Ekklesia is the exact word that Christ spoke that is recorded in Matthew 16:18. He said "on this rock I will build My ekklesia and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it." It is translated as "church" in most bibles however that word does not derive from ekklesia but "kyridakon". According to the English Dictionary, kyridakon is a late Greek word meaning religious meeting place that was first translated into Old English as circe. It was then translated into Middle English as chirche where we received the word church. 1556 is the first recorded use of the word church by a Presbyterian follower of John Calvin, Theodore Beza. The following year the Geneva Bible was published by Beza's friend William Wittingham and he used the word church. Of the 115 times that ekklesia is found in the New Testament, only 3 times is it currently translated as assembly. William Tyndale translated ekklesia as congregation but that was unacceptable to the denominational hierarchy of the day. Congregation, convocation and assembly are closer to the true meaning. Ekklesia is a compound Greek word of ek and kaleo. Ek means out of, from or a point of origin and kaleo means to call, summons, or proclaim. The word was used as far back as 5th century B.C. when calling out the competent, full citizens of a polis to hear a case, make a decision, appoint leaders, give council or muster the army. Christ is recorded as quoting scripture from the Septuagint, a Greek translation of the Hebrew Law and Prophets. He chose ekklesia instead of synagogue or temple to emphasize the purpose-driven nature of our assembling together. A group of competent, full citizens of the Kingdom is the ekklesia that Christ is building. Our gatherings are for rejoicing in what Yahweh is doing and has done but the impact is far more significant. Just as Noah brought the judgment of Yahweh by his obedience and faith in spite of the sin and moral degradation around him, so we are bringing judgment to our spheres of influence and areas of responsibility today. We are a people that are bringing the government of God to our bodies, relationships, families, finances, speech, thoughts, actions, and habits. Yahweh has come to recover that which was lost. What has been lost to Him is the "kosmos"--His created order. What has been lost to you is just as important to the Father but only through our obedience to His word can He fulfill the recovery process in us. Kingdom Order can sound restrictive but the rewards are obvious and substantial. The purpose of the ekklesia is not to condemn but to reveal Yahweh's love, mercy, compassion, justice, wisdom and judgment through normal human beings like you and me. One life at a time living one day at a time by one word of Yahweh at a time. Count me in! How about you?

Yahweh - The Name of the Father Why Yahweh? The term "God," whether capitalized or not, is a general, not a specific term; it does not identify any particular elohim (god). Other religions identify by name the one to whom devotion is given, but by and large, Christians have been ignorant of or reluctant to identify by name the one to whom they give worship. That is even more strange when one considers the many exhortations recorded in scripture to identify Him by name. There are documented reasons why the Jewish people moved away from identifying Yahweh by name and came to substitute, first of all in their oral reading and finally in their written scriptures, another word which came to be translated by the general term of "god." Today, scripture translators are aware that Yahweh best expresses the name by which the Creator identified Himself, but because of religious tradition and other reasons, there is reluctance to restore this name to the written scriptures. In the 16th century, an attempt was made to restore the proper name by the introduction of Jehovah, but that word falls short for different reasons, the chief one being that there is no "J" sound in the Hebrew language. The best evidence we have available to us indicates that Yahweh is the true name of our elohim, the one by whom and for whom all things were made, and therefore we are committed to using His true name — the one He gave to Himself. Yahweh means, "The one who exists, or whose nature it is to exist.

Yahshua - The Name of the Son Why Yahshua? Perhaps it would be better to ask: "Why Jesus?" Jesus is an English transliteration of the Greek I—sous, and is nothing like the Hebrew name, Yahshua, which means Yahweh is salvation. It occurred to me one day that no matter where I travel in the world and no matter what is the language of the people, my name remains the same, it is never translated. This is an inviolate rule of language: a person's name is not translated. You will notice this in the reporting of international news; the name by which a person is identified in this country would be pronounced exactly the same in their country, no matter what the language. Being Hebrews, and bringing their infant son to the Jewish temple to be dedicated, it is unthinkable that Joseph and Mary would have given any but a Hebrew name to Him. The name they most certainly gave to that child is Yahshua. If that be true, then that is the only correct name by which He can be identified today. We believe that the time has come to restore to the Scriptures and to our daily usage the correct names for the Father and for the Son, but it is not our purpose to make this a "bone of contention" with others in the Body of Christ. We make no discrimination against those who insist on using the terms "God" and "Jesus." Agreement on this issue is not a requirement for fellowship or friendship with us.