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Anthony's Faith Statement.

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Anthony in the media

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A brief Introduction:

While studying to be a pastor in college I abandoned my faith. In fact, I abandoned everything I thought I believed and rebuilt.

To my own surprise at the time, I found that Christianity was much stronger than I had thought. As I rebuilt my belief system, I realized that there needed to be people out there responding to the questions people have. I had them myself. So, while not continuing on to be a pastor, I have focused on educating people about what Christianity is all about and responding to the various charges and accusations made against it.

There are some obvious challenges to being successful in that capacity, but a big part of it consists not in arguing with atheists and skeptics, but rather in providing Christians with accurate information in the first place to prevent them from leaving the faith in the first place.

Questioning is a very normal and natural part of growing up, and I am convinced that it is not wrong to ask questions of God at any age. God doesn't strike people down. On the other hand, if people are going to reject Christianity, it is my aim to at least make sure they reject the real Christianity and not a false view of it. Also, much heartache can be avoided by educating Christians properly to begin with. My experience has helped me... but it was unnecessary.

Paul said that some plant, some water, and others reap the increase. My job is to go out into the land and move rocks- or break them if necessary- till the land, and struggle through knee deep fertilizer... all in the effort to allow those who come later to plant, water, and reap the harvest. I look forward to the prospects of either serving you as someone who needs to haul rocks out of the field, or as someone who can look at the field, detect problems, and help farmers more effectively plant, water, and reap.

Should Christian Non-profits Consider Giving up their Tax Exempt 501(c)3 Status?

Posted by Anthony on November 16, 2009

The keyword in the title is consider.

I don’t want anyone thinking that I believe in every case it would be desirable or necessary. I do think, however, that accepting the status quo without persistent reflection is dangerous in general. Just because it has ‘always’ been this way doesn’t mean it should continue to be that way. After all, the whole notion of the 501(c)3 didn’t come until the 1950’s. There were many centuries prior to that when things were not ‘always done this way.’

For the record, the ministry of this website, Athanatos Christian Ministries, is a registered non-profit but is not tax exempt. I envision it always being that way but would not rule out obtaining that status in the future: more evidence I am not categorically condemning tax exemption.

There are two general reasons why I think organizations should consider giving up their tax exemption. The first is the most obvious. Tax exemption currently comes with some strings attached. Essentially, while you can speak about issues, your organization is supposed to refrain from overt endorsements of specific individuals. Failure to abide by this means the lifting of your tax exemption status.

It is true that this is very rare, but that is only because many churches try to abide by the law on this point. The Government helps by keeping the financial carrot close by; the stick is rarely necessary. Read the rest of the entry… »