Tag: beth moore

Posted in theology

Beth Moore announces wrap-up to Living Proof Live events, slow-down & reduction of the ministry overall

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Yesterday on her social media platforms, professing Christian Beth Moore announced that she is winding down her Living Proof Live part of her ongoing ministry and reducing her office staff to minimal personnel.

see video at Youtube here. Facebook here.

screen shot from Youtube announcement

Who is Beth Moore?

Beth Moore is a professing Christian who spent many decades as a Southern Baptist, eventually leaving that denomination to become Anglican in March 2021.

She began in her early 20s as a motivational speaker who also led an aerobics class at her church since the early 1980s. Noted for her ability to speak and connect with audiences, she became a Sunday School teacher at Houston’s First Baptist Church in 1984 and continued in that role for over a decade.

How old is Beth Moore?

Beth Green was born in Green Bay Wisconsin in June 1957, so as of this June 2026 Moore will be 69 years old. She was raised in Arkadelphia Arkansas.

When did she found Living Proof Ministries?

Moore founded Living Proof Ministries (LPM) in 1995 as a non-profit Christian corporation.

When did she publish her first Bible study?

Beth Moore’s first published Bible study is A Woman’s Heart: God’s Dwelling Place, released in 1994 through LifeWay Christian Resources. She and Lifeway had a publishing relationship for many subsequent years, formally parting in 2021 when she left the Southern Baptist Convention and her SBC church. Lifeway even paid to charter jets or provide first class airplane accommodations to Moore as she traveled, paying half such costs. A LifeWay representative said that at her height, “no one’s products raise as much revenue as Beth Moore’s”.

At that time, “Although still without any formal theological education, LifeWay Christian Resources’ publishing arm Broadman & Holman (later B&H) began publishing her Bible studies in 1994, leading to a national speaking ministry for Moore.” (source Christianity Today- “Why Women Want Moore“)

I reviewed her first published Bible study, here

Are Beth Moore’s Bible Studies any good?

Many say they are, and the number of these studies and the popularity of them would confirm this to the undiscerning. For a long while, anyone who said anything negative about Moore would receive heated and immediate pushback. Luke 6:26 however warns against universal popularity,

Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you,
    for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.

Others say her studies are not good, that they are rife with direct revelation, teach the unbiblical stance of learning to hear from God directly, are emotionally driven, and contain a twisted hermeneutic riddled with eisegesis, and many other issues. She preaches another Jesus, many claim.

What was Beth Moore’s Announcement?

As Moore said she is nearing her end phase, her Board of Directors said that “According to the protocol of a nonprofit organization like ours, after I turned 65, my board of directors asked me to propose a transition plan with just some idea of what I foresaw concerning Living Proof.” (source youtube video as above).

This is normal. It is wise to prepare a succession plan, but according to Council for Nonprofits, only 29% actually do. It makes sense as Moore looks at turning 70 in 18 months that she not only slow down but prepare a future vision for what she wants to do with the corporation.

Moore said in her announcement: “The plan includes downsizing Living Proof Ministries in June 2027 to minimal staff and minimal office space so that turning 70 I’ll have less responsibility overseeing a very busy ministry“

Both her daughters and her son-in-law work for LPL, so this is definitely a family discussion.

Why is Beth Moore slowing down? Is she retiring?

In truth, she has already tapered off these last couple of years with reducing the number of heavily scheduled and widely traveled large scale LP Live events. Moore has still been actively speaking but only at small venues such as colleges, churches, ship cruises, and so on. Her IRS Tax return states she puts in 50 hours per week, in the past in addition to that, she spoke at up to 12 LPL events per year (every other week according to The Atlantic article) hosted a weekly TV show, went on book tours, led Sunday School at church or Bible Studies/prayer meetings at LPM offices, and wrote more books. In a lengthy article in the Atlantic Monthly magazine she was called an ‘evangelical superstar’. She was busy.

Moore said in her announcement this serves as a path toward retirement-

“So though it may sound like retirement unless the Lord wills it, it’s meant to actually delay retirement.” (source, video).

So she is slowing down and dispensing with some of the heavier responsibilities so that she can focus on her plans to speak, write, and teach.

How many Living Proof Live events will there be now?

Only 7 more, and two of those are already sold out. It is keenly insightful from an economic standpoint for her to create scarcity. It only makes the object one wants to consume all the more desirable.

What is Beth Moore known for?

It depends on who you ask. Supporters say she is known for passion for Jesus, long-standing expertise in teaching Bible to women, notable skill and verve in speaking, and excellent at her craft of writing.

Detractors say she is a Christian in name only, a false teacher who spreads seeds of false doctrine throughout the faith, a rebel who preaches to men, and a stiff-necked, self-identifying obnoxious woman unable to control her mouth or submit to correction.

–She was sexually abused by her father for a number of years starting at a very early age.

–She dislikes President Trump so intensely his candidacy and eventual winning of the Presidency shook her to the core. She sees the world through a lens of abuse. “Moore believes that an evangelical culture that demeans women, promotes sexism, and disregards accusations of sexual abuse enabled Trump’s rise.” (The Atlantic).

–She has been married to her husband Keith, a Catholic, for 47 years, though Moore has consistently publicly claimed the marriage has been difficult, turbulent, arranged in ignominy,  wearing an ever so slightly off-white, nothing special wedding dress so as not to be a total fraud, and at one point Beth sought a divorce, but Keith refused on Catholic grounds.

–Beth and Keith have two daughters, one divorced and remarried, the other still married to her original husband, and several grandchildren. Beth and Keith are still married.

–She owns the two homes on her 50-acre compound, (one a 4,537 sf home and the other a 2,126 sf home); and a ranch in Menard TX, all managed by the Keith & Elizabeth Moore Family Trust.

–Beth’s given first name is Wanda and Keith’s given first name is Ivan.

Conclusion

I am glad Moore is stopping her Living Proof Live events. I attended a Live Event and also a simulcast at another time. She is a false teacher and the fewer venues she pumps out her version of a false Christianity and the fewer women she reaches, the better. It is not a sign of God’s approval that He allows a teacher to teach for so long, nor is it validation of doctrinal solidity that she is so popular. God uses false teachers to hone the true believer’s discernment, to test us, and to separate the false from the true body.

Wolf Week # 5: Why does God allow false teachers?

I owned my own business at one time, so I definitely understand the need to look ahead and plan for succession. I am also in the same age bracket as Moore, so I also understand the desire to slow down. I pray she stops completely soon, for even though she has plied her ungodly trade for so many decades seemingly unperturbed by Jesus, He may indeed still ‘stop her mouth’ as it says in the KJV,

Titus 1:10-11

For there are many rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, who must be silenced because they are upsetting whole families, teaching things they should not teach for the sake of sordid gain. 

In any case, Beth will have a lot to answer for when she meets the true Jesus whom she does not currently know.

Posted in theology

When Ministry Masks Feminism

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

SYNOPSIS

An essay critiques feminism within conservative Christianity, arguing it disguises itself as ministry. Tracing roots from temperance to suffrage, it defines feminism, challenges female celebrity teachers, and claims biblical hierarchy is violated when women pursue public platforms, careers, and influence while neglecting home-centered roles scripturally.

Continue reading “When Ministry Masks Feminism” →
Posted in theology

When Words and Witness Don’t Match

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

SYNOPSIS
I lament rising social-media conflict, highlighting Beth Moore’s recent divisive comments as an example. Reflecting on Christian discernment, I emphasize that teachers’ actions must match their words and that pursuing long-term holiness, especially in speech and conduct, is essential for evaluating true faith and character.

Continue reading “When Words and Witness Don’t Match” →
Posted in theology

Unveiling the Truth: Understanding Purposeful Disingenuousness

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Beth Moore’s “aw shucks, li’l ole me, I’m here to serve you” demeanor is a lie. It’s actually purposeful disingenuousness. I remember that time she said she spent the weekend at “a beach house” but it was really her own $900,000 waterfront mansion. She couldn’t just say “my beach house” but instead she purposely crafted a statement that gave the opposite impression.

Today, she said her 2 million square feet of forested land is “some acres.” The post leaves one with the impression that they are lucky homeowners to be able to cling to a few trees on their lot, when the truth is her property is actually the largest land tract in the entire area, 2 million square feet equaling 45 forested acres with a spring running through it. This is a well-established pattern with Moore, and in fact, most false teachers. A contrived version that either exaggerates what is not there or hides what is there. It’s non-transparency.

I have no doubt that she loves it. That’s fine. But taking time to parse her words in order to give the reader an impression that is not true is less than holy.

Merriam Webster dictionary defines purposeful disingenuousness as “giving a false appearance of simple frankness: calculating“. And that is false teacher Beth Moore to a T.

Ladies, remember what Paul said about being transparent. He didn’t use the word transparent, but he described transparency in 2 Corinthians 1:12-14, saying “For our proud confidence is this: the testimony of our conscience, that in holiness and godly sincerity, not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God, we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially toward you. 13 For we write nothing else to you than what you read and understand, and I hope you will understand until the end; 14 just as you also partially did understand us, that we are your reason to be proud as you also are ours, on the day of our Lord Jesus..“

Paul was saying he had been plain, open, clear, has a pure conscience, and does not rely on fleshly wisdom (which is actually no wisdom at all).

Transparency, or openness, or allowing ourselves to be vulnerable, is what makes us human. It’s what allows for human connection. Our bonds will be strong if we are real with one another.

Like Beth Moore, if we continually carefully craft an outer persona that does not match the inner woman, all she are left with is lies and a rotten core; and for us, an eventual feeling of betrayal when the truth is finally uncovered. And it always comes out. People can tell when we are being humbly honest and when we are equivocating. When we are vulnerable in real ways, and when we are serving up poop on a plate.

AN oft-cited verse when discussing transparency in our relationships is from 1 John 1:7, but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

Walking in the light is walking in truth, sincerity, honesty… Barnes’ Notes makes this insight on the 1 John 1:7 verse,

We have fellowship one with another – As we all partake of his feelings and views, we shall resemble each other. Loving the same God, embracing the same views of religion, and living for the same ends, we shall of course have much that is common to us all, and thus shall have fellowship with each other.

How can we be resembling one another in our pursuit of Jesus’ likeness when we conceal our selves by presenting a dishonest persona to our fellows?

The false teacher HAS TO hide themselves because they are false. They have constructed a careful but artificial persona.

While true Christians live a natural life full of honesty and bonded meaning with one another:

False teachers have to present a parsed, curated, artificial version of themselves both in word and deed. But especially words. As a discerner, we need to hear the words but have an ear to understanding when their words do not match their behavior or lifestyle. Carefully crafted but artificial humility and hiding the truth, will do no one any good. A false teacher may survive her concealment for a while, but discerning folks will see the truth behind the words. And if not, anyway- in the end “nothing is concealed that will not become evident, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light.” (Luke 8:17)

Posted in theology

Walsch, Young, and Beth Moore: ungodly channelers producing ungodly books. Part 3: Beth Moore’s “When Godly People do Ungodly Things”

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

A post on Instagram by the ever-solid Doreen Virtue about channeling (it’s here) reminded me that in 2011 I had written a series of essay examining what channeling (or ‘automatic writing’) is, and had examined three highly popular books that these seemingly Christian authors had published. I’ve revived and updated those essays here, I also shortened them, and split them up to examine each author in turn.

Neale Donald Walsch wrote “Conversations with God” (1995), William P. Young wrote “The Shack” (2007), and Beth Moore wrote “When Godly People Do Ungodly Things” (2002). All three were Christian bestsellers. All three are unholy.

Automatic writing is when a writer clears his mind, gives his will over to another entity from the supernatural realms, and allows his hand to be used as a transcriber, thereby allowing the entity to produce the work, and not himself through his own mind or consciousness. Not even the scriptures were generated in this manner. The Bible’s authors received inspiration but were mentally and emotionally present and the Holy Spirit used their mind and personality to write. The authors didn’t zone out and become robots as another entity produced the works.

One thing these automatic writers I’m looking at who channel these supernatural entities have in common is they all had a Christian-ish background. The second thing they all had in common was abuse, parents who were distant either physically or emotionally, and/or trauma of severe kinds that usually resulted in a deep depression throughout adulthood. It was in the depths of their depressions at the bottom of their turmoil that they began to experience the “call” from the other side. Here are their stories. Today, we look at Beth Moore.

Beth Moore was raised a Christian in Arkansas, attending church and Sunday School regularly. She earned a political science degree from college and after a few years “took a Bible doctrine class” taught at her church. Moore has been very open about the sexual abuse she suffered as a child. In her recent memoir she finally revealed that it was her father who abused her. In her speeches she often mentioned the abuse (though not who the perp was).

She is also well known for having shared her personal thoughts on her low self-esteem, feeling of worthlessness, insecurity, etc. and in fact has memorialized those feelings in most of her books. For all that, she is closely guarded about her personal life but it is my opinion that the frequency with which she raises her personal traumas is an indicator that they are not slain and are in fact indicative of a deep depression, despite all her perkiness.

Beth Moore wrote in her book Believing God: “What God began to say to me about five years ago, and I’m telling you it sent me on such a trek with Him, that my head is still whirling over it. He began to say to me, ‘I’m gonna tell you 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: My Bride is paralyzed by unbelief. My Bride is paralyzed by unbelief.’ And He said, ‘Startin’ with you.’” God says, “and boy you write this one down”.

She states in the Believing God DVD: “You know what He told me not too long ago? I told you when I first began this whole concept, He first started teaching it to me about five years ago, and He said these words to me: ‘Baby, you have not even begun to believe Me. You haven’t even begun!’ You know what He said just a few days ago? ‘Honey, I just want you to know we’re just beginning.’ Oh, glory! That meant I had begun. Hallelujah! But He was telling me, ‘When this ends, we ain’t done with this. Honey, this is what we do for the rest of your life.’ And He said those words to me over and over again: ‘Believe Me. Believe Me. And I hope it’s starting to ring in your ears, over and over again, Believe Me.’”

Beth actually believes God speaks to her, speaks in such familiar language, and uses endearments such as babe and honey.

No.

In Moore’s “When Godly People Do Ungodly Things, in the preface she states,

Transcription from the screen shot reads: “This book represents one of the most unique writing experiences I’ve ever had with God. Unbeknownst to me, He’s been writing each chapter on my heart for several years. When the message for this book was complete (in His estimation—not mine!), God compelled me to ink it on paper with a force of the Holy Spirit unparalleled in my experience. He whisked me to the mountains of Wyoming where I entered solitary confinement with Him, and in only a few short weeks, I wrote the last line.

Now here is the question. Beth Moore says that she holed up in a cabin by herself, and a written work poured out, emerging complete and not by her own hand. Moore said, “When the message of the book was complete, in His estimation, not my own”? So, a disembodied spirit via a force or a voice was telling her what to write and when to stop! Moore was not in control of the editing process, a force was. Her physical body was used by a disembodied spirit to write things down and she felt like she could not resist the force (‘compelled’). This is channeling, sisters.

Transcription of screen shot: “I am being as honest as I know how to be when I say that I did not write these pages by simple preference. I wrote them because had I not, the rocks in my yard would have cried out. What God does with what He’s required is His business. I entrust this message entirely to the One who delivered it while I sat bug-eyed.” (Source When Godly People Do Ungodly Things). 

Moore is saying that she sat passively like a robot or an automaton while God delivered a message. No. Moore is saying that her book is so important that all of creation would cry out if she didn’t write it. No.

Furthermore, she is putting herself as an equal to the Apostles who were praising JESUS at that time. Moore’s pride in elevating her book to the level of importance akin to joy expressed at the arrival of the Messiah illustrates a prideful heart. 

Sisters, one may wonder how these authors dare to write these blasphemous words, AND believe them. But pride is incremental. it speaks to the lust we have for ourselves in our hearts, and slowly insinuated its tentacles around that prideful heart to darken its view of Jesus and brighten our view of ourselves. Watch out for pride, or someday you may find yourself (or myself) saying that we are so important the rocks would cry out if we didn’t do such and such!

Further Resources

Grace to You: Hearing from Heaven

Doreen Virtue: Say NO to Jesus Calling New Age Channeled Books

The End Time: How do Christian authors end up channeling spirits and producing books from them? Pride

Posted in theology

False teachers’ emotional teaching

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

I’ve recently written about the clique of folks who claim in public that the church ‘hurt them’, and I went into a discussion of the difference between emotions and emotionalism. That essay is here.

Many women who teach the Bible on the speaking circuit are false. Not all, of course, but many. Since they are false they have to manufacture a work-around for their lack of illumination of the scriptures. They don’t exegete well (exegete meaning draw the Author’s intended meaning out of the Bible). They either twist the word (2 Peter 3:16), or they eisegete (meaning they put their own ideas into the Bible rather than unearth the one meaning the Author intended). Perhaps they use a cover for their obvious lack of theology. One of these covers frequently used is emotionalism.

Joe Thorn at Ligonier discusses emotionalism. He wrote in his essay Don’t pursue feelings, pursue Christ,

One danger is emotionalism, in which we allow our feelings to interpret our circumstances and form our thoughts about God. This is putting feelings before faith. The other danger is a kind of stoicism, where faith is rooted in theology but void of affection. This tendency removes feelings from faith altogether. While it is true that our emotions should not lead our theology, it is vital to our faith that theology lead to a deep experience of our triune God.

[Confession: I am certainly not perfect. I myself need to work against Stoicism.]

WHEN we commune with God, WHEN we are in prayer with the Spirit, WHEN we are at Jesus throne of grace, THEN our emotions develop into great affection for the Triune God. We do feel emotions such as relief, joy, humility, amazement, awe, proper fear; all the emotions that our study of His attributes will cultivate. But it’s theology first, and then the outflow of that growing knowledge of God is subsequently a growing feeling of affection for who He is. Put succinctly, the more we study Him the more we love Him.

Jonah knew full well who God is, but he was led by his emotions. Anger, resentment, bitterness, xenophobia…when you feel temptation to be led by your emotions at the expense of submission to God’s authority, remember Jonah.

When these false teachers lead by emotion, it creates a dependency on emotions. But emotions are fleeting. Hence the surfing analogy. We want to feel that high again that we felt at the Study/simulcast/event/conference etc. False teacher Rick Warren unwittingly explained the high of emotional learning back in a Baptist Press interview in 1998.

We’re just a church that tries to look for waves, and we ride them. And then we try to do it with balance. Catching the wave means first determining what God is doing… ~Rick Warren.

His quote typifies the flitting of encounter to encounter, a surfing the waves of an adrenaline approach to Christian life rather than persevering obediently, sacrificially, and steadily. Remember, we first discover who God is by reading His word. The article is (tellingly) titled, “Rick Warren: Surfing skills critical to ‘catching waves’ of God’s activity“

A church should look at Jesus. Not flit from high wave to high wave, and not surfing up and down based on a humanly interpreted vision of what God is doing.

Emotions give us that adrenaline and then suddenly you’re surfing, trying to catch that high you felt but every time you catch it, it needs to be a little higher than the last time. Why? The Law of Diminishing Returns-

The law of diminishing returns is a principle that states that after a certain point, each additional unit of input results in a smaller increase in output. In other words, you get less and less bang for your buck the more you do something. This can be applied to many areas of life, including business and investing. (Source).

Emotionalism will give you diminishing returns. In God’s economy, you only ever receive more. His is an economy of eternal increase. A false teacher’s economy is only ever one of decrease.

Let’s look at some examples of how false teachers use emotional language to deceive you into that false high.

Aimee Byrd’s Twitter & Threads profile pic

Aimee Byrd wrote recently about her decision to become ordained. She filled out a form, and voila! now she can legally marry people in her home state. Here is her gushing, over-the-top-emotional description about how performing the ceremony for her brother made her feel:

Last weekend I got to experience something that resonated so deeply with my soul. It felt like I got to meet a part of who I am. And in this, I wasn’t only seeing beauty, but participating in the beautiful. … ~Aimee Byrd

I’m hesitant to write about this, because it is so deeply meaningful to me. … ~Aimee Byrd

When I started this Substack, I wanted to write about what is real: what is the lump in my throat right now? ~Aimee Byrd

Aimee is a good writer, if a little fluffy for my taste. I’m not saying we should not write about what we are feeling when we commune with God. I am saying that some female teachers and false preacher women depend on flowery writing based on emotion rather than biblical facts.

In Aimee’s case, she wrote “It felt like…” She said that she mulled this over deeply and concluded, “But this is my brother asking me, and if I say no, I want it to be for good reason.” But her reasoning was based on a deep dive into history and culture, not the Bible. She decided to ordain herself because of how she felt about it [and because, she wrote, ‘the church hurt me’.].

All that combined, she wrote, “The state of Maryland doesn’t qualify what makes one ordained, or what kind of person is ordained, but recognizes ordination in the ministry as a status for the task of legally officiating a wedding. … I was comfortable to be appointed for this specific and beautiful ministry.” But God decides, and God trumps Maryland.

‘I was comfortable.’ Women are not to aspire to the ordained office in order to perform functions before the throne of God. But Aimee was ‘comfortable.’ Her soul resonated. There was a lump in her throat. It’s deeply meaningful. Sure, so that means her rebellion is OK?

Beth Moore has always written emotionally. She is emotionalism personified. She over-states things emotionally, constantly (that’s the key, emotional language is constant) using words like “with all my heart” and “deeply desire”, “in my bones”. Her teachings are saturated with overblown hyperbole and hyper adjectives such as vital, crucial etc. Even her first published study was filled with adjectives that work to evoke emotions and fervency rather than draw out from the Bible the attributes of God. She uses words like “vital” and “crucial” repeatedly. If everything is vital and crucial, then nothing is.

Beth Moore performing her Bible Study, with emotion

The basic test to determine if you’re being taught to be led by your emotions is, a few days after a study, think about what is at the top of your mind most. Did you learn more about God? Or more about the teacher? Do you remember the teacher’s anecdotes and how they made you feel, for about God and how seeing Him through scripture made you feel? Your thoughts and feelings about God stay. The thoughts and feelings about the teacher about the study about how you felt at the time, flee. See what remains. It should be a clearer picture of God.

[Many] falsely suppose that the feelings, which God has implanted in us as natural, proceed only from a defect. Accordingly the perfecting of believers does not depend on their casting off all feelings, but on their yielding to them and controlling them, only for proper reason. John Calvin, Commentary on Acts 20:37.

Posted in theology

The self-delusion is strong with this one (Lori Alexander & others)

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Lori Alexander is known by her handle The Transformed Wife. Her TwitterX handle is godlywomanhood. She maintains many social media accounts for the express purpose, she says, of teaching women to be keepers at home, as per Titus 2:3-5.

On October 21, 2024, Lori The Transformed Wife, @godlywomanhood wrote-

This is for any of you who think my life is no different than the popular female preachers, influencers, book writers, speakers, and podcasters. I am home full time and always available for my family. I never travel. I’ve never given a speech anywhere. I stopped doing interviews. I donate all the money from my books to a pro-life organization. I just write or do a short video when something comes to mind. I mentor many women privately and on my social media sites in the ways of biblical womanhood as God commands. I stay within the boundary God has given to me to teach in Titus 2:3-5. I am a keeper at home as God commands. 3:06 PM Oct 21, 2024

I am glad she noticed the apparent contradiction of her constant shaming of women who work outside the home compared to her constant work for her ‘ministry’ inside her home. By my count she is on Youtube, Twitter, Facebook, Facebook Private group, Pinterest, TikTok her blog, Instagram, and who know what else. Constantly. These are not dormant platforms. Lori is active. She creates a LOT of content almost every day. She not only works at creating content but manages donations and royalties from her published books, so, she is also working with her finances, too. She is busy.

As I say so often, don’t look at only what these women say, look at what they do. In her defensive posting, Lori unwittingly admits to blogging, authoring, mentoring, youtubing, responding to contacts, interviewing, and managing her finances. Just because she does it at home instead of an office does not negate the fact that she is extremely busy with her work. Anyone seeing the excessive abundance of her output would note the same. She is deluding herself.

I noticed this kind of self-delusion (or outright lie) in an early Beth Moore blog essay. I had read in a 2010 Christianity Today article, where the interviewer of Beth Moore had stated,

“…she insists on maintaining a regular schedule, traveling every other Friday night and coming home the next night. “We walk the dogs together and eat out together all the time and lie on the floor with pillows and watch TV,” Moore says. “My man demanded attention and he got it, and my man demanded a normal home life and he got it.”

No. The maths ain’t mathing. A normal life? Hardly.

I had already noted that year Moore’s heavy travel schedule at the time, her mention of spending 2 weeks secluded in a cabin in Wyoming to write her book, her book tours, her speaking engagements apart from Living Proof, her TV appearances, her IRS tax-return statement that she worked 50 hours per week at her office in Houston. She was busy. What Moore was claiming and what she was actually doing did not match up.

Is she deluding herself? Is she deceiving others? Both.

I noticed the same with Diana Stone. When Diana Stone was writing for She Reads Truth, we read in Diana Stone’s bio that, “You can find her in the mornings with a cup of coffee and her Bible flung open, preparing for the day ahead.” And “With a sweet daughter in tow, Diana clings to God’s Word daily.“

It turns out that Mrs. Stone relaxes with the Bible “flung open” … after she dropped her daughter to daycare. At the time of that writing, in 2014, the couple had employed a part time nanny to care for their daughter in their home so Mrs. Stone could work as a freelance writer. After bumping along with several nannies, (likely not a fun time for the children with personnel coming and going) they put their child in daycare so Mrs. Stone could continue to write at home. So yes, she was at home…while a day care worker took care of her kid. What she tells the public and what is actually going on did not match up.

It was the same with so many others such as Priscilla Shirer, Joanna Gaines, Jackie Hill Perry… If a Christian mother chooses a career and also has children, one or the other, or both, will suffer. No matter how they try to spin it.

It is impossible for a woman to claim undivided attention for the children at home AND have an outside the house career, especially when it’s evident by reading their blogs, seeing their speaking schedules, and just having common sense to see their lifestyle. These women on the speaking circuit are either deluding themselves or their audience, or both. But the main problem is the hypocrisy of saying you live godly as a wife and mom but living your career too.

If a woman and her husband decide she needs to work outside the home, there may be good reasons for that to which the outsider is not privy. Sheerah in the Bible was “a builder.” Rachel was a shepherdess. Deborah was a wife but also a Judge. Lydia ran a business of selling purple but also had her own household. There ARE examples of women in the Bible who worked.

But if she is a mother, yes, then her first priority should be the children. John Mark was blessed with a mom and a grandma who raised him in the admonition of the Law. Don’t be fooled by mothers who have young children at home who try to talk the talk about being totally oriented to the home all the while living a different lifestyle away from the home. We aren’t dumb. We see you.

If you have to work, so be it. There may be good reasons. On the flip side, if you’re ashamed of being a stay at home mom, realize it is a magnificent thing. The point is, there is no room for self-deception and no call to deceive others…unless that is the intent.

Posted in theology

Of toxic empathy, false zeal, and how satan’s demons masquerade to fool you

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Allie Beth Stuckey published a book that’s out this week, called Toxic Empathy: How Progressives Exploit Christian Compassion. The book is making waves and causing a hearty discussion on social media.

That’s good. Stuckey explores the concepts of the current cultural mantras, “love is love”, “trans women are women”, “abortion is health care”, “social justice is justice”, and pointedly, that empathy is not always empathy. Love, justice, empathy are good words, but they can and are appropriated by bad people who use those words to manipulate the people around them, especially Christians. Stuckey wrote in her introduction,

But empathy alone is a terrible guide. It may be part of what inspires us to do good, but it’s just an emotion and, like all emotions, is highly susceptible to manipulation. That’s exactly what’s happening today. Empathy has been hijacked for the purpose of conforming well-intentioned people to particular political agendas. Specifically, it’s been co-opted by the progressive wing of American society to convince people that the progressive position is exclusively the one of kindness and morality. I call it toxic empathy. Source: page xii)

Of course the culture will push back on a Christian re-redefining the words that the progressives have appropriated and redefined. Here we see one reaction-

Mason Mennenga @masonmennenga wrote on Twitter, “if you think empathy is toxic then you’re going to hate this guy named jesus christ“.

According to our own understanding of the word ’empathy’, of course the guy is right. But then again, this is a situation that calls for thought, not knee-jerk reactions such as “Yeah!” then press ‘like’.

The ever wise Ron Henzel @ronhenzel replied to Mennenga, (≠ means ‘does not equal’):

“toxic substance” ≠ “all substances are toxic”
“toxic waste” ≠ “all waste is toxic”
“toxic relationships” ≠ “all relationships are toxic”
“toxic empathy” ≠ “all empathy is toxic“

We must, MUST think things through. Christians are a thinking people, (Philippians 4:8). As Stuckey said, emotions can be manipulated.

Emotions are a part of life. But I bring this to your attention…what were the first emotions seen in the Bible? Shame, guilt, blame. Genesis 3. Satan manipulated Eve’s curiosity into a temptation and we know what happened from there.

Of ‘toxic empathy’, the American writer Flannery O’Connor said,

“If other ages felt less, they saw more, even though they saw with the blind, prophetical, unsentimental eye of faith. In the absence of this faith now, we govern by tenderness. It is a tenderness which, long cut off from the person of Christ, is wrapped in theory. When tenderness is detached from the source of tenderness, its logical outcome is terror. It ends in forced-labor camps and in the fumes of the gas chamber.”

AI explains the quote-

This quote, by Flannery O’Connor, argues that modern society, lacking a strong religious faith, governs itself through a detached “tenderness” that, without the grounding of Christ, ultimately leads to horrific consequences like violence and oppression, symbolized by the gas chambers of concentration camps.

And haven’t we seen that? “Love thy neighbor” was the covid-flu mantra pressuring the populace to ingest untested or unwieldy vaccinations, to close down society against common sense, and to become isolated robots. What happened was the elderly were left to die alone and society’s children were impacted negatively for a generation to come. That’s just one example of how progressives used toxic empathy against the people in their society.

Moving away from toxic empathy to examining toxic zeal, Martyn Lloyd-Jones preached a 2 part series on true zeal versus false zeal.

There IS such a thing as false zeal. False Christians who seem so zealous for God are actually not zealous for God. It’s a manufactured zeal cloaking their zeal for themselves, or for satan. See this verse-

Brothers, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation. For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. (Romans 10:1-2).

By this verse we see there is such a thing as a zeal that is not of God. There can be zeal, or fervor, or energy around religious things, but not according to what we know from the Bible. AKA knowledge.

Zeal: great energy or enthusiasm in pursuit of a cause or an objective. Synonyms: passion, fervor, enthusiasm.

Photo by Luan Cabral on Unsplash

They went across the world to make one proselyte, but wound up making him twice the sons of hell they were. (Matthew 23:15). That verse is the example of zeal without knowledge. You can be passionate, you can be busy making disciples, but a false zeal will make disciples who miss the mark completely and will wind up in hell as a son of hell. Zeal, no knowledge.

Beth Moore has been consistently described through the years as “energetic”, “charismatic”, “passionate”. She puts out an energy as zealous for God. But because we know she is a false teacher, her zeal is without knowledge. She is full of emotion but lacks the tether to the Rock via faith.

She was recently interviewed by Ed Stetzer at Church Leaders. He ended by asking Moore how she prepares for a lesson. I was struck by her answer.

Question: Can you encourage teachers and preachers, especially in this season when it is hard to speak truth and there is a lot of destructive forces that are trying to take down teachers and preachers?

Answer:
“Keep asking the Lord to give you fire in your bones, to teach and preach and communicate the Scriptures so that you can’t keep it to yourself. Ask him for it when it wanes, and it’s going to wane…Nobody just keeps that naturally on their own.“

It’s love for scripture, love for Jesus, that drives the Christian to search the scriptures and then the scriptures fire up that proper zeal.

“Is My word not like fire?” declares the LORD, “and like a hammer which shatters a rock?” (Jeremiah 23:29).

You get a ‘fire in the bones’ when you open up the scriptures!

And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?(Luke 24:32).

But Moore said it is important that “we’re not just going to the scriptures to prepare a lesson.“

To be fair, she was talking of the teacher having a right relationship with Jesus as one prepares the lesson. I can intuit that she means not apathetic, in prayerful humility, regular church goer, etc But she didn’t say those things. She just muddily talked of the overflow (whatever that means). Consulting the scriptures is primary. But for the false zealer, it’s secondary. Emotions tops the list.

I was struck by what she said and what she did NOT say. Any thinking Christian must think of both- what is said and what is not said. Moore did not say it was crucial for the leader to pray for perseverance in staying in right doctrine. To ask for moral righteousness. Begging to rightly divide the scriptures. Her reply focused on emotion. ‘Fire in the bones’ (whatever that means) was most important to her because, as we know, she is driven by emotion. Zeal misapplied is false. Zeal untethered from the Rock will lead you nowhere good.

False teachers appear to be doing a religious effort, they look like they are on the right track, and part of that appearance is because of their fervent energy.

The Bible says that satan and his demons masquerade as angels of light. That means behavior, outward appearance. The thinking Christian must look deeper.

Do not fall for toxic empathy. Do not mistake toxic zeal for righteous fervor. Above, all, THINK!

Lloyd-Jones’ sermon can be heard here, for free: True Zeal and False Zeal: A Sermon on Romans 10:1-2. Or on Youtube with closed captions (which might help due to his accent).

Further Reading

Real Zeal vs. False Zeal part 1

Real Zeal vs. False zeal part 2

Here is a good article on turning information into knowledge by Rick Holland.

Here in this article What do you think about emotional sensationalism in the modern church? Stephen Nichols of Ligonier says there are valid emotions, but “especially in the American church, we seem to be very susceptible to this. There is a difference between emotion and emotionalism.”