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| Memorial Presbyterian Church, Midland, MI1 |
It always happens. Some people decide they don't like what's going on in the church group they are a part of and they leave it to form their own group. They start out in somebody's home, a motel room, or rent space in a strip-mall, and hold their weekly, one-hour celebrations the way they want.
If things go well, and they attract other participants, someone invariably finds an unused church building and the group scrounges up enough collateral to obtain a loan to buy it. They go into debt.
Some financially well-off church organizations give credit to God "for what he is doing," and form a committee to explore building a new facility, which will add to the overall supply of single-purpose religious buildings. They establish a building fund and operate a campaign to encourage their congregants to give generously to "what God is doing." Then they work with a church construction management business to obtain a loan and execute construction of the brand new facility. They go into debt.
Of course there will be some people who disagree with all of that, so they will leave, but advertising campaigns and "seeker friendly" programs and sermons attract many others who gladly join in on the excitement and contribute to the cause. But after the new building has been open for a while, the smell of the new carpet has faded, and the novelty has worn off, the pastoral staff will find itself facing dwindling numbers and tighter budgets, as the debt becomes a larger and larger percentage of the total operating costs.
In all cases, it becomes a business. Keeping people coming back and writing checks becomes the primary concern. If the loan goes into default, the bank will take over and sell the property to the next group of motel-worshipers who want a place to call their own.
I know people mean well and intentions are usually good, but none of this is biblical, and none of it has anything to do with following Jesus. It's about money; its about getting people into debt. Who is behind all of this? That should be obvious. Who is behind everything the Darkness does?
It was a building program that taught me what was going on when we were members of a church. Most people did not see it, but at the time it disgusted me. Now it just makes me sad. It's just another trap the Darkness uses in its exploits to steal and kill and destroy.
In most cases, debt concerning money is linked to sin. In my opinion, if a group needs to go into debt for "what God is doing," that's a pretty good indication God isn't actually doing anything. It sounds more like impatience and presumption to me.
When the Israelites came out of Egypt, God arranged for them to plunder the Egyptians (Exodus 3:22; 12:36), and they used that wealth to build the Tabernacle and its furnishings in the Wilderness. God provided ahead of time for what he was really doing, and it all made sense in hindsight. That's how God works.
This problem with the church is really only a small part of a much bigger problem. Paper money is not real money, nor are numbers on a piece of paper or in a computer. Those things have no inherent value and can be made worthless by simply adding to their supply. Paper is nothing more than an I.O.U. It's a promise to pay, but the promise is always broken, by design. It's a lie. Our entire financial system is based on semantic deceit and hidden debt. It's fraud. Massive fraud. The system only holds together because people are so distracted by their busy schedules and the pleasures of life that they accept and believe the lies.
Who is the father of lies?
Every time we get paid in paper scrip and use that scrip to supposedly pay our bills, we go deeper into debt. And the people behind the scheme are on the credit side of the ledger2. They are the ones accumulating the real wealth from the fruits of our labor. It's not gold and silver they are after. They buy up real estate and other forms of equity that can be used to produce even more wealth, and ultimately control the world -- literally. At this point, they own just about everything. Well, they think they do. As the saying goes, you can't take it with you when you die. But they have invented corporations and trusts to maintain control in perpetuity, provided they can keep the masses from figuring out what is going on. They know if that ever happens, they will be crushed.
...Which is the real reason why there has been so much hatred towards a particular recent President of the United States.
All glory to God.
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1I have absolutely no knowledge about the affairs of this particular church, and make no judgments about them. I am using this photo I took of it because it is a magnificent building in the center of the city where I live.
UPDATE, October 16, 2021...
2As I continue to study these things, I have learned it is exactly the opposite. Those who create the I.O.U.'s (scrip/fiat "money") are the ones going into debt. Since we only receive I.O.U's, we are not actually being paid for our efforts and are accumulating vast amounts of credit that we never see, know about, or get to enjoy. The widely publicized multi-trillion-dollar "National Debt" is actually balanced by an equal "National Credit" that is never mentioned. As I remember from my college accounting class, credits and debts3 always sum to zero, by definition. Unless there is chicanery going on...
UPDATE, June 18, 2022...
3A debit is an accounting term that is opposite of a credit.
Webster's New World Dictionary, 1964: "debit ... adj. relating to debt or debts. v.t. 1. to charge with a debt."
Black's Law Dictionary, 11th edition, 2019: "debit ... 3. An account balance showing that something remains due to the holder of the account."
That Black's definition sounds like a debt to me. Seems evasive, like the editor doesn't want people to connect the terms credit and debt, especially when read in context with the other definitions of those two words in that dictionary.
UPDATE, November 17, 2022...
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| St. John's Lutheran Church, Midland, MI4 |
Why would a church incorporate? Why is "non-profit" status necessary? I have heard it is so people can "deduct" the amounts of donations from income tax paperwork. As far as I know, things have always been done that way. My dad did it and I did it.
But I do not have any federal income, so why am I paying federal income taxes?
If I do not owe any federal income taxes, then I don't need to fill out the paperwork and do not need to be concerned about deductions. Any donations I make should be private and my own business.
By incorporating, an organization moves from the Land/Soil Jurisdiction onto the Jurisdiction of the Sea. Instead of being able to operate under American Common Law, they must operate under various forms of foreign, civil law that are very complicated and disadvantageous. Why would they do that when they don't have to? Why make it a commercial business?
Corporations are ships without the physical ship. They are governed by Maritime Law. Employees of corporations are governed by Admiralty Law, and are literally slaves of the "captain" of the "ship," who is the chief executive officer (CEO). Why would a church want to operate like that? Is that how Jesus did things? No.
The Bible describes Jesus' church as a Body and a Bride. It uses male terms to describe the Godhead: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, which Jesus calls "he." The Church, or Assembly, is described in female terms. There will be a Wedding, and we are the Bride.
If a woman goes into business and sells herself for money, what do we call that?
I believe those who love Jesus have gotten way off track and are doing unnecessary things for wrong reasons. I believe we need to rethink what we are doing.
We need to repent.
4I do not know anything about the affairs of this church either. It is another photo I took of a church building.