Anyone remember taking Civics in high school, or any political science or American History courses in college? How about the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States? As it applies to religion, here is the text:

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

There are two key clauses there, the establishment clause and the free exercise clause, but the big phrase we are to start with here is the beginning portion – Congress shall make no law. The Incorporation of the Bill of Rights (through the 14th Amendment) means that this is true for all the states as well – no law respecting an establishment of religion, or the free exercise thereof, shall be passed by either the United States Congress or the individual states. Later court tests have upheld these doctrines – religious practice is restricted (no human sacrifice just because your religion calls for it, ditto bigamy and any other violation of civil or criminal law; none can be excused by the idea of it being something your faith compels you to do) but belief is not. It also means that your church is free from taxation – religion cannot be free if it is taxed – and that brings me up against my current problem.

I love my local church, deeply. I may not always like the attitudes or behaviors of individuals within that congregation anymore than I myself am always liked, but I love my church. That is why I find it so difficult for us to be in the predicament that we are in.

Our church is currently attempting to make changes to its Constitution and Bylaws, and its Articles of Incorporation. Here are where the problems lie. You see, I want to be an active member of the local church, but I have no desire to be part of a corporate church, one that is subject to the state and not solely to Jesus Christ. As a church that has become a corporation under the laws of the state of South Dakota, and a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation under Federal law, we have surrendered the church’s allegiance to the state and Federal government. Under these laws, the state is sovereign – not Jesus. Under these laws, the church is barred from carrying out its responsibilities as to being the moral compass of society – speak, and lose your non-profit tax exemption. Well, wait a minute – we can lose the 501(c)(3) status and the incorporated status, still be tax-exempt (we were before 1954, when the laws were changed so as to entice pastors and denominations into thinking letting the Feds into the sheep pen would be a good idea), and regain our ability to speak out and be the church.

10. Religious Liberty
We believe that every human being can have direct relations with God, and is responsible to God alone in all matters of faith; that each church (in) is independent and must be free from interference by an ecclesiastical or political authority; that therefore Church and State must be kept separate as having different functions, each fulfilling its duties free from dictation or patronage of the other

(I Timothy 2:5).

Remember seeing these words in that previous post? They are taken directly from our existing church constitution, but they have been nullified by our incorporation under South Dakota law and our 501(c)(3) non-profit status. I wonder what Christ thinks of what we’ve done to His local congregations in the name of appearing wise to other men?

Before anyone takes that as maudlin or, even worse, a negative attitude, let me explain – it is an inside joke for Joy and I. Once you understand, you may start using the phrase as well – be our guests.

We used to have a three-legged cat named Li’l Peggy. Peggy was one of the fastest cats I’ve ever laid eyes on, and she was gifted with a prehensile tail the likes of which is rarely seen – she could use that tail to knock a full 16 ounce mug of coffee to the floor. She had very dark coloration, and the expression on her face often reminded me of the aliens in “Independence Day” – inscrutable and other-worldly – and, for whatever reason, one known only to God, I became her pet human. This was not exactly a win-win situation; while I like cats, Peggy was dying of kidney failure, and that made her breath the proverbial stuff that could knock a buzzard off a honey wagon at 50 yards and, as it always seemed to happen, she wanted to put her face up to mine and lick me a hundred times a day.

When you live with Joy (my wife, not just the condition or state of mind), you get used to certain…quirks, shall we say. One of these was (and still is) providing voice-overs for our pets. Li’l Peggy’s standard line (delivered by Joy), after I’d told her that I loved her but that she really needed a Tic-Tac, was frequently delivered with a squashed-up little voice that said “I’m dying.” This line was also almost invariably delivered when Peggy was looking directly at me, and immediately after I’d said something to her.

Came the day that we had to put Li’l Peggy to sleep, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house, and no joking for days; we’d lost a family member of immense value, and not just in the humor department. Peggy had given us daily examples of how to live with adversity and challenge, and never once did she back down from what life put in her path. If she could breathe on it and make it back off, she would. If that wasn’t sufficient to get her point across, she could hockey something down on the unsuspecting head of the other pet that had offended her – oh, yes, she could show a mean streak sometimes, but by and large hers was a gentle nature tucked inside a “handicapped” body, and the voice-over commentary? Priceless.

When we were first up in Rochester, I remembered the line “I’m dying”, and said it to Joy in the best approximation of her voice-over that I could muster. Since that first re-usage, whenever I find myself tempted to give in to a down mood because I can’t get any food or liquid to go down, all I have to do is remember that “I’m dying” and I get a chuckle to sustain me for the day.

Make no mistake – I know this disease is a killer. What it cannot do is kill my faith in God – whether He protects me while I’m in the furnace or sees fit to let it consume me for some greater reason that I have no knowledge of at this time – or my sense of humor, which is also His gift to me, and through me to you. Do not take my condition as grim – I certainly do not, even when I’m retching or in pain – rather, treat it as an inconvenience, a word rather than a sentence. Live, laugh, love, play with friends and family, work…do all these things with the sure and certain knowledge of His love for you, and, should you ever need perspective, just remember:

“I’m dying.”

Let’s start with this: the church and the state are hopelessly enmeshed, and they like it this way. Want proof? Look no further than your church constitution or articles of incorporation. Somewhere in there, you’ll find that your church is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation. What does that mean, besides tax exempt status? Quite a lot, but let’s set that aside for a moment, and look at Scripture. Start with Matthew 22:15-22 in your favorite version. Go ahead and read it in print if you want – I’ll wait.

Notice that we’re talking about taxes? Does Jesus say don’t pay the tax? No, He does not. Why, then, do we insist on being 501(c)(3) non-profit institutions that must observe Federal regulation? It’s a bit beyond me, frankly. We insist on tax-exempt status when Jesus said give to the authorities what belongs to them. Now, I can already hear the first argument – Jesus was talking about “dirty, filthy money” that had the imprint of Caesar’s head and the lie about Caesar’s divine status all over it, but that was then, and it was a cultural thing. To that argument I say bull. The state imposes taxes how and where it chooses – always has. The historical exemption of the church from taxation is a relatively new development – do the research. Now, to keep the church quiescent (read out of the political arena save in a very limited, approved way), here’s a sop – we’ll let you keep the vast majority of the money you are given. We’ll extend that break (to a certain level) to your donors, whether member or attendee in that they can deduct a limited amount off their income taxes as charitable contributions. Should the state decide to revoke the exemption, you can’t begin to imagine the volume of the howls – might some come from your own living room?

Go with me yet another step. Again, look at your church constitution or articles of incorporation. Is your church considered a corporation under the laws of your state? Do you not know that means that your church has allowed the state (Federal government and/or state, in this case) to dictate who can and cannot do certain things within your walls? Chances are good, by the way, that this incorporation will fly in the face of some other part of your church constitution. Our own local church has the following item in the Constitution – an item that has likely existed for quite a number of years in its present form:

10. Religious Liberty
We believe that every human being can have direct relations with God, and is responsible to God
alone in all matters of faith; that each church (in) is independent and must be free from interference
by an ecclesiastical or political authority; that therefore Church and State must be kept separate as
having different functions, each fulfilling its duties free from dictation or patronage of the other (I
Timothy 2:5).

Beautiful sentiments, but you can’t run a church that way these days, it would seem. No, we need the protection of lawyers and corporate screens from issues of liability and fiduciary dereliction – wait, aren’t those business concerns? Well, friends, let’s get real – today’s church, despite any protests to the contrary, seems to be little more than a business with a cross for a logo, one whose board of directors is also your Elder or Deacon board and whose corporate members (not to say stockholders) are the members who come in to hear the word of God preached. Oh, and recall that I said earlier that not only are the church and state hopelessly enmeshed, but that they like it that way? Read Jeremiah 5:1-5 and try to tell me that God’s word here only applies to the city of Jerusalem – especially when you get to verse 5. Go ahead – try to make that argument stick.

The examples I’ve cited point to a root of fear, not one of faith in God. If someone were to sue the local church, should it not be offering its cloak as well as the tunic? Exercising the rights of a citizen of Heaven while here on earth will, on more occasions than not, present someone with a moment where they must choose between defying the authorities (whether they are state or ecclesiastic) or denying God – except nowadays, the church and state look for ways to keep those moments from happening. When either are in the wrong, it is the work of the prophet to point the error out, and the work of the church to pay heed – but I forget, we don’t recognize the office of prophet anymore, do we?

For anyone who has managed to find this site after it came down from its former home at concept53.com, you might be asking where’s the new posts? What’s up? Why aren’t you here more often? Why did you take your domain name down? And why is the word “cancer” in the post title?

To keep the story manageable, the short answers: I took the site down due to lack of funds at the time it was due for renewal, and hadn’t been all that happy with the service/support for WordPress to start with. Right after that happened, though, I started to notice some health problems. I could no longer eat or drink anything without the possibility that something might not make it all the way down, and come back up messily. After a three day bout where nothing – not even morning coffee – would go down, I took myself over to the doctor shop and thus began the weeks leading up to this. I have been diagnosed with Stage 3 (T3, N1) adenocarcinoma of the distal esophagus. The prognosis at this time is good – chemo and radiation followed by resection surgery are parts of the battle plan – and I’m currently posting about all of the latest at CaringBridge as I can get to that site from anyplace, but may not be able to access anything else on a regular basis for a while.

Keep Joy and I in your prayers as we go through this, and thanks for stopping by!

I’ll try to have everything up to date here within a week or so – thanks for stopping by!

OK, I’ve also been wondering – nay, struggling with – what I might have to contribute to the blogosphere.There are far more talented writers out here, both in terms of concept and execution. I’ve struggled with what to write about from topical standpoints as well; on the one hand, I will not write about a subject  just because it made the news – Michael Jackson overload being a case in point – yet on the other, I don’t like the idea of blog as private diary writ large. I’ve read way too many examples of both of these kind of blogs over the last year or so, and while some are certainly entertaining, or thought-provoking, few have added to my desire to write on similar subjects. At times, I find myself in agreement with Richard Bach, who once said he did not enjoy writing at all[1. Introduction to Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah. ]. It can be enjoyable, cathartic, even wonderfully freeing to write – but at other times it is merely work, and my career – should you choose to call my paying job a career – has enough of that "get the tasks done" sense that I preferred a break over the struggle of what to say and how to say it.

Whatever it is that has called me back to the keyboard and to this space has not given me leave to merely come back to say good bye, so for now, the break is over. I’ll be out of touch while I’m in Virginia next week for my eldest’s wedding, but that will be more due to a lack of access to a computer than a desire to avoid blogging. In the meantime, please be patient with me as I try to figure out what exactly it is I should be saying.

Please don’t get me wrong – I like Chris Tomlin, Third Day, and all. I think it is probably fairer to say that I don’t get the point of a worship leader – ours or any other – selecting songs for Sunday morning that are all in the same key, with very little to distinguish one song from the next. As a performer, I can do quite a bit – change the tone, use an effect, change from using fingers to using a pick – but if the beat and the key are the same from one song to the next, I find myself thinking this is a drone zone, and I want nothing to do with it.

How about it, worship arts leaders? Can we have a bit more variety in the music? A different key for at least two of the three songs in the first set? Something to keep the musicians awake and aware of why they are there (not that we should need the reminder), instead of putting them to sleep?

Two different threads coalesced for me this evening, one triggered by a news item about the murder of Dr. George Tiller and the other after watching “Valkyrie,” the Tom Cruise movie about one of the more significant attempts to kill Adolf Hitler. When merged, the question that arose was is it ever permissible – in the eyes of God – to kill someone so as to prevent greater loss of life? Think hard before answering that question, no matter how sure you are of your answer.