Written by Johnny Israel
Last week the Californians voted against the California initiative to ban same-sex-marriage in California. The LDS Church pumped 25 million dollars into the fray to fight against the same sex marriage initiative. A majority of Californians overwhelmingly voted against the same-sex-marriage initiative. Nationwide the gays and homosexuals were outraged; the matter is now headed toward the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Sacramento, California.
The LDS Church was founded on traditional family values and morals. It is the fundamental philosophy of their faith. The Church leaders teach traditional family values as the core of Godliness; and view traditional marriage as a most important Biblical law. Same-sex-marriage violates the essence of God’s law, therefore the LDS Church and a vast of other faiths entered into the same-sex-marriage fray as a conduit to ensure conventional American family values and morals. In taking a righteous stand for Church values the Gay community has accused the Church of intolerance, racism, haters of gays, and bigotry. This is not the case.
The LDS Church is one of the most generous and benevolent ministries worldwide. They welcome people of all faiths to fellowship with them, no matter what their sexual preferences are. The Church spends millions of dollars every year reaching out to the poor (church members and non-church members) with housing assistance, food, clothing, medical bills, and a host of other charitable needs. They are involved with local and national politics, social events, aid organizations, and scholastic scholarships. They make available Biblical agendas for kids, teenagers, young adults, the elderly, singles, and families.
The Church is not anti-gay, but rather pro family values. If the Church had failed to take a stand against California’s same-sex-marriage initiative, they would in essence have violated the very principles of their faith. Moral principles, ethics, Biblical doctrine, family significance, love, kindness, and forgiveness are the characteristics the LDS Church. Jesus said that the Church would be persecuted for righteousness sake. While some radical gays sling bigotry accusations at the Church, the Church continues to extend a hand of kindness toward to the gay community. Christians everywhere are obligated by the Word of God to love every person, no matter what their sexual preference may be, without compromising their doctrine of faith.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Kenneth Copeland's Family
The following is a reprint from
the Associated Press
Kenneth Copeland's family
06:01 PM CDT on Saturday, July 26, 2008
Associated Press
NEWARK, Texas — Here in the gentle hills of north Texas, televangelist Kenneth Copeland has built a religious empire teaching that God wants his followers to prosper.
Over the years, a circle of Copeland's relatives and friends have done just that, The Associated Press has found. They include the brother-in-law with a lucrative deal to broker Copeland's television time, the son who acquired church-owned land for his ranching business and saw it more than quadruple in value, and board members who together have been paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for speaking at church events.
Church officials say no one improperly benefits through ties to Copeland's vast evangelical ministry, which claims more than 600,000 subscribers in 134 countries to its flagship "Believer's Voice of Victory" magazine. The board of directors signs off on important matters, they say. Yet church bylaws give Copeland veto power over board decisions.
While Copeland insists that his ministry complies with the law, independent tax experts who reviewed information obtained by the AP through interviews, church documents and public records have their doubts. The web of companies and non-profits tied to the televangelist calls the ministry's integrity into question, they say.
"There are far too many relatives here," said Frances Hill, a University of Miami law professor who specializes in nonprofit tax law. "There's too much money sloshing around and too much of it sloshing around with people with overlapping affiliations and allegiances by either blood or friendship or just ties over the years. There are red flags all over these relationships."
Neither Kenneth Copeland nor John Copeland, Kenneth's son and the ministry's executive director, responded to interview requests.
Kenneth Copeland, 71, is a pioneer of the prosperity gospel, which teaches that believers are destined to flourish spiritually, physically and financially -- and share the wealth with others.
His ministry's 1,500-acre campus outside Forth Worth is testament to his success. It includes a church, private airstrip, a hangar for the ministry's aircraft and a $6 million, church-owned mansion.
Already a well-known figure, Copeland has come under greater scrutiny in recent months. He is one target of a Senate Finance Committee investigation into allegations of questionable spending and lax financial accountability at six large televangelist organizations that preach health-and-wealth theology.
All have denied wrongdoing, but Copeland has fought back the hardest, refusing to answer most questions from the inquiry's architect, Republican Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa.
The Senate committee didn't set out to determine whether Copeland or the others broke the law, although it could provide information to the Internal Revenue Service if something seems flagrantly wrong, a committee aide said. The main goal, Grassley has said, is to figure out whether existing tax laws governing churches are adequate, which could carry sweeping implications for all religious organizations.
The committee could subpoena Copeland if he remains uncooperative. Neither he nor John Copeland, his son and the ministry's chief executive officer, responded to interview requests.
A one-time pop singer, Copeland had a born-again experience and enrolled at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Okla. He worked as a pilot and chauffeur for Roberts himself.
He describes hearing his own call to preach standing in a dried-up riverbed.
Now a 500-employee operation with a budget in the tens of millions, Kenneth Copeland Ministries has won supporters worldwide through its conferences, prayer request network, disaster relief work, magazine and television program.
Kenneth Copeland Ministries is organized under the tax code as a church, so it gets a layer of privacy not afforded large secular and religious nonprofit groups that must disclose budgets and salaries. Pastors' pay must be "reasonable" under the federal tax code.
Copeland's current salary is not made public by his ministry. However, the church disclosed in a property-tax exemption application that his wages were $364,577 in 1995; Copeland's wife, Gloria, earned $292,593.
The Copeland family, however, is involved in ventures beyond the church world.
John Copeland, a self-described "cowboy at heart," has a side business in ranching. Beginning in 1993, he leased church land to run his business, El Rancho Fe, Spanish for "Ranch of Faith."
Five years later, the church separately sold John Copeland land for his ranch and residence.
Lawrence Swicegood, director of media relations for Kenneth Copeland Ministries, said in a written response to questions that appraisals were done to determine fair market value, and the board approved both transactions. The lease is a good deal for the church, he said. John Copeland must improve the land, and county officials confirmed the church gets a roughly $100,000 annual tax break for putting it to agricultural use.
While the purchase price is not public record, the 33-acre property would have been worth about $93,000 that year, said John Marshall, executive director of the Tarrant Appraisal District.
The land is now valued at $554,160 by the district.
Until recently, the ranch also sold four breeds of horses. The El Rancho Fe Web site advertised the integrity of the Copeland name as a selling point.
Ellen Aprill, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles and a former U.S. Treasury Department official, said leasing and selling land to the church's top executive raises concerns. Under IRS rules, nonprofits can be penalized or lose their tax-exempt status if an executive, board member or other insider receives an economic benefit above and beyond what the organization gets in return.
"The church and its board must take great care to make sure the payments are fair to the church," Aprill said. "The church says it does. But is not clear how we can know."
the Associated Press
Kenneth Copeland's family
06:01 PM CDT on Saturday, July 26, 2008
Associated Press
NEWARK, Texas — Here in the gentle hills of north Texas, televangelist Kenneth Copeland has built a religious empire teaching that God wants his followers to prosper.
Over the years, a circle of Copeland's relatives and friends have done just that, The Associated Press has found. They include the brother-in-law with a lucrative deal to broker Copeland's television time, the son who acquired church-owned land for his ranching business and saw it more than quadruple in value, and board members who together have been paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for speaking at church events.
Church officials say no one improperly benefits through ties to Copeland's vast evangelical ministry, which claims more than 600,000 subscribers in 134 countries to its flagship "Believer's Voice of Victory" magazine. The board of directors signs off on important matters, they say. Yet church bylaws give Copeland veto power over board decisions.
While Copeland insists that his ministry complies with the law, independent tax experts who reviewed information obtained by the AP through interviews, church documents and public records have their doubts. The web of companies and non-profits tied to the televangelist calls the ministry's integrity into question, they say.
"There are far too many relatives here," said Frances Hill, a University of Miami law professor who specializes in nonprofit tax law. "There's too much money sloshing around and too much of it sloshing around with people with overlapping affiliations and allegiances by either blood or friendship or just ties over the years. There are red flags all over these relationships."
Neither Kenneth Copeland nor John Copeland, Kenneth's son and the ministry's executive director, responded to interview requests.
Kenneth Copeland, 71, is a pioneer of the prosperity gospel, which teaches that believers are destined to flourish spiritually, physically and financially -- and share the wealth with others.
His ministry's 1,500-acre campus outside Forth Worth is testament to his success. It includes a church, private airstrip, a hangar for the ministry's aircraft and a $6 million, church-owned mansion.
Already a well-known figure, Copeland has come under greater scrutiny in recent months. He is one target of a Senate Finance Committee investigation into allegations of questionable spending and lax financial accountability at six large televangelist organizations that preach health-and-wealth theology.
All have denied wrongdoing, but Copeland has fought back the hardest, refusing to answer most questions from the inquiry's architect, Republican Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa.
The Senate committee didn't set out to determine whether Copeland or the others broke the law, although it could provide information to the Internal Revenue Service if something seems flagrantly wrong, a committee aide said. The main goal, Grassley has said, is to figure out whether existing tax laws governing churches are adequate, which could carry sweeping implications for all religious organizations.
The committee could subpoena Copeland if he remains uncooperative. Neither he nor John Copeland, his son and the ministry's chief executive officer, responded to interview requests.
A one-time pop singer, Copeland had a born-again experience and enrolled at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Okla. He worked as a pilot and chauffeur for Roberts himself.
He describes hearing his own call to preach standing in a dried-up riverbed.
Now a 500-employee operation with a budget in the tens of millions, Kenneth Copeland Ministries has won supporters worldwide through its conferences, prayer request network, disaster relief work, magazine and television program.
Kenneth Copeland Ministries is organized under the tax code as a church, so it gets a layer of privacy not afforded large secular and religious nonprofit groups that must disclose budgets and salaries. Pastors' pay must be "reasonable" under the federal tax code.
Copeland's current salary is not made public by his ministry. However, the church disclosed in a property-tax exemption application that his wages were $364,577 in 1995; Copeland's wife, Gloria, earned $292,593.
The Copeland family, however, is involved in ventures beyond the church world.
John Copeland, a self-described "cowboy at heart," has a side business in ranching. Beginning in 1993, he leased church land to run his business, El Rancho Fe, Spanish for "Ranch of Faith."
Five years later, the church separately sold John Copeland land for his ranch and residence.
Lawrence Swicegood, director of media relations for Kenneth Copeland Ministries, said in a written response to questions that appraisals were done to determine fair market value, and the board approved both transactions. The lease is a good deal for the church, he said. John Copeland must improve the land, and county officials confirmed the church gets a roughly $100,000 annual tax break for putting it to agricultural use.
While the purchase price is not public record, the 33-acre property would have been worth about $93,000 that year, said John Marshall, executive director of the Tarrant Appraisal District.
The land is now valued at $554,160 by the district.
Until recently, the ranch also sold four breeds of horses. The El Rancho Fe Web site advertised the integrity of the Copeland name as a selling point.
Ellen Aprill, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles and a former U.S. Treasury Department official, said leasing and selling land to the church's top executive raises concerns. Under IRS rules, nonprofits can be penalized or lose their tax-exempt status if an executive, board member or other insider receives an economic benefit above and beyond what the organization gets in return.
"The church and its board must take great care to make sure the payments are fair to the church," Aprill said. "The church says it does. But is not clear how we can know."
Suspect goes on wild ride with stolen ATM
Associated Press
updated 3:15 p.m. PT, Mon., Nov. 24, 2008
LEAVENWORTH, Kan. - There's probably an art to stealing — and cracking open — ATMs. But a man apparently hasn't figured out what it is.
Police say a 49-year-old man was arrested for prying an ATM loose from a credit union early Sunday by using a stolen skid loader. Then, in a bid to break open the cash machine, police say the suspect used the skid loader to drop the 3,000-pound machine straight down a 50-foot wooded embankment.
But things didn't go as planned. When the skid loader dropped down the hill, the man went with it.
Story continues below ↓advertisement | your ad here
The suspect took a wild ride down the embankment from the skid loader cage. The man, skid loader and ATM tumbled downhill through the woods.
He was found trapped inside the battered machine and was taken to a hospital for his injuries, which were not considered life-threatening.
updated 3:15 p.m. PT, Mon., Nov. 24, 2008
LEAVENWORTH, Kan. - There's probably an art to stealing — and cracking open — ATMs. But a man apparently hasn't figured out what it is.
Police say a 49-year-old man was arrested for prying an ATM loose from a credit union early Sunday by using a stolen skid loader. Then, in a bid to break open the cash machine, police say the suspect used the skid loader to drop the 3,000-pound machine straight down a 50-foot wooded embankment.
But things didn't go as planned. When the skid loader dropped down the hill, the man went with it.
Story continues below ↓advertisement | your ad here
The suspect took a wild ride down the embankment from the skid loader cage. The man, skid loader and ATM tumbled downhill through the woods.
He was found trapped inside the battered machine and was taken to a hospital for his injuries, which were not considered life-threatening.
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