The Ekklesia

By Anthony Daley

Today there is a lot of emphasis on building within Christianity. We speak of building the kingdom and building the church, neither of which are our responsibility. The Father has given us the kingdom and Christ said He would build the church. In the New Testament, the word translated as church is Ekklesia. In the days of Jesus, Ekklesia was not used to define a religious gathering for expressing worship and learning about a deity. The Ekklesia was a governing body in a region that assembled for the purpose of legislating the region, initiating laws and declaring war. It was an assembly of diverse citizenry, who collaborated for the good of the region. When Jesus said, “I will build my Ekklesia,” He had something different in mind than what we call the church today. Join us in this book as we seek to find the definition of God’s intention and allow the real church to stand up.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Creation House
• Release date: Jul 20, 2012
• ISBN: 9781616389154

Book preview

Well, get ready for the ride of your life. This book is authored by someone who has decided to be so honest in the approach that it will at times hurt your own idealistic thoughts about ministry and church life. Yet, at other times, you will find yourself saying something like why didn’t I think of that. Pastor Anthony Daley is so fresh in his writings that it has caused me to go back in my mind and heart to the days of my beginnings in ministry to reflect on why am I in ministry and to re-evaluate my real calling, vision, and purpose for continuing in what I believe are the reasons for who I am and what I do for the cause of Jesus Christ and His church.

Pastor Daley will challenge and expand our thinking, cause us to pick up the staff of courage, and believe in what and who we are in Christ. Also, through the strength of his honest and personal evaluation of his own feelings, calling, and his personal history, Anthony brings us to a point of fresh inspiration and a feeling of new empowerment for our future. We will walk away with this sense that, even in our own shortcomings and inadequacies, we can truly find genuine strength in Christ to accomplish what is forever in front of us. We will walk away from reading this book with the empowerment to be blatantly honest in re-evaluating ourselves in light of our histories, callings, skills, abilities and desires.

What can I possibly say about Pastor Daley’s writings except: refreshing, honest, and WOW! This should be a must read for every person entering ministry and every person that is in some form of pastoral ministry today.

—DR. RON SMITH, TH.D.

SENIOR PASTOR, PRAISE CATHEDRAL CHURCH

COOKEVILLE, TENNESSEE

PASTORAND ETERNAL FRIEND OF PASTOR ANTHONY DALEY

THE

EKKLESIA

Anthony D. Daley

THE EKKLESIA by Anthony Daley

Published by Creation House

A Charisma Media Company

600 Rinehart Road

Lake Mary, Florida 32746

www.charismamedia.com

This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise—without prior written permission of the publisher, except as provided by United States of America copyright law.

All Scripture quotations are from the King James Version of the Bible.

Design Director: Bill Johnson

Cover design by Tonya Nichols and Nathan Morgan

Copyright © 2012 by Anthony Daley

All rights reserved

Visit the author’s website: www.thetabernacle.us

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data: 2011944546

International Standard Book Number: 978-1-61638-914-7

E-book International Standard Book Number: 978-1-61638-915-4

While the author has made every effort to provide accurate telephone numbers and Internet addresses at the time of publication, neither the publisher nor the author assumes any responsibility for errors or for changes that occur after publication.

First edition

12 13 14 15 16 — 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Printed in Canada

CONTENTS

Foreword by Ray Hughes

Chapter 1:

The Church as Usual: This Is Not That!

Chapter 2:

The Difference: Sowing Different and Reaping Right

Chapter 3:

Definition: Rediscovering the Intention

Chapter 4:

Course Correction: Getting the Right Mind

Chapter 5:

Foundations: It Starts With One

Chapter 6:

Forging Weapons: Build on the Rock

Chapter 7:

Spiritual Fathers: Discerning the Next Generation

Chapter 8:

Operations: The Keys to the Kingdom

Chapter 9: Established: Binding and Loosing

Notes

About the Author

Contact the Author

THANK YOU

IWANT TO DEDICATE this book to my wife, Julia; my son, Devin; and my daughter, Lauren, who at times have done without my participation, allowing me to pursue the call of God. Your support, encouragement, and belief in me have motivated me beyond what you’ll ever know. I hope this book represents you well. I love you all—infinity times infinity.

I want to thank Tena Charpentier for her patience and timely response in proofreading and correcting my slang. Without you I would still be reviewing.

I want to also thank Tonya Nichols, who has always found a way to bring life to what I’m thinking. I love your creativity on the book cover. It tells the story before the reader even begins the journey. Thank you for pressing in to see what I hear.

Finally, let me thank The Tabernacle community for all the experiences we’ve had these eight years. The journey has just begun, and the best is yet to come. Thank you for allowing me to be free and for your patience while I’m getting there. You’re the best house on the planet. I’m glad to be on the journey with each of you.

FOREWORD

THROUGHOUT HISTORY THE church has been defined and redefined by the choices that were made at many crossroads. Crossroads are points and seasons of decision, that have shaped people’s and nations’ understanding of God. History tells us that God typically placed unique individuals at those crossroads that had had fresh encounters with Him. Because they had revelatory encounters they were willing to stand and direct the masses when they came to those points of decision. It’s as if they were created for conflict and controversy, and they boldly pointed the new way. They were and are known as reformers. Some called them revolutionists, others considered them as radical rebels to the cause of Christ. The statements that they made with their very lives then, have become so familiar to us that we often consider the truths that they brought, to be so fundamental that we treat them as elementary concepts. When in fact, their ideas were so profoundly radical in their day that they challenged the foundational beliefs of all of Christendom. Martin Luther, John Knox, John Calvin, George Whitefield, John and Charles Wesley and the list goes on. Each rose up at critical times and not only influenced their generation but they profoundly impacted the generations that would follow. However, I think we should be reminded that before they became institutions they were simply young men full of questions, and they asked the hard ones. Unfortunately systems and institutions that are not willing to hear the questions, are usually not willing to embrace the answers when they come.

Many religious institutions have missed very real and valid visitations by closing their doors to anything that challenges their experience. We as Christians are also known to resist any experience or theology that was not initiated within our own movement. It is also true that many of our past experiences serve to keep us from embracing what God desires to do in our future. Basically, we become so full of what God said, that we can’t hear what God is saying. And, we feel that we have an obligation to God to resist anything that challenges the sanctity of what we have built for Him, based upon our present theology.

What if a holy and pure hearted generation full of passion and hunger for a fresh revelation of God surfaced today? I wonder what that would look like? I believe it would look like gatherings standing at a crossroads, willing to ask questions that many do not want to face. They know in their heart of hearts that God is far more wondrous and wonderful than He is depicted in modern society. They believe that He is so awesome and infinitely multi-dimensional that many aspects of His true nature have never been realized in generations past. They are the bold ones that are willing to stand at the crossroads and contend. They accept nothing less than real signs and wonders, immeasurable miracles and unimaginable outpourings. They are looking for culture shaping, society shaking demonstrations of God’s love. They are willing to stand as long as it takes at the point of decision, and ask the questions until the answer comes. They are the ones that find honest authentic joy even in the days of contending, for they know that contenders become inheritors. They are willing to look past the present and into the throne room of eternity and embrace a fresh revelation of God. They are willing to question for they know that their generation is not only defined by the statements that they make, but also by the questions that they ask.

Well, they have surfaced . . .

They stand at a crossroads . . .

They are Ekklesia.

—RAY HUGHES

SELAH MINISTRIES

Chapter 1

CHURCH AS USUAL

This Is Not That!

IT SEEMS TO happen to me every year about the same time. I am ready to quit, fold up the tent, and move on to greener pastures in search of a life with fewer headaches and more reward. Now, as I am a pastor you may think that sounds strange, but I am not talking about quitting on God. Giving up on my faith is not an option, and I never grow tired of my relationship with Him. I am talking about a guy who was addicted to crack cocaine, snorting cocaine itself. I have smoked enough marijuana over my lifetime to fill up a barn. (Not really, but I have smoked a lot of it.) I lost a great business to bankruptcy and nearly destroyed my marriage along the way.

For me, when I look back at what are supposed to be the good ol’ days I have memories of my wife pulling into the driveway of her parents’ home to pick up our two children after a long day at work only to come back outside and see a strange man getting into the driver’s seat. She was not being carjacked; it was the repo man. The so-called good ol’ days to me are driving down the country back roads of Tennessee so paranoid something or someone is after me. I remember not being able to focus on where I was going because I was so afraid of who was following me. Other times I found myself hiding in the house high on drugs. I would become fixated on the shadows above the windows, thinking someone was outside about to break in and get me. Even worse was standing in the woods with gun in hand afraid to be trapped inside the house, hiding from every car that drove by.

No, I do not mind telling you right out: there is no chance I am quitting on God and going back to the world. As far as I am concerned, there is nothing to go back to. As for what people often call the good ol’ days, well, prior to Jesus they were not so good. There were good moments, such as my kids’ births, but even with that said I have no desire for soiled diapers and screaming babies again.

I love everything about my relationship with God and lifestyle of Christianity. I love His love, the mercy He shows to those so undeserving, and His help through difficult moments. I love the Cross and my Christ. I am a flat-out Jesus freak. He hunted me down, and looking back I realize that He was the one I was running and hiding from. My guilt kept me ashamed and left me feeling worthless, but He rescued me, making me free—a freedom I will never relinquish. Going to and doing church? Now that is a different story.

SUMMER DROUGHT

I do not know what it is about summertime and church. You would think people would be more rested, more energetic, more relaxed because the days are longer, kids are out of school, the sun is shining, and families are going on outings, such as weekends at the lake or theme park. I mean, come on, it is summer. But something usually happens between late May and July. I call it the summertime drought. This is the time you feel that all your effort is withering away. The potential you feel inside and the vision you carry for the future all seem more like a dream than a possible reality. You pull out every tactic you can to keep people encouraged.

The truth is, spiritually summertime carries with it a weight that seems to take the energy out of most churchgoers. Maybe it is financial. After all, the kids are out of school, so daycare costs increase. They are home all day, so the food costs increase. They are free to go to more activities, of which few are free. Then there are vacations, reunions, time for friends—and then throw in church. We have not even mentioned work on top of those. I am ready to quit