Dr. Greg J. Dixon

Lest any of my friends become alarmed and think that I have defected to Hillary, I do plan on voting for Trump on Nov. 8, not because of his Christian virtues, which neither candidate has a monopoly on.   I plan to vote for him primarily on the basis of ideology, i.e., the Republican platform, compared to the Democratic model of government. In the area of economics, it reflects a free market, capitalistic model over the socialistic model of the Democrats. Among many other things it’s strong anti-abortion stance also must be upheld as long as possible. Also his list of Supreme Court nominees could change the course of history way into the future that could possibly affect the lives of our great grandchildren. But, we should also remember the old saying, “He who does not see the past cannot see the future.”, and also as Solomon said, “…there is no new thing under the sun.”

For decades now, the restrictions of the so called “Johnson Law”, which was passed in 1954 as an amendment to Sec. 501 (c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code by then Sen. Lyndon Johnson (D) from Texas has been an albatross around the necks of the pastors of America. It says, “Under the IRC, all section 501(c)(3) organizations are absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office. Contributions to political campaign funds or public statements of position (verbal or written) made on behalf of the organization in favor of or in opposition to any candidate for public office clearly violate the prohibition against political campaign activity. Violating this prohibition may result in denial or revocation of tax-exempt status and the imposition of certain excise taxes.”

The IRS has not had public opinion on their side to really enforce the law as they would like, and most preachers in the fundamentalist ranks have ignored the law, the liberal clergy have skillfully skirted it and politicians wanting the support of preachers at election time, especially Democrats courting the Black vote, have primarily overlooked the blatant politicking of the black clergy in the U.S. However recent Court rulings, especially in the area of “Gay” rights, and the LGBT agenda, churches and non-profits are feeling their feathers beginning to burn for the first time and they are showing real fear, especially with the leftward bent of the courts.   But the concern is not that they should lose political power, though that is in the background, but that they will lose their non-profit status, which will cost them their precious tax-exemption, and in turn a loss of income through donors who depend on the non-profit gift hence the loss of revenue bigtime. In fact, it would mean the end of most non-profits, and would seriously cripple most churches, especially those under a large debt load or ministries such as Christian schools.

Trump to the Rescue

However not seeing a voting block not worthy to court, Trump apparently was tipped off about this problem and began to court Evangelical leaders as to how he could help them and they let him know that they needed relief from this dratted “Johnson Law.” A meeting was arranged with 100 Evangelical leaders in a NY hotel on June 21 but it quickly grew to nearly 1,000 after a “tidal wave” of interest. The following report of the meeting was given by Sarah McCammon, as she reported in the Christian News Observer. She said, “Organizer Bill Dallas of the Christian Group United in Purpose says the event was designed to give religious conservatives, some of whom have had concerns about Trump, a chance to “understand” him better before the November election. It started out as a meeting for about 100 leaders but quickly grew to nearly 1,000 after a “tidal wave” of interest.

Fresh from a smaller group meeting between Trump and about 40 key leaders, Nebraska businessman Charles Herbster announced, “We just spent time with the next president of the United States, Donald J. Trump.”

Trump had just met with members of the steering committee that helped organize the event — including Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council, psychologist and radio host James Dobson, Bob Vander Plaats of The Family Leader and longtime activist Gary Bauer.

The report continued, “Trump said ministers, in particular, are “petrified” of talking about politics because of IRS rules barring groups like churches that receive charitable tax exemptions from engaging in political advocacy.

“We are gonna get rid of that,” Trump said, though he did not specify how he’d change the law. Pastors aren’t allowed to endorse candidates from the pulpit, but that rule is rarely enforced.

Trump then turned to what evangelical leaders have told him is a top priority – religious freedom. Many conservative Christians say they feel threatened by lawsuits aimed at requiring business owners to provide services for same-sex weddings, restrictions on prayer in public schools, and a growing move to allow transgender people to use the restrooms they choose.

“The next president is going to be very vital … in freeing up your religion, freeing up your thoughts,” Trump said. “You really don’t have religious freedom.”

Under glittering pink-and-white chandeliers, evangelicals and conservative Catholics filled the large ballroom, some raising their hands and closing their eyes as they sang, “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God/And his righteousness/And all these things shall be added unto you.”

The meeting was a closed-door and invitation-only, but National Public Radio was granted permission to observe the affair and folks it wasn’t Elijah on Mount Carmel, or John Baptist before King Herod. Some of the preachers were having problems with reconciling getting in bed with Trump because of his personal morals in some areas which have been well publicized. Of course, the ‘old saw’, “We are electing a President, not a Pastor in chief”, made the rounds. Gov. Mike Huckabee, also an ordained Southern Baptist Preacher, who was the Moderator, was there to extoll how Trump was a great family man. But possibly the greatest surprise of all was the way that Franklin Graham, probably now, the most respected preacher in America, and even called by many, “The Nation’s Pastor”, excused away Trump’s sins with these words, “Franklin Graham, the son of evangelist the Rev. Billy Graham, addressed Trump’s personal flaws that bother some evangelicals — including his multiple marriages, past support for abortion rights and foul language. Graham pointed out that in lots of stories in the Bible, people messed up. After all, Graham told the crowd of devout Christians, the prophet Moses led his people out of slavery in Egypt but disobeyed God; King David committed adultery and murder; and the apostle Peter, who, as one of Jesus’ closest followers, really should have had his back, denied three times that he’d ever known Jesus. “There is none of us that are perfect,” Graham said. “There’s no perfect person — there’s only one, and that’s the Lord Jesus Christ, but he’s not running for president of the United States.” Graham didn’t bother to mention the fact that the Bible characters all repented before being used of God. But then which of the ministries has more to lose if the “Johnson Law” is not repealed than Graham’s Samaritan’s Purse?

The preachers of America, no doubt, slept snug in their beds the night of July 21 when “The Donald”, giving his acceptance speech for the Republican Presidential Nomination in Cleveland reassured them with these ringing words in support of religious freedom, as he singled out “the evangelical and religious community” for their assistance in getting him nominated. He then said, “They have much to contribute to our politics, yet our laws prevent you from speaking your minds from your own pulpits, an amendment, pushed by Lyndon Johnson many years ago, threatens religious institutions with a loss of their tax-exempt status if they openly advocate their political views. Their voice has been taken away, I am going to work very hard to repeal that language and to protect free speech for all Americans.” (Note he said speech, not religion).

Unfortunately, for the “Palace Preachers” present, Trump began ramping down on how this energetic program might be met, especially when it became apparent that he was, “less comfortable addressing questions about LGBT rights — an issue he’s been stressing in the wake of the massacre in Orlando. Kelly Shackelford of the conservative legal organization First Liberty asked for his take on pending cases involving gay and lesbian weddings — what he described as an “attempt to use gay rights to trump religious freedom.”

Trump steered away from the issue, saying such decisions ultimately will be made in court, and, “If it’s my judges, you know how they’re gonna decide, and if it’s her judges, you also know how they’re gonna decide.” Several speakers expressed concern about whether Trump is conservative enough on LGBT issues.

Greg Quinlan of the group Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays, who describes himself as a “former homosexual,” was among those who raised the subject.

“The big elephant in the room for us is the homosexual agenda, whose objective is to silence the church, period. I was a part of that movement, I know exactly what they are doing,” Quinlan said. “What are we going to do to address the homosexual agenda, the homosexual juggernaut, and what will Donald Trump do? We know what Hillary Clinton will do because her initials are HRC — Human Rights Campaign,” he said, referring to a group known for its activism on issues including LGBT rights. In her article McCammon continued with the following complexities on the LGBT issue:

“Quinlan suggested getting together a “panel of ex-gays” to meet with Trump to explain “people can change.”

“To that, Ralph Reed of the Faith & Freedom Coalition nodded. He mentioned Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal’s veto of a “religious liberty” law earlier this year after objections from business and gay rights groups. “There has been an alliance built between the radical gay lobby and corporate America to intimidate these governors from signing that kind of legislation,” Reed said. Similar concerns lingered for Jim Garlow, pastor of Skyline Church in San Diego, though he described Trump’s relatively buttoned-down demeanor in front of the group as “very presidential.” I hope somebody can help him connect the dots,” Garlow said, that many debates surrounding the courts “all boil down to the homosexual or transgender issue.”

Putting his politician hat back on, Trump pressed the point to the preachers that he was powerless to do anything unless elected, therefore they needed to get out the vote so that he could appoint conservative judges more to their liking. Surely they didn’t need to be reminded that twenty-five million evangelicals stayed home and refused to vote for Romney four years ago, which in effect elected Obama.

Fears are real

It would be a mistake to think that the preacher’s fears are unwarranted. In an August 8, 2014 article in World Net Daily titled, “Churches warned: ‘Tidal wave of gay theology’ looming”. The highlights of the article said that Evangelical attorney, evangelist and activist Scott Lively has said that, Vicky Beeching, a so called, “Christian evangelical” worship leader who has declared herself a lesbian, is at the forefront of a coming tidal wave of “infiltration” of the church by promoters of the “gay” agenda. She has been urging churches to change their doctrine on homosexual behavior. Lively, president of Abiding Truth Ministries said he expects “attacks on Christians in America like we’ve never seen before.”

The article listed several ways to expect this attack against the churches the last institution to fall after the American Psychiatric Association deemed homosexuality to be normal behavior over 40 years ago. Recently the Boys and Girl Scouts of America went down and now there is only the church as an institution left. “All of their battle-hardened activists and enormous resources are all directed at the church, the problem is that church leaders haven’t been preparing for such a fight, and don’t really know what the movement is about Lively said.

President Obama’s transgender agenda has taken huge leaps forward in the last year or so. There have been orders for public building managers for colleges and even for public schools to allow a male who says he’s female to use locker rooms and restrooms set aside for women. The privacy and feelings of the biological females who are in those facilities are of no account. Now a second state has decided that churches, too, are bound by the agenda.

The Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination this month released a “Gender Identity Guidance” that imposes its demands on society. “Under [the law] places of public accommodation may not discriminate against, or restrict a person from services because of that person’s gender identity. For example, a hotel or motel may not refuse to book a room for a person because of the person’s gender identity,” the state threatens. It continues, “Even a church could be seen as a place of public accommodation if it holds a secular event, such as a spaghetti supper, that is open to the general public.” WND previously has reported on the issue in Iowa.

“There, a church sued the state in federal court, demanding that officials withdraw their threats of prosecution because of the content of the church’s sermons, specifically what is said about homosexuality, same-sex “marriage,” transgenderism and other related topics. That case erupted when the state’s Civil Rights Commission first claimed the authority to control the content of sermons and then to define what’s religious. At issue is the state’s nondiscrimination requirements that specify any “public accommodation” can be ordered not to say anything that might make a homosexual or a transgender feel “unwelcome,” such as even reading from the Bible a condemnation of such behavior.

Lawyers for the Alliance Defending Freedom, who are representing the church, have filed a reply in support of their motion for a preliminary injunction that would protect the church members’ constitutional rights while the case plays out.”

A fundamentalist lovefest

While the Evangelical Protestants and Catholics were having their lovefest with Trump for a day, a group of hide bound, King James Only fundamentalists have been having their own lovefest with Capitol Hill in DC and various state houses across the nation for the past three years or more. Not to be contaminated by associating with these ecumenists, and yet still putting themselves under the same Director of the Non Profit Division of the IRS – Tamera L. Ripperda as the liberals, and even the cults. They have formed what is called “Awake America” and according to their web site, their mission is to teach primarily, Independent Baptists the Judeo-Christian concepts of our Constitutional heritage and current events in light of a Biblical World View through Education, Engagement, and Encouragement.

Their Engagement program involves urging God’s people to get responsibly involved. This entails engaging in our governmental processes so that the precious liberties, such as freedom of speech and religion, can be maintained. They will also supply eyes and ears on Capitol Hill for independent Baptist Churches, keeping them up to date on proposed legislation and governmental actions promoting the positive and deterring the negative.

Their Encouragement effort involves showing how to commend our representatives when they take a conservative stand and respectfully criticize them when they compromise or take a liberal stand. They will challenge God’s people to intercede in daily prayer for our nation and representative leadership. Apparently they have forgotten that the oath the office holders take is to the Constitution, not to conservativism, whatever it may be.

Awake America was founded by Dr. Chuck Harding a Missionary Evangelist who was also the Deputy Commander of the Uniformed Protective Branch for the Diplomatic Security Service at the State Department. T. Michael Creed, Pastor of the Independent Baptist Church of Clinton, MD gives spiritual oversight to the ministry.

There are two or three observations that I would like to make concerning Awake America.  First we commend any group of believers praying for and encouraging others to pray for those in authority as the scriptures command. Neither do we impugn the Christian character of any of our brothers that are involved. At the Judgment Seat, as Spurgeon said of Wesley, we will probably be so far behind most of them that we won’t be able to see them. However, it concerns us that Awake America purports to know so much about the Constitution and they reverse freedom of speech with religion. Our founders were very careful to place religion before speech, press, assembly, etc., in the First Amendment and therefore gave to it a more coveted position, but daily we here in the media that our greatest right is “speech”, or even the 2^nd Amendment being our greatest right putting God in a servient roll. Our founders wisely put Him first in the Bill of Rights.

Unfortunately, all of the preachers who met with Trump and all of the button down fundamentalists who make up Awake America represent those type of organizations that have given up their First Amendment guarantees when they became tax-exempt, non-profit organizations. Now with the effects of the Johnson Law beginning to take effect, and having given up their God given protection of the First Amendment, they must go hat in hand to their Master legislators, tip toeing quietly, asking them for their favor in protecting them against the heavy hand of the IRS who can take their tax-exemption, i.e. source of income. How sad. And yet, for the most part, they still have their head in the sand.

Note, there is also nothing in Awake Americas web site about Christian resistance. They have enough boldness to stand against what they consider unchristian dress against women and teens, (see dress standards for teens for Sept. Conference-web site) but not the kind of boldness that the Apostles had when the authorities told them that they had to have a license to preach. “And they called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.” And among other things they said, “We ought to obey God, rather than man.” (See Acts Chapters 4 & 5).   Does it not take great boldness in these days when ungodliness is on every side to take a stand against, ugh, “no denim.” (Note: Sept. Event-web site).

But these preachers cannot stand with the Apostles, because they have cut a deal with the Devil, and agreed through state corporation, and tax-exemption for benefits, privileges, and protection to obey all laws, local, state and federal. So all they can do is to try and get their Master State to either change the laws or loosen their chains while they “tip toe around the tulips at their “love in’s.”  One of their preachers said that he had put 25,000 miles on his car driving to his state house for these “love in’s.” Samuel said to Saul, “…Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice.”

There is vast difference in the blandness of these men and the Christian Right preachers that preceded us in the mid twentieth century and prior. I can still hear them crying out daily on the radio. Men like Dr. Carl McIntire on his Twentieth Century Reformation Hour, and Billy James Hargis and his Christian Crusade, and Dr. Stuart McBirnie and his Voice of Americanism, along with many others who gave not an inch to the liberals, socialists, communists and other leftists. They were also positive in their presentation as they preached the gospel. Dr. McIntire founded the Bible Presbyterian Church, the American Council and International Council of Christian Churches. It was his answer to the NCC and WCC. Hargis at his peak was on 500 stations and McIntire was on over 600.   They all produced publications and some of them built Christian Colleges.   They were the talk radio of their time except they represented the God of the Bible and day after day they cried out against the sins of the nation, primarily government calling the nation and leaders to repentance. It was my privilege to participate in the “March against Communism” with Dr. Carl McIntire and other preachers, patriots and veterans on April 14, 1973-

What a contrast to these Awake America preachers, who according to their web site say that they are “responsible” in their approach to confronting state government. And one of their preachers told that when they go to DC and the State Houses they say that they are not there to ask for anything. Then why are they there? What about the millions of unborn? Especially those partial birth babies, “whose blood cries out from the ground,” can they not at least be a voice for them?

Just in case someone might think that this is sour grapes or professional jealousy on our part, at eighty-four years of age, we have been down this road when some of these men were in their diapers. We have been the Senior Pastor of a Mega-church during the seventies, and we have also been the President of the Coalition For Religious Freedom. We also along with Tim LaHaye assisted Jerry Falwell in the founding of the Moral Majority and was the Indiana Chairman. In that position we had the opportunity over almost a five year period, along with an army of great men of God, mostly Independent Baptist pastors, of once again calling this nation back to God through the media. I personally was on practically every national TV program in the nation. It was my privilege to write several guest editorials for USA Today. In every instance we tried to be a faithful witness, not only to the Constitutional principles of government, and to call the nation and national leaders back to God, founding principles and repentance.

In 1979 Bill Brock, the Chairman of the Republican Party met twice with several leaders of what   was called at that time, “The Christian Right”, to ask us about our concerns as the Republicans were actively courting the Evangelicals. As a fundamentalist, and perceived to be a leader among our group, I was included. Without naming all present, three that were there were Dr. James Kennedy, Dr. Adrian Rodgers, and Robert Dugan, Director of the National Association of Evangelicals. The meeting has been chronicled by Duane Murry Oldfield in a book titled: The Right and the Righteous: The Christian Right Confronts the Republican Party. Oldfield says, “The Republican National Committee and GOP standard bearer Ronald Reagan were actively wooing evangelical leaders…In late 1979, The Republican National Committee Chairman Bill Brock invited over twenty evangelical leaders to RNC headquarters. In a meeting that lasted over three hours, Brock and other top party officials invited the leaders to state their concerns and asked how the party could be more sensitive to them. Over the years, many similar meetings have taken place with the RNC as well as well as with the Senate and House Republican Committees.”

I can assure all who are reading this account that those two meetings were not “love in’s” by any means. We were men on a mission, we felt a duty to every pastor and Christian believer in America to speak for them in the highest echelons of government. There we were, preachers of the gospel, and one or two Christian laymen and a high ranking Christian military man. Most of the leading TV and major ministries in America facing the Catholic Chairman of the Republican Committee. What we would say would be told to possibly the next President of the U.S. Ronald Reagan. It was like a wrestling tag team match. We went around the room. Each would take a different subject. When one finished another would continue. Abortion, Sex-Ed in the schools, free enterprise system v socialistic welfare state system, strong military, prayer and Bible reading in the schools, on and on. Then we were called back and basically had a repeat. I couldn’t believe that they were willing to sit through another session like that one.   One thing that I remember distinctly is that Bro. Rodgers looked Chairman Brock straight in the face and said, “We don’t want to be used.”

We all worked like Trojans to get Reagan elected and many gave credit to the Christian Right for his elevation to the White House and the Republican landslide in 1980. One thing I remember was that our fundamentalist bone that was thrown to us to gnaw on was the appointment of Dr. Bob Billings, Dr. Jack Hyles right hand man at Hyles/Anderson College to serve under Sec. of Education Terrell H. Bell. Following him was David Bowell, who founded the Christian School system of the Indianapolis Baptist Temple, under Sec. of Education Bill Bennett in Washington, D.C., although his appointment was not connected to those events. Bro. Billings is deceased, but Bro. Bowell will testify that there were unusual strides made under both Terrell and Bennett to set the humanistic, liberal, godless agenda of the new age, new world order back while they were in in control of that Department.

In his book Murray stated that even prior to 1984 the RNC made a strategic decision to woo what was then called the Christian Right that was later called the Moral Majority or the Silent Majority. It is obvious, in the present Trump/Evangelical alliance, it is still on track in 2016. Robert Jeffress, Jr., Pastor of First Baptist Dallas told Fox News at the end of Sept. that he and thirty Evangelical leaders had another closed door session with Trump. And then Jeffress issued this ominous paraphrase, we believe that this may, referring to the coming election, be the last opportunity to turn America around. And we should be surprised at this all out media assault on Trump to keep him from being elected, even with help from within his own party?

Tragically since the corporate income tax was passed in 1900 and shortly thereafter the tax-exempt organizations including all churches and religious organizations have been under the control of the government. The matter has been so subtle that few ever realized their fate. Most of the pastors were led to believe that tax exemption was a First Amendment right. Therefore, even these men of God mentioned above have been in bed with government through incorporation and tax exemption and all of them have had non-profit ministries including their churches. In reality this is nothing more than welfare for the churches and religious organizations. We have disdained corporate welfare, but very little has been said of welfare for the church, and yet the early church went forth, “…for his name’s sake…, taking nothing of the Gentiles.” (3 John 7).

In the early eighties, a few of us, after Everett Sileven Ramsey, Pastor of the Faith Baptist Church in Louisville, NE went to prison, along with seven of their deacons and the church padlocked, saw the wickedness of this church/state alliance and repented and withdrew voluntarily from this wicked status and formed the unregistered church movement – http://www.everettramseydd.com/lessonsfromlouisville.html. From this came the American Coalition of Unregistered Churches which evolved into the present day Unregistered Baptist Fellowship. Later, while I was still pastor of the Indianapolis Baptist Temple, I made a trip with others to Russia and met with several in the underground Baptist church movement in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Kiev the Capital of Ukraine. I learned much about how to maintain unregistered churches in a state/church system and some things that they were doing that, in my opinion, must not be done.

Even before then, however I understood that we could not solve the problem by remaining in the system and like John the Baptist the axe must be put to the “Root of the trees.” I knew that we must get to the “root” of the problem which was to get out of church incorporation, so I resigned from both the Coalition for Religious Freedom and the Moral Majority in 1984 to concentrate on the unregistered church movement. Dr. Robert McCurry, at that time, pastor of a church on the South side of Atlanta secured the 4H Camp in Covington, Georgia for a week of prayer and fasting. We put out a nation-wide call to preachers and Christian laymen to come and pray for ourselves and our nation, but less than forty came that April of 1984. From that effort came the “Sins of the Preachers of America.” Again in Oct. we came back and had another week of prayer and fasting, and from that came the “Sins of the churches of America.”   So the unregistered church movement began from a period of deep humility, repentance and prayer.

Since then we have endeavored to walk outside the camp with the Lord Jesus. Few pulpits are open to us. Our church property has been seized by the federal government and our beautiful worship center bulldozed down because we would not deny the Headship of the Lord Jesus Christ over His church in the matter of the collection and paying of Withholding and FICA taxes on those who ministered at the church. However, God has continued to bless as we have seen the church continue on in leased property to serve God. Out of this persecution the Biblical Law Center was born and continues to help churches to organize and reorganize as New Testament churches in the area of church polity without IRS control or approval or following the Johnson Law.

Now having said these things, is it possible that it is government itself that has produced the “mega-church phenomena?” Please note the words of the Lord Jesus “Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.” (Mat 13:31-32.) It is abnormal for a mustard shrub to grow into a tree large enough for birds to roost in it. Note the word “birds”. The mustard tree speaks of the apostate state/church, supported, financed and protected by the state. In turn the Palace Preachers of all denominations support the agenda of the state. But John saw the end of this – “And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.” (Rev 18:2-3).

In approximately 300 A.D. after the church had been severely persecuted for three centuries it still had so triumphed that the empire had seen paganism nearly fade into the distant past, and Christianity had ascended into the majority religion. Even the Emperor’s mother Helena had become known as a devout believer. Seeing the opportunity to solidify his political power, he agreed with the Bishop of Rome and his preacher cronies, in exchange for relief from persecution to legalize Christianity and to make it the State religion rather than Paganism. How could the church pass up such a deal as this? Wouldn’t this really advance the gospel? So the deal was cut which eventually led to the rise of the Roman and Greek Catholic Church, all of the Eastern religions including Protestantism and the cults. This will eventually lead to all religions uniting under the false prophet revealed in Rev. Cp. 13 who will call fire down from heaven during the Tribulation period and cause all to worship the Beast (Anti-Christ).

Out of this unholy alliance came the non-conformists who heard the Shepherd of the sheep say, “…Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.” they refused to bow the knee to Baal and the Lord’s true churches continued on down through the centuries even until now, who recognize the Lord Jesus Christ as the only Head over His church which He died for. (Mt 28:18; Eph. 5:23).

Is it possible that the Lord Jesus gave us a hint of what a model church might be while He was yet on earth? He said, “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” (Lk 12:32).

One Sunday morning while preaching at the Indianapolis Baptist Temple, Greg A. Dixon made a profound statement, in my opinion. He said, “In the beginning of the “church age”, Rome was in charge, the church was persecuted, and the church was meeting in homes. At the end of the church age, Rome will be in charge, the church will be persecuted, and it will be meeting in homes.”

Oh let us pray that God will raise up a prophet that will call our pastors and churches back to God in repentance of this unholy alliance with state government that has robbed us of our power. But it must not be a Jeremiah or Amos or John Baptist because they wouldn’t be welcome with the “button down crowd,” nor would their message be welcome in the “Mega-Come as you are church” of our time.

These preachers better hope that Trump wins on Nov. 8, because if Hillary is the next President, they may find that they put their money on the losing horse. But either way, churches that rely on the “true riches,” will be blessed indeed. (Lk 16:11).