(WEEKLY TEACHING) 501c3: The Devil's Church (2019) p13

[creationliberty]

501c3: The Devil's Church (2019) p13
In part 13, we look at how pastors frequently use Lyndon Johnson as a convenient excuse to cover up their greed and covetousness.

[Kenneth Winslow]

Is there a difference between a business and a nonprofit organization?
The only difference I know of is that the non-profit organization has to spend all their income by the end of the fiscal year.
Are there any other differences? Don't get me wrong, I certainly don't need to know all the differences if there are many.
I just want to know if calling an incorporated church building "a business" is appropriate or accurate, or if there's something else to relate "churches" to in order to help people understand. 

[creationliberty]

Non-profits don't necessarily have to spend all their income by the end of the year; they just have to report it if they had anything left over. I've already reviewed a number of non-profit "church" organizations who have assets listed.

Yeah, there are plenty of differences between a business and a non-profit. The first and most obvious is that businesses are not tax-exempt; they pay taxes just like the rest of us.

There are no problems with owning a business in the U.S., and I want to emphasize that in case other people are reading this. There's nothing Scriptural against owning a business. I would say the problem is when a church or evangelistic ministry becomes a business, in which they start charging people money for what they produce. Please don't misunderstand; if someone wants to start up a business to sell materials, that's not a problem, but my conviction is not to force people to pay to view that material if the material is preaching Christ's doctrine and philosophy.

If you're asking about filing the church as a business, personally, I wouldn't support someone who does that, any more than I would support the merchant tables setup on the steps leading up the to the Temple in the days of Christ. However, there are others who start up their ministry and/or church, and then start up a business on the side, and that's completely acceptable in my opinion; just be careful for the ones who charge you to view their materials, whether they be video, audio, or books.

[Kenneth Winslow]

Here is what I want to say to people, but I want to make sure it is accurate:
"Most churches in America today are nothing more than government controlled businesses that don't have to pay taxes."

[creationliberty]

But we don't have to pay the taxes that you're referring to either. Tax exemption is an illusion. No one owed them, but then once they got incorporated, they owed them, but were given a "privilege" to not pay them.

[Jeanne]

The only reason for a 'church' to get incorporated is so that greedy 'pastors' can get more money from greedy people who want their 'charitable' contributions to be tax deductible. Even this is an illusion, though, because as Chris said earlier, contributions are only tax deductible if they are over and above the standard deduction everyone gets.

[Kenneth Winslow]

With all that said, would it be accurate to say that most church buildings in America today are basically government regulated businesses that are tax-exempt?

[creationliberty]

It depends on what you mean by 'business'.

[Kenneth Winslow]

It depends on what you mean by 'business'.

A corporation created by the government for the purposes of creating jobs, making money and providing goods & services.

[creationliberty]

I suppose that'll work.