Originally posted December 8, 2017

Recently, I had the opportunity to sit down and chat with Richard Swartz, host of the Scripture Matters podcast. Listen in as we talk about some of the major issues in women’s ministry today, women’s discipleship, false teachers, and “golden calf tipping”. Richard and I also discussed the importance of husbands, fathers, and pastors protecting the souls of the women in their lives, so there’s something edifying for everyone!

Got a podcast of your own or have a podcasting friend who needs a guest? Need a speaker for a women’s conference or church event? Click the “Speaking Engagements” tab at the top of this page, drop me an e-mail, and let’s chat!

Mailbag

The Mailbag: Should I cut ties with a friend who follows false teachers?

April 29, 2019April 28, 2019 Michelle Lesley

I have a friend who follows Todd White* and some other false teachers. I’ve talked to him about it and shown him why I’m concerned. He appreciated my concern, but didn’t think Todd White’s heretical beliefs were a big deal. What do I do with this friendship? Am I supposed to cut ties with him for his beliefs?

You have been very loving and caring to share the dangers of false teachers with your friend. Indeed, you would not have been a good friend to him if you hadn’t.

Just to clarify, to me the phrase “cut ties with” means to that you will no longer be in contact with this person in any way. Generally speaking, unless your friend has become obsessed with White and the others to the point that he can’t talk about anything else and is pushing them on you, my counsel would be no, you don’t need to cut ties with him based solely on the fact that he follows false teachers. Your continued friendship could be God’s grace to him, wooing your friend to Himself through your love and godly example.

One thing you will want to keep in mind is that your friend may not be truly saved and needs a clear explanation of the gospel rather than discernment information (which he won’t be able to understand or accept if he’s not saved). John 10 explicitly says that Christ’s sheep will not follow the voice of a stranger (false teacher).

(Now, readers, hear me clearly – sometimes genuine sheep wander for a minute. And sometimes a genuine sheep who’s been following around a wolf in sheep’s clothing recently will temporarily resist the idea that her new favorite teacher is actually a wolf rather than a sheep. Be a good friend like this reader was and lovingly explain to your friend what the Bible says. Then, be patient as your friend processes what you’ve said, and the Holy Spirit works – on His timetable.)

Take a page out of 1 Peter 3:1-6‘s book. You have explained the false doctrine. You have let your friend know that you are open to discussing it further in the future if he has any questions. If the Holy Spirit drops one of those “too amazing to be ignored” opportunities in your lap to put an appropriate word into a conversation with him, you can take advantage of that opportunity. Aside from that, just like the wife of the unsaved husband in this passage, you do not need to constantly bring up the issue. Be faithful in prayer for your friend, occasionally invite him to Bible studies and other events at your doctrinally sound church, love, serve and help him, and trust the Holy Spirit to do His good work in His good time.

What will the Holy Spirit’s “good work” look like?

• Your friend will get genuinely saved and leave the false teachers behind.

• Your friend is already saved, and he’ll repent of straying after false teachers and will turn back to obeying God’s Word.

• Your friend is not saved, rejects the gospel you share with him, and God gives him over to a hardened heart that “will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” (2 Timothy 4:3-4) At this point, he will probably cut ties with you. It can be heartbreaking to watch, but judgment is also a good work of the Holy Spirit.

But since you can’t know what the future holds for your friend, keep praying and let him know you’re always there for him if he ever has questions about the Bible or needs to talk. Until he draws his last breath, there’s always hope that the Prodigal will come to his senses and come home.

*I have added a section of resources on Todd White to the Popular False Teachers tab at the top of this page.

If you have a question about: a Bible passage, an aspect of theology, a current issue in Christianity, or how to biblically handle a family, life, or church situation, comment below (I’ll hold all questions in queue {unpublished} for a future edition of The Mailbag) or send me an e-mail or private message. If your question is chosen for publication, your anonymity will be protected.

Podcast Appearances

Echo Zoe Radio Guest Appearance: Potpourri

April 23, 2019April 23, 2019 Michelle Lesley

I recently, once again had the pleasure of sitting down and chatting with my friend Andy Olson as his guest on the Echo Zoe Radio podcast.

Click here to listen in

or watch the video!

Andy and I had a great time talking about all kinds of things from social justice to complementarianism, discernment ministries, leggings, and more!

Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast and follow Echo Zoe on Facebook and Twitter!

Got a podcast of your own or have a podcasting friend who needs a guest? Click the “Speaking Engagements” tab at the top of this page, drop me an e-mail, and let’s chat!

Uncategorized

The Word on Wednesdays

April 3, 2019April 3, 2019 Michelle Lesley

I’m baaaaaack! :0) Lord willing and the creek don’t rise (and all the laundry gets done), this will be our last “re-run” Bible study for a while. Next week, I’ll announce our new regular weekly study and title pic contest. So if you were wanting to get finished up with anything you’re working on, you’ve still got a couple of weeks before lesson 1 of the new study.

Also, for those who have messaged me to let me know about all the broken links on previous Bible studies, thank you for reminding me! The Bible studies are the first things I’m going to fix links on. (Until I’m able to get to all of them, if you click on a broken link, just go up to your browser bar and delete the word “books” from the site address (so that it says MichelleLesley.com instead of MichelleLesleyBooks.com) it’ll take you right where you need to go.) So far, I’ve fixed The Women of Genesis, and everything in Imperishable Beauty looks like it’s working. I’ll get the others taken care of as soon as I can.

Here’s today’s “re-run”:

Wednesday’s Word

Wednesday is Bible study day here on the blog. In my Wednesday’s Word study, you’ll find miscellaneous, one lesson Bible studies from each book of the Bible. One chapter of Scripture followed by study questions. This sampler series demonstrates that there’s nothing to be afraid of when approaching those “lesser known” books and that every book of the Bible is valuable and worth studying.

Wednesday’s Word ~ 2 John

2 john 10 11

The elder to the elect lady and her children, whom I love in truth, and not only I, but also all who know the truth, ²because of the truth that abides in us and will be with us forever:

³Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father’s Son, in truth and love. Keep reading…

Share Your Testimony

Testimony Tuesday: Stories from Several Sisters 4

February 26, 2019August 10, 2022 Michelle Lesley

On today’s Testimony Tuesday,
several sisters in Christ share their stories.

Gaylin’s Story

THANK YOU! For #6…“Extra-biblical revelation sets up a class system within Christianity.” I found my way to this site due to this exact issue! A friend shared a link on Facebook to some guy who regularly has dreams and “hears” from God…I thought, “Why him and not ME?!” My heart was breaking and I was SO sad!! Yet deep down, I knew something was off; it didn’t sit right. You, my friend, are a balm to a bruised heart, using the Word as a healing salve. Reminding me to let go of the emotional kick in the gut the devil aims at me and keep my eyes on HIM.

Louise’s Story

At one time, I was a follower of Joyce Meyer and other false teachers. I had her teaching tapes and would listen to them over and over but never read the Bible to make sure her words were lining up with it. I was the church secretary (an Assemblies of God church) and one morning on the way to work I tuned in to hear R.C. Sproul teaching on the Holiness of God, something I had never heard of. I pulled into the parking lot and sat to listen until he finished. That was the beginning of me coming out of the A/G churches, eventually quitting my job, and looking for another church. It took a while, but after a year I was introduced to the church I’ve been in for over 15 years where the Bible is taught verse by verse and reading the Bible is highly stressed. I now listen to John MacArthur, Alistair Begg, and a local pastor who correctly interprets God’s Holy Word. I have read the Bible from cover to cover and I thank God for leading me out as He did.

Dolores’ Story

I was one of those women who followed particularly Joyce Myer, Creflo Dollar, Joel Osteen, Joseph Prince, etc. One reason being I only had my TV as my resource. Since receiving the gift of a “tablet” my world has opened up to YouTube, Google, etc. I prayed for discernment due to the fact I’m the only practicing Christian in my family. I repented to my children/grandchildren that I was wrong to have followed false teachers. I wanted to learn so much, and as I said with limited resources. They respect my faith and will often still discuss why and what I believe. I have spent many hours listening to programs like “Wretched” which is helping me to discern more carefully, including in the church I’m currently attending. I don’t know where this will lead me, but I do know with God’s guidance and people He has given the gift of discernment to also guide me His will will be done. Thank you. I turn 80 this year – never too late.

Kim’s Story

[This was] my testimony until I was 33 years old and surrendered my life and accepted Jesus as my Lord and Saviour! Deceived for years but God opened my eyes by reading 1 John ….describing pretty succinctly what your life will look like if you truly know Him. He gave me the gift of faith unto salvation and revealed Himself so very clearly to me in His word.

Alma’s Story

Here’s a wonderful story of God’s faithfulness in steering the ladies ministry at my church out of doctrinally weak teachers. I joined my daughter’s Southern Baptist Church about 10 months ago to be able to worship with her and my 3 grandchildren. I met with the pastor a few times and we had wonderful conversations about Reformed theology and the church’s long history.

Since I had developed somewhat of a rapport with him I felt comfortable going to him when I found out the ladies ministry leader had chosen, yet again, a not so doctrinally sound study. Last fall we did a study by a popular Christian women’s author which I faithfully attended and early on realized was not what I needed or wanted in a Bible study. This teacher likes to share personal stories of her life in each of her weekly video lessons and it soon became burdensome and kind of annoying (I don’t have much patience when it comes to studying the Word). Before that study were several studies by other problematic authors, so the church has had a history of fluffy studies.

In late December of last year the announcement was made that we would be doing yet another popular study by a false teacher. I was disappointed to say the least. I prayed a lot about how to approach my pastor about this because the woman in charge of selecting our studies is a friend and fellow Sunday School attendee.

Since I’m so new to the church I decided to find out who was in charge of overseeing the ladies ministry. I assumed it was a deacon but soon found out that wasn’t the case. The head of the deacons told me it was our discipleship minister. So I contacted him and he confirmed that he oversees the men’s and ladies’ ministry and when I asked if he oversees the Bible study selection he said that’s left up to the ladies’ ministry leader. So I decided it was time to talk to my pastor.

I did my due diligence and researched the problems and concerns about the author of the upcoming study and sent him links to your critique and also pastors who have written about her to warn the women in their churches.

One of the comments my pastor made in his defense was he assumed if a teacher is promoted by LifeWay, they must be good.

I was surprised he didn’t know about LifeWay and all the [doctrinally unsound] authors and books they have on their shelves. I also shared with him the problems and concerns with other studies the church has done in the past. He listened, reviewed the links I sent him and decided he needed to call a meeting with the discipleship minister and ladies’ ministry leader to discuss this matter. That meeting hasn’t happened yet (he promised it would be soon) but I’m praying for all to come to the right decision going forward. I give all glory to God for giving my pastor eyes to see and ears to hear.

Ladies, God is still at work in the hearts and lives of His people, including yours! Would you like to share a testimony of how God saved you, how He has blessed you, convicted you, taught you something from His Word, brought you out from under false doctrine, placed you in a good church or done something otherwise awesome in your life? Private/direct message me on social media, e-mail me (MichelleLesley1@yahoo.com), or comment below. Your testimony can be as brief as a few sentences or as long as 1500 words. Let’s encourage one another with God’s work in our lives!