There’s a lot of discontent out there. I’m speaking both of the Christian world, and in the secular world. We know pagans are always discontent, their sins make them like restless waves washing up mire, as Isaiah says.
Even in the Christian world, though, there is discontent amongst those calling themselves Christians. Just scroll on any of your choice of Christian media and you will see grumbling, people acting vexed, peevishness, and so on.
I decided to start a little series on Facebook and Twitter and Instagram, the social media I’m on most, called ‘Little Things’. Just a sentence expressing something I’m content with, or charms me. Like picking a good coffee mug for the day, or fluffy white clouds against a blue sky. My hope is that focusing on these things will make me more grateful of the little things that we often overlook, and thus increase my contentment. I also hope that my timeline becomes an oasis for anyone else seeking solace and peace from the trolling tumults occurring on our screens.
I also went back to a Puritan book called “The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment” by Jeremiah Burroughs. It is a spectacular book, one for the ages. I want to do everything I can to avoid getting weary in the well-doing, and to remain content no matter what is happening in Christendom or in the Gentile world. Burroughs wrote:
What contentment is opposed to: (says Burroughs, excerpted)
1. It is opposed to murmuring and grumbling at the hand of God, as the discontented Israelites often did. If we cannot bear this either in our children or servants, much less can God bear it in us.
2. To vexing and fretting, which is a degree beyond murmuring.
3. Peevishness – easily irritated by unimportant things.
4. To tumultuousness of spirit, when the thoughts run distractingly and work in a confused manner, so that the affections are like the unruly multitude in the Acts, who did not know for what purpose they had come together. The Lord expects you to be silent under His rod, and, as was said in Acts 19:36, “Ye ought to be quiet and to do nothing rashly.”
5. It is opposed to an unsettled and unstable spirit, whereby the heart is distracted from the present duty that God requires in our several relationships—towards God, others, and ourselves. We should prize duty more highly than to be distracted by every trivial occasion.
6. It ends with desperate risings of the heart against God by way of rebellion. Burroughs’ book is available as a Puritan Paperback at Reformation heritage Books, or at Amazon or other booksellers, or free download at Mt. Zion Chapel Library here: https://www.chapellibrary.org/pdf/books/rjoc.pdf
So, you see the progression of discontent. It begins with errant thoughts, of course, as all sin does. But once it’s ready to come out the mouth it begins as murmuring, then louder as grumbling, and on up the scale till it’s open rebellion.
We must actively squash discontent where it appears.
The women are to keep silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak, but are to subject themselves, just as the Law also says. But if they desire to learn anything, let them ask their own husbands at home, for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in church.
It’s very clear. Women are not to preach, or teach men, (but I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet says 1 Timothy 2:12.)
As Larry Farlow said of the 1 Timothy verse:
@LarryFarlow: Yep. If someone cannot teach or exercise authority over half the church, they can’t be a pastor.
And, using the word speak instead of preach is not the ‘get out of jail’ card rebellious women think it is. The Greek word in the verse literally means speak. So when someone like Beth Moore coyly claims to be “speaking” on Mother’s Day, when she is actually preaching, it’s a double rebellion and thus doubly hypocritical because she tried to cover it up.
Changing “preaching” to “doing” doesn’t fool God. Or anybody else.
The Corinthian church was having special problems with disorders in their public meetings (1 Cor. 11:17–23). The reason is not difficult to determine: they were using their spiritual gifts to please themselves and not to help their brethren. The key word was not edification, but exhibition. If you think that your contribution to the service is more important than your brother’s contribution, then you will either be impatient until he finishes, or you will interrupt him. Add to this problem the difficulties caused by the “liberated women” in the assembly, and you can understand why the church experienced carnal confusion.” Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, pp. 614–615). Victor Books.
Ladies, do you “speak” in church to the congregation? Even if the Sunday School or Bible study leader teacher asks for comment, are you the first to leap in and state your opinions? If so, do you believe what you have to say is more important, more edifying than what the man next to you would say, if he could get a word in edgewise?
Yes, Paul was speaking of disorder in the church, when women who had not even been allowed in the synagogue but had to stand behind a partition if they wanted to hear, now allowed not only in the church but to pray and prophesy (before the canon was closed), caused a melee of chaos. Paul wanted it stopped.
But though Paul was speaking of a certain situation in history, it does not mean all is OK now. The tendency for women to usurp is still present in us. When Paul said women are not to teach or have authority in the church, he followed that up in the next verse by appealing to the creation order. The creation order Paul appealed to still stands. Men lead the church. Women do not. Women are to listen, learn, and submit to their elders and their teaching.
Yet there are so many ministries women are allowed to and even commanded in which to participate. Of course we share the Gospel, that’s for all of us to do. We are hospitable, we support our husbands, we teach women, we teach children, we can help with administering finances, or preparing budgets, we have gifts of mercy and helps… Egalitarian women today make it seem as though if we cannot teach or preach, we’re good for nothing.
Not so. Feminists and egalitarians are eternally discontent. But we find contentment in what the Lord has prepared for us, within His boundaries.
I appeal to you sisters, if you have an unhealthy and unbiblical desire to continually speak in church, in any way, before the gathered, please reconsider. Let the men speak. Listen, pray, sit attentively, to the glory of God and do not be a disgrace. Here is a short video on the subject:
The Lord has arranged my life so that now, though I have been a classroom teacher in the past, I am now a teacher’s aide. I am grateful because I still get to teach kids, but I have less stress and more energy after school – so that I can focus on ministry. I can support myself, (mostly) so in this way, the para-professional job I do is my tentmaking.
Let’s take a look at tents.
Now, when we speak of tents in the Bible, don’t think of Coleman tents you might use for a weekend in the nearby Park. These were homes. Portable, but heavy, large, and thick. The temple was actually a tent (tabernacle) for many hundreds of years in the Wilderness, then at Shiloh, before a permanent structure was built.
Noah was drunk inside his tent, remember? (Genesis 9:21). Uh-oh, Lot pitched his tents near Sodom. (Genesis 13:2). There were rules in case a person died inside his tent. (Numbers 19:14). Moses would pitch a tent outside the camp and called it the ‘tent of meeting’. (Exodus 33:7).
It wasn’t easy to raise a heavy tent such as the ones used in those days. But it was a woman’s job to raise them, strike them, repair them, and care for them and their supplies like a large wooden mallet for driving in the pegs, and the women became expert in all the phases of making, pitching and striking tents. That is why Jael had a tent peg on her that she used to kill a man while he slept. (Judges 4:17-22).
In the late 1800s people from western Europe and America became fascinated with the Holy Lands. They flocked there to visit the sites from the Bible. In 1894 a book was published called Earthly Footsteps of the Man of Galilee (Info at the link about the book itself which is fascinating). Tourists visiting the Holy Land slept in tents each night as their hired dragomen set up camp. (There was no Marriott or Holiday Inn). The photo caption described these tourists “sleeping at night in carpeted tents most comfortably furnished”. Caption and photo below from Earthly Footsteps of the Man of Galilee, 1894.
Manners & Customs of the Bible further explains:
The large tents, still assuming they were made like Arab tents, had nine poles, placed in three rows, covering sometimes a space twenty to twenty-five feet long, ten feet wide, and eight to ten feet high in the middle, with the sides sloping. Such tents often had a curtain hung on the middle row of poles, dividing the tent into two parts, one for the men and one for the women. The poles that held up the tent and divided it into sections were further made useful by having hooks driven into them from which were suspended clothes, baskets, saddles, weapons, and various other articles of daily use. Freeman, J. M., & Chadwick, H. J. (1998). Manners & customs of the Bible (p. 343). Bridge-Logos Publishers.
Paul’s tentmaking
Now, we know Paul carried his cloak, scrolls, and likely quills to write with. Or his amanuensis did. But it is unlikely he also carried bags of goat hair with which to make or patch tents, or needles, and other tent making supplies.
In the postexilic period, guilds were powerful organizations and were recognized by the government. A guild could prevent a craftsman from another area from working in its territory. It had a trade monopoly in its particular locality. A guild could monopolize the market. Guild members were insured against loss of tools, animals, and boats used in their business, unless the loss was caused by their own negligence. Guilds had their own religious and social institutions, even their own synagogues, next to which there were burial grounds for the members. In some cases, members of a guild collectively built and operated businesses. SourceBible Gateway
Therefore it is unlikely Paul could waltz into a town and become a freelancer, the guild members would run him out. That he was staying with Prisca and Aquila in Corinth and assisting them (Acts 18:3) likely meant that the couple were members of the guild already, had an established business, and Paul could help them.
What were the supplies needed?
This goat’s hair cloth that is used in making these tents is porous when it is dry, but becomes waterproof after the first rains have shrunk it together. … The material that makes up the Bedouin tent is the same as the sackcloth of Bible days. It must be remembered that this Oriental sackcloth is not at all like the Occidental burlap, but is rather a material made of prickly, coarse goat’s hair. Source: Manners And Customs of Bible Lands
New tents are very seldom made among the Bedouins. About the only time this happens is when a young groom and bride set up housekeeping for themselves in a different location from that of the groom’s parents, and this rarely happens. The usual procedure is to accumulate the goat clippings of a year or so, and with these make a new strip with which to repair the old tent. The women do this work. The section of the tent roof that is most worn is ripped out, and a new piece of the cloth replaces it. The old piece is then used for a side curtain. Each year new strips of cloth replace old ones and the “house of hair” is handed down from father to son without its being completely new or completely old at any one time. Source.
As comfortable as the tents seemed, and by the photographs from the 1800s they do seem comfortable, (at least for the more wealthy desert dwellers) it was still a lot of work to care for tents.
It rained yesterday. In other news, the cardinals that used to hang round in my yard, are back. About 8 years ago a tenant on the property had an aggressive yard cat, a hunter. Of course I didn’t mind that he cleared the yard of the mice. But then he apparently killed a bright red male cardinal, as I horrifyingly saw when leaving for work the next morning. He was under the feeder, so I surmised that he had been grazing on fallen seeds and was caught unawares.
The Bible talks of falling into a pit quite often, when you really pay attention. I got interested in pits, lol.
What is a pit? “A hole in the ground, a cistern for water, a vault, a grave. It is used as a figure for mischief, and is the name given to the unseen place of woe. The slime-pits in the vale of Siddim were wells which yielded asphalt.” source from The International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, Volumes 1–5.
Some verses are:
And He also spoke a parable to them: “Can a blind man guide a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? (Luke 6:39)
now the valley of Siddim was full of tar pits—and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and they fell into them; but those who remained behind fled to the hill country. (Genesis 14:10).
Oof, that’s rough. Falling into a tar pit sounds deadly.
Sometimes “pit” refers to a ditch or a marsh (Jer. 14:3; Isa. 30:14). Many times the word was used as a synonym for a place of destruction (Ps. 55:23), corruption (Pss. 16:10; 49:9; Isa. 38:17), or death (Isa. 14:15; Jon. 2:6). Three times KJV translated the word Sheol as “pit” (Num. 16:30, 33; Job 17:16). One Greek word is translated “bottomless pit” in Rev. 9:1, 2 (cp. Ps. 88:6). Source from Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary
Joseph was thrown into a pit- by his brothers! (Genesis 37:28).
source: Images of the Old Testament, by Hans Holbein (1549)
The Hebrew word bowr can mean pit, hole, cistern, well, dungeon, the grave, or the abyss.
There were rules about pits. If you fall into an uncovered one, you could die. The animal would die. In Exodus 21:33-34, it states,
“Now if someone opens a pit, or digs a pit and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it, the owner of the pit shall make restitution; he shall give money to its owner, and the dead animal shall become his.
When Absalom was killed they threw him into a pit and covered him with a very great amount of stones. (2 Samuel 18:17).
Zephaniah 2:9 refers to pits in the context of a place of utter desolation: “Therefore, as I live,” declares the Lord of hosts, The God of Israel, “Surely Moab will be like Sodom And the sons of Ammon like Gomorrah— A place possessed by nettles and salt pits, And a perpetual desolation.“
Most sobering of all, the pit is a synonym for abyss, and that is where satan will be thrown for a thousand years before his final destination of the Lake of Fire.
Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were finished. After these things he must be released for a short time. (Revelation 20:1-3).
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Matthew Henry’s Commentary says of Revelation 20:1-3, He cast him into the bottomless pit, cast him down with force, and with a just vengeance, to his own place and prison, from which he had been permitted to break out, and disturb the churches, and deceive the nations; now he is brought back to that prison, and there laid in chains.
(3.) He is shut up, and a seal set upon him. Christ shuts, and none can open; he shuts by his power, seals by his authority; and his lock and seal even the devils themselves cannot break open.
Henry, M. (1994). Matthew Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible: complete and unabridged in one volume (p. 2483). Hendrickson.
Just think on the Day when there shall be no more pits to fall into, no more metaphors describing an abyss that a sinner may descend into, no more empty cisterns, no more grave! Hallelujah, what a day that will be!
Romans 14:13-23, about food may seem archaic, because Christians have been released from Hebrew food rules for 2000 years. But food rules have been going strong in the Catholic faith for equally as long. For Catholics who come to saving faith and become Christian, their lifetime of food rules, especially during Lent, may still have a hold on them. So let’s explore how we can help the brethren who may be struggling with the food issue, as Paul advised.
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We are in the height of the Catholic 40-day 2023 Lenten season, which began February 22 and will extend through April 6. Catholics are obligated to perform fasting and abstinence (as well as acts of piety and charity) as acts of penance during Lent. And not just during Lent, but “Even outside of Lent, the bishops in the U.S. still exhort the faithful to observe all Fridays as days of penance in recognition of Friday as the day of our Lord’s death and in preparation for the heavenly banquet at Sunday Mass” says this page from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops about Lenten Regulations.
The exact rules for a Catholic about fasting and abstinence vary from continent to continent.
The US Catholic Bishops explain the reason for explicit rules about food. It is because,
“Humanity’s “Fall” away from God and into sin began with eating. God had proclaimed a fast from the fruit of only one tree, the tree of knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 2:17), and Adam and Eve broke it. Fasting is here connected with the very mystery of life and death, of salvation and damnation.” (Source)
So, food rules figure prominently for the Catholic. in the United States. Rule #1 in the US is that during Lent, everyone age 18 and older is to abstain from eating meat on Ash Wednesday, all Fridays of Lent and Good Friday. Hence, many Roman Catholics eat fish on Fridays.
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“Everyone age 18 and up to their 59th birthday is obliged to fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. On these days, the Catholic is allowed to eat only 1 full meal. When fasting, a person is permitted to eat one full meal, as well as two smaller meals that together are not equal to a full meal. The norms concerning abstinence from meat are binding upon members of the Latin Catholic Church from age 14 onwards“, says the USCCB.
There are similar rules for a person who had been of the Eastern Orthodox persuasion, as well.
Therefore when a Roman Catholic or an Eastern Orthodox person converts to Christianity, they may well have impressed on their conscience for many years the fasting and abstinence rules. When they come to the verses that all foods are clean, it may be hard to overcome their bound conscience and accept these verses-
However, not all men have this knowledge; but some, being accustomed to the idol until now, eat food as if it were sacrificed to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. But food will not commend us to God. We neither lack if we do not eat, nor abound if we do eat. (Romans 8:7-8).
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There are no rules for the Catholic person requiring them to “give up” something for Lent, but the people are encouraged to do so, in order to be ‘mourning their sins by denying themselves something they enjoy’ and ‘to train themselves to resist temptation’.
Therefore, Christian,
For if because of food your brother is grieved, you are no longer walking according to love. Do not destroy with your food him for whom Christ died. (Romans 14:15)
The paragraphs in 1 Corinthians 8 about food sacrificed to idols Romans 14 are explained by Warren Wiersbe:
“Christians affect each other (vv. 13–15). Note the possible ways we can affect each other. We can cause others to stumble, grieve others, or even destroy others. Paul was speaking of the way the strong Christian affected the weak Christian. Paul dealt with a similar problem in 1 Corinthians 8–9, where the question was, “Should Christians eat meat that has been offered to idols in heathen temples?” There he pointed out that knowledge and love must work together. “Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up” (1 Cor. 8:1, NIV). The strong Christian has spiritual knowledge, but if he does not practice love, his knowledge will hurt the weak Christian. Knowledge must be balanced by love.”
Source- Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 560). Victor Books.
So, dear reader, knowledge combined with flaunted liberty might actually hurt the weaker sister. Many false religions have food rules. Hindus may not eat beef according to their religion. Seventh Day Adventists follow a strict lacto-ovo vegetarian diet. Meat, fish, poultry, alcohol, tobacco, or caffeine are prohibited. Islam has halal, which means certain foods must be prepared a certain way before they are considered acceptable to eat. If you are in a sphere with a former Catholic or any other recent convert where their life was dominated by food rules, please be the stronger sister and resist flaunting our liberty in Christ where it comes to food.
Do not tear down the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are clean, but they are evil for the man who eats and gives offense. It is good not to eat meat or to drink wine, or to do anything by which your brother stumbles. (Romans 14:20-21).
Beth Moore speaking at a race conference at Baylor in 2022.
Just out is Beth Moore’s third memoir, “All My Knotted Up Life.” (The first two were Feathers from My Nest: A Mother’s Reflections and Things Pondered: From the Heart of a Lesser Woman.)
Moore is a great oral storyteller and she is also good writer. She has written over 25 Bible studies beginning in 1999 with A Woman’s Heart: God’s Dwelling Place, three memoirs, a novel, and numerous other books. For most of her publishing life, Moore has been with Lifeway, the publishing arm of the Southern Baptist Convention. In 2021, when Moore left the publisher, it was stated,
Moore was Lifeway’s best-selling author, with a reach far beyond the SBC to conservative believers of many denominations. Her books and related materials “kept the Nashville-based publisher afloat,” according to Baptist News. At her peak, she generated more than $30 million a year in revenue.
Her current memoir, published by Tyndale, is accompanied by the ubiquitous book tour. Moore is sweeping the south with her book signings. Interest is high in her book’s contents and with that, interest is high on her in general. Her opinion on various topics is being sought. And Beth is happy to give it.
Moore is capitalizing on this widespread interest by speaking up about “white privilege”, “white supremacy”, and “racism” “in the church”. Earlier she jumped on the “misogyny” bandwagon when the #MeToo movement surfaced, and previously jumped on other Christian trends and fads, speaking out on them when they were popular.
From the beginning it must be stated: Beth Moore is a false teacher. Her skill in storytelling, her rough life, and her emotional appeals notwithstanding, when she teaches the Bible, her teaching fails the Berean test. When comparing it to scripture, these things are not so. (Acts 17:11).
When I attended a Living Proof Live event in 2011 at an 18,000 seat filled arena, I spoke with women in the lobby as we waited to get in. Many of them traveled long distances to hear Beth. Some, I discovered, follow her from venue to venue. One boasted she’d seen Beth at more than 20 LPL events. I’d used the word groupie to describe them in a previous essay, and it’s how some describe themselves, but my concern is her groupies that have heaped Beth up are now a cult – and she is their idol.
Think I’m kidding? Nope. See some of the recent comments about Beth Moore. These aren’t cherry picked. There are frequent comments like this.
Beth Moore’s recent elevation by her ticked-ears followers is a concern. Moore has millions of people whom she influences between social media, interviews, LPL events, and book signings.
Therefore the following issues are important to state:
Beth Moore does not speak for the church.
No one elected Beth Moore spokesman for “the church”. Moore is making numerous allegations, sweeping assertions, and accusations about “the church”. She has not defined the church of which she speaks. Her own church? The Baptist denomination church? The church in America? The global church? The only church of which she should speak is her own. And even then, nasty public accusations are not God-honoring. (Exodus 20:16, 1 Peter 2:1, Proverbs 11:9).
Beth Moore does not speak for the church. Beth Moore does not speak for you. Or me.
1. Making categorical, unqualified and vague accusations that are sweeping in scope causes division.
For example, Moore stated at a recent conference at which she was an invited speaker:
“How do people who claim to love God and place such a high value on Scripture place such a low value on justice?” (Source)
Which people? Where? How can she make such a sweeping claim?
Also: “At that time, such things as the titanic need for criminal justice reform had not even registered with me” (Source).
“What became increasingly and startlingly clear was that our politics informed our faith, rather than our faith informing our politics,” Moore said. (ibid)
“Our”? Whose faith was being informed by politics? Hers? Yours? Her church’s? What are some examples? None are ever given, just constant nebulous assertions.
She did the same in 2018 in a “Letter to My Brothers” which talked of “skewed attitudes.” She asked that her brothers (not named, not defined) “would simply have no tolerance for misogyny and dismissiveness toward women in your spheres of influence.” She talked of being a female leader and having to “work within ‘the system'” (instead of saying ‘I joyously submitted to God’s hierarchical roles for men, women, youths and children? Her church was ‘a system’?).
Her insinuations in the Letter to My Brothers again were vague and unclear. Did she meant the men in her own church, men in the global church, or men everywhere?. Michelle Lesley wrote of the Letter to My Brothers’ unsubstantiated accusations,
How is anyone supposed to agree with or refute the facts of what Beth is saying unless she gives clear explanations and details? What Beth has done in her blog post is to throw out unsubstantiated, generalized accusations against a wide swath of nameless Christian men and churches and she expects us to take her word for it that there’s some epidemic of misogyny across the board in the church.
The Bible says about people like Moore who make unsubstantiated assertions:
Reject a factious man after a first and second warning, (Titus 3:10).
The word factious here (or divisive in other translations) means, according to Strongs-
hairetikós – a factious person, specializing in half-truths and misimpressions “to win others over” to their personal opinion (misguided zeal) – while creating harmful divisions (used only in Tit 3:10).
How aptly this verse applies to Beth Moore! One person tweeted an even more pointed comment after watching her recent woke/racism interview,
“all I saw was emotion with buzz words attached.”
Friends, avoid Beth Moore, because the Bible says-
“You shall not bear a false report; do not join your hand with a wicked man to be a malicious witness. (Exodus 23:1).
2.Beth Moore hops onto fads. She copied Joel Osteen’s mantra for a while, copied hearing from God from Henry Blackaby, contemplative prayer, blue bracelets, home altars, lectio divina, #metoo, misogyny, woke, diversity…
Moore is just like the “the Athenians and the strangers visiting there used to spend their time in nothing other than telling or hearing something newer.” (Acts 17:21). Chasing after the latest trend is as old as the hills. And it’s not new to Beth Moore. Whatever’s popular, she goes after with misguided zeal.
3.She variously minimizes or exaggerates herself or her living situation to fit the current atmosphere.
Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth each one of you with his neighbor, for we are members of one another. (Ephesians 4:25)
In the quote below, Moore used the language of woke, saying that she lived in white privilege,
“I was in a very privileged part of the world and a very privileged part of the church,” she conceded. Awareness of her privilege began to dawn on her just over a decade ago…” (Source).
She was born in 1957. In fact checking her statement about growing up privileged, a word she did not define, according to the 1960 census the median income for her county was $3,100 and her specific city’s was $3,800. That is $38,000 today. Wealthy salary it ain’t. Unemployment was 8.6%, one of the higher unemployment numbers of all the counties in Arkansas. Only 4.3% of female white women completed four years of college at that time. That’s not privilege. It’s poverty, poorness, and/or underprivilege.
She constantly uses language to shape a narrative she wishes a particular audience to resonate with. Moore either exaggerates (the privilege example above) or minimizes it. Here are examples of how she minimizes her situation when it suits her-
We have a tiny little sliver of water not far from us that you could call a creek if you were in a particularly generous mood. It’s got some sand by it that the kids really like. Be blessed that this is not a scratch and sniff picture because the creek doesn’t always smell all that good, especially if it hasn’t rained in a while. But if your nose is slightly stuffy, it can be pretty fun.
Moore was describing the creek that runs through her estate. It’s Spring Creek, and it begins near Waller Tx and runs about 45 miles to drain into the San Jacinto River. It divides Harris and Montgomery County. Spring Creek is the only natural creek in both Harris and Montgomery County. It is known for “its sandy banks, undisturbed natural surroundings, and clean water, and it serves as home to many animals, including deer, otters, raccoons, opossums, and alligators. Many species of fish, including white bass, catfish, crappie, largemouth bass, and bluegill inhabit its waters. It is also known for its occasional Swainson’s warbler sightings and for being the easternmost sighting of the green kingfisher, as well as bald eagles, herons, egrets, and other birds.” (Wikipedia)
Along the way there are many parks and greenways which attract locals and tourists. Spring TX, home to Moore’s church, was named after the river. Hardly the dirty smelly creek she described. At all.
Here’s her description of her home she moved into several years ago:
So, three years to the day later, we’re making it out in these modest woods. These acres would not be beautiful to everybody but they’re beautiful to us. Life has been brand new out here. I won’t kid you. It’s been an adjustment. A lot less eating out. A lot more cooking. A lot more driving to work. The cars stay filthy. The raccoons won’t stay out of the trash. Fed Ex never can find us. But we don’t mind. Because it was time to make a move. For us, it was out where the dawn breaks to the crow of a rooster.
Evokes an image of the Ingalls dirt hut out on the prairie, doesn’t it? What Moore doesn’t tell you is that the Moore Trust property in Tomball TX, are not “modest woods” that “would not be beautiful to everybody.” Her property is a 46 acre forested enclave with its own road, two houses with total of 7 bedrooms and 7 1/2 baths, custom outdoor kitchens and fireplaces, a combined square footage of 6600 sf, and assessed by Harris County TX at over $2 million dollars.
She plays white privilege when it suits her. She plays regular sista when she wants to hide her then-4 houses, large home estate, and flying to her venues on a private jet, even to Australia.
4. Beth Moore is an expert at using political rhetoric to her advantage.
Political rhetoric is deliberately vague. You know the kind, the candidate speeches that roll around every election cycle that fling around words like liberty and freedom and prosperity, that each different person listening has a different idea of its meaning.
“Political language is vague because politicians are shrewd and desire to build a winning coalition of people who hold different views“, said Larry Etheredge of Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
That’s Beth Moore. Not desiring to speak unadulterated biblical truth, but to build a coalition of people who hold different views- so as to make merchandise of them (2 Peter 2:3).
Vagueness is why Moore refused to answer when I and other ladies asked her point blank if homosexuality was a sin. It’s why she has never come out in support of the Roe v. Wade overturning, or said clearly that abortion is bad. It’s why she never has to my knowledge taught a Bible lesson on 1 Timothy (you know, the book that says a woman may not preach to men or have authority over them?) It’s exactly why Moore makes vague claims and will never stop making them-
There are also certain advantages in the use of fuzzy concepts and vague boundaries, because they extend the range of options open to a speaker, offering a chance to express many grades of truth and many different attitudes towards propositions without the speaker having to be pinned down to just one position. (Lakoff, “Hedges: A study in meaning and the logic of fuzzy concepts. Eighth Regional Meeting of the Chicago Linguistics Society, 183-228, 1972).
That’s Beth Moore, expressing many grades of truth.
I deliberately chose the above examples of how Beth hops onto fads, chooses vague language, and changes her own narrative to suit the situation, because the facts add up to this conclusion: she cannot be trusted in what she says.
I’ll repeat: Beth Moore cannot be trusted when she speaks. You can’t trust her words.
She is riding a high wave of widespread approval due to the sad and tragic revelations of her autobiography. I empathize with her various tragedies. But remember, many Christian people have had those tragedies and worse, but they do not slander, make sweeping accusations, become hardened and unteachable, and tacitly accept their cult status.
Beth Moore is a false teacher deceiving and being deceived. While she has her reward now, judgment awaits for her many sins. I plead with women reading this, do not give an inch to the false teachers or you will become part of the evil they do:
But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned. (2 Peter 2:1-2).
The fading glory of a flower The grass, scorched under the sun and withering before our eyes Nest, filled with tweets but now empty
The temporal nature of riches Sliding, slipping through our hands
The downy clouds skimming across the sky scudding dark, releasing rain dissipating into vapor untouchable and gone
Try halting the orange sun as it rises, Nothing can hold it.
The things of earth to which we ascribe glory will fade…
EPrata photo
God’s glory will never fade!
Be exalted above the heavens, O God; Let Your glory be above all the earth. (Psalm 57:11)
His glory outshines the sun! We have no need of a sun, when the Son in in His glory!
And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. (Revelation 21:23)
He does not only shine in glory, he is the Lord of glory!
which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. (1 Corinthians 2:8)
Who is He, this King of glory? Yahweh of hosts, He is the King of glory. Selah. (Psalm 24:10)
Ponder the glory. Not the glorious sunrise, as pretty as it is, nor the glory of a flower covered field, as gorgeous as that is too. But the real glory, His glory, shining like the sun
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, to him I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it.’
Did you ever wonder about this stone thing? I have. First, before the stone, about the name.
Yahweh changed the name of many people in the Bible. Simon bar Jonas was given the name Peter in Matthew 16:18 by Jesus, meaning rock. Saul became Paul. God renamed Jacob who became Israel. He renamed Abram to Abraham and Sarai to Sarah. Ashpenaz was Chief of Officers of the court, or the master of the eunuchs, for Nebuchadnezzar. He renamed Azariah to Abednego, Daniel to Belteshazzar, Hananiah to Shadrach, and Mishael to Meshach. Ben-Oni also renamed Benjamin by his father Jacob.
The point here is that the one who has authority over another is the one who can rename. In the Bible examples above, the dad, the king, a court officer, Jesus, and God all had the authority to rename a person. In our day, the parents name the child, or we go through a process in the courts that allow or disallow a name change. A higher authority changes the name. In the Bible at the end of the end, God, our authority, will change our name.
The White Stone:
Ovid was a Roman poet who lived from 43 BC – 17/18 AD. He describes a process of casting a vote in a court proceeding. Black stones and white stones would be put into an urn. When all stones were cast, they’d be counted. Black stones meant guilty, white for innocent. More white than black stones meant the person was innocent. In this way, the white stone became a symbol of innocence. Ovid wrote-
15:53 A custom was of old, and still remains, 15:54. Which life, or death by suffrages ordains: 15:55. White stones, and black within an urn are cast; 15:56. The first absolve, but Fate is in the last. 15:57. The judges to the common urn bequeath 15:58. Their votes, and drop the sable signs of death; 15:59. The box receives all black, but, pour’d from thence, 15:60. The stones came candid forth; the hue of innocence. From Ovid’s Metamorphoses.
There are many other reasons why the white stone was used (once, it was even a sort of credit card with an authorizing name engraved on it). A white stone was also involved in a custom of hospitality-
From Manners and customs of Bible Lands by Fred H. Wight:
Friends as guests. In the East a friend is always welcome to receive hospitality. The Romans of New Testament times had a token of hospitality between two friends, which consisted of a tile of wood or stone, which was divided in half. Each person wrote his name on one of the two pieces, and then exchanged that piece with the other person. These were often kept and handed down from father to son. To produce the counterpart of one of these pieces would guarantee the hospitality of a real friend. The Book of Revelation no doubt refers to this custom in one of the promises to overcomers: “And will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written” (Revelation 2:17).
So, there are many reasons why a white stone will be given, therefore I can’t be dogmatic about the interpretation of why Jesus will give us one in the New Earth, but it’s all so interesting. We don’t know now but we will know when the time comes. For now let us end with Barnes’ Notes. We accept the white stone with new name,
as a pledge that he is accepted of God, and that the rewards of heaven shall be his; the world does not understand it, or attaches no value to it. And in the stone a new name written – A name indicating a new relation, new hopes and triumphs.
Spring is bursting all out around here. I know that in the rest of the country people are suffering from rain, ice, snow, and wind. But for now, things are calm in the south. The daffodils are popping up, forsythia is blooming, crepe myrtle is budding. The pear trees are coming along with their delicate blooms. Feb-March is my favorite here in Georgia. It’s warm but not hot. Outdoors is coming to life, including the trees filled with returning birds. No bugs yet. Ahhh, perfect. I hope you’re enjoying whatever season you’re in!
The movie “Jesus Revolution” is out. I wish that Christian films weren’t either bad, or well produced but heretical. I know we can’t have everything, but I wish there was SOME Christian media I could watch without cringing over the production quality or the doctrine. In Jesus Revolution, we have concerns over the doctrine presented, and by the way, there’s some revisionist history too. G3 reviews the movement so you can compare to the movie IF you see it-
False teaching will distress [those who fear the Lord], not because it contradicts their views but because it impugns [God]. — Michael Reeves
Yup!
In this article from TableTalk, we learn about nitpicking. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a nitpicker as “a pedantic critic; one who searches for and over-emphasizes trivial errors.” Here, Keith Mathison asks if we nitpick the Sunday service on the way home…
Missionaries…what salt they are and were in the world! Here, we learn of The Judsons: Six Years, No Converts. Jason Duesing muses on how the missionary couple rested in the promises of God during the years of hard plowing.
Many seemingly innocuous activities, like horoscopes, are in fact, dangerous. Here, an ex astrologer shows why-
Most believers are called to marriage. Some (like me) are called to singleness. I know I’m supposed to be single. Most young women feel sure they are called to marriage. But what about the in-between, when you’re yearning to be married but not married yet? What about dating?
Well, Tim Challies has reviewed a brief but pointed book that covers that very question. It’s called “Water for my Camels” and it’s reviewed positively. Author Paul Grimmond says, “Navigating the space between singleness and marriage when the Bible doesn’t talk about dating.” I know, ladies, the waiting can be hard.
LIFESTYLE-
Here are 26 Command hook hacks. I love hacks. I love Command hooks. It all worked out!
I love looking at homes. AirBNB is one website that is like Open House any time. It lets me to look at homes, and how people arrange their furniture and how they decorate. Country Life UK is a British Magazine offering real estate and estate lifestyle essays of a financial strata a billion levels above me. Want to buy a castle? AN Abbey? An ancient home, like this one, a place that has an actual ‘reception hall’? An exquisite home near Canterbury that dates back to the 14th century is now for sale for £2.75 million . Go peek. Drool. Enjoy.
Mine were almond flour pancakes. EPrata photo
I had pancakes for dinner the other night. Here is Jessica at Good Cheap Eats with way better recipes than the one I used for pancakes for dinner!
the-end-time.org 
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