Americans in general, and even evangelicals in particular, seem confused about important details of their faith. A study done by Lifeway Research found that Americans don’t know much about theology, and many evangelicals seem confused as well. Tyler O’Neil wrote about the “12 Lies American Evangelicals Believe.” Here are a few of them.

Americans generally believe that their personal salvation depends on good works. The survey found that three-fourths (77%) agreed with the statement that people must contribute to their own effort for personal salvation. More than half (52%) said good deeds help them earn a spot in heaven. On the other hand, 60 percent said Christ’s death on the cross is the only sacrifice that could remove the penalty of sin. This statement is closer to what the Bible teaches in Ephesian 2:8-9 – “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not the results of works, so that no one may boast.”

Americans seem to believe that everyone goes to heaven. The study even found that almost two-thirds (64%) of evangelicals described heaven as a place where “all people will ultimately be reunited with their loved ones.” Just over half of Americans (54%) agreed with the biblical view that only those who trust in Jesus Christ alone receive eternal salvation.

Americans also believe that salvation can come through many means.
Nearly two thirds (64%) said that God accepts worship of all religions. Nearly half (48%) of evangelicals agreed that God accepts all kinds of worship. This survey correlates with the survey Probe Ministries did with Barna Research of born-again Millennials. Americans in general, and evangelicals in particular, accept a pluralistic view of salvation.

These surveys remind us that churches need to focus even more attention on teaching sound doctrine. And when we are witnessing to nonbelievers, we need to define our terms and clearly explain the message of salvation.

Most people would expect liberals to be open-minded, and yet they find that they are often the most intolerant. Kim Holmes explores the reasons for this transformation in his new book, The Closing of the Liberal Mind. He was on my radio program to talk about the history of the radical change in mindset and attitude.

Classic American liberalism in this country was based on a belief in liberty. Citizens were to be free from government coercion and thus free to believe something different from an orthodoxy forced on it by the state. They were also free to discuss and debate. And most importantly, was a belief in true tolerance, which accepted the right and freedom of others to believe differently from you. It was a live-and-let-live philosophy. I may disagree with your views but I would defend your right to believe them.

That is not the view of the postmodern left today. They practice the politics of intolerance. They may think they are tolerant, but really live in a world where bigotry and discrimination are allowed against any view that is not politically correct. They are willing to stifle free thought, censor free speech, and use public shaming in order to suppress any idea they do not like.

In his book, he talks about the campus bullies. But we also discussed how this has moved into even the business world. Now we have corporate bullies willing to use economic power to stifle and suppress legislation they abhor.

He says we have a new ruling class that is wealthy, smart, well-connected, and formidable. Although their numbers are small (in the thousands), their influence in the media, in the academy, and in government is significant. They also believe they have the higher truth which is superior to the common wisdom of the day.

We are in a battle with a new kind of liberal mind, and that is why we need to read about The Closing of the Liberal Mind.

Michael Youssef warns us that we face both external threats and internal threats in his book, The Hidden Enemy.

We face an external threat from radical, political Islam. That does not mean that all Muslims are an enemy. He has great concern and passion for Muslims having been born in Egypt. His broadcasts go into the Muslim countries to proclaim the gospel. But he is well away that radical Muslims want to sweep away Western civilization and impose a global caliphate.

The internal threat we face is from a coalition of secular humanists, atheists, and leftists. They want to erase America’s Judeo-Christian values and replace them with relativism, sexual liberation, and hedonism. He calls this the great American delusion. Humanists and atheists have been successful in transforming much of America through the media, the courts, the education system, and popular culture.

He also recognizes that these two groups could not be more opposed to each other in theory. But there is a surprising alliance that sometimes has developed between Muslims and humanists. His book provides some interesting details and examples of how this has happened in the past.

Near the end of the book, he also talks about another enemy inside the church. He reminds us that some believers in the past opened the door to the false religion of Muhammad. He sees a similar accommodation today where church leaders in certain denominations are preaching a false gospel. It is another warning that we should stay true to the gospel and reject those who want to try to make the Bible relevant to society by making the church and the Bible conform to society.

This book will help you understand the threats we face and encourage you to take a bold stand for the gospel.

According to Peter Van Buren, there is another virus loose in the land. He refers to it as “leaned helplessness.” The previous pandemic and lockdown encouraged many Americans to adapt by no longer challenging the ever-shifting rules promoted by various politicians.

He wonders why we would allow the government to deny us the opportunity to say goodbye to a parent dying in a hospital. And now that we are in this post-vaccination period, it seems hard for some Americans to remove their masks and get back to normal.

American psychologists Martin Seligman and Steven Maier created the term “learned helplessness” in 1967. They were studying animal behavior. If dogs learned they could not escape from something unpleasant, they simply stopped trying to get away. Even if the barrier was removed, the dogs wouldn’t try to escape.

During the lockdown, we also had enforcers who increased the likelihood of learned helplessness. A waitress that used to serve you, now orders to you wear a mask. Flight attendants that used to serve drinks suddenly had the power to have security remove you from an airplane. Even customers in a store started acting like hall monitors in school.

Peter Van Buren acknowledges that Americans “are not comfortable accepting that their lives are being manipulated at this level, the way for example many Russians assume it to be so.” But then he reminds us that many of the “temporary” security and surveillance measures enacted after 9/11 are still controlling our lives twenty years later.

I recently did a commentary on the increased anxiety in America and the phenomenon psychologists call the “cave syndrome.” Many Americans don’t seem ready to reengage with society. The phenomenon of learned helplessness may be another reason why it’s hard to get back to normal.

If you’ve watched congressional politics, you know the game. Pull together all sorts of funding projects that would never pass on their own, and then stick them in a bill with a title like “health care reform” or “COVID Relief.” This time the bill is referred to as an “infrastructure bill.”

We obviously need to fix our roads and bridges. We need to upgrade our ports and airports. We even need to modernize our water and sewer systems. But should we spend another $2 trillion doing this? Can’t we do it for less?

Senator Shelley Moore Capito thinks we can do it for much less. Stephen Moore also thinks so and puts the figure close to $600 billion. But then says we don’t even need new spending to achieve that. The money easily can come from the unspent slush fund dollars inside the American Recovery Act passed back in March. Stephen Moore locates four pots of money that would provide the necessary funds for infrastructure improvement.

Step one is to take $175 billion in blue-state money. Most states have budget surpluses, not deficits thanks to the stock market rally and a quicker than expected recovery from the pandemic and lockdown.

Step two is to reassign the $129 billion in federal education dollars allocated for schools and teacher unions from 2022-2028. The pandemic is effectively over, and schools are likely to start again in a few months.

Step three is to stop paying an additional $300 a week in unemployment benefits. This is especially important since so many businesses are looking for employees, and we shouldn’t be paying people not to work.

Step four is to declare a war on waste. There are tens of billions of dollars of outrageous spending.

We can fix the nation’s infrastructure without spending $2 trillion.

Prices are increasing everywhere and so there is lots of talk about inflation. At the same time, there are other economists warning that a future oversupply of goods might bring a deflationary period. Whatever economic circumstances are on the horizon, we can be sure that the value of the dollar will be decreasing. Let’s look at each of these issues.

One measure of inflation is the consumer price index. It grew by 4.2 percent in April and surged 5 percent year-over-year in May. In case you are wondering, that is the largest increase since August 2008. But the Federal Reserve says inflation is “transitory.”

That may be true, but you have no doubt observed higher prices in what you have purchased or considered for a purchase. Over the last 12 months, core inflation rose significantly for used cars (29.7%), airline tickets (24.1%), and jewelry (15.7%).

The financial officer for Costco explained that higher labor costs and higher freight costs, along with container shortage and port delays all forced them to raise prices in their stores. A financial officer at Home Depot explained that increased costs of everything from lumber or copper required them to pass on similar costs to customers.

The Federal Reserve believes that all of these cost increases will be temporary. Eventually the supply shortages will work themselves out, and demand will subside. While that may be true, we must not forget that the money supply in America grew at unprecedented rates. Such an increase in the money supply means that the dollars in your pocket or purse will be worth much less in the future.

We may be experiencing an inflation spike right now because of the after-effects of the pandemic and lockdown. But the significant amount of money printing is something Christians and ministries should take into account as they make financial decisions.

Cryptocurrency has been in the news lately, so it’s not surprising that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency have been a topic of discussion in Congress. In fact, Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) and Representative Warren Davidson (R-OH) recently spoke at the Bitcoin 2021 conference in Miami.

However, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) took the opportunity at a Senate hearing to criticize cryptocurrency calling on the federal government to regulate or eliminate it. She does seem open to a government-backed digital currency, which she believed would “drive out bogus digital private money.” At least, that’s her opinion.

To quote another US Senator (Daniel Patrick Moynihan), “You are entitled to your opinion. But you are not entitled to your own facts.” Many of her arguments weren’t even good arguments when Bitcoin began years ago. There are good answers to her criticisms. To read her comments, you would think just a handful of people have Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency.

More than 46 million Americans now own Bitcoin. Billionaire investor Ray Dalio (founder of Bridgewater Associates) said he’d rather own Bitcoin than bonds. US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell refers to Bitcoin as a new “digital gold.”

New York Digital Investment Group (NYDIG) announced that Bitcoin is coming to hundreds of US banks. This month a bill introduced by the president of El Salvador to make Bitcoin legal tender passed the Legislative Assembly with a supermajority.

What about the complaint that Bitcoin uses too much energy? CEOs Elon Musk and Michael Saylor recently met with mining firms and plan to launch the Bitcoin Mining Council that will provide energy transparency and encourage even more emphasis on renewable sources.

Here’s my suggestion: before Congress tries to pass any legislation about any digital currency, they might want to get their facts straight.

The opening lines of a Wall Street Journal editorial observed, “That didn’t take long.” We aren’t even half a year into the Biden presidency, and already have an IRS scandal. ProPublica published “The Secret IRS Files” showing how some of the wealthiest Americans avoid income tax.

It documents the years in which Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Michael Bloomberg paid no federal income taxes. It also provided an inside look at the financial lives of Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Mark Zuckerberg, and George Soros.

What’s the legal issue? Leaking such income information is a crime. Federal tax returns are confidential. Someone inside the IRS (or associated with it) leaked this information.

The timing was not coincidental. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) opened his Financial Committee hearing a week ago quoting from this IRS data dump. The Biden administration has proposed the largest tax increase as a share of the economy since 1968.

An op-ed by Charles Cooke said, “We Can’t Trust the IRS.” That is really the conclusion we should have. Each time this happens, there’s an excuse. Last time, it was the fact that Donald Trump declined to release his tax returns. That didn’t justify breaking the law. This time, it was “the wealthy aren’t paying their fair share.”

You may think that the people being exposed deserve it. But they deserve the same rights as other citizens. And if is possible to obtain the tax records of influential people who have an army of lawyers, what chance do you have of keeping your financial records private?

Here’s my biggest concern with the latest IRS scandal. Only a few media outlets even considered releasing confidential tax information to be a scandal.