Celebrity Pastors, Discernment, False Teachers

Living Proof You Should Follow Beth (No) Moore

If you are considering commenting or sending me an e-mail objecting to the fact that I warn against false teachers, please click here and read this article first. Your objection is most likely answered here. I won’t be publishing comments or answering emails that are answered by this article.


This article is kept continuously updated as needed.


Discerning the False Teachers: Beth Moore Part 1 and Part 2 are episodes of the A Word Fitly Spoken podcast with Michelle Lesley and Amy Spreeman based on this article if you’d like to listen to an audio version.

Beth Moore is easily the world’s best known women’s Bible study author and teacher in the world. With her down home charm, endless energy, and stunning smile, she has captured the hearts of millions with her humor and storytelling style of teaching.

In forty years of ministry, Beth has written dozens of books. She also gives numerous Living Proof Live conferences every year and has a radio show and a television show on TBN, both called Living Proof with Beth Moore (canceled as of Dec. 2024).

Beth truly seems to care about her followers and her passion about the issues of sexual abuse and racism have endeared her to many inside and outside the church.

As beloved and likable as she is, it would be so much easier and more pleasant to jump on the Beth Bandwagon than to have to warn against her as a false teacher. But as Christians, no matter how much we love a certain teacher, our highest love and loyalty must always be to Christ and His Word first, which means we must reject anything – even a beloved teacher – that is at odds with Him and the Scriptures. Beth Moore’s teaching and behavior conflicts with Scripture in several ways. For these reasons it is my sad duty to recommend that you not follow Beth Moore or receive any teaching from her or anyone connected to Living Proof Ministries.

Beth Moore preaches to men

Sunday Morning Worship Service – 12/3/23 – Beth Moore | DukeChapel | December 3, 2023

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Duke Chapel website: Sunday Service with Guest Preacher Beth Moore | Screenshot

TC Welcomes Beth Moore | Beth Moore | Transformation Church | August 14, 2022

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Transformation Church website: TC Welcomes Beth Moore | Screenshot

There are dozens, if not hundreds, of videos on YouTube featuring Beth Moore’s preaching and Bible teaching which clearly show men in the audience. Beth Moore has, for quite a while, been teaching (screenshot) and preaching to men as well as women. First Timothy 2:12 clearly forbids this.

For those who would try to defend her by saying, “She can’t help it if men come to her conferences,” or “Co-ed conference preaching isn’t ‘in the church’ so it’s OK,” Beth not only preaches to men at conferences and other parachurch events, she is no stranger to preaching Sunday morning sermons to the entire congregation (including men) in churches (see links and videos above and the Additional Resources section at the end of this article). In addition to the videos above of two of her Sunday morning sermons, the screenshot below refers to Beth preaching the Mother’s Day Sunday morning service at the Tomball, Texas campus of her (now former) home church, Bayou City Fellowship, on May 12, 2019 (read more here).

(And to those who would attempt to defend the trend of women preaching the Sunday sermon on Mother’s Day, let’s be clear about something. The Bible doesn’t say women are prohibited from preaching except on Mother’s Day. Mother’s Day didn’t even exist when Scripture was written. Scripture makes the blanket statement that women are not to preach to, teach Scripture to, or exercise authority over men in the gathering of the Body. Period.)

Here (in a continuation of the preaching on Mother’s Day kerfuffle), Beth admits to having preached in multiple Southern Baptist worship services over her 40 year career (she has also preached in many non-SBC churches) and seems to proudly defend her sin of doing so, while simultaneously boasting of her track record of obedience, by saying it “only” happened fifteen times.

It’s a bit confusing. Is Beth saying preaching to men is a sin and we should be grateful she “only” did it fifteen times? If so, this is not how we handle sin. We do not boast like the Pharisee about how few times we have sinned and how obedient we are, we grieve over even one sin, repent, and cry out with the publican, “God be merciful to me, a sinner!”. Also if Beth is saying it’s a sin, why is she defending the fact on Thursday, May 9, that she is still planning to preach on Sunday, May 12? Why isn’t she instead confessing her plan to sin, humbly repenting, and announcing that she will not preach on Sunday?

If Beth is saying preaching to men is not a sin, why is she defending herself as only having done it fifteen times? Why didn’t she do it far more than only fifteen times over 40 years? Why not proudly enumerate all the times and places she has preached? Why have we not heretofore heard about these fifteen preaching events, as we hear about all her other speaking events, if it was OK for her to preach? Why didn’t she list the Mother’s Day event in question on her website alongside all her other speaking engagements? Why didn’t she talk it up on social media as she does with other speaking engagements? Why didn’t the church she’s speaking at excitedly advertise that she would be speaking as other venues do when she speaks?

Beth seems to know that preaching to men is a sin, but is trying to defend the fact that she does so.

Beth Moore partners with,
and is being influenced by, false teachers

Scripture is quite clear that we are to have nothing to do with false teachers, especially when it comes to ministry. But Beth has been surrounding herself with false teachers for decades.

Beth Moore tweeted this in December 2013. “Lakewood” is prosperity preacher Joel Osteen’s church. Christine Caine also preaches to men (as she did at Lakewood that night) and originally hails from the leadership team of Word of Faith (prosperity gospel) church, Hillsong.

One need only peruse Beth’s Twitter feed to see other false teachers she allows herself to be influenced by: Matthew Vines, Rachel Held Evans, Christine Caine, Andy Stanley, and more (including Jen Hatmaker and Jonathan Merritt – see An Open Letter to Beth Moore below).

Screen Shot 2012-11-11 at 7.10.17 AM

Beth Moore at Hillsong Conference 2017 | Hillsong Teachings Now | March 9, 2018

(Screenshot) As you can see in the screenshot and in the video below, not only is Beth preaching at a Hillsong conference, it’s a co-ed conference, so she’s once again preaching to men.

At the 0:50 mark Beth says, “I’ve gotten to serve at three different ‘Colours’…”. She’s referring to Colour Conference, Hillsong’s annual women’s conference, which seems now to have been replaced by the co-ed Hillsong Conference at which she is preaching in the video above.

Beth Moore has been a featured speaker at Hillsong‘s Colour Conference for women several times (2012, 2014, 2015), and at the 2017 Hillsong Conference which is co-ed. Until scandals over recent years forced Hillsong to scale back its media empire, Beth even had her own page at the Hillsong church website and was featured multiple times on the Hillsong channel. She was also a featured speaker at the Be the Change conference with Christine Caine and Lisa Bevere in 2012.

In 2014, Beth began an ongoing partnership with Joyce Meyer, regularly appearing on her television show and serving as one of two main speakers (the other was Christine Caine) at Joyce’s 2016 women’s conference. See the “Additional Resources” section at the end of this article for other false teachers Beth joins with.

In 2015, Beth launched her own show on TBN, which is sometimes jokingly called the โ€œTotal Blasphemy Network,โ€ due to the fact that nearly all of their programs feature or are hosted by some of the worst of the worst false teachers, mostly those of the New Apostolic Reformation variety. (On December 11, 2024, Beth announced she was breaking with TBN and would henceforth be releasing content on her YouTube channel and Living Proof app.)

The pictures below were posted by former head โ€œpastorโ€ of Hillsong, Brian Houston, on his Facebook page on March 8, 2019 after he interviewed Beth for his TBN television show โ€œLetโ€™s Talk, with Brian Houstonโ€.

Brian Houston and Beth Moore
Laurie Crouch, Beth Moore, Matt Crouch (President of TBN),
Brian Houston, Victoria Osteen, Joel Osteen

On April 8, 2019, Beth appeared with Laurie Crouch (daughter-in-law of the late Paul and Jan Crouch) and Victoria Osteen on the TBN program, Praise.

Beth Moore, Victoria Osteen: Encouragement to Moms on Mother’s Day (Full Episode) | Praise on TBN | May 8, 2021

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Beth Moore claims to receive direct,
personal, extra-biblical revelation from God

Beloved, I am convinced one of our severest needs is pure rest. Not only sleep, but refreshment and recreation. Recently God spoke to me about capturing what He and I are calling โ€œSabbath moments.โ€ Like many of yours, my schedule right now is particularly tough, and I see no time in the near future for a number of days off. God spoke to my heart one Saturday morning while I was preparing for Sunday school: โ€œMy child, in between more intense rests, I want to teach you to take Sabbath moments.โ€ I wasnโ€™t certain what He meant. Just that morning God confirmed His desire for me to drive all the way to the other side of Houston to the medical center to visit a patient with brain cancer. I was very thankful for the privilege of visiting this patient, but I knew in advance it would be tough emotionally and far from restful.
Excerpted from Beth Mooreโ€™s The Beloved Disciple

Aside from the fact that itโ€™s unbiblical in and of itself for Beth to claim that God is talking to her, God is not inventing new teachings besides the ones He has already given us in Scripture. And this โ€œSabbath momentsโ€ teaching is found nowhere in Scripture. Passages like 2 Timothy 3:16-17 and 2 Peter 1:3 explain that Scripture is sufficient to teach us everything we need pertaining to life and godliness.

Additionally, notice that Beth says โ€œI wasnโ€™t certain what He meant.โ€ When you have a few hours, go grab your Bible and look up every single passage about God actually speaking to somebody. Did any of them ever say, โ€œI wasnโ€™t certain what He meant.โ€? Absolutely not. When God speaks to someone, He is completely, perfectly clear about what His message means.

What God began to say to me about five years ago, and Iโ€™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, โ€Iโ€™m gonna tell you something right now, Beth; and boy, you write this one downAnd you say it as often as I give you utterance to say it: โ€˜My Bride is paralyzed by unbelief. My Bride is paralyzed by unbelief.โ€™โ€ And He said, โ€œStartinโ€™ with you.โ€
Excerpted from Beth Mooreโ€™s โ€œBelieving Godโ€ video (below)

The infamous “hairbrush story” in which Beth claims God told her to go up to a stranger in the airport and brush his hair.

In her blog article It’s Hunting Season for Heretics, Beth defends herself against those calling her to repent of believing and teaching extra-biblical revelation with this comment, displaying either her confusion or ignorance about God’s Word and His authority:

“Nothing equates with the Scriptures: no word of knowledge, no prophetic message, no insight, no revelation, no dream, no vision. Nothing. That doesnโ€™t mean they canโ€™t be valid. The New Testament says they can. But they must never supplant or be placed on the same level with the Scriptures.”

This makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. First of all, where – in context and rightly handled – does the New Testament say this, as she claims? It can’t. All of the dreams, visions, prophecies, etc. in the Bible from God to His people became Scripture once they were written down, and we know that all Scripture is breathed out by God. Know what that means? God Himself equates all of these types of revelation with Scripture.

When God speaks, God speaks. He doesn’t speak authoritatively in Scripture and non-authoritatively or less authoritatively outside of Scripture. Doing so would make Him imperfect and, thus, not God. People who claim to receive “words of knowledge, prophetic messages, insights, revelations, dreams, and visions” claim that these extra-biblical revelations are God speaking to them. If this is true, and this really is God speaking, then His spoken word to them is “on the same level as Scripture”. (And I won’t even go into the instances in which these folks, including Beth Moore, have said God has told them something that conflicts with Scripture or that God told them something was going to happen and it didn’t. I guess God just gets it wrong sometimes?) If it is not true, and it really isn’t God speaking to them, then why are we listening to them and why are they saying that their own ideas and imaginings are God speaking to them?

These are just a few of the numerous examples of Beth Moore supposedly receiving personal, direct revelation from God. Pick up any of her books or watch any video of her teaching, and count how many times she says, “God told me…” or “God said…” or โ€œI thinkโ€ฆโ€ or โ€œI believeโ€ฆโ€ or bases her teaching on a personal experience, story, or what God supposedly spoke to her rather than teaching what Godโ€™s all-sufficient word clearly says.

Beth Moore refuses correction

Beth preaching (to men, once again) at the 2014 Awaken Now conference.

Scripture teaches that the wise humble themselves and receive biblical correction. But in this video, Beth Moore preemptively strikes out at anyone who sees and hears what she will soon be teaching or doing and finds it to be in conflict with Scripture. Do you notice she does not quote or read a single passage of Scripture to back up what she is saying? Notice how many times she says “I believe…” This is all based on her own subjective ideations.

Instead of taking a step back and honestly evaluating where she is wrong on the biblical issues she has been called to account for, Beth Moore frequently doubles down as in this blog post striking out against people calling her a heretic or a false teacher for “disagreement” or “getting something wrong.” My comment to her on this article was:

At the end of this same blog post, in response to comments like mine calling her to repent for her false doctrine, Beth later wrote an addendum, the gist of which was, “I’m still right and anybody who disagrees with me is wrong.” This just further illustrates her inability to accept correction and her tendency to double down when reproved.

Another example of Beth’s refusing to accept correction (technically, it wasn’t even correction, but a request for her to clarify her position on homosexuality) came during 2019’s “Open Letter to Beth Moore” debacle (*see below).

Beth Moore is heading toward
affirming homosexuality

In the summer of 2019, five women bloggers and Bible teachers and I, published An Open Letter to Beth Moore. It was subsequently signed by over 500 additional Christian women. The letter was merely a request for clarification of Beth’s views on homosexuality since she maintains public, adulatory friendships with well known homosexuality-affirming evangelicals such as Jen Hatmaker and Jonathan Merritt, and since she has been virtually silent on the issue of homosexuality in recent years while not hesitating to speak out on other heinous sins.

For two and a half weeks, *Beth ignored the letter, slandered the signers of the letter, and refused to make her position on homosexuality clear in any venue. It was then discovered that Beth had biblically addressed the sin of homosexuality in her book Praying God’s Word, but had later removed this section from the book because she felt she had “exceeded Scripture”. Finally, Beth wrote a blog post explaining why she had removed this passage and making a biblical statement on human sexuality, yet still not declaring homosexuality to be a sin. (You can read more about this series of events in my articles Questions about the Open Letter to Beth Moore and An Open Letter to Beth Moore โ€“ Timeline of Events.)

A few weeks after Beth’s blog post, on her LifeWay-sponsored TBN television show, in an episode entitled Staying Afloat on the Fellow Ship – Part 4, Beth admitted she had been looking into the arena of same sex attracted (SSA) Christianity

Though Beth’s words may not sound problematic to some, Elizabeth Prata explains in her article Listen carefully to what she is saying in this videoโ€ฆ, exactly why Beth’s remarks signal her trajectory toward acceptance of homosexuality:

In her latest lesson video on unity and fellowship, Moore used many phrases and code words that indicate her stance toward same sex attraction, homosexuality, and their attendant issues, is aligned with the aforementioned folks she was supposed to be ministering to in love by warning against these very things.

Moore makes it sound as if homosexuals are doing Jesus a favor by choosing celibacy. Homosexually attracted people are no different in their sin than…any other flavor of sexual sin…touting their โ€œtremendous sacrificeโ€ makes it seem as if they are.

I believe this video and Mooreโ€™s recent handling of the homosexuality issue means Moore seems to be readying herself to โ€˜come outโ€™ as it were, of affirming homosexuals in some way as believers.

Beth Moore is “going woke” and progressive

Itโ€™s difficult to give a precise definition for what โ€œwokeโ€ means, but generally speaking, itโ€™s basically what you see playing out in race relations in the U.S. right now: Critical Race Theory. White privilege. Reparations. Oppression. Repent of and renounce your whiteness. White peopleโ€™s racism is so deep seated weโ€™re not even conscious of it. White power, white privilege, and racism are inextricably embedded in politics, education, religion, economics- every single system in existence. It is a paradigm through which social justice issues are viewed and addressed, and โ€œwokeโ€ means youโ€™ve finally been โ€œawakenedโ€ to these supposed truths. In addition to racial issues many would also include more general social justice issues such as illegal immigration, poverty, etc., under the banner of โ€œwokenessโ€.

Over the past few years, Beth has been on more and more of a woke trajectory. Many of her tweets on Twitter indicate this, and she has not only befriended several who are leaders in the evangelical woke stream, she has also publicly praised them, recommended their books, and yoked with them in ministry, which is a violation of Scripture. Some of these include Jemar Tisby, Dwight McKissic, Charlie Dates (pastor of Progressive Baptist Church, where Beth has preached the Sunday sermon), โ€œracial trauma counselorโ€ Kyle J. Howard, and LaTasha Morrison, to name a few. Youโ€™ll also notice in the slideshow below that Beth now subscribes to the progressive โ€œpro-all of lifeโ€ version of โ€œpro-lifeโ€ โ€“ that in order to truly consider yourself โ€œpro-lifeโ€ you must also be pro-illegal immigration, pro-CRT, pro-intersectionality, and so on. In other words, you must be โ€œpro-โ€ anything and anyone liberals claim are being wronged or oppressed, regardless of whether or not it may be illegal or unbiblical.

Here’s Beth’s black square on Instagram for “Black Out Tuesday”.

Link / Screenshot

Here, Beth recommends Jemar Tisbyโ€™s The Color of Compromise and LaTasha Morrisonโ€™s Be the Bridge. A couple of quotes from Morrisonโ€™s book:

โ€œWe wonโ€™t be agents of reconciliation until, like Ezra and Daniel, we take on the guilt and shame of our community and let it propel us toward confession.โ€ p. 78

โ€œJesus didnโ€™t just come to restore individual people; he came to break down systems of oppression, to provide a way for his kingdom to appear on earth as it is in heaven. He came so that we, his followers, could partner with him in restoring integrity and justice to broken systems, broken governments, and ultimately, broken relationships.โ€ p. 180-181

Link / Screenshot

Beth Moore uses intentionally and
purposefully deceptive language

Beth often craftily couches her statements about controversial issues in such a way as to give her plausible deniability if sheโ€™s ever called on something she needs to back out of. In other words, her statements are just vague or non-committal enough to convince her followers who want to believe sheโ€™s biblical into thinking sheโ€™s not saying what sheโ€™s actually saying. And at the same time if someone she’s accountable to says, โ€œThis statement contradicts Scripture,โ€ she has enough wiggle room to say โ€œThatโ€™s not what I meant. I meant something else.โ€ A couple of the things I’ve mentioned in previous sections above are very good examples of this.

Let’s revisit the Motherโ€™s Day 2019 preaching incident. Take a look at the conversation again:

Instead of coming right out and clearly announcing โ€œIโ€™m preaching the Sunday morning sermon at my church,โ€ Bethโ€™s response to Vicki was, โ€œIโ€™m doing Motherโ€™s Day too!โ€. Several people in that tweet thread asked her if that meant she was preaching the sermon, and she ignored them. 

That leaves reasonable doubt for Bethโ€™s fans who actually understand that women preaching is wrong to think, โ€œWell maybe she just means sheโ€™s giving her personal testimony or saying a few words of welcome and sheโ€™s not actually preaching the sermon.โ€ Whereas people who know Bethโ€™s history of preaching to men would know she means that sheโ€™s preaching the Sunday sermon. Do you see what I mean about this example of deceptive language? Sheโ€™s announcing sheโ€™s preaching but wording it in such a way that people can choose to believe sheโ€™s not.

Another example of Beth’s “wiggle room wording” is the final response she gave in the Open Letter to Beth Moore discussed above. Hereโ€™s what she said in her blog post that was supposed to put an end to the questions and definitively state her position:

I hold firmly to a traditional Christian sexual ethic and continue to believe the Bible sets apart marriage as a covenant between a man and a woman. But I also believe that Scripture clearly teaches that all sex outside of marriage is contrary to Godโ€˜s will.

It’s not a bad statement on sexuality in general, and Beth’s followers who are undiscerning or don’t know their Bibles well probably thought it clearly said she thinks homosexuality is a sin. Which is exactly what she wants them to believe she said. But it doesnโ€™t say that. 

She still does not plainly say, โ€œHomosexuality is a sin that must be repented of.โ€ She didnโ€™t even use the word โ€œhomosexualityโ€ or other synonymous terms in this statement. And thereโ€™s still enough wiggle room in this statement that it leaves the door open for her, in the future, to validate homosexual orientation, identification, lust, or anything short of sexual acts or homosexual “marriage”.

She also added a Bible verse to back up this statement, Galatains 5:19-20:

Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Again, to the average, church going Beth Moore follower who thinks sheโ€™s perfectly biblical, this sounds like Beth is pointing to the Bible and saying homosexuality is a sin. And thatโ€™s what she wants those people to think sheโ€™s saying. But she doesnโ€™t want her homosexual followers to think sheโ€™s saying that. 

Thatโ€™s why Beth intentionally chose a verse that does not use any form of the word โ€œhomosexuality,โ€ even though she is undoubtedly familiar with the ones that do, for example 1 Corinthians 6:9-10.

For those of us who are familiar with Galatians 5:19 and the Greek behind it, we already know that โ€œsexual immoralityโ€ covers all sexual activity outside the monogamous heterosexual marriage bed, which does include homosexuality. Therefore, many of Bethโ€™s followers from a conservative church background will take her quotation of this passage in Galatians 5 to mean, โ€œYes, I agree with the Bible that homosexuality is a sin.โ€

However, Beth also has many homosexual and homosexual affirming followers*, many of whom likely subscribe to the โ€œgay Christianโ€ movementโ€™s idea that the verses in the Bible that condemn homosexuality are only speaking of homosexual temple prostitution and assorted other perversions, not loving, faithful, monogamous homosexual โ€œmarriagesโ€ or relationships.

*Take some time and let that sink in. How many doctrinally sound pastors, churches, and high profile Christians who clearly teach that homosexuality is a sin have homosexual and affirming followers or members? Go to the end of this article and note just how many homosexual and affirming followers Beth has and ask yourself why that is.

People who believe all of these errant ideas about homosexuality are not going to to see the term โ€œsexual immoralityโ€ as applying to supposedly faithful homosexual relationships, so they will see Bethโ€™s remarks as saying that she considers โ€œsexual immoralityโ€ a sin, but not that that term includes supposedly โ€œmoralโ€ homosexual relationships.

This use of language is intentionally and purposefully deceptive. Itโ€™s not an accident. Itโ€™s not being loving and kind. Itโ€™s speaking with the forked tongue of the devil. If that sounds harsh to you, I would encourage you to get out your Bible and consider how Satan craftily uses language in the Garden with Eve or when heโ€™s tempting Jesus. Then compare Satan’s shrewd use of language to Beth’s. Sheโ€™s being deceptive because sheโ€™s trying to keep all of her followers happy – the average evangelical woman whoโ€™s at church every Sunday and at the womenโ€™s Beth Moore Bible study class every Tuesday and the โ€œgay Christiansโ€ and those who affirm them. 

Christians are truth speakers. We speak the truth lovingly and kindly, but we speak it directly and clearly. We let our yes be yes and our no be no. We donโ€™t use language like itโ€™s an abstract painting that can mean whatever the person taking it in wants it to mean.

A final note that’s semi-related to Beth’s deceptive use of language: Many of Beth’s unbiblical statements, positions, behavior, attacks on others, etc., as you may have noticed from the links above, take place on Twitter, and occasionally, Instagram. If you only read Beth’s books, attend her conferences, watch her videos, or follow her on Facebook, you most likely aren’t going to see these kinds of things.

That, too, is purposeful and intentional. She is playing to her demographics. As many with online ministries have discovered, older, more conservative evangelicals generally tend to use Facebook. Younger, more progressive evangelicals generally tend to use Twitter, Instagram, and other more “cutting edge” social media platforms. Beth isn’t going to take a chance on offending the middle-aged and older women who follow her on Facebook (or aren’t on social media at all and only know her through her books and conferences), but she can get away with her more progressive comments on other platforms.

Beth Moore’s ministry produces rotten fruit

Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.
Matthew 7:15-20

Beth’s followers and supporters are the fruit of her ministry. Are they good fruit or bad fruit? Is she a healthy tree or a diseased tree? Would a godly, doctrinally sound teacher have multiple followers who are homosexuals and homosexuality-affirming? Who rebel against the Bible’s teaching on gender roles? Who blithely blaspheme, spew profanity, and threaten Believers who object to Beth’s sins and false teaching? Who slander and make false accusations against Believers, and display every opposite of the Fruit of the Spirit?

Scroll down to the end of the “Saturday, July 6” section of An Open Letter to Beth Moore โ€“ Timeline of Events for comments from Beth’s homosexual and homosexuality-affirming followers, and examine Beth’s X (Twitter) threads for more examples of ungodly comments from her followers.


Additional Resources:

My articles and resources:

Beth Moore’s wild unbiblical teachings: Michelle Lesley interview on Doreen Virtue’s Videocast

After Thought Podcast Guest Appearance Part 1, Part 2: The Open Letter to Beth Moore

The Rapp Report Podcast Guest Appearance: The Open Letter to Beth Moore and Complementarianism

Theology. Driven. Podcast Guest Appearance: Beth Moore, the SBC, and Christian Women

The Mailbag: What did you think of Beth Mooreโ€™s โ€œA Letter to My Brothersโ€?

The Mother of All Rebellions: Having a Woman Preach on Mother’s Day


Articles and resources from others:

Disclaimer: The specific links below are provided and endorsed as evidence pertaining to this article only. I do not endorse any of these sites in so far as any of them might deviate from Scripture or conflict with my beliefs as outlined in the โ€œWelcomeโ€ or โ€œStatement of Faithโ€ tabs at the top of this page.

Overviews/Series – Multiple Theological Problems with Beth Moore:

Critiques of Beth Moore (long version) by Elizabeth Prata

Critiques of Beth Moore (newest) by Elizabeth Prata

Articles on Beth Moore by Elizabeth Prata

Why Beth Moore Does Not Teach in Our Church by Pastor Tedd Mathis

An Interview with Susan Heck on Beth Moore at Justin Peters Ministries

The Beth Moore Cornucopia of False Doctrine, Mysticism, and Impassioned Frenzy by Steven Kozar

Beth Moore at Fighting for the Faith podcast archives

Beth Moore at Fighting for the Faith YouTube channel

The Fundamental Problem of Beth Moore at Voice of Reason Radio

Preaching to Men:

Beth preaches the Sunday morning sermon at Transformation Church, June 2019 (see Chris Rosebrough’s brief critique of this sermon here)

Beth Moore vs. Owen Strahan at WWUTT Podcast
(Related links):
โ€ขMichelle Lesley’s Twitter thread on Beth’s Sunday sermon preaching
โ€ขBeth Moore’s Twitter response to Midwestern Seminary professor Owen
Strahan’s article on biblical complementarianism

โ€ขThe Mother of All Rebellions: Having a Woman Preach on Mother’s Day

Beth Moore Goes off Like a Bottle Rocket by Gabe Hughes

How Beth Moore Is Calling Down Pentecostal Fire at Charisma (Please note, this is an article praising Beth for doing unbiblical things and is provided only for evidence of such. Charisma promotes all sorts of false doctrine, and I definitely do not recommend or endorse it.)

Beth Moore preaches the Sunday sermon at Bayou City Fellowship Church: Mother’s Day 2016 (As with many other online evidences confirming Beth’s various sins, this has been deleted, but Beth confirmed in her own blog post, Just Something Silly I Wrote On Behalf of Moms on May 9, 2016 (Mother’s Day was May 8 that year) that she preached the Sunday sermon.)

Beth Moore preaches the Sunday sermon at Louie Giglio’s Passion City Church

Partnering with False Teachers

(If you aren’t sure why the teachers I’ve mentioned below, or in the body of the article are false teachers, I’ve written articles like this one on many of them. Click the Popular False Teachers & Unbiblical Trends tab in the blue menu bar at the top of this page.)

Andy Stanley Weighs in on Beth Moore at Wretched

Beth with Priscilla Shirer on Instagram (It would be impossible to document the hundreds of times Beth and Priscilla have done conferences together, endorsed one another’s books and materials, spent time together as friends, etc. As Beth says in the caption below: “That woman in that picture with me is one of the dearest people on this earth to me. I mean it. Weโ€™ve been in one anotherโ€™s lives almost 20 years now. She occupies a spot in my heart all to herself.”)

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Beth Moore, Christine Caine march around Dallas hospital in prayer during Priscilla Shirer surgery at The Christian Post

Beth Moore, Priscilla Shirer, Lisa Harper at Living Proof Ministries with Beth Moore

Beth Moore and Jennie Allen / IF: Gathering

Beth speaks at Christine Caine’s Propel conference

Beth platforms Jackie Hill Perry at her Living Proof Live event

Beth on Jen Hatmaker’s podcast (twice)

Beth on Chrystal Evans Hurst’s podcast

Rick Warren, Beth Moore, and Kay Warren Discuss Why Churches Must Address Sexual Abuse at Kay Warren’s blog

Unbiblical Teaching and Misuse of Scripture/Book Reviews

A Typical Beth Moore Study by Gabriel Hughes

Videos on Beth Moore at Fighting for the Faith

Beth Moore โ€“ False Teacher at The King’s Dale

“Breaking Free” from Beth Moore and Her “Try Hard” Theology by Lisa Nunley at Sola Sisters (This blog is now defunct. I no longer recommend the current Sola Sisters “ministry”, found primarily on social media.)

Theology…More or Less With Beth by Sarah Flashing at Midwest Christian Outreach

Biblical reviews of Beth Moore simulcasts and other materials by Chapter 3 Ministries

Why We (Still) Warn Against Beth Moore at Things Above Us

Beth Moore Is Using Marxist, Feminist, Social Justice Talking Points Instead of Scripture at The Western Journal

Book Reviews:

So Long, Insecurity: Youโ€™ve Been a Bad Friend to Us by Beth Moore at The King’s Dale

Breaking Free: Discover the Victory of Total Surrender at The King’s Dale

Beth Moore’s “Breaking Free” at The Watchman’s Bagpipes

Jesus the One and Only at The King’s Dale

Praying Godโ€™s Word: Breaking Free from Spiritual Strongholds at The King’s Dale

Beth Moore- A review of โ€œStepping Upโ€ at …Say What?

Idolatry, Old Testament, Sunday School

An Overview of Hosea ~ Sunday School Lesson ~ 7-27-14

Overview of Hosea

 

These are my notes from my ladiesโ€™ Sunday School class this morning. Iโ€™ll be posting the notes from my class here each week. Click here for last week’s lesson.

Through the Bible in 2014 ~ Week 30 ~ July 20-26
Hosea, Isaiah 28-43, Psalm 76
An Overview of Hosea

Hosea 1
Hosea was a prophet to the northern kingdom of Israel. God used his family life as a picture of what he was prophesying. Hosea married a woman, Gomer, who would later prove unfaithful to him. God also had Hosea give his children names that reflected God’s message to Israel: Jezreel, No Mercy, and Not My People. But the real story of the book of Hosea is not Hosea or his family, but the love, reluctant wrath, and forgiveness of God towards His unfaithful people.

2:8
Everything Israel gave away -as sacrifices to idols, as tribute to foreign potentates, as bribes for foreign armies to come to her aid- everything had been given to her by God.

4:17
When sinners persist in their sin long enough, God finally gives them over to what they want. (Rom. 1:18ff). Often sinners think the harshest thing God could do would be to try to stop them from participating in the sin that they love, but His wrath is most poured out when He gives them exactly what they want.

5:6, 15; 7:13-14
Seek the Lord while He may be found (Isaiah 55:6). God was calling Israel to seek Him before He gave them over to a hard heart and a reprobate mind. The Lord is always found by those with a soft heart whose desire is to repent and love Him, but He turns a deaf ear to those who continue in rebellion until it starts raining, only to beat on the door of the ark because they don’t want to die in the flood.

God is not interested in the worldly sorrow that is only grieved over the consequences of sin. That soul still has its eyes firmly fixed on self and how self is affected. The truly repentant heart has her eyes fixed on God and how her sin affects Him.

6:4,6
God doesn’t desire empty rituals, lip service, or going through the motions. He wants worship from the heart.

8:2, 5-6
God will not allow syncretism (the melding of unbiblical worship with biblical worship). He requires, not that He be first in our affections, but that He be ONLY in our affections.
It did no good for Israel to claim that she knew the Lord (2) because she was a) worshiping other gods besides the Lord, b) calling an idol (the golden calves) “God,” and c) not worshiping God in the way He had commanded. None of these were acceptable in God’s sight then, and because He is the same “yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8), it is still not acceptable to Him today.

That’s why false teachers are so dangerous. People like Joyce Meyer, Joel Osteen, and TD Jakes may not be fashioning golden calves and calling them “Jesus,” but they are fashioning false gods with unbiblical words and ideas and calling them “Jesus.” This is what Matthew 7:21-23 is talking about when it says:

Not everyone who says to me, โ€˜Lord, Lord,โ€™ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, โ€˜Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?โ€™ And then will I declare to them, โ€˜I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.โ€™

9:1
Just as Gomer has betrayed and forsaken Hosea, Israel has betrayed the Lord. She has loved adultery and the fleeting pleasures (Hebrews 11:25) that go with it instead of the true and lasting treasure that comes from loyalty to the Lord (Revelation 11:18).

10:5-6
The golden calf Israel worshiped would be used to pay off Assyria in tribute. God is sovereign. He will ultimately destroy everything that is raised up against Him. Idols, ideas, individuals.

11:1-4
God is not a cruel taskmaster. He led and cared for Israel with “cords of kindness” and “bands of love” as a parent leads a toddler. They didn’t have to live in fear of Him if they were walking with Him. Not so with other gods. With other gods, they could never be certain where they stood. Had they offered enough? Pleased it enough? Would it bless them with fertility or rain for their crops?

With God, on the other hand, His love for Israel came first. It wasn’t a reaction to whether or not their actions pleased Him. His love for them was there even before they knew Him (1 John 4:15-19). It was because He loved them that He lovingly spelled out everything He wanted Israel to do in worship, in daily life, and in their hearts. He also went into great detail about the things they could expect from Him, and He kept His promises time and again. They didn’t have to wonder how He felt towards them or what He required of them or whether He would come through for them. They could know.

11:8-9
It grieved God to destroy Israel as he had destroyed Admah and Zeboiim with Sodom and Gomorrah. God is not a God who delights in executing His wrath, but, rather, does so with a broken heart and only as a last resort.

“Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?” Ezekiel 18:23

“The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9

13:4-6
When Israel was in Egypt and in the wilderness where she had nothing to depend on but God, she was loyal to Him, but once prosperity came, she left Him, just as Gomer left Hosea for something she thought was better.

It is often only when people have no other choice but to turn to Christ that they do so, but when they don’t “need” anything, they turn away from Him. This is why Jesus said “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.โ€ (Matthew 19:24).

By stripping away everything Israel had and sending her into exile, God was bringing Israel full circle to the neediness she had started out with in Egypt in order to bring her back to Himself.

14:1-9
God’s desire is, and always has been, for His people to repent and be reconciled to Him, and enjoy a loving, father-child relationship with Him. We see this in His post-Eden relationship with Adam and Eve, in His blessing of the earth after the Flood, in His bringing Israel out of Egypt, in bringing Israel out of exile, and in the most important way of all, in saving us out of our sin that we might be permanently reconciled to Him through the precious blood of Christ, to love Him and serve Him forever.

I will heal their apostasy;
I will love them freely, for my anger has turned from them.

Discernment, False Teachers, Idolatry, Old Testament, Sunday School

Micaiah: True Prophet vs. False Prophets ~ Sunday School Lesson ~ 7-6-14

Photos courtesy of cristoraul.com, Joyce Meyer Ministries, TD Jakes Ministries, and TBN
Photos courtesy of cristoraul.com, TBN, Joyce Meyer Ministries, and TD Jakes Ministries

These are my notes from my ladiesโ€™ Sunday School class this morning. Iโ€™ll be posting the notes from my class here each week. Click here for last week’s lesson.

Through the Bible in 2014 ~ Week 27 ~ June 29- July 5
1 Kings 22-2 Kings 13, 2 Chronicles 18-24, Obadiah, Psalm 82-83
Michaiah: True Prophet vs. False Prophets

1 Kings 22:1-40

Setting the Stage
Ahab was one of the most wicked kings ever to sit on the throne of Israel. The previous chapter (21:25) says “There was none who sold himself to do what was evil in the sight of the Lord like Ahab”. He has just been confronted by Elijah for his numerous abominations, and has humbled himself and repented.

Getting back what’s mine (1-4, 20:34)
Israel had had peace for three years, but it was bothering Ahab that Syria still had control of the city of Ramoth-gilead, when Ben-hadad (Syria’s king) had promised to return all of the cities Syria had captured during his father’s reign as part of his terms of surrender (20:34). Ahab asked Judah’s king, Jehoshaphat, to join him in recapturing the city, and Jehoshaphat agreed.

Not just any prophet will do (5-12, 18:1ff, 20:26)
Jehoshaphat was a godly man and knew that the right thing to do would be to inquire of the Lord before going into battle. Why do you think Ahab didn’t suggest this? What do we know about Ahab’s walk with the Lord? We know from 20:26 that he was an idolator, from chapter 18 that he was a Baal worshiper and had led Israel into Baal worship, and that he also supported the golden calf worship centers that Jeroboam had set up. So, when Ahab summoned 400 of his favorite prophets in order to appease Jehoshaphat, do you think they were true prophets of the Lord, or false prophets of idolatry? They were false prophets.

Tell him what he wants to hear
Was Ahab’s desire to hear and obey the word of the Lord? Was it the desire of the 400 prophets to truly hear and accurately report the word of the Lord? We can answer a resounding “no” to both questions. Ahab’s desires were, a) to hear what would make him happy, b) to make Jehoshaphat happy by granting his request and calling up so called “prophets of the Lord” and c) for Jehoshaphat to hear that they wold be successful so that Jehoshaphat would agree to go into battle with him. The “prophets'” desire was to keep the king happy and thus stay alive and prosper in their positions.

How do you spot a false prophet?
The 400 prophets certainly seemed to be prophets of the Lord. They brought a positive, encouraging message and made Ahab happy. Zedekiah (11) even prefaced his message with “Thus says the Lord,” the same words all true prophets of the Lord used. And all the prophets predicted triumph and that the Lord would give the battle into the king’s hand, words spoken on many previous occasions to other kings by true prophets of the Lord. So, why would Jehoshaphat think these were not true prophets of the Lord?

1. Where they were coming from (Deuteronomy 13:1-5)
Jehoshaphat knew that these guys were coming from a temple to a false god, even if they called those golden calves “God”. They were idolators so they were breaking God’s law in word and in practice.ย Deuteronomy 13:1-3a, 5a says:

If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, โ€˜Let us go after other gods,โ€™ which you have not known, โ€˜and let us serve them,โ€™ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams…. But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has taught rebellion against the Lord your God,

When it came to the office of prophet, true prophets stayed true to the one true God of the Bible, and His word, in what they proclaimed as well as what they practiced in their daily lives and in their jobs as prophets (Isaiah and Jeremiah are good examples of true prophets). It did not matter how many times a person claimed to speak for God or used godly sounding terminology. If he led people to worship idols, he was a false prophet.

2. Whom they were prophesying for
Sometimes (but not always) the person the being prophesied for was an indication of whether or not the prophet was a true prophet. In this case we have Ahab, who we know was not genuinely seeking the Lord. Ahab was about Ahab, and nobody else. We can look at his life and see that he would not be seeking out the type of prophet who would be telling him the truth of God’s word. He was merely using the appearance of seeking the Lord to get what he wanted. False prophets are always happy to oblige such people.

3. Did the message come true? (Deuteronomy 18:21-22)
Deuteronomy 18:21-22 tells us:

And if you say in your heart, โ€˜How may we know the word that the Lord has not spoken?โ€™โ€” when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him.

If a prophet’s message did not come true, he was not to be believed, because he was a false prophet. He was also to be put to death. As we see later in this chapter, these prophets’ predictions of victory for Ahab did not come true.

Today’s false prophets
False prophets are not relegated to the Old Testament. We also find them in the New Testament and throughout history. We have many false prophets today. While some actually claim the title of “prophet,” most go by the title of “pastor,” “Bible teacher,” or “Christian author.” False prophets such as Joyce Meyer, Joel and Victoria Osteen, and TD Jakes, to name some of the most popular ones, preach encouraging messages to make people happy, use Bible verses (usually twisted and/or out of context) and other Christian sounding terminology, and tell you that you’ll be victorious over life’s problems, or that you’ll be successful or wealthy or healed. But how do they measure up against the false prophet test, above?

1. Where are they coming from?
Meyer, Jakes, and the Osteens (and numerous others) all preach the prosperity gospel in one form or another. They teach that it is never God’s will for you to be sick or poor, that if you are experiencing suffering it’s because of your lack of faith, and that because we are little gods, we have the same power God has to speak things (like health and wealth) into existence.

Additionally, TD Jakes is a modalist (a false view of the Trinity), Joyce Meyer has a number of false soteriological beliefs, and all of them, because they are teaching people to believe in a golden calf of their own making that they call Jesus, are leading people into idolatry.

2. Who are they prophesying for?
In most cases, people who follow false teachers today are not like Ahab. They think what they’re getting from these false teachers is biblical Christianity. Sometimes, however, what they’re really looking for isn’t Christ, but the “stuff” (happiness, encouragement, healing, a better life, money) they think Christ will give them. And when you look to Christ for stuff instead of looking to Christ for Christ, you’re probably going to end up following a false teacher, because that’s what they promise. 2 Timothy 4:3-4 says:

For the time is coming when people 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.

3. Does the message come true?
People like Meyer, Jakes, and the Osteens have millions of followers whom they promise health, wealth, and the realization of all their dreams and goals on a weekly basis. Out of all those millions of listeners, how many do you think are always healthy? How many get terminal diseases and aren’t healed? How many send in their “seed offering” and still can’t pay their bills? How many have failed businesses or never see their dreams come true? If one of these preachers promises anyone, even once, that “God says…” and it doesn’t come true, he is a false prophet.

Just because someone says what we want to hear (as the 400 prophets did for Ahab) doesn’t mean he is telling us the truth of God’s word.

Micaiah: True Prophet of the Lord (13-28)
A number of things tell us that Micaiah was a true prophet of the Lord:

True prophets don’t bow to what’s popular (13-14)
Do you find it interesting that Ahab didn’t want to summon Micaiah because he knew Micaiah’s message would be against him (8)? The messenger (13) also seemed to know this. Perhaps it was because Ahab (and the messenger) already knew he was living in constant sin and that the Lord’s hand was against him. The messenger, already sensing what Micaiah’s prophecy would be, tried to get him to go along with the crowd, but Micaiah would have none of it. He would only speak the truth of God’s word.

Today it’s popular to go along with the crowd that preaches that God wants everybody to be happy and successful, that you can have God and still hang on to your sin, etc. But today’s true prophet will only speak the truth of God’s word, even if it isn’t the popular thing to do.

True prophets speak the truth even when the truth is unpleasant (15-18)
It would have been much easier for Micaiah to just parrot what the other prophets had said. He knew that what he had to tell Ahab was not going to be what Ahab wanted to hear and that he was risking his life by upsetting him, but Micaiah still boldly gave God’s entire message.

Today’s true prophets can be heard saying unpleasant things such as “Jesus is the only way of salvation,” “Homosexuality is a sin,” and “God uses suffering to make you more like Christ.” They might be risking their jobs, but they don’t leave out of their sermons the parts of the Bible that are uncomfortable for people.

True prophets warn people about, and confront, false prophets (19-25)
It wasn’t enough for Micaiah just to speak the word of the Lord concerning the outcome of the battle. God, in yet another act of mercy towards Ahab, wanted Ahab to know that he was being lied to by these false prophets so that he could repent and believe the true word of the Lord.

Today’s true prophets don’t just proclaim God’s word, they warn fellow Christians about false doctrine and false teachers so that they can repent of their false belief and believe the true word of the Lord.

True prophets will risk everything for the truth of God’s word (26-28)
Micaiah knew his life was on the line, but he knew something even more important. God’s word is true, and he was willing to stake his life on it. He would not compromise the truth or attempt to soften his message just to save his own skin.

True prophets of today, especially those who live in countries hostile to the gospel, stake their lives and their families’ lives on the gospel. Often, they are martyred for their faith, but they refuse to compromise the truth or soften God’s word just to save their own skin, their jobs, or anything else.

God will accomplish His word (29-40, 21:19)
Ahab arrogantly tried to subvert God’s word by disguising himself, hoping that if a king were to die that day, it would be Jehoshaphat. But in the end, we see that God’s word always prevails. Not only did Micaiah’s prophecy come true, so did Elijah’s (21:19).

We can trust that God’s word — both the unpleasant parts and His glorious promises– will always be accomplished.

Additional Resources:
Joyce Meyer at carm.org
The False Teachers: TD Jakes at challies.com
TD Jakes at carm.org
Joel Osteen and “Joel-likeness” at challies.com
Lessons I’ve Learned from False Teachers at challies.com

Celebrity Pastors, Discernment, False Teachers, Social Media

Four Reasons Why It Matters Who We Share, Pin, and Re-Tweet

facebook-large

Scroll…scroll…wince…

Scroll…scroll…wince…

I find myself wincing a bit when I see people โ€“who I know genuinely love Jesusโ€”sharing, pinning, and re-tweeting quotes from false teachers such as Joel Osteen, Joyce Meyer, T.D. Jakes, and Christine Caine, just to name a few. Why? What’s wrong with the encouraging, even biblical, at times, things these people say?

First of all, let me back up a little. What is a โ€œfalse teacherโ€? A false teacher is someone who is billed as a Christian pastor or Bible teacher who habitually and unrepentantly writes, teaches, or preaches things that conflict with the clear teaching of Scripture. For example, all four of the people I listed above teach some version of the prosperity gospel, the false teaching that is most rampant in the Western church today. Additionally, T.D. Jakes adheres to the false doctrine of modalism, and Joyce Meyer and Christine Caine blatantly disobey the Bibleโ€™s teaching that women are not to be pastors or instruct men in the Scriptures in the church.

These days, it can be difficult to keep up with who teaches sound doctrine and who does not, especially when pastors and teachers we thought were theologically orthodox seem to be turning apostate at an alarming rate. I myself have been a fan of more than one popular writer/teacher/preacher that I later realized was a false teacher (Joyce Meyer was one of them.) as I delved into what they actually taught and believed and compared it to Godโ€™s word. I know first hand that itโ€™s easy to think that these people are good biblical teachers and preachers when what they say sounds good, makes us feel good, and has an occasional Bible verse sprinkled in.

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Because Iโ€™ve been there myself and know how easy it can be to be drawn in by false teachers, I donโ€™t have any less respect for folks who re-tweet the occasional Osteen-ism of the day. In fact, I have more respect for them, because I know they love the Lord, theyโ€™re making an effort to find biblical teaching to listen to, and they have the courage to try to share the gospel with their friends and family via social media. Those are all fantastically good things, and they are to be commended.

But, still, the quotes we share and the people who said them matter. Why?

The quotes we share and the people who said them matter. Here are four reasons why…

1.
Lost peopleโ€™s eternities are at stake.

Seriously? From hitting the โ€œshareโ€ button on a false teacherโ€™s status? Seriously. I donโ€™t think thatโ€™s overstating the gravity of the matter. Thereโ€™s no way to take the possibility of an eternity in hell too seriously.

Think about it: You have an unsaved Facebook friend. Sheโ€™s getting to the point in her life where she figures itโ€™s time to get her stuff together, so she starts looking into this whole Jesus thing. Where to start? Sheโ€™s never even set foot inside a church. Aha! She remembers youโ€™re a Christian. Maybe youโ€™ll have a good lead for her. As sheโ€™s thinking about all this, you share Joyce Meyerโ€™s status, and it appears in your friendโ€™s news feed. โ€œAh,โ€ your friend thinks, โ€œthis must be a good Bible teacher if my Christian friend follows her.โ€ So she โ€œlikesโ€ Joyce Meyerโ€™s Facebook page and follows her on Twitter. Then she starts watching her on TV. Buys some of her books. Maybe attends one of her conferences. Because your friend has zero knowledge of the Bible, she believes everything Joyce Meyer says. It sounds good. It makes her feel good. Sheโ€™s hearing a few out of context Bible verses here and there. But the problem is that Joyce Meyer doesnโ€™t teach the Jesus of the Bible. She teaches a false god of her own creation. And if your friend doesnโ€™t put her faith in the true Jesus of the Bible, sheโ€™s just as lost as she was before. Only now she thinks sheโ€™s a Christian. And you canโ€™t convince her otherwise.

Sound far fetched? Maybe. Maybe not. But if thereโ€™s even the slightest chance something like that could happen, is it really worth justifying that status share? Furthermore, is it worth even following a teacher who could lead someone you love to an eternity in hell?

2.
It gives false teachers free publicity and a broader platform.

One thing I was very surprised to learn when I first began the process of having my book published1 is that publishers want non-fiction writers to have a built in audience, or โ€œplatform,โ€ before they will publish your book. That means youโ€™re already doing speaking engagements and/or have a decent sized ministry, have lots of followers on social media, etc. As I once explained to someone, โ€œYou donโ€™t get your book published and then become [celebrity Bible teacher] you have to be [celebrity Bible teacher] in order to get published.โ€

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Social media stats are a big factor in a celebrity preacherโ€™s/teacherโ€™s platform. If T.D. Jakes suddenly lost the majority of his social media followers, you can bet the TV stations heโ€™s on and the conferences he gets invited to would be taking a serious look at whether or not theyโ€™d continue to affiliate with him, because it would indicate that his audience is shrinking.

Conversely, when we re-pin, re-post, or re-tweet these folks, their social media stats go up. They not only get a broader platform on social media from which to spread their unbiblical teaching, they continue to get more book, radio, TV, and other media deals, get invited to speak at more conferences, and even start exporting their false teaching overseas (โ€œmissionsโ€) to people who have never heard the gospel before and have no way of knowing theyโ€™re being lied to.

When we promote false teachers on social media, we bear some of the responsibility for the spread of their false doctrine.

If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works.

2 John 10-11

When we promote false teachers on social media, we bear some of the responsibility for the spread of their false doctrine.

3.
It is disobedient to Scripture.

Often, when a Christian is told sheโ€™s following a false teacher, the common response is, โ€œOh, I just chew up the meat and spit out the bones,โ€ meaning that she takes to heart the โ€œgoodโ€ things the false teacher has to say and ignores the bad.

The question is: where does the Bible say this is the correct way to deal with false teachers? Answer: it doesnโ€™t. In fact Scripture says exactly the opposite.

For starters, Galatians 1:6-9 says that if anyone preaches a different gospel (such as the prosperity gospel) from the one thatโ€™s set down in Scripture, โ€œlet him be accursed.โ€ โ€œAccursedโ€ means โ€œdamned,โ€ sentenced to hell for eternity.

1 Timothy 4:7 and Titus 3:10 say that we are to have nothing to do with people who teach โ€œirreverent or silly mythsโ€ or cause division by teaching false doctrine.

2 Corinthians 6:14-16 tells us not to be joined together or partner with unbelievers, lawlessness, darkness, Belial (the devil), or idols.

1 Corinthians 5:7-13 tells us that when a person infiltrates the church who claims to be a Christian, yet is greedy, an idolater, or a swindlerโ€” all of which are things that prosperity preachers are guilty ofโ€” we are to โ€œcleanse out the old leaven.โ€ We are โ€œnot to associateโ€ with them. We are to โ€œpurge the evil person from among you.โ€

Titus 1:10-16 says of false teachers, โ€œThey must be silenced,โ€ because they teach โ€œfor shameful gain what they ought not to teach.โ€ Paul instructs Titus to โ€œrebuke them sharply,โ€ and that, โ€œthey profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.โ€

The entire second chapter of 2 Peter paints a dismal picture of the motives, the behavior, and the fate of false teachers:

โ€œBecause of them, the way of truth will be blasphemed.โ€

โ€œIn their greed they will exploit you with false words.โ€

They will โ€œbe destroyed in their destruction, suffering wrong as the wage for their wrongdoing.โ€

โ€œThey are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions, while they feast with you.โ€

โ€œThey entice unsteady souls.โ€

โ€œFor them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved.โ€

โ€œThey promise them [people who listen to their false teaching] freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption.โ€

The entire epistle of Jude is dedicated to exhorting Christians to โ€œcontend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.โ€ Of false teachers, Jude says:

โ€œCertain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christโ€ฆWoe to them!โ€

Thereโ€™s more, because a large portion of the New Testament is dedicated to exhorting Christians to stay away from false doctrine and rebuke those who teach it, but I think you get the picture. Is it obedient to Christ and to His word to follow and promote someone He says is damnable? People who teach another gospel, such as the prosperity gospel, are the enemies of Christ. Who are we going to side with, Christ or His enemies?

People who teach another gospel, such as the prosperity gospel, are the enemies of Christ. Who are we going to side with, Christ or His enemies?

 4.
It is unloving and disloyal to our Master.

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Think about the person you love the most in this world. Maybe itโ€™s your spouse, your child, a parent, or a friend. Next, think about your favorite celebrity, perhaps a movie star, a TV personality, or a famous author or athlete. Now try to imagine that that celebrity, in interviews with journalists, on talk shows he appears on, at personal appearances and speaking engagements, in books he writes, etc., routinely tells lies about the character of your dearest loved one. And thousands, maybe millions, of people believe him.

Would you continue to be a fan of that celebrity?

What if your loved one found out you were a fan of that celebrity? How would she feel to know you were a fan of someone who spreads lies about her?

If we wouldnโ€™t follow someone who lies about a loved one, how much less should we as Christians have anything to do with a celebrity preacher, teacher, or author who drags the name of our precious Savior through the mud and lies about the gospel?

How can we as Christians have anything to do with a celebrity preacher, teacher, or author who drags the name of our precious Savior through the mud and lies about the gospel?

Friends, for all of these reasons and more, letโ€™s stop promoting these false teachers on social media by publicizing their quotes and other materials. Looking for an encouraging quote to share? Thereโ€™s nothing better than a verse of Scripture. Because Scripture can offer people something that false teachers canโ€™t: truth and hope. As Jesus Himself said,

โ€œSanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.โ€ John 17:17


ยนMy book, Jacob, Journaling the Journey is no longer in print, and thatโ€™s a good thing! I wrote it before learning good hermeneutics and how to handle Godโ€™s Word properly. You can probably still find copies of it at online merchants, but I would not recommend that you buy or use it. If you want a good Bible study, the best thing is to simply pick up the Bible and study it for yourself. Right now, I have no plans to rewrite Jacob for future re-release.

Celebrity Pastors, Discernment, False Teachers, Word of Faith Movement

Of Mega-Blogs and Molotov Cocktails

megablogs molotov

I Look Down on Young Women With Husbands and Kids, and I’m Not screaming-womanSorry,ย screamed the headline. Quite an attention grabber. It certainly grabbed mine. So, of course, I read the article.

It was brash. Extremist. Rude. Rather one dimensional and completely devoid of nuance. And it made me mad, too, since I used to be a young woman with a husband and kids. (“Used to be,” as in, I still have the husband and kids and I’m still a woman, but “young” would be a stretch at this point.)

I was all set to write a blog post in response about the value of wifing, mothering,ย andย working outside the home. You know, whatever God has called you to. So as prep for my article, I read the article again. And again.

And, like a toddler yanking at the hem of my skirt to get my attention, an epiphany pushed and shoved its way into my consciousness.

It wasn’t real.

Or maybe I should say: I suspect it wasn’t 100% sincere.

Have you ever visited a mega-blog like Buzzfeed or Mashable? They churnย out tons of cheap content every day, glasscandy-532959which means lots of hits on their web sites and lots of posts that go viral, which means lots of money from advertisers. (Nothing wrong with that, but it’s usually not terribly deep stuff. Sometimes people want a little mind candy, and that’s OK.)

Guess what? Lots of people want a piece of that pie and it’s easier to copycat than to innovate, so there are lots of other upstarts out there trying to become the next mega-blog. Like Thought Catalog, which published the aforementioned article on young women with husbands and kids.

As they say, there’s no such thing as bad publicity, and in a PR move that would make even Miley Cyrus chartreuse with envy, Thought Catalog threw out a Molotov cocktail of an article, stood back, and watched the crowd gather. Nearly a quarter of a million shares on Facebook. Almost 2000 re-tweets. Over 11,000 comments. From a PR standpoint, there’s pretty much no choice but to admire them.

Is Amy Glass, the author of the article, a real person? Maybe she is, or maybe it’s a pseudonym for someone who works for Thought Catalog as a content writer. If she’s a real person, are these her genuine thoughts and feelings, or did she throw in a hearty dose of hyperbole to push her readers into clicking, tweeting, sharing, pingback-ing, and writing response articles?

I don’t know.

There’s a lot of deception going on out there these days (I’m not saying Thought Catalog is being deceptive. Honestly, I haven’t poked around over there enough to know.) and it’s not just “out there.” It’s inside the walls of the church, as well.

joel_osteen-false_prophetThere are plenty of “Buzzfeed” pastors, leaders, and Christian authors who are throwing out cheap content and bombshells…

…2014 is going to be the year God turns everything around for you!
…Just say what you want! If you can say it, you can have it!
…God wants you to achieve all your dreams, so reach for the stars!

Joyce-MeyerThe glass breaks, the flames fly, and the crowd gathers. Their churches are overflowing with people. Their books become best sellers. They’re invited to speak at all the big conferences. And when the little guys start copying them and their methods, they know they’ve arrived.

But are they telling you the truth? And if you’re one of their devotees, how do you know whether or not they’re telling you the truth? Do you even want to know, or are you just happy with being entertained or being told what you want to hear?

There’s a way to find out. Get your Bible out and study it. Don’t just give it a surface reading– do the work and dig. Use the brain God gave you and pursue the knowledge of His word. Ask Him to open your eyes to understand the truth of Scripture. Love God with your mind, not just your emotions. Don’t be deceived.

Because theyย hated knowledge
andย did not choose the fear of theย Lord,
would have none of my counsel
andย despised all my reproof,
therefore they shall eatย the fruit of their way,
and haveย their fill of their own devices.
For the simple are killed byย their turning away,
andย the complacency of fools destroys them;
butย whoever listens to me will dwell secure
and will beย at ease, without dread of disaster.
Proverbs 1:29-33