State Churches Defined
A State Church - To Be or Not To Be
By: Dr. Everett Ramsey
I Peter 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
The first reaction of most pastors and Christians to this title and article will be, “We don’t have State Churches in America." This only highlights the need for this web site and this particular page.
The second response will be to call their attorney as their solution to every thing corporate.
It’s amazing to me that we clergy get so focused on increasing attendance, baptisms, and money that we overlook and surrender the key tenets of our faith, such as:
1. The Lordship of Jesus Christ over the Church. Eph 1:22, 5:23, Col. 1:18.
2. The Sovereignty of God in regeneration, repentance and eternal life. Luke 1:68, Rev 5:9, Acts 5:31
3. Obedience to Him First Supreme. Acts 4:12, 1Sam 15:22, 1Pet 4:17
Jesus warned the Pharisees that they had made the minor necessary and the necessary minor:
Matthew 23:23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
Paul warned the Church at Corinth, I Corinthians 6:1-11, not to go to the worldly to get resolution to righteousness.
Yet almost every pastor will go to an attorney to get advice for his church. But you say, “We have Christian attorneys in our church who understand out needs.”
Well, then you tell them what you want them to do, not ask them what they feel you should do.
This is a fatal flaw in preachers and today’s churches. I call it the” professional syndrome.” Preachers feel that they are inadequate to make major decisions in legal and educational matters so we go to professionals trained in schools that hate God and the church and we ask them.
You say, I am offended that you would think that members of my church who are state trained attorneys and teachers would be any less Christian.
That is exactly what I am saying! They may not even know it, or believe it or want to be less Christian, but it is impossible to spend 4-12 years in a state institution that is expert in mind manipulation and come out believing pure Christian doctrine.
Luther had it right:
"I am much afraid that schools will prove to be the gates of hell unless they diligently labor in explaining the Holy Scriptures, engraving them in the hearts of youth. I advise no one to place their child where the Scriptures do not reign paramount. Every institution in which men are not increasingly occupied with the word of God must become corrupt." Martin Luther, A.D. 1537
The State colleges that prepare teachers and attorneys teach more than any other doctrine, the doctrine of toleration, concession and compromise; none of which are acceptable to God on sovereignty of the church and personal obedience.
In our case, the Christian attorneys kept trying to get us to compromise, concede and yield on some little point. They kept saying, “The judge is giving a little, we have to take something back to the judge. You have to give us something." They could not understand a non-concession position.
When the Coalition of unregistered churches met in Washington D.C. with Senators and Congressmen, their first question was, “What have you brought to give us today?”
They were shocked when Dr. Dixon spoke our position, “We have nothing to give you. We are here to tell you that you are intruding in a jurisdiction not yours to intrude. We are asking you to get out of our jurisdiction and leave the unregistered churches alone." Of course their attitude is that they are God and no jurisdiction is above them or beyond them.
Thousands of Christians have died since Christ came over that single issue of “Sovereignty.” It affects taxes, regulations, statutes and any other State or local intrusion into the affairs of the church.
Bunyan spent 13 years in a Bedford, England jail over licensure. Preachers today consider him a lunatic. How do I know? That is how many feel about me for standing on the same issue.
The problem is that pastors have unknowingly allowed or purposely brought these things upon themselves.
They yield to professionals without a whimper. The truth is, no Christian attorney or teacher trained in a humanistic institution can know better than the pastor, what the will of God is for that church. Unless, of course, the pastor was trained in such a similar institution.
HOW PASTORS REMOVE GOD AS HEAD OF THE CHURCH
Pastors think nothing of it that their churches are incorporated by the state or approved by the IRS for tax exemption.
All attorneys are members of the court. They officially represent the court, the state and any other governmental agency when they appear in court, even if you are paying them to represent you. They may argue your position, but if they lose, they have to take the side of the court in the end.
Our attorneys could not be a part of our stand. They could not speak or attend the rallies and the meetings. They would have been held in contempt of court for encouraging disobedience to a court order.
The reason is that we have not had “Courts of Law” in this nation for some time. If we had, our case would have been tried by a jury of twelve men who were my peers, meaning Christian, Baptist, and Preachers. We would have been arguing the Bible and God’s law, not Roman civil statutes.
It is one thing to be a free and independent church of the Lord’s when you get attacked, but it is a wholly different matter to be a created entity of the State by your own will and get attacked. You have already ceded all your Biblical and constitutional rights to the state for its few benefits.
This is what you do when you incorporate. For instance, when you apply for incorporation, you are required by law to have three Trustees to hold all assets in trust for the State. What does this mean? I give you a couple of examples:
1. Florida 1986 – A Baptist Church, had a split. The trustees were on the side of the people who were against the pastor. The Pastor refused to leave. So, the trustee group split off and started a new church, but before they did, the trustees held a meeting and voted to give the property of the church to the new church and notified the Pastor to vacate the pulpit. When the pastor refused, the trustees went to court and the court agreed with the trustees saying that a trustee is an officer of the state and can act separately from the church.
2. California - 1985 - Pentecostal Church, had trustees. One of them was also the organist. It become known that he was a homosexual. The church voted to relieve him of his position as organist and trustee. He sued. The court said the church could fire him as organist, but not as trustee because that position is an official position of the state.
There are many more. What must be understood is that you have surrendered your right to decide and govern the church according to the will of Christ if you are incorporated or hold a 501(C)(3) tax exempt status from the IRS. (More on that later.)
Don’t be naive and say, “Well, I have not had any trouble yet, I will wait to unincorporated until after a problem arises.”
Won’t work. The court will hold that you are still acting like a corporation and hold you accountable. See click here for more information. Also, see Dr. Greg Dixon who saw the state bulldoze down an 8 million dollar church facility over these issues.
The best time to get out of the trap is when you start a church, or get unincorporated before you become a target. But even when you are a target it is better to get unincorporated, for then the Lord will assume the headship and fight for your defense. He did for us.
Below is a list of characteristics of state churches vs. the Lord’s Church.
|
|
LORD'S CHURCH |
|
|
|
Can hold assets |
|
Cannot hold assets |
Can have assets taken away |
|
Cannot have assets taken away |
Is a Democracy |
|
Is A Theocracy - Pastor, elders, deacons |
Tax Exempt |
|
Tax Excluded |
Trustees |
|
No Trustees |
Subject to Public Policy |
|
Not subject to Public Policy |
Subject to IRS |
|
Not Subject to IRS |
Annual Reports for Government |
|
No Annual Reports for Government |
Perform State Weddings |
|
Perform Covenant weddings |
Accountable to State & IRS |
|
Accountable to Elders and Bishops |
Success is in numbers |
|
Success is in Fellowship with Lord |
Power comes from promotion |
|
Power comes from Holy Spirit |
Emotions |
|
Word of God |
Personality, Numbers, Respectable |
|
May be called a hate group |
|
|
Controversial, Confrontational Membership by asking Membership for evidence of repentance, conversion and a changed life |
If you are willing to allow your message to the world to be defined and modified by the powers of Politically correct public Policy, by all means, be incorporated. But if you expect to allow God to control you and your church, you will have to divorce the State and IRS first.
HOW TO START A NON-STATE CHURCH
HOW TO DIVORCE THE STATE AND THE IRS AND UNINCORPORATE YOUR CHURCH
