The Kingdoms of our World and the Kingdoms of our God and the Body of Christ.

No rulers over the Kingdom except Christ
Dan 2:44 And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.
We see here the end of the Prophecy concerning the Kingdoms of the World System through Nebuchadnezzar and the beginning of the Kingdom of God.

3 principles of the Kingdom from Daniel
Shall not be left to other people
Whether secular or religious no human authority has the right to rule the kingdom of God nor can it. This stands against
Break in pieces
Unlike ecumenicism, the Kingdom can not gathered into one body prior to the Second Coming.
Consume all kingdoms and shall Stand for ever
This kingdom will evangelize from every kingdom. Yet while every kingdom will have a short life span, the Kingdom of God Will never die.


The church should not be taxed
Mat 17:24 And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute money came to Peter, and said, Doth not your master pay tribute?
Mat 17:25 He saith, Yes. And when he was come into the house, Jesus prevented him, saying, What thinkest thou, Simon? of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? of their own children, or of strangers?
Mat 17:26 Peter saith unto him, Of strangers. Jesus saith unto him, Then are the children free.
Mat 17:27 Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee.
Here is something to remember. Money had been taken up by Judas. He had been the treasurer, they could have very easily taken up money from Judas to pay tribute. However, Jesus instead has Peter gather the money separate from the church account. Why? Because the money belonged to the body of Christ. We are children by adoption. Therefore, God’s money should not be taxed. The government does not truly own the Land, it was given to them by God. Therefore, God does not owe the government anything.
In fact in the preamble to the US constitution it says that we are to
“secure it’s blessings” What is blessing the USA? Not Britain! The Lord God is the one blessing us!

Mat 22:19 Shew me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny.
Mat 22:20 And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription?
Mat 22:21 They say unto him, Caesar's. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's.
Mat 22:22 When they had heard these words, they marvelled, and left him, and went their way.
Notice, the sense of Justice, we are to individually pay our taxes to Caesar. Yet we are to separately pay our tithes to God. Tithed money/possessions are Holy and belong to the Lord. Yet tribute is always given to government authorities independantly



Rulers of American churches today
1Pe 2:13 Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme;
1Pe 2:14 Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well.
1Pe 2:15 For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men:

Christians submit to governing authorities. But only willingly, the government is not the highest authority. The Christians concern is not the sovereignty of man, but their testimony to mankind. The government is simply an authoritative system to take care of their own matters and no more.
Act 18:12 And when Gallio was the deputy of Achaia, the Jews made insurrection with one accord against Paul, and brought him to the judgment seat,
Act 18:13 Saying, This fellow persuadeth men to worship God contrary to the law.
Act 18:14 And when Paul was now about to open his mouth, Gallio said unto the Jews, If it were a matter of wrong or wicked lewdness, O ye Jews, reason would that I should bear with you:
Act 18:15 But if it be a question of words and names, and of your law, look ye to it; for I will be no judge of such matters.
Act 18:16 And he drave them from the judgment seat.
Act 18:17 Then all the Greeks took Sosthenes, the chief ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the judgment seat. And Gallio cared for none of those things.
Here we see the local government siding with Paul against anti-Christian Jews. Since Paul never disturbed the peace the government had no desire to bother oppressing him. Any just government will react this way to law abiding Christians.
Col 2:14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;
Col 2:15 And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.
Act 4:18 And they called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.
Act 4:19 But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye.
Act 4:20 For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.
However, when government tries to become god and rule the hearts and spirits of Christians, they will not avail. God is a higher authority than them and His rule will always overcome theirs.



Non-profit status (501c3) and the IRS
Many Churches became enamored by the idea of having the government label them a 501c3 because it said they were tax exempt. Therefore, church members could get their taxes written off of their contributions.
However, the right to be tax-free was a right the church had already obtained. However, church members won’t get their taxes written off. But should Church members get their taxes written off?
Individually church members should pay their taxes. If we are commanded to render unto Caesars what is his. Then we need to be godly and pay our taxes that we owe.
The issue of labeling also is sad in the fact that it implies that the church is subordinate to the government. Why does the modern church need government approval? Peter and John did not need government authority. If God really is the highest authority then what authority do you need on the earth? None!!!
When a church claims that it is autonomous and then signs on as a 501c3 they have declared themselves to the world as hypocrites! Hundreds of Colonial Baptist endured persecution for this reason. Thousands of Chinese Christians have died and millions more have been persecuted for this principle. Yet the modern American church rushes to remove their sovereignty just so that they can get a tax right off.
Now admittedly many churches are only guilty of naiveté. They simply wanted to follow this process to show that Christians are peaceful people who respect the government. But now Christians need to wake up. Liberals are now starting to slowly take advantage of this situation. They are trying to rule that churches will have to hire homo-sexuals according to fairness laws. Then they will legislate that churches will also have to follow hate-speech.


Insurance, Banks and moneylenders

Bank accounts can be usable as long as the church is very good about keeping it’s record and has a well-trained representative handling affairs.
Yet, Churches should be extremely careful in regards to bouncing checks. It is understandable for a bank to fine those who have their checks bounce, yet it is an abomination for church members to let this happen. This led us to any type of money lending.
As churches, continue to gain possessions, they now have to their building and host of items insured. The more insurance gets involved with the situation the more stipulations come into play. This leads to all sorts of issues with the church.

Bishops, denominations and non- profit organizations
1Pe 5:1 The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed:
1Pe 5:2 Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;
1Pe 5:3 Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being ensamples to the flock.
Many people throughout church history have gotten the wrong idea about authority over the local church. They assume that they can take advantage of a local church and tell it what to do. Yet to push churches around flippantly is to set yourself up as God. Which is exactly what happens many times, when there are churches or other ruling hierarchies. Many of these bodies end up handling God’s money in vicious ways. Members of Anglican/Episcopalian churches who want to stand up against homosexuality have to lose their own churches in order to separate since the denomination owns them instead of God.

Even mission organizations can in fact exercise unbiblical authority over the churches.
Mar 9:38 And John answered him, saying, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and he followeth not us: and we forbad him, because he followeth not us.
Mar 9:39 But Jesus said, Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me.
Mar 9:40 For he that is not against us is on our part.
Mar 9:41 For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward.

The Southern Baptist organization IMB has taken several liberties to personally qualify those who are and are not fit to be missionaries.
Among them, situations involving divorce and health issues. Ironically the Southern Baptist denomination was formed so that even slave owners would be allowed to travel abroad as missionaries. The purpose of a denomination like the SBC is to be rule bottum up at the laity level, not top down. Now ones theology surrounding speaking in tongues can play a role in whether they are allowed spread the gospel overseas. The real problem with this conclusion is that almost half the Southern Baptist ministers believe in such a process and the issue is not covered in the Baptist Faith and Message.
Ultimately, the question has to be asked what gives the IMB Authority to pick and chose who should go on the mission field? Who ever it is, it is not God. Even if we say churches gave IMB the right, did all churches vote this way? I don’t remember getting this vote. Ultimately, this organization has overstepped it’s bounds.

Ways that the church defiles itself to rule over others
Joh 18:35 Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Thine own nation and the chief priests have delivered thee unto me: what hast thou done?
Joh 18:36 Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.
Joh 18:37 Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.
Joh 18:38 Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all.

2Co 6:14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?

Employment: When the church becomes a business it gets into sticky waters and ends up in bizarre power plays. The following issues result
Hiring and stock: When hiring non-Christians or just non-church members we get ourselves in a sticky situation. If we have standards, then we end up trying to control staff externally with moral rules. The other issue, which is common for mega-churches and denominations, is the idea of taking money and putting it in the stock system. Yet this makes world business and not church members the stewards of God’s money. As a result, money is passed around to non-christianity. Then money can be invested in worldly business like gambling, alcohol, strip-joints/pornography. I am aware of this happening with at least two or three ministries.

Secular education & daycare: First we deal with state regulations on how to properly care for kids. As well as state regulations on what to educate children with. Secondly, our desires many times states that we want to save our children in a way different than the gospel. Whereas the Bible teaches that saves by grace through faith. Our practice states that we want to save our children by “education through indoctrination”. This works fine for churches who believe in the sacramental of infant baptism. They assume that if one has the right answers, they are born again. Yet I have seen this backfire. I know of at least one church, which has a Christian school and has a great deal of trouble with outbreaks of Wiccan cults very near to where I live. The church ironically is confessional ultra-conservative. We cannot make people born-again. Daycare and school provide an illusion which most commonly gets in the way of the gospel as oppose to helping it. Biblically the duty of education has always belonged to the parents.
Deu 6:7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
Yet many churches in our era feel that they are in charge of education. They seem to have picked up the idea from the Catholic Church. But where did they get the idea? In the Middle ages the Catholics would not even educate their own members on how to read. Leaving only the priest with an education. This movment happened not long after the reformation, when Catholics were losing political control in Europe after the reformation. During the counter reformation they started these schools and began starting them all over the world. These were not simply about education but about acquiring power. Has the helped the poor and uneducated they receive their payment in loyalty service and proslytization. Many have cultures have been taken over in this very fashion. Education is the new political dominance in the modern world. But if Bible believing evangelical copy this activity they will only gain the world to loose the souls of those they educate.

Concerts, sports, picnics & festivals: Many times churches will use entertainment events in order to raise money and pay for projects or depts. I have witness this carried out to extreme in the Catholic churches. The other day my wife and me walked to a Catholic Church in our neighborhood. They had rented a small carnival in their parking lot. The prices were astronomical, so we left. Churches Catholic or not often give the impression that they are concerned more with your money than your soul. Also many mega churches have similar habits with their Christian concerts they say they are there to evangelize why charging admission.

Government lawsuits and copyright laws, and psychologist:
1Co 6:1 Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints?
1Co 6:2 Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
1Co 6:3 Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?
1Co 6:4 If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church.
1Co 6:5 I speak to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you? no, not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren?
1Co 6:6 But brother goeth to law with brother, and that before the unbelievers.
1Co 6:7 Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because ye go to law one with another. Why do ye not rather take wrong? why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded?
It is a pathetic showing when Christians try to play legal games with each other. I know that there is a reason for copyright laws but, we know that those on both sides can abuse them. We must be very careful in how we use our rights. Why do churches participate with secular psychologist? Are not the saints with the word of God sufficient to give advice? When we go to the secular world for advice we are not going to God. How can Christians sustain themselves while depending on the advice of the lost?


Politics: Now I know that this is an area that can be particularly tricky. I also acknowledge that most churches are not political/socially active enough. I encourage churches to be active on specific issues like abortion. However, I do see places were many churches cross the line. First of all, I think it is wrong for a New Testament church to endorse a specific candidate or be linked to a political party. I think that a church has a constitutional right to have these opinions but not a biblical one. Many churches may endorse a particular candidate so that they receive special treatment. While many churches may agree with a specific party if they become linked to that party, whatever it is, they have inevitably covenanted with unbelievers.
Dan 2:43 And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.
Therefore while I do politically believe churches have the right to be this opinionated. I also believe that it is ok for Christians to be fully active as private citizens. I still argue theologically that we keep our noses clean.

The ultimate question which underlies these types of activities is, are they really the purpose of the Church? You never see Jesus tell his church to set up all of these things. Most of the time these things become burdens more than they become helps. Many times churches spend so much time conforming to the world that they never have time to follow God and fulfill the great commission.
If it is hard enough to get a rich man into heaven then how will we get a rich mega church to fit through the eye of a needle?