I have almost no words for how bad this is...well, almost.

::::::::

I am just amazed that people actually follow this guy and think he is remotely biblical. He is most certainly not. I recently dissected an article he wrote defending women in leadership within the church as it seems he is hawking a new book on this subject. Within his article he offers two of the chapters free to download and all was quiet on the heresy front this morning so I took a peek. The level of inaccuracy and asinine conclusions were quite frankly staggering. I will try and review the fifth chapter here, entitled, Jesus: Founder of the First Women's Liberation Movement. The title alone should warn anyone with discernment that we are in for quite a heretical ride but I want to stress that nearly everything he wrote was false. It is only for the sake of time, that I am highlighting the lowlights so we can better understand how horrifically bad Kris Vallotton is with theology. Let us reason once more beloved. All quotes are from Kris Vallotton.

"For the most part, the Church has domesticated the Lion of the tribe of Judah, relegating Him to a household pet or imprisoning Him behind the bars of some religious zoo. But the truth is that when Jesus walked the earth, He was a countercultural radical who not only healed the sick and raised the dead, but also liberated the oppressed and set the captives free. Women were at the top of His list!"

Yes, Jesus was a motorcycle riding free radical in His days, sigh. The truth of course is that Jesus did not come to end nor change the law whatsoever. He was not "counter cultural." He was anti-false teaching. The captives set free were those oppressed by sin. The argument Kris is trying to set up here is that Jesus came to liberate the oppressed women in His culture and that point is ridiculous and absurd at the same time. By the way, Jesus came as the lamb, not the lion. When He returns for the second time it will be as the lion and Kris will have plenty to answer for.

"I guess we should not be surprised that most Gentile women were much more powerful and respected in their cultures than women in Judaism were. In Macedonia, women built temples, founded cities, engaged armies and held fortresses. They served as regents and co-rulers. Men admired their wives and even named cities after them. Thessalonica was such a city, and there women were given inheritable civic rights. It was the Macedonian businesswoman Lydia who founded the church at Philippi after Paul led her to Christ (see Acts 16:14--15)."

I do not even want to get into the absolute butchering of history that Vallotton traffics in. I highlighted this solely for the butchering of the story of Lydia. Kris states that Lydia founded the church at Philippi. Here are all of the bible verses regarding this woman:

One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. And after she was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, "If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay." And she prevailed upon us. -- Acts 16:14-15 (ESV)"

So they went out of the prison and visited Lydia. And when they had seen the brothers, they encouraged them and departed. -- Acts 16:40 (ESV)

Is there any mention of Lydia starting the Philippian Church? Of course not. Why does Kris rob this from Paul, who actually did found the Philippians Church? Because Paul is a man, Lydia is a woman, and he was hoping you would be too lazy to check his lies.

"So what is the Lord saying to Martha? Most likely He's saying, "Martha, you and Mary are both welcome to sit and talk with Me. I didn't come to your house to get a free meal or to have you serve Me. I really value your friendship and enjoy your company. You're accustomed to men using you and requiring you to serve them. Mary is more familiar with My heart than you are. Why don't you come sit and talk with us? We can eat later."

Huh? This is from the story of Mary and Martha. Most likely He is saying? Is that how we do hermeneutics at Bethel Church? Jesus was not a radical feminist talking to His female friends about all of the abuses they suffered under Jewish Law. Kris Vallotton is just making this garbage up as he goes along. What he is doing is evil. He is putting words and motivations onto our Savior that the text never comes close to in order to poison the minds of those who wish to be disobedient to the word.

"This passionate moment is almost lost in the testosterone-filled environment as the men begin to complain about the poor stewardship of wasting expensive perfume when it could have been sold to help the poor. Judas wants to sell the stuff and steal the money. But Jesus says, "Why do you bother the woman? For she has done a good deed to Me. For you always have the poor with you; but you do not always have Me. . . . Wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her" (Matthew 26:10--11, 13). There Jesus goes, protecting the feelings of a woman, valuing Mary's passion, validating a $60,000 experience over meeting the practical needs of the poor that pressed against their souls."

Kris continues to emasculate the Savior and Christianity. His rationale continues to be absurd. He does not seem to care why these stories exist in scripture at all. Doesn't he find it odd that Jesus would do all of these acts to "liberate women" yet never utter one teaching word about it? Of course not because Vallotton is not interested in what God is saying, he just wants to use God to push his pre-conceived point and sell as many books as possible.

"It is all starting to make sense to me, things like the reason the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery to Jesus but did not bring the man. If the Pharisees were simply trying to see if Jesus would extend grace to a person who broke the Law, they could have just as easily grabbed the guy. But they were not only upset about Jesus forgiving the guilty; they were angry that He was honoring and empowering women."

Says no biblical text anywhere. What Vallotton is doing to scripture is criminal. The Pharisees could care less that Jesus was nice towards women. Vallotton's entire argument is supposition born out of his wickedly deceitful heart. The only empowerment Jesus came to deliver was His power over sin in their lives, period. Everything else is Vallotton's NAR obsession with this world, which he idolizes. He idolizes this world because in it, he gets to play as a king in the religious system he has created, drive fancy cars, and make a lot of money.

"Women saw Jesus as their deliverer from cultural oppression, their liberator from religious bondage and their knight in shining armor. He came to deliver the oppressed and to set the captives free. Women loved Him because He valued them, protected them and taught them. He treated women as equals and refused to bow down to the male dominated, religious boys' club that had ruled the Jewish world for centuries."

This is infuriating because of the truth he is keeping from people. The real oppression both genders wanted was deliverance from Rome and Jesus did not even come for that. His kingdom is not of this world. Think about what nonsense Vallotton is selling here. Instead of focusing on sin and repentance he is teaching that Jesus came to break up the old boys club in Jerusalem and empower the poor oppressed women. There is not one iota of truth nor proof for his claims. The erotic-romanticized knight in shining armor should be an insult to women everywhere. They needed deliverance from their sins, just like men. We all still do.

"There He goes again, rescuing a woman from the clutches of another religious leader. Jesus defended a woman who obviously broke protocol by inviting herself to the dinner party of a powerful leader. As if that were not bad enough, instead of quietly blending into the crowd, she makes a huge scene and becomes the center of attention. What does it look like when a woman of ill repute is hanging all over Jesus, kissing His feet and wiping them with her hair? Why does He let her do it when He should be protecting His reputation? After all, He is supposed to be the righteous Son of God who will die for the sins of the world. Why not make a clear statement to the religious community that nothing is going on between Him and these women? And maybe the most profound question is, why are these women attracted to Jesus? What is the draw? Why all the fanfare?"

Gee, I don't know Kris. Maybe because He was the Son of God? Maybe because they saw the miracles too? Maybe because they realized He was the coming Messiah? Does any of this matter to you at all or has the cause of selling your Christo-feminism book blinded you to everything the bible actually does say?

"I have to admit that before I wrote this book, I never understood the radical message of gender equality that the gospel writers were trying to convey through the life of Jesus. Yes, I knew that Jesus hated religion. I was aware that He was a countercultural radical who overturned the deceptive tables of hypocrisy and drove the money changers out of the Temple. Having read the Bible every day for thirty-plus years, I understood that quite a few women hung around Jesus. Yet because I did not have a real grasp on the oppressive culture of first-century Judaism and the massive mistreatment of women during the days of Christ, I totally missed one of the most profound messages of the gospels--that Jesus championed the equality of women."

The other Bethel boogeyman is religion. They claim anyone who insists on biblical accuracy is too "religious" and they reinvent scripture to pretend that Jesus believed this when He clearly did not. The issue with the Pharisees was not a hatred towards religion but rather an utter disdain for false teaching. The Gospel writers did not write one jot or tittle about gender equality. Jesus did not hate religion! He established Christianity! He did not overturn the "deceptive tables of hypocrisy!" Those were the moneychanger tables who were price gouging visitors to the temple and robbing people in the house of God! You should know plenty abut that Kris! You claim to have read the bible every day for thirty plus years and your big takeaway is that Jesus championed the equality of women without mentioning it once? Ugh.

"Look at what is happening here. A Samaritan, a woman who has been married five times and is now living with her boyfriend, whom the religious world would not even allow to step foot in the synagogue, just became the first evangelist in history. This woman, who would never qualify as an elder in anyone's church, has just turned a Samaritan city upside down after one encounter with her Messiah. I am telling you that disqualifying women from leadership is costing us our cities!"

Dear Lord. She was not the first evangelist in history! She naturally went and told her people what had happened. That does not make her an evangelist. There is also no record that her doing so turned her city upside down. That is Kris just trying to usurp a quote attributed to the male disciples evangelism work. Insisting that women be obedient to scripture is not costing any cities.

This entire incident flies in the face of the kind of thinking that says the Church should universally apply Paul's exhortation to Timothy: "A woman must quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness. But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet" (1 Timothy 2:11--12). It is ridiculous to argue that Mary (a woman) did not instruct and influence the Son of God. This quick peek into the life of Jesus and His mother is a clear indication of the way in which He allowed Mary to influence His life.

Kris is basing this on the fact that Mary instructed the men at the wedding to listen to whatever Jesus told them regarding the wine running out. No consideration for respecting ones mother and father, you know, one of the Ten Commandments. Nope, instead it proves in his abased mind that because Mary instructed her Son that women can now instruct men in the church, despite the bible strictly forbidding it.

Even the Pharisees harassed Jesus by accusing Him of being born out of wedlock. When Jesus told the Pharisees in John 8:41, "You are doing the deeds of your father," they answered back, "We were not born of fornication; we have one Father: God." Their implication was that Jesus is an illegitimate son born of an affair. He was no stranger to the scorn such situations brought on.

No Kris. That was not their implication. No one in recorded history has thought that was their implication. They were responding that they were pure descendants from Moses with no bastardization in their genealogy. Try picking up some commentaries before you spout off any more silliness from that wicked heart of yours.

"Whom do the three characters represent in this parable? The shepherd is God. The lost sheep represents those sinners the religious leaders are complaining about. And the 99 sheep are the Pharisees and scribes, who see themselves as righteous.

Here we go again--whom do the three characters in this parable represent? The prodigal son represents the sinners Jesus is hanging out with. The father who runs out to meet him represents God. And the elder son who wants his brother punished instead of pardoned represents the religious leaders who want everyone to pay for their sins.

Let's do this one more time--whom do the characters in the parable represent? The lost coin represents the sinners whom Jesus is looking for and whom the Pharisees are complaining about. The nine coins represent the Pharisees and scribes that view themselves as righteous. And whom does the woman represent? You guessed it--she represents God. The connotation is obvious to the religious onlookers who were familiar with the Creation story. I have quoted this verse several times already, but here it goes again: "God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them" (Genesis 1:27, emphasis added). Jesus is clearly saying to the Pharisees and scribes that it takes both the femininity of women, whom they oppressed, and the masculinity of men to represent God. In oppressing women fashioned in the image of God, religion blinds people to the feminine side of God. This relegates people to a one dimensional relationship with their Creator, and it robs them of seeing the full spectrum of the nature of God."

This is how badly Kris Vallotton is willing to mangle scripture to try and prove his unbiblical points. He wants to make the point that Jesus once used a woman as a representation for God. Why? Because in his twisted heart he thinks that will allow him to argue that God is both male and female, when in fact He is neither. So he turns to the three related parables about how God wants the lost to be saved and corrupts them beyond recognition. The 99 sheep are NOT the Pharisees. The prodigal's brother is NOT the Pharisees. Talk about a lesson in missing the point! Vallotton only makes them represent the Pharisses so he can pretend that the woman with the lost coin represents God. Jesus was not even remotely hinting to the Pharisees that it takes the oppressed femininity and the toxic masculinity to represent God. That is so idiotic I am amazed he had the nerve to publish it. The Genesis verse does not mean what he thinks either. The image of God is not the physical image of humanity. God is spirit. Now, I do not expect someone without the indwelt Holy Spirit to grasp that concept. The level of hubris by Vallotton masks how blasphemous he really is in these teachings.

"Many people are quick to point out that when Jesus chose His twelve disciples and later promoted them to apostles, none of them were women. I think given the historic content of Judaism and Jewish culture in general, it is easy to see why it would have been impossible for Christ to commission women with leadership titles and formal positions."

So Jesus is this radical counter cultural dude when it is convenient for your argument and then a strict by the book cultural wimp when it doesn't suit you? Got it.

"It is therefore confusing to me that somehow, in the Church that Jesus is the Head of, women are not considered qualified to talk, teach, shepherd or even help lead a congregation of thirty people. Something is wrong with this picture, and it is time that we got it right."

In order to get it right, you need to obey the word of God and stop eviscerating it in order to be disobedient. Beloved, I do not wish to rehash the arguments against Christo-feminism. This was to show the breadth of the deceit and depth of Kris Vallotton's biblical ignorance. Keep in mind this was only one chapter in one book! This is what is taught at Bethel Church and it ought to give everyone pause to make sure they are marked as the demonic cesspool off false teaching that they clearly are.

Reverend Anthony Wade -- November 1, 2019

Authors Bio:
Credentialed Minister of the Gospel for the Assemblies of God. Owner and founder of 828 ministries. Vice President for Goodwill Industries. Always remember that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.