The Low-Information Evangelical, Part 2

Renew America ^ | August 29, 2014 | Marsha West

[WXRGina]

Appearing in part 1 is the phrase "low-information voter" (LIV) which is oft used by a popular radio talk show host. The host suggests that those who make up this population set are individuals who vote for a candidate or important issue having little or in most cases zero knowledge about either. LIVs are highly opinionated even when they have no idea what they're talking about.

Also included in part 1 was the following quote from C. Edmund Wright. I appreciate the way he expands on the LIV concept:

But forget low-information voters for just a minute; the malignancy that is really destroying this country is low-information people with high-profile power and/or influence. You know, people who would lobby for, comment on, advocate for, or vote on laws like ObamaCare without any understanding of its real-world impact. Such felonies are then carried out by low-information bureaucratic microbes with the power to destroy lives and businesses with impunity, and a political and talking-head class with the access and sway to codify these common malfeasances. Destruction of private property and liberty – and these two concepts are not divisible – takes place in government cubicles every minute of every day across the country. And why not? (Source – emphasis in original)

His thoughts fit nicely with what I've come to believe about many leaders in the evangelical community. Specifically, a large number of them are uninformed people with high-profile power and/or influence. The LIVs Wright's pointing a finger at are liberals. Likewise many of the evangelicals that came to mind for me are liberals but because liberal has a negative connotation they prefer "progressive Christian" or "social justice Christian." Take your pick. But whichever one you go with has its roots in communism.

So to Christianize the LIV phrase I simply changed "voter" to "evangelical," thus it became "low-information evangelical" (LIE). I defined the LIE in this way:

Reminiscent of the LIV, the high-profile LIE does not understand the impact that his unorthodox view has on the visible church. When it comes to the Bible, the LIE has opinions on a variety of challenging topics. Even when his opinion is decidedly unbiblical, he presents it as the gospel truth. The LIE's arguments are often based, not on what God's Word clearly teaches but instead on esoteric experiences he's had or what he's picked up from LIE celebrities.

More on esoteric experiences in a moment.

There's also a group of evangelicals that fall into the category of undistinguished LIE (ordinary folk). The term I bestowed on them is u-LIE. This group is also uninformed on many things (both Christian and otherwise). They are often biblically illiterate. In part 1 I made this observation:

Sadly, some undistinguished low information evangelicals (u-LIEs) assume that popular pastors, teachers and best-selling authors would never steer them wrong. But nothing could be further from the truth!

Last but not least, I coined the phrase LIE-celebs. These individuals are prominent Christian leaders who are uninformed people with high-profile power and/or influence. Many of them are false teachers who do not speak for God.

LIE-celebs And Their Vain Hopes

God tells us how we are to handle false teachers:

Thus says the LORD of hosts: "Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD." (Jeremiah 23:16).

We are to pay these folks no mind.

One example of a LIE-celeb is popular women's Bible teacher Beth Moore. In part 1 I reported on Moore's claim that she receives personal direct revelation from Almighty God. In other words, God tells her things. According to her, He calls her "baby" and "honey." I'll have more to share on this modern day prophetess in a moment.

LIE-celeb Joyce Meyer also claims that she receives extra biblical revelation or "revelation knowledge" from the Almighty. Both Moore and Meyer's respective claims clearly deny the sufficiency of Scripture. Equally troubling is that Joyce holds to heretical Word of Faith (WoF) theology. So naturally her students are swallowing the poisonous prosperity health and wealth gospel that does not save anyone. Following is an erroneous assertion made by her:

The Bible can't even find any way to explain this. Not really. That is why you have got to get it by revelation. There are no words to explain what I am telling you. I have got to just trust God that he is putting it into your spirit like he put it into mine. (Source)

Why do I say this is erroneous? Because it's not taught in the Bible. She made it up. How do I know this? I searched the scriptures. (Acts 17:10-15) Nowhere does Scripture teach that God's people are given special "revelation knowledge."

"The fact that contemporary evangelicals seek 'fresh' revelations from God," says Larry DeBruyn, "indicates that they no longer consider Holy Scripture to be sufficient and authoritative in matters of faith (2 Timothy 3:16). This seeking is Gnostic and mystic. Harvie Conn ...a former missionary in Korea, noted that the 'central feature of mystical religion is its 'belief in special revelation outside the Bible.' Yet if the Bible is no longer considered sufficient, the coming of "new revelations" raises the following conundrum. I repeat it.

"If added revelations repeat what's in the Bible, they are unnecessary. If new revelations contradict the Word of God, they are heresy. And if they supplement God's Word, then the new revelations imply Scripture's insufficiency, and about this Proverbs warns: 'Add thou not unto his [God's] words, lest he [God] reprove thee, and thou be found a liar' (Proverbs 30:6, KJV)." (Source – emphasis added.)

Gnosticism is esoteric mysticism – a desire to "know the unknowable." One of the obstacles the early church faced was Gnosticism. The Gnostics believed that the masses are not in possession of spiritual knowledge, and only the truly "enlightened" can experience God. The Apostles condemned Gnosticism as a heresy.

But Gnosticism is not the issue; the issue at hand is this: how can one know for certain if Meyer's so-called revelation came from God? "Is she on par with the apostles who received revelation knowledge from God himself?" asks apologist Matt Slick. He continues:

Or how about the Old Testament prophets? Does she, like them, also receive revelation knowledge from God? If so, how would we know if it were true or not? The answer is simple: we test what she says against Scripture, and it is obvious that she is getting a lot of things from somewhere else that contradict the word of God. (Source)

More On Moore

In part I brought the reader up to speed on Beth Moore's slide into mysticism and also gave a heads up on her unbiblical teaching and had planned to leave it at that. But then the news came that she made an appearance on Joyce Meyer's TV show. This is the sort of news Beth fans should be made aware of, so I decided to include a bit about it here. Just before her appearance Beth tweeted:

I have the great privilege of sitting down w/@ Joyce Meyer in her studio today to talk about unity. Pray for Jesus to be so present & pleased.

The unity Meyer and Moore espouse is man centered, not Christ centered.

Scoffers And Bullies And Meanies, Oh My!

So – Beth Moore sitting down for a chat with a WoF heretic is a problem in and of itself. But the reason she gave for appearing on the show was to talk about unity. The obvious question is why would a "solid Bible teacher," as she is called, choose to unite with a woman who preaches a false gospel? Although their tête-à-tête is troubling it's not the only concern people have with her. As I pointed out in part 1, she's been under fire for, among other things, engaging in Christian mysticism, likewise for her acceptance of "charismania" which is odd for someone who's an SBC Lifeway Bible teacher. Another problem arose when she appeared on Life Today with "Protholic" and big time promoter of ecumenism James Robison and proceeded to advise the audience to tune out the "scoffers":

We're going to have people that are honestly going to want to debate and argue with us about awakening and downpours ... But there will be scoffers and they will be the far bigger threat, the one within our own brothers and sisters, our own family of God – far, far more demoralizing. And yes, it will come from bullies, and yes, it will come from the mean-spirited. (Source)

Beth's attempt to shut people up who question her teaching should be concerning to Christian women who read her books and participate in Bible studies she has written.

Be Watchful!

For those of you who are Joyce Meyer fans, it's imperative that you wake up to the fact that some of this woman's teaching is outright heresy. Anyone who continues learning from her is choosing to remain under the teaching of what Jesus referred to in Mat. 7:15 as a ravenous wolf. Listen to John's warning:

Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works. (2 John 9-11)

Sadly, a growing number of LIE-celebs, likewise u-LIEs, are taking part in the wicked works John spoke of.

We are living in perilous times, brethren. It's now common place for professing Christians to dabble in mysticism. The result? Many believers boast of having subjective magical mystical experiences such as visions; dreams; impressions; hearing inner voices; experiencing private illumination; and angel visitations. Warning! Christians who engage in esoteric mysticism deny sola Scriptura – the sufficiency of Scripture.

God's people must come to grips with the fact that historic orthodox Christianity holds to the belief that everything we need to know about our Triune God is contained within the pages of the Bible. (Psalm 119:105)

Stranded In Spiritual Infancy

Following is an observation by apologist and author Bill Muehlenberg from a post entitled Kindergarten Christianity:

We have millions of believers who may have been saved decades ago, but are still acting like spiritual infants. They have not grown much, they have not progressed much in their walk with Christ, and their spiritual condition is rather anaemic [sic] and shallow.

They have not become genuine disciples in other words, and they are still stranded in a spiritual infancy. They can't even handle the deep truths of God as revealed in Scripture. Indeed, many of them hardly even read their Bibles, barely pray, or engage in in-depth fellowship.

No wonder they are still floundering around as babies. They have not moved beyond the nursery. They are all stuck in day care. They are permanent residents of Christian kindergarten. Sadly this is so very widespread today in our churches.

This brings me back to the low information evangelical. As Muehlenberg pointed out, many Christians prefer milk to solid food. (1 Cor 3:1-3) Consequently they're biblically illiterate...which is the reason for the colossal lack of discernment among Christians. So it should come as no surprise that the worst sort of unbiblical teaching has reared its ugly head in the visible church, thanks largely to diaper-wearing milk-fed u-LIEs who rarely, if ever, go to the Bible to scrutinize someone's teaching. (1 John 4:1) These same u-LIEs are the ones who put on a pedestal/promote/pay tribute to and finance the lavish lifestyles of LIE-celebs, some of whom are prosperity preaching/health and wealth televangelists. What will it take to get professing Christians to understand that they're propping up heretics?

Before I close I must also mention that the liberal media seems to think that all Protestants are evangelicals – and that includes WoF heretics such as Joyce Meyer, Joel Osteen, T.D. Jakes and Oprah's pal New Age/New Thought/Emergent guru Rob Bell. Nowadays evangelical is such a broad term that it has lost its meaning. Even Red-letter Christians Tony Campolo and Jim Wallis, who have abandoned the biblical gospel for the "social gospel," call themselves evangelicals.

Campolo, Wallis, Osteen, Bell, et al can say they are monarchs and wear a crown if they so desire. But as I've said many times, a mouse in the cookie jar is not a cookie.

Resources:

Beth Moore: God's Vision for the Church Includes the Roman Catholic Church "Denomination" – Apprising Ministries

Beth Moore recommends 'Jesus Calling' book – Apprising Ministries

Contemplative Prayer – On Solid Rock Resources

Cults and Heretical Teaching – On Solid Rock Resources

Emergent/Emerging Church – On Solid Rock Resources

New Age/New Thought Spirituality – On Solid Rock Resources

Occult – On Solid Rock Resources

Word of Faith/Televangelists – On Solid Rock Resources

[Elsie]

I shudda read ahead...

[Elsie]

What is the definition of "truly a Christian" and then we can go from there.

Well...

When Jesus was asked a direct question; He replied with a direct answer:

 

John 6:28-29

Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”

Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”

[Elsie]

We should all have the “right” knowledge then?

I have found, while leading bibles studies, that it's not too hard to get people to learn things that are in the book.

I have found it EXTREMELY difficult to get them to UNlearn things that are NOT found in the bible!

[GBA]

Seems straight forward enough to me, though I only speak for myself, of course.

[boatbums]

It is very upsetting to see the danger, but be looked at as some kind of “nit-picking, legalistic, spiritual kill-joy”.

I can sympathize. Too many people are sucked into the lies they are told through what they "experience" that they cannot stop and try to discern if what they are being told is the truth IS really the truth. When questioning a new evangelist that offered "holy laughter" in his revival services but a perverted Gospel, I was told sharply to, "Touch not God's anointed!". These people were so convinced by what they experienced that they couldn't see through the deception. We must always watch and pray. God's word is given to us to guide us into all truth. IT is our touchstone.

[dsc]

“Please do not think that I am a being mean spirited, but Low Information Catholic (LIC) is exactly the way the Catholic Church wants it congregation.

If you are really interested, read Pascendi Dominici Gregis.

The Catholic Church is a house divided. Evil has wormed its way in, and although it cannot win in the long run, it is causing a great deal of harm.

Just as there are all too many liberals in the Republican Party, so there are in the Church. Conservatives are present and oppose the libtards both in party and in the Church.

“The “dark ages” were so dark because the Catholic Church would not let its people read the Bible or translate the Bible into the native languages.”

Well, now, that just isn’t so. As a matter of fact, if you go to Mass every day for three years, you will hear the entire Bible read aloud.

The reason people didn’t read the Bible is because people couldn’t read.

It has now been demonstrated that discarding the Latin, Greek, and Hebrew was a ghastly mistake.

“The fact that the last popes have put their own revelation above God (e.g. Pope Francis new revelation concerning sodomites)”

1. Pope Francis announced no new revelation.
2. What Pope Francis announced was his own opinion, which any and every Catholic is free to contradict.
3. Pope Francis did not say what has been reported in the evilstream media.
4. I don’t think you can point to a similar action by Pope Benedict.

“and no-one is allowed to speak out against”

Catholics are quite free to criticize what Pope Francis said. Of course, it would only make sense to criticize what he actually said, and not what the depraved media slugs invented.

“this is a huge sign to, “...come out of her my people and be not a partaker of her plagues...” (Rev. 18:4)”

Historical perspective is our friend.

[Elsie]

It has now been demonstrated that discarding the Latin, Greek, and Hebrew was a ghastly mistake.

Why?

[daniel1212]

The Bible tells us that the enemy will indeed perform “miracles” and signs and wonders. The deception is and will be very deep in these last days.

While such so-called money-raising "faith teachers" and and false prophet must be exposed, the problem is with gong to the other extreme, that excluding miracles, as Christianity, and indeed Abrahamic faith is based upon miracles, testifying to God being the living God, not just one you read about.

. What set the God of Abraham above other deities was the miracle of Issac, while souls did not follow Moses because he was a great orator, nor were the Hebrews called to faith and obedience in the one true God on the strength of apologetical arguments.

Yet the first 3 miracles of Moses were duplicated by the magicians. (Exodus 7:10-11, 21-22; 8:6-7) Faced with this today, once camp will cite this as justification for excluding all miracles, while another will open the door so wide that modern-day magicians can be preachers.

Thru Moses the Law was given, and it, and Scripture as written, became the transcendent supreme standard for obedience and testing and establishing truth claims as the wholly Divinely inspired and assured, Word of God, as is abundantly evidenced .

(And which also testifies (Lk. 24:27,44, etc.) to writings of God being recognized and established as being so - essentially due to their unique and enduring heavenly qualities and attestation, and thus they provide for a canon of Scripture.

Yet nowhere in Scripture did God cease to do miracles, and these confirmed both men and writings of God as being so.

And which was part of the Scriptural substantiation upon which the Lord Jesus and early church established their Truth claims, following itinerant preachers in dissent from those who claimed to know the Law. (Mt. 22:23-45; Lk. 24:27,44; Jn. 5:36,39; Acts 2:14-35; 4:33; 5:12; 15:6-21;17:2,11; 18:28; 28:23; Rm. 15:19; 2Cor. 6:1-0; 12:12, etc.)

Paul is still working miracles in Acts 27, though the occasions for these had been reduced due to his captivity, Christ stated that "the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me," and likewise "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father."(John 14:12).

While not all are "workers of miracles," (1Cor. 12:29) which is a particular apostolic testimony (2Cor. 12:12) along with other things, the degree of which i do not see today, nor do i know of any verified forth-telling prophet, and see tongues as something easily fabricated or abused, if not dismissing them at all, yet i also see no real justification for cessationism, and the need for the Lord to confirm the Word with signs following, which is what Scripture testifies to and promises.

The word of God is as new to many souls, and skepticism just as high or higher, than in the 1st century, and while God owes grace to no one, miracles can be as much a help to seekers as then - and a warning to the lost and refutation of them. And with the rise of atheistic evolution and other modern challenges to faith then if anything, miraculous evidences testifying to a risen Christ are surely fitting. We do not serve a theoretical Deity, but a risen Savior.

Most cessationists do not doctrinally exclude all miracles (even if not expecting them it seems), but exclude the miraculous gifts of 1Cor. 12, seeing the canon of Scripture being closed as constituting the coming of that which is "perfect" in 1Cor. 13. But all the characteristics which accompany that which is perfect, which means knowing as also we are known, are not yet realized, not due to faulty transmission but reception, and only fully correspond to the face to face revelation of Christ in 1Jn. 3:2).

The revelatory gifts are esp. singled out for exclusion as being contrary to the supremacy and sufficiency of Scripture, However, Scripture is and has always been the supreme standard for testing Truth claims as the wholly inspired and assured word of God, to which all must conform to, while the sufficiency of Scripture is only formal in part. So that while one can read a text as Acts 10:36-43 and understand how to be saved, yet even the ability to reason in understanding that text, as well as teachers to help understanding others, is something Scripture only materially provides for, by why of sanction.

And which also materially provides for supplementary revelation, from the impressions of the Spirit as to God's specific will in applying what Scripture says - and which it may be safe to say every secessionist preacher believes in during the offering - to words of exhortation and edification, or a word of wisdom or knowledge in certain situations, even if by souls who deny such gifts. These do not add to the canon of Scripture, but like preaching, must be tested by Scripture, the assured word of God, the supreme standard which provides for such supplementary helps.

Excluding miracles is "safer" than allowing them, as thus we can reject fabrications and the demonic. However it is also sterile, and is not Christianity, which itself depends upon the miracle of being born of the Spirit, and preaches of a risen Savior who gives witness to His resurrection in not only the new birth but in other miracles, including working thru believers.

And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen. (Mark 16:20)

[Patton@Bastogne]

.


Primarily ... the PASTORS are to blame ...

Don't blame me ... I'm just the messenger.

Questions ?



Muster up the courage to do the free IRS download of "Pamplet P1828" which specifies the legal details of your tax-exempt church's sertitude to it's U.S. Government Masters.

Heck, I'll even do you the favor of providing the internet link:

IRS Legal Obligations of Tax-Exempt Christian Churches and Pastors" - (click)









.




IRS & Church Marriage vs. "Render Unto Caesar" ...

IRS & Church Marriage vs. "Render Unto Caesar" - (click)



America's Spiritual Revival and Healing - The Obstacle ...

.America's Spiritual Revival and Healing - The Obstacle ... - (click)




Pro-Life Victory vs. "Render Unto Caesar" ...

Pro-Life Victory vs. "Render Unto Caesar" - (click)




Tea Party Christians and "Render Unto Caesar" ...

Tea Party Christians and "Render Unto Caesar" - (click)





.

[dsc]

“Why?”

Because misguided and downright malicious people have used the occasion of “translation” to introduce errors into the translated Bibles.

[daniel1212]

As a matter of fact, if you go to Mass every day for three years, you will hear the entire Bible read aloud

As a matter of fact, i think (as a former RC lector) this is another parroted dubious claim. There is no official statement, but based on one priest's count, going to daily mass would result in hearing 13.5 % of the OT (w/o Psalms) and and 71.5 % of the NT being read during the Sundays & Weekdays cycle. Alex calculates this to be only 12.7% of the entire Bible (excluding Psalms) being heard by a weekly-Mass-attending Catholic.

In response to your common "Mass every day for three years, you will hear the entire Bible" assertion, a Catholic at Catholic Answers (http://forums.catholic.com/showpost.php?p=1063633&postcount=9) finds,

The readings for Sunday Mass are repeated every three years. The reading for Weekday Mass are repeated every two years. The following table, based on my own calculations (and therefore likely not entirely error-free), will give you an idea of about what percentage of the Bible, Testament, or each individual book of the Bible, you might hear read at Mass over the course of any three-year period, based on the number of verses read. (Note: All optional Mass readings were included. Also, a verse was counted even if only part of verse is used.)

Book(s) (verses) . . . . . . Sundays only . . Sundays & Weekdays



Entire Bible (35478). . . . . . 14% (5035) . . . 30% (10722)
Old Testament (27524) . . . 6% (1663) . . . . 18% (4830)

Book(s) (verses) . . . . . . . . . Sundays only . . Sundays & Weekdays

New Testament (7954) . . . . . . 42% (3372) . . . . 74% (5892)

And it is hard to hear the entire bible when it seems even in the weekly Sundays & Weekdays cycle Obadiah doesn't get a single reading, and only 1% of 1 Chronicles and 3% of 2 Chronicles, 5% of Leviticus and Lamentations, and 6% of Numbers and Proverbs, and 7% of Joshua and 8% of Ezra and Job (just in the under 10% category) are read.

Moreover, some readings are partial verses, while much of the amount of Scripture RCs are said to hear in mass is redundancy, with some even including "Amen" or like brief statements in their calculations.

In addition, while never universally banning personal Bible reading by the laity, or never printing some in the vernacular, Rome certainly hindered it during much of her history, while in modern times teaching liberal revisionism via her sanctioned Bible helps for decades.

[Cvengr]

Especially in Latin!

[dsc]

“As a matter of fact, i think (as a former RC lector) this is another parroted dubious claim.”

The Internet is a wonderful resource. It also provides fallacious information for the malicious to use in spreading error.

[daniel1212]

The Internet is a wonderful resource. It also provides fallacious information for the malicious to use in spreading error.

So why did you engage in it? Or do you defend your fallacious assertion?

[metmom]

And I don’t need to go to mass every day for three years to read the entire Bible.

I can read it all the way through, all by myself, in far less time.

[daniel1212]

But you miss the redundant practiced play and the perfunctory professions it promotes.

[metmom]

And thank the Lord for that.

[Alex Murphy]

The Internet is a wonderful resource. It also provides fallacious information for the malicious to use in spreading error.

Anyone who believes that the entire Bible is read during the three-year Catholic lectionary reading cycle must be unfamiliar with the contents of the Bible, meaning they have never read or studied it for themselves. If they had read it cover-to-cover, and especially if they made it a habit of studying it daily, they would begin to recognize the huge chunks that are missing from the lectionary readings.

There's an easy way to prove or disprove our assertions. The first way is to obtain a copy of the lectionary reading list, and re-order the readings into book/chapter/verse order rather than reading order. Look and see how many breaks exist in the numbering.

Another method would be to simply bring a Bible into Mass and, using a highlighter, color each verse as it's read during the next three years. At the end of the three-year reading cycle, dsc can then flip through the pages and then witness how many passages aren't highlighted.

[metmom]

That’s too simple.

[metmom]

When questioning a new evangelist that offered "holy laughter" in his revival services but a perverted Gospel, I was told sharply to, "Touch not God's anointed!".

Funny how that seems to be the stock answer when confronted.

That's a red flag for sure.