Faith

From an AP article of the same title on beliefnet:

A liberal church that has been threatened with the loss of its tax-exempt status over an anti-war sermon delivered just days before the 2004 presidential election said Thursday it will fight an IRS order to turn over documents on the matter... The church's action sets up a high-profile confrontation between the church and the IRS, which now must decide whether to ask for a hearing before a judge, who would then decide on the validity of the agency's demands. IRS spokesman Terry Lemons would not comment specifically on the dispute but noted in a statement that the agency could take a church to court. "We recognize the constitutional rights of freedom of speech and religion," Lemons said. "But there is no constitutional right to be exempt from federal taxation." Religious leaders on the right and left have expressed fear that the dispute could make it more difficult for them to speak out on moral issues such as gay marriage and abortion during the midterm election campaign... Under federal tax law, church officials can legally discuss politics, but to retain tax-exempt status, they cannot endorse candidates or parties. The dispute at the 3,500-member Episcopal church centers on a sermon titled "If Jesus Debated Senator Kerry and President Bush," delivered by a guest pastor. Though he did not endorse a candidate, he said Jesus would condemn the Iraq war and Bush's doctrine of pre-emptive war. According to the IRS, the only church ever to be stripped of its tax-exempt status for partisan politicking was a church near Binghamton, N.Y., that ran full-page newspaper ads against President Clinton during the 1992 election season.

From an article of the same title in The Week, August 25, 2006, p 10:

Billy Graham no longer has any use for politics, says Jon Meacham in Newsweek. For more than 50 years, America's most famous evangelical preacher has been spreading the Gospel to millions of people on six continents; along the way, he's ensnared himself in a series of polit­ical controversies. "Only when Christ comes again will the little white children of Alabama walk hand in hand with little black children," he said after the March on Washington in 1963. During the war in Vietnam, Graham lent his support to President Richard Nixon, only to get caught on White House tapes exchanging anti-Semitic remarks with the president. But now that he's 87, Graham is distancing himself from those who mix Christianity with conservative politics. He's come to believe, for example, that the Bible is open to honest interpreta­tion. "I'm not a literalist in the sense that every single jot and tittle is from the Lord. Sincere Christians can disagree about the details of Scripture and theology-absolutely." Though his own son has called Muslims "wicked" and "evil," Graham disagrees. "I would not say Islam is wicked and evil. I have a lot of friends who are Islamic. I have a great love for them." Graham's fiery certainty has given way to humility; when asked if he believes heaven is closed to non-Christians, he demurs. "Those are decisions only the Lord will make. I believe the love of God is absolute. He said he gave his son for the whole world, and I think he loves everybody regardless of what label they have."

From an article of the same title by Richard Fausset in the LA Times:

Pastor Marty Baker preaches that the Bible is the eternal and inviolate word of God. On other church matters, he's willing to change with the times. Jeans are welcome at Stevens Creek Community Church, the 1,100-member evangelical congregation Baker founded 19 years ago. Sermons are available as podcasts, and the electric house band has been known to cover Aerosmith's "Dream On." A recent men's fellowship breakfast was devoted to discussing the spiritual wages of lunching at Hooters. It is a bid for relevance in a nation charmed by pop culture and consumerism, and it is not an uncommon one. But Baker has waded further into the 21st century than most fishers of American souls, as evidenced one Wednesday night when churchgoer Josh Marshall stepped up to a curious machine in the church lobby. It was one of Stevens Creek's three "Giving Kiosks": a sleek black pedestal topped with a computer screen, numeric keypad and magnetic-strip reader. Prompted by the on-screen instructions, Marshall performed a ritual more common in quickie marts than a house of God: He pulled out a bank card, swiped it and punched in some numbers. The machine spat out a receipt. Marshall's $400 donation was routed to church coffers before he had found his seat for evening worship.

From an article of the same title in The Washington Post:

A new breed of churches in this region of China has demonstrated a boldness and independence unmatched elsewhere in the country, despite strict government guidelines for places of worship. Here in Wenzhou and the surrounding province of Zhejiang, just south of Shanghai, a growing number of congregations that began life as house churches -- unauthorized places of worship set up in private, often dilapidated homes -- have recently registered with the government, while continuing to spurn the rules of the official Protestant church in China. Like so many institutions in China, these churches now hover in a sort of legal netherworld. The official church, known as the Three-Self Patriotic Movement, was founded in the 1950s to free religious Chinese from foreign funds and influence. Its name is derived from the principles of self-governance, self-support and self-propagation of the Gospel... According to the rules of China's official church, midweek services are forbidden, as is proselytizing outside of church. But the rules are often bent, depending on the relationship between local officials and church leaders, and some independent-minded churches refuse to attend official meetings or pay official fees... Nothing illustrated the boldness of Zhejiang's Christians more clearly than the hasty building of an illegal house church this summer in a suburb of Hangzhou, the provincial capital. When local officials demolished the church, a massive riot ensued, with 3,000 protesters facing off against thousands of uniformed riot police, security guards and plainclothes police. It was the most dramatic example in a series of arrests, raids and demolitions of churches considered illegal by the authorities. Some observers said the riot was only the latest chapter in a long-running battle between authorities and the more outspoken of China's growing population of 45 million to 65 million Christians. Other activists said it represented a stepped-up persecution of unregistered congregations.

The recent news stories about the death of Byron Nelson reminded me of another coC/golf connection: Kenny Perry. I had heard a little bit about it from my brother-in-law who works at Lipscomb, so I did a bit of research (and edited my first Wikipedia entry). From Wikipedia:

Perry was born in Elizabethtown, Kentucky. He attended Western Kentucky University and turned professional in 1982. He failed in his first two attempts to qualify for the PGA Tour at Q-school (Qualifying school). He missed by 1 stroke one year and received word that his wife had gone into labor during the fourth round the next year. In 1985 a Franklin, Kentucky businessman and Lipscomb University graduate loaned him $5000 for a last shot at Q-school. Rather than repay the loan, he was asked to give a percentage of his tour earnings to Lipscomb University if he qualified. He tied for 40th at Q-school, earning his card with a two-shot cushion. Perry and his benefactor agreed on 5 percent, and he has maintained that commitment to the university ever since in the form of a scholarship for residents of Simpson County, Kentucky. In his first few seasons he found it a struggle to retain his qualified status, but he attained his first win in 1991 at the Memorial Tournament. Two more wins followed in the mid 1990s, another in 2001, and three victories in 2003. He was in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Rankings for a short time. Perry won in 2005 at the Bay Hill Invitational and the Bank of America Colonial. In 2006 he became the tenth man to reach US$20 million in PGA Tour career earnings in addition to taking an 8-week break from the tour to recover from knee surgery. He is a deacon in the Franklin, Kentucky, Church of Christ.