RISE AND DON

> A WORK OF FICTION. This article presents the teaching of Don Kilam and DK’s Private Business Circle for educational purposes. Readers bear full responsibility for their decisions and actions. This is not legal or tax advice. Consult licensed legal and tax professionals before forming an organization, soliciting donations, transferring assets, or taking any other action.

There are two ways to build a church. One way asks Caesar for permission. The other way never asks.

A church is not a building. It is not even a congregation. A church is a religious establishment of two or more people — and it can exist as what the law calls a legal fiction, which anyone, including you, may create. You do not have to reveal the sum total or substance of the religion to anyone. The ministry may or may not have buildings, ceremonies, a creed, or robes. What it must have is the understanding of who set it up: the state, or God.

If your current organization is a licensed and regulated 501(c)(3) type entity, you are not free — and you have few rights. You asked for it. Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s. Render unto God what is God’s.

This is the teaching of Don Kilam and DK’s Private Business Circle: the Ministry Trust — the Self-Supported Ministry operating in the private, and the 508(c)(1)(A) path that was never taught to the lawyers or the accountants.

1. The question: is the state or God your master?

What if you simply stopped asking for their benefits? Every contract asking for a benefit is a door you opened. Show us the law that requires it.

Was a law produced? No. There is a difference between a statute and a law. Statutes and regulations are used to implement laws and are not laws in and of themselves. Federal tax laws are governed by REGULATIONS. Use extreme caution in this area of study — and always ask: is there a law REQUIRING this?

A Ministry Trust is like a purpose-driven nonprofit — without the hassle and the lack of control. You will never be completely free until you operate under God’s jurisdiction, versus man-made voluntary administrative authority.

2. THE CONSTITUTION IS AN EXPRESS TRUST

The Constitution was bequeathed to us, as the posterity, in the Preamble. The Preamble is not just an announcement. Read it as the trust instrument it is:

The four requisites of an express trust, mapped straight onto the Preamble:

1. A competent Settlor and Trustee — We the People
2. An ascertainable trust res — the Blessings of Liberty
3. Sufficiently certain beneficiaries — ourselves and our Posterity
4. Intention to create it — “do ordain and establish this Constitution”

The old statutes prove the design. Under the Statute of Wills and the Statute of Uses, hereditaments — anything inheritable — could only pass to a body politic by way of trust. Our Forefathers were highly educated in trusts, conveyances, fraud, wills, and uses, and they drafted the Constitution with that knowledge.

The Bill of Rights is the codicil. It was not in the Constitution of 1787 — it was annexed four years later in 1791, the amended intentions of the Forefathers, placed as further restrictive clauses upon the government. When the Forefathers died, it became Their Will.

The Constitution is our legacy and we are the beneficiaries. Don’t we say that our elected officials hold an office of Public Trust? That is because the Constitution created a trust.

3. THE 501(c)(3) TRAP

A 501(c)(3) is a creature of the state. The state created it, so the state reserved the power to inquire into it — that is the doctrine behind Norton v. Shelby County. The IRS’s own audit guide says it plainly: the privilege against self-incrimination does not apply to corporations. If the state created it, the state can control it.

Then came the Johnson Amendment, 1954. A senator pushed the amendment to silence two foundations that had backed his opponent. Before that amendment, there were no speech restrictions on churches. After it: no supporting or opposing candidates, no attempting to influence legislation — and the IRS decides what counts. Preachers have been self-censoring ever since.

The application is the waiver. When a ministry files for the letter of determination, it signs away its rights: free expression of religion, free speech — given up as the condition of the exemption. Branch Ministries v. Rossotti is the proof: the church that put up a billboard opposing a candidate lost its exemption — because it had applied. The court’s reasoning: you sought the determination, the IRS granted it, and now it can withdraw it. What Caesar gives, Caesar takes away.

And the doctrine of visitation makes the state a silent third partner in every state-formed corporation: the state may supervise, correct, nullify anything it views as irregular, and ultimately dissolve the entity and take the assets through the court.

Know where the incorporation itself came from: Roman canon law — the corporation sole of the bishops, the corporation aggregate, the persona ficta. The word “corp” means body; the word “legal” itself means fiction. In “legal” language, a word does not mean what it means in everyday language: the person is an artificial entity, the corporation is a person, and the Church — capitalized — means a state corporation, while the church — lowercase — means the worshipers. The vocabulary is the jurisdiction.

4. THE 508(c)(1)(A) — THE MANDATORY EXCEPTION

Now read the Code they never taught in law school. Section 508(c)(1)(A) — churches, their integrated auxiliaries, and conventions or associations of churches:

• No application. Section 508(a) requires new organizations to notify the Secretary “EXCEPT as provided in subsection (c)” — and subsection (c)(1) names churches and their auxiliaries as the mandatory exception. No Form 1023, no $850 fee, no years under IRS scrutiny.
• No annual filing. Section 6033(a)(2)(A)(i) provides mandatory exceptions to filing requirements — the filing requirements “shall not apply to churches, their integrated auxiliaries, and conventions or associations of churches.” Returns of ANY KIND.
• No free-speech restrictions. The Johnson Amendment binds only those who apply. The 508(c)(1)(A) does not apply — so it does not give up the First Amendment’s free exercise and free speech to get an exemption. A right is never traded for a privilege.
• No public scrutiny. 501(c)(3) applications and correspondence are open to public inspection. The 508(c)(1)(A) is not of record with the IRS — no public file for hostile parties to read.
• No dissolution filing. Even the liquidation-and-termination form’s own instructions exempt churches, their integrated auxiliaries, and associations of churches.
• Recognition across all 50 states and internationally.

The church exists by right, not by permission. The First Amendment says Congress shall make NO law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. NO LAW IS NOT LAW AT ALL. An unconstitutional statute is void from the day it was enacted — it imposes no duties, confers no rights, creates no office, bestows no power. The church exists in a legal null.

And the courts have said the same:

• Everson v. Board of Education — neither a state nor the Federal Government can set up a church, aid one religion over another, or force anyone to attend or profess.
• Fellowship of Humanity v. County of Alameda — religion is a belief, an association openly expressing it, and a system of moral practice; the content of the belief is of no moment.
• United States v. Seeger — the test is whether a sincere belief occupies the place in the life of its possessor that orthodox God-belief fills.
• Universal Life Church, Inc. v. United States — the court will not compare, praise, or condemn a religion, however preposterous it may seem; to do so would impinge on the First Amendment.

Two or more people, congregated for a religious purpose — that is the church. A meeting is when two or more people congregate; it can even be a conference call at a regular time.

5. THE SELF-SUPPORTED MINISTRY TRUST — WHAT IT DOES

The Ministry Trust is the private operational structure — a purpose-driven nonprofit without the hassle and the lack of control. Here is what it does:

• Operates in complete privacy. Not incorporated, not registered — the “exception” rather than “exempt.” Nothing is filed with any Secretary of State, so there is no public record to read.
• Donations are deductible to donors to the fullest extent of the law. A simple receipt with the ministry’s TIN is all that is required.
• Receives donations of everything. Real property, securities, LLC interests, vehicles, boats, planes, clothing, furniture, money — gifts removed from the donor’s estate, gift-tax, and capital-gains exposure. The ministry can receive from wills, trusts, life insurance, and any deferred gift.
• Opens bank accounts. The ministry account does not commonly carry a social security number as its primary ID. An EIN, if needed at all, is needed only for banking purposes — it does not create a corporate entity.
• Maintains your control. No trustee and no office of the president — you are directly involved in the legal transactions.
• Has no ending date. The ministry does not die. As an entity it lives forever — the minutes direct what happens to the assets when a director passes, and the successor takes over. Just as private trusts have supported the wealthy for years.
• Is not political. It practices and supports free speech — and it may speak on any matter, worldwide.
• Pays by contract, not employment. No employees — workers serve by volunteering or by contract. The ministry is allowed to pay for transportation, clothing, food, and shelter for those who serve it.

And for the elderly — the big one. Medical costs are the number-one cause of bankruptcies. The nursing-home economy takes everything a person worked a lifetime to accumulate. Donate the assets to the ministry ahead of time: own nothing, and it cannot be taken. It is not how much you make — it is how much you keep. It is not what you own — it is what you control.

Asset protection for lawsuits works the same way: with assets held in the ministry, attorneys chasing a personal judgment have nothing personal to reach. The ministry can record its friendly liens against assets pledged for its use — a lawful lien on the public record makes your personal estate far less desirable to chase, and makes getting seized assets back far more effective.

The Amish standard: they operate without license, build without code enforcement — beyond the scope of the government. The ministry operates the same way.

Remember what this is: NOT for tax or asset hiding — for a true ministry life-purpose.

6. STATE RECOGNITION — THE PAPERWORK LAYER

Every state allows you to register the 508(c)(1)(A) Faith Based Organization at the state level — and here is how it works:

1. There is no such thing as a 501(c)(3) registry, on its own. You go to your state’s website where all filings live, and you go to the link for nonprofit filings. It will appear you are filing for a 501(c)(3) — you are not. In the Articles, where it asks what the organization is operating as, you state your primary purpose and declare that you operate as a 508(c)(1)(A).
2. Two members minimum. The structure requires an Executive Director and a Managing Director — two separate people who choose to work together on your project.
3. The board and the charter. Build the board of directors, keep the charter solid and lawful — the board is limited by the creative documents, the charters and bylaws. Everything is done by resolution: votes recorded in minutes, signatories voted and recorded.
4. The registered agent and office in your state. Fees vary by state, roughly $45 to $100 for the filings.
5. Sales-tax and property-tax exemptions are separate applications through your state’s department of revenue — documents typically include the articles, bylaws, a financial statement or projected budget, and the determination documents your state requires. A single property used exclusively for religious purposes may be exempted from property tax where you live.
6. The EIN from the federal government is free and filed online. You need it only if you pay workers, or the bank requires it. When the bank asks about the 501(c)(3), hand them the EIN and the bylaws — many never ask further. If you have paid clergy or workers, read the IRS special rules for ministers in their entirety first.

And remember the hierarchy: a statute is not a law. Statutes implement laws and are not laws in and of themselves. Do your own homework — read the codes yourself, look up every section cited here, and never take anyone’s word for it, including mine.

7. THE SETUP — HOW YOU GET IT DONE

With the full-service preparation, the Circle assists with: documentation prep, training package downloads, tax-ID instructions, bank account establishment info, and private counsel.

The ministry needs a name, an Executive Director and a Managing Director (two separate people working together), the state where it is generally located — it can operate internationally — and a one-sentence mission slogan. Once the documents are prepared, maintain accurate accounting records: a minor expense compared to the alternative.

Ready to have it done with you? Text “PRIVATE LIFE” to 702-200-4900 and join the Circle below — the setup, the counsel, and the paperwork layer are what we build together inside DK’s Private Business Circle.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Are you Caesar’s property, or God’s property? Which type of ministry are you?

The Ministry Trust. The 508(c)(1)(A). The family office. The estate plan. The structures of the private sector all point the same way: own nothing, control everything, and serve without asking permission. You will never be completely free until you operate under God’s jurisdiction, versus man-made voluntary administrative authority.

Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s. Render unto God what is God’s.

Text “PRIVATE LIFE” to 702-200-4900 and join the Circle — www.skool.com/donkilam/about. The Ministry Trust, the state recognition, the paperwork layer, the private counsel — that’s what we build inside DK’s Private Business Circle.

This is private education for private sovereigns.

By Don Kilam | DK’s Private Business Circle