Church and state

[Guest man]

http://hushmoney.org/free-church_solution.htm

It is the right of any church to operate free of the corrupting and compromising influence and control of the State; and it is a right guaranteed by the Constitution:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof

[Guest man]

Why don

[Guest shiloh357]

7 Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.

The power to tax is the power to destroy (McColloch v. Maryland). If the government is allowed to tax a church

[flja]

quote name='Butero' date='Jun 18 2009, 09:45 PM' post='1389439']Here is my solution to this problem. The church should voluntarily give up their tax exempt status.

[flja]

If the gates of hell cannot prevail agaisnt the Church, there is little likelihood that the US Government will prevail either.

Sodomy is either legal or laws against it are not enforced just about everywhere in the U.S.

Abortion in all forms and for any reason is pretty much legal everywhere in America.

Condoms are distributed in schools across America.

Seems to me that the U.S. government is doing a pretty good job at prevailing over the church for the moment- my amendment may empower churches enough to reverse the trend.

[flja]

That is another mishandling of God's Word. Jesus was talking about people seeing our daily walk/conduct and finding cause to glorify God in that.

Which cannot happen if Christians are confined behind the closed doors of house churches and are excluded from the marketplace and the polling place.

[Guest shiloh357]

If the gates of hell cannot prevail agaisnt the Church, there is little likelihood that the US Government will prevail either.

Sodomy is either legal or laws against it are not enforced just about everywhere in the U.S.

Abortion in all forms and for any reason is pretty much legal everywhere in America.

Condoms are distributed in schools across America.

Seems to me that the U.S. government is doing a pretty good job at prevailing over the church for the moment- my amendment may empower churches enough to reverse the trend.

No one is prevailing against the church. Your amendment is tool of the flesh. REAL Christians move in the power of the Holy Spirit and prayer.

QUOTE (shiloh357 @ Jun 18 2009, 10:00 PM)

That is another mishandling of God's Word. Jesus was talking about people seeing our daily walk/conduct and finding cause to glorify God in that.

Which cannot happen if Christians are confined behind the closed doors of house churches and are excluded from the marketplace and the polling place.

And yet there are churches all over the world with far less liberties than US Christians and those churches are flourishing in the midst of persecution. They don't have any amendment to protect them and yet many are coming to Christ daily in places like Korea and China.

There is a good reason why your "amendment" was not received at other boards. It does not have the aroma of Christ, but the stench of fear and flesh.

[flja]

So if a tattoo-covered, cross-dressing Sodomite shows up at your door, do you obey man

[flja]

You show me scripture that tells me clearly that Christ took a political stance against the Roman Empire, tried to set laws protecting them, and I will agree with you. Until then, everything you bring is subject to your interpretation of scripture. Christ came to save the lost, not to create governmental laws. The light is He who lives in us that you quoted from Matthew 5, telling us to go forth and live as Christians so sinners will see their sins. In these last days, we are to encourage and comfort each other, not get them all riled up into a political frenzy.

Jesus was against the Roman Empire for the simple fact that Jesus is God and the Roman emperor claimed to likewise be god.

Also, In Luke 16:13 Jesus said that we cannot serve both God and mammon. Christians therefore have an obligation to dispute, disrupt and destroy mammon even if mammon is aided and abetted by the government.

And then in Revelation 1115 it is declared that the Kingdoms of this world are become the Kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ. Thus Jesus claims authority over the Roman Empire and every secular government before and since.

[flja]

So if a tattoo-covered, cross-dressing Sodomite shows up at your door, do you obey man