Cutting Muster
and the Indianapolis Baptist Temple

"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:" 1 Peter 5:8

Indianapolis Baptist Temple was seized by the federal government. The federal government has forgiven billions of dollars in debt for foreigners who oppose the US and corporations with IRS tax trouble, but IBT, one of the few Churches in America which tried to disentangle itself from the state corporate control, was invaded and destroyed.

"For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning." 2 Peter 2:20

"My intent gives a name to my act."
"Intentio mea imponit nomen operi meo." Hob. 123.

Indianapolis Baptist Temple's intent to be a free Church under God and not Caesar was clear, but Federal Judge Sarah Baker, the IRS, the apathy and if not the guilt of corporate Churches in America seemed to be determined to destroying IBT.

Why?

"My intent gives a name to my act."
       

The intent of IBT was clear and the intent of those who stood against IBT was also clear.

The corporate Churches of America who have already prayed at the altars of the State and bent the knee in submission wanted to see IBT go down so that their own guilt could be covered up by IBT seeming failure.

The IRS is employed to protect the interest of the authority it serves and being corporate has no real heart.

Sarah Baker was not as forgiving a judge as some of us might have liked, but she gave us some valuable information if we will listen to her words humbly and carefully within the context of the Gospel and the law.

 

IBT workers originally paid all the taxes owed the government. When those individual persons were audited the IRS refunded the money that had been paid to the IRS and said the Church should have paid it.

Note the government received its money. Caesar was paid. But this is not about money or taxes. It is about control. It is about who is the Father of the Church.

The total taxes were about $200,000. All paid, all refunded.

Now, through the magic of interest and penalties the IRS had jacked up the amount that they claimed the Church owed them. They had this money in hand, but sent it back and created fines for failing to pay it which eventually with interest amounted to over 6 million dollars.

I know this situation at IBT. I have been to the Church and spoken with Rev. Dixon and others with first hand information.

A number of years ago this Church discovered the controlling nature of contracting with the government for benefits in a corporate status established by the government as opposed to the Status of the Church established by Jesus Christ.

Jesus created the Church. He appointed it and established it. Even the legal definition of Church states clearly that it is one form of government established by Christ.

If any Church incorporates to the state that church will be recognized by that state as a privileged corporation and any prior "incorporation" is as if it never happened according to the rules of incorporation within many States.

The Church is the "body of Christ", the corpus of Christ (Corpus Christi). A corporation of the State is a part of the corpus of the State. A Church cannot be the corpus of the kingdom of God through the appointment of Christ and be the corpus or corporation of the State, too. That is the law and the State and Christ agree on this.

"No man[nothing] can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon." Matthew 6:24

"Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage." Galatians 5:1

IBT began to attempt to extricate themselves from this contractual relationship and began to follow closer to the teachings of Christ which put them farther from the graces of the modern day pharisaic christian churches and of course the Federal government.
      Keeping in mind, as we stated, all the taxes owed the government were paid by those workers at the Church who had Federal Employee Identification Numbers. The IRS sent back the money. The IRS then charged the Church with failure to withhold the money they had just sent back.What could the Church do since it could no longer withhold taxes because it did not believe it should use a Federal Employer Identification Number unless they are a state controlled church. They were seeking to be the Body of Christ.
      They desire to be a Church established by Christ according to the Bible's instructions and the definition of the Church in Black's Law Dictionary. If the Church obtains corporate status with the state or files a 1023 with the IRS as a 501c3 Church they will waive their 1st Amendment right to the exception in 508c1 of the US Codes.

[See the mandatory exception clause.]
In The Body of Christ Vs. The Body of the State we quote the Department of the Treasury, I.R.S., Pub. 557 Tax-Exempt Status for Your Organization. Chap. 3 Page 9.

“Some organizations are not required to file form 1023. These include: Churches, interchurch organizations of local units of a church, conventions or association of a church, such as a men’s or women’s organization, religious school, mission society, or youth group.”

“These organizations are exempt automatically if they meet the requirements of section 501c(3). However, if the organization wants to establish its exemption with the Internal Revenue Service and receive a ruling or determination letter recognizing its exempt status, it should file Form 1023 with the key District Director.”read in context

The essay also quotes the Detailed Analysis, Tax Management Inc. a subsidiary of the Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. 464-2nd, A - 1 which stated “The disadvantages of exemption under §501c(3) stem from the strict operational restrictions.”

The Internal Revenue states on the “Application for Recognition of Exemption Under Section 501c(3) of the Internal Revenue Code,” under “Purpose of Form,” section “2. Organizations not Required to file Form 1023. Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service. that, “The following organizations will be considered tax exempt under section 501c(3) even if they do not file Form 1023: (a) churches, their integrated auxiliaries, and conventions or associations of churches,…”

 

It is the application that brings "strict operational restrictions". But IBT had filed. It appeared that the state (e.g. Federal Government) was squeezing the Church in a catch 22. But whose fault was it that this conflict was occuring? Was the Church missing something? Are we missing something?

Claims and the Truth

The Church was claiming to be a "First Century Church" established by Jesus Christ.

Some think that the federal government through the courts is saying that the Church established by Jesus Christ must collect taxes for Caesar, register, and become incorporated to the state.

Nothing could be farther from the truth.

Judge Sarah Baker is not saying that a "First Century Church" owes these taxes, must file, must incorporate and neither does the Federal government. She is saying that "IBT's claim to being a first century Church does not cut muster." [emphases added]

Technically and unfortunately, Sarah has a point when she wrote that in her decision.

The Muster Rolls is a way that the British Admiralty used to determine the origin of a ship. Not by the flag alone or the status of the Captain, but by the country of the majority of the members of the crew. The Judge told them that their argument "did not cut muster".

If the British boarded a ship flying a French flag and they were at war with Spain, but not at war with France, they might require to see the 'muster rolls', that is to say the list of the members of the ship, the officers and the crew .

If the list were mostly Spaniards they would assume that the ship was actually Spanish and seize it accordingly.

This is what has happened, at least in part, to IBT. They are saying that they are a First Century Church, but 60 of their crew members are claiming to have Federal Employee Identification Numbers as members of the US government. They have sworn to this under penalty of perjury.

The Federal Government recognizes a Church that meets the definition of the CHURCH established by Jesus. But they would not recognize the right of IBT to return to that status once it incorporated to the state and became a wealthy property holder as a corporation of the State.

Despite all this and the mistakes made by IBT earlier in its history I believe it was struggling to get right with the LORD and His Kingdom on earth. But unfortunately they took bad or misguided advise.

Christ was dealing with the same exact government types that we are dealing with today. He understood then what we are facing now. He told us how to prepare and handle this situation but ministers of the Church are entirely misled or ignorant of what Christ was setting up in the world but not of it and how the law and the Church operate.

IBT could have avoided all this by following several simple steps in the dissolution of the old and the reformation of a new Church in Christ. They also could have had the people with SSNs paid through a third party agency. They were learning and took some bad advice when good advice was available.

Their problem was at least lack of knowledge not criminal intent.

This is an important issue and if people would learn from this hard lesson, which IBT has demonstrated at great cost, then their struggle and sacrifice would not be in vain.

Blaming the government for our lack of understanding is a poor approach and getting angry is not the solution. Christ sacrificed more than IBT.

"[He that is] soon angry dealeth foolishly: and a man of wicked devices is hated." Proverbs 14:17

IBT did not understand the whole truth of the nature of the Church. They did not understand that they could not "morph" themselves into a new creature as the court explained. Many of the errors made by Churches are not "revocable". We explain this in The Free Church Report and the world agrees by their own proclamation. We must conform to the instructions of Christ and not only the Church must be separate but its ordained ministers must also be separate.

"Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean [thing]; and I will receive you," 2 Corinthians 6:17

I encourage everyone to take a new look at what the Church is, what it should be. What Christ requires of His Church and His Ministers. The Church is not what I say it is, nor what IBT says it is, nor Sarah Baker says it is.

The Church is what Christ says it is.

“The real destroyers of the liberties of the people is he who spreads among them bounties, donations, and benefits.” Plutarch, 2000 years ago.

A prayer is an application and an application is a prayer.

Be careful who you pray to.

“When the gods wish to punish us they answer our prayers.” Oscar Wilde

In the last 2000 years institutions calling themselves the church have gone through many changes, but if they will not remain true to the precepts and instruction of Christ then they no longer are His Church. If His Church and His ministers are not doing what He said then the problem is with them. If we are to receive Christ's protection through the Holy Spirit we must repent and return to the ways of the First Century Church.

There are many other aspects of the Church that we must learn to understand. Looking at all things anew will require honesty and humility. The status of minister is very important and Jesus gave very particular instructions concerning them because He knew what we would be facing.

We must learn and follow the instruction of Christ to be His appointed body working for and preaching the kingdom of Heaven at hand. Many of those truths will be different from what we have bee taught in our many denominational churches and the seminaries we may have attended.

"I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world." John 17:14