“So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin.
So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.” Hebrews 4.14-16 NLT
Pulpit Freedom Sunday: Pastors Defy Tax Rules, Back Political Candidates
Nanette Byrnes (Reuters, October 7, 2012)
[Thanks to Public Catholic for the follow-up. Check it out here.]
Charlotte, USA – Baptist Pastor Mark Harris stood before his flock in North Carolina on Sunday and joined hundreds of other U.S. religious leaders in deliberately breaking the law in an election-year campaign that tests the role of churches in politics.
By publicly backing candidates for political office from the pulpit, Harris and nearly 1,500 other preachers at services across the United States were flouting a law they see as an incursion on freedom of religion and speech.
Under the U.S. tax code, non-profit organizations such as churches may express views on any issue, but they jeopardize their favorable tax-exempt status if they speak for or against any political candidate.
“Pulpit Freedom Sunday” has been staged annually since 2008 by a group called the Alliance Defending Freedom. Its aim is to provoke a challenge from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service in order to file a lawsuit and have its argument out in court.
The event has grown steadily in size, but the IRS has yet to respond – even though the pastors tape their sermons and mail them to the agency.
Now in an election year, where a few swing states – including North Carolina – will be crucial, political analysts say pastors campaigning from the pulpit could have an impact. Continue reading “Pulpit Freedom Sunday: Pastors Stand Firm in Face of IRS Intimidation”
Peanut Gallery: Please pray for religious freedom around the globe. As the following study indicates, religious freedom is on the decline world-wide… and even here in America. And Christians who take the Great Commission seriously do so at great risk to themselves and their families.
Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28.18-20 NLT
Please ask the Holy Spirit to place a particular country or “people group” for which to pray. The following graphs show countries that are identified as very highly restrictive. Do a little research using Wikipedia or Open Doors Country Profiles for background information and Google news updates daily. Then, decide how long you would like to pray for a specific country or people group. Let the Holy Spirit guide you… particularly when you don’t know how to pray.
Please pray for spiritual and physical protection, courage, wisdom, unity among believers, and that the fruit of the spirit be made manifest in the heart and life of every believer… to the glory of God.
Special thanks to One Tenth Blog for bringing the following Pew Forum study to our attention. Please check out the One Tenth Blog here.
Rising Tide of Restrictions on Religion (The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life)
The Pew Study is extensive with graphs and charts illustrating the growing restrictions to Religious freedom. It is well worth the read… but it is also overwhelming – 75% of the world’s population live under high or very high restrictions. These restrictions are enforced directly by government regulations and indirectly by religious groups within countries.
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A rising tide of restrictions on religion spread across the world between mid-2009 and mid-2010, according to a new study by the Pew Research Center’s Forum
on Religion & Public Life. Restrictions on religion rose in each of the five major regions of the world – including in the Americas and sub-Saharan Africa, the two regions where overall restrictions previously had been declining.
The share of countries with high or very high restrictions on religious beliefs and practices rose from 31% in the year ending in mid-2009 to 37% in the year ending in mid-2010. Because some of the most restrictive countries are very populous, three-quarters of the world’s approximately 7 billion people live in countries with high government restrictions on religion or high social hostilities involving religion, up from 70% a year earlier.
Restrictions on religion rose not only in countries that began the year with high or very high restrictions or hostilities, such as Indonesia and Nigeria, but also in many countries that began with low or moderate restrictions or hostilities, such as Switzerland and the United States. (See sidebar on the U.S..)
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Peanut Gallery: The following links will help you neavigate the Pew Study.
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS –
Navigate this page:
Peanut Gallery: Have you ever wondered why some people just don’t get it… even on the simplest level, eg the fundamental right to life? Here’s an insight from the Apostle Paul –
1 Corinthians 2:14
English Standard Version (ESV)
14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.
1 Corinthians 2:14
J.B. Phillips New Testament (PHILLIPS)
14-16 But the unspiritual man simply cannot accept the matters which the Spirit deals with—they just don’t make sense to him, for, after all, you must be spiritual to see spiritual things. The spiritual man, on the other hand, has an insight into the meaning of everything, though his insight may baffle the man of the world. This is because the former is sharing in God’s wisdom, and ‘Who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?’ Incredible as it may sound, we who are spiritual have the very thoughts of Christ!
Peanut Gallery – Now here’s an application/illustration that never occurred to me. You learn something new every day. This is very funny –
“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness….”
2 Timothy 3:16 ESV
The Peanut Gallery 