Treasure Tuesdays: Beth Moore is Audacious

The day of writing, reading, and books

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Audacious

by Beth Moore

I discovered Beth Moore a few months ago as I was working my call center graveyard shift and going through youtube videos on my computer when the phone wasn't ringing.

She is hated by misogynistic men who call themselves Christian.

Which makes her pretty cool in my book. Why is she hated by them? Because - wait for it - she's a woman. That's the main beef they have with her. She's a woman who speaks about the gospel.

They are shocked and horrified that a woman would dare to do that. They belong to the school of thinking that women should never speak in church. They are to smile nicely, not say a word, and make coffee at the end of the meeting for fellowshipping time. And because they hate her for being a woman who speaks, they pick on all kinds of everything. They don't like the way she talks (she has a very pronounced southern accent). They don't like that she's funny (only men are allowed to be funny). They don't like how she tells stories about herself when she's relating the gospel verses (how dare she put herself into gospel says the men who put their names on bibles). They don't like that she claims to be guided by God (God doesn't guide people anymore). They hate her hair (that womanly dyed blond Texas hair). She is also on a do not listen to list compiled by a woman who is against women speaking gospel (although it hasn't stopped this woman from having an entire website dedicated to proclaiming her version of the gospel and running down other women). So I had to check Beth out. She is a public speaker who focuses on women's ministry. She's also a prolific writer and has many books out, as well as gospel study series. She has her own ministry, but she never asks for money while she speaks. She doesn't make false promises from God if you send money. You can donate to her ministry, and in return you can have one of her books which is about the same retail price as the basic donation. Beth doesn't make money from the donations. She makes money from writing books and her speaking engagements. Both are legitimate ways for a writer to make a living.

I was more than pleased as I watched her videos. She's funny, she's kind, she loves the scriptures. She's a marvelous story teller. She takes the biblical stories and makes them understandable. She brings the scriptures to life and takes them from thousands of years ago, resetting them in our current time. It set me on a path of looking for her books and this is the first one I've read. Audacious is about loving God with verve, completely, and audaciously. Her writing sounds like her. Often funny, frequently poetic, and very illuminating. She tells a hilarious story of the time that her friends gave her her own funeral for her birthday. That's right. They set up a funeral and they put on a performance about what kind of person she was in life. Someone gave a eulogy. Others came up to talk about memories of her. They dressed for the occasion and Beth sat through the performance. And loved every minute of her death. Think about it. Wouldn't you want to go to your funeral and find out how people loved you? Beth believes in following the promptings of the Spirit. Even if it means you're wrong sometimes. She points out that loving Jesus audaciously, frees you up to love your people even more because you don't demand so much from them. She loves her husband madly, is a proud mother of two daughters, and adores her grandchildren. Her ministry employs women to help spread the gospel. She is not afraid of speaking out about the misogyny she faces, nor is she afraid of sharing her life. I thought I would post her hairbrush story here. Of course the Moore haters have torn this apart because they think God is off playing golf somewhere and doesn't prompt people anymore. These men of letters who know the scriptures backwards and forwards, don't understand the scriptures. But Beth does. And Beth loves Audaciously. Enjoy.