Category Archives: Gender

Now I Understand Why Reading Sojourner’s Magazine Made Me Feel Slimy

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Not long after I graduated from  college in 1977, one of my pastors started teaching Adult Sunday School classes on world hunger and social justice. Several of us fell under his influence, equating socialist politics with Christianity. We justified this equation by pointing to Acts 2:44-45  as a proof-text  supporting our “radical discipleship.”

Like all good radicals, we protested nuclear power plants, boycotted subsidiaries of corporate conglomerates and mourned profusely when Ronald Reagan beat Jimmy Carter. We firmly believed our liberal politics reflected Biblical values.

And we faithfully read Sojourner’s Magazine. I grabbed each issue the moment it hit my mailbox, eagerly flipping to the editorials by Jim Wallis. His writing always assured me that Jesus championed the poor and disenfranchised.

And yet, I always felt a certain discomfort with my so-called Christian socialism. Continue reading →

Saturday Sampler: July 8 — July 14

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July 1 2010 025Have you ever thought of Bible Study in terms of summer reading? Interesting concept, don’t you think? Leave it to Ryan Higginbottom of Knowable Word to inspire our summer devotional times with Bible Study: Fast and Slow.

We say it over and over, I know. Yet, as  Elizabeth Prata writes in The End Time, evangelical women (and some men) persist in declaring God Told Me! Once again, Elizabeth dismantles the error of direct revelation from God, hoping to convince more women to hear from God on His terms. As a bonus, she includes two 90-second videos; the Mike Abendroth video shouldn’t be missed!IMG_3852

Phil Johnson laments The Rise of Woker-Than-Thou Evangelicalism in Pyromaniacs. If he understands the “woke” phenomenon correctly (and I believe he does), we should be prayerfully concerned.

Who knew that attending a simple baseball game could result in a musing about the eternal ramifications of false teaching? John Chester of Parking Space 23 pulls off just such a feat with It’s Not Just Theology. If you’re someone who rolls her eyes at the mere thought of theology, Chester’s insights might offer you something worth considering.

As a former Charismatic, I well understand The Dangers of Emotionalism that Kelly Smith writes about in Whole Magazine.

Why Didn’t Paul Share His ‘Trip to Heaven’ Story? asks Mike Leake in Borrowed Light. This excellent examination of 2 Corinthians 12:1-10 refutes much of the mysticism that IMG_3889permeates evangelical churches.

Denny Burk writes Is temptation sinful? as an introduction to his new series examining homosexual desire. Can we really differentiate between the desire to sin and the actual sin itself. After reading this first article, I hope you’ll continue reading this series. The Scriptural principles apply to much more than homosexual sin.

I haven’t read Why Can’t We Be Friends by Aimee Byrd, but I’ve read enough of her blog posts on the topic to know that she’s basically objecting to the Pence Rule (Vice-President Pence won’t be alone with any woman other than his wife). In How Can We Be Friends? 4 Biblical and Practical Considerations for Co-Ed Christian Friendships, Michelle July 2012 Boston and Randolph 024Lesley offers an approach to the controversy that few people on either side have mentioned. Her thoughts show exceptional balance and understanding.

Three cheers for Tom Buck, whose guest post in Delivered By Grace encourages the Southern Baptist Convention in particular and Christian churches in general to Stop “Empowering” Woman and Start Equipping them to Biblically Lead. Pastor Buck really gets it right!

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Moving Beyond Beth Moore To The Real Problem

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Big Woman

Before you label me a hypocrite for having a blog that men obviously read, please look at the Mission Statement on my sidebar and/or If You’re A Man, Please Read This Page, which is prominently posted on my Menu. Throughout this blog you’ll find subtle, and also blatant, reminders that men should absolutely not be reading my blog. Unlike Beth Moore, I cannot comfortably violate Scripture.

I remember reading that Beth Moore began her teaching career by leading a women’s Sunday School class. Over time, men began sitting in on her class, eventually causing the class to develop into a teaching program open to men as well as women. Since then, while insisting that her passion is women’s ministry, she’s been quite comfortable teaching mixed audiences and even preaching at Passion City Church.

Perhaps, I told myself,  Moore really didn’t mean to teach men any more than I do. My willingness to give her the benefit of the doubt never was all that strong, but it completely flew out the window when her post, A Letter to my Brothers, appeared this past May.

This letter betrays her desire to minister exactly as men do. To her, gender roles signify misogyny. In essence, she’s stomping her high heels in a temper tantrum, demanding to play with the boys.

Egalitarianism is an element of the recent “woke” movement coursing throughout evangelicalism (including the Southern Baptist Convention and Reformed churches). Beth Moore has been “woke” lately, giving her liberty to roar against “injustices” women apparently endure.

For decades, Beth Moore has assured her followers that God speaks directly to her. She hasn’t yet claimed to hear from Him on this particular issue. Yet. But even if she never makes such a claim, her reputation for receiving extrabiblical revelation from God lends enormous credibility to her cries for social justice.

I began this series examining the problems with Beth Moore’s ministry firstly because I’d seldom offered a good demonstration that I understand why she poses a danger to Christian women. Now that I have established my working knowledge of her errors, I feel better equipped to critique her support of the “woke” movement. And, based on her history of disobedience to Scripture’s prohibition regarding women teaching and/or preaching to men, I strongly suspect that she will have a devastating influence that leads women to embrace this movement.

Beth Moore has inserted herself into something that distracts people from the Gospel. We must mourn that someone so popular would help lead people into a theology that divides the Body of Christ under the guise of unifying it.

So from here, I want to move on from discussing her in favor of addressing the egalitarian aspect of the “woke” movement that she espouses. Hopefully we’ll learn how proper gender roles adorn the Gospel.

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So Why Am I Suddenly Blogging About Beth Moore?

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balloon-turtle-samplerI have a pattern of coming to parties a bit late. My poor mom carried me for ten months before giving birth to me — which was good because I weighed all of five pounds when I finally arrived. So I didn’t write clear articles explaining the various problems with Beth Moore’s teachings years ago, when everybody else was doing so.

In retrospect, I think my tardiness in writing about these problems outside of allusions to her as a false teacher gave me time to consider better ways to address the issues in a responsible manner. I’ve learned, for instance, that attacking her personally violates God’s standard of not judging her heart. I don’t really know if she’s saved, if she believes what she teaches, or if she’s a complete charlatan.

I can judge her teaching and her practice, however. Based on those things, I can conclude that, regardless of her motives (which only the Lord really knows), Beth Moore teaches falsehood on a consistent basis.

I’ve demonstrated in my last two posts about her that she claims to receive direct revelations from God. Although there are many other troubling aspects to her ministry, which Michelle Lesley, Elizabeth Prata and Erin Benzigerhave skillfully addressed back when the party was in full swing, I believe Moore’s insistence on her extrabiblical experiences lay the foundation for all her other deviations from Scripture.

Fast-forwarding to the summer of 2018, we see Beth Moore “repenting” from racism and decrying “systemic misogyny.” In neither instance did she even hint that God spoke to her concerning these issues, but I wonder if her followers accept her recent embrace of these social justice issues precisely because they’ve been conditioned to believe that God speaks to her personally. Perhaps this is speculation on my part, but it certainly seems plausible.

Beth Moore has tremendous influence,  much of which she’s gained through her convincing accounts of God speaking to her and giving her visions. The fact that she’s now using her influence to lead her followers away from the Gospel and toward unbiblical approaches to social issues shows me the necessity of once again warning women about her false teaching.

I don’t delight in writing about Beth Moore. I’d much prefer writing about Scripture and directing my readers to sound doctrine. That’s why I write the Monday Bible Studies, and that’s why it disappointments me that so few of you seem interested in them. But right now, sadly, Beth Moore is hopping on the social justice bandwagon and drawing so much attention to herself that I believe we need to talk about her aberrations from sound doctrine.

Next week, therefore, we’ll look at her pattern of teaching men, comparing it to her recent remarks about “systemic misogyny.” From there, we’ll examine Biblical roles for men and women, encouraging you to maintain a Biblical perspective. If Beth Moore wants to instigate a new party, I’ll  attend promptly.

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Saturday Sampler: June 3 — June 9

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2006_0719DownTownCrossJuly060006We Christians can be a sneaky bunch, as evidenced by Doug Wilson’s short article, Calling It Something Else in Blog & Mablog. I hate to admit it, but he’s right.

As she often does, Leslie A tells it like it is in Is the Lord Still Speaking? She understands that many may disagree with this post in Growing 4 Life, but she risks unpopularity for the sake of God’s Word.  Furthermore, she makes her case by leaning entirely on careful reasoning from Scripture, showing how Scripture changed her thinking on this issue.

IMG_0795John MacArthur’s essay simply titled Judge Everything appears on the Grace To You Blog as a healthy challenge to practice discernment. He draws an important distinction between the type of judging prohibited in Scriptures like Matthew 7:1 and the type of judging that God commands believers to exercise. As false teaching multiples within evangelical circles, we desperately need to make Biblical judgments.

For his latest contribution to The Cripplegate, Jordan Standridge recounts An Encounter With a Mother-God Cult Evangelist that ministers to my insecurities about witnessing to cult members. Perhaps the Lord will embolden you through his words.

General WashingtonWith boldness and a reliance on both church history and God’s Word, Elizabeth Prata makes A Comment to the Snowflake Society in The End Time. She writes in response to Tweets Beth Moore made a couple weeks ago, having taken time to formulate her thoughts about the matter. In waiting, she balanced passion with reason, providing a much needed example of temperance in handling social media. While I recommend her blog post for that reason, I recommend it even more because her message desperately needs to reach Christian women!

IMG_3134Writing at Renewed in Truth, Lara d’Entremont affirms that Being Filled With the Holy Spirit isn’t the mystical experience that some would have us believe it to be.

I love the way Michelle Lesley reasons from Scripture! Her timely blog post, Solving Misogyny — You’re Doing It Wrong, minces no words in confronting the latest push for women to have unbiblical positions of church leadership. Thankfully,  Michelle relies solely on God’s Word to make her case and offer godly solutions to a very real and serious problem within the Church.

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Beth Moore Puts On High Heels To Act Like A Man

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Trashed BibleWriting about Beth Moore is probably one of my least favorite things to do. Yet her popularity in evangelical circles carries so much influence that I can’t ignore her latest blog post decrying her perceived misogyny among evangelical leaders.

But before going forward, I must agree that the prominent theologian who commented on her physical appearance may have crossed a line into sexual harassment. Even there, however, I don’t know his side of the story. Was he indeed lusting after her, or did he merely wish to complement her? Should I judge his intentions based of her account of the incident, especially when she narrated the story as evidence of misogyny? If she did interpret his remark correctly, though, I must join her in her outrage.

Having reluctantly conceded that point, I must insist that Moore’s overall premise completely ignores Biblical teaching that God has drawn boundaries for women. 1 Timothy 2:12-14 says,  in no uncertain terms,  that women must not teach men. How Moore fails to comprehend such a straightforward passage boggles the mind.

Yet, emboldened by the Social Justice craze currently sweeping evangelicalism, Moore has evidently decided to put on her high heels and act like a man. Is that a contradiction?  Only to people like me who never have understood feminism in the first place.

Beth Moore has now openly adopted the world’s attitude that men and women don’t have distinct roles in the church. I find her newfound complementarian stance interesting in that it coincides with a general drift toward worldliness among younger evangelicals. I can’t judge her heart any more than she can judge the heart of the theologian who called her attractive, but I most certainly can observe a compromise with worldly standards in her blog post. Therefore I consider it reasonable to ask that she seriously examine her motives in this matter.

Ladies, there are many reasons to avoid Beth Moore. This latest diatribe of hers, openly rebelling against 1 Timothy 2:12-14, provides yet one more reason.  Women must teach other women to honor God’s Word, not to trample it in an effort to demand positions that God has reserved for out brothers in Christ. I fear Moore teaches, by example, to follow the fashions of the world.

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Flashback Friday: We’ve Been Warned

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Martyrs BibleIn light of California’s proposed bill that will illegalize any form of suggesting that sexual orientation should or can be changed, I thought this article from two years ago might remind The Outspoken TULIP readers that we can still trust the Lord in times of persecution.

We’ve all had history teachers that spoke in dry monotones and refused to allow for any class participation. Sadly, those teachers perpetuate  the myth that history is dry, boring and irrelevant to life here and now. On top of that, many people (including evangelicals) consider the Bible to be equally dry, boring and irrelevant. Pardon me, ladies, but we really need to open our eyes to see how both Scripture and history prepare us for a future that is nearer than we think.

For example, let’s take a look at Matthew 10:16-23, which describes Jesus sending the Twelve out to cast out demons, heal the sick and preach the Gospel to the lost sheep of Israel. Although most of His instructions were specific to those twelve men, I believe the last section applies to all Christians. And after last June’s SCOTUS infamous decision to legalize same sex marriage, which obviously goes against the Lord’s true design for marriage, His words take on a more vivid gravity.

 “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. 17 Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, 18 and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. 19 When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. 20 For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. 21 Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, 22 and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 23 When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next, for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes. ~~Matthew 10:16-23 (ESV)

Do you understand what I’m getting at? Simply put, those of us who take God’s Word seriously will face backlash much like the Reformation martyrs did. If those of us who claim to be Christians remain faithful to Scripture, the world will naturally hate us. We represent a holy God Who refuses to compromise His righteous standards and does not bow to any human cultural invention. Our  courts, influenced by media propaganda and liberal politics, may attempt to redefine marriage and make public bathrooms gender-neutral, but the King of kings and Lord of lords holds fast to His intent and expects His followers to remain loyal to Him.

 The LGBTQ community, of course, is only one of many ways humanity rebels against God’s authority. Over the last 2000 years, Biblical Christians have suffered various forms of persecution ranging from mild censure to violent martyrdom. Men like Wycliffe, Hus and Tyndale, for example,  bore the wrath of the Roman Catholic church because they called people back to Scripture and denounced the false doctrines that still overtake that church. In our time, the legalization of same sex marriage just happens to be the issue that will usher in the next wave of persecution. But church history informs us that Christians have always incurred the world’s hatred simply by our fidelity to Christ.

 Actually, Scripture itself issues the warning that faithfulness to its teachings will guarantee persecution. Jesus taught clearly that the world would reject His disciples (in all generations) because it rejects Him.

18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. 21 But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me. 22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 Whoever hates me hates my Father also. 24 If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. 25 But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: ‘They hated me without a cause.’ ~~John 15:18-25 (ESV)

As the legalization of same sex marriage brings persecution on Christians who refuse to condone it, we must remember that the Lord warned us of the high cost of following Him. Yes, I grieve over the  loss of religious liberty in this country, and I do feel frightened. But I’ve always understood that following Jesus would most likely have painful implications. Reading passages like Matthew 10:16-23 and studying church history merely reminds me that I’ll be in good company  as I suffer reproach for Him.

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