When Did The Church Start?

What does a home church look like? What do we mean by "home church"? Well, first of all, what is "church"? Is it a physical building? No. Is it a place of worship? Closer; but no. A church, simply put, is an assembly of believers who meet in the name of Jesus Christ for one common purpose: that we are commanded to live as a holy, redeemed, covenant community. We can't "go to church", we are the church! Even when we acknowledge this, we often still use language of "going to church" but we need to change that mindset.

So what is a holy, redeemed, covenant community? To answer this question, we need to address the origin of the church, and no, it didn't start in Acts after Jesus ascended into heaven. When did the church start? Many believe that Jesus began the church during his ministry on earth as recorded in Matthew 16:8 but the tense of the language is a continuing future tense. In other words, a good translation would be "upon this rock I am building my assembly" or "upon this rock I am restoring/rebuilding my assembly". When we take a closer look, Jesus isn't creating a new church; he's building on the existing one with him as the foundation.

Around 200 BC, the Old Testament was translated into Greek (Septuagint) and the word "kehilah", meaning "whole assembly", was translated as "ecclesia" (Exodus 12:6). This is the same word used in Acts 7:38, where Stephen points out that Moses was in the assembly in the wilderness at Mt. Sinai. The word for assembly that Luke used in this verse is "ecclesia" and wherever we see the word church or assembly in the New Testament, it's the same word "ecclesia". So even before Christ was incarnated, it was generally understood that "kehilah" and "ecclesia" both mean "called out assembly" just as we are to be called out of the world to assemble together that we might hear and worship God as one People of God. But the church didn't start with Moses either, it started with Abraham when God called him out of Haran and established an unconditional covenant of faith, grace, and mercy (Genesis 15:8-17). While we are not biological children of Abraham, we share the same faith (Romans 11:17). Thus we have become Abraham's offspring (Romans 4:16) and will take our place in the Body of Christ (Matthew 5:11).

Not only are we an assembly of believers, we are also "a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light" (1 Peter 2:9). Being "holy" means to be "set apart" and in the believer's context, "to be set apart" for God (not to be confused with righteousness). In Ephesians 1:1, Paul calls his contemporaries "saints" (meaning pure holiness). Saints are not believers who have died or only those who God has used for extraordinary purposes, saints are active, living, contemporary believers who exhibit pure holiness. We are called to live as a holy community of believers that have been redeemed both physically and spiritually by the blood of the Lamb of God (1 Peter 1:18-19).

Another defining point of the church is that we are a covenant community with both God and each other. We are to treat each other in accordance with God's word as our identity is found in the instruction and teaching of the entire word of God. Remember, the Torah wasn't given to an individual; nor are the gifts of the Spirit intended for one person: but the People of God, a community.

The church isn't a place, the church is the People of God, which traces it's beginnings back to Abraham. The church is a covenant community, living in the reality of being redeemed by the Lamb, who are called to live distinctly different than the world - living with a Godly purpose.

Listen To The Whipser

Turning back to 1 Kings 17-19, we read about the awesome miracles that God had performed and the diligent obedience of Elijah the prophet. We also read how Ahab, an evil king of Israel, and his queen Jezebel are seeking to rid the land of Israel of Godly prophets. It's a dangerous time to be a devout prophet of God and an important time to follow God. We can also observe how even some of the most famous prophets can make mistakes. If you read these passages carefully, you'll notice that God did not instruct Elijah to go to Jezreel nor Mt. Horeb (Sinai). Let's read 1 Kings 19:9-18.

There he went into a cave and spent the night. And the word of the LORD came to him: "What are you doing here, Elijah?" He replied, "I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too." The LORD said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by." Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" He replied, "I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too." The LORD said to him, "Go back the way you came, and… Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel - all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and all whose mouths have not kissed him."

God questions why Elijah is there and Elijah replies in truth except for one thing: he is not the only one left. We just read that Obadiah has hidden 100 prophets in a well supplied cave. So while we can see that his situation is dire, it's not as bad as he believes – especially when you factor in that God is God. Then God decides to reveal a part of his nature to Elijah. God instructs Elijah to stand on the mountain as He is about to pass by. Then we read about wind as such power and force that mountains are tore apart, then an earthquake, then fire… but God is not in any one of these. Yet God's presence is in the whisper. Elijah still doesn't understand, as we can tell by his same response to God's second question, but he is given further instruction and some truth: he is not the last; there are 7,000 Israelites that have remained faithful to the Lord.

There are three things that we can learn from this. First, even though God did not instruct Elijah to go to Jezreel or Horeb, God had mercy on him. Even on the journey to Horeb, an angel provided food and water for his journey. The point is we are to follow God's leading. When God goes, we go, when God stays, we stay. Anything else leads us to disaster, yet even though when we make mistakes, even we are trying to do the right thing (though God had not instructed us), God in his sovereignty leads us on the right track.

Second, God would have been perfectly just to punish Elijah for his disobedience, yet he shows mercy. God would also be perfectly just to pour his wrath on the unfaithful Israelites and false prophets, yet God was showing Elijah that he was choosing to display mercy.

Third, while God does manifest himself in powerful ways, he also manifests himself in the smallest and most intimate ways. When we don't see God working in the wondrous and awesome ways, we need to listen for the whisper for it is the Holy Spirit that speaking to us.

Life is a journey and God will mercifully guide us on our path as we are lead by the Holy Spirit. As Christians, we can fight it or submit to it. If we fight it, we will come upon disaster but God will still try to bring us back. But if we would just submit to His voice, we would avoid so much trouble and would find ourselves ever increasingly closer to Him.

No Compromise On Biblical Creation

While millions across the world would deny this, we have evidence that even those who claim to not believe in biblical creation, they in fact suppress the truth that God has clearly shown to all of us. What are we talking about, lets' begin with Scripture. Romans 1:18-20 says,

"¹⁸For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of those who by their wickedness suppress the truth. ¹⁹For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. ²⁰Ever since the creation of the world his eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has made. So they are without excuse;" (NRSV).

Though God's word is pretty straight forward and trustworthy, we can also look at the use of science and the argument against Biblical creation as proof of evidence. Jason Lisle points out in his article that whenever evolutionists use science, "they must borrower the principles of biblical creation". He also points out that in order to argue against biblical creation, one must assume that it is true! Read the article to read how evolutionists, in fact, suppress the truth of biblical creation by practicing science, having ethics, and using sound reasoning.

After reading his article, it's difficult to see how anyone could continue (let alone begin) believing in evolution. If evolution was true: there would be no reason to expect an orderly universe or even comprehend it; any moral code is arbitrary and decision making is out of our control; that laws of logic wouldn't exist since the universe would only be matter in motion – thus we couldn't distinguish between correct and incorrect reasoning. The fact that evolutionists believe in science, rationality, and morality is inconsistent with their professed belief in evolution. When they use science and logic, they reveal that in their hearts, they know God, know that they are attacking his Word, and are suppressing truth of the knowledge of the God of creation.

Some Christians believe that God could have used evolution in creation. The biggest problem with this belief is that they compromise the word of God by integrating impossibility with truth. If one closely examines Scripture, Genesis clearly states that God created the world in six literal days (look at the Hebrew words). If one closely examines evolution, it is clearly humanistic in nature, its claims cannot be substantiated nor observed, and lacks credible evidence. Evolution is a belief, a theory, an idea but it's also fiction that (unfortunately) some Christians have bought into.

The Bible being compromised by infiltrated false teaching isn't new and evolutionism certainly isn't the last. Aristotle taught that every entity remained unchanged at is fundamental core. Eventually, the church incorporated this thought in its understanding of species, so that the animals that exist today existed the same way at creation. But this isn't biblical and if it was true, then lions and tigers couldn't breed – but we know they can – or zebras and donkeys couldn't either, but we know they can too. If we factor in evolution, they would be too distant of "evolved species" to cross-breed. As a result, a Greek concept became Christianized. The truth is that God created the animals according to their kind and gave them the ability to adapt to their environment and so we now have lions and tigers, but they are of the same "kind" (see Genesis). The next time you see a picture of Noah's ark with all the animals huddled within, you'll think twice about they really looked like!

There is a consequence for exchanging truth for falsehood and for disregarding God. Lets' continue reading in Romans 1:21-23,

"²¹for though they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking and their senseless minds were darkened. ²²Claiming to be wise, they became fools; ²³and they exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling a mortal human being or birds or four-footed animals or reptiles." (NRSV)

Evolutionists fulfill this Scripture by claiming that biblical creation is inferior to evolution and suppressing the truth of biblical creation that God made clear to them; now for the rest of the consequences, read Romans 1:24-31,

"²⁴Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the degrading of their bodies among themselves, ²⁵because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. ²⁶For this reason God gave them up to degrading passions. Their women exchanged natural intercourse for unnatural, ²⁷and in the same way also the men, giving up natural intercourse with women, were consumed with passion for one another. Men committed shameless acts with men and received in their own persons the due penalty for their error. ²⁸And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind and to things that should not be done. ²⁹They were filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, covetousness, malice. Full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, craftiness, they are gossips, ³⁰slanderers, God-haters, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, rebellious toward parents, ³¹foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. ³²They know God's decree, that those who practice such things deserve to die--yet they not only do them but even applaud others who practice them." (NRSV)

Is it just a coincidence that after America has embraced evolutionism as a false belief taught as fact that now we are faced with the homosexual agenda? It's not and God's word shows what happens when you replace him with another "god" or "religion", such as evolution. And now, homosexuality is being "Christianized". I should note, homosexuality is sin, just as murder, stealing, adultery, and fornication and homosexuals are in need of the Savior just as any one is. I'm not targeting any specific person but I'm illustrating how an extra-biblical concept is being accepted as normalcy.

These slanderous, God-hating, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil are becoming ever increasingly sarcastic, mocking, and scathing in their name-calling of Creationists through newspaper articles, popular blogs, books, and reputable science magazines. And at the same time, they are living out Scripture before our eyes. While we should not react in the same manner, we cannot simply ignore them because these thoughts in writing will influence our society and may influence the believing community. For example, at one time, the term "gay priest" would have been an oxymoron – but in these days churches are embracing the homosexual lifestyle as if it was ordained by God. And if prominent evolutionists like Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens call teaching a child about God "child abuse", what is next for the church? All that it would take is someone with similar ideas to publish this in a respectable journal, have a few liberal judges declare that teaching Christianity is child abuse (also outlawing homeschooling), and then this will begin to be taught in the education system. When this happens, it would eventually become culturally normal.

Unfortunately, this infiltration of extra-biblical ideas is not limited to biblical creation but creation is the beginning of knowing God – thus it is crucial. If evolutionists can detract Christians from believing in a young Earth, that God spoke creation into existence, then Jesus Christ would be considered a fraud.

Whenever Christians compromise on the Word of God, an infection occurs and people deviate from the truth. Then what is commonly believed or practiced is no longer the truth. It's hard to imagine but there are professing Christians who believe that God did or could have used evolution in creation. If this were true, then God has not interacted with his creation since creation because miracles would not be possible, and a savior would never have been needed because chemical reactions determine behavior. As a result of compromise, we are faced with God's wrath because we, as a people, deserve it.

We are without excuse for we know the truth. We must be careful to use God's word as our plumb-line, as our standard for truth for everything, including studying the world around us. And we must not pass judgment on others for we at one time were rebellious and occasionally sin – for if we don't we will not escape God's judgment. However, if we pursue God's glory, honor, and immorality will receive eternal life and escape God's wrath – for we were not appointed for wrath (1 Thess. 5:9).

God loves you and me. He desires that we live in truth.

God’s Calendar

In recent news, Israel decided to defend itself against the attacks by Hamas (Fox News). It's very significant that they chose to defend themselves on the Sabbath of Hanukah (Dec. 27^th). Around 2,168 years ago, the Jews celebrated the first Hanukah. On that Sabbath, they were attacked and chose not to defend themselves. The end result was that many were slaughtered. From that day on, they said that God would want them to defend themselves, even on the Sabbath, because the commandment to live was given in Deuteronomy 8:1, "Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land that the LORD promised on oath to your forefathers."

Now remember that on August 14^th, 2005, former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon evacuated the Jews out of Gaza. Many religious Jews felt that God would judge him for that and many secular Jews felt that Israel would have to retake Gaza for the sake of national security. Later, on January 4^th, 2006, the former Prime Minister entered into a comma and exactly 3 years later to the day, on January 4^th, 2009, Israel reinvades the Gaza strip. Also, the date that the Jews were evacuated is very significant as the date August 14^th, 2005 on the Hebrew calendar is Av 9^th, 5765. So what is so important about the 9^th of Av?

On the 9^th of Av:

• The spied gave the bad report of the exploration of the land of Canaan (Numbers 13:26-33) and God decreed that Hebrew forefathers would not enter the Promised Land (Numbers 13:26-33; 14:20-23).
  
• The first temple (Solomon's Temple) was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586/587 (which was prophesied in Jeremiah 20:5).
  
• The second temple (Ezra's Temple) was destroyed by the Romans in 69/70 AD (which Jesus prophesied in Matthew 24:1-3).
  
• Betar, the last fortress to hold out against the Romans in the Bar Kokhbas's revolt of 135 AD fell.
  
• Roman Emperor Hadrian rebuilds Jerusalem and names it Aelia Capitolina and the country Palestine; subsequently bans Jews from Jerusalem.
  
• One year later, the temple area was plowed.
  
• In 1290 AD, the Jews were banished for 350 years from England under King Edward I.
  
• In 1492 AD, 200,000 Jews were expelled from Spain during the Spanish Inquisition under Ferdinand and Isabella. Christopher Columbus set sail at dawn.
  
• During the close of the American Civil War, General Grant ordered that the United States would not purchase military supplies from anyone Jewish.
  
• In 1941 AD, Reinhard Heydrich was ordered to carry out the "final solution" European Jewry. This led to 6 million deaths.
  
• In 1990 AD, Saddam Hussein walked out on peace talks with Kuwait, signaling the beginning of the Gulf War and in months following, hurled missiles at Israel.
  

We find an extreme importance to know and understand the Hebrew calendar that God set for the Israelites. By following the Hebrew calendar, we see the significance of important past and current events. And while 9^th of Av is not a biblical feast or festival that was ordained by God, we can see history at work and we can learn how biblical prophesies match historical events. The point is that the calendar God has set is what we need to follow in order to understand prophecy, both fulfilled and those yet to be fulfilled, and the purposes of biblical events. But don't take my word for it, read Leviticus 23:1-2:

The LORD said to Moses, "Speak to the Israelites and say to them: 'These are my appointed times, the appointed times of the LORD, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies.'"

If we were to keep reading onward, we would learn what times that God is referring to but let's stop and evaluate two key words. First, the root Hebrew word of "times" or "feasts" (qara ' of miqra') means to call out, recite, read, or proclaim and it implies a dress rehearsal. These "times" or "feasts" are in fact dress rehearsals for what the Lord is going to do later. For example, God had given instruction to the Israelites on how to sacrifice the Passover lamb. The priest would have bound the Passover lamb to the altar at the same hour (3^rd hour =9AM) as Christ was bound to the cross. The moment the Passover lamb was killed, Christ died. Another example is Pentecost. Just as God descended upon Mount Sinai for the first Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descended upon the 12 Apostles at the 3^rd hour.

Second, the Hebrew word for "appointed" (mow'ed) means "a divine appointment" to meet God. While yet it is true that God is everywhere, he commanded the Israelites to build the Tabernacle. But why build the Tent of Meeting if God is omnipresent? Because on these "appointed times", God's presence manifests in an awesome way to an assembled community of people. So God sets special calendar times to meet with his people in a special and unique way. Basically, God, the Creator of the Universe, has RSVP'd some time with you.

God also uses these "times" and "rehearsals" to prepare us for what God will do in the future. The rehearsals are practice for the real events as God sets in history and has planned for the future. He has set some festivals for Christ's first coming and has done the same for Christ's second coming. The Israelites were performing joyous (Numbers 10:10) dress rehearsals for the coming Messiah some 1,500 years before he came! On top of all this, God set this in motion from the very beginning. Genesis 1:14 reads:

Then God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years."

These "signs" ('owth) in Hebrew mean signal, a distinguishing mark, or an omen. These "seasons" (mow'ed) is the same word as "times" in Hebrew, which means an appointed time. Contrary to what many have interpreted, these are not referring to fall, winter, spring, and summer; but they do refer to God setting the pattern how God would set times for his presence to dramatically manifest and as dress rehearsals for future events. In short, God was setting the pattern on Christ's first and second coming – this would include what is known as the Spring Feasts, which reveals Christ's First Coming, and the Fall Feasts, which point to Christ's Second Coming.

In closing, this means that we ought to be paying close attention to God's calendar. This means that seemingly random events are not random at all. As an after-thought, this means that we should also be able to know when Christ's Second Coming is near. Matthew 24:32-51 says that we can know the "times" just like how the fig tree tells us when summer is near. We will not know the actual day nor the actual hour or moment but we are told to prepare and watch. Let's not be caught unawares like the unbeliever (1 Thess. 5:1-5).

For more information, see El Shaddai Ministries and Biblical Holidays.

Welcome!

Our home church started as a group Bible study with fellow believers who God led to come together. Although we didn't plan on this happening, we simply obeyed God's direction and he has been amazing! You can check us out on Facebook too!

But we shouldn't venture without a vision, so here is our purpose and mission.

Our purpose: God has created all people to exist as a covenant community of believers, who are called out of the world as a redeemed people belonging to God as so identified in the teachings of the entire word of God. We are redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, born of a virgin, the prophesied anointed Savior of all creation, was crucified, died, and was resurrected in accordance to God's word.

Our Mission: As instructed by God's word, we seek to exist as God's covenant community of believers, share the good news of His salvation, worship and give praise to God, teach and encourage one another in our walk with God, and live as humble servants before the Lord.

Thank you for taking the time to visit the blog. I will be posting our messages and updates soon.