Pastors, Churches and Politics: What May Pastors and Churches Do?
By Mathew D. Staver, Esq.

     From the founding of the country until 1954, churches and other nonprofit organizations were permitted to expressly endorse or oppose candidates for political office. That changed when Lyndon Baines Johnson ran for United States Senate. He was opposed by a nonprofit organization (not a church), and after he won the election, he proposed legislation to amend the Internal Revenue Code to prohibit nonprofit organizations, including churches, from endorsing or opposing political candidates. The Code was amended in 1954 without any debate regarding the impact of the bill.
    The Internal Revenue Code now expressly prohibits churches and other nonprofit organizations from directly endorsing or opposing political candidates. From 1954 to the present, only one church has ever lost its IRS tax-exempt letter ruling, but even that church did not lose its tax-exempt status for opposing then Governor Bill Clinton for President in 1992.
    The Church at Pierce Creek, located in Binghamton, New York (a church where Operation Rescue founder Randall Terry attended at the time), took out full-page ads in the USA Today and The Washington Times newspapers. The ads opposed Governor Clinton for President because of his position on abortion and homosexuality, and then the ads solicited “tax-deductible donations” to defray the cost of the advertisements. The church received hundreds of dollars in contributions.
    After Clinton was elected President, the IRS notified the church on November 20, 1992, that it intended to conduct an inquiry into the Church’s activities. After negotiations with the church broke down, the IRS revoked the Church’s tax-exempt letter ruling and the church filed suit to get it back.
    It is important to understand the critical difference between an IRS tax-exempt letter ruling and tax-exempt status of churches. Every organization, whether a 501(c)(4) (a nonprofit group that primarily lobbies) or a 501(c)(3) (a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization), must file an application with the IRS to be recognized as a nonprofit organization for purposes of the Internal Revenue Code. The IRS then issues a letter ruling specific for the organization, in which the IRS acknowledges that the organization will be recognized as a nonprofit organization, and in the case of a 501(c)(3), that contributions to the organization will be tax-deductible.

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Jesus Did Not Preach Compromise
By Pastor Joe Green

       Many people have opinions about Jesus Christ.  Even people of other faiths acknowledge that there was a person by the name of Jesus who lived and walked on the earth around 2000 years ago.  I have heard Jesus described as a wise man, a great teacher, a revolutionary, and even a prophet.  It seems like most people like to focus on Jesus as just being very nice to people and that He loved everyone. Many people even acknowledge that He started His own belief system and they will accept Him as savior, but few people acknowledge Him as Lord.
    Let’s dispel some of the myths; let’s talk about the real man named Jesus that was called by some as “The Christ”.
    First of all, Jesus never taught nor believed in compromise.  It is sad to say that most people that claim to be Christian are not really committed to their faith.  Jesus was very clear in who He claimed to be and that there was no other way to the God of the Bible except through Him.  Only through faith in Jesus Christ can a Christian be saved.  Throughout the gospels Jesus repeatedly told all that would listen that there was no other way to the father except through Himself.  As a matter of fact, in the scriptures Jesus calls all others “thieves and robbers” (John 10:8) who claimed to be a way to God.
    It is sad to say, but many people who say that they are Christians or followers of Jesus haven’t grasped that concept.  As a matter of fact, the Bible says that Jesus is the author and the finisher of our faith.  You either have to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior or not at all.
    The compromise comes because many people who say that they are believers openly except wrongdoing.  We, as a supposedly Christian nation, allow unborn babies to be murdered legally and the majority of people who claim to be Christians are not doing anything about it.  Homosexuality is a clear ‘no-no’ to God, yet some ‘Christian’ churches ordain gay Pastors and even marry same-sex couples.  We even have regular church goers who cheat on their spouses or simply sleep around, yet no one in the church lifts an eyebrow.  This is clearly against everything Jesus stood for, yet we have the nerve to go to church and sing songs of praise to God as if everything is ok.
    Let me make something clear, we are all sinners saved by grace.  No one is perfect and it is only by the blood of Jesus that we are forgiven of our sins.  Stop using that as an excuse to do whatever you want!  You hear compromising Christians stand firm on the issue of God’s grace and His love, but they are not obedient to His Word.  God says if you love Me you will keep My commandments, not you will do whatever you want and think it’s ok.
    The key ingredient to salvation and forgiveness of sins is repentance.  The word “repent” comes from the Greek word “metanoeo” which means to think differently or afterwards, that is, reconsider (morally to feel compunction).  Jesus was telling us that in order for us to be forgiven of our sins and be true followers and Christians, we have to turn away from sin and to change our mind to conform to God’s ways.  We want to live this life the easy way by doing whatever we want to and then think it is ok with God.  We want to make Jesus our Savior and accept His grace, but we don’t want to live up to our end of the covenant.
    Jesus said that we are to be salt and light to the world.  We are supposed to bring light to dark places.  We are supposed to preach the truth of God’s Word so that all who will accept it will be saved from eternal death.  Instead of this we have compromised our faith so much that now the world dictates to us what is true and what is not.  We think that we have to get with the times or that morality is outdated.

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