Unfortunately, such a shift is happening today among evangelical circles at an increasing rate. A prime illustration is seen when a church has a statement of faith that includes something like, “We believe in the sole authority of Scripture for faith and practice,” yet they have practically abandoned that stance by allowing false teachings to enter in, whether deliberately or indirectly. If Scripture is really their authority, as they say, it should be in actuality, not just in statement. Sometimes it can be more telling to view a church’s list of current studies to know if they truly adhere to God’s Word.

Let’s turn our attention to a few specific examples of untrue teachings that have entered the visible church, making way for a foundational swing.

Table of Contents

→   #1 Hearing God’s Voice
→   #2 Experiencing God
→   #3 The Cosmic Christ
→   #4 The End of this Present Evil Age

#1 Hearing God’s Voice

It is quite possible you have heard the phrase “hearing God’s voice,” whether from some teacher or in conversation. Upon hearing such an expression, we should ask ourselves what the person means. Are they saying they were reading the Bible and the Holy Spirit illuminated the truth meaning of the text to their minds? Perhaps that is what they mean. But generally when the phrase is used it means something quite different.

Authors Henry and Richard Blackaby, as well as teachers Beth Moore and Priscilla Shirer, to name a few, typically use the phrase to convey the concept that God’s voice is heard when one opens themselves up or learns through experience apart from or beyond Scripture. Keep in mind they might affirm that God’s voice is heard only in Scripture. However, in reality, usually the idea is that one should hear fresh inner promptings or whispers that are not found in the Bible. In fact, they suggest that to hear God’s voice immediately and directly is fresher and greater than simply reading and studying His Word.

Do you see why this teaching is so deceptive? It is not because of what is actually stated – to hear God’s voice – but because of what is not stated – how, when, and where to hear God’s voice. The truth is that Christians are commanded to read, study, memorize, believe, and obey God’s Word, not to listen for a voice. It is in the hearing and illumination of the Word that the Spirit then promises to be with us, guiding and empowering us, as we simply walk by faith.

For more on this subject, you can read How Does God Speak? and Hearing God’s Voice.

#2 Experiencing God

“Experiencing God” is another commonly heard theme. The idea is associated with having fresh encounters with God. An example can be seen in the book Jesus Calling by Sarah Young. Young states, “I knew that God communicated with me through the Bible, but I yearned for more…” (p. xi) What is this “more” for which Young longs? Is it for more of the Bible? It is not presented that way. Implicit in her statement is the desire for a personal encounter or direct experience with the Living God that is beyond, or other than through, the Word of God.

Should Christians desire to personally encounter God based on their own devices or whims? Is this even attainable? Mystics would answer “yes.” They believe that direct knowledge of God, spiritual truth, or ultimate reality can be attained through subjective experience as intuition or insight. But the believers’ “experiencing” of God is a knowing of God through His means – the Word of God and the Spirit of God. The eternal invisible God is unknowable to fallen and rebellious sinners apart from His own provision for them. Unfortunately, when someone wishes to experience God directly they will be operating from worldly or sensual desires.

Let’s remember what one of the more prolific writers and theologians of the 20th century, Francis Schaeffer, said:

“We must stress that the basis for our faith is neither experience nor emotion, but the truth as God has given it: in verbalized, propositional form in the Scripture and which we first of all apprehend with our mind – though, of course, the whole man must act upon it.”

Benjamin Warfield, a professor at Princeton Theological Seminary, explained the difference between biblically “experiencing” God and mystical experience in The Biblical Review, Volume 2, 1917:

“Evangelical Christianity interprets all religious experience by the normative revelation of God recorded for us in the Holy Scriptures, and guides, directs, and corrects it from these Scriptures, and thus molds it into harmony with what God in His revealed Word lays down as the normal Christian life. The mystic, on the other hand, tends to substitute his religious experience for the objective revelation of God recorded in the written Word, as the source from which he derives his knowledge of God, or at least to subordinate the expressly revealed Word as the less direct and convincing source of knowledge of God to his own religious experience. The result is that the external revelation is relatively depressed in value, if not totally set aside.”

One of the more prominent people who introduced experience-based emphases and techniques into the visible church was author Richard Foster. His book Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth took the church world by storm when first published in 1978 (from which the below quotes are taken). It is about the quest for spirituality based on the inner workings of the soul and spiritual techniques. Interestingly, Foster was raised a Quaker. They believe in the “inward light.” To give you a taste of Foster’s book, the following quotes are given:

The inner world of meditation is most easily entered through the door of the imagination. (p. 22)

Another meditation aimed at centering oneself begins by concentrating on breathing…become silent outwardly and inwardly. Be attentive to the inward living Christ…then listen once again. (p.25)

You can see Foster believes that imagination, meditation, and the quest for the “inward Christ” are the new mediation before God. Of course that is absolutely not biblical, and is in contrast to the “outward” light who invaded our world of darkness in the person of Jesus Christ, who is the Way, the Truth and the Life. He and His Word are the Light having come into our darkened lives. (You can read our review of Foster’s book to gain more insight.) Not long after Foster’s book, a new seminary category of study was born – spiritual formations. It is quite a conglomeration of teachings in most seminaries these days.

#3 The Cosmic Christ

Another false thought that has entered into evangelicalism is that of a Romantic and/or Cosmic Christ. It says God comes to us “in stuff” (like the creation) and that we need “spiritual eyes” to see Him there. But does Christ make Himself known personally through the creation? No, the true God reigns transcendent over His creation and made Himself personally known in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ as revealed in Scripture.

Yet many are flocking to such authors as Ann Voskamp who writes in her book One Thousand Gifts, “Do I have eyes to see His face in all things…” (p.112). This is a new-age concept in that there is an ever present deity in the creation. It is not talking of the real Jesus, the One who became flesh and dwelt among us and died and was raised again and is seated at the right hand of God the Father. If you want that Christ, you should stick with only the Scriptures. (For an excellent review of One Thousand Gifts, you can read Bob DeWaay’s Romantic Panentheism: A Review of One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp.)

#4 The End of this Present Evil Age

Unfortunately, the introduction of many false teachers and false doctrines as mentioned here has been “winked at” by most evangelical leaders. This is not ok. Where does that take us if we move even slightly off a biblical foundation? In Acts 20:17-38 we read of Paul’s ministry to the elders of Ephesus and his emphasis in that ministry. True shepherds warn the flock of such impending dangers just like Paul.

In light of this, we must not overlook the very nature of the end of this present evil age. Remember what Paul says in 2 Thessalonians 2. He warns that there would be a falling away from the faith led by the man of sin. In the midst of the church at the end of the age, a beast will arise and be the catalyst of a false church and the world’s final rebellion against the God of the Scriptures. The spirit of antichrist starts in the visible church and the final apostasy will be no exception. For saints who are alive, it will be very costly to maintain a faithful testimony to the Lord Jesus Christ in the environment of both the visible apostate church and the fallen world.

But our ultimate hope is eternal and will be revealed when the Lord Jesus Christ Himself returns on that glorious day of His revelation! Until then, we should be on guard (even while sitting in a church pew) and wait patiently with watchful eyes and prayerful hearts.

This post was first written in 2018 as a guest blog post on Michelle Lesley’s Discipleship for Christian Women blog. You can also find Bible Studies, warnings against false teachers, and much more on Michelle’s blog.

The following is a brief review of The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones published in 2007.

The Jesus Storybook Bible

The purpose of reviewing The Jesus Storybook Bible is to decipher whether the author/editors of this children’s book are engaging in artistic license at their best or mixing the biblical message with lies. I will introduce a few questions and make some observations that will hopefully help us understand what is actually taking place here.

Let’s begin with the opening page of the book which says:

“God wrote, ‘I love you’ – he wrote it in the sky, and on the earth, and under the sea. He wrote his message everywhere! Because God created everything in His world to reflect Him like a mirror-to show us what He is like, to help us to know him, to make our hearts sing. The way a kitten chases her tail. The way red poppies grow wild. The way a dolphin swims. And God put it into words, and wrote it in a book called ‘The Bible’.”

Let’s stop right there. Is this true?

I would suggest there are four critical theological issues on this very first page of The Jesus Storybook Bible. They are:

1. God writes I love you by means of the creation.
2. That very creation reflects Him like a mirror.
3. We can know Him by looking at that reflection in the creation.
4. These previous 3 things are written in the Bible.

According to the author, all four of these things are true as she looks at and interprets Psalm 19:1-2. Would the Jesus of the Scripture be able to read those introductory statements and know that this was His Father that was being talked about? I do not believe so. Let’s look at each claim, in light of Psalm 19.

First, the author writes: “God wrote, ‘I love you’ – he wrote it in the sky, and on the earth, and under the sea. He wrote his message everywhere!” In order to accurately test this claim, we must first grasp what the 19th chapter of Psalms is stating.

Psalm 19 is divided into two sections: God’s works and God’s words. Verses 1-6 state that the works of God’s hands (ie. heavens, days, nights, sun) display His greatness, goodness, eternality, and omnipotence – using personification. The second section, verses 7-14, states that the words of God are perfect, sure, right, pure, true, and more desirable than gold.

Unfortunately, the author has looked at Psalms 19:1-2 and incorporated the concept that the works of God literally speak to us – that God put His words in His works. But this text states that nature displays or is proof of God’s greatness. It tells of God, of His powerful attributes. In this case, it specifically equates the glory of God in verse 1 as specific attributes of God seen using what He has created. It is not “speech” about His “love.”

Let me ask you, does Scripture ever state that God’s creation tells us of His love or that He speaks about His love through the creation? No. The truth is that God “wrote I love you” when He put Christ on the cross to redeem sinners from His holy wrath. He did more than just write it, He demonstrated it. (See The Gospel) Thus, the author has taken a passage that speaks of God’s greatness and uses it to introduce God’s love.

The next statement by the author, “Because God created everything in His world to reflect Him like a mirror…,” also causes a very serious theological problem. The word “reflect” means: To give back or show an image of; to reproduce. (Dictionary.com) So, for the author to say that creation reflects God like a mirror is to say that we can look at nature and we will see God in it. But, God is not “in” His creation in this sense. He is separate from it.

This brings us to the two biblical attributes of God – His transcendance and His immanence. God’s immanency or closeness does not contradict the fact that God is transcendent or different than His creation. We need to see these two biblical concepts as truth that is contradictory to Panentheism. Bob DeWaay says it very well in his article Romantic Panentheism, a Review of One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp:

“That God is not limited spatially (there is nowhere where He is not – Psalm 139:7-10) is a valid, Biblical concept. But panentheism describes an ontological, not spatial category. Ontology is the study of being. It is the study of what something is in its essential nature. Panentheism teaches that God’s essence or being is in everything. This is not the doctrine of omnipresence (though it would affirm it).

If God in His essence and essential being is found in everything, then there is nothing unique about Christ (which is precisely the New Age claim). Biblically, nature does not reveal God and His glory in the same way Christ does. Nature reveals God obliquely and only in a condemning, not saving, way. Christ reveals God in His divine nature and speaks God’s inerrant words. Jesus spoke inerrant, binding words that will be our judge on the last day (John 12:48). The moon does no such thing.”

Creation is simply proof that there is a Creator and not a reflection of Himself. If we think we know Him through the creation, since the author states He is reflected in it, it gives false comfort.

In Romans 1 & 2, Paul talks about God, the creation, and the general revelation of God in every man’s conscience as a condemning thing rather than a comforting thing. Paul does not say that the creation itself gives knowledge of God nor that it shows God “in” it. In fact, Paul is saying that all mankind responds to God’s general revelation by rejecting Him and exchanges it for idolatry. It is only through His unveiling our eyes that we realize our sinful state and can come to God because of what Jesus has completed on the cross – special revelation.

The false doctrine of Panentheism attempts to “trump” the exclusiveness of the incarnation. Read the following texts of Scripture and ask yourself “Is God seen in the creation or is He only seen in the incarnate Son?”

John 1:18 “No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.”
Colossians 1:15 “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.”
Hebrews 1:3a “And He is the radiance of His glory, and the exact representation of His nature…”

The truth is that it’s only in His Son that we can “see” the invisible God. Unfortunately, the author has just embedded her storybook bible in the belief known as panentheism which says that the universe is contained within God and that the universe is part of God. It is the view that God is in all, and yet He is greater than the all. It then follows that He can love us or reveal Himself through this creation since He is part of it. (For more on panentheism, see Panentheism, What is That?)

But, the Christian worldview is not that He somehow personally loves us in the creation or makes Himself known to us through the creation. Instead, we are separated from this God because we are “dead in our trespasses” (Eph 2:5). If He loves us through the creation, and He makes Himself known through that creation, why would we even need Jesus?

When I look at a pretty flower, I do not see an essence of God in that flower nor do I know him better having seen His creation. So, if He does not reflect Himself in that flower, for the author to say “…to show us what He is like, to help us to know him, to make our hearts sing. The way a kitten chases her tail. The way red poppies grow wild. The way a dolphin swims.” is a false concept.

So, when the author next states, “And God put it into words, and wrote it in a book called “The Bible”,” she has come to a false conclusion. Based on this first page of the book, the reader is now in the mindset that the Bible says they can look anywhere to see and know God, that He loves them by means of creation.

This sets the tone for the rest of The Jesus Storybook Bible, giving it a superimposed “feel good” disposition in which “Every story whispers his name” as the subtitle reads. Let’s pause right there. The word whisper means: to speak softly, or under the breath, so as to be heard only by one near at hand. Is that how God has told us He loves us? No, God did not romantically whisper that He loves us, but rather He demonstrated His love for us by having the Holy Lamb of God die on Calvary bearing the wrath of God for our sin.

The thought that God’s love is easily accessible and written everywhere is commonly known as Romanticism – an exaltation of the primitive and the common man, an appreciation of external nature, an interest in the remote, a predilection for melancholy. (Webster-Dictionary) The demonstration of God’s love on Calvary was not a romantic whisper. It was God loving His fallen creatures in a demonstration of His justice and mercy. This is the glory of God in His Son demonstrated to the world.

Now let’s take a look at the first story which is titled “The Terrible Lie” (starts on page 28).

“Eve picked the fruit and ate some. And Adam ate some, too. And a terrible lie came into the world. It would never leave. It would live on in every human heart, whispering to every one of God’s children: ‘God doesn’t love me.'”

The author’s explanation of “The Terrible Lie” is not the biblical explanation of Satan’s lie. The lie was actually Satan’s spin on what God said about eating the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The lie was not something that came into the world as a result of Adam and Eve disobeying and eating the fruit. It should be titled “The Terrible Fall,” not “The Terrible Lie.” The real question now is how could a Holy God love sinful creatures who rebelled against Him. Therefore, I reject the notion that the lie is something in a human heart that whispers “God doesn’t love me.” Unfortunately, the author has a spin on “The Terrible Fall.”

The reality is the author has introduced – to children – a different view of the God & Father of Jesus and a different understanding of the nature of the fall than the Bible does. As we have seen, there are some clear indications that the author is viewing Jesus’ Father as a Romantic Panentheistic Deity and the Fall as something altogether different than the Biblical description.

So which is most important: This “imported” myth that is the setting for the “Jesus” storybook bible? Or, the stories of Jesus in the Bible that give us a different picture, a different setting, the true setting of why the real Jesus had to come in the first place. Why should we settle for this “mixture” of lies? Is that the way to help our children know the true and living God?

If we are seeking to actually glorify the Lord Jesus Christ of the Scripture, why would we settle for introductory myth and ambiguity about God’s love and knowing Him through creation? Didn’t Christ get into serious trouble with fallen man because He came to make the name of His Father known? That very revelation given by Christ is being “defused” in the introductory statements!

Shouldn’t we warn about that instead of recommend it? What Jesus is it that would give this book an introductory “nod/whisper” to this characterization of His Father?

Why highly regarded evangelicals are recommending this book without pointing out these theological issues is rather disconcerting. I have seen two positive reviews: One is by Tim Challies on his blog and another is by Justin Taylor on The Gospel Coalition blog. However, you can read reviews similar to this one that point out the theological errors: one is by Cody Libolt on Pulpit and Pen, and another is by Josh Niemi on Expository Parenting Ministries.

News Update: As of July 2020, Keith and Kristyn Getty will be featuring Sally Lloyd-Jones (author of The Jesus Storybook Bible) at their digital conference, Sing! Global 2020. This can be seen by the Getty’s own Facebook advertisement below. The event is to be held Aug. 30 – Sept. 2, 2020, and will feature a wide array of speakers and artists.

Captivating: Unveiling the Mystery of a Woman’s Soul

The following is a review of the book Captivating: Unveiling the Mystery of a Woman’s Soul published in 2007 and written by John & Stasi Eldredge. There has since been a revised and updated edition (2011) which this review does not address.

For an in-depth look at John Eldredge’s book Wild at Heart, see Braveheart vs. Mister Rogers: John Eldredge’s Walk on the Wild Side.

The Message of Captivating

As I began reading Captivating, I was anticipating reading about the gospel. I read the entire book and I never read the gospel message – not in its fullness. I did read a few true things, but those truths were quickly encapsulated by many false statements, confusing anyone who is trying to gain wisdom and knowledge. Truth mixed with error is not absolute truth.

Before I attempt to show you specifically how Captivating twists biblical truths which in return creates a mythical story, let me first give you an overview of the book and its authors.

Back Cover: “The message of Captivating is this: Your heart matters more than anything else in all creation. The desires you had as a little girl and the longings you still feel as a woman – they are telling you of the life God created you to live. He offers to come now as the Hero of your story, to rescue your heart and release you to live as a fully alive and feminine woman. A woman who is truly captivating.” (See description of Captivating)

A little about the authors: Stasi Eldredge, along with her husband John who wrote Wild at Heart for men, wrote this book for women in hopes they will join in and “take a journey of discovery and healing.” The Eldredge’s say that they pray this book will be used in women’s lives to bring healing, restoration, joy, and life; and to draw women closer to God’s heart – and their own hearts.

Main goal of the book: To describe the longings of a woman and what she should do with those desires; to define the role of a woman and how to be feminine referencing a relationship with “God”; to answer “Your One Question: Am I captivating?”; to reveal that beauty is the essence of a woman; to disclose a woman’s true beauty which has been hidden and suppressed because of her wounds caused by others.

Main concern about the book: It exalts women: her heart, her wounds, her beauty, her longings for romance, her relationships, her capability to give life, and her need for adventure. The author falsely equates woman with the God who created her. (This will be further explained later). The word “feminine” (or a form of it) appears 11 times just on the back cover and the introduction. Feminine means “pertaining to a woman; having qualities traditionally ascribed to women.” This clearly illustrates who is in the spotlight. Not Jesus Christ, but women.

There is mention of “God” and “Jesus” throughout the book, but they are used subjectively for women, for her own story. Hence the quotation marks. There is no accurate biblical definition of the “God” that the Eldredges refer to. Neither is there mention of the fact that women are sinful and in need of a Savior which is Jesus Christ because of His completed work on the cross. The book completely ignores the transformation that should take place in a woman’s life if she has been reconciled to God by Christ’s blood.

It says in Galatians 5:22-23, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control…” These are the characteristics that should define someone, anyone, indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Women are no exception. We were created by God “…male and female He created them…”Genesis 1:27. Women are not in and of themselves beautiful, glorious, nor an incarnation of the one true God. We are, however, sinners, “All have sinned…” Romans 3:23.

Now let’s address some of the actual content of the book and how it misrepresents God’s Word.

p. 27
True Statement: “Most women define themselves in terms of their relationships, and the quality they deem those relationships to have.”
Followed by a false statement: “…This is not a weakness in women-it is a glory. A glory that reflects the heart of God.”

Why is that false? If we say that our hearts reflect the heart of God, we have put ourselves on the same level as Almighty God as if we know what God feels and thinks. Romans 3:10-11 says “As it is written: There is none righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” Women are sinful, not glorious, and as new creatures in Christ we must put that sinful nature to death.

p. 28-29
True: “…our God is a tenderhearted God who yearns for relationship with us.”
False: “…We see him as strong and powerful, but not as needing us, vulnerable to us, yearning to be desired.”

Why False? God is not vulnerable to anyone or anything. I John 3:19-20 says, “This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.” Further, Colossians 1:15-17 says, “He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves…He (Christ) is the image of the invisible God…He is before all things and in Him all things hold together…” God is the one who holds everything together. He does not rely on women for anything.

p. 32-33
True: “…God is your only hope.”
False: “…God calls us to a life involving frequent risks and many dangers….That longing in the heart of a woman to share life together as a great adventure – that comes straight from the heart of God, who also longs for this.”

True: “God is essential. He wants us to need him-desperately.”
False: “Eve is essential. She has an irreplaceable role to play. And so you’ll see that women are endowed with fierce devotion, an ability to suffer great hardships, a vision to make the world a better place.”

Why False?Matt 16:24 “Then Jesus said to his disciples, If anyone should come after me, He must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” Nowhere in Scripture does it say that women are to live a risky and dangerous life. We are to live a life that is in Christ, worthy of the Lord, and fear God. David says in Psalms 34:3, “Glorify the Lord with me; let us exalt his name together.” We are called to glorify the Lord, not live dangerously.

p. 36
True: “…Beauty is the essence of God. The whole world is full of his glory.”
False: “Beauty is the essence of a woman. We want to be clear that we mean both a physical beauty and a soulful/spiritual beauty. The one depends upon and flows out of the other.”

Why False? Spiritual beauty, according to Proverbs 31, has nothing to do with physical beauty, but everything to do with fearing God, gaining wisdom, and modeling godly characteristics. “Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.” Proverbs 31:30

p. 44
True: “Even when relationships are good, it’s never enough.”
False: “Eve was given to the world as the incarnation of a beautiful, captivating God – a life-offering, life-saving lover, a relational specialist, full of tender mercy and hope. Yes, she brought a strength to the world, but not a striving, a sharp-edged strength. She was inviting, alluring, captivating. Is that how you experience the women you know? Is that how people experience you?”

Why False? Genesis 2:18 “The Lord God said, “It is not good for man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” Eve was created to be Adam’s “helper” meaning she was “fit for him”. She was not the incarnation of God, for there is only one God. Isaiah 37:16 “O LORD Almighty, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.”

p. 84
True: “He (Satan) wanted the attention, the adoration for himself….Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor.” Ezek 28:17
False: “Satan fell because of his beauty. Now his heart for revenge is to assault beauty.”

Why False? Satan fell because of his heart, not because of his beauty. His heart was proud. He wanted to exalt himself to be like God.

p. 116
False: “He knows what takes your breath away, knows what makes your heart beat faster…It may not come the way we thought, or perhaps even thought we desired it to.” She goes on to describe how her husband John was at the beach on a business trip and a whale came up on shore and he immediately knew it was a gift from God. She wanted a whale too. She wanted to experience God’s love for her, personally.

Why False? Stasi is equating God’s love for her based on experiential circumstances, not on Christ’s death. “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us.” I John 3:16

p. 130
False: “The essence of a woman is Beauty. She is meant to be the incarnation – our experience in human form – of a Captivating God. A God who invites us.”

Why False? Again, women are not the incarnation of God: Exodus 8:10 “…there is no one like the LORD our God.” And, beauty is not the essence of a woman. I Peter 3:3 says, “Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.”

p. 172
Stasi’s mom had found a list of drugs she was taking.
False: “I was shamed by her discovery. But I did not repent. No. Not yet. Instead, I became even better at hiding. I was sexually promiscuous during my college years…searching for the elusive feeling of being wanted, of being thought beautiful…By the grace and to the glory of God, I became a Christian my last year in college. Jesus quite literally saved me.”

Why False? You might be thinking, “That’s great! Stasi became a Christian. What could possibly be wrong or false about that?” Based on everything we have seen from the book thus far, Stasi’s definition of a “Christian” woman has been inaccurate. She has equated women (the created) with God (the Creator). She does not give any further explanation here as to what it meant for her to “become a Christian.” She does not say why Jesus saved her (that she is a sinner) nor how Jesus saved her (that He had to give His life for her) nor that she has been crucified with Christ (how her life has changed because of knowing Christ). Do you get my point? She vaguely mentions Jesus, but just what Jesus is she talking about because there is so much she leaves out!

p. 195
False: “Now, often the hardest person to fight for is…yourself. But you must. You heart is needed. You must be present and engaged in order to love well and fight on behalf of others. Without you, much will be lost.”

Why False? “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick; who can understand it?” Jeremiah 17:9

p. 212-213
False: “…the invitations of Jesus come to us in many ways…You will find that as God restores your heart and sets you free, you will recover long-lost passions, long-forsaken dreams. You’ll find yourself drawn to some vision for making the world a better place. Those emerging desires are invitations-not to rush out and attempt them immediately. That also is naïve. They are invitations to bring your heart to your Lover and ask him to clarify, to deepen, to speak to you about how and when and with whom.”

Why False? The correct phrase would read: “The invitation (singular) to come to the Father was given to us through Jesus and by Jesus.” For John 14:6 says, “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No ones comes to the Father except through me.'”

p. 217
False: “God really does want you to know who you are…So, may we take a moment and remind you who you truly are? You are a woman. An image bearer of God. The Crown of Creation. You were chosen before time and space, and you are wholly and dearly loved. You are sought after, pursued, romanced, the passionate desire of your Fiance, Jesus. You are dangerous in your beauty and your life-giving power. And you are needed.”

Why False? We already know who we are as women based on Scripture. It’s clear. We were created in the image of God and are sinners. We “…were dead in your trespasses and sins…” (From Ephesians 2:1-9). We do not have any special life-giving power. That power is reserved for Christ. For “God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him (Christ), and through him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through His blood shed on the cross” Colossians 1:19-20. If you believe that Christ died for your sins and rose again, you become alive with Christ by putting off the sinful nature.

To conclude, it is imperative to keep in mind passages such as 2 Timothy 4:3-4.

“For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” 2 Timothy 4:3-4

Also, Isaiah 8:20 says, “To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn.” What should those of us who have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb do with teachings and books like Captivating? We should shun evil and guard the truth.

For More on the Eldredge’s

See a review of John Eldredge’s book “Wild at Heart”: Braveheart vs. Mister Rogers: John Eldredge’s Walk on the Wild Side