Church guide

Jesus - Please bring the people into my life that YOU need to nail my kicking and screaming flesh on my cross. Lord, the ONE thing we need is more of You. The only way to have more of You is to have LESS of self (me).

Martha: "Lord, I'm in here killing myself trying to make things perfect for You and Mary ain't doin' nothing but sittin' on her backside just listening to You talk." Jesus: "Martha, Martha, Martha! You are so busy doing 'things' that you are missing out on what's really important - spending time getting to know ME. There are only a few 'things' that are important but really, the only one that matters is your relationship with Me. I will not take that away from Mary so that she can help you prepare lunch." (Luke 10:38-42 paraphrase by Mark) What 'things' are keeping you from getting to know Jesus? Singing in the choir/on the praise team? Serving on a committee? Teaching a class/bible study? Preparing a sermon? Volunteering in a mission? All these 'things' are good, in and of themselves, but if they are keeping you from spending time with your Lord and growing in your relationship with Him, then as Jesus told Martha, "You made the wrong choice." Don't settle for less of Him just so you can do more for Him.

We have updated our website - www.etxekklesia.org. Check it out!

We all know what the term “organic” means. It means 100% natural without any artificial or man-made ingredients added. We are a non-institutional form of church because we are born out of the experience and life of Christ within his people. No man-made structures or programs are necessary or desired.

There were TWO trees in the garden - Adam and Eve chose to eat from the WRONG one. Why do we continue to follow their example? "Religion" is nothing more than knowing what is good and evil, trying to do good and failing, trying to not do evil and failing and then getting beat up by guilt and condemnation. Jesus is the Tree of Life. When we choose to "eat of Him" (John 6:56) He fulfills the 'law' on our behalf and frees us from the condemnation of failure (Romans 8:1). He does not expect His followers to be perfect and live perfect lives, but He does expect us to die to self and allow Him to live His Life in and through us.

It is starting. Many of you have expressed interest in being part of an ekklesia like you read about in scripture. Many of you have said you are done with "religeon" and will not go back to 'institutional' style church with hierarchical leadership. Many of you have expressed a desire to go deeper with the Lord. Many of you said you just want more Jesus. You just do not know what all this would look like in reality and do not know where to look to find any of "this". After reading this, you will never again be able to tell the Lord, "I never knew how to follow You like You want me to." Friday, May 3, 2019 an ekklesia planter begins the process of laying a foundation for the "church" that God intended to be His Son's bride to be. We are not talking about 'a different way to do church'. If that is what you are looking for then keep looking. What we are talking about is community, family, relationships, living our lives unto Christ for each other and so much more than we can describe here. If you truly want more Jesus and to experience His life in this manner, message us to find out where all this begins and how you can be a part if it. You say you want more? It is time to put feet to your words and flight to your heart!

Every path to successful body life must go through the cross.

Jon and Dotty will be here to minister the life of Christ to the east Texas Ekklesia beginning on Thursday the 27, yes that is next Thursday, make your plans to come and see Christ as you have never seen Him before. Message us for the place and times. See you all there!

"The Bible talks an awful lot about “renewing” our minds. Affirmations like these are part of that renewal process. And no matter how seasoned a person is in the kingdom, we’re never beyond being reminded of who we are and where our allegiance lies." (Viola)

No Religion. No Denomination. Just Jesus. Christ is Our ALL!

What is "EKKLESIA"??? Definition 1. a gathering of citizens called out from their homes into some public place, an assembly a. an assembly of the people convened at the public place of the council for the purpose of deliberating b. the assembly of the Israelites c. any gathering or throng of men assembled by chance, tumultuously d. in a Christian sense 1. an assembly of Christians gathered for worship in a religious meeting 2. a company of Christian, or of those who, hoping for eternal salvation through Jesus Christ, observe their own religious rites, hold their own religious meetings, and manage their own affairs, according to regulations prescribed for the body for order's sake 3. those who anywhere, in a city, village, constitute such a company and are united into one body 4. the whole body of Christians scattered throughout the earth 5. the assembly of faithful Christians already dead and received into heaven Mentioned in the New Testament 111 times, the ekklesia, in it's original form, transformed the world. For our group, d. 3. is a more accurate definition. We do not hold to "religion" of any sort to influence our walk with Christ. Religion is nothing more than the practice of the law ("do this and don't do that"). We realize that in the 6000+ years of recorded history only one Man in the flesh has been able to keep the whole law and He has imputed His righteousness to His body - the ekklesia. Our righteousness is found in Christ alone. (https://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/greek/nas/ekklesia.html) Right now, we are a relatively small group of Christ-followers. God is adding to our number as He calls new living stones to be built up with us. We are impatiently waiting for a church planter to join us to lay a foundation for the House of God to be built in east Texas. Until that time, we are gathering getting to know one another, growing to love one another, seeing Christ work in our everyday lives and praising Him as best we understand at this point in our walk with Him. We are not experimenting in a "different way of doing church" but rather learning to experience Him in our every day lives. What we are doing is not about the way we meet on Sunday. It is about the way we live 24/7, 365 days a year. We all come from different "religious" backgrounds and are learning to lay down the religious baggage we bring with us at the foot of the cross, allowing Christ to resurrect that which has eternal significance. If YOU are looking for something more than meeting once or twice a week with people you don't really know and that don't really know you, more than a weekly guilt trip because you do not serve enough, give enough, pray enough, witness enough - do enough - then consider what the New Testament demonstrated as the correct manner in which we ought to come together: "What then is the conclusion, brothers? Whenever you come together, each one has a psalm, a teaching, a revelation, another language, or an interpretation. All things must be done for edification." (1 Cor 14:26) Our meetings are open for ALL to share Christ - not just the "leader" - we do not have a leader aside from Christ, Himself. We do not just "do" church differently - we have decided to reclaim our rightful place and BE the church - the EKKLESIA that God desires for His Son. If this is YOUR heart, please contact us via messenger or through our website (www.etxekklesia.org) and we would love to talk with you to see if THIS expression of Christ is what you are searching for. NOTE: If you are just looking for a "different" way of doing church, this is probably not what you are looking for. If you are looking for a place that you can advance a pet doctrine or spiritual agenda then this is not the place for you. If you are looking for a place that you can become the pastor and lead all the misguided sheep in your ministry then this is definitely not the place for you. Christ is our Head, He is our Leader, our Shepherd and All we need. WE ARE EKKLESIA!

We had a great meeting Friday night! We had visitors from the DFW church with us as well as two new visitors from Longview. We fellowshipped, we sang, we shared Christ and grew closer as a family. If this sounds like something you might be interested in, message us on our Facebook page or email us at [email protected].

Who is our Leader? Christ! Who is our covering? Christ! Who is our ALL? CHRIST!!!

His eternal purpose is fulfilled in the ekklesia!

"Christ is All, everything else is commentary." - Frank Viola.

We are so grateful to Milt and Mary Rodriguez for spending the last several days giving us a greater revelation of our Lord and a glimpse of who we are IN HIM. As we move forward in our pursuit of an organic expression of Christ in east Texas, we anxiously await an even greater revelation each day. If you would like more info on Milt Rodriguez and what a church planter does in modern times, check out their website: www.therebuilders.org.

You say you are a believer in Christ? That is just the starting line in this journey. Most people camp out here. Jesus said that we should "follow Him". The demons and satan 'believe' in Jesus - don't stop at believing - be a follower of Christ.

Jesus did not die on the cross so that we would not have to, He did it to show us how. The apostle Paul said "I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me."