relationships-family, marriage, parenting – Page 3

Beth Moore is “broken free”-a book review

Beth Moore, a Southern writer, teacher, and ministry leader, shares her journey in “All My Knotted-Up Life.” From her roots in the South to her ministry’s growth and the challenges she faced, Moore’s memoir offers insight and inspiration for those wrestling with their own struggles.

Alert: This article discusses sexual abuse and trauma so may be distressing for some persons to read. Resource for help is available at the end.

ALL MY KNOTTED-UP LIFE

A MEMOIR

By Beth Moore

I had never heard of Beth Moore when I signed up for one of her Bible studies at my church. In these studies, written specifically for women, there is a workbook that participants use to read and study the Bible at home, answer questions, and then take part in a group session where we watch her teach the lesson on video.

pages from my Breaking Free workbook-video response sheet from Binding the Brokenhearted and first page of week 6, Beauty from Ashes

This Bible study, Breaking Free-Making Liberty in Christ a Reality in Life, was drawn from Isaiah and other Old Testament books. This is not an easy section of the Bible to understand. But what I found even more puzzling was the mention of what she called “my victimization”, with no detail other than

scars from being a childhood victim of someone else’s problems
Foreword from Breaking Free

Eventually, my women’s group moved on to other Bible teachers. I didn’t hear much about her until a few years ago. She made news for her social media posts about politics and her denomination.

Recently I learned that she had released a memoir. Since I wanted to know more about her, I read it and review it here. Whether or not you like Beth Moore or even know who she is, you will learn something from this review about her and maybe about yourself.

Note: The photos in this post are for illustration only, and are not in the book nor affiliated with the author.

Beth, the Southerner

Beth Moore is a Southerner, born and raised in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, and the Houston, Texas area where she still lives. Even without knowing that, I would know she’s southern by the way she talks, and she writes the way she talks. (And it helps that my home state borders both of those.)

Even without her Southern vernacular, she has a unique way with words when she speaks and writes that you might find off-putting but is part of her appeal, making her down-to-earth and relatable.

The first chapters are about her family of origin- “river people”, the Greens- her parents Aletha and Albert, Nanny, her maternal grandmother who always lived with them, and two brothers and two sisters, with Beth being next to the youngest. (No, I did not know that her mother’s name was Aletha and yes, I was surprised.)

We get a glimpse into Beth’s victimization. No, we don’t get an anatomically detailed description of what happened but like I said, Beth has a way with words, so we certainly get the gist of what happened.

“Somewhere stuffed deep inside a drawer of my mind, I’d always known. A child doesn’t pull chunks of her hair and chunks of her memory out of her head over nothing.”

Beth called to “vocational ministry”

She continues to narrate her life as a teenager in Houston, finishing high school, and going away to college where she met and married “her man” Keith Moore, who had his own painful family history. They had two daughters, attended church, and tried to unpack their joint baggage.

“Each heart knows its own bitterness.”
Proverbs 14:10, NIV

As a teenager, Beth had felt a definite call to “vocational ministry” but was unsure what form that would take. But the other women at her church heard from God for her and begged her to start a ministry for them. Thus, Beth Moore’s first ministry position was teaching aerobics- yes, aerobics with a Christian flare.

For better and for worse, imagination happens to be one of my strong suits. With a baby on a blanket beside me kicking her little legs to the beat, I started choreographing aerobic exercises to Christian contemporary music. We announced a kickoff in the church bulletin and on posters in the halls and women’s restrooms.

Her introduction to teaching Bible lessons came when she was asked to substitute for a Sunday school teacher on maternity leave. She had taught children in Sunday school but never adults. She used a five-message repertoire to speak at women’s events. Preparing a new lesson every Sunday was new for her and didn’t go well.

The end of the year couldn’t come quickly enough. I resolved never to darken the door of another Sunday school class in a teaching capacity.

Which didn’t happen. A few years later as she sat in a Bible doctrine class “God struck a match against a stone and lit a torch in my heart for the Scriptures that has never been quenched.”

That class and three mentors who “remain unrivaled in influence” in her life, birthed her teaching ministry which she named Living Proof.

Beth and the Southern Baptists

In the next chapters we follow Beth as she builds her ministry of writing and teaching Bible studies at her church, First Baptist of Houston, partnering with Lifeway Christian Resources ( the publishing arm of the Southern Baptist Convention) to publish her studies and create a traveling speaking ministry called Living Proof Live. Her meetings outgrew churches and moved into arenas of thousands.

But no amount of training could have prepared us for what was ahead. The Bible studies were picking up momentum and we’d just published Breaking Free, the series I’d written after emerging from the abyss where I’d faced down my past.

But as she puts it, “with visibility came scrutiny.”

Beth admits she is self-taught as far as the Bible is concerned. Despite no seminary training, her in-depth Bible studies are not light reading or study. She references authoritative theological commentaries and quotes the original Hebrew and Greek scriptures.

Nevertheless, she was scrutinized by men who questioned how someone without a college degree in theology could teach the Bible. Not only was she scrutinized-she was criticized, ostracized, marginalized, and ridiculed publicly.

The situation took a dramatic turn in 2016 when recordings of a presidential candidate revealing sexual misconduct became public. She was shocked and angered to read evangelical leaders minimizing, excusing, and defending his behavior.

So, after praying, she posted a series of Tweets.

Wake up Sleepers to what women have dealt with all along in environments of gross entitlement and power. Are we sickened? Yes. Surprised? NO.

I’m one among many women sexually abused, misused, stared down, heckled, talked naughty to. Like we liked it. We didn’t. We’re tired of it.

Between this, and other personal and family issues, Beth experienced a complete upheaval of her ministry, her home, and her faith.

“I’d known my comments would cause a backlash, but I couldn’t wrap my mind around the enormity.”

Family, fishing, and faith

Throughout this turmoil, the Moores stayed grounded with their family- two married daughters and three grandchildren- their beloved dogs, Keith’s fishing- and faith. She found new ways to continue her ministry and even has a new “home in the woods”, complete with a photo.

The voice of Christ on the God-breathed page would become distinct enough to hear over the others.

My response to Beth’s story

I’m glad Beth Moore “broke free “and writes and speaks so others can too. She provides a voice for women, for abuse victims, for dysfunctional families, for anyone whose life is knotted-up.

Maybe you need to break free of something too. Whether you do or not, read this and her other books. You may find release from your knots too.

Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28

Beth Moore’s studies and books

Beth Moore’s books and studies are sold by many major booksellers, including Lifeway and Tyndale.

Those of you who have done the Breaking Free study, won’t be surprised she calls it the study “closest to my life’s message. I didn’t break free from the bondage of my past. I was broken free.”

I also did Beloved Disciple, a study about the Apostle John.

And I read her novel, The Undoing of Saint Silvanus

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Christians on social media-the purpose, the perils, the promise

Words have power, so it matters how we use them. If we make a mistake and share something false, misleading, or inaccurate, then we should correct it. If warranted, delete it, and explain why. And apologize, if warranted.

Last year, I published a post about social media use, alarmed at the proliferation of misinformation, disinformation, and too much good information. I saw people, myself included, post and repost items that seemed good on the surface but with a careful look were distortions of truth, outdated, false, or self-serving rather than helpful to others. We were being contentious, disrespectful, divisive, and anything but “social”.

“Fake news” has been an issue with social media, but in 2020 it became a secondary pandemic with inaccurate, misleading, and false posts about coronavirus, lockdowns, public health, the presidential election, riots, protests, racism, etc. Due to the popularity and widespread use of social media sites and personal blogs we have all become “influencers”, like it or not.

In that post I suggested 9 strategies to share responsibly on social media.

Post with purpose.
Express yourself (not someone wlse)
Consider the source when reading or sharing .
Confirm the facts-who, when, where, what, how, why
Differentiate facts from opinion
Share videos with value
Report accurate numbers and statistics
Pause before sharing photos: are they real, are they yours?
Share facts, not fear.

graphical depiction of electronic devices, paper, pencil, Bible, coffee mug

What about the Bible?

In my posts I approached these as secular problems, and they are. But even though I have a strong Christian faith, I had not thought of the spiritual implications; that is until I read a book by author N.T. Wright, Broken Signposts.

N.T. Wright, Broken Signposts

Professor Wright, or Tom as he is called, is an English New Testament scholar, theologian, and Anglican bishop. He was the bishop of Durham from 2003 to 2010, then research professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at St Mary’s College in the University of St Andrews in Scotland until 2019, when he became a senior research fellow at Wycliffe Hall at the University of Oxford.

If all that sounds academic and stuffy, he is not. Besides reading this book, I have listened to several videos and podcasts by him, and outside his academic pursuits, he is quite down to earth.

So getting back to the book, Broken Signposts:How Christianity Makes Sense of the World, I gained a different perspective about social media when I read this passage (which is edited for brevity)

“Idols always promise a bit extra-or perhaps a lot extra…start off as something good, a good part of God’s creation…then it attracts attention and begins to offer more than it can appropriately deliver-it starts to demand sacrifices.

Idols are addictive. We know a good deal about the forms of addiction in our society, far fewer people are addicted to cigarettes than 50 years ago, but the same kind of compulsive behavior and often the same kind of destructive behavior, is now associated with not only alcohol, cannabis, and other drugs, but with our electronic systems:smartphones, social media, Facebook, and so on.

These can become self-destructive when people portray themselves in a particular light and then struggle to live up to the image they have created.

Technology can of course be a blessing, bringing people together in all sorts of ways, but in the last analysis real relationships with real people are a form of freedom. Half-relationships with a screen personality can be a step toward slavery. “

What do others think?

So then I wondered what other Christian thinkers, theologians, pastors, or authors were saying about social media. I found several Christian denominations have specific social media guidelines for their clergy and churchs to follow. (I only looked at Christian organizations but it is likely other faiths have similar committments to responsible social media use.)

But what about lay persons I wondered, does the church or other Christian leaders offer guidance? The answer is yes.

Here are links and a brief synopsis of some of the sources I found that address how a Christian can and should reponsibly use social media.

A CHRISTIAN CODE OF ETHICS FOR USING SOCIAL MEDIA

The first I found in a Facebook post by a relative by marriage who is an Anglican priest. He shared a link to A Christian Code of Ethics for Using Social Media of the Anglican Church in North America.

The following is a simple code of ethics (5 Questions) for the follower of Jesus to consider before one clicks the “enter” button. It is intended for the follower of Jesus to remember that even in cyber-space we are witnesses (either for good or for bad) for Jesus Christ modeling a life which is supposed to emulate him.

More ideas came from the Denver Institute for Faith and Work. Denver Institute for Faith & Work is an educational nonprofit dedicated to forming men and women to serve God, neighbor, and society through their work.

The post at this link shares a video by Denver Institute founder Jeff Haanen in which he shares insights to answer the question

In the age of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat, how can the Bible guide our use of social media?

Biblical Principles for Social Media

This is a blog post shared by Christopher Cone, Th.D, Ph.D, Ph.D, who serves as President and CEO of AgathonEDU Educational Group and leads Vyrsity and Colorado Biblical University. Dr. Cone has served as a President (Vyrsity, Colorado Biblical University, Calvary University, Tyndale Theological Seminary), a Chief Academic Officer (Southern California Seminary), and as a Research Professor (Vyrsity, Colorado Biblical University, Calvary University, Southern California Seminary), as well as several pastoral roles and teaching positions at the University of North Texas, North Central Texas College, and Southern Bible Institute.

Dr. Cone writes

there is an even more valuable question we can consider with respect to social media: what would Jesus do – or more precisely, what would Jesus have us do with social media? We certainly would be unwise to retreat from social media – if we desire to interact with people, social media provide fantastic tools to do that. Paul cautions believers not to disengage from the world (1 Corinthians 5:9-10), and again warns believers not to be conformed to this world (Romans 12:2). One principle in view here is to be deliberate about using tools like social media to accomplish specific (His) purposes, and not to fall into the trap of being taken captive by those tools.
Dr. Cone

The American Values Coalition has a mission of “growing a community of Americans empowered to lead with truth, reject extremism and misinformation, and defend democracy.” On the blog, writer Ian IcCloud suggests telling stories as a way to avoid the polarization that he calls “harmful to American civic life.”

3 Ways to Combat Extreme Polarization

We all need to be better at telling stories and, more specifically, better at listening to the stories of others. Stories have the power to draw us out of ourselves and move us to care for others in ways we wouldn’t otherwise choose or know to choose.

But stories only work as an end to polarization if we’re willing to admit that we can change. More bluntly, stories will only work if we are ready to accept that we could be wrong and in need of change.

15 Things Christians Should Stop Doing on Social Media

Writing for Relevant Magazine, Tim Arndt, lists 15 rules under the headings of Attitude, Distractions, Image, Discernments, and Nastiness. And a “bonus” rule

It seems like having a civil disagreement has become a rare phenomenon, but we need to learn how to disagree with charity.On social media, I’ve had disagreements with people on a wide range of topics like abortion, atheism and racial issues. I try my best to be civil and if the other person is too, I thank them for that.
Tim Arndt

Social media has changed the world and the very nature of communication. We are all able to broadcast our every thought and opinion at an unprecedented scale. But Christians must not forget that everywhere we go, we represent our savior.
Tim Arndt

“In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
Matthew 5:16, ESV

Harvard School of Public Health recommends we THINK twice before posting or sharing on social media-

Is it TRUTHFUL?
Is it HELPFUL?
Is it INSPIRING?
Is it NECESSARY?
Is it KIND?

Using Our Online Conversations for Good

Explore a Christian viewpoint on social media use with this book by Daniel Darling, an author and pastor. (this is an affiliate link)

Sadly, many Christians are fueling online incivility. Others, exhausted by perpetual outrage and shame-filled from constant comparison, are leaving social media altogether.

So, how should Christians behave in this digital age? Is there a better way?

Daniel Darling believes we need an approach that applies biblical wisdom to our engagement with social media, an approach that neither retreats from modern technology nor ignores the harmful ways in which Christians often engage publicly.

In short, he believes that we can and should use our online conversations for good

Amazon