Women’s “Bible Studies” These Days – Melissa Dougherty – Used by Permission

In August 2000, we began receiving phone calls and emails from people looking for information on a popular “Bible-based” weight loss program, Weigh Down Workshop, and its leader, Gwen Shamblin.¹Gwen Shamblin died in a plane crash on March 29, 2021 Shamblin’s Weigh Down Workshop was in over 30,000 churches across 60 denominations, with over a million Christians enrolled. In addition, she had a bestseller published by Thomas Nelson Publishers titled Rise Above, which sold about 300,000 copies. By the time we learned of her, Weigh Down Workshop had become somewhat more than just a weight loss program – her material had become popularized as the basis of a women’s Bible study/fellowship program. We began receiving calls from people concerned about her views on essential doctrines of the faith. We called and asked pastors from host churches about her teachings, and all indicated that she was orthodox to the best of their knowledge. We looked at her website, and it was clear that there were serious problems, so we called and, within a few minutes, were put through to Shamblin. I explained some of our concerns and, thinking she may be confused about doctrine, and not willfully in error, offered to assist in rewriting her doctrinal statement to reflect correct Christian doctrine. She immediately insisted we were false teachers, that Jesus never claimed to be God, that the Trinity is a heresy, that salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone is false doctrine, and that churches that teach these ideas have taken people captive to Egypt. So that made things quite clear. I thanked her for her time, and we drafted a press release and posted it. Within a very short time, Christianity Today picked it up and called Gwen to verify what we had claimed.  She not only affirmed it was accurate but went on to say:

Women don’t care about doctrine. They just want to lose weight.

An odd thing happened. Many women who seemed to care very much about doctrine rose up and demanded Shamblin and her program be removed from their churches immediately! Within a matter of weeks, she went from having nearly a million followers to under 500. We addressed this in Weighed Down with False Doctrine and several other articles. We must happily admit that we have never seen churches act so quickly to eliminate heresy in the church as they did in Shamblin’s case.

A year later, in 2001, Thomas Nelson published John Eldridge’s Wild at Heart. The ideas and themes were based on another book, which, as it happens, was not the Bible but a book by New Ager Robert Bly titled Iron John. Wild at Heart was a wild success among Christian men at the time, but, as we pointed out in our review, it was also Wildy Unbiblical. The men who bought into the concept let their wild hearts run free and began behaving irresponsibly, recklessly, and selfishly. We and others reviewed the book and pointed out the New Age and unbiblical teachings the men’s groups were imbibing. The Jungian concepts of “True Self/False Self” that are currently infecting the church through the Enneagram were present in Wild at Heart and promoted by Eldridge – and sadly seems to be a staple at Thomas Nelson.

In 2004, Jesus Calling by Sarah Young, a member of PCA (Presbyterian Church in America), was published by Thomas Nelson Publishers. To say it was a runaway bestseller would be an understatement. As of 2023, Jesus Calling has sold over 45 million copies according to Publisher Weekly.²THE JESUS CALLING BRAND CELEBRATES 45 MILLION UNITS SOLD Several, including MCOI, have raised alerts and pointed out the book’s false teachings, but few paid attention.

After 20 years, the PCA recently decided to spend a year investigating Jesus Calling. News of the investigation itself has raised controversy, with some opposed to the investigation and others asking why it has taken so long.  Some PCA pastors have never read or even heard of the book even thought it is being read and believed by their people. Warren Cole Smith’s Ministry Watch email titled, “EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK: Everybody Take a Breath The PCA’s Investigation of “Jesus Calling” is a Measured and Appropriate Step.” He notes:

The book has also attracted critics. It is written in the first person, as if Jesus himself is talking.³EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK: Everybody Take a Breath The PCA’s Investigation of “Jesus Calling” is a Measured and Appropriate Step

It is indeed written “in first person as if Jesus himself is talking,” and until the Tenth Anniversary edition, it was clear Sarah Young was claiming direct communication from Jesus. Our friend and associate Marcia Montenegro noted several important things in her review:

Young decided “to listen to God with pen in hand, writing down whatever I believed He was saying.” She determined that this message was “short, biblical, and appropriate,” so she wrote it in her journal. Declaring that her journaling “had changed from monologue to dialogue,” she writes that “messages began to flow more freely” and she bought a special notebook in which to record these words.⁴Marcia Montenegro; “JESUS CALLING BY SARAH YOUNG: WUI (WRITING UNDER THE INFLUENCE)”

Marcia Montenegro points out that the original explanations and claims were either changed or were deleted in the ten-year anniversary edition. The messages from Jesus were transformed into ‘writings’ that she ‘gleaned.’ This shift in Young’s claims over time is a significant point to consider. But that isn’t all that was excised from the book:

This includes the removal of Young’s statement that the book God Calling was the major inspiration for her for writing this book and changing words that previously indicated she was hearing directly from Jesus.⁵Marcia Montenegro; “JESUS CALLING BY SARAH YOUNG: WUI (WRITING UNDER THE INFLUENCE)”

The book was “cleaned up,” with embarrassing claims “removed or modified,” but with no mea culpa whatsoever after 10 years in print? It did not really fix the book but merely clouded the issues as much as possible. Thomas Nelson did not openly correct the theology but tried to conceal the occultic origins and channeling practices from the reader. Why is there a need to omit, for example, her claim that the book God Calling was the major inspiration for her book?

Because, by her own admission, the source that started Sarah Young on the path of channeling Jesus was itself a 1931 channeled book, God Calling:

God Calling is a book of messages reputedly delivered by Jesus Christ to two women in England in the 1930s.⁶Two Listeners; Edited by A.J. Russell, God Calling (Grand Rapids, MI: A Spire Book published by Jove Publications Inc., for Fleming H. Revell, 2005), p. 5. As quoted in footnote 1, Jesus Calling Inspired by a Channeled New Age Book!; January 14, 2014 by Lighthouse Trails Editors The women referred to themselves as “The Two Listeners,” and the messages they received from “Jesus” were conveyed through an occult process known as spiritual dictation. This is when a spiritual entity conveys information from the spirit world to willing people who act as “channels.”⁷ Jesus Calling Inspired by a Channeled New Age Book!; January 14, 2014 by Lighthouse Trails Editors

Is the problem in the church today that “women don’t care about doctrine …” and in fact men do not care either, or could the problem be that many Christians, regardless of gender, are not familiar enough with sound doctrine to recognize false doctrine when they see it? Do churches too easily relegate materials like Weigh Down Workshop and Jesus Calling to a “women’s ministry thing” or Wild at Heart to a “men’s ministry thing,” which for some reason does not require theological vetting before being used in men’s or women’s groups in the churches? 

Jesus himself warned his listeners to:

Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. (Matthew 7:15-23)

These false prophets will be in sheep’s clothing, looking just like true believers, but seeking to deceive and drag many away. Peter also warned of this in 2 Peter 2:1 when he stated:

There will be false teachers among you who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words.

The PCA is a biblically solid denomination, but Jesus Calling, written by PCA member Sara Young, seeped into the church and has been growing there for twenty years! The Enneagram was introduced into the PCA more than six years ago by another member, Beth McCord, and her PCA pastor husband, Jeff McCord. (Her Enneagram books are also published by Thomas Nelson). Of course, this isn’t limited to the PCA. Like Weigh Down Workshop, Wild at Heart and Jesus Calling, the Enneagram is sweeping through the church cross-denominationally. Two years ago, the Southern Baptist Convention had the opportunity to engage in a one-year study of the Christian validity of the Enneagram, but they passed on that. It seems occultism and a false view of God and salvation do not warrant investigation by many in these darkening times.

As we note often, Pastors have a difficult job. We believe most are trying to serve their sheep well. They have many demands on their life, BUT pastors and elders nevertheless have a biblical mandate to guard the flock against false teachers creeping into the church or rising up from within. (Acts 20:28-31) According to the pastoral epistles, they are also responsible for training and equipping the flock to identify false prophets and false teachings. There are solid ministry resources, like Tim Challies, Marcia Montenegro, MCOI, and many others to help them identify and expose questionable and heretical teachings that are being fed into the church, even from “Christian” publishers. Warning the flock from the pulpit, in Bible studies, church newsletters, etc., should be a regular occurrence, but too often, it is not.Ω

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