WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:27.800 This book has been decades in the making though its foundations go back much further, woven 2 00:00:27.800 --> 00:00:33.200 into the fabric of my entire life. For the last twenty years, I've been jotting down 3 00:00:33.200 --> 00:00:38.960 notes, dreams, and inspirations. Impressions that God has placed on my heart, moments when 4 00:00:38.960 --> 00:00:44.320 the Holy Spirit is spoken, and insights that might seem to arrive out of nowhere, but clearly 5 00:00:44.320 --> 00:00:51.200 came from Him. Consequently, a pen and a notebook have rarely been far from reach wherever I've 6 00:00:51.200 --> 00:00:55.960 gone. Experience has taught me that God's voice doesn't always follow a schedule. In 7 00:00:55.960 --> 00:01:01.520 fact, it usually doesn't. The Spirit speaks when He wills, often in the moments when we 8 00:01:01.520 --> 00:01:07.560 least expect but most need. Over the years, I've collected countless words of knowledge, 9 00:01:07.560 --> 00:01:12.400 revelations, and glimpses into the heart of God, pieces of a puzzle I didn't have the 10 00:01:12.400 --> 00:01:19.240 clarity to arrange and compile until now. There is a divine order and timing to all 11 00:01:19.560 --> 00:01:25.080 things. The ancient Greek word for this is kairos, meaning the right or critical moment. 12 00:01:25.080 --> 00:01:31.920 I refer to a God-appointed time when events align perfectly with His purpose. Writing this book was 13 00:01:31.920 --> 00:01:36.880 no exception. Though I struggled for a long time to bring these thoughts together in a clear, 14 00:01:36.880 --> 00:01:42.000 cohesive manner, I've come to realize that the timing wasn't about me. It was about you, 15 00:01:42.000 --> 00:01:47.400 dear reader. God prepared this message not just for me to share, but for you to receive. 16 00:01:47.560 --> 00:01:53.880 And this moment, right here, right now, is the moment He intended for you to encounter it. 17 00:01:53.880 --> 00:02:00.200 So, however you've come across this book, whether by chance, recommendation, 18 00:02:00.200 --> 00:02:05.960 or perhaps even skepticism, it's no accident. God has been preparing you for these truths 19 00:02:05.960 --> 00:02:12.200 just as He prepared me to write them. I pray that as you read or listen to this audiobook, 20 00:02:12.920 --> 00:02:18.600 the Spirit of God will speak to your spirit, guide you, inspire you, and bless you abundantly. 21 00:02:19.160 --> 00:02:24.920 May these words ignite your faith, deepen your understanding, and draw you into a vibrant, 22 00:02:24.920 --> 00:02:31.960 transformative relationship with God that you were created to experience and participate in. 23 00:02:32.120 --> 00:02:38.120 Introduction 24 00:02:39.160 --> 00:02:44.600 For too many believers, church has become a place of frustration rather than fulfillment. 25 00:02:45.160 --> 00:02:49.960 Week after week, they attend services, try to engage and participate in programs, 26 00:02:49.960 --> 00:02:55.400 but walk away feeling oddly empty and discouraged. If you've ever felt like this, 27 00:02:55.400 --> 00:03:00.200 if you've experienced the disillusionment that comes from discovering that the institution 28 00:03:00.200 --> 00:03:06.440 you trusted for your spiritual growth has left you wounded, burned out, or spiritually stagnated, 29 00:03:07.000 --> 00:03:12.600 if you've invested your time, energy, and heart into church life only to find yourself wondering, 30 00:03:12.600 --> 00:03:19.080 is this all there is? Well, you're not alone. Countless others have wrestled with the same 31 00:03:19.080 --> 00:03:24.440 question, felt the sting of being judged or dismissed, and found themselves saddled with 32 00:03:24.440 --> 00:03:30.360 a burden of unrealistic expectations. They've walked a hollow routine of rituals that seem 33 00:03:30.360 --> 00:03:35.720 disconnected from the kind of vibrant faith they'd hoped to have. Many have walked away 34 00:03:35.720 --> 00:03:40.520 from church altogether, unable to reconcile the God they've longed for in their hearts 35 00:03:40.520 --> 00:03:46.360 with the rigid structures that often bear His name. Others remain, quietly struggling, 36 00:03:46.360 --> 00:03:52.200 searching for something deeper but unsure how to find it. Chances are you've sensed that there must 37 00:03:52.200 --> 00:03:57.720 be more, more to faith, more to life, more to knowing God, and I'm here to tell you that you're 38 00:03:57.720 --> 00:04:03.960 absolutely right, there is more, much more. No professed Christian should be living a life 39 00:04:03.960 --> 00:04:08.680 marked by powerlessness, frustration, and a lingering sense of unfulfillment. 40 00:04:09.320 --> 00:04:15.080 But a great number of them do. Though they've accepted Christ and have the promise of salvation, 41 00:04:15.080 --> 00:04:20.760 the might and strength of God in their personal lives is small and distant. They believe, 42 00:04:20.760 --> 00:04:26.680 but fail to fully grasp the magnitude of what Christ has accomplished for them, and they don't 43 00:04:26.680 --> 00:04:32.920 realize that He's already begun to bring victory and purpose to their lives now, even as they 44 00:04:32.920 --> 00:04:39.000 await His return. If the heart of their struggle is a misunderstanding, or a lack of understanding 45 00:04:39.000 --> 00:04:44.360 about the Spirit-led life, many believers have yet to recognize the importance of living by 46 00:04:44.360 --> 00:04:51.000 the Spirit of God, much less how to do so. They approach faith as a matter of obligation or of 47 00:04:51.000 --> 00:04:58.040 ritual, rather than as a transformative journey fueled by a personal, intimate relationship with 48 00:04:58.040 --> 00:04:59.960 God. They miss out on 49 00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:05.280 the abundant life Christ promised because they rely on their own strength and understanding 50 00:05:05.280 --> 00:05:09.840 rather than allowing the Spirit to guide them, empower them, and sustain them. 51 00:05:11.120 --> 00:05:16.560 Here's the truth that so many have yet to embrace. God has a life plan for you, 52 00:05:17.120 --> 00:05:22.640 a plan that satisfies your deepest desires and leads to an abundant, fulfilling life. 53 00:05:23.200 --> 00:05:28.960 This isn't some generic roadmap. It's not a one-size-fits-all approach. Because God knows 54 00:05:28.960 --> 00:05:35.200 you intimately, He knew you before you were born, His plan is uniquely tailored to your strengths, 55 00:05:35.200 --> 00:05:41.440 tolerance, and purpose. Within that defined plan, you find the true meaning of success, 56 00:05:41.440 --> 00:05:47.440 not as the world defines it, but as it is defined by heaven. You will find the fulfillment your 57 00:05:47.440 --> 00:05:54.080 heart has been longing for both in this life and in the life to come. But God doesn't just show 58 00:05:54.080 --> 00:06:01.280 you, He claims you personally, individually. He called you by name and He set His love upon you 59 00:06:01.280 --> 00:06:07.600 long before you ever heard of Him or turned your heart towards Him. He's been pursuing you with 60 00:06:07.600 --> 00:06:13.040 relentless love since before you were born, orchestrating every step of your journey to 61 00:06:13.040 --> 00:06:19.520 bring you closer to Him. And His love for you is beyond comprehension. It is not conditional, 62 00:06:19.520 --> 00:06:25.360 it is not transactional, it is not based on anything you have done or ever could do. It 63 00:06:25.360 --> 00:06:32.720 simply is. God's love for you is infinite, eternal, and unshakeable. And because of that love, He has 64 00:06:32.720 --> 00:06:38.480 a plan for your life that is so good, so profound, and so perfectly aligned with who you are, 65 00:06:38.480 --> 00:06:44.800 that it exceeds anything you could ever imagine. It's more than enough. It will never leave you 66 00:06:44.800 --> 00:06:52.000 wanting. So why then do so many Christians live outside of the fullness of Christ's promises? 67 00:06:52.000 --> 00:06:58.480 Why do they settle for mere survival when God has called them to thrive? These are questions that 68 00:06:58.480 --> 00:07:04.080 this book will answer in detail, but the short answer is found in your direct relationship with 69 00:07:04.080 --> 00:07:09.760 God. Your life is not supposed to be one of striving in your own strength, but abiding and 70 00:07:09.760 --> 00:07:15.600 resting in God's provision, listening for His voice, and walking in the purpose He's laid out 71 00:07:15.600 --> 00:07:22.560 for you. It's a life of abundance, fulfillment, and peace, not of your own efforts, but through 72 00:07:22.560 --> 00:07:29.040 the transformative work of the Spirit within you. God is ready to equip you with His strength and 73 00:07:29.040 --> 00:07:36.160 guide you every step of the way. What He asks is that you trust Him and allow His Spirit to move 74 00:07:36.160 --> 00:07:42.800 through you. When you do, you will discover a life so rich, so full of joy and purpose, 75 00:07:42.800 --> 00:07:49.680 that it surpasses anything you ever thought possible. Because that is who God is, a loving 76 00:07:49.680 --> 00:07:55.520 Father who withholds no good thing from His children. Now that's hard for many people to 77 00:07:55.520 --> 00:08:01.520 believe for a myriad of reasons I'm about to explain. We've been poorly taught. What if the 78 00:08:01.520 --> 00:08:07.040 rituals and routines you've been told are essential to faith were actually keeping you 79 00:08:07.040 --> 00:08:14.080 from experiencing the fullness of what God desires for your life? There is more to God than what most 80 00:08:14.080 --> 00:08:19.840 people experience within the walls of institutionalized religion. What if the key to unlocking 81 00:08:19.840 --> 00:08:25.760 a vibrant, transformational relationship with Him has been within your reach all along and you 82 00:08:25.760 --> 00:08:32.320 didn't know it? This book is about discovering that key. It's about understanding the constraints 83 00:08:32.320 --> 00:08:37.840 of religion, finding your way past the barriers and obstacles that have held you back, moving 84 00:08:37.840 --> 00:08:45.120 beyond the limitations of institutionalized faith, and stepping into the boundless freedom and joy 85 00:08:45.120 --> 00:08:50.880 of a direct, personal relationship with Him. You aren't created to live in the shadow of 86 00:08:50.880 --> 00:08:57.120 tradition or to measure your spiritual worth by how well you follow religious rules. God created 87 00:08:57.120 --> 00:09:04.800 you for divine intimacy, a dynamic, life-changing relationship that goes far beyond what most of us 88 00:09:04.800 --> 00:09:11.200 have been taught about in church. Through Christ, He has made Himself fully accessible to you, 89 00:09:11.200 --> 00:09:17.440 not through intermediaries, hierarchies, or man-made institutions, but through His Spirit 90 00:09:17.440 --> 00:09:24.000 who lives in you. See Romans 8 verse 9. I want to be clear that this book is not 91 00:09:24.000 --> 00:09:30.320 an attack on church. It's not about forsaking the community or rejecting the value of fellowship, 92 00:09:30.320 --> 00:09:35.920 but it is about putting church in its proper place as a tool for growth and encouragement 93 00:09:35.920 --> 00:09:42.400 rather than the foundation of your faith. Most importantly, it's about helping you discover 94 00:09:42.400 --> 00:09:48.560 the God who desires to meet you where you are, who wants to speak directly to your heart, 95 00:09:48.560 --> 00:09:55.040 and who has a plan to transform your life from the inside out. My prayer for you, 96 00:09:55.040 --> 00:09:59.840 as you listen to this book, is that you will come to understand the incredible freedom 97 00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:05.600 love, and purpose that come from knowing God, not just personally but intimately. 98 00:10:06.720 --> 00:10:11.520 I want to give you the knowledge and the inspiration to break free from the weight 99 00:10:11.520 --> 00:10:17.920 of religious expectations. What you need is a conversational encounter, a conversational 100 00:10:17.920 --> 00:10:24.720 relationship with the One who's been pursuing you all along. That means stepping boldly into 101 00:10:24.720 --> 00:10:30.640 the vibrant, dynamic relationship He designed you to have with Him, a relationship that 102 00:10:30.640 --> 00:10:37.200 leads to an exuberant life of joy, peace, and meaning. I'm not talking about abandoning your 103 00:10:37.200 --> 00:10:42.880 faith. This is about reclaiming and realigning it properly. It's about stepping out of rituals 104 00:10:42.880 --> 00:10:50.080 or traditions and into relationship, cultivating a faith that honors God not just with your lips 105 00:10:50.080 --> 00:10:57.200 but with your heart, your mind, and your life. What you need to know about me. 106 00:10:59.040 --> 00:11:03.920 Before we delve any deeper, I should tell you a bit about myself, my relationship with God, 107 00:11:03.920 --> 00:11:10.000 and what I believe is my God-given mission. I want you to see how the principles I'll present 108 00:11:10.000 --> 00:11:15.920 have been woven into my own life story. My hope is that through understanding my background, 109 00:11:15.920 --> 00:11:22.000 you'll be encouraged to reflect on your own journey and be inspired to cultivate a deeper, 110 00:11:22.000 --> 00:11:24.960 direct connection with the God who desires to walk with you. 111 00:11:26.400 --> 00:11:32.160 I was quite literally attending church before I was born. My mother was a devout churchgoer, 112 00:11:32.160 --> 00:11:36.720 attending services every week without fail, and while she was pregnant with me, that was no 113 00:11:36.720 --> 00:11:42.800 exception. Now, this pattern continued throughout my childhood as I was raised in a fundamentalist 114 00:11:42.800 --> 00:11:48.320 church tradition. By the time I was old enough to read, I'd already internalized most of the 115 00:11:48.320 --> 00:11:55.120 Bible stories. They weren't just tales to me. They were alive, vivid, and compelling. God wasn't some 116 00:11:55.120 --> 00:12:00.880 distant, abstract figure. He was someone I knew, someone I spoke to, even as a young child. 117 00:12:01.920 --> 00:12:08.160 I was five years old when God revealed Himself to me as a loving Heavenly Father. Even at that 118 00:12:08.160 --> 00:12:14.720 young age, I somehow knew that He loved me, not in a conditional way tied to my behavior or actions, 119 00:12:15.280 --> 00:12:21.920 but with a love that simply was. I didn't earn it. I couldn't lose it. His love wasn't based 120 00:12:21.920 --> 00:12:28.480 on whether I was a good or bad child. It was steadfast and unchanging even as I made mistakes 121 00:12:28.480 --> 00:12:33.120 or did things that I knew wouldn't please Him. Though I may not have fully understood the depth 122 00:12:33.120 --> 00:12:40.400 of it back then, I accepted His love in simple, childlike faith, and that truth became a foundational 123 00:12:40.400 --> 00:12:46.800 part of who I am. There is a divine strength that comes from knowing you are loved, a strength that 124 00:12:46.800 --> 00:12:52.560 can't be replicated by anything else. It's not just a source of comfort or reassurance. 125 00:12:52.560 --> 00:12:59.040 It brings a genuine desire to do better, and more importantly, the power to be better. 126 00:12:59.600 --> 00:13:06.240 God's love doesn't just inspire change. It equips you for it. For as long as I can remember, 127 00:13:06.240 --> 00:13:12.080 I've had a personal relationship with my Heavenly Father. Some might consider that unusual for a 128 00:13:12.080 --> 00:13:18.080 child, but I don't think it is. Children are naturally more open, free from the cynicism, 129 00:13:18.080 --> 00:13:25.040 distractions, and wounds that adulthood tends to bring. What made my relationship with God unique 130 00:13:25.040 --> 00:13:31.920 wasn't that it began so early. It was that I never grew out of it. As I grew older, that 131 00:13:31.920 --> 00:13:38.800 relationship didn't fade or get pushed aside by the demands of life. Instead, it deepened and 132 00:13:38.800 --> 00:13:45.920 matured, just as I did. My conversations with Him evolved from the simple, trusting prayers of a 133 00:13:45.920 --> 00:13:53.600 child into an ongoing, meaningful dialogue, a genuine relationship rooted in love and a desire 134 00:13:53.600 --> 00:14:00.640 to walk in alignment with His will. But from my adolescence into my teenage years, something 135 00:14:00.640 --> 00:14:06.400 unsettling began to emerge. The God I knew intimately, the loving Heavenly Father I spoke to 136 00:14:06.400 --> 00:14:12.960 daily, was often not the God I encountered in church. In the denomination I grew up in, 137 00:14:13.600 --> 00:14:19.440 Lord God Almighty was frequently portrayed as a stern taskmaster, a deity who demanded perfection 138 00:14:19.440 --> 00:14:26.080 and obedience to a long list of rules and rituals. He was someone you had to earn approval from, 139 00:14:26.080 --> 00:14:34.480 someone who was perpetually disappointed in your humanity. This image clashed with the God I knew 140 00:14:34.480 --> 00:14:40.640 as the loving Heavenly Father. My Heavenly Father was not distant or unapproachable. He was loving, 141 00:14:40.640 --> 00:14:46.560 compassionate, and ever-present. The contrast between my personal experience with Him and what 142 00:14:46.560 --> 00:14:52.400 I was being taught in church created what I call a religious schism in my life. It wasn't 143 00:14:52.400 --> 00:14:58.720 a spiritual crisis. I never doubted God's existence or His love for me. Instead, it was a rebellion 144 00:14:58.720 --> 00:15:00.640 against the portrayal of Him. I never doubted His existence. I never doubted His love for me. 145 00:15:00.000 --> 00:15:08.240 God that I felt was inaccurate. In my frustration, I turned to the only source I trusted implicitly, 146 00:15:08.240 --> 00:15:14.080 God Himself. I prayed a simple yet profound prayer inviting the Holy Spirit to guide and 147 00:15:14.080 --> 00:15:20.960 teach me directly. Lord, I prayed, these things they're trying to teach me seem ridiculous to me. 148 00:15:20.960 --> 00:15:26.000 I need you to show me who you really are and convict me of what you want me to know. 149 00:15:26.800 --> 00:15:31.760 If I need to believe it, it has to come through you. You have to convict my heart directly. 150 00:15:32.560 --> 00:15:36.560 I didn't realize it then, but I'd echoed something similar to the words of David. 151 00:15:37.360 --> 00:15:44.240 In Psalms 25 verses 4 and 5, David wrote, Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths, 152 00:15:44.240 --> 00:15:52.160 guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior and my hope is in you all day long. 153 00:15:53.120 --> 00:15:58.080 In doing so, I surrendered myself to the direct tutelage of the Holy Spirit, 154 00:15:58.080 --> 00:16:05.280 just as Christ had promised us in John 14 verse 26. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, 155 00:16:05.280 --> 00:16:12.080 whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything 156 00:16:12.080 --> 00:16:19.760 I have said to you. Again, at the time, I didn't fully grasp the significance of what I was asking, 157 00:16:19.920 --> 00:16:24.400 but God honored that prayer in ways I could never have anticipated. 158 00:16:26.400 --> 00:16:30.640 From that moment on, I couldn't open the Scriptures without waves of depth 159 00:16:30.640 --> 00:16:36.960 and understanding of the Word as it applied to my life, jumping out at me. It wasn't just 160 00:16:36.960 --> 00:16:42.720 intellectual comprehension, it was revelation. The Word of God became alive and real in a way 161 00:16:42.720 --> 00:16:49.040 that transcended anything I had experienced before. The Holy Spirit became my teacher, 162 00:16:49.040 --> 00:16:54.480 and the lessons He imparted weren't about theology per se. They were about life and how 163 00:16:54.480 --> 00:17:00.640 to live in alignment with the Kingdom of Heaven for me. I learned from personal experience that 164 00:17:00.640 --> 00:17:07.040 the mysteries of God are only revealed through the power of the Holy Spirit and on His terms. 165 00:17:07.040 --> 00:17:12.560 He is fully exposed and discovered through faith, and only those in whom the Spirit abides 166 00:17:12.560 --> 00:17:18.000 can truly understand and accept them. The Apostle Paul confirms this in the 167 00:17:18.000 --> 00:17:24.800 second chapter of 1 Corinthians, starting in verse 9. However, as it is written, 168 00:17:25.599 --> 00:17:32.160 No eye has seen, nor ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love 169 00:17:32.160 --> 00:17:39.280 Him. But God has revealed it to us by His Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep 170 00:17:39.280 --> 00:17:45.040 things of God. We have not received the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, 171 00:17:45.040 --> 00:17:52.160 that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught 172 00:17:52.160 --> 00:17:59.280 us by human wisdom, but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual 173 00:17:59.280 --> 00:18:05.360 words. The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, 174 00:18:05.360 --> 00:18:11.760 for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them because they are spiritually 175 00:18:11.760 --> 00:18:20.400 discerned. The gift I received that day led me to serve many roles within the church, 176 00:18:20.400 --> 00:18:25.840 Bible teacher, worship leader, minister, and more. In the years that followed, I served in 177 00:18:25.840 --> 00:18:31.840 various denominations, each with its own traditions and doctrines. I went wherever God sent me, 178 00:18:31.840 --> 00:18:35.200 striving to share the insights and the revelations I had received. 179 00:18:35.840 --> 00:18:40.960 And for the longest time, I thought my life was to be about teaching biblical knowledge and those 180 00:18:40.960 --> 00:18:47.520 things I had come to understand in Scripture, but it was never about what I knew. It was about 181 00:18:47.520 --> 00:18:53.280 something deeper, helping others cultivate intimate relationships with God themselves. 182 00:18:54.080 --> 00:18:58.880 When it comes to the Lord and the nature of His kingdom, it is your personal relationship with Him 183 00:18:58.880 --> 00:19:02.240 that makes the difference because knowledge also comes from God. 184 00:19:03.200 --> 00:19:09.440 Divine wisdom and understanding I've learned are born out of intimacy with God. Knowledge 185 00:19:09.440 --> 00:19:15.200 doesn't transform people's lives, divine relationship does. In our churches, we've 186 00:19:15.200 --> 00:19:19.600 intellectualized things to the point where we believe that it's all about getting the doctrine 187 00:19:19.600 --> 00:19:27.520 right. That's a big mistake. God isn't judging you by how well you figure out His Word. What He 188 00:19:27.520 --> 00:19:34.080 wants is for you to learn to recognize, listen to, trust His voice, and follow His direction. 189 00:19:35.200 --> 00:19:39.360 I spent decades learning what it really means to get personal with God, 190 00:19:39.360 --> 00:19:44.160 releasing my own expectations and growing to the point where God needed me to be 191 00:19:44.160 --> 00:19:50.720 in order to fully embrace His purpose for me. What took a long time to get through my thick skull 192 00:19:50.720 --> 00:19:56.080 was that because I was willing and opened my heart, the Holy Spirit instructed me despite 193 00:19:56.080 --> 00:19:59.840 all my inherent shortcomings and insufficiencies. 194 00:20:00.000 --> 00:20:06.640 God is in the business of transformation. Eventually, I realized what was most important 195 00:20:06.640 --> 00:20:12.480 for me to share with others is the fact that each and every one of us was created to have 196 00:20:12.480 --> 00:20:16.880 a much closer relationship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit than we can imagine. 197 00:20:18.080 --> 00:20:23.920 My mission, I now see clearly, is to help believers, especially those who are wounded, 198 00:20:23.920 --> 00:20:30.560 disillusioned, or stuck in cycles of religious routine, help them break free from the constraints 199 00:20:30.560 --> 00:20:35.760 of institutions and step into the vibrant, transformative relationship with God that 200 00:20:35.760 --> 00:20:40.000 they were created to have. Intimacy with God matters. 201 00:20:41.440 --> 00:20:48.160 Although I am one, I don't always refer to myself as a Christian. Not because I don't identify with 202 00:20:48.240 --> 00:20:54.320 or am ashamed of the term, but because the noun has been so misused and abused by so many people 203 00:20:54.320 --> 00:21:00.400 and institutions. People have preconceived notions of what a Christian is, and many who claim the 204 00:21:00.400 --> 00:21:07.440 title have very little idea of what it truly means. I understand completely why Gandhi once said, 205 00:21:08.080 --> 00:21:14.000 I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ. 206 00:21:14.960 --> 00:21:20.960 Given the opportunity, I prefer to call myself an Ecclesian, a term derived from the Greek word 207 00:21:20.960 --> 00:21:27.520 ekklesia, which is the word Jesus used to describe His followers. When Jesus said to Simon Peter, 208 00:21:27.520 --> 00:21:35.120 upon this rock I will build my church, as we read in Matthew 16-18, the word he used wasn't church 209 00:21:35.120 --> 00:21:42.640 at all. It was ekklesia, literally translated as the called-out ones. He wasn't talking about 210 00:21:42.720 --> 00:21:47.520 institutions, hierarchies, or buildings. The word itself denotes a people, a purpose, 211 00:21:47.520 --> 00:21:54.320 or an assembly convened for a particular purpose. Christ was referring to an assembly of people, 212 00:21:54.320 --> 00:21:59.840 each and every one uniquely gifted and called, united under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. 213 00:22:00.400 --> 00:22:06.320 A gathering of believers united in shared purpose, mutual love, and devotion to God. 214 00:22:07.280 --> 00:22:12.080 Unfortunately, when King James commissioned the King James Version of the Bible, 215 00:22:12.080 --> 00:22:18.240 he mandated the use of the word church instead of ekklesia. Now, this was a deliberate effort 216 00:22:18.240 --> 00:22:24.080 to support the hierarchical structure of the Church of England and reinforce His authority 217 00:22:24.080 --> 00:22:31.040 as King and as the Church's Supreme Governor, as He called Himself. The result is that the 218 00:22:31.120 --> 00:22:36.160 true meaning of ekklesia, a called-out assembly with no earthly hierarchy, 219 00:22:36.800 --> 00:22:42.640 well, that meaning was obscured and demoted. Instead, we got the word church, a term that 220 00:22:42.640 --> 00:22:48.560 has come to represent institutions, denominations, human authority, structures, and buildings. 221 00:22:49.280 --> 00:22:54.400 But Jesus' purpose wasn't to establish an institution. He came to gather a people. 222 00:22:55.360 --> 00:23:02.080 The great commission He gave us in Matthew 28 verses 18-20 was not to create converts to fill 223 00:23:02.080 --> 00:23:09.360 pews, but to make disciples, followers who would be empowered by the Holy Spirit and led by the 224 00:23:09.360 --> 00:23:16.560 Holy Spirit to impact the world. The mission wasn't limited to clergy or religious professionals. 225 00:23:16.560 --> 00:23:24.080 It was and is a calling to every believer. My good friend John Ashcraft sums up the 226 00:23:24.080 --> 00:23:28.080 situation concisely in his book, Becoming a Second Mile Leader. 227 00:23:29.760 --> 00:23:34.400 Many Christians have either forgotten their assignment or have never been informed of their 228 00:23:34.400 --> 00:23:40.160 duty as believers. In most cases, our churches are filled with people who have never been taught 229 00:23:40.160 --> 00:23:46.720 what the Bible actually says regarding their role in the army of God. Most of this can be traced 230 00:23:46.720 --> 00:23:52.800 back to the state church being established in Rome. Until that time, the early church understood 231 00:23:52.800 --> 00:23:58.320 their responsibilities as believers. They were soldiers in God's army, assigned the task of 232 00:23:58.320 --> 00:24:04.240 advancing the kingdom of God against the gates of hell. Jesus called the church the ekklesia, 233 00:24:04.240 --> 00:24:09.440 agents of change that would destroy hell's government. Jesus knew hell would stand no 234 00:24:09.440 --> 00:24:14.800 chance against a people who understood that they are soldiers in the army of God when they are 235 00:24:14.800 --> 00:24:21.760 trained and willing to perform their duties. Simply put, the ekklesia are otherwise ordinary 236 00:24:21.760 --> 00:24:28.320 people. Think of the type of peoples Jesus surrounded himself with, whose passion, desire, 237 00:24:28.320 --> 00:24:34.160 and goal is to be one of the many that God can and does entrust with the world for the cause of 238 00:24:34.160 --> 00:24:40.640 Christ. Far too many believers do not understand the purpose of their faith. They think that going 239 00:24:40.640 --> 00:24:46.560 to church and striving to be good satisfies what the Lord wants from them. They have little 240 00:24:46.560 --> 00:24:52.480 conception of God's true purpose for their lives.