Evaluating Beth Moore’s Upcoming Live Simulcast
Evaluation and Red Flags:
To that end, I would like to use this opportunity to do an exercise that can help increase discernment. Today we are going to do a pretest. It is a short investigation into the official, available material that we have about the simulcast. This is something we can do whenever we are heading to any Christian event. It can help us get an indication of the soundness of the message or teacher before we even show up.
Class on Discernment: Living Proof Live Simulcast
I invite you to do something as you watch. I invite you to turn the simulcast into a class on discernment. This means, we will use the simulcast to practice the ability to confirm truth and detect error in a Bible message or teaching. Some may feel it is unnecessary to do that with a Beth Moore event since she is so established and well liked as a Bible teacher. I would respond that it is always necessary to be discerning at every event or service where God’s word is taught. It is necessary even when the preacher you’ve sat under for 20 years gets up to preach.
Simulcast Review Update
I have had a couple of inquiries about if and when there would be a follow-up post regarding the Living Proof Live simulcast from September 12, 2015. Since almost two weeks have passed since then, I thought it might be a good idea to give an update here. After viewing the simulcast, I did decide that I would write a review. There is a lot to cover, and I am being careful in my analysis. It is taking time and my health situation comes into play too, but I do hope to have it ready in a few weeks. Please pray for me as I work towards presenting a fair and thorough review. There are definitely some things worth writing about that I hope to share with you.
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When Mrs Lareau posts her actual review I'll post it here. Meanwhile please refer to her previous entries for great lessons on how to discern.
After all this, I became curious as to Mrs Moore's new book, Audacious. Moore said that she tailored the book specifically for simulcast and that for the first time her simulcasts would have a theme (read: book to buy AKA merchandising). The book Audacious will be released November 1, but online buzz about it is heightened to a fever pitch.
Regular readers of the blog know that I am not a fan of Mrs Moore or her teachings. I have written extensively regarding the unbiblical nature of her teaching, her poor interpretive capabilities, her twisting scripture, pop psychology substituting for biblical truth, her legalism, and her unbiblical direct revelations. There are also issues with her lifestyle, all of which combine to show her not only below reproach as a teacher of the Word but a false convert. She is a wolf in sheep's clothing. I have used scripture to show these things and have prayerfully considered all the ramifications of my statements.
Now, turning to the blurb for Audacious, we read some troubling things just in those two short paragraphs, things which not only definitively show in short order the 'living proof' of Moore's unworthiness to teach. These things also genuinely stir me to a righteous anger and a deep sorrow over the women who follow Moore. The righteous anger comes in because I am zealous for the name of Jesus, and Mrs Moore says and does things which impugn His name and character. I am sorrowful for the women who follow Moore because I know these women are in bondage somewhere and attachment to Moore is the out-working of it.
Here is the book blurb for Audacious:
Thirty years in the making, "Audacious" is a deep dive into the message that has compelled Beth Moore to serve women around the globe. Glancing over the years of ministry behind her and strengthening her resolve to the call before her, she came to the realization that her vision for women was incomplete. It lacked something they were aching for.1. Mrs Moore is fulfilling HER vision for women? We fulfill the vision outlined by God which is in His word. (Mt 12:50).
Something Jesus was longing for. Beth identifies that missing link by digging through Scripture, unearthing life experiences, and spotlighting a turning point with the capacity to infuse any life with holy passion and purpose. What was missing? Well, let's just say, it's "audacious" and it's for "all" of us. And it's the path to the life you were born to live."
2. Anyone who has taught for 30 years and is just realizing that a critical component of "her" vision for women has been lacking all this time, is not a very good student of the Word. We're not talking about increasing sanctification where the disciple gains deeper insights atop earlier insights, but language expressed here and elsewhere that states "OOPS, Here is something new to know that I overlooked for 30 years, and you ALL need it!" That is an audacious statement. A classic 'tell' of the false teacher is that they have the heretofore unknown or undiscovered answer to the fulfillment of some fleshly lust or want, NOT they they will use scripture to show who Jesus is so that we may glorify Him. (2 Peter 2:18)
So the true teacher asks, “What has God said in his Word?” The false teacher asks, “What do people want to hear? What will appeal to their flesh?” (Source)3. Mrs Moore flatly says she is speaking for "all" women. I resent a person speaking for me, saying I have been aching for something unbenownst to me and that Mrs Moore knows what I ache for and that she has the answer to that ache. This is simply ridiculous on the face of it. More than ridiculous, it's audacious to claim to be speaking for "all" women. It is the basest appeal to the flesh: 'I have something you "all" need.' (Genesis 3:5-6). I'm sorry, but I am not aching nor am I incomplete. (Colossians 2:10).
4. Mrs Moore spends much time inflaming emotional and spiritual lusts and she tempts women with how she can fulfill them with her new revelation/information/book/method... Of course satisfying fleshly lusts never lasts, which is why you need another Beth Moore book so you can try again.
5. Worst of all is her statement that Mrs Moore purports to know what is in the heart and mind of Jesus, and that He is "longing." Get a close grip on what Moore is saying here. Moore actually says in her book blurb, 'It [her message] lacked something they [women] were aching for. Something Jesus was longing for.' Beth Moore has a message Jesus is longing to hear? I think not. (1 Timothy 6:4, Isaiah 14:14). When I hear statements like these and their blasphemy sinks in, I become righteously angry.
The book publication date is known to be Nov. 1, and in essays, write-ups and interviews she consistently says that it would "spoil" the simulcast to "reveal" it ahead of time. This is one reason the buzz has become so inflamed but if you pierce the buzz you will see how unbiblical this kind of merchandising is. (2 Peter 2:3). We will pierce the buzz and expose Mrs Moore's message by comparing her approach to teaching this 'new' message and how Paul approached the same at Mars Hill.
Paul had been preaching in Athens, Greece for a while. The message of the Gospel was igniting among the populace as Paul preached on hillsides and the synagogues. (Acts 17:17). His message, which really WAS new at the time, aroused a buzz, and the Stoics and Epicureans (who were always ready to hear some new thing, Acts 17:21) invited Paul to speak at Mars Hill in the Areopagan arena to a large number of people.
Let's say between the time of the Philosophers' invitation and the time Paul preached to the masses in the arena was 6 weeks, the same amount of time between the first Audacious-themed September 12 simulcast and the publication of the Moore book. Let's say Paul said and did what Mrs Moore is doing. Let's use actual Audacious FAQ language but overlay it to Paul's experience at the Areopagus at Mars Hill in Athens Greece.
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Areopagus FAQ
I have a teaching from God that you ALL need to hear, it will fulfill you and you will ache no more.
And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? For you bring some strange things to our ears. We wish to know therefore what these things mean." (Acts 17:19-20)
You must attend the Areopagus to hear it. The Stoics and Epicureans must pay 800 sheckels to host me in the arena, and you must pay $20 individually to attend.
May we hear your special message or read it on the scrolls prior to your speech you'll deliver at the Areopagus?
I wrote this message down in a book called "Mars Hill Explosion", with Athenians at the Areopagus participants in mind with the idea that it would be used as a follow up to my message on that day. You can buy it later, after I reveal the secret message on the day. The book is a great way to continue walking out the Mars Hill weekend’s theme through personal reflection or group discussion at local synagogues or house churches. While it is possible that some could receive my book before the event at the Areopagus, I do not recommend spoiling my message by reading it beforehand!" (actual language, source)
For now, people of Athens, here is the book blurb:
"Mars Hill Explosion" is the newest book written by Paul the Apostle. He wrote it specifically thinking of YOU, the Areopagan audience! "Mars Hill Explosion" is an exclusive pre-release for arena participants! Do you have the audacity to make an unseen Savior the Supreme romance of our lives? I pray you are already walking in a brand new sacred romance with Jesus.If you don't attend the Areopagus, you can always buy the book later. For now, just let the anticipation of my new message and the new book build up. *Just a little bit of a hint I'll give you. What is your dream? What is your vision for the future? I don't want to give away the message, but I do want you to know this, I added some audacity to that vision statement. I added some audacity to the dream that I have for men, and I do mean all men. I am hoping and praying with all my heart that my message at the Areopagus will become the place where men will remember that was where they fell head over heels in love with Jesus. My vision for men will result in the path to the life you were born to live.
*actual Beth Moore words.
I thought it was Jesus' vision revealed in the Bible that results in us living the life we were born to live. But that's just me.
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Hard to picture Paul promoting HIS message and selling it secretly? Hard to see Paul writing a Mars Hill FAQ like that? That is because Paul openly shares the message of God unconnected to money, self-promotion, or secrecy; while Mrs Moore makes merchandise of you. The merchandise and the money is her point, not the message. Mrs Moore would do well to follow Christ's example:
Jesus answered him, “I have spoken openly to the world. I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all Jews come together. I have said nothing in secret. (John 18:20)
Finally, a tidbit. We read from this excerpt of Audacious that Mrs Moore says that her good friend Travis Cottrell gave her a book and it impacted her greatly. She based her Audacious message on that book, adding a word to the seminal questions posed within it. Was it the Bible that impacted her so greatly she felt compelled to write Audacious in response? No. Was it a great theological tome authored by one of the towering men of faith in history? No. The book that impacted her so mightily is-
21 Great Leaders: Learn Their Lessons, Improve Your Influence by Pat Williams, a motivational speaker and senior vice president of the NBA’s Orlando Magic.
I look very much forward to Mrs Lareau's review of the September 12 Beth Moore "Audacious" simulcast. I reiterate, Beth Moore is not to be trusted, followed, or taught anywhere at any time in any part of Christendom. Her teachings lead to bondage, impugn both Christ and the scriptures, and only serve to fatten her wallet and puff her pride.
The word audacious has two meanings.
1. showing a willingness to take surprisingly bold risks. "a series of audacious takeovers"
2. showing an impudent lack of respect. "an audacious remark"
Mrs Moore meant #1, but with all she says and does, she betrays #2.
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Further Reading
5 Ways to Spot the Wolf In Sheep's Clothing
7 Traits of False Teachers
Wolves Among the Sheep
UPDATED: Five Reasons It’s Time to Start Exercising “Moore” Discernment