Believe God Not Beth Moore

For a number of years I participated in a women’s Bible study group which primarily used Beth Moore’s material.  I also attended two of her conferences and purchased other books and music cds from her ministry.  I was sure that her teaching was sound and worthy of my time.  I was often blessed by her teachings and felt I was growing in my knowledge of God and His Word. 

The last study I began was called Believing God,  where Beth had us doing a couple of things that sent red flags-a-flyin’! 

First of all, at the beginning of each session, she had the group all stand up and recite a ‘Joel Osteen-type’ belief statement which gave me pause.  I was all too familiar with his foolishness and not interested in sitting through his sort of teaching!  Maybe that is why this little routine bothered me.   

Secondly, she wanted to have all the participants wear blue bracelets made of cord or ribbon around their wrists as a reminder that we were God’s chosen people (aren’t the Jews God’s chosen people?).  Initially, I wore one, but quickly decided that this was not for me.  Again, not sure why, so much, just that I didn’t think it was appropriate for Christians to do something like this.  I don’t think I could articulate my reasons from a biblical perspective, however. 

After a number of sessions, I realized that Beth was heading into troubling waters.  Her video sessions were making me feel increasingly uncomfortable.  Because I could not clearly point to a specific problem, I quietly dropped out of the study group and became more involved with another ministry in the church. 

Subsequently, they began another LifeWay study by… (can’t think of her name).   Becoming more wary of ‘teachers’,  though, I looked into the author of the book before the sessions began and skimmed through the book.   I discovered that she was clearly influenced by Henri Nouwen and Dallas Willard and quoted them as part of the study.  When I brought this disturbing connection to the attention of the leader of the group, her response was a complacent, “The books have already been ordered.”   My family left that church soon after…

Not willing, yet, to toss Beth out with the proverbial ‘bathwater’ I continued to hope that she was still a valuable teacher and that I was just being overly critical.  However, I soon learned of her involvement in a DVD called, ‘Be Still.’  This video was being produced by some who were encouraging contemplative spirituality and other dangerous and mystical practices.  Hearing of  Beth Moore’s participation caused an uproar in the blogosphere of discernment ministries, and one contacted her directly questioning her part in this project.  Unfortunately, after initially distancing herself from the idea of contemplative prayer, she later recanted and stood up for it. 

Finally, I was convinced.  “TOSS!”  No more Beth Moore.

I needed biblical reasons, though, for rejected her as a teacher, so I began looking for research online for discernment ministries who had written about her work.  Personal Freedom Outreach (PFO) had an expose about her writings in their newsletter called, The Quarterly Journal.  I promptly contacted them to purchase a copy of this edition and have since subscribed to this valuable resource! 

Also, the latest edition of PFO has another extensive article on Moore’s teaching videos.  It covers issues such as Moore’s “God told me” methodology, trivializing of miracles, her “Dangerous Liaisons’ with Latter Rain-type teaching, and her ‘Muddled Doctrine” of binding and loosing.  Reading this article only solidified my conviction that Moore is at least, not worthy of our time,  and at worst, dangerous to undiscerning women!

Coincidently, one of the co-authors of that article is Glenn Chatfield of  The Watchman’s Bagpipes.  He has posted a review of the book, Breaking Free, on his blog.   He details many problems in this popular book.  It is worth spending some time looking over his research.

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