“I’ve long advocated that we should pass the Fair Tax which would eliminate all taxes on income, savings, dividends, capital gains, inheritance, and investments, and replace these penalties on our productivity with a tax on our consumption at the retail level.

There’s an important benefit of the Fair Tax that we should especially embrace—it eliminates the IRS. In light of the illegal and unethical activities of the IRS in relationship to conservative, pro-life, and pro-Israel groups and their reckless disregard of the taxes they take from us by spending $50 million on their fun little outings involving luxury hotels, line dancing classes, and swag bags, maybe the public is ready to end the legalized theft of our finances and our freedom.

Another benefit of getting rid of the IRS is stopping the government threat of “losing tax exempt status” to shut down the voices of churches. Now, think carefully about this—and I doubt everyone will agree with me. Maybe it’s time that churches quit caring about their tax exempt status and care more about being unfettered to speak with absolute freedom and clarity on the moral issues of the day. I brought this issue up last week when I spoke to the Pastors at the Southern Baptist Convention in Houston. I know that I’ve never given a dime of my tithe to my church for the tax consequences.

For Christians, giving is not about getting the government’s blessing, but God’s. If someone gives money to God solely for the tax benefits, they should keep their money—they need it far worse than God.

The empty threat that has caused many a pastor or church to water down their message in confronting the culture because of fear of reprisals from the IRS would end immediately. It is not the place of any agency of the government to evaluate the content of a pastor’s sermon and determine if it’s acceptable to the government. Even if the Fair Tax isn’t passed immediately, why not end federal government subsidies to all entities and organizations–religious or not—and let freedom ring. If you believe in something, be it political, spiritual, or economic—then pay for it. Leave the government out of it. For those who fear that churches would pay huge taxes, fear not.

Churches use their funds for missions, staff, their facilities and ministries. There is little if anything left over for most congregations. It would of course mean that contributions wouldn’t be deductible, but there’s already a limit on how much one can deduct, so the benefit isn’t that big.

As Daniel rejected the King’s food, so maybe people of faith ought to reject the Government’s goodies, but in exchange gain absolute freedom. And instead of worrying about whether our message will be threatened with government penalty, we would just tell the government to put it where the sun don’t shine. What we say and do in our churches should be driven by our faith, not by government limits on our freedom.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6IibGpy3nM

The goal of parents is to train their kids and get them out into the world on their own, under the care and direction of the Lord, to live life as independent adults. However, no matter how old or successful they become, we never stop being concerned for their welfare, do we? The stakes go even higher when a spouse and kids are in the mix.

On Christmas Eve Linnae became very ill with a very strong form of the flu. Her roommate had left town a few days before and Linnae was left alone, unable to get out of bed, while her family was over 2500 miles away.

Even though our kids are now out from under our care, Christ always has an eye on them (Psalm 34:15; Matthew 10:29-31). In a most remarkable display of giving, God reminded our family, and Linnae, of the true meaning of Christmas through a young woman by the name of Sheila. A woman those of us back home have yet to meet.

Sheila gave up spending precious time with her parents to come and help Linnae. She was instrumental in her recovery, staying through the night to make sure Linnae stayed properly hydrated, and making sure help was nearby, just in case.

What you don’t know is that this is an especially difficult time for Sheila because she spent her first Christmas without her husband, who lost his life last summer while serving in Afghanistan. Sheila thought of others during a very trying time of her life, just as God did when He sent Christ into the world on our behalf (2 Corinthians 8:9).

Sheila gave her very best to help a friend in need and her actions humbled us. We also took time to pause to say thanks, not only to Sheila but God, who has continually shown us that He always has the best interests of our kids at heart and knows what we (and our children) need, even before we ask (Matthew 6:8).