Dorian Gray

WARNING WARNING WARNING: DG's personal opinion to follow: I am of the opinion that any minister/pastor that is a full time employee of the church should receive no honorarium under any circumstance save for reasonable expensive if invited to speak outside of their normal service area. A bi-vocational minister (one who does not provide for their family and themselves solely from employment with the church and maintains a "full time" career in addition to their part time post within the church) should receive any honorarium deemed appropriate by the individual receiving services from the minister taking in to account what costs (if any) in terms of travel and lost wages, BUT the pastor should never expect it or ask for it. /WARNING

Doggie, isnt a more of a "if/then" rather then a you can not. If you want to enjoy benefit X,Y,Z, you must conform to the legal standards. If you don't, you are free to do wantever you want.

http://www.christiancrafters.com/lesson_jar_of_rocks.htm This is a lesson that many adults still need to learn...I use a non-religious verison when teaching my troops about priorities and what is really important in life.

You should live everyday like it is your last..because it could be.

I prefer Kirby Hensley's view where all churches are taxed. It is one of the reasons he founded the ULC.

Hyper, Von is right...the income is taxable (in and of itself) it only becomes non-taxable if you are below a threshold and that is because the individual (or family depending on filings) make it non-taxable after the fact.

You dont get "gifts" for service...

Various interviews, books, newspaper articles. Must have resources: The Modesto Messiah (book) Purchase: http://www.amazon.com/The-Modesto-messiah-mail-order-minister/dp/0918950015/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1330728470&sr=8-1 The Buffer Zone (3 ring binder) Purchase: Out of print...occassional comes up on ebay or amazon used books. The Modesto Messiah (Movie) Purchase: Out of print VHS...there are some "ripped copies, but they are technically illegal. Con Men: Fascinating Profiles of Swindlers and Rogues from the Files of the Most Successful Broadcast in Television History Purchase" http://www.amazon.com/Con-Men-Fascinating-Successful-Television/dp/0743224485/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1330728540&sr=1-5 Kirby's Writings: Purchase: http://ulchqcom.ipower.com/osCommerce/catalog/index.php?cPath=3 Watch this 60 Minutes Interview: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504803_162-20052248-10391709.html

That you will. Anything you have something that isn't 100% transparent and even hits at the perception of not 100% on the up and up or hints that it's FOR profit, you are just asking for problems. That isn't to say that a church cannot (or should not) have for profit activities, just that they should be done separately with funding following only from the for profit side to the non-profit side. I have heavily involved with a chapter of a NPO called AFCEA here locally. We have 3 separate bank accounts. The first for our "operations and maintenance" or O&M funds. This is tax free funds under one set up IRS rules. We have our second account that houses or scholarship and science teaching tools grant money. This account is tax free under a different set of rules. Then we have our "holding" account were the money from fundraisers paid online is held until it is dispersed to the proper end account and is tax free under the same ruling as the first account. Money can flow from the O&M and fundraising accounts to the scholarship account but no money can leave the scholarship account unless it is going to pay a scholarship or grant. We have our own internal policy that money cannot flow from the O&M account to the fundraiser account. This helps keeps are books nice, neat and clearly showing what money is where, why it is there and what it is being used for. We were audited last year and the IRS folks had glowing remarks about how well our books were kept and in the level of detail we had each transaction.

For those that seem to think that the ULC was founded on Christian Theology..here are a few of my favorite Rev. Kirby Hensley quotes.

That was rather silly on thier part Von. If I give organization XYZ money and in turn they do a service or provide me a good, that isnt a donation. I great example is a good number of churches run a daycare and/or before and after school care programs. This is for a fee and generally located within the church or on its grounds. Just because it is run by a church on church grounds does not make the activity tax deductable (as donation to NPO). Childcare is tax deductable under other sections of the tax code.

I would if I had received any money. I have never received any. Not yet, Not sure how they would know as I do not claim any of the minister tax write offs. (I don’t own a home, so the standard deduction is better than long form) I do, I have an accountant and access to an civilian attorney should the need arise.

Your PERSONAL issues Score is 90% Your ECONOMIC issues Score is 60% According to your answers, the political group that agrees with you most is... Libertarians support maximum liberty in both personal and economic matters. They advocate a much smaller government; one that is limited to protecting individuals from coercion and violence. Libertarians tend to embrace individual responsibility, oppose government bureaucracy and taxes, promote private charity, tolerate diverse lifestyles, support the free market, and defend civil liberties.

The church is open Monday - Friday 7:30am - 4:00 pm and sunday's for service at 10:00 am. You were about a 30 minute drive from the church, but there really isnt 18 wheeler parking in the immediate area.

I did...the Koran, but since that doesn't seem to be enough for you, here Ida great article that explains much about eating and Islam. http://www.islamicacademy.org/html/Articles/Anwar-ul-Hadees/English/Etiquette_of_Eating.htm

Eating with your left hand is forbidden in the Koran and is deemed haraam. You stated that you thought it was a middle eastern culture thing, which it isn't. This would be the same as saying that keeping kosher is only something for Israelis rather then all those of the Jewish faith.

only if you consider kosher being an "isreali" thing.

When dealing with Muslim folks, never do anything with the left hand (or show the sole of your foot for that matter). While dining in Riyadh‎ a number of years ago, a good friend of mine had a waiter scold him for eating with his left hand (he was left handed) with a nonstop barrage of “unclean, unclean, unclean…." until he switched hands.

in periods of the roman empire, that was considered a high honor, and people would puke and then gorge some more.

Elbows and talking while chewing

Trust me, they are "fun" for me. Absolutely one of the jobs I could go without. I dislike getting dressed up in my Mess Dress.

That depends on how the food is being served. The right if the food is pre-plated (the most common now) The left if the food is being served individually where the waiter plates it at the table or the guest serves themselves. This is because most folks are right handed and would hold the container on with the left hand (away from the guest) and served with the waiter's right hand (which if standing behind the person would be easiest from the left). Source: DoD Protocol manuals, years of going to high level dinning events with governors, senators, congressmen, and other senior civic and military leaders, and good old fashioned grandmother.

That is crap. Anyone who wants to learn...will. Especially things that are free like manners.

LOL Fawzo...you need to get out more.

I am curious how they came to these numbers... last figure i seen on ABC had President Obama at 7 and some change million.