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The author grapples with this event and its meaning for seemingly insignificant reasons that she never really identifies. Her analysis centers around some sort of perceived impropriety, but she never identifies what is actually improper. It is not our intent to defend the conference or the people involved. We wasn't there. But we can evaluate the author's assertions. And that we shall do.
The author is particularly troubled by the idea of this event being called a commissioning. It isn't really a difficult idea, or one that warrants such hand-wringing by the author. A biblical example, ἀποστολή, which means to send away, "sent on a defined mission by a superior." We find this word used in Ro. 10:15: "And how shall they preach, except they be sent [ἀποστολή]? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!"
A commissioning as a biblical concept is broad and edifying. It needn't be restricted to one woman's idea with everything else dismissed if it doesn't fit her paradigm.
One might wonder why the author struggles so with such innocuous concepts. And clearly the editors of worldview weekend thought she was worthy of being published, which is troubling as well.
A commissioning as a biblical concept is broad and edifying. It needn't be restricted to one woman's idea with everything else dismissed if it doesn't fit her paradigm.
One might wonder why the author struggles so with such innocuous concepts. And clearly the editors of worldview weekend thought she was worthy of being published, which is troubling as well.
And we should note that our intent is not to defend Ms. Moore. We are here to examine the author's statements.
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June 18, 2014
"The Commissioning."
It happened at the Women of Faith "Unwrap the Bible" Conference.
But first, some background.
This past February, just weeks ago, Beth Moore and four other women concluded the Unwrap The Bible event in Houston, and closed it with what the sponsor of the event, Women of Faith, called "A Commissioning". (??) (Two question marks...)
"Unwrap the Bible" was touted as America's largest bible conference, sponsored by "Women of Faith [3]." (WOF) It was held for two days at Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church. (We are happy to raise a read flag here. We have plenty of concerns about Osteen's ministry, but we don't necessarily know that this event is specifically related to his ministry. And like a lot of things, the author doesn't bother to inform us.)
In addition to five women who were to teach and preach their way through the weekend, WOF used clips from Catholic Mystic Roma Downey's "The Bible" series to punctuate the biblical "truths" the lineup of teachers was to teach. (Since the author does not tell us which clips were used, we cannot know if they were unbiblical. Further, we know that screenplays frequently take artistic liberty. We don't think Ms. Downey ever claimed her movie series was a literal biblical presentation.)
Downey also promoted [4] the conference prior to its inception. Christine Caine, Beth Moore, Priscilla Shirer, Lisa Harper, and Sheila Walsh were the 5 scheduled bible teachers. Joel Osteen's wife Victoria opened the conference with a prayer. Lisa Bevere [5] was on hand too. Eleven-thousand women attended.
At the very end of the conference, Beth Moore did not offer a benediction for the women, (Benediction: "Latin: bene, well + dicere, to speak, a short invocation for divine help, blessing and guidance, usually at the end of worship service."
It happened at the Women of Faith "Unwrap the Bible" Conference.
But first, some background.
This past February, just weeks ago, Beth Moore and four other women concluded the Unwrap The Bible event in Houston, and closed it with what the sponsor of the event, Women of Faith, called "A Commissioning". (??) (Two question marks...)
"Unwrap the Bible" was touted as America's largest bible conference, sponsored by "Women of Faith [3]." (WOF) It was held for two days at Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church. (We are happy to raise a read flag here. We have plenty of concerns about Osteen's ministry, but we don't necessarily know that this event is specifically related to his ministry. And like a lot of things, the author doesn't bother to inform us.)
In addition to five women who were to teach and preach their way through the weekend, WOF used clips from Catholic Mystic Roma Downey's "The Bible" series to punctuate the biblical "truths" the lineup of teachers was to teach. (Since the author does not tell us which clips were used, we cannot know if they were unbiblical. Further, we know that screenplays frequently take artistic liberty. We don't think Ms. Downey ever claimed her movie series was a literal biblical presentation.)
Downey also promoted [4] the conference prior to its inception. Christine Caine, Beth Moore, Priscilla Shirer, Lisa Harper, and Sheila Walsh were the 5 scheduled bible teachers. Joel Osteen's wife Victoria opened the conference with a prayer. Lisa Bevere [5] was on hand too. Eleven-thousand women attended.
At the very end of the conference, Beth Moore did not offer a benediction for the women, (Benediction: "Latin: bene, well + dicere, to speak, a short invocation for divine help, blessing and guidance, usually at the end of worship service."
Here's a list of 22 biblical benedictions, only one of which does not contain a blessing directed to the people. Perhaps the author doesn't realize that a benediction is a blessing spoken out over the people?
Does the author even know what a benediction is?)
she did not sing a song for them, (Now it's our turn for the "??". Is Beth Moore a singer or something?)
she did something peculiar. Very peculiar. (Not just peculiar, very peculiar. Yes, something's not right, and the author is suspicious. Planting doubt in the reader's mind, she's going to tell us just how peculiar this is. Or is she? We will see.)
She held a "commissioning". At Moore's insistence, telling women to grab the person next to them, and repeat after her, Moore led the 11,000 women in a ceremony whose likeness I can't find anywhere in the bible. (Ok, they had a "ceremony" not found in the Bible. Like passing the offering plate is in the Bible. Or meeting on Sunday is in the Bible. Or children's church is in the Bible.
So rather than saying a benediction, apparently the "proper" way of dismissing people, Ms. Moore commissioned them, that is, she sent them out. Very peculiar...
To distill this down, the author seems to believe that any and all ceremonies must be found in Scripture. Or, as we will see a few paragraphs from now, they have to be what she calls "an authoritative sacramental ceremony," a phrase not found in the Bible.)
she did not sing a song for them, (Now it's our turn for the "??". Is Beth Moore a singer or something?)
she did something peculiar. Very peculiar. (Not just peculiar, very peculiar. Yes, something's not right, and the author is suspicious. Planting doubt in the reader's mind, she's going to tell us just how peculiar this is. Or is she? We will see.)
She held a "commissioning". At Moore's insistence, telling women to grab the person next to them, and repeat after her, Moore led the 11,000 women in a ceremony whose likeness I can't find anywhere in the bible. (Ok, they had a "ceremony" not found in the Bible. Like passing the offering plate is in the Bible. Or meeting on Sunday is in the Bible. Or children's church is in the Bible.
So rather than saying a benediction, apparently the "proper" way of dismissing people, Ms. Moore commissioned them, that is, she sent them out. Very peculiar...
To distill this down, the author seems to believe that any and all ceremonies must be found in Scripture. Or, as we will see a few paragraphs from now, they have to be what she calls "an authoritative sacramental ceremony," a phrase not found in the Bible.)
At Moore's command, the 11,000 women dutifully paired up, hugged up, listened and then spoke in unison in call-and-response style with Moore leading them in this "commissioning." If you've never heard of a "commissioning" like this, I haven't either, because it doesn't exist. (Well it does exist, doesn't it? The author just documented it.
And we should note that the author's experience is her defining criteria. That is, "If I've never heard about it, it doesn't exist." This is a rather nonintellectual method of evaluating the varieties of Christian understanding and practice.)
Moore has ripped the normal word from any biblical context ("Ripped." Ms Moore has done violence to Scripture by performing a ceremony not found in the Bible! You know, like wedding the ceremonies pastors do, exactly like they are found in the Bible. And communion in those little plastic cups, a clearly biblical way of partaking of the bread and the wine.
So, we find two particular commissionings in the Bible: Joshua [Nu. 27:23] and Paul [Col. 1:25]. These men were essentially pressed into service for God. Is this something that can happen today? Of course! People are pressed into service in all sorts of ways with great ceremony, little ceremony, or no ceremony at all.
One might begin to wonder why Ms. Prata is making a big deal out of all of this.)
and any known ceremony (Can we ask where the author gets her criteria? The Bible? Her church teaching? Or is she making it up as she goes? On what basis is this ceremony a heresy? Is she going to quote ANY Scripture?)
and has redefined it into something a seeker sensitive, New Age, pop psychology, comfy feminist would love. (See, it's either known and approved by Ms. Prata, or it's something eeevil and worldly. No other choices. If the author hasn't heard of it before, it must be "New Age, pop psychology," and a "comfy feminist" would love it. Can you imagine? Basing your judgments upon ignorance?)
And love it they did.
I am not making this up- the Women of Faith intended for the last segment of the conference to be called a "commissioning." (Well, she is certainly making up a lot of to-do about nothing!)
Many of the concepts in the ceremony were unbiblical, to boot. (The author continues to level this charge. Will she ever document this claim?)
How Moore introduced "the commissioning" to the women was: "This is our way of sending you out with this truth embedded in the marrow of your bones." (The author, persisting in her biblical ignorance, seems to have never read He. 4:12: "For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.")
Sounds painful. (Ironically, this is frequently true. The piercing Word can devastate the flesh. The author's snark aside, she actually wanders into the truth for once.)
I am not making this up- the Women of Faith intended for the last segment of the conference to be called a "commissioning." (Well, she is certainly making up a lot of to-do about nothing!)
At last month’s Unwrap the Bible event in Houston, Beth Moore wrapped up the weekend with a “commissioning.” She gathered major points from all the speakers’ messages and had the women in the audience speak them over each other. We loved it and thought you would, too.I'm sorry, but I don't love it. Not one word "spoken over the women" at the end of WOF Unwrap the Bible conference that Moore was "commissioning" was scripture. Not one. (Appalling ignorance. We are beginning to have serious concerns about Ms. Prata. In a couple of paragraphs you will find the transcript of that commissioning, and we will cite multiple Bible references so that the author might be edified.)
Many of the concepts in the ceremony were unbiblical, to boot. (The author continues to level this charge. Will she ever document this claim?)
How Moore introduced "the commissioning" to the women was: "This is our way of sending you out with this truth embedded in the marrow of your bones." (The author, persisting in her biblical ignorance, seems to have never read He. 4:12: "For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.")
Sounds painful. (Ironically, this is frequently true. The piercing Word can devastate the flesh. The author's snark aside, she actually wanders into the truth for once.)
It was then that Moore told the women to grab a women next to them and repeat what Moore said to the women they'd grabbed. She would say a line, the 11,000 women would repeat it to the partner they'd grabbed, whether they knew the woman or not, not knowing whether the woman was even saved or not. (How does anyone know if someone is saved? Who knows peoples' hearts? Why is it important? And why would it be impermissible to speak blessings over someone who isn't saved?)
That's why there is a space for pauses after each phrase. Here is the transcript. (And here also are the biblical citations we promised.)
That's why there is a space for pauses after each phrase. Here is the transcript. (And here also are the biblical citations we promised.)
My dear Sister Be confident (Ep. 3:12, Ph. 1:6, He. 3:14, He. 4:16, He. 10:19, 1Jn. 3:21)
this great day That your God has chosen you (Mk. 13:20, Jn. 15:19, Ro. 8:33, Ep. 1:11, Col. 3:12)
He can make a miracle Out of your big mess He can stand you up straight (Mt. 10:22, Ro. 5:2, Ro. 11:20, 1Co. 10:13, 1Co. 15:58, 1Co. 16:13, Ga. 5:1, Ep. 6:11)
And set your feet upon a rock (Ps. 40:2)
No matter where you’ve been Or what you’ve done You are not dirty (1Co. 6:11, Re. 7:14)
The power of the cross Has made you clean (Ep. 5:26, He. 10:22)
When you run out of what it takes Girlfriend, run to Jesus (Na. 1:7, Joe. 3:16, Ps. 143:9)
Let Jesus turn water into wine (Jn. 2:9)
Never forget You have an enemy Hell-bent on destroying you (Jn. 10:10)
But you have a Savior (Jn. 4:42, Ph. 3:20, 1Ti. 4:10)
Who became earthbound (Jn. 1:14)
to deliver you (Ro. 11:26)
There is restoration (1Pe. 5:10)
and divine destiny (Ac. 2:39, 2Co. 1:20, Ga. 3:18, Ep. 1:14, Col. 3:24)
for you Throw your arms wide open (1Ti. 2:8)
and receive in Jesus’ Name (Mt. 7:8, Mt. 21:22, Mk. 10:15, Ac. 2:38)
Rip off those expiration dates God’s promise to you will be fulfilled (Jo. 21:45, La. 3:22)
Quit just eavesdropping on God Start leaning in and believing what He says (Mt. 9:28, Mt. 21:22, Mk. 9:23)
Impossible is where God starts! (Mt. 19:26)
Your God is faithful He will do it (1Co. 1:9, 1Th. 5:24)
Do NOT retreat in fear (Mt. 10:31)
Now, girlfriend – get out there in that lost world (Mk. 16:15, Jn. 17:18)
And show them what a woman looks like When she unwraps her Bible.
(Yup, not a single word of this has a scriptural basis...)
And thus, these women have now been "commissioned." Did you notice the focus of the commissioning was on the women, and not the Lord? I did. (Whaaat? A few paragraphs previous Ms. Prata complained that Beth Moore didn't offer a benediction, remember? "Beth Moore did not offer a benediction for the women." The focus of a benediction is the people!)In the bible, men are commissioned to go to the lost world and show Jesus to it by preaching His word. Beth Moore told 11,000 women to go to the lost world and show themselves to it. (Wow. What precisely is the difference between the two that so offends the author?
If we are the light of the world (Mt. 5:14), then why is it wrong for these women to show themselves?)
But what exactly had happened at this commissioning? Was "the commissioning" at Unwrap the Bible an authoritative sacramental ceremony like baptism? Were they sacred vows like marriage? Was it an ordination ceremony? Unknown. (None of these "authoritative sacramental ceremonies" as we practice them today are found in the Bible. None.
It seems to us that Ms. Prata's criteria is if the ceremony is something traditionally done in the church. She continually mentions the Bible, but does not quote it.
Further, she leaves it at "unknown," a manipulation designed to give the impression there's something amiss. But she's not going to bother to actually find out and report that to us.)
Was there a responsibility the women must now adopt because they'd uttered a creed and been "commissioned" by someone they consider a leader (and by some random women next to them)? It seemed so, because Moore said that she was "sending them out." Therefore was it a Missionary Commissioning ceremony, akin to when Timothy had been laid hands on and sent out? (1 Timothy 4:14 [10]). Unknown. (Sigh. Here's the passage from 1 Timothy, part of which she finally does quote later:
"Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on you."
Does this sound to you like a "missionary commissioning ceremony? And can we ask the author, is there an official Missionary Commissioning Ceremony in Scripture?
Do you see how nonsensical the author's objections are?)
Picture Moses standing before 11,000 Israelite women, raising his staff, and telling them, "Start leaning in and believing what He says. Now, girlfriend – get out there in that lost world" (Now the author begins to parse and mock colloquial language in an effort to belittle the conference. Absent any substantive arguments up to this point, she resorts to denigration.)
I submit to you that there are two problems with this WOF Commissioning event, and both represent an incremental slide down on the slippery slope of apostasy. (Apostasy is "the formal disaffiliation from or abandonment or renunciation of a religion by a person." A serious charge. Let's see if she can back it up. At this point we are not terribly confident she can.)
Discerners and watchmen are attuned to the incremental steps away from foundational truth. Most Christians with other gifts are busy employing their other gifts, and don't notice the slide until a great number of leaps have lurched us downward. But we notice each inch. This is one. So we warn.
Do you see how nonsensical the author's objections are?)
Picture Moses standing before 11,000 Israelite women, raising his staff, and telling them, "Start leaning in and believing what He says. Now, girlfriend – get out there in that lost world" (Now the author begins to parse and mock colloquial language in an effort to belittle the conference. Absent any substantive arguments up to this point, she resorts to denigration.)
I submit to you that there are two problems with this WOF Commissioning event, and both represent an incremental slide down on the slippery slope of apostasy. (Apostasy is "the formal disaffiliation from or abandonment or renunciation of a religion by a person." A serious charge. Let's see if she can back it up. At this point we are not terribly confident she can.)
Discerners and watchmen are attuned to the incremental steps away from foundational truth. Most Christians with other gifts are busy employing their other gifts, and don't notice the slide until a great number of leaps have lurched us downward. But we notice each inch. This is one. So we warn.
The first issue is that while the SBC has been looking north, east, and south to protect doctrine against the inflow of homosexuality, transgenderism, and Calvinists, to the west, the feminists have crept in. I've mentioned before that Beth Moore is a neo-feminist. (Where was this mentioned? And what evidence is there for this?)
She has usurped the authority of her husband and her home and the church. She teaches and preaches in authority along with men. (Women in ministry is and continues to be a controversial subject, with sober, thinking people on each side of the debate. However, the author summarily dismisses all thoughtful dissent with nothing more than a wave of her hand. The debate deserves much more than that. And especially, not from a woman who seems to be biblically illiterate.
And yes, the author is a woman. Has the author considered that men will read her screed? She would deign to teach these men? Does that mean the author herself is violating Scripture?)
She is the President of a multi-million dollar corporation, while her husband is the Vice-President. (Hard to say if the author is belittling success, or if she is calling out Beth Moore's husband as a deadbeat.)
She brought home the bacon while her kids were little, and her husband took care of them while she was frequently away. She says she was a stay-at-home mom, but she lived like a feminist. (Another serious charge casually tossed out there. The author provides no documentation of this, no quotes, testimony, or facts.)
Christine Caine is more forward. She plainly states that she believes women should have leadership roles. (Again, evidence please? What kind of leadership roles? Are there no biblical examples of women in certain kinds of leadership roles? You see, the author's assertions are vague enough to be virtually useless.)
Caine and Moore, along with many others, are good examples of the curse of Genesis 3: her desire is for her husband and he shall rule over her. (Genesis 3:16 [11]) The struggle for women is to submit to Jesus in their God-given roles in life and most importantly, in the church. (The author expands the charge so that now these women are not in submission to their husbands or Jesus.)
It has been an age-old struggle, and it has become a pitched battle in many false churches and also some Protestant denominations. These days, most have lost that battle and women have been ordained to serve in leadership roles formerly biblically reserved for men. (Well, yes, in liberal denominations that long ago stopped preaching the Gospel we will find women usurpers all over the place. However, *this* does not appear to be *that*. At least, it would be very nice to have some actual evidence one way or the other.)
Well, the second problem that ties back into the first (ecclesiastical feminism) is that words mean things. They mean things. Any liberal in any realm in the battle for hearts and minds will first seek to change meanings of commonly understood words in order to co-opt the meaning and then to redefine them to their advantage. Example: sodomite----homosexual----gay. (Having branded these women as feminists, she now paints with a broader brush associate these people with liberals, which then morphs yet again into an implied approval of homosexuality. Once again we plead: Facts? Evidence? Quotes?)
In the church world, we no longer sin. We make mistakes. We're no longer Christian. We're Christ followers. (Um, yeah. Christian by definition means Christ followers...)
As the writers said in an essay titled "Redefining Terms [12]" said,
She has usurped the authority of her husband and her home and the church. She teaches and preaches in authority along with men. (Women in ministry is and continues to be a controversial subject, with sober, thinking people on each side of the debate. However, the author summarily dismisses all thoughtful dissent with nothing more than a wave of her hand. The debate deserves much more than that. And especially, not from a woman who seems to be biblically illiterate.
And yes, the author is a woman. Has the author considered that men will read her screed? She would deign to teach these men? Does that mean the author herself is violating Scripture?)
She is the President of a multi-million dollar corporation, while her husband is the Vice-President. (Hard to say if the author is belittling success, or if she is calling out Beth Moore's husband as a deadbeat.)
She brought home the bacon while her kids were little, and her husband took care of them while she was frequently away. She says she was a stay-at-home mom, but she lived like a feminist. (Another serious charge casually tossed out there. The author provides no documentation of this, no quotes, testimony, or facts.)
Christine Caine is more forward. She plainly states that she believes women should have leadership roles. (Again, evidence please? What kind of leadership roles? Are there no biblical examples of women in certain kinds of leadership roles? You see, the author's assertions are vague enough to be virtually useless.)
Caine and Moore, along with many others, are good examples of the curse of Genesis 3: her desire is for her husband and he shall rule over her. (Genesis 3:16 [11]) The struggle for women is to submit to Jesus in their God-given roles in life and most importantly, in the church. (The author expands the charge so that now these women are not in submission to their husbands or Jesus.)
It has been an age-old struggle, and it has become a pitched battle in many false churches and also some Protestant denominations. These days, most have lost that battle and women have been ordained to serve in leadership roles formerly biblically reserved for men. (Well, yes, in liberal denominations that long ago stopped preaching the Gospel we will find women usurpers all over the place. However, *this* does not appear to be *that*. At least, it would be very nice to have some actual evidence one way or the other.)
Well, the second problem that ties back into the first (ecclesiastical feminism) is that words mean things. They mean things. Any liberal in any realm in the battle for hearts and minds will first seek to change meanings of commonly understood words in order to co-opt the meaning and then to redefine them to their advantage. Example: sodomite----homosexual----gay. (Having branded these women as feminists, she now paints with a broader brush associate these people with liberals, which then morphs yet again into an implied approval of homosexuality. Once again we plead: Facts? Evidence? Quotes?)
In the church world, we no longer sin. We make mistakes. We're no longer Christian. We're Christ followers. (Um, yeah. Christian by definition means Christ followers...)
As the writers said in an essay titled "Redefining Terms [12]" said,
In the political world, terminology is no less important than in the world of the programmer. However, there has been a systematic effort to obfuscate and confuse terminology in order to usurp hitherto positive meanings and put them in the service of ideals which, in many cases, are opposite to the word’s original meaning.Let's contrast Moore's commissioning above to a biblical one. (Ok, so now we're back to "commissioning." It certainly seems like a sticking point for Ms. Prata. Why this is so is a mystery, but she certainly can't let go of it.)
Here is a commissioning service from the bible:
"So the LORD said to Moses, "Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him; and have him stand before Eleazar the priest and before all the congregation, and commission him in their sight. "You shall put some of your authority on him, in order that all the congregation of the sons of Israel may obey him." (Numbers 27:19-20 [13])
Here is another reference to a commission, Paul reminding Timothy of his commissioning ceremony:
Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. (1 Timothy 1:14 [14]) (No commissioning here. Actually, it was an impartation.)
Or this, when the church chose their first deacons:
And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them. (Acts 6:5-6 [15]) (These men were "commissioned" to wait on tables. Hmm.)
Commissioning means something. It's serious. Someone in authority gives authority to the ones who have been selected for a particular service, their qualification is affirmed by the whole church, and they are ordained in the work through a ceremony. Ordination means something too. GotQuestions explains [16] a commissioning, this recognition of a man set apart for pastoral ministry, deacon service, or missionary work,
When God calls and qualifies a man for the ministry, it will be apparent both to that man and to the rest of the church. The would-be minister will meet the qualifications set forth in 1 Timothy 3:1-16 [17] and Titus 1:5-9 [18], and he will possess a consuming desire to preach (1 Corinthians 9:16 [19]). It is the duty of the church elders, together with the congregation, to recognize and accept the calling. After that, a formal commissioning ceremony—an ordination service—is appropriate, though by no means mandatory. The ordination ceremony itself does not confer any special power; it simply gives public recognition to God’s choice of leadership. (The author is generally accurate on her description, although she appropriates the word "commission" and applies the to these passages, arbitrarily excluding anything that does not conform to her experience.
It still remains for her to tell us how Beth Moore's commissioning violates Scripture. If she can.)
Christian feminists have seen that to redefine ordination into a commissioning is one way to get women into leadership. Moore publicly recognized all those women in a commissioning in a worship service and accompanied the recognition by a spoken creed. (So scroll up and read the commissioning again. You will not find a single word about getting into leadership, having authority of any kind, or exercising power. Such things are not even implied. The author hasn't even tried to establish her case by facts, evidence, or even logic.)
Many denominations have been muddying the two words, most notably when Tim Keller of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York commissioned ordained a female deacon [20] in his church service in 2009. This sparked a heated discussion of commissioning vs. ordination. Here are but two examples-
Tim Keller: The Case for Commissioning (Not Ordaining) Deaconesses [21]
Tim Keller and Confusion Over "Commissioning" (Not Ordaining) Deaconesses [22]
Ordain or commission, either way it is a method for women to adopt leadership roles they were not given by God. (Ro. 16:1 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deaconess of the church in Cenchrea.)
But redefining the term away from ordain into commission helps soften the blow. (The author cites an unrelated case in a manifestly liberal denomination and attempts to connect it to the matter at hand.)
Here's where the two issues, redefining terms and Christian feminism intersect with Beth Moore and the conference commissioning. (Oh goody. Maybe she's going to finally get to the evidence and tie it all up for us.)
The Lutheran Protestant Church started to ordain women as priests in 1947. In 1972 America's first female rabbi was ordained by a rabbinical seminary. The next year, a Mennonite church in Illinois followed suit, ordaining a female pastor. A branch-off of the Latter Day Saints ordained a women in the late 1990s. Methodists ordain women. Seventh Day Adventists, Episcopalians, and Congregationalists have all been accepting of women in leadership roles. The Association of Catholic Priests in Ireland stated this year that the Catholic church must ordain women and allow priests to marry in order to survive. Whether false churches or true denominations, every flavor of the spectrum have fallen to the notion that women can and should be ordained to serve in leadership roles in the church. Except the Southern Baptist Convention.
In 2000 The Baptist Faith and Message was amended to state, “While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.”
So far the SBC has been practically the only denomination of any kind, in any true religion or false, to withstand the onslaught of feminism that hearkens back to Genesis 3 and do not ordain women as pastors or deacons and rarely commission a woman alone for missionary work. Or have they? Does what they say match up with what they do? No.
Beth more preaches in pulpits substituting for men or alongside men, in authority during worship services. Here is Beth Moore with three ordained pastors, leading worship, her bible in hand. (I'll leave it up to you to compare 1 Tim 2:12 to Beth Moore's activities and see if they line up. "1 Ti. 2:12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent." Do a word study. Look at the Greek. Is Beth Moore usurping authority? Is she advising women to take the lead in church or in their homes?)
(...)
Chan is a graduate of John MacArthur's Master's Seminary, a biblically solid seminary. Giglio is a graduate of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and spoke at the Southern Baptist Convention's 2011 Pastors Conference. Piper is a Reformed Baptist. All of them have been through training and serve in conservative churches and should know unequivocally that a woman cannot be a pastor, (Is Beth Moore a pastor? We need to know this, but the author does not provide us with evidence.)
nor serve as a deacon, (Um, what about deaconesses? Ro. 16:1. 1Ti. 3:11. Or prophetesses? Ex. 15:20. Ju. 4:4. 2Kg. 22:14. Lk. 2:36.)
nor teach in authority over men during worship service. Yet there they are. (Where? Com'on, Ms. Prata? Can you provide us with a single snippet of evidence? Maybe everything is indeed as the author describes, but we cannot document that claim.)
The SBC has not rebuked Moore for usurping authority in violation of the bible and their own declared creed. People, it's always important to see if what they say and what they do match up.
The authors of the Redefining Terms [12] essay said of changing word definitions in the political world,
This is not an academic exercise in semantics. This is about truth, and about a threat as real as any terrorist attack and more immediate because it is covert.
It is exactly the same in the church world. Beth Moore's 'Commissioning' at the end of Unwrap the Bible was not a small thing. She endowed women with a commission, and sent them out. The very act of leading a commissioning ceremony imbues Moore with a tacit authority to do such a thing in the first place. But from where does she receive her authority to commission men and women in the first place? (and yes, there were men in the audience). There was not a pastor with her on the stage. Just Moore, giving a responsibility to 11,000 women, co-opting a term that the rest of the church has understood for millennia, and trivializing it. Trivialize how, you ask?
First, because all commissioning ceremonies in the bible and in solidly doctrinal churches in the centuries since, depend on the Holy Spirit's selection of individuals for the particular kind of service to Jesus (pastoral, deacon, or missionary). That's what commissioning services are, a public recognition. The entire congregation recognizes it, and participates in prayer and/or laying on of hands. The men selected for whatever service they are commissioned for (pastor, deacon, missionary), are uniformly recognized as saved, Holy Spirit-selected, and qualified.
Yet Moore told 11,000 women and men to willy-nilly speak words to the person next to them that they might not even know, such as this- "Be confident this great day That your God has chosen you". How utterly foolish to say to an unknown, random person that they can be sure God has chosen them! Moore urged women to say "Throw your arms wide open and receive in Jesus’ Name". Jesus is not a genie and His name is not magic! And receive what, exactly? If they are saved they have already received, if they are not saved, they need to repent first!
And what if I don't throw my arms open, will I still "receive"? What if the lady next to me I'm parroting this to is not saved? Will she "receive"? And how completely meaningless to say "Rip off those expiration dates Quit just eavesdropping on God"
From the majesty of the commissioning of Numbers 27, to the beauty and authority of this commissioning from Moses to Joshua,
"Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the presence of all Israel, "Be strong and courageous, for you must go with this people into the land that the LORD swore to their ancestors to give them, and you must divide it among them as their inheritance." (Deuteronomy 31:7 [24])
We have Moore who has NO authority telling a bunch of women that they're chosen by God to quit eavesdropping and not be dirty and to then she sent them out and...what. To do what? The commissioning was absent any notion of service. But it was filled with self-esteem. So these women left the conference feeling like they've been given some authority to do something. They've been sent- to show themselves.
It's just trivial and sinful and ugly. The entire Commissioning was a terrible display of what happens when a woman like Moore who has thoroughly usurped authority at home and has been allowed by her denomination to usurp church authority for 20 years. This commissioning fad will infiltrate the SBC and before you know it undiscerning local Baptist churches will be "commissioning" women into leadership roles. Soon after that, they'll be ordaining them. You'll see.
May the Lord return before too many more undiscerning women fall into Moore's snare, and before too many good churches slide one more incremental step away from healthy doctrine into the pit of feminism. The Baptist churches have been so busy holding back the tide of homosexuality they forgot to look out for their wives, and sure enough, their desire is for their husbands and the struggle for power has at long last come to the last bastion of conservative church polity.
It's my job to tell you, and now I have.
(We had to stop commenting, because the author's blizzard of words finally wearied us. Repeating one's assertions over and over does not establish them.
If this women teaches over other women, or even children, she needs to be immediately stopped.)
Source URL: http://www.worldviewweekend.com/news/article/beth-moore-led-commissioning-11000-women-and-men-unwrap-bible-conference
Links:
[1] http://www.worldviewweekend.com/profile/elizabeth-prata
[2] http://the-end-time.blogspot.com/2014/06/beth-moore-led-commissioning-for-11000.html
[3] http://www.womenoffaith.com/
[4] http://youtu.be/AUJxZq6rT04
[5] http://www.donotbesurprised.com/2012/11/caine-moore-and-bevere-teach.html
[6] https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB7ZY_cviWBhYHqjKiWI_TsULPJ_RMG4ADm55TMWJ4SydjCWT0fVvlSmkqeTY_smXTvwLMy1VsJzE6QCrUx6jvekKlJPS458QlLk-bp8ywxV3Ix5aLHqAE2b3LLVlHKWPoYXnur_4d-dE/s1600/moore+commissioning.jpg
[7] https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXJX3H4A21_5YmzJEH_fq6jky4SMfzhwKrcs2uRjEvnzqAaDkzoqZYCMOemEgGwCZyaiq3QsLYB-AsWIeR7WprOa5YI32L7yv0antB_JXvl1hqc4Vhe2k8CvG9C66cSiS68Ck4_k-bURA/s1600/lakewood.jpg
[8] https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbgvq5hBU-JWYo4DlCAYckRFUUGAo0PgewJuxIQBRIyK66Q50oZ29i14_xEWF2CQYOiPCKfvAHQ6UqYN0ATRlSbDfMdCApsl6swMmOJJjk9CGNaOYPGgJuSrNNNRjF3SL8BOxzLWHT9do/s1600/unwrap.jpg
[9] http://www.womenoffaith.com/2014/03/women-faith-commissioning/
[10] http://biblia.com/bible/esv/1%20Timothy%204.14
[11] http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Genesis%203.16
[12] http://www.whatwouldthefoundersthink.com/redefining-terms
[13] http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Numbers%2027.19-20
[14] http://biblia.com/bible/esv/1%20Timothy%201.14
[15] http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Acts%206.5-6
[16] http://www.gotquestions.org/ordination.html#ixzz34rKMS4FJ
[17] http://biblia.com/bible/esv/1%20Timothy%203.1-16
[18] http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Titus%201.5-9
[19] http://biblia.com/bible/esv/1%20Corinthians%209.16
[20] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvJ2CUnRnlc
[21] http://byfaithonline.com/the-case-for-commissioning-not-ordaining-deaconesses/
[22] http://apilgrimsredress.blogspot.com/2009/11/tim-keller-and-confusion-over.html
[23] https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmDOjIWjVl70_iq79Bi5X0mv9VgnlXV4_BZe3OaGgHb43VVXx61shdK1AXI1MwGXV6DFgl4-30Fly4E8UIP7UsAOS9V0sPVH59lSLc0dcxd2Ry7SVr8-Tm_Dr99oCtvgUJ86mxIOvf9j0/s1600/moore+lectio.jpg
[24] http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Deuteronomy%2031.7
"So the LORD said to Moses, "Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him; and have him stand before Eleazar the priest and before all the congregation, and commission him in their sight. "You shall put some of your authority on him, in order that all the congregation of the sons of Israel may obey him." (Numbers 27:19-20 [13])
Here is another reference to a commission, Paul reminding Timothy of his commissioning ceremony:
Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. (1 Timothy 1:14 [14]) (No commissioning here. Actually, it was an impartation.)
Or this, when the church chose their first deacons:
And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them. (Acts 6:5-6 [15]) (These men were "commissioned" to wait on tables. Hmm.)
Commissioning means something. It's serious. Someone in authority gives authority to the ones who have been selected for a particular service, their qualification is affirmed by the whole church, and they are ordained in the work through a ceremony. Ordination means something too. GotQuestions explains [16] a commissioning, this recognition of a man set apart for pastoral ministry, deacon service, or missionary work,
When God calls and qualifies a man for the ministry, it will be apparent both to that man and to the rest of the church. The would-be minister will meet the qualifications set forth in 1 Timothy 3:1-16 [17] and Titus 1:5-9 [18], and he will possess a consuming desire to preach (1 Corinthians 9:16 [19]). It is the duty of the church elders, together with the congregation, to recognize and accept the calling. After that, a formal commissioning ceremony—an ordination service—is appropriate, though by no means mandatory. The ordination ceremony itself does not confer any special power; it simply gives public recognition to God’s choice of leadership. (The author is generally accurate on her description, although she appropriates the word "commission" and applies the to these passages, arbitrarily excluding anything that does not conform to her experience.
It still remains for her to tell us how Beth Moore's commissioning violates Scripture. If she can.)
Christian feminists have seen that to redefine ordination into a commissioning is one way to get women into leadership. Moore publicly recognized all those women in a commissioning in a worship service and accompanied the recognition by a spoken creed. (So scroll up and read the commissioning again. You will not find a single word about getting into leadership, having authority of any kind, or exercising power. Such things are not even implied. The author hasn't even tried to establish her case by facts, evidence, or even logic.)
Many denominations have been muddying the two words, most notably when Tim Keller of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York commissioned ordained a female deacon [20] in his church service in 2009. This sparked a heated discussion of commissioning vs. ordination. Here are but two examples-
Tim Keller: The Case for Commissioning (Not Ordaining) Deaconesses [21]
Tim Keller and Confusion Over "Commissioning" (Not Ordaining) Deaconesses [22]
Ordain or commission, either way it is a method for women to adopt leadership roles they were not given by God. (Ro. 16:1 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deaconess of the church in Cenchrea.)
But redefining the term away from ordain into commission helps soften the blow. (The author cites an unrelated case in a manifestly liberal denomination and attempts to connect it to the matter at hand.)
Here's where the two issues, redefining terms and Christian feminism intersect with Beth Moore and the conference commissioning. (Oh goody. Maybe she's going to finally get to the evidence and tie it all up for us.)
The Lutheran Protestant Church started to ordain women as priests in 1947. In 1972 America's first female rabbi was ordained by a rabbinical seminary. The next year, a Mennonite church in Illinois followed suit, ordaining a female pastor. A branch-off of the Latter Day Saints ordained a women in the late 1990s. Methodists ordain women. Seventh Day Adventists, Episcopalians, and Congregationalists have all been accepting of women in leadership roles. The Association of Catholic Priests in Ireland stated this year that the Catholic church must ordain women and allow priests to marry in order to survive. Whether false churches or true denominations, every flavor of the spectrum have fallen to the notion that women can and should be ordained to serve in leadership roles in the church. Except the Southern Baptist Convention.
In 2000 The Baptist Faith and Message was amended to state, “While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.”
So far the SBC has been practically the only denomination of any kind, in any true religion or false, to withstand the onslaught of feminism that hearkens back to Genesis 3 and do not ordain women as pastors or deacons and rarely commission a woman alone for missionary work. Or have they? Does what they say match up with what they do? No.
Beth more preaches in pulpits substituting for men or alongside men, in authority during worship services. Here is Beth Moore with three ordained pastors, leading worship, her bible in hand. (I'll leave it up to you to compare 1 Tim 2:12 to Beth Moore's activities and see if they line up. "1 Ti. 2:12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent." Do a word study. Look at the Greek. Is Beth Moore usurping authority? Is she advising women to take the lead in church or in their homes?)
(...)
Chan is a graduate of John MacArthur's Master's Seminary, a biblically solid seminary. Giglio is a graduate of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and spoke at the Southern Baptist Convention's 2011 Pastors Conference. Piper is a Reformed Baptist. All of them have been through training and serve in conservative churches and should know unequivocally that a woman cannot be a pastor, (Is Beth Moore a pastor? We need to know this, but the author does not provide us with evidence.)
nor serve as a deacon, (Um, what about deaconesses? Ro. 16:1. 1Ti. 3:11. Or prophetesses? Ex. 15:20. Ju. 4:4. 2Kg. 22:14. Lk. 2:36.)
nor teach in authority over men during worship service. Yet there they are. (Where? Com'on, Ms. Prata? Can you provide us with a single snippet of evidence? Maybe everything is indeed as the author describes, but we cannot document that claim.)
The SBC has not rebuked Moore for usurping authority in violation of the bible and their own declared creed. People, it's always important to see if what they say and what they do match up.
The authors of the Redefining Terms [12] essay said of changing word definitions in the political world,
This is not an academic exercise in semantics. This is about truth, and about a threat as real as any terrorist attack and more immediate because it is covert.
It is exactly the same in the church world. Beth Moore's 'Commissioning' at the end of Unwrap the Bible was not a small thing. She endowed women with a commission, and sent them out. The very act of leading a commissioning ceremony imbues Moore with a tacit authority to do such a thing in the first place. But from where does she receive her authority to commission men and women in the first place? (and yes, there were men in the audience). There was not a pastor with her on the stage. Just Moore, giving a responsibility to 11,000 women, co-opting a term that the rest of the church has understood for millennia, and trivializing it. Trivialize how, you ask?
First, because all commissioning ceremonies in the bible and in solidly doctrinal churches in the centuries since, depend on the Holy Spirit's selection of individuals for the particular kind of service to Jesus (pastoral, deacon, or missionary). That's what commissioning services are, a public recognition. The entire congregation recognizes it, and participates in prayer and/or laying on of hands. The men selected for whatever service they are commissioned for (pastor, deacon, missionary), are uniformly recognized as saved, Holy Spirit-selected, and qualified.
Yet Moore told 11,000 women and men to willy-nilly speak words to the person next to them that they might not even know, such as this- "Be confident this great day That your God has chosen you". How utterly foolish to say to an unknown, random person that they can be sure God has chosen them! Moore urged women to say "Throw your arms wide open and receive in Jesus’ Name". Jesus is not a genie and His name is not magic! And receive what, exactly? If they are saved they have already received, if they are not saved, they need to repent first!
And what if I don't throw my arms open, will I still "receive"? What if the lady next to me I'm parroting this to is not saved? Will she "receive"? And how completely meaningless to say "Rip off those expiration dates Quit just eavesdropping on God"
From the majesty of the commissioning of Numbers 27, to the beauty and authority of this commissioning from Moses to Joshua,
"Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the presence of all Israel, "Be strong and courageous, for you must go with this people into the land that the LORD swore to their ancestors to give them, and you must divide it among them as their inheritance." (Deuteronomy 31:7 [24])
We have Moore who has NO authority telling a bunch of women that they're chosen by God to quit eavesdropping and not be dirty and to then she sent them out and...what. To do what? The commissioning was absent any notion of service. But it was filled with self-esteem. So these women left the conference feeling like they've been given some authority to do something. They've been sent- to show themselves.
It's just trivial and sinful and ugly. The entire Commissioning was a terrible display of what happens when a woman like Moore who has thoroughly usurped authority at home and has been allowed by her denomination to usurp church authority for 20 years. This commissioning fad will infiltrate the SBC and before you know it undiscerning local Baptist churches will be "commissioning" women into leadership roles. Soon after that, they'll be ordaining them. You'll see.
May the Lord return before too many more undiscerning women fall into Moore's snare, and before too many good churches slide one more incremental step away from healthy doctrine into the pit of feminism. The Baptist churches have been so busy holding back the tide of homosexuality they forgot to look out for their wives, and sure enough, their desire is for their husbands and the struggle for power has at long last come to the last bastion of conservative church polity.
It's my job to tell you, and now I have.
(We had to stop commenting, because the author's blizzard of words finally wearied us. Repeating one's assertions over and over does not establish them.
If this women teaches over other women, or even children, she needs to be immediately stopped.)
Source URL: http://www.worldviewweekend.com/news/article/beth-moore-led-commissioning-11000-women-and-men-unwrap-bible-conference
Links:
[1] http://www.worldviewweekend.com/profile/elizabeth-prata
[2] http://the-end-time.blogspot.com/2014/06/beth-moore-led-commissioning-for-11000.html
[3] http://www.womenoffaith.com/
[4] http://youtu.be/AUJxZq6rT04
[5] http://www.donotbesurprised.com/2012/11/caine-moore-and-bevere-teach.html
[6] https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB7ZY_cviWBhYHqjKiWI_TsULPJ_RMG4ADm55TMWJ4SydjCWT0fVvlSmkqeTY_smXTvwLMy1VsJzE6QCrUx6jvekKlJPS458QlLk-bp8ywxV3Ix5aLHqAE2b3LLVlHKWPoYXnur_4d-dE/s1600/moore+commissioning.jpg
[7] https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXJX3H4A21_5YmzJEH_fq6jky4SMfzhwKrcs2uRjEvnzqAaDkzoqZYCMOemEgGwCZyaiq3QsLYB-AsWIeR7WprOa5YI32L7yv0antB_JXvl1hqc4Vhe2k8CvG9C66cSiS68Ck4_k-bURA/s1600/lakewood.jpg
[8] https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbgvq5hBU-JWYo4DlCAYckRFUUGAo0PgewJuxIQBRIyK66Q50oZ29i14_xEWF2CQYOiPCKfvAHQ6UqYN0ATRlSbDfMdCApsl6swMmOJJjk9CGNaOYPGgJuSrNNNRjF3SL8BOxzLWHT9do/s1600/unwrap.jpg
[9] http://www.womenoffaith.com/2014/03/women-faith-commissioning/
[10] http://biblia.com/bible/esv/1%20Timothy%204.14
[11] http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Genesis%203.16
[12] http://www.whatwouldthefoundersthink.com/redefining-terms
[13] http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Numbers%2027.19-20
[14] http://biblia.com/bible/esv/1%20Timothy%201.14
[15] http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Acts%206.5-6
[16] http://www.gotquestions.org/ordination.html#ixzz34rKMS4FJ
[17] http://biblia.com/bible/esv/1%20Timothy%203.1-16
[18] http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Titus%201.5-9
[19] http://biblia.com/bible/esv/1%20Corinthians%209.16
[20] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvJ2CUnRnlc
[21] http://byfaithonline.com/the-case-for-commissioning-not-ordaining-deaconesses/
[22] http://apilgrimsredress.blogspot.com/2009/11/tim-keller-and-confusion-over.html
[23] https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmDOjIWjVl70_iq79Bi5X0mv9VgnlXV4_BZe3OaGgHb43VVXx61shdK1AXI1MwGXV6DFgl4-30Fly4E8UIP7UsAOS9V0sPVH59lSLc0dcxd2Ry7SVr8-Tm_Dr99oCtvgUJ86mxIOvf9j0/s1600/moore+lectio.jpg
[24] http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Deuteronomy%2031.7
I can't imagine how much time you spent on this blog post, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm in agreement and have really been challenged by Beth Moore's Bible knowledge. That woman studies and meditates!
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