Jesus had a purpose when He said: “On this rock (direct personal revelation from the living God) I will build My ekklesia (the Greek word mistranslated as church). Ekklesia was the proper name of the fully participatory town hall meeting in ancient Greek cities. The purpose of the Greek ekklesia was to democratically govern a city. The purpose of Christ’s ekklesia is to train people to submit to and manifest the government (kingdom) of God under the direct personal Headship and command of the risen King Jesus.

Jesus wants to demonstrate His presence and power to people in real ways that transform their lives. The purpose of His ekklesia is to cultivate an environment where He can actively do that–where His followers can learn to be literally led and empowered by God’s Spirit actively working inside them, not by their own thoughts, feelings, and desires. Then they will begin to change the culture in the country where they live by continually following and obeying the living Jesus and demonstrating His supernatural presence and power wherever they are, through their lifestyle that overflows with the gifts and the fruit of the Spirit.