We hear so much these days about women being empowered. Needing empowerment. Wanting power. We hear from the feminists that women in today’s church have been oppressed, marginalized, and discriminated against because they do not have the same ‘opportunities’ that men do. Meaning, the feminists are saying women have been denied the equal opportunity to teach men, preach or pastor a church.
This is bunk, of course.
If we go all the way back to Genesis 1:28, we see that God made us male and female. After making humans in 2 genders, God gave both humans a job:
God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
God said to THEM. Is there any additional power women need than with men as partner to jointly care for all of the creation? And to do so within clearly defined boundaries, which is a gift, not a restriction?
Along the way, as the Old Testament and New Testament progressed, we see women with amazing abilities being used by God, as well as men. Esther, the Queen who saved her people. Mary, the humble servant given opportunity to first share the Good News of the resurrection. Lydia, Asia’s first convert and host of one of the earliest home churches. The Samaritan Woman, who was discipled one-on-one by Jesus, then she shared news that helped convert a whole village.
-the high position given to women within Scripture. Women are never relegated to a secondary status and, unlike so many other religions, are never degraded and considered less important than men. From the beginning of the New Testament era to the close of the canon of Scripture we see God granting extraordinary privilege to women. There are countless women in the Bible who stand as examples of faithfulness, integrity, hospitality and every other admirable virtue.
What more do you want, women who demand empowering?
We see the eternal discontent of feminists as a reflection of what happened in the original Garden. God gave Adam and Eve everything, absolutely everything, except for one thing. It was that one thing satan enticed Eve to want.
So it doesn’t matter if the feminists push their way into the pulpit. Their discontent never stops, because there is always that one thing they will want. The Bible says they cannot preach? They want to. Can’t teach men? They want to. Can’t lead men in spiritual authority? They want to. Can’t be master in the home? They want to. We could capitulate and give it all to them and they’ll still want more. That is because sin is a bottomless pit.
Their discontent stems not only from wanting what is forbidden, but from a failure to be grateful for all the opportunities we women DO have. Want to teach other women? We can. Want to raise children? We can. Want to teach children? We can. Want to be hospitable and open your home to others in His name? We can. Want to minister to the brethren? We can. Want to disciple younger ladies? We can. Want to share the Good News of the Gospel? We must.
And so much more.
We have power, power that God gave us. It’s when women step outside the boundaries of that power that our lives go awry. We ladies should be content with the magnificent privileges God has given us. We should be joyful at the stately way Jesus treated women in His day. We should be busy doing ministry in His name within the bounds of the myriad opportunities He did give us.
As for empowerment itself? What IS power?
Jesus has all power. He gives it as He wills. (Luke 9:1).
The angels have power (2 Peter 2:11).
Jesus gave His two witnesses power. (Revelation 11:6).
Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, (Revelation 19:1).
His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. (2 Peter 1:3).
An entire level of angels is called powers. (Colossians 1:16).
When you hear women saying they want to be empowered, they are not pushing for power from the men who lead churches or denominations. They are making demands of God. How do I know this? John 19:11a
Jesus answered, You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above.
All power comes from God. So before you might be tempted to listen to women who go around clamoring for empowerment, stop and think of what they are really demanding and who they are demanding it from.
If we are content, we will be doing what Paul advised in 1 Thessalonians 4:10b-11,
But we urge you, brothers, to excel more and more 11and to aspire to live quietly, to attend to your own matters, and to work with your own hands, as we instructed you.
If we work hard, attend to our own business, and live quietly, we will be doing much better than the loud women who roar for empowerment and make evil claims against a holy God. After all, we have a co-charge to be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth. That’s power enough, don’t you think?
This essay appeared on The End Time on August 5, 2010.
By Elizabeth Prata
Ann Rice is famous for her vampire series of books, her bi-sexual erotica, and her very public conversion to Catholicism ten years ago. Her announcement that she is quitting Christianity is, of course, just as public. She said:
“Today I quit being a Christian. I’m out,” she wrote. “I remain committed to Christ as always but not to being ‘Christian’ or to being part of Christianity. It’s simply impossible for me to ‘belong’ to this quarrelsome, hostile, disputatious and deservedly infamous group. For 10 years, I’ve tried. I’ve failed. I’m an outsider. My conscience will allow nothing else…. In the name of Christ, I refuse to be anti-gay. I refuse to be anti-feminist. I refuse to be anti-artificial birth control. I refuse to be anti-Democrat. I refuse to be anti-secular humanism. I refuse to be anti-science. I refuse to be anti-life. In the name of Christ, I quit Christianity and being Christian. Amen.”
Note: Catholicism is not Christianity. That is why it is so evil- it looks like it could be a form of Christianity, but it is not. Adherents are deceived, sadly. Many of them are deceived eternally!
Rice wrote that she cannot get behind a religion that is “anti-gay”. The culture of our times, here in the last days before the Time of Jacob’s Trouble, is such that man’s personal choices and ideas always trump God’s. His standards for morality and purity are that His men and women refrain from sexual indulgence until marriage, that the married are opposite sexes, that they stay married, that they remain faithful until they die. This notion is mocked and scorned today. The literati firmly claim that it is hopelessly outdated. Even Federal Judge Walker said that the notion of opposite-sex genders as the only qualifiers for marriage is an “artifact from a past time” when he overturned the California constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman.
Equally, the notion that God renders consequences on those who choose to set aside His standards is anathema to today’s culture. No one wants to be held accountable and no one wants to think that anything they do has any consequences whatsoever. Ann Rice’s renunciation of the religion, the Bible, yet claims of remaining faithful to Jesus are just another example of the tendency for fallen humans to pick and choose ideals with which they can remain fleshly and indulge in their favorite pastimes.
It is particularly poignant that she states that she remains “committed” to Christ but quits adhering to His standards, and in His name, no less. One cannot remain committed to someone or something after you selectively decline so many precepts the entirety looks like a foundation-less house. It is not possible to remain “committed to Christ” and repudiate His Word and His standards for purity, marriage, life, and culture. It is simply not possible.
Further, her statement reveals just how little she understood genuine conversion. Upon renunciation of your sins, seeking forgiveness of Jesus for them, and last, submitting to His will for your life, The Holy Spirit then enters and seals you. (Ephesians 1:13). Thinking that even for a minute that man can tell the Spirit to come or go is ridiculous. Thinking for even a minute that man has the power to break a seal that God Himself set is even more ridiculous. And Jesus promised that the gates of Hades will not prevail against His church. (Matthew 16:18). Ann Rice never was a Christian. You can’t leave something you never went to. And sadly, Ann Rice believes she is a friend of God, has the power to break His seal, and can select at will the precepts to which she will adhere. This attitude is prevalent today, held not just by author Rice, but many, even most, Christians and non-believers.
Of course there is no such thing as an ex-Christian. (1 John 2:19). But it speaks to how far we have fallen and how blinded we have become to even say such a thing with a straight face. The only thing left in Ann Rice’s spiritual landscape is the name of her Savior; the very God who hung on the cross so that she would be allowed to claim Him as savior- or reject Him. Unfortunately, Rice, and all of who believes as she does, will discover the devastating choice she made when Judgment Day rolls around. She can refuse to be anti-gay, anti birth control, anti-feminist all she wants. And she, and all who refuse the Way of Jesus will hear this:
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’ (Matthew 7:21-23)
Christian, if you have the Spirit in you, your walk should be closer each today to Him. If you wonder whether you are saved (or are considering “leaving Christianity”), then pray, pray hard and do a heart-check. Appeal to Him to forgive your sins and then repent, which means turn away from temptations and lifestyles that draw you back into lawlessness. It’s now, or then. And for eternity’s sake, turn from lawlessness NOW.
We live in an age where fellow Christians say that to speak of someone specific being a false teacher is mean, or ill-mannered, or inappropriate. “Just let them alone, God will take care if them,” they say. Or they claim that speaking against false teaching is uncivil, and to “Just pray for them.” Many of thems ay, “You can’t know if he/she is false, you don’t know their heart.”
The skill of discernment (and the gift, too) involves vigilance. It is extremely important. John MacArthur wrote,
In its simplest definition, discernment is nothing more than the ability to decide between truth and error, right and wrong. Discernment is the process of making careful distinctions in our thinking about truth. In other words, the ability to think with discernment is synonymous with an ability to think biblically.
Every book of the New Testament (except Philemon) has some passage or chapter devoted to its writer urging fellow Christians to practice discernment in order to combat some false teaching or other. Jude is entirely taken up with the topic. And the exhortations in those books of the Bible are not to stand by and let false teachers be. Those admonishments are not to tolerate false teaching and wait until Jesus comes back to judge it. Not only the NT writers, but Jesus also has some very explicit thoughts about churches that practice discernment. And those instructions are not to overlook it, be passive abou ti, or ignore it. Quite the opposite.
You might know that the book of Revelation is a considered an apocalyptic book. It deals with last things, and Jesus’ return in victory. However the first two chapters are letters to churches of the time, but also warnings and encouragements for us in this day and all present days. Some churches received a commendation only, some received a hard warning only and most churches received a little of both.
In the letter to the church at Ephesus, we read that Jesus directed the apostle John to write,
I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. (Revelation 2:2).
In this letter, Jesus opens by congratulating the church for being discerning. They are lauded for their persevering efforts to retain the highest purity possible in their church. How? First, they can’t bear the evil ones in their midst, and second, they tested those who call themselves teachers. Their discernment was apparently a skilled discernment, because Jesus congratulates them for worming out which teachers were false.
Never, ever let anyone tell you that discernment is unnecessary.
John MacArthur preached on this verse from Revelation, saying in part,
Beyond that, verse 3 says something else about them: ‘You cannot tolerate evil men. You cannot tolerate evil men.’ They were intolerant of sin. They were sensitive to the presence of evil. They hated evildoers as God hates evildoers. They resented evil; they resented evildoers. They resented sin; they resented sin in the church. They recognized the damage that sin does to the fellowship and the testimony. They saw that sin in the church destroys the unity of the church and destroys the testimony of the church. They hated all that was morally bad, all that was spiritually bad. They knew that a little leaven leavens the whole lump.
…Or, you could say this: ‘You put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false.’ This is a church with discernment.
Where does discernment come from? Well, where does discernment come from; clearly, it comes from a knowledge of the truth, right? The only way you can discern error is know what? Truth. You have to have the truth in order to see the error.
Many evil people come into the congregations, particularly in the early church. Satan was infiltrating these early churches all the time. Judaizers, false teachers were everywhere. This church took the warning seriously.
I saw a couple of quotes today one after the other (not linked or published on purpose, just happenstance) that made me think about music in worship once again.
Not to debate contemporary vs. traditional. Though I’m a huge traditionalist, I’m also a realist, and I know there has been good music written after 1900, though, lol.
I enjoyed my own church’s service yesterday, as I always do. We are a nearly three-year church plant. We have a plurality of elders (4), a time of confession during the service, and good music. It’s a mixture of old and new. The team takes care to select songs and hymns that match the theme of the sermon.
Music isn’t all there is to a service, meaning, it’s not primary. But it’s not secondary either. It’s important and has its place. Yesterday I was thinking about how important it is when we hear the word preached and when we sing and hear the song words sung. It is all supposed to edify us.
We should be careful about the words of the music we sing and ensure that those words communicate truth. —@RCSproul
My friend Rachel tweeted,
Rachel, @REL4077
8:21 PM – 29 Jul 2018
I’ve listened to a lot of Christian music from the 70s/80s and a lot of CM from that time focused so much on Christ’s return, who Jesus is, and the need to share the Gospel. What happened since then that we have songs about reckless love and our “messed up” lives?!! Give me Jesus.
I agree. To that end, here is a thoughtful article from the Reformed Church in America. (Note: I liked the article but don’t know much about the website as a whole, but they seem a bit social justic-y to me “make the world a better place”, and they use the word ‘broken’.)
This article lists some thoughtful things about how we approach music in worship.
Here are just a few quotes from the article, which again, I enjoyed. It outlines some facts about music in worship and then outlines a framework to think about when selecting music.
The church’s ministry of song is for the edification of God’s people
The church’s ministry of song is for the glory of God
It is also important that the emotional power of music in worship be evocative rather than manipulative, honest rather than manufactured, and that the congregation’s singing allow for the full range of emotions in worship.
Does our congregational singng include the many moods and types of prayer, including praise, thanksgiving, confession, lament, intercession, and dedication? A congregation which sings only “upbeat” praise choruses and hymns, for example, will have a diminished and restricted understanding of prayer.
I pray that you enjoy the thoughts here, the article at thelink, and most of all, music in worship.
Yesterday I wrote anessay describing the preeminence of Jesus and how God in Hebrews 1:1-2 said He has spoken through His Son. What this means, for claimants of direct revelation, is that once God said He has spoken through His perfect, holy, supreme being of His son, God then chose to speak to and through Joe Blow in Peoria and Jane Q. Public in Waco? No. Jesus’ preeminence means God has the perfect vessel through which to speak, He has spoken, and He is no longer speaking through prophets, bushes, donkeys, mountains, or men. I’d made the bold claim that if a person says they have heard directly from God or Jesus, they do not believe Jesus is preeminent.
This post is a PS to that thought regarding direct revelation. It involves the content of these supposed revelations.
One thing you notice about these revelations, visions, dreams and intuitions, is that the content of them is small. They usually involve advice on jobs, careers, or other personal mundanities. If they involve biblical content, the revelations do not usually align with the Bible. Sarah Young, author of Jesus Calling, comes to mind, where the totality of her revelations are strikingly similar to one another and to what a middle aged white woman in America would say or think, not God’s grand redemptive plan. For example,
Softly I announce my Presence. Shimmering hues of radiance tap gently at your consciousness, seeking entrance. Though I have all Power in heaven and on earth, I am infinitely tender with you…
Like He was with Saul/Paul? Thrown to the ground and blinded?
The Conversion of Saul, by Michaelangelo
My face is shining upon you, beaming out Peace that transcends understanding. You are surrounded by a sea of problems, but you are face to face with Me, your Peace… ~Sarah Young, Jesus Calling
‘Beaming out peace’ to even one of His believers?
The angel strikes Zechariah mute
In the past, when God spoke to people or through intermediaries, did He dispense personal advice? Suggest jobs or where to buy a house? Promise career success? Give tips on how to resolve that prickly relationship with the mother-in-law? No, He only spoke of His redemptive plan or addressed immediate circumstances if it affected His redemptive plan, not the minutiae of personal life. See these excerpted thoughts from the Titus Institute. (Other than this one article I am not familiar with the Titus Institute, though it seems to be a good resource on first glance).
After the fall, what we see throughout the Scriptures is God communicating with specific individuals at specific times for specific purposes that always involve his redemptive plan. He only addressed personal sin or other personal issues when it involved his redemptive plan.
God spoke to our forefathers (OT believers) through the prophets and has spoken to us (NT believers) in his Son.
God spoke to the people of Israel through intermediaries, the prophets. When he spoke to the prophets, it always had to do with his redemptive plan, not personal issues in their lives unless it involved his redemptive plan.
The pattern in both the OT and NT is God speaking to his people through intermediaries and those intermediaries receiving revelation only regarding matters involving God’s redemptive plan. Those intermediaries were then to speak to God’s people about righteousness. This involved preaching about what is good and right before God and about what is sin and evil before God which we as God’s people are to apply in our lives.
Those intermediaries then wrote that revelation down which became the OT and NT.
Even when God spoke to these intermediaries, we see infrequent communication rather than frequent regular communication.
He spoke to Noah 5 times over 950 yrs, Abraham 8 times over 175 yrs, Isaac 2 times and 1 time to Rebekah over 180 yrs, Jacob 7 times and 1 time to Laban over Jacob’s lifetime. These are just some examples.
We also see that God does not address personal issues, only issues that involve his redemptive plan.
In the New Testament,
Two major things we notice, the revelation from God was infrequent and it was purposeful, always concerning Peter and Paul’s ministry, not personal matters.
Most of the time, Peter and Paul were ministering for the Lord without receiving direct revelation from the Lord.
Even at important times of decision the Lord did not always speak to them. In Acts 1:21-26, Peter used the casting of lots to determine the Lord’s will. In Acts 6:1-7, there is no record of revelation regarding the selection of men for the widow’s ministry. In Acts 15, there is no record of revelation in the first doctrinal crisis of the early church regarding what is necessary to be saved.
We see that man forfeited at the fall, direct communication with God on a personal basis. He then only received direct revelation through intermediaries. God communicated infrequently and only as He deemed necessary to fulfill His redemptive plan.
When we get to heaven we will have direct communication with God again. That is part of the blessing of redemption.
Now Ladies, if you would, please think of how often we hear and see today’s ‘Bible teachers’ claim they heard personally from God. Then please compare with God’s actual activity recorded in the Bible. Think about how infrequently He spoke and about what kinds of things He said.
Beware of ‘teachers’ who claim to have had revelations apart from the Bible. If you think you have had a revelation yourself, please re-think that and refer again to the scripture in Hebrews 1:1-2. God spoke through His Son, who appeared in the flesh on earth to seek and save the lost, to die in our place for our sin, and who rose again to take His place next to the father. He is THE Word. His life and teachings are recorded in the Bible, which would take years and lifetimes to learn, understand.
The Bible is enough. More than enough, it’s a gift beyond measure. When we are glorified we’ll have an eternity of direct communication with our Savior. For now, rest on His written word, and do not seek vain communiques from a disembodied voice.
Women have for at least two generations now, grown up in the faith with famous or celebrity women Bible teachers claiming to have had personal revelations and interactions with Jesus. They say “God told me” or “God laid it on my heart to tell you” or “I want to share some of the messages I have received” or “I heard Him specifically say…” Their persistent claims of direct revelation outside of the Bible has normalized it when it was never even normal in Bible times! Worse, it has accomplished two things:
–de facto declared the insufficiency of the Bible
–made a generation of women illiterate, because why do the hard work of studying the Bible when it can just plop down from the sky?
God is not speaking today to people outside of His word.
Whenever I or any of my friends say this, we receive tremendous push back. We are charged with proving it. We are told we’re wrong/bad/ignorant of scripture or history. Or, demands are made for scriptures that say so. But when provided, those very scriptures are dismissed. We are given the excuse that we must not “put God in a box” because, after all, He has the ability to do anything He wants, including speak to us in any way or at any time He wants.
It’s true that in the past He spoke in many different ways. He spoke directly to man (Adam, Noah, Moses et al), through rituals, ceremonies, from the sky, from the mountain, a donkey, angels, prophets, and a burning bush.
I want to come at this from a different tack today. I was listening to Steven J. Lawson preach Hebrews 1:1-4. This is the classic text that declares that God has ceased speaking because, though He spoke in many ways in prior ages, He has spoken finally in this age, through His Son. WHat came to my mind as Lawson preached was this:
Jesus is the Supreme Being of the Universe. He is the unrivaled supreme one.
And that is why God is not speaking to you.
The previous ways God spoke to man described above are indicative of His progressive revelation. God was building revelatory knowledge of His redemptive plan thread by thread, weaving a picture in His tapestry of redemption through the ages. The pinnacle, the capstone, the zenith of that picture, is Christ. Jesus is God’s exact imprint. (Hebrews 1:3). He is the ultimate. He is the highest. He is all-authority. He said and did everything the Father wanted, perfectly. God’s words, His concepts, and His principles are supreme overall, and represent His final word through Christ.
People who insist that God or Jesus speaks to them, do you really think that after having set Jesus up as His apex, declaring Himself pleased, that God will then will go lower and speak through you? When He has Jesus He’s spoken through, He will speak through you instead?
Will God choose to speak through sinful flesh, when He has His own exact imprint of glory and perfection through which He has already spoken? What a ghastly thought! May it never be!
If you believe Jesus is speaking through you, or your favorite Bible ‘teacher’ or author, you do not hold Jesus as supreme. It is as simple as that.
No, the superiority of Christ drowns out every other voice!
~Steve Lawson sermon on Hebrews 1:1-4 The Unrivaled Supremacy of Christ
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. (Colossians 1:15-20).
On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ Mt 7:22.
How many is many? The word for ‘many’ is:
polýs – many (high in number); multitudinous, plenteous, “much”; “great” in amount (extent). (Strong’s).
This is terrible to think. It seems that the visible church is filled with believers, but the verse is saying that many aren’t believers after all. I worry for others, but also for myself. “Examine yourselves, whether you be in the faith“. 2 Corinthians 13:5.
Do business with Jesus today, this very day, while there is still time. Here are some resources
Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. (James 3:4).
Our boat circa 1995
I was watching my Twitter follow count the last few days. Surprisingly, I was nearing 1,000 followers. That isn’t a lot, but it’s a lot to me. 1,000 is a new and exciting level.
I have two blogs, mirrored on two platforms, (Blogger and WordPress) so that means 4 blogs. The End Time which is this one, with Christian content, and The Quiet Life, about art, crafting, cooking, etc. I’ve got Twitter. I have an Instagram account with a minimal amount of followers. I have two Facebook pages, one called The End Time and the other is the personal one. I have a GoodReads account. I use email. I text to my GroupMe church and sundry church small groups. I have a Pinterest account. I have a Disqus commenting account.
I’ve learned modern terms like ‘reach’ and ‘impressions.’ I have ‘stats’.
Some years ago John MacArthur said that he has never worried about his reach (influence). He focused on the depth and knew the Spirit would take care of the reach.
I was concerned from the very beginning about the depth of my ministry, and I said if I take care of the depth of my ministry, I can leave the breadth of it to God. You know, if it’s something He can use, then He’ll take it where He wants it to go. So I’ve never done anything to take it anywhere.
I took his words to heart and I’ve never done anything overt to push any of my social media. I’ve had The End Time blog for 9 1/2 years and The Quiet Life for 12. I don’t do SEO, I don’t request friends to go look at it, I don’t concentrate on the statistics. I know that the Spirit will put whatever He wants of what I write in front of whom He wants to. I’ll write a little PS to this thought I’ll add at the bottom, though.
I listened to a good sermon this week, twice. We all have a God-given desire to communicate, said Chris Hamilton in his sermon Taming the Tongue on Social Media. We want to be heard.
He said that until recently the opinion making and influence reach was in the hands of a very few people. I remember that time before the internet distinctly. Prior to the internet the Average Joe or Jane remained obscure all his or her life. The only times someone would be guaranteed to get into the paper was when they were born, married, or died. Sometimes your name went into the paper if you went to jail, or were derelict in paying property taxes. That’s it. Opining on the culture wars of the day, publishing books or poetry, presenting your photography portfolio, announcing things on television, wase left to others, a very few others. Cut to today:
The agenda of public thought and discourse is no longer set by a few people in the news networks [and newspapers]. It’s set by just about anyone, such as wannabe celebrities, rap artists, actors, or minor journalists. There has been a rush of human beings to become a source of data, perspective, leadership, and influence with words…~Chris Hamilton
Now, billions of people every day say things on any social media that they want.
Before we’re saved, the desire to be heard is a sinful desire. Even when we have good intentions, our sin-nature means that the desire to communicate is always self-glorifying at some level. We can’t help it. The utter depravity of man is never more on display than when posted on social media. ~Chris Hamilton
“The tongue is a restless evil and a poison.” (James 3:8b).
After salvation, the Bible is clear on right speech and wrong speech, giving over many verses to the subject. A major series of verses are in James 3. Here is Chris Hamilton with 12 ways the Bible says we are to use our tongue-
1. Confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord. Romans 10:9
2. Teach God’s word (we all teach in some capacity. Deuteronomy 11:19; Heb 13:7
3. Speak of God. Psalm 71:8
4. Preach the Gospel. Matthew 28:20, Romans 10:14, 1 Timothy 4:12
5. Speak truth. Ephesians 4:25
6. Building each other up. Ephesians 4:29, 1 Timothy 5:14
7. Admonish one another (warning using the word of God, not our opinion). Colossians 3:16a
8. Sing. Colossians 3:16b
9. Expressing thankfulness. Colossians 3:16c, Ephesians 5:20
10. Pray. 1 Thessalonians 5:17
11. Confess sin. James 5:16
12. To make a defense and give a hope that is within us. 1 Peter 3:15
God gave us a tongue and told us how to use it, but we are unable to comply without the saving grace of God.
The tongue is a rudder. This is the rudder on our boat. The boat weighed 23,000 pounds. A small shaft running through the rudder and connected to the steering wheel was all that made the yacht go where we wanted.
the boat out of the water, exposing the rudder
As for participation on the internet and social media: it calls for WISDOM.
James 3 goes from a discussion of the tongue straight into wisdom. Think about why that might be for a minute…
This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. 17But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. (James 3:15-17)
Is our conduct on social media:
pure,
peaceable,
gentle,
reasonable
full of mercy ?
Or is our conduct on social media
earthly,
unspiritual,
demonic ?
At minimum we should be thinking about that before we press send.
As Mr Hamilton preached, And then there is the case of silence. Not speaking. Saying nothing. No words. Silence can be an expression of worship, humility, wisdom, chastening, etc. God did not give us a tongue in order to remain silent. Obviously. No command in scripture says to not use words. But consider our contribution to the internet and whether, in some cases, a response might not be necessary. Silence can reign supreme sometimes. It’s OK. (Ecclesiastes 3:7; Ecclesiastes 5:2; Revelation 8:1).
Silence also protects our own ignorance. Let us (me) not put our own ignorance on display. (Proverbs 10:19).
We can and should remain silent in response to the foolishness and sin of others. (1 Peter 2:21-22, referring to Christ’s trial, where He remained silent). And a case is made to remain silent in the face of conflict. (Proverbs 26:17).
Mr Hamilton was tough on Christian participation in social media. His stance was that using social media to promote the name of Jesus is good and fine, but if we do that, we are entering territory that is teaching. And the scripture says not many of you should become teachers. He is right. He said to his immediate audience, “some of you should stand down.” He is right again.
I thought about it for a long time, and as appropriate, applied the scriptures and the warning to myself. Should I stand down? How is my tongue? I meditated.
On the other hand, we do have this marvelous opportunity to, within our sphere, encourage, lift up, share verses, learn of others’ burdens so we can shoulder them, and so on. I do feel called to teach and I employ that online. (My foremost priority are the real people in my real church life though).
These are some of the stats of the most popular ‘Christian’ teachers online today. Their evil influence reaches millions.
PS: As for my own reach & influence, I am not concerned with the reach or the stats but I’m highly concerned with my content- that it’s accurate and edifying.
With all the false out there masquerading as truth, how can I NOT promote Jesus, share credible ministries, offer true interpretations of the Bible’s words, with every means possible? The world will always love its own. But as long as I have a tongue in my head or an online connection, here I speak, I can do no other.
With the Lord’s help and Chris Hamilton’s words and admonishments ringing in my ears, I pray that as I do speak, it’s pure, peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy. I face a stricter judgment. And that does give one pause.
For sale (in 2016): Gorgeous waterfront Home on Galveston Bay. This stellar property comes with TWO lots! One includes very rare private sandy beach for total land of 10,000 square feet.
Deep water right up to the dock, four bedrooms, and a guest suite downstairs. The Master bedroom has its own fireplace, wait, there are TWO Master bedrooms! Ensuite bath, whirlpool tub, double sinks, kitchen has granite countertops. There’s a fireplace in the living room, too. Screened-in porch, showers outside, covered patio, on a cul-de-sac. A must see! Listed for $827,001 – $947,000.
That property I described, based on publicly available information, sold on June 21, 2016. Guess who bought it?
When Beth Moore tweets fun tweets like that, about being unglammed in A bay house, she isn’t telling you the whole story. It’s not “a” bay house, it’s Beth Moore’s bay house. A fact she neglects to mention in her carefully crafted tweet. At the date of that tweet, they had bought the home just three weeks prior.
When you think of the outrageously wealthy televangelists and preachers, your mind would likely go to Joyce Meyer, Kenneth Copeland, Benny Hinn, or Creflo Dollar. Those are some of the guys that have been under investigation by Congress. Those are the guys who flaunt lavish toys, private jet travel, and multiple homes sprinkled around the US. You likely wouldn’t think first of … Beth Moore? But you should. She is climbing up to their level, and fast.
Beth Moore’s errant doctrine is well established and well known. She channels books, an occult activity. She blasphemes. She preaches to men. She twists the Bible. She claims direct revelation & visions from Jesus and comes back to teach what He “said,” (making herself a prophetess.) She is all about man-centered, pop-psychology, self-esteem preaching. These statements are supported, with proofs. They are not made up out of thin air.
She is a false teacher.
But part of discernment is knowing that false teachers who teach false doctrine also have lifestyle issues. Always. Where one sin exists, the other will exist. I wrote about this phenomenon with mega-rich pastors before. See additional note below in the quote about heresy and vain living.
That got me thinking. How well is Beth Moore doing? How much do these royalties pay? How much is she earning in salaries and gifts from Living Proof Ministry?
Apparently, a LOT.
Let’s examine the benefits Beth Moore and her family enjoy from her Non-Profit company and her royalties, gifts, and honorariums. First, the salaries.
Beth Moore’s Living Proof salary is about $250,000. The ministry received $500,000 in honorariums last year. Royalties came in at about $400,000 last tax year. Sponsorship income came in at $520,000. Investment income was $127,000. (Apart from salary, the other figures don’t go directly to Beth Moore but are funneled through Living Proof for operating expenses etc.) Living Proof total assets on the latest Tax Returnis $14 million dollars.
The personal royalties separate from Living Proof that Beth Moore earned from her movie appearance in the War Room movie is unknown.
Note: Beth’s daughter Melissa is also supported by the ministry, her salary is about $130,000.
Note: The Vice-President of Living Proof Ministries, Ivan Keith Moore, is Catholic.
A woman who said she works for LifeWay, tweeted,
“No one’s products provide as much revenue as Beth Moore’s.”
Luxuries: She owns a boat. When she travels, she travels by first class or, private jet. On the 2014 tax return, it stated that when Beth Moore flew to Houston with her daughter Melissa to preach at Hillsong, she bumped herself and Melissa up to first class cabins. Hillsong paid for the coach fare, the Ministry paid for the extra luxury to go first class. After that, she began to fly in a private jet, with LifeWay paying half and Living Proof Ministry paid the other half. The Tax returns state they fly in a private plane “as the ministry sees fit.”
Houses/Property
–House #1: on 45 acres in wealthy Tomball TX. Many custom builds both indoors and out, several toys such as golf cart and multiple tractors.
–House #2: on 45 acres in Tomball TX. Keith Moore’s parents lived there, his dad passed away in 2015. Total home square footage is about 6600 between the two.
–House #3: Menard TX, a newly remodeled ranch with farmhouse and large barn. The Assessor parcel information states, “No building information on record for this property,” so, determining square footage or how many structures are on the lot was not possible.
–House #4: Waterfront double lot with rare private beach in Galveston. Also, a boat. House is, 5500 sf, not including the land or the lot next door with the beach.
–Three storey office building in Houston: 8000 sf, tax exempt.
–Previously owned (sold in 2013) cabin in Jackson WY at gateway to Yellowstone at foot of Tetons. Turpin Meadow Loop subdivision. At the foot of the Tetons in Bridger-Teton National Forest.
Four homes and a huge office. Let’s take a photo tour at all of Beth Moore’s homes.
House #1: The Moore’s main residence, Tomball TX. (*see note at bottom)
House #2 Tomball TX. This home is also on Beth Moore’s 45 or so wooded acres in Tomball.
On her blog Beth Moore talks of a ranch they own. That’s in Menard, TX. The deed is dated 9/9/2015. It’s actually two lots, 3.3 acres and 2.8 acres for a total of about 6 acres. The property has a ranch house and a barn. The photos are from Moore’s twitter account. She tweeted the pics out when boasting of her husband’s talent in restoring the German farmhouse on the property to pristine condition.
House #3- Menard TX. House #3 property has large barn also. In the second picture, notice the two satellite dishes by the tree.
Living Proof owns a large office complex in Houston, for which she is exempt from paying taxes due to the listing of it as religious use. It is three floors and about 8,000 sf.
Nice boat. This was taken at the Galveston bay house.
House #4: Galveston. The white house. Waterfront, double lot. Also see photo at top.
House #5 (sold in 2013)
These cabins are on National Forest Service land at the opening of the Bridger-Teton National Forest in Moran, Wyoming (near Jackson). The homes are privately owned but the land they sit on is the Forest Service’s.
Abusing the Gospel has brought Beth Moore a best life now. False teachers are greedy. We know this from 2 Peter 2:3,
And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep. (2 Peter 2:3)
For such as these are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. (Romans 16:18a).
As you know, we never used words of flattery or any pretext for greed. God is our witness!(1 Thessalonians 2:5).
Heresy, of course, involves the teaching of false doctrine, but false teaching always extends itself into the behavior of its adherents. It will always have a negative impact on the lifestyle of those infected “for as a person thinks in his heart, so is he” (Prov. 23:7). As these false teachers stand in opposition to the truth, so they will lead lives that are “detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good deed” (1:16). Source
Beth Moore’s Living Proof Ministry is a non-profit organization. It is exempt from paying certain taxes because they are listed as a religious organization. As such, there are some ethical considerations that non-profits should adhere to, especially the religious ones.
Appearance of Impropriety- “Sure, it’s not illegal; but that doesn’t make it right.” There may not be an express law or rule prohibiting certain conduct but “the sector would look down upon the behavior” or it “might be perceived in the wrong way.” There are certain examples; for instance, the AFP Code gives the example of “a fundraiser directly benefiting from a benefactor’s estate gift.” Otherwise, it requires an intrinsic moral compass. Sadly, not everyone has that these days. Source
Here are the IRS rules for personal gain in a non-profit:
IRC 501(c)(3) provides exemption from federal income tax for organizations that are “organized and operated exclusively” for religious, educational, or charitable purposes. The exemption is further conditioned on the organization being one “no part of the net income of which inures to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual.” This article examines the proscription against inurement and the requirement that an organization must be organized and operated exclusively for exempt purposes by serving public rather than private interests.
I don’t know from which sources Beth Moore has amassed all this property and wealth. Perhaps her husband’s father’s fabulously famous plumbing business brought in millions. Perhaps the royalties from the War Room movie are more hefty than we know. All I do know is the real property, the income, and the lifestyle. Given that her life and occupation are based on false doctrine, the lifestyle is also a cause for concern.
Does this matter? Of course it matters. It matters to Congress, who has investigated seemingly-too-wealthy non-profits. It matters to the IRS, who audits non-profits when the accumulation of wealth seems out of whack with their stated exemption. It should matter to Christians. Any ministry whose main figurehead seems to be using the Lord’s monies for personal luxuries or exhibiting a lifestyle that could cause a stumbling block to believers, is a concern.
But Moore is private and coy just at a time when fame and celebrity should being openness and transparency in order to alleviate suspicions of an extravagant lifestyle. Ministers and teachers of the Gospel should be extra eager to be seen shepherding the Lord’s blessings carefully and generously. Her 2-year-old tweet sharing her 4th of July vacation at “a bay house” tells you of her coyness. Her blogs about her new home in Tomball explicitly downplayed the wealthy aspect such as the enclave-like atmosphere, the fact that it’s the largest lot in the area, and up-played the ‘smelly brook,’ dusty roads, etc.
In 2010 Moore was interviewed by Christianity Today. One would think that any minister of the Gospel would be eager for publicity for His name and fame. Not Beth Moore. The reporter wrote:
Each question had to be submitted and approved beforehand, I was told, or Moore would not do the interview. Follow-up interview requests were declined. I was permitted to see the ground level of her ministry, where workers package and ship study materials. But Moore’s third-floor office, where she writes in the company of her dog, was off limits.
But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. (2 Corinthians 4:2)
Her image is a careful one. It has gotten her to a place where just last month people were clamoring for her to become President of the largest Protestant denomination in the world. If they knew of her false doctrine, they never said. If they knew of her lavish lifestyle, they never said. But now you know.
It matters because this video taken in March 2018 at the Holmes Center in Boone NC at a Living Proof conference is devastating. These 9000 people (mostly women) at this conference are having poison poured into their spirit. Repeat that scene throughout all of 2018. Beth Moore’s influence is NOT passe. It is actually growing. If only one woman comes out from under her false teaching, the angels would rejoice, as would I.
Friends, we need to shepherd our resources carefully, no matter if they are a little or a lot, so as to appear as we are- earnest workers for the glory of God’s name. Sadly, Beth Moore appears to be on a different path, one that Benny Hinn, Kenneth Copeland, Joyce Meyer, and Creflo Dollar are taking.
From Joyce Meyer up, the wealthiest American pastors, in order.
Copeland is nearly a billionaire. This is not a Board you want to be on.
*Google Maps and Google Earth allow reposting of their material/photos/maps as long as proper attribution is made. They even have tutoring pages on how to export maps, edit, add labels, and ‘save as’. I read their terms of use very carefully.
By Elizabeth Prata
What is a women to do when it seems like everyone is hearing directly from God…and you’re not? It seems like so many women say they hear audible voices, still small voices, whispers in the heart, voices from the sky…
For example, Joanna Gaines of the popular HGTV television show Fixer Upper said she heard God’s voice clearly. Jennie Allen who founded If:Gathering, said a voice from the sky directly told her to start that organization. Sarah Young heard from God and wrote a book quoting everything he (allegedly) said, and it’s still a bestseller 14 years later.
Beth Moore can’t go more than a minute or two in her lectures without referring to some kind of direct interaction- and she’s been saying that from her earliest days of lecturing. See all these statements from her 2000 book Praying God’s Word and her 2002 book When Godly People do Ungodly Things, plus one more from around 2013-
Before God tells me a secret, He knows up front I’m going to tell it! By and large, that’s our ‘deal.’
God compelled me to ink it on paper with a force unparalleled
God required me to fast…and it was He would release me
I didn’t ask to write some of the kinds of messages God has appointed me
In Praying God’s Word, God directed me to address the powerful yoke of sexual bondage
Because God chose to supply me with so much unsolicited data…
I heard the voice of God speak to my heart
I also love how I could tell by the sweet tone of the silent voice whispering to my spirit that He was smiling
What God began to say to me about five years ago and I’m telling you it is in me on such a trek with him that my head is still whirling over it. He began to say to me, ‘I’m gonna say something right now, Beth. And boy you write this one down. And you say it as often as I give you utterance to say it.
And lest one believe that Moore’s claims were simply youthful errors, she is still saying them today in 2018, in her very latest teaching, “Advance” from this past week:
When I get a key word, when the Lord gives me concept, that is a word, I mean He dropped this word into my heart a couple of weeks ago, and began to associate it in prayer and I mean when I get a word like that He drops in my spirit, I wait to see what city it’ll be connected with…then I look up the word into a concordance to see all the times it’s used in scripture…
Is that how to do Bible study? Wait for God to drop/whisper/speak/tell me something directly, like a word, then go and look up all the times the word is uses in scripture, cobble together and acrostic, and learn about Jesus that way? IS Jesus speaking in a still, small voice? It seems that those who claim to hear Him are the majority while we ladies who stick to the Bible only have become a minority.
How common is it to hear from God? Here we have a 2013 NY Times article about an ethnographer doing field studies. The article is titled Is that God Talking? And it’s by TR Luhrmann. She said it is very common these days for people to say they have heard God speak to them. Remember, she is an ethnographer who systematically studies people and cultures and explores cultural phenomena from a secular point of view:
I still remember how startled I was when a young woman I was interviewing told me God had spoken to her, audibly. I was doing ethnographic field work in_________. This was the kind of [place] in which people sought an intimate, conversational relationship with God. It was not at all uncommon for people to talk about hearing God.
In where? Where was she doing ethnographic studies where people say they heard God talking? Burundi? Solomon Islands? No. Chicago. In an evangelical charismatic church. Luhrmann continued describing her attempt of trying to either include or exclude the cause. She first thought of schizophrenics.
The unusual auditory experiences reported by congregants just weren’t like that [the daily lengthy utterances that schizophrenics hear]. They were rare. Most people said they’d had one or two in their lifetime. They were brief — just a few words. They were pleasant. And they did not have that sense of command.
And there is your clue. The kind of utterances people say they hear lack authoritative command. They also tend to focus on the comfort and well-being of the person receiving these revelations. As Tim Challies noted in his essay 10 Serious Problems with Jesus Calling,
Her tone does not match the Bible’s. It can’t be denied: The Jesus of Sarah Young sounds suspiciously like a twenty-first century, Western, middle-aged woman. If this is, indeed, Jesus speaking, we need to explain why he sounds so markedly different from the Jesus of the gospels…
So, no, Jesus is not calling or talking or teaching or delivering new revelations or meeting you with dates or smiling in a silent whisper. As the noted preacher and discernment lecturer, author of the excellent lesson Clouds Without Water, Justin Peters said today,
It’s hard to understand how so many women can be wrong, but they are. They are either deceived, deluded, or lying, but they are not hearing directly from God.
We begin Genesis 3 with a woman accepting extrabiblical revelation, (from the serpent) and we end the scriptures with God charging a church for tolerating a false prophetess Jezebel. (Revelation 2:20). There is a reason satan targets women in deceiving them they are hearing from God. We are easily deceived and we must always be in the word ourselves, be with our husbands or fathers in the word, and be in church listening to the word.
The years upon years of Christian teachers and other leading women normalizing direct revelation has had untold and devastating effects on the faith.
Today Mr Peters was interviewed on the podcast Theology.Driven,. There are quite a few new attacks on the faith that have risen up in these days. Peters said,
The attacks against the faith in the push for egalitarianism, same-sex attracted but non-practicing, work-based prosperity gospel, social justice, critical race theory, are ALL based on a rejection of the sufficiency of scripture, and we are losing that war big time. It all heads into theological liberalism.’ ~Justin Peters, special guest in today’s Theology.Driven podcast
I agree. And I believe it is the women within visible Christianity who are doing the most harm to the faith by undermining sola scriptura through their claims of hearing from God.
So we need to remember that Sola Scriptura is not merely the sola but also the Scriptura. ~Abner Chou, July 3, 2018
Here is Pastor Gabe with a 90-second video on hearing from God:
Here is Pastor Mike Abendroth with a 90-second video on ‘God Told Me’-
Here is Dr Abner Chou with an essay about how to study scripture correctly: Do Your Hermeneutics Hold to Sola Scriptura? Hermeneutics simply means “the science of interpretation, especially of the Scriptures.”
In light of this, the question is whether we have done the hard work. Have I really studied a passage and understood the background, context, point, structure, theology, and applications of a text down to the detail of every word? Can I put all of this together so that I know precisely all the author has willed in this passage?
Doing that takes hard work but that is the very nature of Scripture and what it demands (cf. 2 Tim 2:15). The reason that sermons, Bible studies, Sunday school lessons, or devotions lack depth is often because we haven’t spent the time and effort to go beneath the surface.
Think about it. You can study the Bible by looking at “background, context, point, structure, theology, and applications of a text down to the detail of every word” or, you can simply be like Beth Moore and have God supply you with so much unsolicited data dropped directly into your head.
Which is more prideful? Laboring in sweat and tears in a small room by lamplight, obscure and unknown, or sit and wait for God to directly whisper something to you, so you can say later ‘God is talking directly to MEEE.’
Ladies, there is no still, small voice you’re missing out on. You’re not unworthy because it seems that God chooses to speak to so many other women and not you. If you never say “God told me” you are doing more than you know to uphold the faith. By saying, “The Bible says in verse such and such” you are contributing building blocks for others to stand on. If you rely on His word as written in a good translation, you aren’t undermining scripture but instead you are honoring Jesus.
Saying “God told me…” is saying “Scripture is deficient.” By relying on the Word alone, you are relying on the Rock, that shall never be undermined.
the-end-time.org 