Note by Pastor Lee: As the Pastor of God's Ward Christian Ministry I recognize no state or governmental control. I was Ordained by God and answer to Him alone.
| Excerpt:
501
c3 The Devils
Church...
http://hushmoney.org/501c3- Although Johnson proffered this as a "favor" to churches, the favor also came with strings attached (more like shackles). One need not look far to see the devastating effects 501c3 acceptance has had to the church, and the consequent restrictions placed upon any 501c3 church. 501c3 churches are prohibited from addressing, in any tangible way, the vital issues of the day. For a 501c3 church to openly speak out, or organize in opposition to, anything that the government declares "legal," even if it is immoral (e.g. abortion, homosexuality, etc.), that church will jeopardize its tax exempt status. The 501c3 has had a "chilling effect" upon the free speech rights of the church. LBJ was a shrewd and cunning politician who seemed to well-appreciate how easily many of the clergy would sell out. Did the church ever need to seek permission from the government to be exempt from taxes? Were churches prior to 1954 taxable? No, churches have never been taxable. To be taxable a church would first need to be under the jurisdiction, and therefore under the taxing authority, of the government. The First Amendment clearly places the church outside the jurisdiction of the civil government: "Congress shall make NO LAW respecting an establishment of religion, nor prohibiting the free exercise thereof." Religion cannot be free if you have to pay the government, through taxation, to exercise it. Since churches aren't taxable in the first place, why do so many of them go to the IRS and seek permission to be tax-exempt? It occurs out of:
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http://www.creationliberty. (To share this with the vision-impaired, you listen to our discussion about this on The Truth Seekers Radio Show, or download an MP3 in our Audio Section.) |
Why would a pastor/church want to become a non-profit organization? A tax-exempt status means that the church does not have to file federal income tax forms, and individuals and businesses can write off donations on their taxes.
However, there are a few points we should note:
1) No law exists that requires anyone to file a federal income tax form.
2) Christ's Church is not a legally recognized entity, so it is already tax exempt.
3) Enticing to give via tax write-offs is not Biblical giving.
(Read "Is Tithing a Christian Requirement?" here at creationliberty.com for more details about charitable giving)
Since I first learned the truth about 501c3 churches, I have always wondered why any Christian would want to go to the government and get permission to be exempted from a tax they didn't owe to begin with. True New Testament churches are already exempt because they cannot be recognized as a legal entity. Interestingly, Steve Nestor, IRS Senior Officer, has wondered the same thing:
"I am not the only IRS employee who's wondered why churches go to the government and seek permission to be exempted from a tax they didn't owe to begin with, and to seek a tax deductible status that they've always had anyway. Many of us have marveled at how church leaders want to be regulated and controlled by an agency of government that most Americans have prayed would just get out of their lives. Churches are in an amazingly unique position, but they don’t seem to know or appreciate the implications of what it would mean to be free of government control."
-Steve Nestor, IRS Senior Officer, quoted by Peter Kershaw, In Caesar's Grip, self-published, 2000; See also hisholychurch.net's information pdf on IRS form 1023 [http://www.hisholychurch.net/
Before we get into details, it is important to note that I believe most preachers/ministers honestly do not realize what they are getting into when they 501c3 incorporate their church/ministry, or in other words, they honestly do not know the facts they will read in this article. However, many preachers signing up for 501c3 status without researching what they're signing up for only shows a willful blindness that has come over them, and we will discuss the examples and Scripture for that later. The preachers/ministers who read this information are responsible to the Lord to perform as the Gospel teaches and learn the truth.
First, we need to acknowledge that many pastors are in denial about the truths of the 501c3 corporation. Barbara Ketay, a lawyer at the Biblical Law Center, wrote the following:
"O.K. Pastors, Evangelists, Missionaries, Deacons, Trustees, Elders... listen up! Let's stop all the hocus-pocus, the illusions, the scams, the fairy-tales and the outright lies regarding what the 501(c)(3) incorporated church is and is not. For a change, let's deal with facts. For those of you who don't understand "facts," in the legal arena, facts are used and are supported by documented evidence which would be admissible in a legitimate court of law. Facts are not hyperbole! [i.e. exaggeration]"
-Barbara Ketay, "The 501(c)(3) Incorporated Church: The Real Truth," Biblical Law Center, retrieved July 23, 2012, [http://www.gracealoneca.com/
Ketay goes on to list facts about what a 501c3 church corporation is by lawful state definition:
- The creator of a corporation is the State.
- The State is the sole authority and sovereign head over the corporation.
- The corporation is subject to the laws of the State which limits its powers.
- The corporation has no constitutionally protected rights.
- The corporation is an artificial person.
- The corporation submits to a State Charter declaring it is a creature of the State.
- The corporation is created for the benefit of the public.
- The corporation is a State franchise.
- The corporation is a privilege granted by the State.
- The creator of your church is the State.
- The State is the sole authority and sovereign head over your church.
- Your church is subject to the laws of the State which limits its powers.
- Your church has no constitutionally protected rights.
- Your church is an artificial person.
- Your church submits to a State Charter declaring it is a creature of the State.
- Your church is created for the benefit of the public.
- Your church is a State franchise.
- Your church is a privilege granted by the State.
"A 501(c)(3) corporation, being an artificial person, is not considered a person under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution (religious liberty clause) or under the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution (protection against selfincrimination clause). Therefore, an incorporated church has NO First or Fifth Amendment rights. In the case Johnson vs. Goodyear, 127 Cal.4 (1899): 'A corporation, being an artificial person, only has rights within the meaning of the due process and equal protection clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and similar provisions of State constitutions and within the meaning of state statutes.'" [i.e. Your 501(c)(3) church has no constitutional rights.]
-Barbara Ketay, "The 501(c)(3) Incorporated Church: The Real Truth," Biblical Law Center, retrieved July 23, 2012, [http://www.gracealoneca.com/
| Many Christians cry out against me about their constitutional rights, and the religious freedom clause of the first amendment, but it DOES NOT APPLY to 501c3 churches. I also want to specifically point out that if you are a pastor or evangelist who signed on to the 501c3 incorporated status, you have outright LOST your constitutional rights. Notice, on the list, it says that your church is now an artificial person subject to the State, created by the State for benefit of the public (not the benefit of the Lord Jesus Christ), and granted privileges deemed by the State. This means if the IRS says you cannot say something from the pulpit, then you DO NOT have any constitutional rights to argue against them, and are bound by lawful contract to keep silent! |  |
At this point, I commonly hear preachers say, "Well if they come after me, I'm just going to disobey the government," and then they quote Acts 5:29 saying "we ought to obey God rather than men." I agree, we ought to obey God rather than men UNLESS you signed a contract stating that you will obey the government rather than God. If a preacher signs a contract stating that he will obey the government rather than God, then God expects him to do what he said he would do, and turning to break that contract engages in lying, which God says is an "abomination." (Pro 6:16-19)
(Read "Is it OK for Christians to Lie?" here at creationliberty.com for more details; Lying is a sin equivalent to MURDER according to God's Word, but Christians do it all the time anyway without remorse.)
And if you want to obey God rather than men, why did you seek to put your church under 501c3 to be yoked up with unbelievers and be regulated by men? The excuses I have heard preachers make for 501c3 does not match up logically with what they have contractually agreed to do.
God sees lying as an abomination, and that includes agreeing to do something and then refusing to do it. If you signed a contract, you GAVE YOUR WORD you would do what is listed in that contract. Our Lord Jesus Christ would only want one of two things from these 501c3 churches:
| 1.
Keep your word and
do the things you
agreed to do. or... 2. Get out of the contract. |
-Joshua 24:15
No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
-Matthew 6:24
There's no riding the fence on this issue. We cannot keep one foot on either side. Jesus makes that clear: I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
-Revelation 3:15-16
If your church signed a 501c3 contract, then the IRS has EVERY RIGHT to tell your church what they can and cannot preach. If God was the creator of your church, then God tells the church what it can and cannot preach, but that all changed as soon as your church signed and dated the documents.
Christians may ask to see a law that binds preachers down from what they can and cannot say, and the answer is "No," there is no law I can point you to, but there also does not have to be. All Congress has to do is grant the IRS carte blanche privelage [full discretionary power] to do what they see fit, and it has the same effect as law, but if you sign a contract with them, they don't need a law because you gave up your rights and agreed to obey their statues for regulating a church, and it is legally binding on top of their discretionary enforcement.
"Prior to 1954, churches were free to evaluate the positions of political candidates on moral issues without fear of the Internal Revenue Service revoking their tax-exempt status. That year, then-Senator Lyndon Johnson amended the tax code to add the threat of IRS action against churches if their pastors mentioned the positions of specific candidates from the pulpit. Citing that rule, groups like AU [Americans United] have repeatedly threatened to report churches to the IRS if they speak out on such issues."
-"ADF Announces New Initiative to Reclaim Pastors' First Amendment Rights," Alliance Defending Freedom, May 9, 2008, retrieved Aug 11, 2012, [http://www.adfmedia.org/News/
Again, Christians cry out, "They don't have a right to do that!" That's true, UNLESS your church/pastor signed a contract that binds them to IRS regulations instead of Jesus Christ. If your church is 501c3 incorporated, Americans United and other organizations have every EVERY RIGHT to report your church to the IRS for breaking contract.
I also find it interesting how that article is titled "ADF Announces NEW Initiative..." because it's not new. These regulations have been around for about 60 years, and just because the IRS has been long-suffering not to enforce it, does not make it new.
Additionally, churches fearing "the IRS revoking their tax-exempt status," is not Biblical in any sense. What message does this send to new Christians about the protection of our Lord Jesus Christ and Holy Spirit? When pastors run to the IRS shivering in fear of losing their precious tax-exemption gives a demonstration to the world of the Laodecian state of American churches.
In 2008, former president George Bush's Administration gave their official position on this issue:
| "Kinsolving
asked: 'The AP also
reports that 33 pastors
in 22 states made
specific
endorsements of
political
candidates in
challenging the
IRS-Lyndon Johnson
ruling about no
political
endorsements in
churches.
And my question:
Does the president
believe that
America’s clergy
should be denied the
freedom of speech to
endorse political
candidates?' [Tony] Fratto responded: 'Those rules are set forth in IRS regulations, directed by statute. And the IRS is enforcing the law, and the president believes that the IRS should enforce the law.'" |
 |
In case you missed it, the reporter asked if pastors should be denied freedom of speech, and the Bush administration said it was a IRS rule! Pastors, are you getting this yet? If you have a 501c3 church, you have NO freedom of speech under the first amendment, and that automatically means you have no religious liberty because freedom of speech is the first requirement for religious liberty.
Christians object to this and say that the IRS should not be enforcing this becasue it has no right to. I agree, UNLESS you signed a 501c3 contract, and then they DO have a right to enforce it, and they SHOULD be enforcing it because all the other 501c3 entities have to follow these same regulations. Why should Christians be afforded special privlages over all the other 501c3 entities?
The obvious solution to this problem is to get out of the 501c3. It's difficult, but not impossible. However, the Bible tells us the love of money is the root of all evil (1Tim 6:10), and most preachers find it too inconvenient to give up their precious IRS 501c3 status.
At this point, many Christians get irate with me and claim that I am supporting government take-down of churches, but that is not true because I think the IRS is one of the most evil organization this country has ever seen, and they do NOT have any right to take away the liberties of preaching any topic from the pulpits of the churches. However, on the issue of 501c3 churches, the pastors, deacons, and elders SIGNED A CONTRACT stating they would give up their rights, then the IRS DOES have right to tell a 501c3 church what it can and cannot preach, and if pastors and deacons refuse to do what they stated they would do in contract, then the IRS is MORE Biblically sound to enforce the regulations the 501c3 churches contractually promised they would uphold.
| What
is the Biblical
solution? Get out of the 501c3 contract. |
Lawyers like David Bea deceive Christians into thinking that 501(c)(3) is beneficial to the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. In an article he wrote on 501c3 entities (which contains no references or Scripture whatsoever), Bea tries to say there is no muzzling of the churches freedom of speech. "Some people believe that a church should not incorporate. They fear that incorporation gives the government a means to censor the church's message or otherwise intrude into the affairs of the church... incorporating does not give the government an increased hand in the church's affairs or make it easier to censor the church's message." -David L Bea, "Should Churches Incoporate and Seek IRS Recognition of 501(c)(3) Status?" David L. Bea & Associates, retrieved Aug 17, 2013, [http://www.davidbealaw.com/ But later in his same article, he tells a different story: "Certain organizations can engage in political campaigning or lobbying, but if they do so, they cannot claim the benefits of 501(c)(3) status. This is certainly not a restriction on free speech in any DIRECT way, but merely a requirement to claim a tax benefit." (emphasis added) -David L Bea, "Should Churches Incoporate and Seek IRS Recognition of 501(c)(3) Status?" David L. Bea & Associates, retrieved Aug 17, 2013, [http://www.davidbealaw.com/ (This lawyer does not mention that condemning or promoting political candidates from the pulpit is considered "campainging |
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