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Gone Fishin'

~ …“Come after me, and I will make you fishers for men!”

Gone Fishin'

Tag Archives: ekklesia is NOT a church

No Gender-Based Limitations For Christian Women

02 Saturday Jun 2012

Posted by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen in Spiritual

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Bishop=Pastor=Elder, controlling powerful CEO, ekklesia is NOT a church, Gender-Based Limitations, Jewish Temple & Synagogues, office vs. function, ruling position of authority, spiritual leader, Stacked Hierarchy, Top-Down Hierarchy, wannabe King

Jesus got them together to settle things down. ‘You’ve observed how godless rulers throw their weight around,’ he said, ‘and when people get a little power how quickly it goes to their heads. It’s not going to be that way with you. Whoever wants to be great must become a servant. Whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave. That is what the Son of Man has done: He came to serve, not to be served—and then to give away his life in exchange for many who are held hostage. ~ Mark 10:42-45, MSG

 

I am so tired of hearing male pastors, especially well-known male pastors, teach or preach that God did not intend for Christian women to hold ANY leadership “positions” in Christ Jesus’ ekklesia (the Body of Christ; either small or large local assemblies of called out ones, or the entire Body of Christ). Sadly, I have concluded that these Christian men just don’t understand that God is truly no respecter of persons. He never has been, and He never will be.

Be that as it may, it still blows me away when I either read or hear that these male pastors believe that women who are in spiritual leadership “positions” in Christ Jesus’ ekklesia are out of order—out of God’s Perfect Will. These female spiritual leaders are out of God’s Perfect Will because, according to these male pastors, God set blanket limitations for Christian women, and these restrictions barred Christian women from holding “positions” of spiritual authority over men, simply because the Scriptures teach that Christian women cannot be bishops and elders or shepherds/pastors (see 1 Timothy 3:1-7; Titus 1:5, 1 Peter 5:2-4, KJV). These male pastors also believe that the Scriptures declare that God also restricted woman from teaching authoritatively over men (see 1 Timothy 2:12).

Unfortunately, because of this persistent wrong teaching and preaching, there always will be believers who will see the “position” of pastor as being a “male” only “position.” Put differently, because there is no definition of “church” that means an ekklesia (an assembly of called out ones), whenever the aforementioned male pastors speak against women holding spiritual leadership “positions,” they are talking about only those women who are in the institutional “church,” which is a man-made organization. Thus, until these male pastors fully understand that Christ Jesus’ Body of Believers is about His spiritual called out ones and NOT about spiritual people who identify themselves with a name on a physical building/structure, these male pastors will continue to miss God’s Divine Truth, which is that there are no gender-based limitations for women who are in Christ Jesus’ ekklesia. Conversely, there are plenty of gender-based limitations in man-made organizations, especially the institutional “church”! 

Furthermore, the fact that “churchgoers” tend to refer to “pastor” as a “position” or “office,” meaning a ruling position of authority instead of a FUNCTION or service, also adds to the institutional “church’s” ignorance about women being able to be spiritual leaders in Christ Jesus’ ekklesia. The truth is that just like many biblical scholars declare that the word “church” never is used in the New Testament, because whenever Christ Jesus or the apostles are speaking about the Body of Christ, ekklesia is used instead, many biblical scholars also declare that the word “office,” which is in many English translations of 1 Timothy 3:1, 10, and 13 (KJV), is not found in the original New Testament Greek manuscripts, either. Many of these same biblical scholars also declare that even though “office” was added much later, contextually “office” in no way means a ruling position of authority. In other words, “pastor” is not a wannabe king or a powerful controlling CEO’s position of authority, and “pastor” is not a title (e.g., Senior Pastor, Teaching Pastor, or Worship Pastor), nor is “pastor” a part of someone’s name (e.g., Pastor Keen, Pastor Jones, or Pastor Smith).

The point here is that, contrary to the these male pastors’ popular opinions, the Holy Bible does teach that, under the headship of Christ Jesus and the leadership of the Holy Spirit, women have had, and are to be allowed to have, an active role in every part of the Body of Christ. Furthermore, if these male pastors are rightly dividing the Word of God (laying out the Divine Truth in a plain and simple way), then they would know and understand, as well as would be teaching and preaching, that the few times the apostle Paul (the writer of more than one third of the New Testament) does restrict women’s roles in Christ Jesus’ ekklesia, he does so ONLY for particular situations like for the purpose of re-establishing order in an out of order ekklesia, and/or for the purpose of stopping a spiritually “sick” ekklesia from spreading heresy.

That’s why readers will not find in any biblical Scriptures that either Christ Jesus or apostle Paul is establishing rules that limit the Holy Spirit’s work in the lives of women—that women will receive different spiritual gifts and callings than those that men receive. Readers also will not find in any biblical Scriptures that Christ Jesus is saying that women only are allowed to participate in “certain” parts of His ministry. Nor will readers find in any biblical Scriptures that Christ Jesus is saying women only are permitted to speak on/about specified topics.

Therefore, the various denominational “churches” and their male pastors who do not recognize the Holy Spirit’s leadership (His God-given authority and power to work in the life of any woman, which could mean directing that female to be a spiritual leader within a local ekklesia) will make the error of developing rules that restrict the mighty workings of the Holy Spirit. These numerous denominational “churches” and their male pastors also will be guilty of rejecting any Divine Truth that comes out of the mouths of women, simply because these many denominational “churches” and their male pastors do not believe God intended for women to hold any teaching and preaching leadership “positions” in the institutional “church”—a man-made organization!

Then too, what also cannot be found in the Holy Bible are Scriptures that say pastors, elders, or bishops, which basically have similar functions, are to be considered as different kinds of “offices,” nor as a stacked hierarchy (or top-down hierarchy) that depicts, for example, the bishop as being over the pastor, the pastor as being over the elder, the elder as being over the “church” members, and so forth. Nevertheless, the sad truth is that today’s institutional “church” clearly has a stacked hierarchy (or top-down hierarchy)!

In most of the 21st century’s local churches, there is one “church” position over another “church” position, over another “church” position, and et cetera. The reason why this stacked hierarchy exists in the contemporary institutional “church” is because men (and women) love to lord it (his/her personal greatness, or natural talents, or spiritual gifts) over another man (or another woman), in spite of the fact that the Holy Bible plainly teaches that Father God and the Lord Christ Jesus do not approve of power and control-based “church” leaderships (cf. Matthew 23:8, 10; Mark 10:42-45; Luke 22:25-26;  1 Peter 4:10).

What God really teaches in His Word about women functioning in an ekklesia as a spiritual leader, however, certainly is not in harmony with the institutional “church” male pastors’ leadership “positions,” nor in harmony with the analogy these aforementioned popular pastors use to support their wrong-thinking belief about the “positions” women cannot or can hold in the institutional “church” (i.e., a man-made organization). The analogy they use the most is the comparison between the natural family, over which the husband is the head and the wife is the husband’s helper, and the spiritual family, over which Christ Jesus is the Head and every man and woman under Him is His helper—His servant. The point here is that, while God via His written Word does give the man the authority to rule over his own household, in a non-adversarial manner, which is understood to mean he is to rule in love and in collaboration, according to 1 Timothy 3:1-7, the man who functions as bishop (pastor, or elder, see Titus 1:4-9) only is supposed to take care of (cf. 1 Timothy 3:5) the Body of Christ (ekklesia) and not rule over the Lord’s helpers/servants like a wannabe king or a powerful controlling CEO!

Put differently, believers’ modern-day understanding of a controlling powerful CEO/bishop or CEO/pastor is NOT described in the Holy Bible! The reason why this last statement is true is because such a “position” or “office” of control and power would usurp not only the Lordship of Christ Jesus but also the leadership of the Holy Spirit, no matter if it were a male or a female who is in that “office”!

The truth of the matter is that God dealt with the issue of headship in the Body of Christ the moment He made the Lord Christ Jesus the Head of every believer. In other words, God put every Christian woman and every Christian man under the Lord’s Headship.  As such, every man and every woman who is born again, saved (justified), and who is being sanctified has become Christ Jesus’ spiritual Wife/Helper (Bride), which means that in Christ each man is His Wife/Helper and each woman is His Wife/Helper. Therefore, every one of Christ Jesus’ male and female Bride AUTOMATICALLY is authorized by God to operate as a minister (servant of God and Christ Jesus), an ambassador (representative, messenger or envoy), and a watchperson (sentinel or guard), with each function having the equal importance that Father God’s Holy Spirit has given to every believer who is in Christ. Put differently, every male and female’s function will have the same worth, no matter if he or she is willingly sharing the Holy Bible’s Good News or is willingly warning the Body of Believers and the masses of unbelievers of impending dangers, and so forth.   

By the way, contrary to popular opinions, THE Head of God’s “spiritual” family (God’s Household of Faith) doesn’t have any children. For sure, the Lord Christ Jesus not only has helpers/servants but also He has siblings (brothers and sisters) who are joint-heirs with Him—each believer is a sibling who, after obtaining something assigned to him or herself, shares what he or she has received with other siblings. Therefore, another reason why the “natural” family analogy does not apply to the “spiritual” family is because EVERY child in a natural family does not ALWAYS become a co-heir (every one of a father or mother’s children won’t always be a joint-heir), because often ONLY the first-born gets all of an estate, and he or she often does not equally share that estate with other siblings! However, in contrast, Christ Jesus’ joint-heirs (co-heirs, co-participants, brothers AND sisters) each share with Christ Jesus His spiritual treasures, heavenly inheritance—His God-given authority, power, supernatural gifts, and so forth—so that each child of God (the Lord’s brothers and sisters) could be a witness for Christ Jesus.

In other words, The Head of the “spiritual” family, God the Father’s only begotten Son, is the One who gives to all of His brothers and His sisters, via the Holy Spirit, the spiritual leadership functions of prophet, apostle, evangelist, pastor, and teacher! Even though sometimes an anointed man or woman may have the spiritual gift of impartation (might be able to lay hands on people and transfer his or her spiritual gifts or spiritual leadership function(s) to another person [see Acts 8:14-17; Romans 1:11-12; 2 Timothy 1:6]), NO man or woman has the authority or power to deny anyone the right to function as God (the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit) has intended for the Household of Faith men and women to function.

The bottom line is that even though all Scriptures are inspired of God (God breathed, His sanctioned authority, truth, commands, etc.), every Scripture does not inspire us (lead us or urge us) to behave the same way. For example, the Holy Bible has many Scriptures on stoning, polygamy, and sexism, but just because these cultural customs are in God’s Word that doesn’t mean He is saying it is okay for New Testament Christian believers to follow suit.

The point here is that, where the issue of women being in “church” leadership roles is concerned, 21st century believers are not obligated to do everything the way God’s Jewish people did it just because, for example, women were not permitted to study, teach, or preach in the Jewish Temple and synagogues. Without doubt, the Scriptures mostly do describe traditional Jewish culture, which the Mosaic Law shaped, and in this culture Jewish women not only were considered to be their fathers or husbands’ property instead of their own person, but also Jewish women were forbidden to study the Mosaic Law, forbidden to greet men in public or hold a conversation with them (to avoid the temptation of looking, talking, or touching women, Jewish religious leaders would close their eyes when a woman was near), forbidden to participate (speak) in the Jewish Temple or synagogues’ services, forbidden to stand next to men while worshipping inside the Jewish Temple or synagogues (the women had their own court in the Temple, and they stood in the rear of synagogues), and forbidden to provide formal teaching for children.

In other words, Jewish women were considered “good” Jewish women, only if they fulfilled their duties: cooked, cleaned, left their fathers, brothers, sons, and/or husbands alone so they could spend time studying the Scriptures, and if they sent their sons to the synagogue. However, nowhere in the biblical Scriptures does God, Christ Jesus, or the apostle Paul ever teach that New Testament believers were to treat women the same ways Jewish religious leaders, wealthy and prominent Jewish men in Jewish communities, and ordinary Jewish men treated women.

Then too, where the issue of women being in “church” leadership roles is concerned, it is important to note here that not only are most of the oldest manuscripts of the New Testament in the Greek language, but also some of the Greek culture can be found in biblical Scriptures. Even so, 21st century believers are not obligated to do everything the way the Greeks did it. Just because the Greek culture also did not hold a high opinion of women that doesn’t mean that God gives modern-day believers the okay to treat women the same way.

Historically, Greek women often were pigeonholed as either temple priestesses (sacred prostitutes) or “proper” women, with “proper” women not being allowed to go out in public unaccompanied. They also were not allowed to attend any public gatherings. Just the same, there is nowhere in the biblical Scriptures that God, Christ Jesus, or apostle Paul ever teaches that New Testament believers are to follow the Greeks’ common practices. In spite of these widespread common practices of the Jews and the Greeks, as mentioned earlier, the few times the apostle Paul is forced to restrict Christian women from functioning as spiritual leaders is when he had to re-establish order in an out of order ekklesia, and when he had to stop a spiritually “sick” ekklesia from spreading heresy.

Apostle Paul was not the only one who acknowledged that God intended for women to be allowed to function as spiritual leaders in Christ Jesus’ ekklesia. There also can be no doubt that the Lord’s radical treatment of women is the standard that today’s believers must follow. Though He was a Jewish man who knew the Mosaic Law, inside and out, where women were concerned, Christ Jesus still broke with Jewish culture, and He did so on purpose. The best examples of the many Jewish cultural customs He broke with, primarily by emphasizing the Spirit of the Law instead of just the letter of Law, are found in the biblical verses that deal with the Lord healing a woman who had an infirmity for 18 years (see Luke 13:10-17).

First, Christ Jesus breaks with Jewish culture when He, while teaching in the front of a Jewish synagogue, summons the woman who had an infirmity to come up front where the men were standing (v. 12). Next, He breaks with Jewish culture when He speaks to (holds a conversation with) this same woman (v.12). The third way He breaks with Jewish culture is when He touches this woman—lays hands on her (v. 13). Then too, He breaks with Jewish culture when He heals this woman on the Sabbath—restores her body’s health and restores her position in the Jewish society (vv. 13-14). Lastly, the Lord breaks with Jewish culture when He insists on how much this woman is worth to Him and, thus, how much she should be worth not only to that Jewish community but also to the Jewish society as a whole. Why? Well, it is because she’s a daughter of Abraham and, as such, she is worth far more than any farm animal that the hypocritical religious leaders no doubt had let out of its stall and led to a watering troth on this same Sabbath (vv. 14-15).

There are many other examples of the Lord breaking with Jewish culture. Some of these other examples can be found in Matthew 9:20-22 and Luke 8:43-48, when the Lord calls out to (Luke 8:45) and talks with (Matthew 9:22 and Luke 8:48) the woman who has an issue of blood, who touched the hem of His garment; in Matthew 14:13-21 and Mark 6:30-44, when Christ Jesus publicly teaches, heals, and feeds the 5,000, a multitude that included men, women, and children; in John 4:27 when He talks to the Samaritan woman who was at the well; and so forth.

The Scriptures also have plenty of evidence, which supports these statements: The Lord had women who were active in His ministry, and He was extremely sensitive to or with, and affirming and accepting of women. Perhaps this is the reason why, unlike it is with the modern-day local “churches” and their male pastors, the early assemblies of called out ones followed Christ Jesus’ lead. They too had women who were very active in their individual ekklesia, beginning from the 10 days just before the Day of Pentecost and continuing on to the Day Pentecost and beyond (cf. Acts 1:12-14 and Acts 2ff). That’s why The Book of Acts proves that the early assemblies of called out ones indeed were very open to women, because these early assemblies were, for example, allowing women disciples to pray right along with the original 11 disciples and other male disciples, allowing women to share their spiritual gifts bestowed upon them via the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, allowing women to teach (see Acts 18:26), and allowing women to prophesy.

Once again, even the apostle Paul had women who were very active in his ministry. In fact, in Romans 16, he mentions many of these women and their important functions: Phoebe, who served as a deacon in Cenchreae; Priscilla, who, along with her husband Aquila, traveled with Paul and functioned as his helper/co-worker (see also Acts 18:24-26); Mary, who served in Rome; Junia, who in several English translations is a called an apostle; and Tryphena, Tryphosa, and Persis, who are three woman who are commended for their hard work. Paul also makes references to other women in some of his other letters, and these women pray and prophesy in public (see 1 Corinthians 11:5); or they labor with him in the Gospel (see Philippians 4:2-3); or they receive deaconess instructions (see 1 Timothy 3:11).

Once again, it is from Christ Jesus’ teachings and Paul’s letters that today’s believers are given various examples of women who were operating in prominent ministry functions. These examples more than suggest that these women were meant to be included in every aspect of both Christ Jesus’ ekklesia and today’s institutional “church” life.

This is the correct conclusion to draw from New Testament Scriptures, because nowhere in the New Testament Scriptures are there any indications that there are spiritual gifts that have been limited to ONLY men (see 1 Corinthians 12:7-11; 1 Corinthians 14:31; and 1 Peter 4:10, NCV). Then too, nowhere in the New Testament Scriptures are there any indications that there is a hierarchy of men, for because of Christ Jesus’ atoning sacrifice every believer now is called God’s priest (see 1 Peter 2:9; Revelation 1:6; and Revelation 5:10). Thirdly, despite the fact that most Christians believe Galatians 3:28 only pertains to the egalitarian position on salvation, which is that God is no respecter of gender, for He gives no preference to male or female regarding salvation, Galatians 3:28 also is apostle Paul’s egalitarian position on ministry opportunities being equally open to women and men.

According to Paul, it is because Christ Jesus has removed EVERY human distinction, a removal that made it possible for the Holy Spirit to unite Jews and Gentiles, males and females, and slaves and free persons as One Body in Christ, that every believing Jew and Gentile now equally shares a joint-heir relationship in the same family (God’s Household of Faith), every slave owner or master now readily accepts former slaves as brothers and sisters, and every man now absolutely has NO excuse for not understanding that women also were meant to serve God and Christ Jesus in an unlimited capacity within the Lord’s ekklesia (today, the institutional “church”). In other words, this last point means God always intended for believing women to be allowed to function as teachers of men and as spiritual leaders who have authority over Christian men.   

Summing up, every believer’s Christian duty is to function as a servant of God, serving others just like the Lord served others. When the Lord ministered to others, He did so without regard to gender, or ethnicity, or age. That is why born again, saved (justified, righteous), and being sanctified (being made holy) men and women are equally empowered and equally spiritually gifted (Christian men and women receive the SAME Holy Spirit-given power and authority and some of the SAME Holy Spirit-given spiritual gifts). So then, to teach and preach that God has restricted Christian women from being spiritual leaders is to say that the Holy Spirit gives Christian women power, authority, and spiritual gifts that are INFERIOR to the power, authority, and spiritual gifts Christian men receive.

In fact, the male pastors who are preaching and teaching against Christian women functioning as spiritual leaders are indeed saying that Holy Spirit filled women are still nothing more than Holy Spirit filled men’s “natural” wives who, because they are “weaker” vessels, are not given the same kind of “natural” responsibilities as their “natural” husbands are given. In other words, since “natural” wives are not given the same “natural” responsibilities as their “natural” husbands, this truth is why God restricts Christian women from using their supernatural power, authority and spiritual gifts, because these Holy Spirit filled women are “weaker” vessels, which translates as Holy Spirit filled women have been given INFERIOR power, authority, and spiritual gifts!

The above kind of stinking thinking not only is ludicrous but also an outright lie and fallacious representations of God, Christ Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. The Divine Truth is that Christ Jesus does not approve of the gender-based limitations Christian men have placed on the kinds of functions God has “called” each born again, saved, and being sanctified woman to fulfill in Christ Jesus’ ekklesia, which some believers still erroneously think is the same thing as today’s institutional “church,” but an ekklesia IS NOT the institutional “church”!

News Flash: Other than the institutional “church” pastor, Christ also gave His ekklesia additional spiritual leaders whose functions are meant to edify and minister to the Lord’s ekklesia. That’s why there are believers who function primarily as apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors/shepherds, and teachers, with some having multiple functions (e.g., minister, evangelist, ambassador, teacher). However, after men and women changed the Lord’s ekklesia to their organized institutional “church” structure, they then made “church” pastors a CEO of sorts. Sadder still is the fact that pastors today are presented as being the wiser, MORE important, MORE knowledgeable, and MORE spiritual members in the Body of Christ than those members who function as apostles, prophets, evangelists, and teachers!

Finally, I leave my readers with this thought-provoking question. Since there is nowhere in the Scriptures that women are told ONLY saintly men will rule and reign with Christ Jesus during His 1,000-year reign, then why on Earth would God allow women to rule and reign with Christ Jesus in the Millennium but restrict women from functioning as a spiritual leader over men who are in this “Church” Age’s Body of Christ?

 

For additional information on this subject matter, please read my following blog entries: The False Pretense Of Being Divided By FAITH; The Spiritual Disorder In Today’s CHURCH; A Sheep, IS a Sheep, IS a Sheep?; and Church Is the Globally Recognized Spiritual Body of Christ

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Christian “Birds Of A Feather” Were Meant To Flock Together

02 Friday Dec 2011

Posted by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen in Faith and Wisdom

≈ 4 Comments

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birds of a feather, called out assembly (group community family), church (man-made organization), doctrinal conformity, ekklesia is NOT a church, flock together, inner and outer oneness, koinonia or fellowship, strong spiritual characteristics, the Lord's House

Christian “Birds Of A Feather” Flock Together

…And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. ~ Acts 2:47b, KJV; cf. Romans 8:30

 

Clearly, God knew the literal meaning of mankind’s wise old saying: “Birds of a feather flock together.” There can be no doubt that the Creator of birds knew that single species of birds would form flocks. Likewise, the figurative meaning also did not escape God. He knew exactly what Greek philosophers like Plato would mean when they used the ancient proverb: “Birds of a feather flock together.” Of course God knew that one of the fundamental laws of social interaction would be that people with a similar character, interest, and/or background naturally would flock (gather) together—that humans would be the most comfortable when they are around individuals who are more like them.

Perhaps this knowledge is why God doesn’t give the writer of the book of Acts, the Apostle Paul, or any other first-century writers of biblical Scriptures, the word “church” to use when He speaks about a “called out” or a special assembly of God’s people who, in essence, are Christian “birds of a feather” flocking together. That’s right. “Church” is not even in the unadulterated Word of God; “church” is not in the New Testament Greek manuscripts. In fact, the English word, “church,” in the above Acts 2:47b Scripture, and in 111 other biblical occurrences, is an incorrect translation of “ekklesia,” because “ekklesia” doesn’t mean a brick and mortar building used for public Christian worship.

Indeed, in the 112 of the 115 places “ekklesia” is found in the Greek New Testament, the translators of the 1611 Authorized King James Version (AV) of the Holy Bible translate “ekklesia” as “church.” In the remaining three places “ekklesia” is found, the English translation is “assembly” (see Acts 19:32, 39 and 41).

So, then, there are 112 times, in the AV, that “church” is a poor translation for the word, “ekklesia” (or “ecclesia”), which is a transliteration of “ejkklhsiva.” Once again, the Greek New Testament “ekklesia” NEVER is defined as a physical structure like a modern day brick and mortar building. 

For sure, in the 112 times that “ekklesia” is translated as “church” in the AV, “ekklesia” always means a gathering of born again, saved, justified, full of the Holy Spirit, and in the process of becoming sanctified believers who have ALL things in common. In the first century, such a gathering would meet in places that were either “without walls” (out-of-doors), or in rented halls, or inside homes. Put differently, even though the first-century Christian “birds of a feather” flocked together at multiple locations, like various places in Jerusalem, Corinth, Ephesus, Galatia, Philippi, Thessalonica, Rome, and so on, each SINGLE “ekklesia” (each different congregation of the “called out ones” of God’s Household of Faith children) was merely one part of the Body of Christ that was demonstrating the same kind of “koinonia” or fellowship—the same strong spiritual characteristics of inner AND outer “oneness.”

The inner “oneness” is the combined spiritual relationship between every believer and his or her God, every believer and his or her Savior, and every believer and his or her Household of Faith siblings. When this combined spiritual relationship expresses itself in an outward display of “oneness,” as each believer’s joint participation with the infilling Holy Spirit, with other full of the Holy Spirit believers, and in an unconditional surrender to the Lord for service, the end result is that the Body of Christ/Bride of Christ is accomplishing God’s Perfect Will on Earth. In short, each part of the “ekklesia,” no matter where it might be located on this globe, would have all things in common and would be doing God’s Perfect Will together.

Once again, in the first century, the “ekklesia,” or Christian “birds of a feather,” was an assembly of believers (and ONLY believers) who gathered for worship and fellowship (“koinonia”) purposes. Moreover, in spite of the rapid growth of the first-century “ekklesia,” the believers in each portion of God’s “ekklesia” maintained the aforementioned strong spiritual characteristics of inner AND outer “oneness,” by having ALL things in common, which was demonstrated primarily in the area of their Daily “koinonia” or DAILY fellowship. Other measurable strong spiritual characteristics were these “called out ones’” doctrinal conformity, which the apostles demonstrated in every preached, taught, and testified to Gospel message, and these “called out ones’” observances of communion ordinances, apostolic miracles, prayer, communal sharing of property, and displays of godly love and joy. In essence, the real spiritual meaning of “koinonia” or fellowship that the first century’s assembly of God’s people experienced is: Doing together—that is, “koinonia” or fellowship means ALL believers were doing God’s Perfect Will together (cf. Mark 3:35; Acts 2:42, 44-47; Acts 4:23, 32-37).

Even though Jesus the Christ’s modern-day “ekklesia” isn’t growing in numbers as rapidly as the first-century “ekklesia,” the Lord’s “ekklesia” continues to consist of born again, saved, justified, Holy Spirit filled, and in the process of becoming sanctified believers (and ONLY them) who, while purposely seeking to maintain the strong spiritual characteristics of inner AND outer “oneness” and doctrinal conformity, DAILY continue to gather together and gladly worship, pray, share, and break bread with one another. Furthermore, it is the Lord, these believers’ Savior, and ONLY Him, who adds (joins) new “members” to His “ekklesia”—His spiritual Body of Christ/Bride of Christ. This last Divine Truth is why ONLY Jesus the Christ knows who should be added to any portion of His “ekklesia,” and why ONLY Jesus the Christ knows when to add each new person!

The point here is that the Lord NEVER promises to build a religious institution (a man-made organization consisting of numerous physical buildings, or meeting places also known as churches, where Christians publicly worship God). What the Lord promises to build is a spiritual House that is exclusively His; therefore, this House cannot be built by human hands. In other words, the Lord promises to build an “ekklesia”—His spiritually “called out” assembly, group, community, family (cf. Hebrews 9:11; 1 Corinthians 3:16; 1 Corinthians 6:19; 2 Corinthians 5:1). The bottom line is this: God always meant for the Lord’s Christian “birds of a feather” to flock together!

Since born again, saved, justified, full of the Holy Spirit, and in the process of becoming sanctified believers are designed to be Christian “birds of a feather” who are predisposed to flock (assemble) together (cf. Hebrews 10:15-25), today’s true believers cannot stop gathering DAILY in their God-appointed assemblies, groups, families, or communities where they joyfully share the unadulterated Gospel, as well as gladly share their worldly possessions, praises, prayers, miracles, worship, the Lord’s Supper, and fellowship (having ALL things in common, including a similar character, interest, and background).

In the majority of the members who attend the brick and mortar building that you currently call your “church” home, have you witnessed all of the aforementioned measurable strong spiritual characteristics—the inner “oneness,” doctrinal conformity, and outer “oneness,” as seen in sharing, loving, and caring actions? If not, then it is time for you to seek out the Lord’s true “ekklesia”—His spiritual House, where genuine Christian “birds of a feather” will be found flocking together and doing the Perfect Will of God, together! AMEN.

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The False Pretense Of Being Divided By FAITH

06 Thursday Oct 2011

Posted by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen in Faith and Wisdom

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Christian bigotry, church marquees, cults, denominations, divided by faith, divisions, ekklesia is NOT a church, house or temple of God, institutional church, monikers, one is indivisible, sects

Jesus the Christ's Ekklesia Is NOT A Physical Structure

 Have you ever wondered why so many Holy Spirit filled Body of Christ members no longer assemble in the institutional church? Now, by “institutional church” this blogger means: An all-embracing man-made organization that consists of a variety of mainstream denominational groups whose names are found on “church” marquees—signs that are on or near conventional “church” buildings. For example, some of the thousands of familiar denominational groups whose names identify not only a “religious” system but also each group of believers who congregates in traditional “church” buildings are: Missionary Baptist, Pentecostal, Full Gospel, Apostolic, Assembly of God, Methodist, Lutheran, Episcopal, Catholic, Church of God in Christ, and so forth.

Furthermore, the organized “institutional church” has countless denominational believers who mostly follow a top-down hierarchical leadership structure in which each individual church’s members usually are divided into two groups: clergy or laity, pastor or people, shepherd or sheep, and/or preacher or saints, etcetera. Additionally, typically the pastors or priests in the “institutional church” usually preside over their own church’s worship services, which largely are weekly or bi-weekly worship services that follow “the order” presented on printed programs. Lastly, each individual church that makes up the “institutional church” primarily ONLY supports its own members and its own community!

From all of the above descriptions of the “institutional church,” it should be clear why so many Holy Spirit filled Body of Christ members are returning back to meeting places that either are “without walls” or “home groups.” The main reason is because the above descriptions of the “institutional church” do not fit the descriptions of the first century New Testament “house of God,” which by the way wasn’t biblically called a “church.”

Indeed, the New Testament’s “house of God” is NEVER described as a physical structure, even though the Scriptures teach that Jesus the Christ is the cornerstone or the foundation upon which He “builds” His ekklesia, and even though the Scriptures teach it is Jesus the Christ who daily adds to His ekklesia those believers who are born again and saved. Notice here that the word ekklesia is used as another name for “house of God.” 

Biblically speaking, Jesus the Christ’s New Testament “house of God” is really the “called out ones” (the assembly or congregation … ekklesia) of the living God, which means these believers are members of the family of God, the household of Faith. Therefore, from the ekklesia’s inception, God intended for this ekklesia to be built with spiritual matter that has Jesus the Christ as the sure foundation, the chief cornerstone.

What’s more, this ekklesia was a SINGLE congregation of born again, saved, justified, and full of the Holy Spirit believers who assembled at multiple locations, but primarily those meeting places were “without walls” (out-of-doors) or in houses. Additionally, these early believers were treated as equal Body of Christ members who were governed by One Head—Jesus the Christ—rather than by a top-down hierarchy, and these early Body of Christ members were allowed to participate according to their individual spiritual gifting(s). Then too, these early believers met daily, not weekly or bi-weekly, and their worship services and/or fellowship meetings were open to the Holy Spirit’s prompting and leading rather than to some man-made program (prearranged worship order).

In contrast to the Lord’s ekklesia, which once again is NOT a physical structure but a spiritual body of believers that originally consisted of ONLY born again, saved, justified, and full of the Holy Spirit members who daily met and fellowshipped in various outside locations or in many different homes, the contemporary “institutional church” has splintered denominations, sects, and cults, which also congregate at countless locations. Contrary to the first-century ekklesia, the “institutional church” also usually has believers meeting weekly or bi-weekly and fellowshipping right along with non-believers!

How did these differences happen? Probably because over time most of the top-down hierarchies (pastors or priests) in the “institutional church” have changed God’s commands of “Go” and “Make” to their commands of “Come” and “See!” Therefore, before today’s “institutional church” can be in “spiritual order,” it first must unite as ONE glorious ekklesia that has the same spiritual matter in every “living stone” (every Body of Christ member) that is in God—Unity, Love, Holiness, Righteousness, Truth, Faith, Peace, Grace, Mercy, Joy, Kindness, and so forth!

In its current condition, there can be no doubt that the twenty-first century INSTITUTIONAL CHURCH has strayed away from God’s original intent for the entire Body of Christ. That intent was for all believers to be ONE as He is ONE. Instead, as a whole, the twenty-first century INSTITUTIONAL CHURCH members are no longer operating as ONE united Body of Believers. The sad truth is that the INSTITUTIONAL CHURCH, as a whole, is separated by worldwide denominational and universal theological partitions, which are nothing more than humans’ discriminatory practices of dogmatism, holier-than-thouism, sexism, ageism, partisanism, and even racism. As a result, Jesus the Christ’s initial “WAY” has become a semblance of God’s Divine Truth about Salvation and the Kingdom of Heaven messages that splintered groups (men, women, children; evangelicals, charismatics, fundamentalists; Baptists, Pentecostals, Church of God in Christ, Methodists, Lutherans; etcetera) are now presenting as THE TRUTH.

That many of today’s Christians either proudly flaunt or secretly hide their mixture of prejudices that they have against their fellow brothers and sisters in Jesus the Christ, that the known and/or experienced prejudices have caused the ‘“institutional church’s” Sunday morning worship hour to be the most segregated time of the week, and that many of today’s Christian believers also have perpetuated the biases inherent in partisanism, the innate selfishness of egoism, as well as the egregious “marketplace” and “den of thieves” corruptions in the brick-and-mortar “houses of God” should speak volumes to sold out for Jesus the Christ believers about the current serious problems that are in the “institutional church.” These unspeakable prejudices of so-called believers have gone unchecked for far too long, and this last fact also should bother sold out for Jesus the Christ believers, because these believers know that denominational biases, as well as every other “house of God” corruption, always will be unacceptable to God.

Furthermore, the more important issue is that EVERY one of these aforementioned reprehensible prejudices also has a negative effect on innocent people. Indeed, unchristian-like behaviors are preventing saved and unsaved God worshippers from wanting to come to the modern-day versions of the “house of God.” Therefore, if this world’s believers (no matter if they are white, black, or other) want to be members of the genuine Body of Christ, then they must come to the realization that the following bigoted behaviors no longer should have a foothold in ANY part of their lives: racism, ageism, sexism, and partisanism, also neither the attitude of superiority nor the propensity to identify themselves by an assortment of denominational and theological monikers that essentially indicate that their belief systems are divisions of the ONE true Body of Christ. Otherwise, this world’s congregations that are meeting in the “institutional church” setting will remain segregated under the false pretense of being divided by FAITH.

In the below YouTube Video, Pastor Donnie McClurkin sings about believers being divided by faith, when they are meant to be one united spiritually mature Body of Christ. Listen to Pastor McClurkin’s song, “We All Are One.”

Moreover, the major scriptural verses on the unity and maturity of the Body of Christ are Ephesians 4:4-6. The Apostle Paul writes:

You were all called to travel on the same road and in the same direction, so stay together, both outwardly and inwardly. You have one Master, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who rules over all, works through all, and is present in all. Everything you are and think and do is permeated with Oneness. ~ MSG

For sure, these and other Scriptures teach that there is but ONE Faith, and ONE, Christian brothers and sisters, is indivisible! Thus, for the “institutional church” to remain in the current denominationally segregated state it is in would mean that believers will continue to sway the astronomical number of worldwide unbelievers against wanting to know the ONE, TRUE, and LIVING GOD. However, once the believers who are in the “institutional church” really trust in and rely on Jesus the Christ for their regeneration, justification, and total salvation, then they will become TRUE children in God’s household of Faith (children in ONE family practicing ONE Faith). Now, for this ONENESS to happen, there first must be a dismantling of those aforementioned denominational prejudices that function as individual dividing walls, which Gentiles have resurrected after Jesus the Christ, nearly 2,000 years ago, broke down the most serious of dividing walls—the wall of hostility between Jews and Gentiles (cf. Ephesians 2:14-16).

For this last reason, it is important that no believer in Jesus the Christ ever forgets that in Christ there is no separatism, or any other –isms, for that matter.  Therefore, God’s children, especially His children to whom much has been given, must help to repair the breaches of denominational schisms, no matter if those divisions are because of dogmatism, holier-than-thouism, sexism, ageism, racism, and so forth.

More important, the very place where God’s children must start repairing those aforementioned breaches in the first century’s Way is within the “institutional church,” because, although many born again, saved, justified, and Holy Spirit filled believers have been leaving the “institutional church,” there still are many genuine Body of Christ members who continue to attend various local churches that are a part of the “institutional church.” 

The bottom line, then, is the time for the Savior’s return is nearer than ever before.  Thus, if these denominational schisms do not get repaired soon, so that there truly is but ONE WAY, ONE TRUTH, and ONE LIFE, then too many who call themselves believers will be caught unprepared and therefore too spiritually immature to go up to Heaven with the Bridegroom!

Also read my blog entries: The Spiritual Disorder In Today’s CHURCH and Church Is the Globally Recognized Spiritual Body of Christ


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Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen

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