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It's a rainy Tuesday evening at Houston's First Baptist Church. Outside the closed doors of the main sanctuary, nearly 3,000 women—some of them coming from as far away as San Antonio, Texas, 200 miles to the west—eagerly await the moment when the doors swing open and the mad scramble for a good seat begins. At 6:30 p.m., the church's weekly women's Bible study kicks off with rousing worship. Once the praise is flowing and the focus is clearly on Jesus, well-known Bible study teacher, speaker, and author Beth Moore lies facedown on the floor of the front-row aisle and beseeches God for his blessing on her message that night. Then she ascends the platform to teach. Tonight we're on the fourth session in her Bible study series on the Old Testament book of Daniel (available June 2006 through LifeWay).
There's no doubt about it: Beth Moore live is fiery and funny. She may don her husband Keith's hunting camouflage to hit home a point, or unroll a literal laundry list of family dysfunctions that extends down the stage into the audience ("That's why," she cracks, "we're the 'Moores'—more of this problem, more of that … "). But fun isn't her main agenda; it's to communicate the transforming power of Jesus and his Word to the women worldwide for whom she says God's given her a supernatural love. She's passionate about this message because Jesus transformed her from what she calls her "miserable past."
Born in a small Arkansas town, Beth was raised by loving Christian parents. But early abuse occurred at the hands of someone she declines to name. As a result, Beth, a shy, troubled girl, grew into an insecure woman who made many wrong choices. "I've been in the pit, but I also know the One who pulled me from the pit," she says.
With her background, Beth admits she never imagined she'd one day have an international teaching ministry. But when her hunger for God's Word exploded a couple decades ago, Beth began writing Bible studies and teaching them to an ever-expanding group of women. Requests for Beth's material became so numerous that she formed Living Proof Ministries in 1995. Today women of every denomination around the world participate in her Bible studies series through the Internet, DVD, video, or audiotape. Countless others listen to her on radio, attend her Living Proof … Live! events, or read one of her books, including Breaking Free, A Heart Like His, When Godly People Do Ungodly Things, Feathers from My Nest (all Broadman & Holman), and Voices of the Faithful (Integrity).
Despite her high profile, Beth, "48 and holding," is a private woman whose home is her refuge from the pressure cooker of ministry. Married for 27 years to Keith Moore, she's the mother of two daughters, Amanda, 26, and Melissa, 23. At Living Proof's Houston headquarters, photos of her family and her beloved dogs, Sunny and Beanie, sit everywhere.
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