Pastor Paul Blair recently spoke at an ADF event about his participation in ADF’s Pulpit Initiative.  We have posted video of his remarks on our website.  Pastor Blair is pastor of Fairview Baptist Church in Edmond, Oklahoma, and was one of the 33 courageous pastors who stood boldly and spoke Biblical truth from his pulpit about the 2008 elections and the candidates running for office during that election.  As Pastor Blair explained about his participation, he and other pastors around the country “all joined together and we stood in our pulpits and we opened the pages of Scripture and we preached about the issues that were at hand that would be affected by the elections of 2008.”  Pastor Blair then took a copy of his sermon and sent it to the IRS.  He has not heard anything from the IRS yet but says he is unafraid because he knows ADF has his back.

Pastor Blair is also unafraid because he knows “we are right constitutionally and we are certainly right Biblically.”  Constitutionally speaking, the Johnson Amendment is unconstitutional.  It was when it was passed and it is now.  Read our white paper on why the Johnson Amendment unconstitutionally infringes the rights of pastors and churches.

In his remarks, Pastor Blair issued a call to America’s pastors.  He said, “We need another generation of God-fearing patriot pastors to stand up today if America is going to be saved.”  Will you be one of those pastors?  Take the step, follow Pastor Blair and others like him and sign up for the Pulpit Initiative.

Please leave a comment below to share your thoughts or follow us on Facebook to join the conversation. http://www.facebook.com/SpeakUpChurch

My generation (I graduated high school in 1984) seems to get the biblical teaching about mercy and forgiveness. After all, we willingly forgave Bill Clinton’s sexual indiscretions in the Oval Office with very few questions asked. But we often miss the fact that Christ also taught observance of the law and justice. For instance, He admonished religious leaders to consider their own sin before stoning the woman caught in the very act of adultery, but instructed the woman to go and sin no more.

Perhaps this inability to balance justice and mercy, as Micah 6:8 instructs, explains the failure of many church-going Christians (at least one survey says “most”) to understand why normalizing homosexual behavior in the military is unwise. But even if we put aside the direct effect this rejection of biblical morality will have on our nation’s moral health, the indirect effects on religious freedom are alarming.

In a series of blogs, ADF attorney Daniel Blomberg is doing an excellent job of pointing out how the repeal of the current so called “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law (often referred to as “DADT”) is going to muzzle our military chaplains. Forcing the military to condone homosexual behavior will necessarily restrict religious freedom by limiting the ability of military chaplains to preach and provide counsel to service members about the dangers of this sin.

If you think this restraint on religious freedom will be confined to the military, you’re wrong. We’re already seeing the conflict between the radical homosexual agenda and religious freedom in the civilian context. An April 28, 2010 letter from numerous chaplains opposed to repealing the ban on homosexual behavior in the military catalogues numerous examples: prison chaplains disciplined for not permiting homosexuals to lead their services, religious student groups restricted for not allowing homosexual leaders, businesses fined for not participating in same-sex “marriage” ceremonies, and churches penalized for not making their facilities available for a same-sex relationship commitment ceremony. More importantly, giving ground on DADT will make it extremely difficult to hold the line protecting marriage. Repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act will undoubtedly be next.

If we don’t rein in this mad dash for mandated acceptance of homosexual behavior, it’s just a matter of time before government officials come after pastors for disseminating “hate speech,” when all they’re doing is preaching biblical morality. It’s already occurring in Europe and evidence of it heading our way can be seen in Canada.

As Dave Welch recently pointed out in his article, pastors have long had the right and obligation to speak up on things like repeal of DADT. Exercising this right is the best way to avoid a future where protection for it is weakened, or eliminated altogether.

Please leave a comment below to share your thoughts or follow us on Facebook to join the conversation. http://www.facebook.com/SpeakUpChurch

Kevin Theriot and I had the pleasure of speaking to a group of hundreds of pastors gathered together in Washington D.C. last week for the Family Research Council’s Watchmen on the Wall conference.  The title of the event comes from Isaiah 62:6: ”I have posted watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they will never be silent day or night. You who call on the LORD, give yourselves no rest.”  Family Research Council describes its Watchmen on the Wall ministry in the following terms:

We believe that a Watchman Pastor is called to do the following:

Watch what is going on in the culture.

Pray for the wisdom to engage biblically, courageously, and winsomely.

Sound the Alarm from the pulpit.

Take a bold stand with others to defend and advance faith, family, and freedom.

I spoke to the pastors about ADF’s Pulpit Initiative and what the project is all about.  The Pulpit Initiative is a project to have the Johnson Amendment declared unconstitutional – to once and for all get the IRS and all government agencies out of the pulpits of America.  The purpose of the Pulpit Initiative aligns wonderfully with FRC’s Watchmen on the Wall ministry.  Pastors must sound the alarm from the pulpit that their constitutional rights are being infringed upon and that now is the time for pastors to stand up to regain the right to speak freely from their pulpits without any fear of government censorship or control.

While there, I was able to reconnect with many of the pastors who have participated with ADF in the past in the Pulpit Initiative.  These courageous men have been willing to stand and sound the alarm from their pulpits and it was encouraging to see them again.  ADF’s Pulpit Initiative would be nowhere without pastors standing up to fight for their rights and we owe these men a great debt of gratitude for leading the way on this important issue.

If you are a pastor, take the time to learn about the Pulpit Initiative and sign up today.  If you know of a pastor who would be interested, let them know about the Pulpit Initiative and encourage them to sign up today and stand with ADF and other pastors around the country.

Please leave a comment below to share your thoughts or follow us on Facebook to join the conversation. http://www.facebook.com/SpeakUpChurch

Michael Newdow has made quite a name for himself trying to eradicate any mention of God in the public square. He’s brought–and lost–lawsuits challenging the phrases “Under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance (three times), “In God We Trust” on our currency, and “So Help Me God” in the President’s inaugural oath.

Now he is going after pastors and the IRS.

Newdow, along with the Freedom From Religion Foundation, has filed a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Sections 107 and 265(a)(6) of the Revenue Code, claiming that they violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

Section 107 allows churches to provide pastors with housing (or a housing allowance) without requiring the pastor to pay additional federal income tax. Section 265(a)(6) allows pastors to deduct home mortgage interest payments and property tax payments from their taxable income–deductions given to all taxpayers. Newdow is also challenging the parallel state tax code provisions.

Such exemptions have been common throughout American history. Congress has always understood the First Amendment to authorize property tax exemption for religious groups. And it was natural for this exemption to extend to parsonages, or church-provided housing. A parsonage has generally been viewed as more than just a pastor’s residence; it is an extension of the church. So it’s no surprise that shortly after the modern federal income tax was established, a federal income tax exemption for parsonages appeared in the Revenue Code. That exemption has now been in place for almost 90 years.

If this exemption is eliminated, as Newdow wants, the financial consequences for churches and pastors would be significant. One past congressional estimate concluded that American clergy would see their taxes increase by $2.3 billion over a five-year period.

Is Newdow’s lawsuit likely to be successful? It’s doubtful. In a 1970 case, Walz v. Tax Commission, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected an Establishment Clause challenge to a New York law granting property tax exemption to religious organizations. It concluded that there “is no genuine nexus between tax exemption and establishment of religion” because the exemption “restricts the fiscal relationship between church and state,” and eliminating it would expand governmental involvement in churches–which the First Amendment is designed to protect churches against. The same reasoning applies equally to this case. So Walz should dictate its outcome.

Further weakening Newdow’s claim is the fact that pastors are not the only ones who receive these types of tax benefits. Employees who receive housing from non-religious employers get similar tax benefits under Section 119 of the Internal Code. So Section 107 simply puts pastors on the same footing. And, as mentioned above, Section 265(a)(6) merely ensures that pastors get to deduct their home mortgage interest and property tax payments from their taxable income the same way that most other taxpayers do.

In short, courts have consistently rebuffed Newdow’s efforts at eradicating religion from the public square, and I expect this case to be no different.

Please leave a comment below to share your thoughts or follow us on Facebook to join the conversation. http://www.facebook.com/SpeakUpChurch

The beheading of John the Baptist for preaching against Herod’s immorality seems to be an extreme and antiquated story. But incidents of government penalties on pastors who speak out on moral issues of the day are getting closer to home all the time. Just last week, LifeSiteNews reported that the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) threatened to “revoke[] the charitable status of Kings Glory Fellowship (KGF), a Christian church in Calgary.  …’The members of the Board of Directors espouse strong negative views about sensitive and controversial issues, which may also be viewed as political, such as abortion, homosexuality, divorce, etc.,’ wrote CRA agent Dian Prodanov in an October 29th letter.”  This is proof that European style censorship of pastors like the arrest and conviction of Ake Green in Sweden has crossed the Atlantic and is now in our own backyard.

Losing tax exemption is certainly not beheading (or even arrest), but the effort to silence preachers who express the biblical view on moral issues is the same.  These cases reflect the peculiar idea that churches have no business speaking out on abortion and homosexual behavior because those are political subjects.  In other words, the Church should stay out of politics.  But these are moral issues that the church – the moral conscience of the nation – has the right and duty to weigh in on.

What’s really going on is government has invaded the realm of the Church by politicizing moral questions.  Pastors must continue to assert the biblical perspective on moral issues and be alert for any encroachment on the right to do so.  Otherwise, the fate of John the Baptist starts looking less and less like a thing of the past.