Christians and Churches That Care

After 75 years of blessed life, an open letter to Christians that care from John. 

May 24, 2013.

To sustain my household and family, as well as this independent mission and my work on the development of other critically needed not-for-profit endeavors, I must personally generate not less than an additional $100 every day to supplement our so-called "retirement" income.  This gap is quite a step down from my best days of premium professional billing rates.  Like so many other Senior producers in our economy, it reflects the impact of the redistribution economy on the hard earned results of a lifetime of work.  Mine started when I was a young teen on a bike operating a paper delivery route.

For the unaware, by the time you have finally paid off your house, you just might discover the sad truth that real estate taxes, utilities (many have hidden taxes), and insurance will probably cost you as many dollars as your original mortgage payment several decades ago.

Each year the Fed has to weaken your purchasing power per dollar spent by about 5% (to see this, look at the 20 year moving average, not just one year) to sustain its prior Federal borrowings.  With current domestic and global events, you can expect this situation to get worse, not better.  The government plan is simple: your dollar must have less true purchasing power as time goes by.

Years ago it became evident to me that the United States Federal tax code related to 501(c) tax exempt organizations, now numbering almost 30 different special categories beyond the well known 501(c)(3) category (the 501(c)(3) group includes religious, educational, charitable, and several other categories), was being used for a wide-range of "social engineering" agendas.  Sometimes the expectation of freedom of expression by speech or actions is subject to constraint by subtle, and sometimes, not so subtle, intimidation by the risk of loss of 501(c) tax exempt status.  Then there is the 509(a) issue in the tax code, which is even more complex when dealing with this issue.

Furthermore, the demands and costs associated with these special tax considerations (which may have significant financial consequences at local, state and Federal levels for those who have the tax exempt status) are quite expensive for micro-missions, cumbersome to interpret, loaded with pitfalls and fine print, burdensome with compliance and regulation issues, and finally, designed for selective support or barriers that introduce a substantial risk of uncertainty when one is seeking to focus on the accomplishment of a core vision and mission instead of using sparse time and resources on non-productive regulatory compliance activity (also known as "make work" or "create jobs") for what appears -- at times -- to be very arbitrary demands.

The potential for the abuse of government power over the people and the chilling effect on initiatives, freedom of speech, and the personal assumption of risk for reasonable rewards is quite obvious to the serious researcher and thinker.  With recent developments, this is even more obvious to those in the populace in this republic who can still sort through the spin, think and really do care.

Sadly, freedom of expression is not accompanied by careful consideration of a reality: our republic assumes responsible use of freedom in both words and deed -- and irresponsible use of freedom leads to incremental loss of freedom for all of us.  Consider those who cannot comprehend mutual respect for each other, and instead think they have a calling and the right to openly murder others who are not of their faith.

The reality is that all of us are God's creations and our life is a gift from Him.  The ten original rules from Him for living life were easy to understand and live by.  The core of the United States Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence reflects the assumption that we as citizens in a Republic would live by these rules.  This included mutual and peaceful respect for an individual's choice of religion.  Now, due to irresponsible actions by some, and the agendas of others, we now have thousands upon thousands of pages of laws, rules, regulations, restrictions, taxes and fees.  These pages are more than any one individual can ever comprehend, thus setting the stage for selective (and abusive) implementation.

Such a cumbersome system facilitates selective judgment and violates any sense of freedom and equal justice for all.  Now innuendo can easily be used to destroy individuals and organizations based on the unchallenged judgment of those who have the attention of the mass media.  As one observer noted, "Guilty until proven innocent", and the concept of being faced by the accuser, and penalty for false accusations seems to be replaced by one of notoriety that tends to be rewarded instead of treated justly.

The ten original rules for happy living are such a simple concept!  In contemporary language:

1.  Put God first.

2.  Life is more than stuff.

3.  Use your words well.

4.  Use your time well.

5.  Respect your parents.

6.  Value people.

7.  Control yourself.

8.  Work hard.

9.  Tell the truth.

10. Be content.

In this broken and sinful world, the pitfall is that these rules are rooted in mutual trust, integrity and respect for each other.  Trust is easily abused when the power and influence of might, money and mind is in the hands of those that cannot distinguish the difference between what is right and wrong (or foolish), and therefore compromise their own integrity.  The situation becomes even more difficult if they ignore or do not understand the ultimate will and power of the LORD our God.

Hence my stand not to seek any government granted favorable tax considerations for this vision and mission.  Instead, I choose to support it with earned income and my writing of educational publications to foster the development of enterprise and endeavors.  Also, since most individuals do not itemize their tax deductions, the potential for income tax savings are of no consequence for many individuals.  Their donations to endeavors that they want to support are actually free-will gifts, and not motivated by government guided social engineering.

Since this is not a 501(c) tax-exempt organization that can offer potential funding sources some tax savings (only if they were to itemize their income tax returns), a more proper means for meeting the same overall objective is actually more broadly available.  Quite simply, the cost of educational materials related to one's business or profession usually receives favorable tax consequences in their business and/or income tax filings.  Non-profit entities can likewise procure such materials for their own use, or if consistent with their reason for existence, to undertake re-distribution of such materials to their members as a benefit of membership.  This means buying books, booklets, and other business oriented publications and resources that I have developed in the real world (instead of academia).  It helps me and it helps you.

One skeptic told me that I was using this mission as a means to sell books.  Quite the contrary, the mission was initiated in 2003 with the intent of connecting churches that care with single parents that had children under the age of 13 using a carefully designed business plan.  Before that was fully launched, our personal resources started getting lean, so my family rightly pushed me to publish the self-paced learning Guidebook, Mastering Your Marketing, in 2006.  There have been times since then when a sale of that book has made a big difference as we steadily reduced our living expenses to the bare bones.  Then 2008 hit, and you know the rest of the story (unless you live in a remote cave).

I operate with a very low budget.  Funds for promotion and awareness flow first to the mission, rather than to promote my time-based services.  Frankly, now that I am 75, I need to stop selling my time for whatever I can get (age discrimination is very real), and apply more of my remaining time to the vision and mission.

Bottom Line:  With all the foregoing in mind, non-profit status as a 501(c)(3) is not in the plan for this vision and mission.  Independence and freedom from direct or implied limitations on expression are essential to me.  Please pray that the daily financial resources needed to maintain the independence of this endeavor successfully shift from the sale of my time for modest compensation per hour as an Adjunct Business Professor at a private University (a part-time job that I was blessed with very late in 2010 when the Academic Dean took the time to look at Mastering Your Marketing) towards more revenue from sales of my original "how to" business and professional development books and publications.   One outcome from that work is that class preparation and facilitation with MBA's and undergraduates acted as a good refresher and update for me on many aspects of global and domestic enterprise development issues and topics.

The big dream is that one day this Internet ministry will be able to provide global live streaming feed of messages from the Word, with a focus on valid insights for living life in mutual accord with each other without the strife and division that comes from failing to treat each other as we would like to be treated if our roles in life were suddenly exchanged.   Just think of the wide range of individual roles that reflect the influence of one having might, money or mind power over another.  Then imagine how that same individual would feel if the roles were exchanged, or worse yet, if they suddenly were a complete stranger to all, with no might, money, or power of communications to influence the minds of others.  Would tribal, political, cultural, religious, population density, borders and similar boundaries change for the better?  You could even ask yourself, "Would validly elected leadership then be in the mode of really serving, rather than dictating, dominating and selectively prosecuting?"

You might say, "Dream on!"  Me and my cup of coffee (sometimes even tea) say, "Dream big, tomorrow starts today."

No matter what, please pray that the time and resources come forth for further enhancements of the presence and impact of this global Internet resource for all who care, who hope and who seek the guidance of our maker and His vision and plan for our eternal life.  If it is His will, pray that this endeavor becomes more effective each new day than it was the day before, as it seeks to help enterprise, individual freedom, and the Truth grow around the globe.

Thank you for reading this, for your reflective thoughts and prayers, and may the LORD our God grace you with good health and many blessings,

In Christ,

John

 o  To encourage the leadership and congregation of every Christian church to function so that any first time guest will want to come back a second time.
 
o  To make it quick and easy for wandering Christians and seekers to find a nearby local Christian church.

o  To provide one place for those who have never been in a church or are wondering about Christianity, God and Jesus Christ to get clear, consistent and honest answers that reflect the leadership of the Holy Spirit and Bible.

o  To develop widespread awareness that these goals are served by a denominationally independent Internet domain: cTc.tv.

o  To challenge all local Christian churches to be "effective churches" by being exceptional in their vision, understanding and faith in Jesus Christ, and living accordingly.

(if you find typos on this web site, please let me know -- and thank you)