IRS lifts ban on churches getting involved in politics. Well well well! It’s about time. But understand this. This decision is temporary for most churches but it is not for us at KLI. Why? Because we were established as a 508c1a in 2011.
508c1a refers to a paragraph in the IRS code that they used to define churches and an association of churches and their auxiliaries. A 501c3 was created by the Johnson Amendment in 1954. These are non-profits and 90% of the churches in America chose to adopt this tool to interact with the government and banks. But the motive behind the bill was deceptive.
Lyndon B Johnson created the bill because he was upset with some Christian leaders, churches, that exposed his corruption in a previous election. Check it out. do your own research. We did back in the early 90s. We recognized that it violated our First Amendment rights and flew in the face of this nation’s history as it pertained to the role of preachers addressing moral and civil issues from the pulpit.
Here’s my response from the July 7th Facebook post:
We made a decision to always stand for the truth and exercise our 1st Amendment rights when we entered the ministry in the early 90s especially when it pertains to moral issues and God’s design for individuals and family which He designed. This is one of the reasons why you see me posting so much on governmental/political/justice and moral issues. It is the right thing to do.
We participated with the Alliance Defending Freedom’s strategy years ago in Pulpit Freedom Sunday starting 2008-2014 where pastors/ministers were working with the ADF to challenge the Johnson Amendment which became a hook created by the creation of a 501c3 (non-profit) which they used to violate the 1st Amendment. We sought to challenge the law as it had an element that was unconstitutional through an act of civil disobedience.
The minister would preach a sermon, record it on a cassette tape and send it to the IRS. By 2014 about 1800 participated (total during those years 3800). Unfortunately, that is such a tiny fraction of the number of ministers there are in the United States.
When the nation goes to hell, the pulpit is to blame. Part of the role of the Church is to serve as a moral compass. This is why we’ve (the church at large) have become so ineffective. Ignorance, apathy, and in some cases cowardice (perfect love casts out all fear).
As our ministry turned into a church and a network of churches and ministries, we continued to solidify our position by shutting down our 501c3 and functioning as a church and an association of churches and ministries.
The government used ignorance and the threat of taking away their tax exempt status to silence most.
Grateful for the Trump administration who has brought so many changes. I did not foresee this one but am truly grateful.
Discover How We Moved from a 501c3 to a 508c1a!
This book describes not only our vision, missions and values, but it also rehearses my journey of how the LORD showed me what was to come.
I foresaw not only the obvious violation of our First Amendment Rights, but how the majority of churches in America had compromised their ability to speak freely in exchange for access to grants offered by our civil government. Discover how we transitioned from a 501c3 into a 508c1a, a church and an association of churches and ministries in 2011.
It was not just to maintain our right to speak freely, but there is also a strategy and a way for the Church to take marriage back from civil government. Discover how by clicking on the book.
