“Maybe at the present the authorities smile on the church of God; but within a while it may frown, and the storm of persecution arise. There was a time when the churches had ‘rest throughout all Judea’ (Acts 9:31). It was a blessed time. But how long did it last? Alas! not long.”
– William Gurnall
1617 – 1679
Christ Alone Wyoming 
Hard truths.
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Remember that the harlot / state sponsored churches have been a great persecutor of true believers (Rome, Church of England, etc) in times past. Liberals, muslims, and atheists do not own exclusive rights to shedding the blood of the saints. Also remember that God never authorized 501c or denominations. They are the inventions of man and any attack on these carnal things can not rightly be called persecution.
In Christ -Jim
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Also, regarding knowing what the Church is suppose to be, reformed churches generally look more like Rome than the New Testament. The scary thing is they ‘think’ that is what the Church is suppose to be.
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Pingback: What’s Coming (1) – Persecution or Great Awakening? | jesaja 66:2
J.L., Thanks for sharing this with us. Do you know what I find ironic was Dr. James White’s comments about the 501c3 status of religious organizations. The reality is that the US government ALREADY has your SSN from when you went into church if you are giving so that you can have a tax deduction on your taxes at the end of each year. You won’t even be able to deny that you gave to a “bigoted” institution because your left hand knows what your right hand is doing, and so does the government. We really need to get back to biblical principles and one of those is NOT making churches into legitimate “businesses” under 501c3 statuses. Give to Caesar what he demands and one day you will have no ability to complain when he comes back demanding something in return for all the “free” money your church received through the years. That is called a license to operate and churches are NOT called to operate under government licenses.
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Churches are tax exempt under section 508 by default. and do not need to file as a 501(c)3 unless the state requires it (and then, only if they want tax exempt status). If churches were operating under license from the government, the recent investigation into myriad prosperity gospel charlatans would have resulted in some of them losing their “license”. To date, no church has lost its tax exempt status – it’s not possible (at the federal level) as the law is currently written.
Of course, we have had, in this country, unheard-of liberty as Christians these past 200 or so years and it should surprise none of us if things get ugly. Just as they have been for most of human history.
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Actually Manfred, it is not only possible but it has happened. http://projectfairplay.org/facts/faq/
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I didn’t see anything that documented a church being denied its tax exempt status. That FAQ page lumped all charitable organizations into one discussion.
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Maybe I am missing something, Manfred, but The Church at Pierce Creek in Binghamton, N.Y. did lose its tax exempt status for jumping on the political bandwagon back in the 1990’s. The information is about halfway down that page of FAQs.
http://www.wnd.com/2000/05/4497/
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compliance with 501c laws is pushed mostly by lawyers and lending institutions and it seems to lead to the unnecessary pressure on attendees to become “official” church members. It only provides the illusion of meaningful church discipline.
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Today almost every single seminary has courses on spiritual formation. I just left the Bible Gateway web page and they are offering an interview with Sarah Young. I went to the RBC web page and found favorable links to spiritual formation. James Dobson seems to be gung ho with Mr. Blackabe and the prayer of Jabez. Hank Hannigraph is, well being Hank. People like Charles Stanley and David Jerimiah and even Chuck Swindall associate with and recommend book and authors that are quite frankly dangerous, in my opinion. Even gravel voice brother Steve Brown after consulting with no one but himself decided that the SHACK was ok. He must be imitating Ravi who seems to often lean on his own understanding of problematic authors.
When it comes to the “great falling away” most pastors are standing on the RR tracks and don’t even see the train a coming. Therefore neither does their congregation. Nor do they want to have it pointed out by some nobody like myself.
I thought that I was up to speed on false teachings. Some 9 years ago I swerved into wretched Todd and Matt Slick of CARM. From there I discovered James White and this place and lighthouse blog and the submergent church video to name a few.
Praise God for you and other Watchmen on the wall, even if most pastors refuse to look.
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T.I. Miller – I am with ya! I’ve been paying attention to those folks for several years. We MUST be on our guard at all times.
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