Hammond Fires Back at IRS

ProgressiveChurchlady has already mentioned the IRS investigation of Mac Hammond, prosperity gospel pastor of Living Word Christian Center in Brooklyn Park. This morning's Star Tribune reports that Hammond has sent a letter to his congregation charging that the investigation is "politically motivated" and of "a very clear effort, on a national scale, to discredit, defame and intimidate ministries and preachers of what has been called the 'prosperity gospel.'"

Could it be, though that the IRS took an interest in this statement made in the fall of 2006 by Hammond:

Amen. Now be seated again for a moment please. I have somebody special I want to introduce you to tonight. State Senator Michele Bachmann is with us and I'm going to ask her to come in in just a moment, and of course many of you know Michele, know of her pursuit of the United States Senate seat vacated by Mark Kennedy or Congressional seat vacated by Mark Kennedy's run for a United States Senate seat. Keeping all this straight gets to be challenging. But ya know we can't publicly endorse as a church and would not for any candidate but I can tell you personally that I'm going to vote for Michele Bachmann, because I've come to know her, what she stands for, and I want her to share her testimony with you tonight. Would you give her a warm welcome as she comes to share? Thank you Michele.

Leaving aside the issue that Hammond does not even live in Bachmann's district and thus couldn't vote for her, this sounds an awful lot to me like an endorsement of a political candidate, made from the pulpit. Unfortunately for Hammond, it was caught on videotape and widely broadcast over YouTube. Might this be the reason the IRS is interested?