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INDIANAPOLIS BAPTIST TEMPLE STILL HOLED UP IN ITS SANCTUARY
[Distributed by Way of Life Literatureâs Fundamental Baptist Information Service. Copyright 2000. These articles cannot be stored on BBS or Internet sites or sold or placed by themselves or with other material in any electronic format for sale, but may be distributed for free by e-mail or by print. They must be left intact and nothing removed or changed, including these informational headers. This is a listing for Fundamental Baptists and other fundamentalist, Bible-believing Christians. Our goal in this particular aspect of our ministry is not devotional but is TO PROVIDE INFORMATION TO ASSIST PREACHERS IN THE PROTECTION OF THE CHURCHES IN THIS APOSTATE HOUR. If you desire to receive this type of material on a regular basis, e-mail us, give us your name, address, and the name of the church you are a member of, and request to be placed on the list. Please note that this is not a free service. We take up a quarterly offering to fund this ministry, and each subscriber is expected to participate. To unsubscribe or to submit a change of address, send your name and the request to fbns@wayoflife.org. This is not an automated list. Changes in the database can require two to four days to activate. Some of these articles are from O Timothy magazine. O Timothy is a monthly magazine in its 18th year of publication. Way of Life publishes many helpful books. The catalog is located at the web site: http://www.wayoflife.org/. Way of Life Literature, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061-0368. 866-295-4143 (toll free), 519-652-2619 (voice), fbns@wayoflife.org (e-mail)]
November 22, 2000 (David W. Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061-0368, fbns@wayoflife.org) - Pastor Greg Dixon, some members of his congregation, and some outside supporters remain holed up inside their congregational sanctuary in spite of the federal court order that they vacate the property to pay back taxes. The Indianapolis Baptist Temple does not recognize the governmentâs authority to collect taxes from a church and since 1984 has refused to pay the amount demanded by the Internal Revenue Service. A federal appeals court ruled against the church in August of this year. Federal judge Sarah Barker ordered the church to vacate its property by November 14 to satisfy the judgment, and Chief Justice William Rehnquist of the U.S. Supreme Court denied the churchâs request for a stay. Both the Federal marshals and the congregation have promised not to use violence in the expected confrontation.
Pastor Dixon claims that the government has no authority over the church and has called Justice Rehnquist a ãmodern Saul of Tarsus.ä Dixon claims to know Godâs opinion of ãevery Federal Judge, every IRS agent, and every member of the US Justice Departmentä and has announced Godâs judgment on them all (Nov. 13 update published by the Indianapolis Baptist Temple). He says, ãThe Internal Revenue Service will now control all of the churches in the US including the sermons that will be preached from the pulpitsä (Nov. 8 update).
This is thought to be the first time in U.S. history that the government has confiscated a churchâs property in a tax dispute.
I believe both parties are wrong in this affair. I know that the United States government is evil in many ways and there has been a sharp departure from the original intent of the founding fathers. It is unreasonable and wicked for the government to levy a $6 million judgment against a small church and then devour all of their property to satisfy it. This nation was founded upon the principle of religious liberty, of the government keeping its nose out of the churchâs business. At the same time, I also believe that the type of reviling that is emanating from the Indianapolis Baptist Temple is unhealthy and unscriptural. The American government is no more wicked than the Roman government under which the apostles and early Christians served. I do not see them speaking of the government in this manner in the New Testament Scriptures. I also believe that churches should pay their taxes and that this does not detract from the Headship of Christ over the churches. The Lord Jesus Christ and His apostles paid taxes even though the taxation was admittedly unrighteous (Matt. 17:24-27), and the books of Romans and 1 Peter instruct Christians to do the same (Romans 13:1-7; 1 Peter 2:12-15).