Port Austin Bible Campus
PO Box 474 •
Port Austin, Michigan,
Letter of
Dear Fellow-Worker,
In our efforts to represent ourselves in the
Should a christian Be in Court?
Before we get into the details, let us first address the issues of why we are involved in court cases to begin with. Some brethren do not believe that we should be. I hope everyone will hear me out before deciding. I hope all who read this are striving to be in the First Resurrection, to live and reign with Christ for a thousand years (Rev 20:6). But during the past few years, I have come to see how little knowledge I have had about judgment—both from the Biblical perspective and the world’s systems. Judgment is the process of being fair as well as working with people so they can learn the lessons that they need to learn to reach their full potential in Christ. “For whom the LORD loves He chastens…” (Heb 12:6).
I believe that God has caused us to
become involved in these court cases so that we can learn the tough lessons
that are necessary to be kings and priests (
Luke
He tells us that we do not need to worry about what we will say, but that we should rely on the Holy Spirit. This sounds easy until you have to do it. There is a great tendency to be overwhelmed by the papers and procedures of things, and just to do what the judges and other court personnel tell you. I have been advised by other believers to “just leave God out of it”. One of the things almost all of the court personnel tell me is “you need to be represented by an attorney”. Yet the scripture does not say that the Holy Spirit will inspire your attorney. The Spirit will speak through believers. Even as I write this, I realize that I should be using the above scripture as one of the reasons why a non-attorney church trustee should be able to represent the interests of the church.
Jesus’ ExampleS of Judgment
As we go on reading in Luke 12, we find a scripture that is frequently misunderstood and misused.
Luke
This has been so often repeated as a proof to avoid participation in civil government that many people believe it without thinking about it. I did for years. But the scripture raises no issues about civil government at all. To the contrary, it teaches lessons about using civil government properly. Jesus knew that the Torah taught:
Deut
Jesus was not one of the judges or officers appointed to hear
such cases. The man in the crowd should have taken the case to the judges “in
his gates”. If he believed their decision was wrong, he should have taken it to
a higher human judge, and ultimately God. (At that time, Jesus was recognized as a “teacher”, not as God.) Jesus upheld a
very important legal principle here: a case should only be
tried once in the proper jurisdiction, and then go only to the proper
appeals courts. The
Long-time church members might consider: do you know of a story where church-members had a dispute, and one party kept going to minister after minister, until they finally found someone who agreed with him? Do you know of people who wanted to either marry or divorce under questionable circumstances and who continued to look for a minister until they found one who would agree to do it?
The verses immediately following Luke 12:14 warn about greed. If Jesus is continuing the same subject, it is likely that the man who wanted the inheritance divided was already wealthy—either through his own efforts or by marrying a woman with property (Num 36:1-9). It is possible that his brother was poor and would be impoverished if he had to divide his inheritance. The judges may have already ruled against dividing the inheritance, but the man wanted to keep trying to maximize his gains.
Believers to Settle AMONG
Themselves if Possible
We must realize that Matthew
Again, I ask long time church members: How many times do you
remember when two people had a disagreement and one went without the other to a
minister or deacon and obtained a decision in his/her favor without both sides
being heard? Some may say, “The minister has the wisdom to discern the truth
from one side of the story”. But, Solomon, the wisest
of all said, “The first one to plead his cause seems right, until his neighbor
comes and examines him” (Prov
There are times when Jesus did gently judge an issue brought to him by believers:
Luke
Jesus was gave a judgment on this dispute when both parties
were there and both wanted his decision. We should be willing to do this for
disputes between believers in our congregations, today. But if the parties are
not willing to submit to any church judgment, or if the people in the church
group are not willing to go to the effort of conducting a fair hearing, then
the civil courts are the only means of solving the matter. While Matthew
Whether we have a dispute with a believer who will not
settle among the brethren, or whether a dispute with an unbeliever or against
some branch of our government, the courts of this land are the biblically mandated
way to solve it. There are times to “turn the other cheek” (Matt
What About Corrupt Courts?
But the courts of today are corrupt! I have said that, and you have probably said that. And it is true. And it was true in both the Old and the New Testament. That is why the Bible is filled with admonitions for judges to do that which is right and just. The Bible teaches the avoidance of this worlds courts if possible, but it nowhere tells believers that they must not go.
But the Bible does tell us how to deal with corrupt courts! We go to them, and if they are unjust, we ask God to do justice for us. The judges need to realize that they, whether they believe in God or not, are sitting in the place of these biblically mandated offices and that they will be judged for what they do. Paul did explained this to Felix:
Acts 24:25 Now
as he reasoned about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come,
Felix was afraid and answered, “Go away for now; when I have a convenient time
I will call for you.”
There are many places where the Eternal promises to hear the cause of the needy and those who are afflicted in judgment—and to take action on their behalf. Please read all the scriptures below, especially the last one from the New Testament:
Ex
Ex
Deut 24:15 “Each day you
shall give him his wages, and not let the sun go down on it, for he is
poor and has set his heart on it; lest
he cry out against you to the LORD, and it be sin to you.
Job 34:27 Because
they turned back from Him, And would not consider any of His ways, 28
So that they caused the cry of the poor to come to Him; For He hears the cry of the afflicted. 29 When He gives
quietness, who then can make trouble? And when He hides His face, who then can see Him,
Whether it is against a nation or a man alone? --
Pslm
Pslm 140:12 I know that the LORD will maintain The
cause of the afflicted, And justice for the poor.
Pslm 146:7 Who
executes justice for the oppressed, Who gives food to the hungry. The LORD
gives freedom to the prisoners. 8
The LORD opens the eyes of the blind; The LORD raises those who are bowed down; The LORD loves the righteous. 9 The
LORD watches over the strangers; He
relieves the fatherless and widow; But the way of
the wicked He turns upside down.
Prov 22:22 Do not exploit the
poor because they are poor and do not
crush the needy in court, 23 for the LORD will take up their case
and will plunder those who plunder them (NIV).
Luke 18:7 “And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry
out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? 8 “I tell you that He will avenge them speedily.
Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes,
will He really find faith on the earth?”
Faith in God DURING Court Situations
Will he find faith in us? Do we have faith that God will really be there with us in court situations? Or, do we believe that God will primarily protect us “during the tribulation” and “in the Millennium”? Too often, I think we believers see our protection from God as a kind of a group thing—that some big event will happen which we will see as “the great tribulation” and then there will be sudden and obvious protection from God. We need to grow in faith that God will protect us and that we will be able to call upon him in vital day-to-day situations that will affect us—sometimes only us.
I included a summary of these concepts in a response to a motion that went before the court. A copy of that paragraph follows:
Defendants [which are myself and the church trust] believe that
self-representation is a very important issue and that precedents for it will
be set primarily by in propria persona litigants, not by attorneys. The
On to the Court of ApPeals
On
I did more research and concluded that the basis of these arguments was solid. I filed a request for Leave to Appeal with the Michigan Court of Appeals on January 26, and have already received confirmation that it has been assigned case number 275819. I will file a more detailed brief, later.
The appeals court has authority to decide the case from what
they have already seen, but it is more likely that they will ask for the brief
and answer with a written opinion, or just decline to hear the case at all. If
they decline, I can either ask the Michigan Supreme
Court to hear it (which can also decline), or wait until our case is over, at
which time the
THIS CASE IS IMportant to ChurchES
THAT TAKE ACTION
While this case may seem academic and unimportant, I think it is very important for the future. We continue to receive requests from churches that want to get out from under their corporations and 501(c)(3) status that essentially make them subservient to the government. I realize that many of you have read our Servants’ News articles about this in the past, but for those of you who don’t remember, the 1954 laws allowing churches to receive a tax-exempt letter from the IRS as long as they
·
do not
significantly influence legislation,
·
do not influence campaigns for public office
·
do not carry on propaganda.
These laws sat un-enforced
for years with some activist churches almost exclusively responsible for the
election of certain candidates and the passing of certain laws. Now, the IRS
has a whole department that receives complaints against churches that violate
these first two points, and warns them or removes their tax
exempt status. This writer does not yet know of cases where the issue of
carrying on propaganda has been raised, but it will
have more impact than the other two. “Propaganda” in this law does not mean a
disinformation campaign of lies and deceits, but simply the propagation of any
message. The USA Supreme Court confirmed this definition in Meese
v
The churches that are attempting to shed their 501(c)(3) and corporate status are doing this so they can speak out on the important issues of the day. The world certainly needs to hear biblical messages from as many sources as possible. But there will certainly be opposition to the churches and individuals that do this. How will that opposition come?
We must not forget the simple and obvious lessons from Jesus and the apostles being in court. Were they there because they did so much wrong? No! There were there because they were falsely accused of doing much wrong. Evil leaders in non-Christian societies frequently just kill or imprison those who oppose them. That is not acceptable in Christian societies, so the evil leaders there usually falsely accuse those who oppose them and have the “justice system” do their dirty work for them. They hope that most of the people will go on thinking that their leaders are good.
As these churches drop their corporate and 501(c)(3) status, and speak out where others are silent, they can expect to be accused and sued in court by various government and other entities. If church groups must hire attorneys to defend frivolous cases, they can lose all they have paying their attorney’s fees. One lawyer told us that the court could appoint some attorney to represent our trust, and then even if we won the case, we could still be required to sell the campus to pay the attorney’s fees imposed on us.
The ability to defend oneself and the property used by one’s church is utterly essential to continuing to preach and proclaim the gospel. We are glad to have a small part in being able to defend this.
Losing Our FreeDOM to OBEY GOD
Month by month, and day by day, one can see our freedoms
slipping away and moving closer to the time described in the book of
Revelation. Recent news items have shown that the President of the
Does our President claim that these things are necessary to
fight terrorism? Yes. Does the Bible teach that the way to protect oneself from
enemies is to put lots of restrictions on your own people?
No! Serious enemies are wise enough to use coded language in the phone calls
and mail, because they expect that our government will try to intercept their
communications. Radical Moslems are ready to die for their cause—they do not
give up fighting because they might be captured and held in
But instead of attempting to secure
our country from Islamic influence, in March of 2005 our President signed an
agreement to gradually turn over the security of our borders to an international
organization which has no elected officials: the Security and Prosperity
Partnership Of
Another related
project is titled
Section 666
This brings to mind another piece of legislation that has existed for about 10 years and is just now beginning to be enforced. United States Code Title 42, Section 666 is part of the laws attempting to make absent parents pay child support, but contains a provision, Section 666(13)(c), insisting that states require a Social Security Number for “any applicant for a professional license, driver's license, occupational license, recreational license, or marriage license”. You can read the law yourself, here: caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/ts_search.pl?title=42&sec=666. The theory is that any person could some day owe child support, so the government must keep track of everybody. Many people still have their original social security cards which contain the phrase “Not to be used for identification purposes”. But without that number, can a person buy or sell or work?
Lawrence D. Lewis, of
…believes
the number issued to him by the federal government is either the precursor to, or actually is, the biblical “mark
of the beast.”
The above quote was from his appellate brief, available at www.isc.idaho.gov/opinions/lewis8.pdf. Mr. Lewis was denied his request for a religious exemption by the appeals court and the Idaho Supreme Court as well. His attorneys are now working on an appeal to the United States Supreme Court. More information is available at www.christianliberty.org/art/religiouslaw-666.html.
I do not claim to have any prophetic
revelation that this section 666 is the Mark of the Beast spoken of in
Revelation. However, I cannot prove that Mr. Lewis is
wrong. The nice thing about Mr. Lewis is that he is not just talking, but
doing.
There is another law
in progress that will require everyone to have a national identity card by
2008. It is important to realize that our nation was once a place where one
could have religious freedom as long as it did not affect others. It is rapidly
losing that freedom.
The state of Michigan
has recently passed a law requiring all farm animals to be marked with an RFID
chip within the next few years (explained at
www.michigan.gov/mda/0,1607,7-125-1568-86002--,00.html). Electronic devices can read these RFID
chips from a long distance away. People will need to notify the government
before they move their animals anywhere—even 4-H shows. The government will
know if they do it without permission. It is part of the National Animal
Information System (NAIS), a program intended to extend nation-wide. While RFID
chips for people are not law yet, it would be very easy to
someday extend this “mark for the beasts” to people. Such things have already been proposed for “good purposes”, such as
finding kidnapped children. But with the electronics
in place to locate the animals, strict control of people could be instantly
achieved. Some proponents have recommended that the chips be
installed in the hand or forehead. Indeed, the scripture would seem to be fulfilled.
Rev 13:16 He causes all, both
small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their
right hand or on their foreheads, 17 and that no one may buy or sell
except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his
name. 18 Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the
number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666.
We have a tendency to see a prophecy as pointing to some great and obviously recognized event—and at that time each Christian will have to decide to follow God or follow the Beast. But we need to realize that when Ancient Israel and Judah fell, and when the church was persecuted historically, it was done a piece at a time—here a little, there a little. Evil leaders do not usually attack everyone all at once, they do it here a little, then there a little, so that not everyone rebels at once. We are loosing our freedoms and pushed to obey evil practices a little at a time—a little in one area, a little in another area. Some states are worse, some are better. Sometimes, too many freedoms are taken away at once, so some are given back. But the tendency is always to take them away, not to give them back.
I do not intend to have RFID chips installed in any of the animals here at PABC. I certainly do not intend to accept an RFID chip for myself. I belong to my Father in heaven, not the state. If that means going to court over the issue, to tell the officials that I trust in God and not in their systems, I plan to do it.
Man is Unreliable, God is GooD
I do not agree with most “conspiracy theorists”, but do agree both the Bible and publicly available information show that there are some conspiracies. Most of the information here is documented by the websites of the governments and organizations that we are telling you about. It can be very saddening to read and think about all the evils of our world today. However, this sadness is a good thing. We need to realize that God wants us to be sad about the evils we see:
Ezk 9: 2 And
suddenly six men came from the direction of the upper gate, which faces north,
each with his battle-ax in his hand. One man among them was clothed with
linen and had a writer's inkhorn at his side. They went in and stood beside the
bronze altar. 3 Now the glory of the God of Israel
had gone up from the cherub, where it had been, to the threshold of the temple.
And He called to the man clothed with linen, who had
the writer's inkhorn at his side; 4 and the LORD said to him,
“Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of
But we must realize that Christ has overcome all of these evils, and that we can ask for and receive hope in him.
Rom
We look forward to the day when “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of
His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” (
We want to thank those who have helped us. Virtually every offering and gift we have received has been utterly essential to our ministry, as we continue to have almost “just enough” to pay our bills. We are presently three months behind on our main property payments ($5000 per month), but we are negotiating with our seller and other individuals to take care of this problem at least temporarily.
In Christian Love,
Norman Scott Edwards
Legal Status: The author asserts his
right to produce this document according to the rights of freedom of religion,
freedom of speech and freedom of the press, which are upheld
by the First Amendment of the Constitution of the
L0702B
The
purpose of this document is to provide useful teaching. The author grants
permission for this paper to be copied in whole or in
part, as long as it is distributed free of charge. The author believes the
information in this document to be accurate, but realizes that he is fallible,
so he would appreciate corrections of any errors. This document is not professional or legal advice.
Anyone making a decision based upon this document should seek God in prayer
first, and realize that they are making their own decision and that the author
of this document and those who distribute it are not liable for their decision
and its consequences. People not capable of making their own
decision or wanting “legal advice” should seek a “licensed professional”.
This is a private publication, not public.