The United States just passed its 'Inflation Reduction Act' which is supposed to result in the hiring of 87,000 Internal Revenue Service (IRS) employees. Some believe that the IRS will once again target 'conservative churches' and others who hold to certain biblical standards--particularly those churches who are 501 (c) (3) registered. In 1954, a law, called the Johnson Amendment, went into effect prohibiting 501 (c)(3) organizations from being involved in support or opposition of political candidates. As more and more religious topics, such as sexual ones, become categorized as 'political,' this has caused some churches to not "cry aloud and spare not" on various topics. Do American churches need to be 501 (c) (3) registered? If not, why not? Why did the Continuing Church of God pick a different way? Shouldn't churches work while they can, like Jesus did and avoid being slaves to men as the Apostle Paul wrote? Dr. Thiel and Steve Dupuie go over many of these points.

A written article of related interest is "Armed IRS agents to target ‘conservative’ 501 (c)(3) churches?"

Armed IRS agents to target ‘conservative’ 501 (c)(3) churches?

COGwriter

Around the time the US Senate voted to approve what is labeled as the Inflation Reduction Act (signed into law this week), which includes a provision for more than doubling the amount of Internal Revenue Service employees (see Guardian: US politics Landmark US climate bill will do more harm than good, groups say; CBO does not see it really reducing inflation), the IRS had a post for new agents. This post, which has since been removed, stated that the agents needed to carry a firearm and be willing to use deadly force. Note that being willing to kill was listed as one of the ‘Major Duties’ of the job!

While the IRS often calls the USA income tax system ‘voluntary,’ being willing to kill non-volunteers and/or those who come to different conclusions about aspects of the complicated tax code is wrong (and calling the system ‘voluntary’ is hypocritical).

Having more IRS employees, whether or not they use deadly force, is a concern to many Americans as the IRS has long used heavy-handed tactics–and contrary to the Constitution of the USA, the IRS often uses a “guilty until proven innocent” approach.

More agents also means more audits and reviews by the IRS.

That said, a reader sent me a link to the following:

August 19, 2022
Tens of thousands of new IRS agents will target middle-class, conservative Christians for new rounds of audits just like they did during the Obama years thanks to President Joe Biden’s new Inflation Reduction Act.
Jenny Beth Martin, a founder of Tea Party Patriots, warns that the skyrocketing number of Internal Revenue Service agents under the Biden administration could herald the return of a politicized tax agency targeting conservatives.
“I said back then, if they’re not held accountable, other bureaucrats will think that they are able to abuse the law in an even more egregious manner and get away with it,” Martin, a Florida resident, said in a phone interview with The Daily Signal.
“What concerns me is what we’re hearing right now with these 87,000 new IRS agents, they have such enormous power, they can garnish wages, they can levy bank accounts, they can put liens on your property,” Martin said.
In 2013, conservatives accused the Internal Revenue Service of unfairly targeting their organizations as they sought IRS approval for tax-exempt status.
The agency admitted it had selected specific groups applying for tax-exempt status–either 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(4)–for additional and intense scrutiny based only on their names and political affiliations.
Most of the time, the IRS targeted conservative groups, looking for words in their names such as “freedom,” “liberty,” and “patriots.” …
One high profile rejection case showed the IRS initially denied a Christian organization their tax-exempt status, because they mentioned biblical teachings on their application. https://prophecyupdate.blogspot.com/2022/08/irs-vs-christian-groups.html

Yes, in many ways the IRS and other aspects of the ‘justice’ system of the USA has been politicized. Those who claim to hold various biblical beliefs are suspect by many in the government who do not really want such groups to exist.

Most churches in the USA, including all the large COGs other than the Continuing Church of God that I am aware of, have applied to be 501(c)(3) registered, even though that is NOT necessary for non-profit churches. This is despite the Apostle Paul telling Christians, “You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men” (1 Corinthians 7:23).

A while back, someone sent me a link that led to the following:

WHY ALL CHURCHES SHOULD BE A 508(c)(1)(a)
Cleveland Futch & Dan Peterson
I . Free Expression of Religion and Freedom of Speech or Not, That is t he Question There is considerable confusion today on what pastors can and cannot say from the pulpit. 1 Most of this confusion rests squarely on the structural foundation of the church. If the church is founded as a 501 (c)(3), the church has free speech restrictions. 2 All 501 (c)(3) organizations are prohibited from influencing legislation and political campaigns. 3 As social issues have become political issues, churches and church leaders are increasingly avoiding issues, avoiding taking positions, and selectively addressing Biblical principles and training Godly leaders out of fear of what might happen if they do. Now more than ever churches need to lead in the call of training and developing leaders in our communities and nation consistent with Biblical beliefs. Our hope is that professionals who advise religious leaders will remain open to learning a better way to structure churches and church ministries to affect that call. The purpose of this analysis is to show the dangers and restrictions of the church foundation a s a 501 (c)(3) compared to the benefits and rights of the church being a 508 (c)(1)(a).
4 In 1954 our U.S. Congress amended Section 501(c)(3) of the tax code to include language that these organizations could no longer “participate in, or intervene in (including the publishing or distributing of statements), any political campaign on behalf of any candidate for public office.” The bill was introduced by then Senator Lynden Johnson to silence two private foundations that supported his political opponent. Be fore this amendment there were no speech restrictions on churches. Since the amendment passed , the IRS has maintained that church’ s speech and pastor’ s sermons , in the IRS’ sole judgement, could be interpreted as supporting or opposing candidates or attempting to influence legislation and can result in the church losing its tax exempt status. Many churches and church leaders accept this interpretation of the Code and avoid speech that could be construed as political. We believe that the speech restrictions of the Johnson Amendment in Section 501(c)(3) are unconstitutional in restricting speech of pastors and churches.

It may be that those who voluntarily accepted unnecessary “slavery” by registering as 501 (c) (3) will face more issues with the IRS than before as some have suggested.

Here is something about the Johnson Amendment:

The Johnson Amendment is a provision in the U.S. tax code, since 1954, that prohibits all 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations from endorsing or opposing political candidates. (Johnson Amendment, Wikipedia, accessed 08/19/22)

Before going further, let me state that although then US President Donald Trump said he would get rid of the Johnson Amendment, he did not. All he did was prohibit enforcement with an executive order in 2017. This can easily be changed by any president, and thus this is not legal safety. While I agree that the Johnson Amendment is unconstitutional, the USA has done many things that are in violation of its constitution. And as far as being “political goes,” being opposed to abortion, homosexuality, and cross-dressing are considered to be political, not religious positions, by many in power.

Getting back to the paper, WHY ALL CHURCHES SHOULD BE A 508(c)(1)(a), it also states:

There is no statute anywhere that says a “church” has to be a 501(c)(3) . Nowhere in Section 501(c)(3) is the word “church” used. …
Churches, Integrated Auxillaries, and Association of Churches, hereinafter Faith Based Organizations (FBO’s), have rights that no other non-profits enjoy. The First Amendment guarantees the right of “Free” exercise of religion. 11 The First Amendment also guarantees the right of “Freedom ” of speech. Only FBO non-profits enjoy these dual rights. Any law or rule passed that conflicts with these rights would be unconstitutional. FBO’s have the right to speak freely a bout social and political issues without losing tax-exempt status , however most voluntarily waive this constitutional right in applying and receiving a “Letter of Determination” as a 501 (c)(3).
All 501 (c)(3) FBO’s have waived their rights. Corporations, like people, can waive rights. You can waive your right to a hearing, waive your right to speedy trial, even waive your Miranda rights if arrested. A waived right can be final on appeal. 12 If an FBO chooses to apply and then receives recognition of exemption from the IRS they also waive rights. First, in organizing for their exempt purpose FBO’s are required to waive free expression of religion and free speech in order to qualify. Second, in operating for their exempt purpose the IR S has sole discretion to vacate FBO’s tax exempt status at the IRS ’ discretion and interpretation for any violation of 501(c)(3) restrictions. …
There is no law that prohibits churches from speaking on candidates, politics, or legislation. The 501(c)(3) speech restrictions apply only to corporations that are organized as a 501(c)(3). Churches that believe it is their responsibility to raise and foster Godly leaders in our representative democracy may do so, but not as a 501(c)(3).
There is also no statute anywhere that says a n FBO is required to be a 501(c)(3). In fact, there are several ways a n FBO could be organized. An FBO could be organized as a 501(c)(4), a 501(d) , and even a for profit corporation. An FBO also can and should be organized as a 508(c)(1)(a).

The Continuing Church of God organized as a 508(c)(1)(a). We also have been officially granted tax-exemption from the State of California. It was unnecessary to registers as 501 (c) (3), so we did not do it.

Legally, we also organized as a “corporation sole.” This form of organization was used by a Church of God leader (Herbert W. Armstrong) in the past to deal with unconstitutional government actions.

Sadly my two previous COG organizations were 501(c)(3) and were not formed as a “corporation sole.”

This ended up essentially destroying the old Global Church of God (the split in GCG in November 1998 could not have occurred as it did if GCG had been a “corporation sole”).

The fact of the 501(c)(3) registration by the Living Church of God got it to distance itself from prophetic truths (as two of its then top evangelists told me personally about 10 years ago) and has also resulted in it being unwilling to make various public statements (see 501(c)(3)? Why the Continuing Church of God chose a better option).

Of course, GCG and LCG are not the only COGs organized as 501(c)(3) non-profit corporations. Most are formed that way because of ignorance, improper legal advice, as well as to supposedly protect the top leaders of the church from a theoretical financial liability should their churches be declared not to be a church by the IRS. This 501(c)(3) registration is not something that churches have to do, plus it requires ongoing paperwork with the IRS.

Furthermore, many churches are structured as corporation aggregates (instead of corporation soles), which basically means a committee runs them. This is also not in accordance with true biblical governance (see also The Bible, Peter, Paul, John, Polycarp, Herbert W. Armstrong, Roderick C. Meredith, and Bob Thiel on Church Government). Later on in his life, Herbert W. Armstrong realized this, to a degree, and set up the church as a corporation sole.

We in the Continuing Church of God believe we chose the best available legal ways to form to lead the Philadelphian work in the end times in the USA.

This, of course, does not mean that the State or Federal governments may not take improper actions against us.

Actually, we believe that is prophesied (cf. Amos 8:11-12).

But what it does mean is that we in the Continuing Church of God are serious about fulfilling Jesus’ commissions in Matthew 24:14 and 28:19-20. And in the end times, boldly fulfilling the following:

1 Cry aloud, spare not; Lift up your voice like a trumpet; Tell My people their transgression, And the house of Jacob their sins. (Isaiah 58:1)
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. (Matthew 28:19-20)

Many other COG groups are more cautious and unwilling to do that as much as they should–many are less willing tell about various sins. Part of the hesitancy reason from USA based groups is that most of them are 501(c)(3) registered and are not corporation soles.

Jesus warned that most Christians would be lukewarm in the end times, and we are seeing that.

Forming the way we in the Continuing Church of God did was part of our preparation for the short work (Romans 9:27)–as we feel that is the best way to fulfill various biblical teachings on end time proclamations.

Furthermore, let me add that one of the reasons that we began broadcasting over European Gospel Radio was because of interference from Big Tech and the US government to limit biblical content on the internet.

And while we know that the famine of the word is coming, Jesus said:

4 I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. (John 9:4)

In the CCOG, we are striving to imitate Jesus and work where we can, realizing that more restrictions are prophesied.

The Book of Proverbs teaches:

3 A prudent man foresees evil and hides himself, But the simple pass on and are punished. (Proverbs 22:3)

So since we knew that more censorship was coming and that 501 (c) (3) registered organizations faced even more censorship, unlike many groups, we refused to apply for 501 (c) (3) registration.

By not doing so, we in the CCOG took that and other steps to help protect our ability to be able to preach The Gospel of the Kingdom of God to the world as a witness before the end comes (Matthew 24:14).

We believe that was prudent.

UPDATE: 08/21/22: we just uploaded the following video:

501c3 and Sparing Not
The United States just passed its ‘Inflation Reduction Act’ which is supposed to result in the hiring of 87,000 Internal Revenue Service (IRS) employees. Some believe that the IRS will once again target ‘conservative churches’ and others who hold to certain biblical standards–particularly those churches who are 501 (c) (3) registered. IN 1854, a law, called the Johnson Amendment, went into affect prohibiting 501 (c)(3) organizations from being involved in support or opposition of political candidates. As more and more religious topics, such as sexual ones, become categorized as ‘political,’ this has caused some churches to not “cry aloud and spare not” on various topics. Do American churches need to be 501 (c) (3) registered? If not, why not? Why did the Continuing Church of God pick a different way? Shouldn’t churches work while they can, like Jesus did and avoid being slaves to men as the Apostle Paul wrote? Dr. Thiel and Steve Dupuie go over many of these points.

Here is a link to our video: 501c3 and Sparing Not.

Full article with related written items/videos: Armed IRS agents to target ‘conservative’ 501 (c)(3) churches?

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