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Beth Moore completes new Bible study on life of Jesus

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LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP)–It’s been a busy year for Beth Moore.

In March, the popular author and Bible study leader was in Israel videotaping her sixth in-depth Bible study — “Jesus: The One and Only” — before 800 women who were invited to be a part of the worship experience. By June’s end, she had conducted four Living Proof seminars with a total of 22,000 women and was to conduct four more by December.

At the Christian Booksellers Association in New Orleans in mid-July, she completed media interviews and signed her Bible study books until her fingers were numb.

After leading the weekend conference in Louisville, Ky., attended by 9,000 women in June, Moore put the finishing touches on “Jesus: The One and Only,” which is being published by LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention and is expected to be released in December.

“I just put the period on the last sentence an hour ago,” she said during a phone interview from her office in Houston. “That is an incredible feeling.”

Researching and writing each of the studies “usually takes about a year of total focus and being immersed in a project,” Moore said.

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The new study is based on the Gospel of Luke and is accompanied by the teaching video she taped in Israel.

“The whole setting is almost indescribable,” she said. “It changed my complete perspective” of the study.

Moore said she hopes people who explore the life of Jesus through the 11-week study will “view it as an eyewitness as much as possible. My goal is to feel like we got the same sand in our sandals” that Jesus did.

Noting that her studies are designed specifically for women, Moore said, “I like to imagine what the scene looked like and smelled like. I think I write from a romantic point of view. I wanted to know all about Mary’s pregnancy” and other details of first century life.

Moore said she asked God to “do something miraculously” through the pages of the study, prompting women to “experience something in their hearts and minds that is beyond anything I’ve written.”

Such bold, direct requests of God are not unusual in Moore’s life and ministry. Telling conference participants that “a romance with God is just incredible,” she said she frequently asks God to “satisfy me with your unfailing love.”

“I don’t ask small things of God because I don’t have a small God,” she said. “God is God and he is so merciful.”

Moore said she doesn’t understand why God has chosen to use her to minister to thousands of women. “This is not false humility,” she emphasized. “There are times I weep and ask, ‘Why do you let me be a part of this?’ God over and over and over says, ‘This isn’t about you.'”

Describing her writing motivation and inspiration, Moore explained, “If God tells me to write something and he begins to press on my heart to study that subject matter, I do it. I write how God leads me. It’s a very liberating way to work.”

Moore said she believes the rapid growth of numerous Bible-based ministries in recent years “is the work of the Spirit in our generation.”

“There is an unparalleled work of discipleship,” she said. “What I am called to do is part of what God is doing in this generation. Every person on the planet needs hope. Somewhere along the way, my life helps represent some of that to them — that God can do anything with anybody.”

Describing her ministry “for this season,” Moore said, “What God has called me to do is encourage people to love him through his Word. I’m convinced to know him is to love him. Nothing beats the pure excitement and delight of God’s Word.”
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(BP) photo posted in the BP Photo Library at www.sbcbaptistpress.org. Photo title: BETH MOORE.