cut to the chase

Cut To the Chase: Short Discernment critique on Aimee Byrd

Posted on October 31, 2024 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

About the “Cut to the Chase” series: short, bullet point discernment pieces warning about various teachers. In the Cut to the Chase I include links at the end if you care to go to the longer essays.

Aimee Byrd was a member of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC). She burst onto the scene in 2013 with her book The Housewife Theologian. She was selected to be co-host at the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals along with intellect Carl Trueman and theologian Todd Pruitt, where she settled for a few years. She wrote more books and was a published essayist and became a sought-after speaker.

But slowly as Aimee began to espouse and proclaim her more feminist stances, alarm was raised about her from various camps in the faith. By 2020 Aimee was ‘gone’. Gone from the complementarian stance she’d once espoused, and openly rejecting biblical gender roles. Let’s cut to the chase-

1. Aimee is a feminist. Feminism is antithetical to the Gospel (1 Timothy 2:12; Titus 2:5). In fact, it’s a curse. (Genesis 3:16)

Dr. Jonathan Master, seminary president and the Alliance Of Confessing Evangelicals’ editorial director publicly asked Aimee some questions about her then-new stance, which were posted after she had refused to answer them privately: Questions for Aimee

Aimee’s public response to Dr. Master: “Peeling Yellow Wallpaper” simply demonstrated her further entrenchment into feminism, a rebellious spirit, and a hardening to correction.

The Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood reviewed Aimee’s polemical and startling book containing her newly revealed feminist stance, here. They disliked it strongly.

Statement from the Alliance on the removal of Aimee –https://www.reformation21.org/blog/a-clarification-from-the-alliance

2. Aimee preaches in church to men. This violates 1 Timothy 2:12, and violates the spirit of her gender (many other verses).

In 2022 she preached at Covenant Church in Shepherdstown, WV, part of the Southern Baptist Convention. She also preached at a Presbyterian church called The Crossing, a Church in Columbia, MO. These are sermons during a mixed audience Sunday Service.

Women are not to preach. To do so despite clear instructions in the Bible shows a blatant disregard for the Jesus they profess to love. “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments” Jesus said in John 14:15. And as Justin Peters said,

3. Aimee is divisive and hardened to correction. This violates Proverbs 15:32, “One who neglects discipline rejects himself, But one who listens to a rebuke acquires understanding.”

In fact, Aimee knew she would be publicly excoriated for her preaching, saying at the opening of her sermon at Covenant Church,

I had to do some, you know, real soul work and prayer work to accept that invitation, not only for my own views on that issue, but just knowing ‘Hey, this is going to be on the internet’ and there’s going to be a public smearing of me after this…

And rightly so. But those with a seared conscience believe they are unjustly being smeared rather than being rightly rebuked.

Also Proverbs 1:7
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.”

Aimee left her denomination rather than submit to its teaching.

4. Aimee ordained herself so that she can officiate weddings.

In an essay on her blog titled “By the Power Vested in Me” Aimee declared her joy in being able to officiate her brother’s wedding after completing a quick course and obtaining a certificate of ordination. She obtained this certificate from American Marriage Ministries, which believes that “All people, regardless of race, gender, or sexual orientation, have the right to marry.”

AMA’s requirements to become an ordained minister are to fill out this form. That’s it.

But, Aimee says, “I have a high regard for the pastorate.” Obviously she does not. She said in her essay that when her brother asked her to officiate his wedding, she wanted to make sure “if I say no, I want it to be for good reason.” So she consulted culture and history. The Bible is not a good enough reason?

Avoid Aimee Byrd. She is false.

Critiques of Aimee Byrd by E Prata

Easily offended, nursing wounds, and reveling in victimhood

Markers on the way-station of downgrade: Exhibit A, Aimee Byrd

They make such excuses: Exhibit B, Aimee Byrd

Apostasy again: We say goodbye to Aimee Byrd

Aimee Byrd should be in your rear view mirror by now

All Cut to the Chase essays here. Discernment on Joyce Meyer, Priscilla Shirer, Beth Moore, David Platt, Jackie Hill Perry, Lori Alexander (The Transformed Wife), Jen Wilkin

Cut To The Chase: The entire discernment series (David Platt, Beth Moore, Joyce Meyer, Jackie Hill Perry, Lori Alexander, Jen Wilkin, Priscilla Shirer)

theology

Cut To The Chase: The entire discernment series (David Platt, Beth Moore, Joyce Meyer, Jackie Hill Perry, Lori Alexander, Jen Wilkin, Priscilla Shirer)

Posted on May 31, 2024October 31, 2024 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Last week I wrote a series on discernment in 6 essays. They are below. I called it “Wolf Week” because false teachers are called wolves in scripture. My own version of Shark Week, lol.

Wolf Week Intro: or, We DO know the heart
Wolf Week # 1: My two “starter false teachers”
Wolf Week # 2: Why Wolves?
Wolf Week # 3: Types of false teachers and their different methods
Wolf Week # 4: Has that false teacher REALLY ‘helped’ you?
Wolf Week # 5: Why does God allow false teachers?

A short follow-up series I am publishing contains 5 more essays in short form focusing on 4 influential ‘Bible’ teachers. I have written discernment essays on these four previously in years past, but those essays were longer. Nowadays however, people like to read less lengthy material. So I cut to the chase and made shorter essays showing why these folks are false.

Here they all are in one place:

Cut to the Chase: Priscilla Shirer

Cut to the Chase: Jen Wilkin

Cut to the chase: Six Reasons why Joyce Meyer is a false teacher

Cut to the chase: Five reasons to avoid Jackie Hill Perry

Cut to the chase: Four reasons to avoid Lori Alexander of godlywomanhood

Cut to the chase: Six reasons why you should avoid Beth Moore

Cut to the Chase: Three (probably four) Reasons to Avoid David Platt

theology

Cut to the chase: Six Reasons why Joyce Meyer is a false teacher

Posted on May 31, 2024 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Last week I wrote a series on discernment in 6 essays. They are below. I called it “Wolf Week” because false teachers are called wolves in scripture. My own version of Shark Week, lol.

A short follow-up series I am publishing contains more essays in short form focusing on influential ‘Bible’ teachers. I have written discernment essays on these teachers previously in years past, but those essays were longer. Nowadays however, people like to read less lengthy material. So I cut to the chase and made shorter essays showing why these folks are false.

Today I look at 6 reasons not to follow Joyce Meyer.

Bullet points on why Joyce Meyer is a false teacher

Joyce Meyer is a very popular female Bible teacher and preacher. She has been on the scene for decades, and shows no signs of slowing down. She has 10 offices around the world and employs 500 people. Her brand of charismatic/name-it claim it religion has deceived many. This is sad, but the Bible says that many will be deceived by false teachers. I pray that anything here will spark a further Berean investigation by the reader and through prayer, come to the other side of discernment in understanding why Meyer should be avoided.

Joyce Meyer preached that Jesus was a sinner, had been born again, stopped being the Son of God, paid for our sins in hell (from 1991 Booklet called The Most Important Decision you Will Ever Make), and was tormented there. Meyer preaches a different Jesus. She is a heretic.
Joyce Meyer preaches to men and mixed gender audiences in violation of 1 Timothy 2:12.
Joyce Meyer operated as an associate pastor in a church in violation of 1 Timothy 2:12.
Joyce Meyer preaches that it is normal and expected to hear directly from God, yet the scriptures claim they are sufficient (2 Timothy 3:14-17), and the Bible canon is closed. (Revelation 22:18-19). Yet she teaches that God speaks individually to people today. Example, in essay “It’s not that complicated” (scroll down!) she wrote -“Do you ever wonder if God speaks to people? You’ll be happy to know the answer is yes. But first let me explain how distractions can hinder His voice” and taught more from her book How to Hear from God or in this video.
Joyce Meyer claims she is not a sinner. This is in violation of 1 John 1:8, which says that such people are deceived and the truth is not in them.
There’s more, but these should suffice to illustrate to the reader that Joyce Meyer’s teaching is not edifying.

Please do not allow a teacher’s longevity lull you into thinking they must be good. Please do not allow a ministry’s global breadth to lull you into thinking he or she is good. In fact the Bible says that popularity is often a mark of falsity. (Luke 6:26). The world wants their ears tickled. In 2 Timothy 4:3 we read

For the time will come when they will not tolerate sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance with their own desires,

If you follow Joyce Meyer, please consider these things. Please stay in the pure, undefiled faith, and find some good Bible teachers to follow, beginning with your own pastor and elders at your own church.

theology

Cut to the chase: Five reasons to avoid Jackie Hill Perry

Posted on May 30, 2024May 31, 2024 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Last week I wrote a series on discernment in 6 essays. They are below. I called it “Wolf Week” because false teachers are called wolves in scripture. My own version of Shark Week, lol.

A short follow-up series I am publishing contains 4 more essays in short form focusing on 4 influential ‘Bible’ teachers. I have written discernment essays on these four previously in years past, but those essays were longer. Nowadays however, people like to read less lengthy material. So I cut to the chase and made shorter essays showing why these folks are false.

Today I look at 5 reasons not to follow Jackie Hill Perry.

Jackie Hill Perry (JHP) is an author, spoken word artist, poet, and speaker. She was saved, she said, in 2008. Until that point, Jackie had indulged in all manner of sins, including long-term lesbianism.

Issue # 1- Direct Revelation

Jackie’s manner of conversion began with a voice from God. As an aside, many of the false teachers I warn you about claim either as part of their conversion story or part of their foundation of their ministry, a voice from ‘God’.

In Jackie’s case when she was an active lesbian, she said that despite knowing the scripture for ‘the wages of sin is death’, apparently the biblical statement was not enough for her to repent of her perversity. It wasn’t until she heard the Lord speaking directly to her that she believed. Source and Source. And notice the displacement of the core issue. Jackie said she ‘heard’ the Lord say of her girlfriend, “She will be the death of you” and Jackie said, ‘then things clicked.’ Emphasis mine

No. SIN is the death of us. In JHP’s case, her lesbianism. The girlfriend isn’t the problem, choosing sin and indulging in it is the problem.

Issue # 2: Lack of Discernment

After her stated conversion in 2018, Jackie Hill Perry was seen as solid enough (by some) to be invited to appear in the American Gospel film, which combatted word-faith doctrine and prosperity gospel. But in 2022, JHP renounced her participation in AG film, saying she wished she had never been featured in it. She said it was “too tribalistic” whatever THAT means; and reeked of “theological superiority”.

As a side note: true doctrine IS superior to false to half-true doctrine. The Bible commands us to separate from liars, the greedy, false teachers, and so on. Jackie became unwilling to set doctrinal boundaries and separate. See the following-

In 2019, Jackie Hill Perry was invited from the upcoming Answers in Genesis Conference where she had been slated to speak. That is a pretty big deal, because not many other ministries have been consistently faithful and biblical over decades. It spoke volumes.

Then she was disinvited. Her disinvite followed on the heels of a controversy after Perry publicly endorsed Jenn Johnson of Bethel Church, who is a heretic and her organization is a heresy factory. No wonder Answers in Genesis said, ‘no thanks’ to JHP’s participation in their conference. The disinvite from a credible ministry like AiG spoke volumes, yet it did nothing to prompt JHP to reconsider her endorsement of Jenn Johnson, at least publicly. In fact, JHP doubled down. She later defended her endorsement of Jenn Johnson of Bethel by claiming that Word-Faith theology isn’t ‘actual heresy’. These were Jackie’s own words. Jackie’s unwillingness to separate shows her to be a man-pleaser.

Issue # 3: Reverse racism

In 2020 in an episode of her show “With the Perry’s” she said many woke things, including that “all white people” must look within themselves to search out the deceitfulness in their hearts over their inherent racism and reject the notion that, “all white people” have bought into the narrative that all black people are criminals. Source.

Issue # 4: Usurper

JHP preaches. Here she is at Liberty University in April 2024 preaching at the convocation where men are present. Here she is in 2023 preaching at the Passion Conference, where men are present. Other examples abound. You cannot listen in good faith to a ‘Bible’ teacher or preacher who openly and brazenly rebels against the very scriptures they purport to uphold.

Issue # 5: She is a Prideful ‘prophet’

In 2022, Jackie came out as a prophet. See #1 again, direct revelation.She quotes what God has allegedly said, and claims that ‘God’ has allegedly given Jackie information about other people, for whom she then intercedes. God had told her she’d have a boy. She didn’t. She had a girl.

The canon is closed. God is not speaking directly or individually to people today, giving inside information. The ‘voice’ Jackie says she is hearing is not God’s. She is either lying, massively deceived, or mentally incompetent.

I wrote two previous pieces on JHP:

Jackie Hill Perry: Discernment review

Jackie Hill Perry comes out as ‘prophet’

The size of a ministry isn’t an indicator of their standing with God or the credibility of their organization. In fact, the larger and more popular a so-called ministry is the more we should be suspicious of it. In Luke 6:26 we read, ‘Woe to you when all the people speak well of you; for their fathers used to treat the false prophets the same way.‘

Avoid Jackie Hill Perry. She is false.

theology

Cut to the chase: Six reasons why you should avoid Beth Moore

Posted on May 28, 2024May 30, 2024 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Last week I wrote a series on discernment in 6 essays. They are below. I called it “Wolf Week” because false teachers are called wolves in scripture. My own version of Shark Week, lol.

A short follow-up series I am publishing beginning today contains 4 more essays in short form focusing on 4 influential ‘Bible’ teachers. I have written discernment essays on these four previously in years past, but those essays were longer. In articles like that, I include sources, explain the teacher’s errors thoroughly, and provide examples. All this make the essays longer. Nowadays however, people like to read less lengthy material. So I cut to the chase and made shorter essays showing why these folks are false.

Today I look at 6 reasons not to follow Beth Moore.

Continue reading →

theology

Cut to the Chase: Three (probably four) Reasons to Avoid David Platt

Posted on May 25, 2024May 25, 2024 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Last week I wrote a series on discernment in 6 essays. They are below. I called it “Wolf Week” because false teachers are called wolves in scripture. My own version of Shark Week 🙂

Having learned, hopefully, what was presented in the previous Wolf Week essays, these cut to the chase essays hopefully will edify you and give you skills to explore further, if you choose to.

This first one is about David Platt.

Continue reading →