Women can teach, but not Beth Moore

by Sandy Simpson, 8/11/17

 

False teaching disqualifies anyone from teaching!  Let’s look at what Beth Moore is teaching.

 

Beth Moore works with LifeWay (the publishing arm of the Southern Baptist Churches (SBC) and writes books and study courses through them and attends an SBC where her son-in-law is pastor.  However she has also been involved in promoting contemplative prayer, Emergent Church books and she regularly does conferences with false teachers as well as participating with heretics on TBN.   Here is a brief bio on her:

 

Wanda Elizabeth "Beth" Moore (born Wanda Elizabeth Green; June 16, 1957) is an American evangelist, author, and Bible teacher. She is the founder of Living Proof Ministries, a Bible-based organization for women based in Houston, Texas. The ministry focuses on aiding women who desire to model their lives on evangelical Christian principles. (emphasis in original)

 

The ministry, in conjunction with LifeWay Christian Resources, conducts more than a dozen conferences, known as "Living Proof Live", around the United States annually. Travis Cottrell leads worship at the conferences. From 2007 to 2011, Moore, Kay Arthur, and Priscilla Shirer,] collaborated on another LifeWay weekend conference, "Deeper Still: The Event". Moore also teaches through her radio show, Living Proof with Beth Moore, and appears as a regular on the television program LIFE Today, where she hosts "Wednesdays in the Word] (formally known as "Wednesdays with Beth"). (ACT emphasis added)

 

Additionally, Moore writes books and produces video resources based on the Bible studies that she conducts at the Living Proof Live conferences and at Houston's First Baptist Church. She currently attends Bayou City Fellowship, Houston, Texas,[3] where her son-in-law, Curtis Jones, is lead pastor.

 

She has taught at conferences for women in numerous countries, including Ireland, England, Singapore, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and India.

 

It’s bad enough that she has obviously been influenced by Emergent Church teachings, but she has now slipped into promoting hyper-Pentecostalism due to her contacts on TBN and other dubious “Christian” TV stations.  She now claims that the churches need “holy fire” which is supposedly tied to what happened at Pentecost. But in reality it is a catchword used by Third Wavers in their unbiblical and heretical practice of “slain in the spirit”.  Those who continue to purchase her materials for women’s studies, etc. need to be aware that she is not really promoting biblical Southern Baptist theology but the heresies of liberal and hyper-Pentecostal/Third Wave/Latter Rain churches.  Following is the article from ElijahList:

 

"How Beth Moore Is Calling Down Pentecostal Fire"
by J. Lee Grady via Charisma News, cited in ElijahList 8/11/17

 

https://ci6.googleusercontent.com/proxy/5WzkI9p1bXwnmaaol3wVhQ3yKlrv8_aEL-EdmjPNuoM9x4oONUmAdK_wrKXG7GbFFjxAsXYFxZ9lRmCJzzEppb5NJUJDXZMQh_oQ32yNYVhV=s0-d-e1-ft#http://www.images.elijahlist.com/faces/Beth_Moore_500px.jpg

 

The New Testament is clear that God has called all Christians to be His witnesses, and that both "your sons and your daughters" will prophesy in the last days (Acts 2:17). Our passion should be to see everyone empowered—regardless of race, class, age or gender. If we truly want Pentecost, we should want to see the flame of the Spirit resting on the heads of every person—not just white males over 50. - J. LEE GRADY-Opinion (ACT emphasis added)

 

[Charisma News] I've been in countless Christian meetings over the years, but last week, I witnessed one of the most remarkable spiritual moments of my lifetime.

 

I was attending a gathering of Pentecostals held at a convention center in Orlando, Florida. When the speaker concluded the sermon, people began to stream to the altar. Many of them—including pastors—lay prostrate on the floor. Many were sobbing uncontrollably. Some people wept and prayed for an hour after the meeting was dismissed. (ACT emphasis added)

 

You may ask, "What's so remarkable about that?" This meeting, held on July 26, was unique because the speaker was a Southern Baptist—and a woman. Yet her message was so convicting and so saturated in the Holy Spirit that people ran to the stage even though she didn't even invite people to the altar.

 

The woman was author and popular women's speaker Beth Moore, and the occasion was the 28th General Conference of the International Pentecostal Holiness Church. Leaders from the Assemblies of God, the Church of God and Nigeria's Redeemed Christian Church of God were in attendance, along with thousands of Pentecostals from all over the world. (ACT emphasis added)

 

Moore based her message on Jeremiah 12:5: "If you have run with the footmen, and they have wearied you, then how can you contend with horses?" Without a tinge of self-righteousness or condemnation, Moore lamented the powerless state of the modern Church and called us back to the raw authenticity of New Testament faith. (ACT emphasis added)

 

"We are settling for woefully less than what Jesus promised us," said Moore. "I read my New Testament over and over. I'm not seeing what He promised. I'm unsettled and unsatisfied."

 

She added: "I want holy fire!" (ACT emphasis added)

 

I don't know what is more fascinating—that a Baptist challenged Pentecostals to embrace Pentecostal fire or that a woman who is not supposed to preach to men in her own denomination brought male pastors to their knees in repentance.

 

"We've lost our tolerance for pain and given ourselves to whining," Moore declared. "We have settled for the spiked Kool-Aid of cool, cultural Christianity. What will make us relevant is not our cool factor. It's time for leadership to repent."

 

I've heard a lot of excellent preaching over the years. But listening to Beth Moore was uncanny because her sermon was not about her, and it didn't draw attention to her. There was no swagger. There was no pretense. The sweet dew of Heaven rested on this woman.

I could hear the Holy Spirit speaking loud and clear through a broken vessel.

 

That's why people responded so dramatically, even though Moore simply closed her Bible and sat down when she finished her message. Everyone in the room knew they had heard God speak. They hit their knees because the anointing of the Holy Spirit wooed them to surrender pride, complacency and man-made religion.

 

What is baffling about this whole experience is that there are large numbers of Christians today who don't believe Beth Moore should be preaching to audiences like the one in Orlando. In fact, some fundamentalists have launched attacks on her because she preaches authoritatively from pulpits. One online blogger says Moore "puts the 'her' in heresy" simply because men listen to her teaching. It grieves me that this anointed sister in Christ has been subjected to such disrespect.

 

The old argument employed by some conservative fundamentalists is that Paul, in 1 Timothy 2:12, forbids women to preach. They seem to ignore the fact that 1) Paul empowered many women in other locations to speak and that women such as Phoebe, Priscilla, Chloe, Euodia and Syntyche were on his ministry team; 2) that the Bible offers other examples of godly women leaders and prophets; and 3) that Paul's unique concern in 1 Timothy 2:12 was about women in Ephesus who were "usurping" authority and teaching twisted doctrines.

 

The New Testament is clear that God has called all Christians to be His witnesses, and that both "your sons and your daughters" will prophesy in the last days (Acts 2:17). Our passion should be to see everyone empowered—regardless of race, class, age or gender. If we truly want Pentecost, we should want to see the flame of the Spirit resting on the heads of every person—not just white males over 50. (emphasis in original)

 

...If [God] used Catherine Booth to shake England in the 1800s, or missionary Mary Slessor to plant the Gospel in Nigeria, or Sojourner Truth to challenge slavery through her powerful preaching, or Kathryn Kuhlman to spark a healing revival in the United States in the 1970s, why are we still arguing about this? (ACT emphasis added)

 

We need an army of women like Beth Moore, and my prayer is that more women will seek the Lord and dig into His Word with the same passion that Moore has. I believe she is a forerunner for a new generation of both men and women who will carry a holy Pentecostal fire that cannot be restricted by gender. (ACT emphasis added)

 

Before I get into a point by point, let me point out that Beth attends the SBC church pastored by her son-in-law.  Can a woman legitimately teach if she is not under the authority of her husband and elders of the church?  How can she be under the authority of her son-in-law? 

 

Now on to my points … 

 

(1) One of the women she frequents conferences with is Pricilla Shirer, a major promoter of the Third Wave/New Apostolic/Latter Rain.  She sells “prayer journals”, does conferences with other NAR promoters such as Sheila Walsh, and her books are listed on a number of NAR book sites along with books by C. Peter Wagner, Dutch Sheets, John Eckhart, Kluane Spake, Bill Hamon and many others.  This is just one of the NAR women she does conferences with.

 

(2) Moore stated: we should want to see the flame of the Spirit resting on the heads of every person—not just white males over 50.”  It’s interesting that Lee Grady at Charisma said he could hear the “Holy Spirit” in her preaching.  But apparently the Holy Spirit did not explain to her the scene at Pentecost where the flame that rested on the foundational Apostles DID rested on only men, and not white men either.  If she is calling for flames to rest on everyone, that is a denial of the sign gift given exclusively to demonstrate the authority of the Apostles.  This shows she is in agreement with the Latter Rain teaching that the modern church needs new foundational apostles.

 

(3) In the account it states: Many of them—including pastors—lay prostrate on the floor.”  I have to wonder … were they sprawled on the floor in real repentance or as a result of being slain in the spirit?  It is good to challenge Christians to get out there and preach the Gospel (which some churches are still doing, BTW) but the way in which she framed her arguments was unbiblical.  We are not expecting a Second Pentecost (unless you are a New Ager, see Barbara Marx Hubbard, The Revelation: Our Crisis Is a Birth, The Christ's comments on Rev. 20:1-3, p. 234-235.) but rather an end times falling away and Tribulation. 

 

(4) Those who attended were said to be attending: “the 28th General Conference of the International Pentecostal Holiness Church. Leaders from the Assemblies of God, the Church of God and Nigeria's Redeemed Christian Church of God were in attendance, along with thousands of Pentecostals from all over the world.”  Let’s look at the churches mentioned, though many more Pentecostal denominations were said to be present.  The IPHC teaches second blessing, the initial sign of the baptism of the spirit being tongues, and healing in the Atonement (http://iphc.org/beliefs/) The Church of God and NRCCG teach the same as IPHC with regards to Spirit baptism and healing, though both of those interpretations are unbiblical.  Let’s look at what the Bible says regarding the baptism of the Spirit: 

 

A born again Christian is sealed (Eph 1:13,4:30; 2 Cor 1:22) and baptized (1 Cor 12:13) by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is working (1 Cor 12:11; 2 Thes 2:13; 1 Pet 1:2) within (John 7:38; 1 John 3:24,4:13; Jam 4:5; 2 Tim 1:14) convicting (1 Thes 1:5; John 16:7-8), empowering (Eph 3:16), sanctifying (2 Thes 2;13; 1 Pet 1:2), bestowing grace gifts (1 Cor 12:4-11), and producing fruit (Gal 5:22). The Holy Spirit of God is sovereign (Heb 2:4; 1 Cor 12:11) and He cannot be transferred “by” human hands, which was the misconception of Simon the Sorcerer (Acts 8:18-23). A few times in Acts the Spirit was given “at” the laying on of hands (Acts 8:17; 19:6) which was always done in submission to the will of God and in agreement with His purposes (1 John 2:17). The Holy Spirit, in this age, immediately indwells all who believe (Eph 1:13-14) which does not necessitate the laying on of hands. (What Should I Say by Sandy Simpson, http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/booklet/booklet.html)

 

There is also no guaranteed physical “healing in the Atonement” except for the healing of the spirit through being born again (1 Pet. 2:24).

 

(5) Moore lamented the powerless state of the modern Church.  The true Church is never “powerless”.  It is the false churches of the enemy that pretend to have power but have none.  Those who no longer preach the Gospel but rather promote Dominionism are the truly powerless.  2 Timothy 3:5 holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these. Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.  Maybe she should be careful about bringing accusations against the Church of Jesus Christ because it will not fail when it continues to preach the Gospel and disciple believers from all nations.  Psalm 109:4 In return for my love they act as my accusers; But I am in prayer. The true Church is built on the Rock, Jesus Christ, and will not fail. Matthew 16:18 I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.  It is good to be convicted to live a life pleasing to the Lord and continue in the Great Commission, but this is not what Moore is promoting. 

(6) She added: "I want holy fire!" This is not a Biblical expression.  When Jesus said regarding the coming Holy Spirit, “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” He was speaking to his chosen disciples, the foundational Apostles.  This was a onetime event that was coming to show that they would be His representatives and the Church would have its Cornerstone in Jesus and the foundations in Him and His Apostles.  Anything that pretends to be “holy fire” today is connected to Pentecostalism, and more recently the Third Wave.  This is not how God works today.  He works by changing people from the inside out when they believe the Gospel, not from the outside in by the “fire” of slain in the spirit.  Moore is very good at saying things people want to hear.  She gave a show in front of this predominantly Pentecostal crowd and apparently got the results she wanted.  All you have to do is use the catchphrase “holy fire” and talk about women being equal to men and you are saying all the PC things people love.

 

(7) She also forgot that a large part of “prophecy” is forthtelling, particularly exegeting the Bible correctly whereby the Holy Spirit speaks.  When you preach the Gospel you are prophesying.  When you teach the Bible correctly you are giving the Holy Spirit an opening to speak.  There are many today who are continuing to live according to the Word.  The fact that she does what many Penecostals do in putting down Christians because they don’t get involved in the debauchery of modern day Pentecostalism ought to get her kicked from association with the Southern Baptists. 

 

(8) Grady states: Kathryn Kuhlman (sparked) a healing revival in the United States.  Kuhlman made lots of healing claims, but those who investigated those claims while she was doing her tours found no truth to them.  It was a slain in the spirit fest, just like those of fake healers like Benny Hinn, one of her followers. If you doubt what I am saying, read Kurt Koch’s book called “Occult ABC”.

 

(9) Grady concludes: I believe she is a forerunner for a new generation of both men and women who will carry a holy Pentecostal fire that cannot be restricted by gender.  This proves my point.  If you say the right things in front of a Pentecostal crowd like “holy fire” and “unrestricted gender” you will get the applause you desire.  You will have successfully “tickled their ears”.  But if you want to tell the truth of the Word, you might see some repent of their false teachings and false healings. 

 

One can only hope.