She is “Called” to Preach?

She is “Called” to Preach?

“Success isn’t big crowds but it IS bringing HUNDREDS upon hundreds of thousands of people to salvation through Jesus, it IS ABSOLUTELY helping to restore the broken and feeding the hungry – which is just what female preachers like Joyce are doing.

In Jeremiah 18:1-5, God presents Himself as a potter and us as the clay, where He easily molds us from one thing into another. Who are we to tell Him how He might use a person? Who are you to tell a woman that the blood of Christ which covers her isn’t the same blood which covers a man? Does the Bible also not say, ‘There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus.’ – Galatians 3:28 NLT

What it really comes down to is, we are all servants of the Lord, and He can use us however He wants to. Why make someone apologize or feel bad about wanting to share the love of God just because they are a woman? Isn’t God still the One getting the glory either way? I’m sorry, but posts like these really anger me because Joyce has been serving God for over 40 years – attacking her character and ministry is just plain wrong.

I am proud to say I’m called to preach, been called since I was just 18 years old, and NO ONE is going to stop me from talking about my Jesus, and so far… my being a girl hasn’t stopped Him from using me.” – Kelly

This is a comment I received on my post about women preachers which is quite controversial in this day and age, as we might expect, since most of God’s ways are controversial in this wicked generation, even among Christians.

Years ago, I spent a few years listening to Joyce Meyer preach and I enjoyed her. She was funny and entertaining. She reminded me a lot of me since she was very rebellious towards her husband for years but then learned about submission. She clearly understands her new life in Christ and I agree with some of what she teaches but I saw the error in her teachings, too.

Joyce calls herself a preacher and uses the illustration of Mary Magdalene seeing the empty tomb and running back to the disciples to “preach” to them about what she saw. “They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him” (John 20:2). No, relaying something one saw is not the same as preaching which is defined this way: “deliver a sermon or religious address to an assembled group of people, typically in church.” She knows very well that Mary Magdalene didn’t preach to the disciples.

Joyce preaches all over the world in churches, auditoriums, and stages set outside to audiences that are full of women and men. Yes, her husband sits on the front row but there’s nothing in the Bible that states that this makes women preaching okay. (Unfortunately, Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth believes the same thing. “Nancy does not believe that occasional teaching by women in mixed audiences is inappropriate, as long as two things are clear. First, that it is taking place under the headship of male spiritual authority.”)  There is NOTHING in the Bible that supports this belief.

Responding to Kelly’s comment, how do we know that female preachers are “bringing HUNDREDS upon hundreds of thousands of people to salvation”? Why can’t male preachers do the same thing since this is God’s way? Why do we NEED female preachers/teachers to directly disobey the clear teachings of the Word to accomplish God’s work, thus leading many other women astray by falsely believing that women can preach?

Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.
1 Timothy 2:11-14

Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience as also saith the law. And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.
1 Corinthians 14:34, 35

God couldn’t have been any clearer in His instructions to women! The verse about everyone being “one in Christ Jesus” from Galatians doesn’t wipe out these verses, Kelly. This verse means that every single person can have eternal life by believing in Jesus Christ; for we all have equal value and worth but different roles. We don’t need “to tell Him how He might use a person” because He has told us exactly what we’ve been called to do. His Word, the Bible, is living and active and has everything we need for life and godliness. Galatians 3:28 doesn’t wipe out all of the other verses in the Bible that explain male and female roles.

 “He can use us however He wants” but He’s also given us clear instructions, Kelly, and you are acting in the spirit of Jezebel. You are in rebellion to God’s ordained role for you. You were not “called to preach” since God doesn’t change nor contradict His Word. What He commanded through the writers of the Bible is still the same today. Jesus could have easily chosen a female disciple (apostle) but He chose twelve men. Priests in the Old Testament were all men and Elders and deacons are to be the “husband of one wife.”  

Yes, you can talk about Jesus with whomever you want and you should but this doesn’t mean you are allowed to preach in a church service where men are present and you are in authority over them; for you are to be silent. In fact, women are commanded to have meek and quiet spirits for a reason. What you are doing is shameful in God’s eyes; for it is a shame for women to speak in the church. I fear for women like you who make up their own bible and do as they wish. Please, repent and begin walking in the Spirit and in obedience to His will. 

19 thoughts on “She is “Called” to Preach?

  1. I dont think it ever says anywhere that women arent allowed to tell others about Jesus. 1 Peter 3 is amazing in that it says we can win our disobedient husbands without the word. What an amzing influence a woman has! She has a powerful influemce over the mood of the home amd just by her Godly behaviour, she can convict and cause her disobedient husband and turn him back to Christ! I dont need to become a preacher to have an influence for Christ. Going out and becoming a (female *shudder*)preacher demonstrates a dissatisfaction with the role God has given you and you are seeking more glory and control for yourself. I couldnt agree more with your post. Well done!

  2. I read your blog daily and although I seldom have time to comment, I just want to say thank you for your stand in truth. God bless you.

  3. I truly hope all of these women who are contorting the Bible to their will repent. I’d hate for their converts to enter into heaven without them because these women preachers refused to have a spirit of meekness. I also hope they will soon stop defending their own actions but with that zeal defend the entirety of scripture. Finally I pray they will stop relegating clear portions of scripture to cultural irrelevancey and leave the Bible buffet of picking and choosing instead ingesting the full Word of God.

  4. Romans 16:1-16 mentions many women who served our Lord in prominent positions. Phoebe, a deacon of the church in Cenchreae. (Deacon refers here to a Christian designated to serve with the overseers/elders of the church). Priscilla, a co-worker with Paul. Julia, “outstanding among (or esteemed by) the apostles.
    These women held very important roles in the church, which you cannot do without a voice.

  5. Amen! Thank you for speaking truth. Yes, Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth has been crossing the line for a long time now, but much more since her marriage.

  6. I encourage you to read this post, Leah, and it will answer your objections.

    https://thetransformedwife.com/manipulating-scripture-so-women-can-be-preachers-of-the-word/

    ” Then she wrote that the Apostle Paul supported women in leadership positions. Where? She didn’t list any verses or women that Paul specifically supported in leadership positions. Phebe was a ‘servant of the church’ (Romans 16:1 KJV) and Priscilla was never spoken about as in a leadership position either.”

  7. I had some of her books and listened to some of her talks. But i always had a sense of uneasiness about it. And in some of the youtube videos of her confrences i saw there were some men in the room. (Albeit cameramen) but there were still men in the room. And when male speakers got up to speak, i was wondering if they had been backstage, or under the teachi g of a female in the audience? I had also read several stories of her dabbling in dangerous teachings. The waving of a white cloth, praying in a prayer circle. Something didnt add up. Im so glad i got rid of her books!

  8. Hi Lori! Here are my thoughts about women having an important role in the church …”which you cannot do without a voice.”

    I think that women can have a significant role in their church by being compassionate and kind, by praying for their brothers and sisters, by giving their time and resources for the needy in the church, by being smiling, by being a godly example for the younger women and little girls, by being Sunday School teacher for the little ones, by being a good help meet for her husband in his responsibilities in the church if he needs it… there’s multiple ways to play a significant role in the church without a public voice!

    As see it in the Bible, those things are in accordance with God’s clear will for women at church… What do you think about that?

  9. It’s been going on for a while now. I noticed that her speaking on the radio was to a mixed crowd. Less about women’s issues, and more general Bible preaching. She became more vocal about it after she got married.

  10. What are your thoughts on the well respected Elisabeth Elliot’s teachings? I believe she only taught women, but just checking….

  11. I love Elisabeth Elliot’s writings to women. A long time ago when I was attending a Christian college, she came and spoke at chapel where men and women were present which is something I would never do.

    What a great blog you have!

  12. Happy to have found you by seeing a post on Fbook about how women have more rights than ever but are less content than ever. I’m thrilled to see someone post truth to women. It’s so obvious that women are not to preach. Aside from the truth of Scripture, instinctively it feels all wrong to me. I need to work on the winning husband without words, though. I do okay for a while and then I can’t seem to help myself (but I always regret opening my mouth, so progress).

    Your article is very encouraging, and I can’t wait to read a lot of your previous posts. Oh, and I see the young Sadie Robertson in big crowds preaching and that is a concern. I pray she can find a way to speak only to women. Maybe the big crowd teaching/preaching should not be a thing at all for women. But I know she would say that she has been called since her parents video taped her preaching as a small child. Elisabeth Elliot being on the radio would mean that men would hear her, too. So what is the answer? Thank you!

  13. My mom dragged me to hear Kathryn Kuhlman, who was a so-called ‘Healing evangelist’ in the 1960’s and early 1970s [all over You Tube]. She gave me the webee jebees as a young teen. I just noticed today this quote of hers: ”The work that I am doing is a man’s job. This is not a job for a woman, but I am doing it because I was chosen to.” Who chose her? She did. Note that she admits the truth of scripture here then effectively says ‘But I make my own truth.’ She chose to discard the word of God — discard Jesus. That is what Satan tempted Eve to do. Eve quoted the truth of the word then effectively said she would be as knowledgeable as God. Eve and Kuhlman were only doing it because that is what their father Satan did, recorded in Isaiah 14:14: “I will be like the Most High.” This is woman, knowingly grabbing Illicit Authority.

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