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The 501c3 Thread

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March 27, 2024, 12:55:24 pm Mark says: Shocked Shocked Shocked Shocked  When Hamas spokesman Abu Ubaida began a speech marking the 100th day of the war in Gaza, one confounding yet eye-opening proclamation escaped the headlines. Listing the motives for the Palestinian militant group's Oct. 7 massacre in Israel, he accused Jews of "bringing red cows" to the Holy Land.
December 31, 2022, 10:08:58 am NilsFor1611 says: blessings
August 08, 2018, 02:38:10 am suzytr says: Hello, any good churches in the Sacto, CA area, also looking in Reno NV, thanks in advance and God Bless you Smiley
January 29, 2018, 01:21:57 am Christian40 says: It will be interesting to see what happens this year Israel being 70 years as a modern nation may 14 2018
October 17, 2017, 01:25:20 am Christian40 says: It is good to type Mark is here again!  Smiley
October 16, 2017, 03:28:18 am Christian40 says: anyone else thinking that time is accelerating now? it seems im doing days in shorter time now is time being affected in some way?
September 24, 2017, 10:45:16 pm Psalm 51:17 says: The specific rule pertaining to the national anthem is found on pages A62-63 of the league rulebook. It states: “The National Anthem must be played prior to every NFL game, and all players must be on the sideline for the National Anthem. “During the National Anthem, players on the field and bench area should stand at attention, face the flag, hold helmets in their left hand, and refrain from talking. The home team should ensure that the American flag is in good condition. It should be pointed out to players and coaches that we continue to be judged by the public in this area of respect for the flag and our country. Failure to be on the field by the start of the National Anthem may result in discipline, such as fines, suspensions, and/or the forfeiture of draft choice(s) for violations of the above, including first offenses.”
September 20, 2017, 04:32:32 am Christian40 says: "The most popular Hepatitis B vaccine is nothing short of a witch’s brew including aluminum, formaldehyde, yeast, amino acids, and soy. Aluminum is a known neurotoxin that destroys cellular metabolism and function. Hundreds of studies link to the ravaging effects of aluminum. The other proteins and formaldehyde serve to activate the immune system and open up the blood-brain barrier. This is NOT a good thing."
http://www.naturalnews.com/2017-08-11-new-fda-approved-hepatitis-b-vaccine-found-to-increase-heart-attack-risk-by-700.html
September 19, 2017, 03:59:21 am Christian40 says: bbc international did a video about there street preaching they are good witnesses
September 14, 2017, 08:06:04 am Psalm 51:17 says: bro Mark Hunter on YT has some good, edifying stuff too.
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Mark
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« Reply #210 on: August 06, 2015, 05:52:27 am »

Will Your Church Be Turned Into a FEMA Camp?

We are entering a dangerous period of time for Christians, one in which we will see the metaphorical feeding of the Christians to the Lions.

Now, more than ever before, it is important to get one’s spiritual house in order. Now, more than ever before, it is becoming increasingly more difficult to practice your Christian faith without experiencing serious consequences. And to compound these issues, many pastors have forsaken their calling and have betrayed their flock.

The purpose of this article is to call attention to the major failings of the modern American church, identify how your pastor could be a threat to your freedom and even your safety and most importantly, address the question of whether or not your church will be turned into a FEMA camp? Is there anything that you can do about this?Your Pastor and 30 Pieces of Silver

Pastor’s have let Judas’ fate become their own.

We all know the story about how Judas betrayed Jesus for a relatively small amount of money. Today, almost all churches place money over spreading the true word of God. If you doubt the veracity of this statement then ask yourself when was the last time that your pastor spoke to you about the evils of abortion, Planned Parenthood selling aborted fetus body parts for profit, our government’s wars of occupation for corporate profit and the unwarranted attacks upon Christianity by the present administration? If your pastor isn’t speaking to you about the evils of these and other contemporary issues in American society, presented within the framework of Biblical doctrine, then you are not attending a church that preaches the word of God.

In Timothy 6:10, it says that the “For the love of money is the root of all evil…”. And your pastors have sold out their flock for a small tax break that we refer to as a 501-C-3 tax exemption. However, when a church travels down this slippery slope, it ultimately sells its soul to the devil.

501-d (1)[4]501[5]Is your church a friend or foe with regard to your salvation? Is your church a 501-C-3 tax exempt church? Is your church an agent of the government? If your church leadership does not condemn anything controversial, no matter how antithetical to the word of God, you are not worshiping in a Christian church. If your church is a 501-C-3 tax exempt church, your church is not a church of God.

If your church is a 501(c)(3) organization, then your church has a significant financial motivation to not truthfully interpret the true message of the Bible. The tax exempt status of being a 501(c)(3) organization is the other cornerstone of this shift away from allegiance to God and towards worshiping our new Savior, the federal government. Unless I missed the fact that God personally rewrote sections of the Bible, your pastor’s failure to stand up to the liberalism of the New World Order should have tipped you off that something was terribly wrong with your church.

According to the Internal Revenue Service, no substantial part of a religious, tax exempt church may engage in any activity which may be attempting to influence legislation and the church may not intervene in political campaigns. In other words, if the government decides to secretly disappear dissidents under the NDAA and/or Jade Helm, the church must remain silent or risk losing its tax exemption. If the government continues to expand its infanticide policies by extending the murder of babies to include post-delivery abortion, then the church must remain silent. If the government engages in any heinous, genocidal act, such as the murder of 1.2 million Iraqi’s, under the false pretense of looking for weapons of mass destruction, the church must remain silent or risk losing the tax advantages for being a 501 (c)(3) tax exempt organization in a case of money over God.

The Clergy Response Team

Serving government over God!

Many of your 501-C-3 pastors have gone so far as to put on the uniform of the enemy and it is called the Clergy Response Team. The Clergy Response Team falls under the umbrella series of programs known as DHS’ controlled National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (NOVAD) which is a non-profit, member organization which shares knowledge and resources throughout a disaster. The organization helps to prepare, respond, recover and to mitigate the damage caused by some unknown disaster presumably which lies in the future of humanity.

Amazingly, NOVAD claims to be a faith-based coalition which is structured as a non-governmental organization and operates on a national scale and is supported by tax dollars funneled to the DHS.

Instantly, Bible believing Christians should smell a rat. Since when, in the modern era, has the federal government ever sponsored organized religion? The answer is not since well before the advent of the atheist activist, Madalyn Murray O’Hair, who was successful in banning prayer in the public schools in 1963. Then why would the government suddenly fund and support a “faith-based organization” on a national scale? The simple answer is that Homeland Security is seeking to control our churches and ministers, before the impending economic train wreck comes to fruition inside of America. DHS desperately is seeking to control all Christians through the perversion of Romans 13 and this is one of two cornerstones in this movement designed to control Christian leaders. And this government foothold into the control of our churches begins with accepting the 501-C-3 tax exempt status which gives the government license to control the message and to ultimately pervert the word of God. There can only be one outcome for this kind of training, making the people docile when martial law is rolled out.

Mark 8:39 clearly states, “What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?” This page must be absent from almost all the pastor’s Bibles in today’s pulpits. Mark possessed the courage to pay a price for his faithfulness. This kind of faithfulness should be embraced by all who claim to lead our congregations in the name of God. The irony of the situation can be accurately expressed with the following gross misinterpretation of the Bible.

The Bastardization of Romans 13

DHS now demands that the pastors preach a bastardized version of Romans 13 during times of declared national emergency. Does your pastor command you to follow the will of the government because it is your Christian duty to do so under Romans 13? In the following paragraphs it will be revealed that your pastor is likely bought and paid for and you will be told how to prepare for martial law, “quarantining” and firearms confiscation and that it is your “Christian duty” to comply with the government.

When the Pope addresses the United , on September 15, and tells all Catholics worldwide to submit to the New World Order under Romans 13, will you obey this anti-Christian directive?

jesus and the money changers[7]The modern interpretation of Romans 13 is pure blasphemy. This scripture has been morphed into a doctrine espousing the “Divine Right of Kings” in which God has somehow chosen a king to ruthlessly rule over a people and it is incumbent upon the people to accept their “God-given fate”, The flock are commanded to “…submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established.” This false interpretation is nothing but a divine coronation of a ruthless, self-serving government and Christians are expected to capitulate and honor the same kind of thievery, lawlessness and murder which inspired Jesus to expel the moneychangers from the Temple.
When Martial Law Comes to America, What Role Will Your Pastor Play?

Eight months ago, I interviewed Pastor Walter Mansfield by phone and the content related to this interview sent chills up and down my spine when I asked him about the Clergy Response Team.

Pastor Mansfield was recruited to become a member of the Clergy Response Team which would operate under the control of NOVAD and DHS. Mansfield’s revelations about his experiences are stunning and concerning at the same time.

Pastor Mansfield attended several briefings and he could barely believe his ears. He learned of the government’s plan to enact martial law as well as to implement forced population relocations. Mansfield emphasized that when martial law is enacted, the enforcement would be immediate. In other words, family members will be separated from each other and part of the training that the clergy received was how to comfort separated family members.

Pastor Mansfield emphasized that the FEMA/DHS drills were predicated on bioterrorism. This is exactly what my relocated FEMA source told me before he and his family left. The pastors were trained to go to homes were people refused to be relocated by the authorities and their immediate job was to convince the reluctant to willingly go to the relocation camps. Ostensibly, this was to be done in lieu of sending in the SWAT teams.

I asked Mansfield if FEMA camps were real and he stated that much of the clergy training focused around this scenario of pastors operating within the forced relocation centers. The main goal of a pastor assigned to a FEMA was to bring order and encourage compliance with DHS requests, hence, the emphasis on Romans 13.

The pastors were forced to sign non-disclosure. Interesting, the pastors were told not to quote Scripture. The DHS document which was prepared for the pastors clearly stated that Scripture had been used to “oppress” people in the past and the presenters strongly discouraged the its use. Please see the following excerpt from one of the DHS training manuals:

Healing Scripture and Prayer In the Pastoral Crisis Intervention

    “During a time of crisis people do go through a “crisis of faith.”
    Sometime quick mention of God and scripture may not be helpful. As we all know the Scripture has been used to oppress, dominate and at the same time used for healing and reconciliation- renewing of relationship with God and people. If the pastor senses it is appropriate to use the scripture and prayer, it must carefully be done for healing of victims not to uphold pastoral authority.” (Page 14)
    In other words, all legitimate pastoral authority was abrogated by the pastors who participated in the roundup of American citizens.
    Also on page 14 of the same training document, pastors were admonished to avoid “Unhealthy God talk….” Specifically pastors are ordered to avoid using references to God when helping people cope with the loss of a loved one:

    “4. God must have needed him/her more than you.”
    “5. God never gives more than we can handle.“

Pastor Mansfield also revealed that pastors will be issued badges under the Clergy Response Team program. Any pastor not displaying the badge, indicating that they have been trained under these guidelines, will not be permitted into the established and designated “DHS safety zones”. This reminds me of the banishment of religious figures from Plymouth Colony who, in good conscience, refused to go along with some of the extremism of that day. Along these lines, the Clergy Response Team is also a “Kool-Aid drinking program”. Pastors are absolutely forbidden to publicly to speak about any aspect of the program. If you were to ask your pastor if they are a FEMA trained pastor, they will not likely tell you.

Disturbingly, Pastor Mansfield reiterated several times that the number one job of these pastors is to calm down people and encourage their compliance within the people’s new surroundings.

Pastor Mansfield also stated that pastors will be utilized as informants. This violates the legal privilege of confidentiality between pastor and church-goer, that is currently recognized by law. All church-goers can no longer trust the sanctity of personal confessions and revelations made to pastors, priests or rabbis’. This one illegal act by DHS completely undermines the Christian Church in America!

Conclusion

At one time in American history, churches were viewed as sanctuaries for the downtrodden. That is not the case any longer for most churches and their pastors. Most of the medium to large size churches are completely compromised and are serving as virtual agents of the government. Pastor Mansfield told me that as many as 28,000 pastors have been recruited by the Clergy Response Team. Other estimates place this number as high as a 100,000 pastors have forsaken their duty God and have sold out to the dark side in order to save a little bit of tax money.

If what I am reading is correct and the Pope is declaring a New World Order on September 15 and the global currency reset will follow in a month and your money will be devalued by 90%, what will you do? Please allow me to suggest that if these people are correct in their projections, you have one month to obtain what you need to survive. Secondly, you should scrutinize your place of worship and leave if they are not preaching the unadulterated word of God. Form home Bible study groups, take back the salvation of your soul. This life is temporary, hell is forever!

Is your church going to turn into a FEMA camp? For most of us, it already has and the prisoner is your soul. DHS may not build bars around your church and confine your body, but the move on your soul has already been made. Exercise the free will to say no to this illegitimate authority.

Endnotes:

http://endtimesandcurrentevents.freesmfhosting.com/index.php?action=post;topic=530.180;num_replies=209
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« Reply #211 on: August 20, 2015, 12:25:42 pm »

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« Reply #212 on: August 21, 2015, 11:37:16 am »

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« Reply #213 on: August 28, 2015, 04:18:22 pm »

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« Reply #214 on: October 15, 2015, 01:29:16 pm »

http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=1013152325546
Audio Inside Link: Constantine, Rome & The Donatists: The Beast Attacks the Baptists
Series:  The Baptist Battle for Liberty  · 3 of 3
10/13/2015 (TUE)
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« Reply #215 on: November 23, 2015, 08:09:37 pm »

Non-Profits Unhappy With IRS Proposed Rule On Charitable Giving

Non-profit groups are crying foul at the Internal Revenue Service’s proposed rule that would give organizations the option to collect and send to the IRS the social security numbers of their donors who give $250 or more.

Although the rule under consideration is optional for now, organizations are concerned the IRS may require them to collect and send such information to the agency in the future.

According to the proposed rule, “the collection of information is necessary to properly substantiate charitable contribution deductions under the exception to the general requirements for substantiating charitable contribution deductions of $250 or more.”

Organizations that are 501(c)(3) groups include charities, religious organizations, and universities. A non-profit contributor can claim a deduction on their annual income taxes from their donation to the organization. Those opposing the rule appear to come from all areas of the political spectrum.

“This is a huge issue for nonprofits — and the American public,” Tim Delaney, CEO of the National Council of Nonprofits, which opposes the rule, told Fox News.

Currently, organizations are only required to send a contributor who gives $250 or more “contemporaneous written acknowledgement (CWA)” which shows how much was donated and if any services or gifts received in return.

The rule under consideration by the IRS would instead, if a 501 (c)(3) decides to, require the organization to send donors’ social security numbers to the IRS on a form to the agency every year by February 28. Each donor would receive a copy of what is sent to the IRS.

“This is part of the IRS’s continued efforts to reduce the reach and effectiveness of non-profit organizations. Many of you will remember the proposed regulations from last year that would have narrowly defined ‘social welfare’ to shut down conservative organizations critical of the IRS,” stated Freedom Works, a 501c3 organization, about the rule.


Additionally, concerns about privacy and hacking of personal information could keep nonprofits away from asking their donors for their social security numbers to deliver to the IRS later on.

Republican media specialist, T.J. McCormack, told Fox News “there is a dog whistle aspect to this.”

“Everybody knows that everybody’s being hacked, and it’s just a little uncomfortable,” he said. “And there’s also this feeling that the government is overreaching…. and that still leaves a little bit of a bad taste in everybody’s mouth.”

Basil Smikle, the executive director of NYS Democratic party, agreed telling Fox News, “I do think the nonprofit lobby in this will push back really hard. My guess is that they will succeed,” he said.



Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2015/11/23/non-profits-unhappy-with-irs-proposed-rule-on-charitable-giving/#ixzz3sN3WsrjL
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« Reply #216 on: January 05, 2016, 04:28:15 pm »

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« Reply #217 on: February 23, 2016, 07:01:46 pm »

http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-02-23/membership-for-health-sharing-ministries-soars-under-obamacare
2/23/16
Christians Find Their Own Way to Replace Obamacare

Health sharing ministries allow devout Americans a safety net of care, but regulators say more consumer protection is needed.


The use of so-called “health sharing ministries” has soared in the wake of President Barack Obama’s health care reforms, but long-skeptical regulators are raising new questions about the plans’ aims to assist in the cost of medical bills while remaining exempt from rules placed on traditional insurance.

Since Obamacare’s passage, health sharing membership has more than doubled, from about 200,000 to about 530,000, according to the Alliance of Health Care Sharing Ministries. The law exempts health sharing members from having to abide by its “individual mandate,” which obligates people to buy health insurance or pay a penalty.

Begun more than 20 years ago as an alternative approach to managing growing health care costs in the U.S., members “share” in medical bills instead of paying for insurance. In some ministries, participants receive a letter about another member’s medical bills each month and send a check for a set amount directly to that member. Sometimes they include notes of encouragement, Bible verses or even gifts.

[READ: How Obamacare Can Cover Your Over-the-Counter Meds]

The organizations require that members follow a code of conduct consistent with biblical values, which often means attending a church regularly and making a profession of faith. It means no sex outside of marriage, no drinking to drunkenness, no drugs and no tobacco outside of a cigar at a wedding or at the birth of a child. If a teenager were to become addicted to drugs, become pregnant or get a sexually transmitted disease, the associated medical costs would not be shared.

Fifty-four-year-old Pennsylvania resident Jennifer, who asked that her last name not be revealed to protect her privacy, said she and her family have participated in a Christian nonprofit plan provided by Samaritan Ministries for 18 years and passed on the tax-subsidized, private health insurance Obamacare offered through online exchanges.

Jennifer, whose family’s membership in the ministry means they won’t incur the $2,085 maximum fine families have to pay for going uninsured in 2016, estimates that members have shared $30,000 of her family’s medical bills. Every month, her family receives a letter about another member's medical need and sends a $405 check directly to that member. In the years they have been part of Samaritan Ministries, she estimates the monthly share has increased about four times after members voted to do so.

“I haven’t felt like I’ve been throwing my money away to grease some CEO’s pocket,” she says.
 
People say they join health sharing ministries for a variety of reasons – whether they’ve found exchange plans to be prohibitively expensive or because they prefer sharing medical costs with others who hold their faith and will pray for their medical hardships. Some say they don’t want to pay into a plan that violates their religious objections, such as those that cover abortions or emergency contraception, the latter of which is obligated under Obamacare for all private plans.

“We do know that people are objecting to the requirement of contraception as coverage or to not being allowed to find a plan that doesn’t offer it,” says Twila Brase, co-founder and president of Citizens Council for Health Freedom, a nonprofit based in St. Paul, Minnesota, that has encouraged enrollment in health sharing.

But critics say the plans offer members no guarantee their medical bills will be shared, and ministries aren’t obligated to include a range of care that insurance companies are, such as mental health, preventive care, birth control, dental and vision for children, or managing pre-existing conditions. 

Commissioners or judges in Washington, Kentucky and Oklahoma tried to shut health sharing ministries down in recent years, but state lawmakers stepped in, allowing them to run without the same regulations insurance companies face. According to the Alliance of Health Care Sharing Ministries, 30 states have such exemptions.

Under Obamacare, meanwhile, health insurance plans are required to include a range of medical services – some of which come at no cost to patients.

“This strikes me as having a lot of the features that many people were looking to get rid of prior to the Affordable Care Act,” says Kevin Lucia, senior research professor at Georgetown University’s Center on Health Insurance Reforms.

Some people, however, have complained that the plans include services they never wanted or asked for in the first place. Tim Jost, professor of law at the Washington and Lee University School of Law, says he’s concerned people may be joining ministries for reasons other than religious convictions.

“I’m concerned that you have people joining because they’re trying to find cheap coverage or because they’re ideologically opposed to the Affordable Care Act, or people who aren’t committed,” he says.

He points out that those who sign up because of inexpensive monthly sharing may not understand all the terms they are agreeing to and also may not be committed to making the ministries work.

For its part, another group called Christian Healthcare Ministries does not see itself as protesting Obamacare.

“A health cost sharing ministry isn’t anti-Obamacare; in reality, it’s part of the total approach to health care cost support in America,” says Lauren Gajdek, a spokeswoman for the group. “We aren’t a protest movement; we’re part of the solution.”

Rachel Sachs, academic fellow at the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology and Bioethics at Harvard Law School, says some academics are concerned that the sudden growth in membership within health sharing ministries could threaten the private, individual health insurance market. Members of sharing ministries tend to be healthier because they avoid risky behavior, meaning that people who are sicker or have more expensive conditions to manage turn to the marketplace or to publicly funded Medicaid because ministries won’t share in many of their health needs.

This results in adverse selection, particularly as the federal government and states are trying to enroll healthy, young citizens in tax-subsidized private insurance so they can balance the costs for people whose medical needs are more expensive and complex.

“I think health sharing ministries seem to be terrific institutions for most of the people in them, but I do have concerns about their effects externally,” Sachs says.
 
Lucia also points out that, because coverage is so limited under the ministries, people who initially sign up are likely to enroll in more traditional insurance when they actually get illnesses that require long-term management, citing hypothetical examples such as Type 1 diabetes, needing treatment for psychiatric disorders or the onset of multiple sclerosis.

Regulators and academics are also concerned about internal effects on members. Because health sharing ministries are not regulated by any outside body, members cannot go to state insurance commissioners with a complaint as they would with typical insurance. If a ministry runs out of money, they are not required to have reserves that would handle unusually expensive cases.

“When it’s regulated as an insurance product you have a structure behind it,” Lucia says. “They are working on behalf of you to make sure that what you bought is covering what it’s supposed to. … You need to know the regulatory body is there to make sure you’re not getting shortchanged.”

Lack of oversight resulted in mismanagement in the past. Christian Healthcare Ministries, formerly known as the Christian Brotherhood Newsletter, was placed under court-ordered receivership in 2000 after members complained to the Ohio attorney general’s office about $34 million in unpaid claims. The Rev. Bruce Hawthorn, founder of the newsletter, and his nephew, Daniel Beers, were found liable for civil and solicitation fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, conversion and unjust enrichment.

The lawsuit was filed by the Ohio attorney general and the mission associated with the newsletter in an attempt to recover donations attorneys say were used to buy luxury houses, motorcycles, fund high salaries, vacations and the living expenses of a stripper. Hawthorn and family members were ordered to pay $14 million in punitive and compensatory damages.

To help avoid circumstances like this, under Obamacare ministries must conduct annual audits performed by an independent accounting firm, which are to be made publicly available upon request. Christian Healthcare Ministries now has an independent board of directors, and no board member is an employee or relative of an employee with the exception of the president, according to a spokeswoman for the group.

In 2007, members of another group, Medi-Share, filed a lawsuit in Montana claiming the ministry refused to pay for heart-valve surgery after an infection, saying it was a pre-existing condition. A pastor in Nevada also sued Medi-Share after it refused to pay for treatment of a heart condition, eventually reaching a settlement. Medi-Share is no longer available in the state.

In Oklahoma, members shared in $450,000 of treatment for Karen Niles, a woman who had a brain tumor. In 2008, Medi-Share told her it wouldn’t continue to share in treatment costs because the state regulators at the time had ordered the group to cease its operations. Niles sued, claiming the real reason for the denial was that Medi-Share didn’t have the money.

The case was resolved through arbitration, which found in favor of Medi-Share. The ministry didn’t continue to share in costs, and Niles joined a high-risk, expensive health insurance pool to get surgery.

“Getting together with a group of like-minded people sounds good and works well until it doesn’t,” says a spokesman from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. “You don’t have any protections in terms of making sure your claims can be paid.”

Health sharing ministries typically don’t let members sue, and some immediately drop members who do so. Disagreements have been settled by member panels. 

They vary in whether they have safety-net funds in place for people who lose their jobs, exceed a maximum sharing amount where it exists or face pre-existing conditions. Members understand that sharing is never guaranteed, leaders of the organizations say.

At Samaritan Ministries, members vote themselves on what should be covered, and individuals can appeal decisions to a panel of 13 randomly selected members. At times this has resulted in policy changes. James Lansberry, executive vice president for the organization, says he’s seen about four disputes in 21 years: one is in process, another involved membership status and another resulted in needs not being shared.

In the fourth case, which resulted in sharing, a female member who needed tubal litigations asked for Samaritan Ministries to share in costs, as her doctor said it would be life-threatening for her to get pregnant again. The panel decided to approve her appeal, and moving forward the organization has changed its policy to share costs for other women who face the same medical need.

Samaritan Ministries would not disclose the case in which sharing was rejected, saying it needed to protect members’ privacy.

“We can tell you that in the membership status appeal, the person was not meeting his membership responsibilities,” a spokesman for the group said. “We had given him multiple opportunities before terminating the membership. The member panel indicated that we should have ended his membership sooner than we did.”

Tony Meggs, president and CEO of Christian Care Ministry, acknowledges that to people who aren’t Christians the structure of health sharing ministries will appear odd and says the model isn’t for everyone.

“Someone who isn’t of the faith doesn’t have a familiarity of the commands and requirements of the scripture,” he says. “We live our lives in a way that we share in each other’s needs. That’s a biblical mandate Christ gives us in scripture.”

When asked about what can be done when families have a teenager who makes decisions outside of biblical teachings their parents hold, Meggs acknowledged the difficulty, saying: “Those are the types of issues we grapple with. Our process of grappling with them is to take the hard questions and decisions and to give them to the members to decide.” 

Still, the organization doesn’t police its members. If they discover through a medical bill that someone has engaged in activity outside of biblical teachings, they encourage members to recommit themselves to the guidelines.

Ocieanna Fleiss, 46, a mom in Seattle who home-schools her four kids, faced $125,000 in medical bills after a sudden cardiac arrest five years ago. Her husband had been laid off in 2008 after the mortgage crisis, and they took several part-time jobs as they struggled to make ends meet.

Her husband told her Medi-Share, the health sharing ministry they belonged to, would share in all but $1,000 of the cost. “That’s when I started weeping because it was such an amazing relief,” she says.

The organization had also shared in $20,000 in costs after her husband broke his ankle. It did not, however, cover her son’s ongoing care for Type 1 diabetes after he was diagnosed last year, though Medi-Share did share the costs of the initial hospital visit. The hospital they were using helped sign him up for Medicaid – the state-federal program for low-income Americans – to assist the Fleisses with costs of insulin and other care.

Fleiss says the experience did not discourage their membership to Medi-Share, but added that she was fine with adding Medicaid in order to provide for her family.

“We knew going into it,” Fleiss says. “Medi-Share protected us from financial despair.”
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« Reply #218 on: April 12, 2016, 12:25:26 pm »

http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=41216617550
Separaton of Church and State: The Biblical Principles and the American Application - Jerald Finney
4/12/2016 (TUE) 
Audio: http://www.sermonaudio.com/playpopup.asp?SID=41216617550
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« Reply #219 on: July 18, 2016, 07:34:28 pm »

Trump vows to end ban on churches endorsing candidates

‘We’re going to let evangelicals, we’re going to let Christians and Jews and people of religion talk without being afraid to talk,’ says presumptive Republican nominee   

http://www.timesofisrael.com/trump-vows-to-end-ban-on-churches-endorsing-candidates/

They can already do that, but they want to worship the almighty dollar than GOD
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« Reply #220 on: July 22, 2016, 11:16:11 pm »

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« Reply #221 on: August 08, 2016, 09:13:00 pm »

This is by far the most balanced teaching on this issue (a lot of the others I've heard are at one extreme or the other).

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« Reply #222 on: August 31, 2016, 12:27:24 pm »

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« Reply #223 on: November 08, 2016, 02:37:48 pm »

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« Reply #224 on: February 03, 2017, 07:11:29 pm »

Trump’s Promise to Evangelicals: I Will 'Destroy' the Johnson Amendment

On Thursday, President Donald Trump told thousands of faith leaders he would destroy a law that keeps pastors from speaking politically from the pulpit.  “I will get rid of and totally destroy the Johnson Amendment and allow our representatives of faith to speak freely and without fear of retribution. I will do that, remember,” he promised at the annual National Prayer Breakfast. ....

http://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/politics/2017/february/trump-rsquo-s-promise-to-evangelicals-i-will-destroy-the-johnson-amendment
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« Reply #225 on: April 10, 2017, 07:28:04 pm »

Study: Increasing Number of Americans ‘Love Jesus but Not the Church’
Denison Forum on Truth and Culture

An official who served in the Obama administration has revealed that the administration was aware that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had access to chemical weapons.

This news emerged after forces of Assad dropped deadly chemical weapons on Syrian civilians in the town of Khan Sheikhoun last Tuesday. More than 80 people were killed in the attack, including at least 10 children.

In response to the attack, President Trump approved the launch of 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles targeting a Syrian airbase.

Now, the situation in Syria and the U.S.’s involvement is complicated by the fact that the Obama administration allegedly had knowledge that Assad still had chemical weapons, despite what the administration had told the public.

"We always knew we had not gotten everything, that the Syrians had not been fully forthcoming in their declaration," Tony Blinken, a former deputy secretary of state and former deputy national security adviser under Barack Obama, told the New York Times, as reported by the Washington Examiner.

John Kerry, Secretary of State in the Obama administration, had praised an agreement the U.S. made with Syria in 2013 that purportedly ensured Assad did not have access to chemical weapons. Kerry even said in 2014 that the agreement ensured Syria had gotten rid of “100 percent” of its chemical weapons.

Many have criticized the administration for this apparent dishonesty, but others maintain that the blame rests with Assad who they say did not disclose all relevant information to the U.S. 

http://www.christianheadlines.com/blog/study-increasing-number-of-americans-love-jesus-but-not-the-church.html
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« Reply #226 on: May 19, 2017, 12:01:00 pm »



http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=51917533540
Is Donald Trump The Next Constantine? 501c3 & Donalds Decree
Series:  OPBC ONLINE Radio Show  · 4 of 4
5/19/2017 (FRI)
Audio: http://www.sermonaudio.com/saplayer/playpopup.asp?SID=51917533540
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« Reply #227 on: June 26, 2017, 05:37:26 pm »

http://www.wnd.com/2017/06/supremes-side-with-preschool-in-major-church-state-decision/
6/26/17
Supremes side with preschool in major church-state decision
Blocking religious institutions from taxpayer funding 'unconstitutional'


The state of Missouri violated the First Amendment by refusing to allow a child care center to participate in a state-funded playground program solely because of its church affiliation, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 7-2 decision released Monday.

“The [Missouri] department’s policy violated the rights of Trinity Lutheran under the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment by denying the church an otherwise available public benefit on account of its religious status,” wrote Chief Justice John Roberts regarding the case brought by Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia.

The church had applied for a benefit that was routinely available to early learning centers in the state but was rejected by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources only because of its faith affiliation.

The Supreme Court said on Monday: “This court has repeatedly confirmed that denying a generally available benefit solely on account of religious identity imposes a penalty on the free exercise of religion. … The department’s policy expressly discriminates against otherwise eligible recipients by disqualifying them from a public benefit solely because of their religious character. … The department’s policy puts Trinity Lutheran to a choice: It may participate in an otherwise available benefit program or remain a religious institution. When the state conditions a benefit in this way, [precedent] says plainly that the state has imposed a penalty on the free exercise of religion that must withstand the most exacting scrutiny.”

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« Reply #228 on: July 25, 2017, 05:09:52 pm »

Jubilee Park to 'make a real difference' in southern Dallas with new mental health services

7/23/17

https://www.dallasnews.com/business/health-care/2017/07/22/jubilee-park-make-real-difference-southern-dallas-new-mental-health-services

Ben Leal, CEO of Jubilee Park and Community Center, remembers when the center's neighborhood near Fair Park was known as "the military zone."

Back then, the police wouldn't come when called and Leal spent nearly every morning with volunteers in the Jubilee neighborhood cleaning alleys and streets filled with trash, used condoms and old dime bags for drugs.

But much has changed since the community center first opened its doors in 1997. Now, the corners have security cameras and crime has dropped 67 percent, according to tracking by the center.

And more change is on the way July 25, when The Old Church at Jubilee Park will begin hosting new mental health care services through a partnership with the community center and Jewish Family Service of Greater Dallas. The church is on Gurley Avenue, across the street from the community center.

For Leal and others who believe mental health services in South and southern Dallas have been lacking for years, the new programs — including family therapy, play therapy and individual counseling — are a chance "to make a real difference."

He noted that in Jubilee Park, 99 percent of children in the center's lengthy list of programming, from after-school programs to summer camp, qualify for free or reduced-price lunches. The average household income is just below $15,000.

"When you're growing up in poverty, you're already dealing with trauma and stressors in your life," Leal said. "These children are in need, and these families are in need of an outlet, someone to talk to, someone to speak out with. I think that's why it's so great that we have Jewish Family Service with us now."
For the children

Maria Andrande has lived in the Jubilee neighborhood for 20 years and thinks the new services will make a big difference.

Andrande said she plans to seek help, too, to have someone outside of her family who will listen.

The new programming at the church will have two clinicians, both bilingual, and a psychiatrist, who will be able to provide prescriptions to clients.

In addition, clients will be able to receive individual counseling, diagnostic evaluation, family therapy, child play therapy and more.

Play therapy is specifically for children ages 3 to 12 who have difficulty verbalizing their emotions. This form of therapy lets kids use toys like words to play out their anxieties, fears, aggression and other emotions and thoughts, according to Gustavo Barcenas, one of the center's new therapists.
Making an impact

"There are lots of organizations that acknowledge that mental health is a significant issue. It's a bigger step to say not only do we acknowledge it, but we have the conviction to take action steps to make mental health services available," said Fleisher, who retired as CEO in March. "The results will prove themselves."

A grant for $162,000 paid for a part-time psychiatrist and two full-time clinicians to provide play therapy, diagnostic testing and counseling services.

The grant came from The Rees-Jones Foundation, an organization that has funded mental health services in Dallas since 2006.

Since it began, the foundation has awarded 167 grants totaling nearly $27 million to help improve mental health services in Dallas, according to Adrian Cook, the foundation's director of research and evaluations.

Jewish Family Service is providing staff to Jubilee through The Rees-Jones Foundation.

Terese Stevenson, the foundation's vice president of grants, said Jubilee is an example of how the foundation wants to provide "not just access to services, but access to high-quality services that are going to make an impact.

"We're very focused on ensuring that all children in our communities who are struggling with mental health issues have counseling and therapy. We see that there's such a large percentage of the population that have mental health issues and if those aren't addressed early they can obviously lead to some very negative consequences in the lives of young people."

The Foundation and Jewish Family Service wanted mental health services locations in southern Dallas, where mental health options are limited.

Ariela Goldstein, director of clinical services at Jewish Family Service, thinks "every community needs to have mental health services equally to medical services." She said that is because "whether it's poverty, life stressors, losses, special needs, you name it, you have to have that support."
Feeling understood

Another important factor in providing the services is making sure that the providers can relate to their clients. About 79 percent of the Jubilee community is Hispanic, so having therapists on board who speak Spanish will "let people feel heard and understood," said Nancy Hall, the new family therapist.

"Lots of times with trauma, the way we deal with it is we learn to experience it, we learn to tolerate it, and we accept it," she said. "We're just part of that wraparound model that is going to intercede for children, that is going to make a difference at an early age."

Barcenas, the play therapist at Jubilee, said that being culturally sensitive is an important part of mental health help. Stigma, he said, is already a deterrent for many ethnic communities, but bringing in people who "could understand more of the culture" will make long-term help more effective.

"A lot of clients actually don't come because of the language barrier," he said. "As a counselor, we need to be trained in how to provide culturally sensitive interventions."

For more information about Jubilee Park and Community Center, click here

CORRECTION, 11:30 a.m., July 25, 2017: An earlier version of this story incorrectly said that Michael Fleisher is the former CEO of Jubilee Park and Community Center. Fleisher is the former CEO of Jewish Family Service.
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« Reply #229 on: July 31, 2017, 08:05:28 am »

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« Reply #230 on: August 26, 2017, 07:43:20 pm »

'Taxman Has No Business' Editing Sermons, but Atheist Group Is Suing IRS to Do It

The Freedom From Religion Foundation has filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump and IRS Commissioner John Koskinen, asking a Wisconsin federal court to order the IRS to enforce the 1954 Johnson Amendment.

Under that law, the IRS has required churches to censor their sermons, forbidding non-profits and churches from engaging in politics, and taking away their tax-exempt status if they do.

President Trump issued an Executive Order in May, stating the IRS should not enforce the regulations. FFRF then filed its lawsuit, calling on the IRS to start enforcing the amendment.

A group of religious leaders told the court this week that the government nor FFRF should be allowed to edit sermons.

In the case, the proposed defendant-intervenors are Rev. Charles Moodie of Chicago City Life Center, Wisconsin-based Pastor Koua Vang of Hmong Baptist Ministry, Father Patrick Malone and Father Malone's church, Holy Cross Anglican Church of Milwaukee. 

The non-profit Becket Fund for Religious Liberty is representing these leaders.

Becket asked the Court to reject FFRF's lawsuit as a violation of the separation of church and state, writing, "There is a reason that the IRS has never actually enforced its regulations against internal church speech: because it knows it won't hold up against a First Amendment defense."

"Even in the context of public governmental religious speech, courts have been clear that '(g)overnment may not seek to define permissible categories of religious speech.' Town of Greece, 134 S. Ct. at 1822 (upholding legislative prayer). That is even more true for the internal church teachings at issue here," Becket continued.

"Pastors, priests, imams, and rabbis shouldn't have to get the IRS's permission just to preach candidly to their congregations," said Daniel Blomberg, legal counsel at Becket. "IRS sermon censorship is bad for the church and it's bad for the state. This is one place where a little more separation of church and state would go a long way."

"While Americans have good-faith disagreements about religion and politics, we should all agree that the taxman has no business telling religious leaders what to say during worship services," he continued.

http://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/politics/2017/august/religious-liberty-attorney-taxman-has-no-business-editing-sermons
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« Reply #231 on: September 13, 2017, 06:03:18 pm »

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« Reply #232 on: September 14, 2017, 01:08:30 am »

^^ Lawson mentioned to give to Samaritan's Purse (Franklin Graham's organization).

Lawson's church is a non-501c3, KJB-only church - he DEFINITELY should know better. He's not being ignorant at all.

I don't expect a preacher to be perfect, but nonetheless one that acts RESPONSIBLY. This is just me, but I believe Lawson has some sinister motives. Again, we're dealing with THE GRAHAMS (and the chaplain team for disaster responses) here. We're not dealing with a pastor who endorses a somewhat controversial guy (ie, Peter Ruckman), which itself is a non-issue anyways. (ie, I don't like Ruckman, but it doesn't bother me whether or not others like him)
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« Reply #233 on: October 12, 2017, 05:25:25 pm »

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article178393071.html
‘Kneel-In’ protest planned outside stadium before Panthers-Eagles game

By Joe Marusak And Michael Gordon

October 11, 2017 8:42 PM

A “Kneel-In” protest outside of tonight’s Panthers-Eagles football game was inspired by the recent police shooting of Ruben Galindo, one of the event organizers said.

The demonstration is part of a controversial movement sweeping through the country and its most popular sport. Bishop Kevin Long of Temple Church International-Charlotte said Thursday night’s event outside of Bank of America Stadium will have a local bent.

“Not only does our protest include Mr. Galindo, it was inspired by the recent discovery of his unfortunate and unnecessary demise,” Long told the Observer on Thursday.

Video of the Sept. 6 incident was released last week under a court order at the request of the Observer and the Charlotte nonprofit, Action NC.

The footage shows Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officers opening fire on the 29-year-old after a brief confrontation outside his home. Police Chief Kerr Putney says lethal force was used – and justified – in the stand-off because Galindo refused to put down a gun. Galindo had his hands in the air when he was shot, less than 4 seconds after police first ordered him to drop his weapon.

Police-shooting experts who have watched the video questioned whether Galindo posed the “imminent threat” necessary to justify the use of deadly force, and whether the officers gave Galindo enough time to respond to a series of commands about his handgun. Galindo had called 911 that night to ask police to pick him up for a future court date. He also told dispatchers that he had a gun but it was not loaded. Police say the handgun recovered at the scene was empty.

The case remains under investigation by the Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s Office and police.

“The Galindo tape is disgusting,” said Braxton Winston, a Charlotte activist and Charlotte City Council candidate. “It’s one of the most egregious forms of police-shooting videos that I’ve ever seen.”

Robert Dawkins of Action NC, who helped persuade a judge to release the footage, has complained for days on social media that the case has not drawn the attention it deserves, and urging other local groups to become publicly involved.

“Tell me what U have 2 do 2 get national coverage for police killings?” Dawkins tweeted over the weekend. “Cause I can’t figure out why nobody wants to cover Galindo case in CLT.”

Thursday’s 7:30 p.m. event at Mint and Graham streets by the new Pastors and Community Leaders Coalition might change that. Nearly 100 pastors and community leaders plan to take part in the “Kneel-In,” Long said.

The protest, which organizers say will draw participants mostly from the Carolinas, intends to highlight ongoing police brutality and social and racial injustice, just as former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick did while the national anthem was played before a 2016 NFL game, Long said.

The protests at NFL games have drawn the ire of President Donald Trump and set off a coast-to-coast debate on respecting the flag vs. the players’ rights to comment on public issues.

In a statement Wednesday night, the coalition said the kneel-in aims to shed light on “police brutality, lack of accountability for officers who’ve killed innocent and/or unarmed citizens, and the high rates of unemployment for minorities.”

“This is a call for accountability,” the coalition said. “Kneeling is merely the method we have chosen, it is not the message in its entirety. The message is that there is a deep and very wide gulf between the Black and Brown communities and others in this country, and we are not compelled to stand that.”

Other kneel-in protests are scheduled in Baltimore and other cities in coming days, according to the coalition.

The last demonstrations outside the stadium followed the September 2016 shooting of Keith Lamont Scott, an African-American shot outside his home in north Charlotte. Police say Scott also refused to put down a gun.

Georgia Ferrell, the mother of a Charlotte man fatally shot by a CMPD officer in 2013, is expected to attend the Thursday night event, Long said.

According to Dawkins, the Charlotte event initially did not include the Galindo case. But he said Thursday that he has been assured by Long that the oversight has been corrected.

Long told the Observer that the protest organizers “are not excluding members of the Latino community.”

“We do not want the narrative hijacked that this is exclusively a black issue,” he said. “It’s about people of color who at a disproportionate rate have been the victims of unnecessary and unprovoked police shootings.”

Across town tonight, Putney will meet with the Latino community to discuss issues surround the shooting during a 6:30 p.m. gathering in north Charlotte.
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