD. After the DVD was turned off, a moment of silence passed as the ladies absorbed what Moore had taught. Then one of the ladies sighed and said sadly, “I wish I had what she has.”

Bible study is supposed to energize us, lift us, empower us! Yet the ladies were drained, believing that Moore has a ‘more special’ relationship with God than they did or ever could have, that Moore has more of something than us that is impossible for mere regular women to attain.

A lady spoke up and said, “We DO have what she has, the Holy Spirit! We all have Him inside us!” But they looked at her like she was crazy and did not believe it.

What ended up happening in this study group is that the women talked about Beth Moore, her ‘power’ in God, her teaching style, her life. In their desire to “have what she has,” it made them want to be like Beth Moore, not like JESUS.

You see the problem.

“Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones.” (Jude 1:8)

Posted in beth moore, joel osteen, positive thinking, sin

The Powerlessness of positive thinking

Posted on by elizabethprata

A photo on Twitter got me going on this. A friend on twitter said of this sign, “Power of positive thinking? [sigh]”

It does make one sigh, because of the futility of such thinking. And the denomination of course is apostate, having just rejected God‘s standards for marriage and having rejected Israel this very week. The denomination of the PC USA is exactly the kind where Jesus stands at the door and knocks to come inside. (Revelation 3:20).

 So I began to envision different levels of the School of Positive Thinking. Here is the syllabus.

School of Positive thinking, beginner class. “I am Happy and Content because you tell me I am.”
Taught by Joel Osteen. Joel has taught the power of positive thinking for 15 years, to great success. He now has a mansion on earth, if not one in heaven. He doesn’t seem to mind though, and you won’t either, because after this class is finished you will know how to get a good parking space at the mall. You will learn to be happy and content with that. Requirements: bring a bible and hold it over your head. Opening it and reading it not required.

School of Positive thinking, intermediate class. “I am Happy and Content because I think I am.” Taught by Beth Moore, who though she teaches with great verve and volume, isn’t too sure about, well, anything. We all love her though, that southern cutie-bug! Requirements: ability to cry, hug, and try really, really, really hard in your own power to have faith and do good stuff. Bring Kleenexes. Bible not required.

School of Positive thinking, master class. “I am Happy and Content because I know I am. No really, ‘I AM.” Taught by Joyce Meyer, who has achieved what few women in the positive thinking genre have achieved: unvarnished and unashamed pride in herself and her thinking. In this class, students will learn how to ignore the pricks of their conscience and the conviction of their souls to stride ahead and not be a sinner, as Meyer says of herself that she’s not a sinner. Requirements: Bring money.

Meanwhile, down the street, is a tiny, tiny school. It is open to all, whether you have money or no money. Whether you smile or whether you frown. Whether you cry or whether you have happiness. This school is called:

THE CHURCH. This school’s motto is “Though I have No Right to Be, I am Happy and Content because Jesus died for me.” Taught by persevering unknowns, and occasional guest speakers like Paul Washer, you will learn through study and hard work that Jesus died on the cross to atone for your sins, and pleased with His sacrifice, God raised Jesus on the third day, and brought Him to heaven. You will also learn that Jesus is returning to judge the living and the dead.

You will hear that you are a lost and condemned rebel, needing to rely on the grace of Jesus for everything good in this life and the next. Positive thinking of your own self on your own steam will only condemn you further.

Requirement to enter: Ask Jesus to forgive your sins. Become born again. Prerequisite: sins left at the door, bible eagerly opened and studied, service to fellow man in love and humility. Usually required: ability to withstand slander, rejection, oppression and persecution, in other cases your death will be required.

Enrolling now…

Posted in beth moore, colton burpo, joel osteen, kim walker smith, taking God's name in vain, third commandment

The Third Commandment: ways to take God’s name in vain you might not have thought of

Posted on by elizabethprata

Our glorious Lord Jesus Christ left His glory in heaven and came down to us. (Philippians 2:5-8). This was because of His great love for man and that He desired to seek and save the lost. (Luke 19:10).

To that end, our precious Christ lived among us us, lived among sin while not sinning Himself. He taught, He healed, He exorcised, He performed miracles. He discipled, He interceded, He obeyed the Father’s will.

Jesus spent all of His ministry hours, when not praying and rarely sleeping enough, to teach us. That is doctrine.

The word “doctrine” comes from the Greek word “didaskolos,” and it basically means “teaching.” It is used many times in the New Testament. Doctrine is extremely important in Christianity. By it we know who God is, what He has done, what the Trinity is, the deity of Christ, His resurrection, salvation, justification, etc. Doctrine is what defines the who’s and what’s of Christianity. In fact, you can’t be saved without doctrine. Rev. Matt Slick, CARM.org

He did all this because He loved us. But beyond that, Jesus did it because He loves the Father, He was obeying the Father. Jesus at all times and in all moments sought the glory of the Father. (John 7:18). God’s glory was primary in the redemption plan.

Jesus’ work was to glorify the Father on earth. (John 7:14).

Now, having the right view of God is of utmost importance, beginning with Who He is. We cannot give Him the glory He deserves if we have a terribly flawed view of Him. One of the most basic ways we know Him is by His Name.

God protects His name. It is the name filled with all authority, all holiness, and when manifested on earth to be seen by men, filled with glory. So God made a commandment for us to never misuse His name. In Exodus 20 God commanded,

You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. (Exodus 20:7)

There are two things I’d like to look at regarding the name of God and its use today.

Colton Burpo, the boy who ‘went to heaven’ & whose experience is the basis
for the book Heaven is For Real, irreverently describing “God” as “really big”
and “looks like the archangel Gabriel.” source

Modern Christianity has trivialized God to the point where many see Him as a distant boyfriend, a prosperous ATM machine, an entertaining miracle maker, or a heavenly hospital. Man’s view of God has always been flawed (and it always will be to some degree, even in true Christians while we’re on earth, because we’re still flawed with sin) but even at that, taking utmost care not to misuse God’s name should be a primary focus in Christian life. After all, it is the third commandment! It all begins with how we use His name.

Names have power, they have authority, they mean something. What if your boss habitually mispronounces your name, wouldn’t that irk you? What if the Bureau of Motor Vehicles misspelled your name, isn’t that annoying? Even more, a misspelled name may have legal implications. When a relative insists on shortening the name of your child from Michael to Mike or from Elizabeth to Betsy, don’t you correct him?

Incident occurred in 1991.
Above CC photo from 2009

If we as puny humans fuss over the spelling or pronunciation of our name, how do you think God feels about His name? His is the highest name! (Philippians 2:9). The only name! (Acts 4:12)

Right, Swaggart’s blasphemy is especially egregious because he used the Lord’s name to make Him complicit in covering up Swaggart’s adultery and fornication.

Many people regularly violate the third commandment by taking God’s name in vain. They use it in a swear, they say ‘OMG’, they use it to show their amazement over an extra large ice cream cone. Trivial.

But that is not only what it means not to take God’s name in vain. In our Sunday School lesson last week, written by JD Greear and Trevin Wax, there are other ways to take God’s name one may not have considered. This is the first point. Taking God’s name in vain does not begin and end with ‘OMG’. Not by far. In the lesson Mr Greear and Mr Wax narrow in and focus on three other ways to take God’s name in vain:

1. Using God’s name flippantly
2. Using God’s name untruthfully
3. Using God’s name hypocritically

Left, In the preface, Moore says while she was writing the book God wouldn’t let her eat breakfast. Also, if she had not written the book the “rocks in my yard would have cried out”. So she said,”I entrust this message entirely to the One who delivered it while I sat bug-eyed.” p. xi.

I’d like to speak to , using God’s name flippantly. In the lesson the men spoke to the above, the often spoken OMG or swearing that has God’s name in it. However the authors also said, “Perhaps the danger we as Christians must be careful of is not cursing but trivializing God’s name by speaking of Him on too-familiar terms.” They advise against a careless approach to speaking of God.

Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire. (Hebrews 12:28-29).

“Too-familiar” terms. That is surely an issue in this day and age. The fear of the Lord in believers is a bygone notion. It shouldn’t be.

I will use a real-life example of something Beth Moore recently said to show that she uses God’s name in vain, because she uses His name flippantly.

At a recent conference for women, Moore ended it by a usual method she employs in her performance, a call-and-response. She often tells the women attending to repeat after her. What is asked to be repeated are not usually bible verses but creeds and mottoes Moore has invented. Here is an example from the Unwrap the Bible Conference,

Be confident this great day  That your God has chosen you

Please understand that this kind of message is often spoken at her conferences and in her teaching. It is not just one instance one time, but a pattern of presuming to speak for God.

If we unpack this and apply it to the prohibition not to take the Lord’s name in vain, how can we reconcile a female teacher presuming to know that 11,000 women in attendance have been chosen by God? And worse, to tell them so, in God’s name?! What Moore is actually saying is that she knows God’s thoughts and she knows His plans- for each of the 11,000 women of whom she was speaking this creed with God’s name in it. We cannot say such things, and we should not! This is taking the Lord’s name in vain.

But there is a worse problem. Yes it is very bad for Beth Moore or Kim Smith or Jimmy Swaggart or Colton Burpo or any person to speak of God on too-familiar terms, imputing thoughts to Him He didn’t have, and relating doctrines He didn’t teach. Those are serious breaches of God’s law.

But it is a sin for the hearers, too.

This is point . We know the bible says that false teachers will have a condemnation upon them. (Jude 1:4). For all teachers (true and false) who teach the word, they are judged more strictly. (James 3:1). Again, it relates to God’s holy name not being taken in vain. But the hearers are also judged!

There are two scriptures I have in mind to show you this. First we turn to the familiar verse I mention often, in Revelation 2:20. This is where the Lord has something against the people in the church at Thyatira: they tolerated the false prophetess Jezebel and by their inaction allowed her to seduce His servants. The sin of inaction is still a sin.

Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins. (James 4:17).

However we go even further. We read in Leviticus 24:11,13-16a the following-

and the Israelite woman’s son blasphemed the Name, and cursed. Then they brought him to Moses. … Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Bring out of the camp the one who cursed, and let all who heard him lay their hands on his head, and let all the congregation stone him. And speak to the people of Israel, saying, Whoever curses his God shall bear his sin. Whoever blasphemes the name of the Lord shall surely be put to death.

Notice the distinction in verse 11, the Israelite woman’s son blasphemed the Name and he cursed the Name. In the Hebrew the word for blaspheme used in this verse means “to utter a curse against, curse.” You might argue that Beth Moore and other false teachers don’t outright curse against God. You’re right, they don’t. However look at the second charge made against the woman’s son. He cursed. The Hebrew word used in this case means “to trivialize” or to be slight or swift about the Name. To lighten it.

The chief lesson to be learned from this incident and from the law here given is very plain. It is the high criminality in God’s sight of all irreverent use of His holy name… [failure to act] cannot but operate most fatally by breaking down in the public conscience that profound reverence toward God, which is the most essential condition of the maintenance of all private and public morality. ~William Robertson Nicoll, Expositor’s Bible, 1888

Kim Smith of Jesus Culture describing her vision of seeing
God the Father at a table making a clay heart for Kim. source

When Moore or other false teachers teach, they often empty out God’s name by trivializing it. They purport to speak for God. They relate dreams and retell things that God supposedly told them. They make pronouncements about His thoughts and intentions. They are casual about His holy name.

Now look at the penalty. The person who cursed His name is stoned. But why did the hearers who heard the cursing have to lay hands on the man’s head? Because they were transferring their guilt from themselves to the blasphemer. In the case of the cursing His name, not only the one who speaks it is guilty, but the hearers are too.

James Burton Coffman in his commentary on the Leviticus 24 verse said,

God’s concern here was to remove a spot of deadly infection from the body of the Chosen People. Harford called it a “purgative” action. If not eradicated, a cancerous condition of the kind associated with profane cursing would indeed have destroyed the whole nation. Men are no longer much concerned about such things, but the growth of the cancer has already corrupted a major portion of our present society.

That was Jesus’ charge to the congregation at Thyatira, they tolerated false pronouncements purported to be said in His name by a prophetess teaching falsely. They did NOT purge it out. (I wonder what Jesus will say to the leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention when He brings up Beth Moore’s false prophecies and erroneous teaching…and that not only did they tolerate them but LifeWay made money off them…)

It is my opinion that the seriousness of taking the Lord’s name in vain is one important reason “not many of you should seek to be teachers” (James 3:1). To teach falsely is not just to teach error mixed with truth. It is also to

1. Use God’s name flippantly (Example, Beth Moore)
2. Use God’s name untruthfully (Example, Kim Smith)
3. Use God’s name hypocritically (Example, Jimmy Swaggart)

In remembering the Hebrews 12 verse, acceptable worship means remembering who He is, no matter how loving we feel toward Him, and no matter how boldly we come to the throne, (Hebrews 4:16), we must fear Him by worshiping in reverence and awe.

Now of course I am not agitating to re-institute lex talionis, an eye for an eye, the law of retaliation. Nor am I wanting to see false teachers stoned. Jesus will repay. He is well aware of the damage done in His holy name and He will perfectly and justly recompense all for their deeds. (Isaiah 59:18, Romans 2:6). This essay is about the importance of His holy Name and the various ways we take it in vain. Read Leviticus 24:10-16, and read Deuteronomy 17:1-7 to see how seriously God takes it when an idolater mishandles anything about Himself, and the guilt that is upon the hearers too.

In Deuteronomy God charged the people with the task of inquiring diligently when they hear of an idolatrous situation, and if found guilty, the laying on of hands again to “purge the evil from among your midst.” (Deuteronomy 17:7).  And in the New Testament, Revelation 2:20, the church at Thyatira…”I have this against you, that you tolerate…”

God is adamant that His name be used in truthful and honorable ways. ~Greear, Wax “The Gospel Project for Adults”

Posted in beth moore, commissioning, Francis Chan, john piper, sbc, Women of Faith

Beth Moore led a "commissioning" for 11,000 women (and men) at Unwrap the Bible conference

Posted on by elizabethprata

“The Commissioning.”

It happened at the Women of Faith “Unwrap the Bible” Conference.

But first, some background.

This past February, just weeks ago, Beth Moore and four other women concluded the Unwrap The Bible event in Houston, and closed it with what the sponsor of the event, Women of Faith, called “A Commissioning”. (??)

“Unwrap the Bible” was touted as America’s largest bible conference, sponsored by “Women of Faith.” (WOF) It was held for two days at Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church. In addition to five women who were to teach and preach their way through the weekend, WOF used clips from Catholic Mystic Roma Downey’s “The Bible” series to punctuate the biblical “truths” the lineup of teachers was to teach. Downey also promoted the conference prior to its inception. Christine Caine, Beth Moore, Priscilla Shirer, Lisa Harper, and Sheila Walsh were the 5 scheduled bible teachers. Joel Osteen’s wife Victoria opened the conference with a prayer. Lisa Bevere was on hand too. Eleven-thousand women attended. Here is a photo of Lakewood Church with Beth on the jumbotron-

Screen shot from WOF video

At the very end of the conference, Beth Moore did not offer a benediction for the women, she did not sing a song for them, she did something peculiar. Very peculiar. She held a “commissioning”. At Moore’s insistence, telling women to grab the person next to them, and repeat after her, Moore led the 11,000 women in a ceremony whose likeness I can’t find anywhere in the bible.

At Moore’s command, the 11,000 women dutifully paired up, hugged up, listened and then spoke in unison in call-and-response style with Moore leading them in this “commissioning.” If you’ve never heard of a “commissioning” like this, I haven’t either, because it doesn’t exist. Moore has ripped the normal word from any biblical context and any known ceremony and has redefined it into something a seeker sensitive, New Age, pop psychology, comfy feminist would love. And love it they did.

Screen shot from WOF video

I am not making this up- the Women of Faith intended for the last segment of the conference to be called a “commissioning.” Here is the WOF title card for the video segment:

Here is the Women of Faith web page explanation about it.

“Women of Faith Commissioning“
Monday, March 17, 2014 By Beth Moore

At last month’s Unwrap the Bible event in Houston, Beth Moore wrapped up the weekend with a “commissioning.” She gathered major points from all the speakers’ messages and had the women in the audience speak them over each other. We loved it and thought you would, too.

I’m sorry, but I don’t love it. Not one word “spoken over the women” at the end of WOF Unwrap the Bible conference that Moore was “commissioning” was scripture. Not one. Many of the concepts in the ceremony were unbiblical, to boot.

How Moore introduced “the commissioning” to the women was:

“This is our way of sending you out with this truth embedded in the marrow of your bones.”

Sounds painful.

It was then that Moore told the women to grab a women next to them and repeat what Moore said to the women they’d grabbed. She would say a line, the 11,000 women would repeat it to the partner they’d grabbed, whether they knew the woman or not, not knowing whether the woman was even saved or not. That’s why there is a space for pauses after each phrase. Here is the transcript.

My dear Sister  Be confident this great day  That your God has chosen you  He can make a miracle  Out of your big mess  He can stand you up straight  And set your feet upon a rock  No matter where you’ve been  Or what you’ve done  You are not dirty  The power of the cross  Has made you clean  When you run out of what it takes  Girlfriend, run to Jesus  Let Jesus turn water into wine  Never forget  You have an enemy  Hell-bent on destroying you  But you have a Savior  Who became earthbound to deliver you  There is restoration and divine destiny for you  Throw your arms wide open and receive in Jesus’ Name  Rip off those expiration dates  God’s promise to you will be fulfilled  Quit just eavesdropping on God  Start leaning in and believing what He says  Impossible is where God starts!  Your God is faithful  He will do it  Do NOT retreat in fear  Now, girlfriend – get out there in that lost world  And show them what a woman looks like  When she unwraps her Bible 

And thus, these women have now been “commissioned.” Did you notice the focus of the commissioning was on the women, and not the Lord? I did. In the bible, men are commissioned to go to the lost world and show Jesus to it by preaching His word. Beth Moore told 11,000 women to go to the lost world and show themselves to it.

But what exactly had happened at this commissioning? Was “the commissioning” at Unwrap the Bible an authoritative sacramental ceremony like baptism? Were they sacred vows like marriage? Was it an ordination ceremony? Unknown.

Was there a responsibility the women must now adopt because they’d uttered a creed and been “commissioned” by someone they consider a leader (and by some random women next to them)? It seemed so, because Moore said that she was “sending them out.” Therefore was it a Missionary Commissioning ceremony, akin to when Timothy had been laid hands on and sent out? (1 Timothy 4:14). Unknown.

Picture Moses standing before 11,000 Israelite women, raising his staff, and telling them, “Start leaning in and believing what He says. Now, girlfriend – get out there in that lost world”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I submit to you that there are two problems with this WOF Commissioning event, and both represent an incremental slide down on the slippery slope of apostasy.

Discerners and watchmen are attuned to the incremental steps away from foundational truth. Most Christians with other gifts are busy employing their other gifts, and don’t notice the slide until a great number of leaps have lurched us downward. But we notice each inch. This is one. So we warn.

The first issue is that while the SBC has been looking north, east, and south to protect doctrine against the inflow of homosexuality, transgenderism, and Calvinists, to the west, the feminists have crept in. I’ve mentioned before that Beth Moore is a neo-feminist. She has usurped the authority of her husband and her home and the church. She teaches and preaches in authority along with men. She is the President of a multi-million dollar corporation, while her husband is the Vice-President. She brought home the bacon while her kids were little, and her husband took care of them while she was frequently away. She says she was a stay-at-home mom, but she lived like a feminist.

Christine Caine is more forward. She plainly states that she believes women should have leadership roles. Caine and Moore, along with many others, are good examples of the curse of Genesis 3: her desire is for her husband and he shall rule over her. (Genesis 3:16) The struggle for women is to submit to Jesus in their God-given roles in life and most importantly, in the church. It has been an age-old struggle, and it has become a pitched battle in many false churches and also some Protestant denominations. These days, most have lost that battle and women have been ordained to serve in leadership roles formerly biblically reserved for men.

Well, the second problem that ties back into the first (ecclesiastical feminism) is that words mean things. They mean things. Any liberal in any realm in the battle for hearts and minds will first seek to change meanings of commonly understood words in order to co-opt the meaning and then to redefine them to their advantage. Example: sodomite—->homosexual—->gay. In the church world, we no longer sin. We make mistakes. We’re no longer Christian. We’re Christ followers.

As the writers said in an essay titled “Redefining Terms” said,

In the political world, terminology is no less important than in the world of the programmer.  However, there has been a systematic effort to obfuscate and confuse terminology in order to usurp hitherto positive meanings and put them in the service of ideals which, in many cases, are opposite to the word’s original meaning.  

Let’s contrast Moore’s commissioning above to a biblical one. Here is a commissioning service from the bible:

“So the LORD said to Moses, “Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him; and have him stand before Eleazar the priest and before all the congregation, and commission him in their sight. “You shall put some of your authority on him, in order that all the congregation of the sons of Israel may obey him.” (Numbers 27:19-20)

Here is another reference to a commission, Paul reminding Timothy of his commissioning ceremony: 

Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. (1 Timothy 1:14)

Or this, when the church chose their first deacons:

And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them. (Acts 6:5-6)

Commissioning means something. It’s serious. Someone in authority gives authority to the ones who have been selected for a particular service, their qualification is affirmed by the whole church, and they are ordained in the work through a ceremony. Ordination means something too. GotQuestions explains a commissioning, this recognition of a man set apart for pastoral ministry, deacon service, or missionary work,

When God calls and qualifies a man for the ministry, it will be apparent both to that man and to the rest of the church. The would-be minister will meet the qualifications set forth in 1 Timothy 3:1-16 and Titus 1:5-9, and he will possess a consuming desire to preach (1 Corinthians 9:16). It is the duty of the church elders, together with the congregation, to recognize and accept the calling. After that, a formal commissioning ceremony—an ordination service—is appropriate, though by no means mandatory. The ordination ceremony itself does not confer any special power; it simply gives public recognition to God’s choice of leadership.

Christian feminists have seen that to redefine ordination into a commissioning is one way to get women into leadership. Moore publicly recognized all those women in a commissioning in a worship service and accompanied the recognition by a spoken creed.

Many denominations have been muddying the two words, most notably when Tim Keller of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York commissioned ordained a female deacon in his church service in 2009. This sparked a heated discussion of commissioning vs. ordination. Here are but two examples-

Tim Keller: The Case for Commissioning (Not Ordaining) Deaconesses
Tim Keller and Confusion Over “Commissioning” (Not Ordaining) Deaconesses

Ordain or commission, either way it is a method for women to adopt leadership roles they were not given by God. But redefining the term away from ordain into commission helps soften the blow.

Here’s where the two issues, redefining terms and Christian feminism intersect with Beth Moore and the conference commissioning.

A scan on Wikipedia of the list of women ordained in this century, shows The Lutheran Protestant Church started to ordain women as priests in 1947. In 1972 America’s first female rabbi was ordained by a rabbinical seminary. The next year, a Mennonite church in Illinois followed, ordaining a female pastor. A branch-off of the Latter Day Saints ordained a women in the late 1990s. Methodists ordain women. Seventh Day Adventists, Episcopalians, and Congregationalists have all been accepting of women in leadership roles. The Association of Catholic Priests in Ireland stated this year that the Catholic church must ordain women and allow priests to marry in order to survive. Whether false churches or true denominations, every flavor of the spectrum have fallen to the notion that women can and should be ordained to serve in leadership roles in the church. Except the Southern Baptist Convention.

In 2000 The Baptist Faith and Message was amended to state, “While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.”

So far the SBC has been practically the only denomination of any kind, in any true religion or false, to withstand the onslaught of feminism that hearkens back to Genesis 3 and do not ordain women as pastors or deacons and rarely commission a woman alone for missionary work. Or have they? Does what they say match up with what they do? No.

Beth more preaches in pulpits substituting for men or alongside men, in authority during worship services. Here is Beth Moore with three ordained pastors, leading worship, her bible in hand.

Moore leading worship at the pulpit during Passion Conference 2012.
Screen shot Youtube. L-R, Moore, & actual ordained pastors, Chan, Giglio, Piper

Chan is a graduate of John MacArthur’s Master’s Seminary, a biblically solid seminary. Giglio is a graduate of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and spoke at the Southern Baptist Convention’s 2011 Pastors Conference. Piper is a Reformed Baptist. All of them have been through training and serve in conservative churches and should know unequivocally that a woman cannot be a pastor, nor serve as a deacon, nor teach in authority over men during worship service. Yet there they are.

The SBC has not rebuked Moore for usurping authority in violation of the bible and their own declared creed. People, it’s always important to see if what they say and what they do match up.

The authors of the Redefining Terms essay said of changing word definitions in the political world,

This is not an academic exercise in semantics. This is about truth, and about a threat as real as any terrorist attack and more immediate because it is covert.

It is exactly the same in the church world. Beth Moore’s ‘Commissioning’ at the end of Unwrap the Bible was not a small thing. She endowed women with a commission, and sent them out. The very act of leading a commissioning ceremony imbues Moore with a tacit authority to do such a thing in the first place. But from where does she receive her authority to commission men and women in the first place? (and yes, there were men in the audience). There was not a pastor with her on the stage. Just Moore, giving a responsibility to 11,000 women, co-opting a term that the rest of the church has understood for millennia, and trivializing it. Trivialize how, you ask?

First, because all commissioning ceremonies in the bible and in solidly doctrinal churches in the centuries since, depend on the Holy Spirit’s selection of individuals for the particular kind of service to Jesus (pastoral, deacon, or missionary). That’s what commissioning services are, a public recognition. The entire congregation recognizes it, and participates in prayer and/or laying on of hands. The men selected for whatever service they are commissioned for (pastor, deacon, missionary), are uniformly recognized as saved, Holy Spirit-selected, and qualified.

Yet Moore told 11,000 women and men to willy-nilly speak words to the person next to them that they might not even know, such as this- “Be confident this great day  That your God has chosen you”. How utterly foolish to say to an unknown, random person that they can be sure God has chosen them! Moore urged women to say “Throw your arms wide open and receive in Jesus’ Name”. Jesus is not a genie and His name is not magic! And receive what, exactly? If they are saved they have already received, if they are not saved, they need to repent first!

And what if I don’t throw my arms open, will I still “receive”? What if the lady next to me I’m parroting this to is not saved? Will she “receive”? And how completely meaningless to say “Rip off those expiration dates Quit just eavesdropping on God”

From the majesty of the commissioning of Numbers 27, to the beauty and authority of this commissioning from Moses to Joshua,

“Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the presence of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you must go with this people into the land that the LORD swore to their ancestors to give them, and you must divide it among them as their inheritance.” (Deuteronomy 31:7)

We have Moore who has NO authority telling a bunch of women that they’re chosen by God to quit eavesdropping and not be dirty and to then she sent them out and…what. To do what? The commissioning was absent any notion of service. But it was filled with self-esteem. So these women left the conference feeling like they’ve been given some authority to do something. They’ve been sent- to show themselves.

It’s just trivial and sinful and ugly. The entire Commissioning was a terrible display of what happens when a woman like Moore who has thoroughly usurped authority at home and has been allowed by her denomination to usurp church authority for 20 years. This commissioning fad will infiltrate the SBC and before you know it undiscerning local Baptist churches will be “commissioning” women into leadership roles. Soon after that, they’ll be ordaining them. You’ll see.

May the Lord return before too many more undiscerning women fall into Moore’s snare, and before too many good churches slide one more incremental step away from healthy doctrine into the pit of feminism. The Baptist churches have been so busy holding back the tide of homosexuality they forgot to look out for their wives, and sure enough, their desire is for their husbands and the struggle for power has at long last come to the last bastion of conservative church polity.

It’s my job to tell you, and now I have.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For Further Reading:

Christian feminists like Beth Moore are redefining biblical womanhood

Posted in beth moore, devotionals, discernment, jesus calling, Joyce Meyer

Our roles as woman in the faith part 3: be discerning about our theology. This keeps us strong, AND helps the men in our lives

Posted on by elizabethprata

This is part 3 of a three-part series on woman of the faith and how satan is exploiting our specific vulnerabilities in order to infiltrate the faith with false doctrines.

In part 1 I looked at what the female’s vulnerabilities are, from scripture.

In part 2 I looked at places where satan is operating in order to bring these false doctrines. Women are in the home, and so satan brings the doctrines into the home, as it is stated in 2 Timothy 3:6, “For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions,“

Instead of these false teachers accomplishing their leaven-spreading, via personal visiting inside homes as the scripture indicates was done in biblical days, in today’s world, false teachers come into the home via Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and blogs. And unlike the old days when there were designated male teachers and elders matured in the faith over time and learned under an educational setting or from another elder, now anyone can become an instant Christian pundit and theologian, including women. And unlike the old days where in order to listen to these teachers, one had to attend a church or revival speech, buy a book, or go to seminary, now these false teachers’ reach is anytime and anywhere at the click of a button. Of course satan makes hay with this and promotes his doctrines of demons very easily today.

Tickled ears leads to dead faith. Wikimedia commons

One of the most influential false teachers worming her way into homes to seduce women into false beliefs is Joyce Meyer. Joyce Meyer’s reach on social media is astounding. She receives more re-tweets on Twitter than the Miami Heat and CNN Breaking combined.

In this 2012 article titled “How Joyce Meyer Dominates Twitter”,

“The pillars of social media are YouTube, Facebook, Disney … and Joyce Meyer Ministries, according to a ranking released this week. Social media analytics group Track Social ranked the top public Twitter brands and found that @JoyceMeyer was retweeted more often than any other brand, topping ESPN, the Miami Heat and CNN. That’s right – Fenton-based Joyce Meyer Ministries was hotter than Jeremy Lin last month.”

Their top 10 ranking of retweets per day:

 1. Joyce Meyer Ministries
2. ESPN
3. Joel Osteen Ministries
4. Miami Heat
5. Breaking News
6. NBA
7. CNN Breaking News
8. Los Angeles Lakers
9. Chicago Bulls
10. BBC Breaking News

In 2012 Meyer had 750,000 followers and 11 months later, by November 2013, she had 2.5 Million, by April 2014 it was up to 2.75 million. Do you believe that?!?! I was astounded myself when I read it. Meyer’s message goes out tonearly 3 million people per day. Besides ranking “first in retweets, Joyce Meyer Ministries ranked first in overall social media marketing, first in social engagement and first in social buzz.”

I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you,
not sparing the flock; Acts 20:29. Wikimedia Commons

“What makes the Joyce Meyer Twitter feed so popular? The account only tweets a handful of times a day, but the tweets’ messages – “We’re never hopeless with God. All things are possible through Him!” – give the direct inspiration that all 750,000-plus followers can share.”

Ear tickling. She has the same thing other false teachers have, a winsome personality, Christian-sounding language, and friendly approach to sin, with rare talk of holiness. Add a mega dose of word faith prosperity and you have a winning combination. Apparently.
We should inculcate a desire for women to increase their knowledge of God’s word and the Lord and to be more competent theologians. ~Mortification of Spin.

This reach should be a God-given blessing. Imagine the power of the Gospel infiltrating millions of homes, and minds! But the Gospel is not the message Joyce Meyer promotes. She tickles ears and presents doctrines of demons, there fore this reach is not a blessing. It is a curse.

The following excerpt is from a pastor who became fed up with the false message of this woman and called her out from the pulpit. I agree with doing that, because many of the congregation read or follow false teachers, without their pastor knowing who is reading what. It is good once in a while to make a blanket warning about the false ones so that the sheep know who the wolves are. In 2012, Pastor Jim Murphy did this in a message called The Subtlety of Satan, (and included Beth Moore in the stuff he planned to root OUT of the Sunday School curricula, bookstore, and library).

Why I Called Out Joel Osteen and Joyce Meyer
By Rick Henderson, August 5, 2013
I have been preaching for 20 years. Yesterday I did something that I have never done before in a sermon. I publicly called out false teachers and named them by name. I said,

If you listen to Joel Osteen and Joyce Meyer, if you take what they teach seriously, it will not be good for you. It will be detrimental to your long-term growth as a follower of Jesus.

And that is why we press upon you so hard, because ultimately these false teachers want your destruction. They will make a shipwreck of your faith. We care about you so deeply we are willing to risk your ire and our friendship to tell you these things.

If a book is on the Christian bestseller list, you probably shouldn’t buy it. ~Todd Pruitt, Mortification of Spin.
Pastor Henderson continued, and I agree with this completely…I haven’t written about Meyer before now because I thought it was so obvious she’s false, but no. I was wrong.

“I used to think that their error was so blatantly obvious that they could just be ignored. I was wrong. They are massively growing in popularity in the evangelical world and are seen as credible and helpful. …When I first heard her tell her story I was deeply moved and impressed. She is an amazing example of overcoming hurts and abuse. She will forever have my admiration and respect in that regard. Furthermore, she gives spectacular advice. If my wife or if one of my daughters went to her in a moment of crisis, I believe they would return with magnificently helpful advice. If they went to her for teaching, they would return with deadly heresy.”

And that is how Meyer – and all false teachers – hook you. Satan appeared to be helping Eve in the garden. The false ones use the bible. Of course they will have a bible in their hand, quote it, use it. If they failed to quote the bible it would be obvious they were false. If they quoted Buddha or the Koran, it would be obvious. But they use the bible. It is a matter of HOW they use the bible that makes discernment difficult. Charles Spurgeon said discernment isn’t just detecting between right and wrong it is discerning between right and almost right.

But here is why I thought it would be obvious Meyer is false. Meyer has said,

“God rose up from His throne and said to demon powers tormenting the sinless Son of God, ‘Let Him go.’ Then the resurrection power of Almighty God went through hell and filled Jesus… He was resurrected from the dead – the first born-again man.”

Listen to Meyer actually saying her many heresies here, and here, or go to Pr. Henderson’s link above for the full explanation. More links will follow below.

But in just the 100 words above, Meyer is denying the —
•Location of the atonement, (Meyer says it was the cross AND hell)
•The sufficiency of the cross in the atonement (the cross wasn’t enough, Jesus had to go to hell also)
•Sinlessness of Jesus (you only need to be born again if you’re a sinner, Jesus was never born again, He was sinless. Hebrews 4:15)

And we haven’t even discussed Meyer’s word-faith/prosperity gospel nor her failure in financial accountability with the millions she has raked in.

Husbands, brothers, pastors, your women are vulnerable to satan in massive ways in this technological day and age. Your message from the pulpit is only one of many she listens to each day. You compete with Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, mommy blogs, radio while she is commuting, tv preachers while she is folding laundry at home, and the doctrinally disastrous music of her teenage children.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Miss Auras By Sir John Lavery ca 1900

So what can we do?

Pastors, guard your flock. Actively. Name names. Be aware of the books and other material people are placing in the church library. Do a once-over of the Sunday School curriculum now and then. Apostasy is rising so fast, curricula that were acceptable even five years ago are no longer. I refer you to Jim Murphy’s sermon above, “The Subtlety of Satan.” As Carl Trueman mentions on the radio show linked here and below, (“Extra Special Revelation“), don’t do it in a cavalier manner that offends, but in a way that provokes interest and further questions.

Husbands, guard your wives. Check in with her on her spiritual needs in terms of books and devotionals. Sarah Young’s Jesus Calling devotional is currently sweeping Christian circles and it is a devotional that is not only blasphemous but is rank heresy. Same with Ann Voskamp’s devotional. Same with anything by Beth Moore. And Joyce Meyer. Help her be discerning and select appropriate spiritual material. It is one of the joys of male leadership and one of your duties too. (1 Timothy 3:12).

Women, you don’t HAVE to choose books or devotionals just because a woman wrote them. As a matter of fact, there are many great books and devotionals out there that men wrote and I guarantee they are usually meatier. Randy Alcorn’s “We Shall See God” is great. I contains Spurgeon devotions on heaven intertwined with Alcorn’s devotional thoughts. It is a good way to be introduced to Spurgeon AND eschatology. It’s eating meat but in little bites.

Wives, becoming theologically sharper prepares you to help your husband and also demonstrates your devotion to him and his spiritual well-being. (1 Peter 3:1; Ephesians 5:33).

How can we challenge women to be good theologians? Housewife Theologian Aimee Byrd Aimee Byrd was asked on the Mortification of Spin show. 

“There are no books telling men how to take out the trash for God but there seem to be a lot of books out there for women on how to get skinny for God, how to do the laundry better. … Theology is a very practical thing. What we believe about God shapes our decisions every single day. Pastors, elders, and the church in general should be encouraging to women to be growing in their theological study.

Byrd (she’s good!!) recommends for women, the Abridged John Owen book “Communion with God.” Rather than the treacle that passes for spiritual meat by Sarah Young of Jesus Calling, if you want to commune with God, this abridged and modernized paperback is a great start. It is also a great way to be introduced to the Puritans.

Training Hearts, Teaching Minds: Family Devotions by Starr Meade is also recommended
There is not a lot of teaching in Jesus Calling about the person of God and the work of Jesus Christ.
~Aimee Byrd
On the 30 minute Mortification of Spin radio show, a recent discussion by Carl Trueman, Todd Pruitt, and Aimee Byrd revolved around women and their desire to “hear more from God”, Jesus Calling, and why women are falling for these kinds of books and what pastors can do about it.

Men and women, it’s good to ponder the following question: how can the church help women be more discerning? Our church’s Discipling pastor said “Pray for like-minded women.”

Prayer! In addition to requesting wisdom and discernment of God, ask Jesus to increase your discernment. Do we think this isn’t one of the good gifts He wants to give us?! (Matthew 7:11). It is aligned in His will for us to be pure and holy (Titus 2:4-5) so we can honor Him in Spirit and truth. (John 5:23).

Pray for courage. It takes boldness to approach a person who asks you if you have read the latest Joyce Meyer book or done the latest Beth Moore study to disabuse them of the helpfulness of either of those women teachers. It should be done sensitively. You don’t want to make someone feel stupid for having already chosen to read a particular book, follow a certain blog, or taken a specific course. But share we must.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I hope this three part series has helped you, my sisters. I love my brethren and it wounds me to think of even one of you hurting from having fallen under the sway of a false teacher or a bad doctrine. Please consider these things, test what I’ve said against scripture, and pray for wisdom and discernment for the Spirit to apply what He knows you need to your heart and mind. He is coming soon, our Groom. We honor him by remaining as pure as possible, persevering to the end as holy saints.

Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.” (1 Corinthians 3:16-17).

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. (James 1:27)

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, 12instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, (Titus 2:12)

Posted in antics, beth moore, circus, dignity, ed young, gramling, inappropriate, Rod Parsley, sober, worship

Men of the Church: Are You Sober?

Posted on by elizabethprata

When you read the New Testament you’d be surprised to read how many times men (and women) are called to be sober. And most time when the word sober is used, it means not only ‘not drunk’ of course, but mentally alert, sharp, thinking clearly with right judgment. Women are called to be sober as well. In many cases for both sexes, particularly church leaders, it’s meant as a call to be dignified. (Proverbs 31:25; 1 Timothy 2:2).

Three years ago, when I first posted about Beth Moore and the trouble I was having with her teaching, one of the things I took issue with is that she isn’t dignified when she teaches. I’d written,

She isn’t dignified. Yes, that’s what I said. Beth Moore is not dignified on her stage. She moves around a lot, quickly delivering scriptures and her interpretations in rapid-fire fashion. She will use tricks like having a wastebasket prop to “throw away” negative behaviors, she presses participants to wear bracelets that supposedly mean certain things (I read this from three blogs) and she will contort, kneel, dance, and generally cut up, sometimes while holding the bible. Laughter is frequent.

A bible lesson is not a comedy routine. I am all for laughter. Our pastor says some funny things sometimes and the congregation will of course laugh. I am among those who laugh loud and I’m sure even the choir can hear me from where I sit. But teaching the bible with respect requires some gravitas. It requires some dignity. It isn’t a prop or a party trick. I shun antics as the main behavior of the teaching session. Funny sometimes, yes. Zany bible teachers? No.

Call me staid (Decorous? Sedate?) but I don’t think Paul hung “I AM” posters
around the necks of hapless volunteers in the synagogues
when he was reasoning with them

“Their wives likewise must be dignified, not slanderers, but sober-minded, faithful in all things.” (1 Timothy 3:11)

I took a lot of flak from people about that rebuke. Many people thought I was being too picky, or too staid, or too Northern. Most of those people who said I was wrong had overlooked the clear commands in the bible about behaving soberly in church and out. Even though I posted them, lol. But it’s pretty simple. We’re commanded again and again to be sober.

Many people these days don’t like it when we remind ourselves of a doctrinal standard. (2 Tim 4:3). They really hate it when we remind ourselves that there are behavioral standards, too. ‘Who are you to judge how someone should act?!’ Etc. But it’s not me, it’s God. They are His standards, both doctrinal and behavioral (moral).

As you read all the verses in the NT which mention sobriety, you begin to notice a pattern. Sobriety in behavior comes first because we are clear in our thinking. ‘Be sober-minded’ ‘Exercise sober judgment’. ‘Don’t be drunk, so you can think clearly.’ Like that. We are called to act this way because we hold Jesus up as the highest and most important Person in the universe, worthy to be worshiped. We are serious about this and we are dignified about it too. We want to think clearly, witness accurately, show self-control, love, and patience, and be serious about the King so we can make good decisions. We also do this because we do not want to be a stumbling block to the weak. (1 Corinthians 8:9, Romans 14:21).

With all this in mind, let’s take a look at the spectacle that Christian worship services have become. Are these men sober-minded? Exercising good judgment?

“Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness…” (Titus 2:2)
source

In the above picture, ‘Pastor’ Troy Gramling set himself ablaze to demonstrate something from his preaching series “Daredevil.” (Why any Christian would want to say he is anything like a devil is beyond me…Christ bought us away from the devil). When Paul wrote to Timothy about the behavioral qualifications of pastors, and thought he had covered it with ‘exercise good judgment ‘ and ‘be sober,’ I don’t think he would have thought he’d have needed to spell it out: “Do not set yourself on fire.”

In the photo below, ‘Pastor’ Ed Young decided to preach about sex. Young and his wife Lisa staged a 24-hour bed-in on the church’s roof to discuss truths about sex before a live Internet audience. When Paul wrote the following words to Timothy…

“As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” (2 Timothy 4:5)

…I am sure he did not think to include prohibitions about silly stunts in the sun and sex talk in front of the world. ‘Fulfill your ministry by being immodest, a stumbling block to the young and intemperate, and say  things in public that would embarrass your mother. G’wan. Jesus is ‘kay with it.”

‘Pastor’ Rod Parlsey is pastor of World Harvest Church, a large Pentecostal church in Columbus, Ohio. As Stand Up For the Truth describes the now deleted video, “Is it a bird? Is it Tom Cruise? No, it is a pastor! Rod Parsley of World Harvest Church is raising some eyebrows by releasing this now-viral video of himself zip lining through the air over his cheering congregation, and landing onto his pulpit. His band is playing the “Mission Impossible” theme music to kick off its “Mission Possible” sermon series leading into Easter.“

Easter!!!

source

“The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers.” (1 Peter 4:7)

At the revelation of Jesus Christ, do you think the Head of our church will look favorably on the ziplining pastor making a mockery out of his House of Prayer? Well, how did He like it the first time? (Matthew 21:13)

“Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 1:13)

In this next example, we’re told not to think more highly of ourselves than we should, but ‘Pastor’ Steven Furtick thinks just as highly of himself as Jesus thinks of the Father.

“For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.” (Romans 12:3).

source

Furtick is building the church? I thought Jesus was doing that. Building it upon a vision Furtick had? I thought the church was being built on the fact that Jesus is savior. And uniting around Furtick’s vision? I thought we were supposed to unite around the Spirit. (Ephesians 4:3)

“Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. … And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Matthew 16:16, 18)

Blasphemy. And remember, Furtick was the one who perverted the worship service by seeding planted people in the audience to manipulate congregants into coming forward for a baptism he called spontaneous, but was anything but. It was a total manipulation from start to finish, including the music, teaching the planted people how fast or slow to walk down the aisle and what to say to the baptizees coming forward. Spontaneous, my eye.

“You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.” ~Inigo Montoya

Strong’s numbered Greek words in the lexicon explain that in most cases in the above verses, ‘sober’ means for the believer to “think shrewdly”, reflecting what God defines is true moderation. In the other cases, it means don’t be drunk. ‘Be sober, unintoxicated’ refers to having presence of mind (clear judgment), enabling someone to be temperate (self-controlled)”.

Jesus is the head of the church. If we can’t picture Jesus doing something or saying something behind the pulpit, then His under-shepherd shouldn’t do it.

I’m not talking about never smiling, never having fun, or never relaxing. In fellowship or casual settings away from church, sure, have fun. Even then, don’t be so wild as to give cause to the unbelievers to slander us. (1 Tim 5:14). But in church or in bible teaching settings, such antics have no place. Why? Because of this verse:

“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:12-13)

Obey. Fear. Trembling. It is all joined at verse 13- ‘for it is God…’ God is in us, working out His will and plan and we work out our salvation because we obey in fear and trembling. Why? Again, because He’s God.

We feel utter joy in knowing He is God and utter gratitude for our salvation. We do feel joy and love and we exhibit it, but it is all rooted in the fear and trembling because He is God, and there is no other. We aren’t flippant, casual, irreverent, zany, ‘devilish’, foolish, or outrageous. Our joy comes from the fear and trembling, the fear of sinning against the Lord, of not being active in our sanctification, and fear of loss of rewards

If you would like to listen to an excellent sermon on the Christian life centered around an exposition of the above Philippians verse, please do so. It is by Dr Steven Lawson, “Christian Living 101: Part 1” Here it is

Meanwhile, remember worship is not a party! Be sober, be mindful, be dignified. This will please Jesus.

Posted in beth moore, discernment, false teachers, priscilla shirer, roma downey, unwrap the bible

Heretic Beth Moore partners with New Age Mystic Roma Downey in new bible convention touted as "America’s Largest Bible Event"

Posted on by elizabethprata

The bible says that Adam was made first, then Eve. (1 Timothy 2:13). Man was made to have a woman in his life because otherwise he is not complete, and woman was made to be a man’s helpmeet. (Genesis 2:10). When a woman is out from the protection of a man, her father, older brother, husband, etc, she is vulnerable to deception. (1 Timothy 2:14).”

“Just as Satan’s strategy was to deceive Eve, so heretical false teachers have frequently chosen to spread their falsehoods by the same method. It doesn’t mean that they don’t approach men also, it’s just that Scripture’s telling us this is their target very often.” (source)

In secular life, “American women influence 80 percent of all automotive purchases…Chances are, you rule the roost when it comes to deciding which vehicles your family will drive. Your fella may want that Ferrari but cooler heads prevail, since you can’t really slap that child safety seat into the back of a California. Yes, women do make most family vehicle decisions…”

This UK Telegraph article reports that Women are key decision-makers in the home, DWP says
“But they are increasingly taking charge of traditional male household decisions such as choosing the family car, which pension provider or utility firms to choose and where to go on holiday.”

Satan sees an opportunity to weaken the church through the women, by women. We see this clearly in Revelation 2:20-23.

“But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols. I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality. Behold, I will throw her onto a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works, and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches will know that I am he who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you according to your works.”

Apparently, a woman was teaching in Thyatira even though the bible says women are not to teach in the church over men. (1 Timothy 2:12). Worse, she was teaching heresy. Worst of all, the discerning Christians in the church at Thyatira knew she wasn’t fit and wasn’t true, but tolerated her anyway. Jesus said unless she repents, and her followers also, He will kill them. The ones who tolerated the false teaching from a women, He has this against them. It is the most weighty matter to have the God of the Universe against you.

Here is the problem. First, the penchant for big convention events is growing. I remarked that the Passion event held at the Georgia Dome for youths between ages 18 and 26 is at root a Gnostic event. I further mentioned that rounding up youths and taking them away from their parents for a several-day sleep-away event apart from their home church to learn doctrines from people with no accountability is simply not a good idea. The Women of Faith organization also has staged Revolve events aimed at teenage girls since 2005.

There are huge bible events, Christian retreats, revivals, and workshops held for many reasons targeted at many segments of the population, and for men, this may or may not be fine. But for youths and for women, it is not good. Youths and women are being separated from their families and home church, rounded up by wolves as it were, as sheep and getting them away from the safety of the pack. Once apart, they are either shredded by false doctrine, gangrenous theological disease, and poisonous leaven- or, they are planted with false doctrines to bring back to their home church and let bake in a slow cooking oven of leaven and the church dies from the inside.

So, increasingly, youths and women are being targeted for infiltration at huge “live events” where doctrine will be taught away from the oversight of the husbands or parents. Another new women’s convention has just concluded, and it is touted as the biggest bible event in Christianity. It is put on by Women of Faith, which is reported by Wikipedia,

“Women of Faith is a Christian-based live events organization. It stages non-denominational events across North America. According to the company, its events have been attended by more than four five million people in total.”

Five million people! That is a lot of people. What are some things the Women of Faith live events are offering? The newest is-

“We’re thrilled to announce with our friends at Women of Faith, America’s largest event for Christian women, the creation of a brand new bible event, ‘Unwrap the Bible.’ ” (source)

Who is involved in Unwrap the Bible? Mark Burnett and Roma Downey.

Burnett & Downey in promo video for “Unwrap the Bible”

This husband and wife duo are not saved. They are workers of evil. They are heretics. They are not in partnership with the Light. They do not know Jesus. I am trying to be very clear. Mrs Downey has a spiritual degree from a New Age teaching institution, practices mysticism, Catholicism, and necromancy (seeking communication with the dead). On live television, Downey communicated with her dead mother through a medium on live TV. Necromancy is strictly forbidden in the bible-

“Do not turn to mediums or necromancers; do not seek them out, and so make yourselves unclean by them: I am the Lord your God.” (Leviticus 19:31). Also Deuteronomy 18:9-12, 2 Kings 21:6, Isaiah 8:19, Revelation 21:8.

The same duo created The Bible miniseries seen last year on the History Channel, and from that series, edited it down to a 90 minute movie focused on Jesus, called Son of God and released this month in movie theaters. The TV mini-series and the movie theatrical release both were fraught with biblical omissions, twistings, and outright heresy and in no way represented the accurate truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ nor did they correctly reflect His spotless character and Person. Yet Mrs Downey is considered a Christian. She is partnered with Women of Faith in this new bible teaching endeavor.

Why I am NOT watching the History Channel’s miniseries ‘The Bible’.

Why I am NOT going to see the Son of God movie

The lineup of bible teachers at the Unwrap the Bible convention (just concluded a few weeks ago) are below. Beth Moore is one of the teachers who taught at the convention. Some of the materials the women of faith are using are the clips from the Son of God movie. The promotional material states,

“In addition to the in-depth Bible study, dynamic worship pastor and recording artist Kari Jobe will lead musical worship and praise throughout the event. The program will also include video clips from Mark Burnett and Roma Downey’s “The Bible” mini-series, illustrating stories from the Scriptures.”

The venue for this largest bible event in America featuring a lineup of utter heretics is, Lakewood Church, Joel Osteen’s Church, a church of heretics led by a heretic.

Now let’s add up the numbers, starting with Women of Faith, five million women. I don’t believe all their events stretching back to the first one in 1996 were all false, I don’t know for sure, but the nature of apostasy is for seducers to creep into to households and by flatteries deceive women. (2 Timothy 3:6, Jude 1:4). So a ministry may start out good, sound good, look good, but if there are any evil doctrines in there, they will eventually come out and pervert the women.

Beth Moore has a following on Twitter of over 450,000 women. She is the cornerstone of LifeWay teaching materials, even being the anchor for their worst quarter when the economy turned sour. In other words, her materials sell briskly to millions of people. Moore has an ongoing rotation of television shows, speaking engagements through Living Proof Conventions, a blog, podcasts, and more. Shirer has 130,000 Twitter followers, plus a webshow, a blog, a bible study and is partnered with Lifeway in Sunday School curriculum, etc.

Aside from the Unwrap the Bible convention, the Passion Convention, Women of Faith conventions, there are other female teachers out there. We haven’t even mentioned the biggest female powerhouse teaching heresy. It’s Joyce Meyer. Her influence and popularity is incredible and deeply penetrating across many denominational lines. Millions of women are influenced by Meyer. Meyer is an outright heretic, claiming that Jesus stopped being the Son of God on the cross, and that she herself isn’t a sinner. The bible says that Jesus is the Everlasting God (Isaiah 40:28, Hebrews 1:8) and anyone who says they don’t sin doesn’t have the truth in them. (1 John 1:8).

In any case, The Christian Post says “Another adept Twitter user is Joyce Meyer Ministries, previously reported as having the most retweeted messages on the network, above brands like ESPN, the Miami Heat and CNN Breaking News.”

Did you know that 140 characters at a time, Meyer is tweeting poisonous and heretical messages cloaked in pious sounding Christianese which are re-tweeted to the tune of being more penetrating than CNN Breaking News??

Retweets are messages Meyer sends out over Twitter, and then someone else sends it out again, in ever widening circles. As of March 21, 2014, Meyer had 2.69 million followers on that particular social media. Meyer has a television show called Enjoying Everyday Life which reaches potentially two-thirds of the world in 32 languages. She has brisk sales of her 30+ books, over 5.2 million likes on Facebook, live speaking engagements, podcasts, and many other venues into which she pours her poison. And this poison is picked up by women and brought into homes, who they are entrusted with the care of the Godly seed, the children. Many times the husband is unaware or barely aware that Meyer, Moore, Shirer, Caine etc teach doctrines contrary to the one Jesus gave us. This infiltration is repeated with Rachel Held Evans, Ann Voskamp, Oprah Winfrey, Lynne Hybels, Jen Hatmaker, Kara Powell…

You see the progression- a household life of the women in charge, yes, even in Christian households, a female’s natural inclination to be spiritually deceived if a male is not guarding her, an incredibly powerful and popular slate of female Christian bible teachers, infiltrating homes with false doctrine at a massive rate with the power and force of a tsunami. Inattentive or undiscerning husbands. You see the problem, the false teachers, many of them women, are coming for the women. And they are succeeding. They did when Paul wrote to Timothy, (2 Timothy 3:5-9) and they are succeeding now. In this sermon by bible teacher John MacArthur on the 2 Timothy 3:5-9 verses, he explains,

Who do you think they’re after? Weak women who are vulnerable because they’re out from some protection and who are captivated by these people because they promise them deliverance from the burden of sin and guilt and they promise them a system of truth … Just as Satan’s strategy was to deceive Eve, so heretical false teachers have frequently chosen to spread their falsehoods by the same method. It doesn’t mean that they don’t approach men also, it’s just that Scripture’s telling us this is their target very often. Women not strong in virtue, weighed down by sins and driven by impulse and lust, women not strong in truth, women who want to know the truth, who are always learning but have never come to the epignosis, the deep knowledge of the truth are the victims. … And then in verse 7 it says they probably are the kind of women who have a curiosity about religion. They’re attracted to easy solutions that don’t really call for a radical change and don’t deal with the real issue, the issue of sin before a holy God and salvation in Jesus Christ. They’re interested in a cheap gospel. They’re the kind of women who maybe are always learning, taking it all in, attracted to some kind of religious teaching.

Fortunately we can review the verse in Revelation when Jesus said he was angered by the prophetess Jezebel and by those who tolerated her. Jesus also said that He gave her (the Jezebel false prophetess) and her followers time to repent. Jesus is merciful! These false teachers have time still to repent!

Any person following these false teachers or promoting their teachings or even just tolerating them can repent! Jesus forgives, He wants His children to be pure and holy, as He is holy. The church however should be guarded always, and this is an active, never-ending activity until the glorification comes. It means NOT tolerating sin, and actively confronting it. In Thyatira’s case, the church failed because of poison from the inside.

We women are entrusted with the Gospel, with helping our husbands, with the children. It is a precious cargo we women have given to us. As Oswald Chambers said, Let us do our utmost for His highest! In this case it is protecting ourselves from false doctrines by reading the word, submitting to male spiritual authority, and constant prayer. In this way, that we may help our husbands or the church in proper encouragement and support, and keeping our children away from heretical teachings.

For you yourselves know, brethren, that our coming to you was not in vain, but after we had already suffered and been mistreated in Philippi, as you know, we had the boldness in our God to speak to you the gospel of God amid much opposition. 

For our exhortation does not come from error or impurity or by way of deceit; but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who examines our hearts.

For we never came with flattering speech, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—God is witness— nor did we seek glory from men, either from you or from others, (1 Thessalonians 2:1-6a)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Further reading

Friends don’t let friends read Beth Moore

Joyce Meyer’s teachings analyzed

Should a Christian go into business with an unbeliever?

Some good women teachers: Don’t settle for silly books

What is the definition of heresy?

Where is Beth Moore’s Husband? 90-second video