Churches
Church defined
Congress does not define what a Church is, but the legal dictionary does consistently.
“Church. In its most general sense, the religious society founded and established by Jesus Christ, to receive, preserve, and propagate his doctrines and ordinances.”
“A body or community of Christians, united under one form of government by the profession of one faith, and the observance of the same rituals and ceremonies.”[1]
Is your Church “established by Jesus Christ and united under one government to receive, preserve, and propagate his doctrines and ordinances”?
Church Doctrines
What are his doctrines?
Most Church Doctrines include very few of Christ's Doctrines or even His specific instructions.
They have removed much of what Christ said and replaced it with what Paul said, or rather what people think Paul said. Paul was expounding on what Christ said having already preached gospel to men and women who were doing and living according to the pattern of the doctrines of Christ.
- Romans 1:8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.
- Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
- 1 Corinthians 15:3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
- Ephesians 1:12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. {trusted: or, hoped}
1 Timothy 1:16 Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.
Christ preached a way to govern ourselves according to His Holy Spirit and appointed that government to His disciples to be like Him.
- 2 Timothy 4:22 The Lord Jesus Christ [be] with thy spirit. Grace [be] with you. Amen.
The modern Church really needs to reexamine its doctrines and mission in comparison to Christ in the context o His doctrines and the activities and apparent mission of the early Church.
Is it doing the work of His appointed government or has it relinquished its responsibilities to the governments of the world that have been established by men for the personal benefit of men?
The Church is actually a creation of Christ. Have men recreated the Church? Is the modern churches preserving, and propagating His doctrines and ordinances or their own?
Church vs Religious Organization
Religion use to mean the performance of your duty to God and your fellow man.
The term religious organization is not treated the same as the term Church in modern law. An organization seeking to meet the religious purposes test has become something other than a Church. The purpose and mission of the Church was religious. The Church is a religious organization but it is not an entity of the State but is established by Christ which makes it excluded and separate from the state.
But when men began to alter the purposes of the Church they stop being the Church "founded and established by Jesus Christ".
Department of Revenue and the I.R.S. state:
“In order to determine whether recognition of exemption should appropriately be extended to an organization seeking to meet the religious purposes test of section 501c(3), the Internal Revenue Service maintains two basic guidelines:
- ) That the particular religious beliefs of the organization are truly and sincerely held, and
- ) That the practices and rituals associated with the organization’s religious belief or creed are not illegal or contrary to clearly defined public policy.”[2]
On the same page of that publication, we see phrases like, “If you are organized to operate a home for the aged, the following information must be submitted:” Or if you are a scientific organization, “You must show…” etc. But for religious organizations, there are only ‘two basic guidelines’ which are merely ‘maintained’ by the Internal Revenue Service. These mere guidelines are maintained only ‘to determine whether recognition of exemption should appropriately be extended to an organization seeking to meet the religious purposes test.’
Summary of the Nimrod to Now Video Series:10-10 7:53 Gods plan verses man's plan. Summing up... the Gospel of the Kingdom...
Church links
Ecclesia, Ekklesia. or Church
http://www.hisholychurch.org/ekklesia.php
The Coercive and Non-Coercive Churches
Concerning what the "Church" is or should be and what it is not.
http://www.hisholychurch.org/sermon/coercivechurch.php
- Audio On the Coercive Church
The Coercive Church BlogTalkRadio 29:10
http://www.hisholychurch.net/audio/10-10-3TS-412548CC.mp3
- The Coercive Church TalkShoeQandA 48:43
http://www.hisholychurch.net/audio/10-10-3show_1295668CC.mp3
The Church from the book Thy Kingdom Comes
http://www.hisholychurch.org/media/books/TKC/TKCl12-3Church.php
- The Separate Church
http://www.hisholychurch.org/media/books/TKC/TKCl12-4Separate.php
Church and State
From the book The Higher Liberty, Sec. 18
http://www.hisholychurch.org/media/books/THL/churchstate.php
Separation of Church and State
From the book The Higher Liberty, Sec. 20
http://www.hisholychurch.org/media/books/THL/separation.php
A Kingdom not of this world
From the book The Higher Liberty, Sec. 22
http://www.hisholychurch.org/media/books/THL/notoftheworld.php
The Apostolic Church
From the book The Higher Liberty, Sec. 68
http://www.hisholychurch.org/media/books/THL/apostolic.php
Christian Welfare
From the book The Higher Liberty, Sec. 71
http://www.hisholychurch.org/media/books/THL/welfare.php
Are Christians Idiots?
Were the apostles unlearned, uneducated and unlettered?
http://www.hisholychurch.org/news/articles/idiots.php
Christianity Derailed
Has the Church lost it way and taken the people with it?
http://www.hisholychurch.org/news/articles/christderailed.php
Appeared first on NewsWithViews 3-2-11
Church exempt
"Piety is no defense to the assessments of the tax collector." Scripture Press Foundation v. United States, 285 F.2d 800, 904 (1961), cert denied 368 U.S. 985.
"Religious organizations are not exempt from complying with the requirements of the Internal Revenue Code, or applicable state laws. However, there are a number of specific provisions of law, beginning with the United States Constitution and continuing through the Internal Revenue Code, that treat religious organizations, especially those that can be classified as a "church", differently."[3]
There is no precise definition in the Internal Revenue Code of what constitutes a church.[4] A case decided in 1980 sets forth fourteen factors that the IRS has found relevant in making its inquiry into the definition:[5]
1. A distinct legal existence
2. A recognized creed and form of worship
3. A definite and distinct ecclesiastical government
4. A formal code of doctrine and discipline
5. A distinct religious history
6. A membership not associated with any other church or denomination
7. An organization of ordained ministers
8. Ordained ministers selected after completing prescribed studies
9. A literature of its own
10. Established places of worship
11. Regular congregations
12. Regular worship services
13. Sunday schools for religious instruction of the young
14. Schools for the preparation of ministers.
No single factor is controlling,[6] and having all fourteen is not necessary. While there is no "legal" requirement that a church have any of these particular characteristics (instituting such a requirement would likely violate the First Amendment as establishing a particular "form" of religion), the IRS is unlikely to recognize an organization as being a church without it having a number of these characteristics. In Publication 557, the IRS states: Because beliefs and practices vary so widely, there is no single definition of the word "church" for tax purposes.
Religious Orders
Religious orders are considered to be a special type of entity. Most are Roman Catholic but there are some well established Protestant order and eastern, Buddhist and even Jewish orders. Many of these orders are made up of people who have devoted their entire lives to communal worship and service. The members of the order express their commitment by such things as vows of poverty, chastity and obedience.
- Religious orders are "personal" in the sense that their ecclesiastical jurisdiction does not depend upon geographical nor territorial boundaries.
- Religious orders carry on a variety of activities, all of which are, for one reason or another, characterized as "religious".
- Religious orders often operate various institutions, such as schools and religious "retreat" centers, and may have a specific religious "mission" or "purpose" apart from the individuals who are called out of the world, into the order.
- A church is regarded as the body of believers separate and apart from the people who attend.
- A religious order should also be apart from the people or individuals served by the order. Many religious orders are not entrenched in the mission of Jesus Christ which is to serve the people who attend to it and it to them and therefore this is a critical distinction.
The Internal Revenue Service issued Rev. Proc. 91-20 in 1991 to provide guidelines for determining who may be considered to be a religious order. As stated therein, the defining characteristics are:
- The organization is described in section 501(c)(3) of the Code.
- The members of the organization vow to live under a strict set of rules requiring moral and spiritual self-sacrifice and dedication to the goals of the organization at the expense of their material well-being.
- The members of the organization, after successful completion of the organization's training program and probationary period, make a long-term commitment to the organization (normally more than two years).
- The organization is, directly or indirectly, under the control and supervision of a church or convention or association of churches, or is significantly funded by a church or convention or association of churches.
- The members of the organization normally live together as part of a community and are held to a significantly stricter level of moral and religious discipline than that required of lay church members.
- The members of the organization work or serve full-time on behalf of the religious, educational, or charitable goals of the organization.
- The members of the organization participate regularly in activities such as public or private prayer, religious study, teaching, care of the aging, missionary work, or church reform or renewal.
As with the fourteen points concerning a church, the absence of one or more of these items (with the exception of the first item) is not necessarily determinative.
The legislative history of IRC Section 170 pertaining to the deductibility of contributions, clearly indicates that the term "church" was intended to include religious orders.[7]
Footnotes
- ↑ Black’s Law Dictionary 3rd ed. Page 325. also 4th, 5th 6th Ed.
- ↑ Department of the Treasury, I.R.S., Pub. 557 Tax-Exempt Status for Your Organization. Chapt. 3 Page 14.
- ↑ BASIC TAX ASPECTS FOR RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS, by Lisa A. Runquist, Revised January, 2001
- ↑ See Whelan, "Church in the Internal Revenue Code", 45 Fordham L Rev. 885 (1977).
- ↑ American Guidance Foundation, Inc. v United States 490 F.Supp 304 (1980).
- ↑ It should be noted, however, that in the 1993 (for Fiscal Year 1994) IRS Exempt Organizations Continuing Professional Education Technical Instruction Program Textbook, in Defining "Church" -- The Concept of a Congregation, the position is taken that an organization must have a congregation (usually including participation in mutual ceremonies, observances and celebrations important to the religion) in order to be considered a church." Therefore, although having a congregation may not be sufficient to determine that the organization is a church, not having a congregation is likely to be considered by the IRS to be sufficient to determine that the organization is not a church.
- ↑ S. Rep. No. 1622, 83d Congress, 2nd Session at p. 30 (1954).