The Lysa TerKeurst machine ...why is this giving me the creeps?

[Merrill]

My wife is reading this book from Lysa TerKeurst, and out of curiosity, I looked into the author.

I am sure she is well-known in these circles, or at least among Christian women, but there are all kinds of red-flags for me:

1. She is associated with Steven Furtick's Elevation Church. This guys is controversial, and associated with prosperity gospel.
2. She went through a messy divorce, and while much of it appears to be her husband's fault, it isn't a good look for a Christian
3. She had an abortion when she was younger. It wasn't a case where she was a penniless 14 year old girl who made a mistake--it was a child she conceived with her eventual husband. She made the decision to abort because she didn't want to look bad to her church friends and upset her family. So even after becoming a Christian, she still made this decision. Again, a very bad look

But what strikes me most about Lysa is the publicity apparatus that surrounds her. If you search for her in Google, online bookstores, forums, twitter, etc., an ocean of hits, articles, advertisements, and promotions are returned. The woman has to have more publicity than Taylor Swift, and it must cost tens of millions of dollars to maintain. Virtually all of it is designed to make her look good, sell her "brand", etc.

Am I being unfair, or does this look more like a business than a religious endeavor? A business started by a deeply-flawed, and barely repentant person. The book we have is like a self-help manual.

 

[sandman]

Yikes ....Just down the road from me ....but I've never heard about her.

 

[timewerx]

Many famous self-help, inspirational celebrities built the majority of their wealth through income generated from their self-help products and speech invitations.

Many of these individuals are exceptionally gifted in their social skills and are often invited by fraudsters, scammers, and other very greedy people to promote their products.

In the end, they're just promoting worldliness, materialism, and stepping on other people under the guise of 'financial freedom'. No such thing as 'toil-less income' in this fallen world because others have worked for that money. You are simply using a system that exploits the weaker, the less fortunate to create 'free money'. The Pharisees are infamous in the Bible for having such mindset. They have been called hypocrites for such practice.

 

[peaceful-forest]

Let me start off with, I have never heard of this woman. I had to research her and Steven Furtick.

After reading about Steven Furtick on a Christian website that I trust (here's the link: Who is Steven Furtick, and are his teachings biblical? | GotQuestions.org), I think there is valid concern about Lysa TerKerurst being associated with him.

I don't know what to say about the divorce part. Christians do get a divorce, unfortunately.

This might be a shock to you, but other Christian women have gotten abortions. One of my family members confided in me last decade that she had had an abortion a few years before she had her daughter. My family member was a born-again Christian when she did this. She said that the reason she had the abortion was because her and her boyfriend (who was also the father of the unborn child) did not have a good relationship. So she had concluded that abortion was the answer. She said she felt like God was warning her to stop, but she chose to ignore Him. She immediately regretted her decision and decided to never do that again no matter what.

Concerning this Lysa TerKerurst, have you read the book yourself? Do you see anything wrong with it?

 

[Merrill]

Let me start off with, I have never heard of this woman. I had to research her and Steven Furtick.

After reading about Steven Furtick on a Christian website that I trust (here's the link: Who is Steven Furtick, and are his teachings biblical? | GotQuestions.org), I think there is valid concern about Lysa TerKerurst being associated with him.

I don't know what to say about the divorce part. Christians do get a divorce, unfortunately.

This might be a shock to you, but other Christian women have gotten abortions. One of my family members confided in me last decade that she had had an abortion a few years before she had her daughter. My family member was a born-again Christian when she did this. She said that the reason she had the abortion was because her and her boyfriend (who was also the father of the unborn child) did not have a good relationship. So she had concluded that abortion was the answer. She said she felt like God was warning her to stop, but she chose to ignore Him. She immediately regretted her decision and decided to never do that again no matter what.

Concerning this Lysa TerKerurst, have you read the book yourself? Do you see anything wrong with it?

I have read a bit of one of her books, but can't offer up any meaningful review. I didn't see any big red flags

I am not condemning her for her failed marriage or abortion, but she is presenting herself as a role-model and a spokeswoman for the faith.

 

[AgapeBible]

If you are a Christian and you have a divorce or an abortion, here's a brilliant idea, don't tell anybody! All they will do is judge you for it. I could understand a Christian having an abortion if she has a good reason, like rape/incest, her life in danger from giving birth, but if she has sinned with pre-marital sex, it is her fault and the fetus an innocent unborn baby, she should not commit double sin of murder the unborn baby. Women who sin sexually then abort are selfish sinners. Everyone is a sinner.

I have read a book by Lysa Terkhurst, not sure I like her. She makes God seem like Santa Claus. I think its a popularity theme. My mom who gave me the book, well I am not pleased with her. She is not behaving right, but I suppose I am not to judge my own mother, although she has been driving me crazy lately. Ms. Terkhurst is a product of divorced parents, she has my sympathy, she expressed how sad she felt when her father left, so I felt sorry for her, I am fortunate enough to have a mother and a father who have been married for a long time with no divorce, they both take care of me and I help them out.