By Willie Martin:
This great Christian Republic that we live in was formed 225 years ago in 1776 by god‑fearing men who put all, including their homes, families, and lives on the line. What we seldom hear today, and what has been conveniently (or should I say deliberately) left out of the history books, is that much of the impetus for achieving our independence and freedoms was the result of the preaching and teaching of the clergy of that time. They were "fired up" with the Word of God, and spoke out on anything and everything that was in conflict with that word.
What a contrast to today, when the preachers are silent, when the churches have made a pact with the devil (the state), when they have played the role of Judas and sold out our God for "thirty pieces of silver." Prior to 1954, there was no such thing as a 501(c)(3) church. All donations, contributions, gifts, etc. given to churches were automatically tax‑deductible under the old English common law, known as the "Law of Charities." Then in 1954, Senator Lyndon Baines Johnson (D‑Texas) sponsored legislation which brought churches under the new 501(c)(3) section of the Internal Revenue code.
As a part of this legislation, churches would incorporate, and having that status, they could not be sued in a legal action. This was promoted as a "benefit" to the churches. The churches never bothered to look to the Scriptures and previous law to find out that churches could not be sued. They relied instead on advice from lawyers and the "legal profession" who recommended acceptance of this new "benefit." And why not? Anything involving more "legality" does nothing more than advance the status, importance, need, and employment of this questionable profession. It is a fact, that today most all of the "churches" who have been sued in a court action have been "incorporated churches."
I guess that back in 1954, the rational of the churches was that if everyone else was doing it, why should Christians not be involved. The whole concept of limited liability was the bait to get churches incorporated and like a fish, they were hooked! Corporations, under law, can sue and be sued! By submitting an application (and a substantial fee) to the IRS for tax exempt status, the "church" is requesting and accepting a government license to allow them to operate, within the parameters and statutes of government regulation.
In other words, the church has become subservient to the government. Today, it is estimated that fully 90% of the "churches" in this nation are 501(c)(3) government sponsored churches, while only 10% are free‑churches. The following materials were obtained from the Christian Bible Study web site in Melbourne, Florida, and reflect the requirements with which a church must comply to receive tax‑exempt status from the IRS. Instead of being a minister of God, serving the Almighty, these preachers have betrayed our Savior and the entire Christian theology, to become instead ministers of the government. And this is not to say that we are anti‑government. We feel that the government has its place and the ministry of God has its place, and the government is and should be subservient to God.
Fortunately, any and all ministries located or headquartered in the Commonwealth of Virginia can not meet the first criteria, that of being incorporated. Virginia is the only state that does not permit or allow churches to incorporate. Some ministries and churches that wished to incorporate, have gone outside of Virginia, to other states (such as Delaware) for incorporation. This prohibition in Virginia dates back to the year 1802, when the Anglican Church (renamed as the Episcopal Church), went to the Virginia legislature seeking incorporation. The legislature found such to be a violation of the First Amendment relative to the establishment of state‑endorsed churches, and they moved to amend the state constitution to forever prohibit church incorporation in Virginia.
In spite of what some misinformed or uninformed churches and preachers may claim, Jesus Christ CAN NOT be the head of a 501(c)(3) church because at law, the "sovereign" to the corporation is the state! And "sovereign" means the supreme authority over legal as well as theological matters. The corporation has put the church into a non‑entity status. The request and acceptance of the 501(c)(3) status establishes a covenant (a binding agreement and contract) between the government and the church.
In recent months, there have been several instances where the government has stripped the tax‑exempt status from churches and demanded back taxes for violation of this covenant. And those pastors who "claim" that they can go into their pulpits and say anything they wish, contrary to "public policy," do so at their own peril. They have made a contract with the government, which they are in violation of, and they are in fact lawbreakers and civil criminals, for which they and their church can he held liable and responsible. And we wonder with more than 325,000 churches in this land, why we are seeing such deterioration of ethics and morality. The churches are silent and ineffective. The ministers have sold out Christ, again, for their "30 pieces of silver."
The Ten Commandments is under attack by the judicial system (in several geographic areas) as it is not considered public policy. The churches say, come to Christ, accept His grace and He will protect you, and then, these very same churches ignore their own words and turn to the state for protection. What must our heavenly Father think of these false preachers and churches?
more: http://www.israelect.com/reference/WillieMartin/501%28c%29%283%29.htm
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