RELIGIONATie Charlotte Post
The Prophet’s Column
This Is a paid advertisement by J. M. Little
"Beware of False Prophets"
Over and over again in God's
Word He warns us of false
representatives of Him, or
those who claim to be from
and of Him, but are not. After
so many betrayals and knifin
gs in the back from those who
profess to know the Lord I
have been made to ask the
question; "Lord, who is
saved?" I know only a few peo
ple are saved, only a few
believe God's Word. How
many times has a leader,
preacher, or teacher, whom
you believed to be saved.
turned and rended your heart.
How do you know a false
prophet and how can you not
be deceived by them? The
Lord said "Beware of false
prophets, which come to you
in sheep's clothing, but
inwardly they are ravening
wolves. Ye shall know them by
their fruits. Do men gather
grapes of thorns, or figs of
thistles?" (Matthew 7:15-16).
After God saved me in 1972,1
thought a Bible teacher and
his wife would rejoice in the
Lord saving me. But very soon
their hatred and resentment
came out and their rebellion
cut me to pieces. Get this, any
soul who does not rejoice in
the salvation of a lost, hell
deserving sinner is not saved.
And any soul who doesn't
trust me or another believer is
not saved. That puts a lot of
knowledgeable preachers and
religious leaders in the catego
ry of false prophets. All believ
ers know the Lord and have a
mutual love, faith, and trust
in one another. Next to my
salvation, the greatest joy is to
hear that someone has been
saved. There is a sweet fellow
ship between two believers in
Christ that is out of this
world. It is from the third
heaven. Listen to (]lod's Word;
"Then they that feared the
Lord spake often to one anoth
er; and the Lord hearkened,
and heard it, and a book or
remembrance was written
before him for them that
feared the Lord, and that
thought upon his name."
(Malachi 3:16). Yes, for all of
you who get together and
speak of the Lord, He is keep
ing a book of remembrance on
you. What grace!!
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M E L T O IV
Churches can continue to politick
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THE ASSOCUTED PRESS
WINSTON-SALEM - A fed
eral lawsuit filed against the
Christian Coalition for parti
san political activity has some
churches concerned about
their own political involve
ment.
Churches have a tradition of
giving information to mem
bers and exposing them to
candidates' positions on
issues, and the government
needs to keep its hands off
that type of activity, the Rev.
C. Mark Corts said.
“I think that any time that
the government seeks to
restrict churches' activities,
that's a dangerous thing,
because I believe in a separa
tion of church and state," he
told The Winston-Salem
Journal.
Many ministers and tax
experts say the lawsuit does
not mean that churches have
to forsake all forms of politick
ing.
“There's a great deal of
interest in what the bound
aries are," Oliver Thomas, a
tax attorney for the National
Council of Churches, said.
“There are no boundaries
under the Constitution.
Churches are able to get as
involved as they want to,
under the Constitution."
But if a church wants to pre
serve its tax-exempt status,
that all changes.
According to the Internal
Revenue Service, churches
may engage in political activi
ty, but they must do so with
strict neutrality.
“What they can't do is get
involved in campaigns,"
Thomas said. “They can't give
money to a campaign, can't
endorse a campaign."
They also cannot oppose a
specific campaign.
What they can do is speak
out on political issues, such as
abortion or welfare reform,
and individuals can support or
oppose certain candidates as
long as they do not do it with
the church's backing.
A nonprofit organization
with tax-exempt status - such
as a church - can do some lob
bying as long as it is not a
substantial part of the group's
activities, according to the tax
code.
But if the organization
engages in partisan political
activity, it runs the risk of los
ing its tax-exempt status.
Contributors no longer would
be allowed to write off their
donations to the organization,
and the organization would
have to pay taxes.
The civil lawsuit that the
Federal Elections Commission
filed July 30 against the
Christian Coalition deals with
a different matter.
The Christian Coalition is
not covered by the same sec
tion of the tax laws that apply
to churches, and the suit does
not deal with tax laws at all.
The suit, which says that the
coalition improperly aided
Republican candidates
through its voter guides and
other activities, involves elec
tion laws:
The coalition is considered a
“social welfare" organization
under tax laws, which means
it has more flexible guidelines
for politicking than churches
and other kinds of organiza
tions enjoy. Because of how it
is classified under the tax
laws, the coalition does not
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have to pay taxes, but contri
butions to it are not tax-
deductible.
Corts, who is pastor of
Calvary Baptist (I!hurch in
Winston-Salem, said that his
congregation has a committee
that discusses political
involvement and related
issues.
Calvary allows the local
chapter of the Christian
Coalition to meet at the
church each month, as it
would similar groups, and any
candidate who comes to ser
vices at the church around
election time is simply intro
duced, he said.
“For the government to say I
can't do that, I would fight
that pretty vigorously," Corts
said.
The Rev. Serenus T. Chum,
pastor of Mount Zion Baptist
Church in Winston-Salem,
said that religious leaders can
- and should - discuss certain
issues with their congrega
tions.
“The truth of the matter is
that politics never can really
and truly be divorced from
religion," he said.
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