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| "Every church around me is 501c3, so I just do church online." |
First of all, Faithful Word Baptist Church is not a 501c3 certified church, but I am not sure why that is so important to some people. Each pastor has to do the best that he can to sort out the legalities of running a church. Whether or not a church is a 501c3 does not in any way hinder which passages of the Bible a pastor is allowed to preach on. Instead of focusing on how a church files with the I.R.S., listen to the pastor preach to find out if he is bold or not. If he isn’t taking the stands he should, it is because he is a coward—not because the government is stopping him.
Many of these tax laws are designed to prevent political organizations from getting the tax benefits of a church. Why would any legitimate pastor want to spend more than 5% of his time trying to influence an election, which is probably rigged anyway? I know I don’t. Whether a church is a 501c3 or not, it is automatically tax exempt—so long as it is set up as some kind of legal church. Faithful Word Baptist Church is not a political organization--we are here to spread the gospel and edify the saints. I try to provide a balanced diet with my sermons, but I will never refrain from preaching on the less popular parts of the Bible, even if it does eventually become illegal.
“Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.” Acts 5:29
Don’t believe everything you read or hear on the internet, folks. Cult-like preachers are envious of legitimate ministries and will often bring up straw-man arguments to try to slander them. When you go to a bona-fide church, whether it is 501c3 or not, your donations are tax deductible. On the other hand, giving money to some self-appointed lunatic that happens to have a camcorder and a youtube channel is not deductible. Rest assured that Faithful Word is not a 501c3, but don’t come to me making railing accusations against a brother in Christ that happens to file differently than we do. This is simply not a Bible issue, and when you call godly men false teachers, you are bearing false witness against them.
“These six things doth the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.” Proverbs 6:17-19
Here is a sermon to go with this article.
1 comment:
Well said Pastor.
This is the crucial point isn't it? That most political action is rigged. So 501c3 is moot in most cases.
You did well to point out that you would never allow the state to influence your pulpit the way the Katrina pastors did. Eventually, it will come to that when the hate speech laws start to govern even "radicalization" in IFB churches.
It should be explained that the ability of church members to net off their tithes and donations against their tax bill has no effect on the message preached. Even if the church were to lose this privilege, its members would just take on a few dollars back on their tax bill. What is the big deal? Hardly any of them contribute as much as the interest they pay on their mortgage, or their life insurance, or their retirement funds. I'd think those latter things will all burn away anyway at the very end.
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