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Where are the New Testament "assemblies" today?
The Greek word is ἐκκλησία; transliteration: ekklésia; pronounced: (ek-klay-see'-ah).
Almost all English translations render this word as "church," which has different etymology. It comes from the Old English word cirice or circe, which looks a lot like the English word "circle," which has some dark connotations we won't explore here.
The Old Testament had "assemblies," too, and the Hebrew word קָהָל ; transliteration: qahal; pronounced: (kaw-hawl') is one of the words used.
Paul wrote to assemblies of Yehoshua-believing Israelites in Ephesus, Corinth, Philippi and elsewhere. The Book of Revelation addressed seven assemblies through "messengers." Roughly 2000 years have passed since those documents were written. Do those assemblies still exist and survive?
Although God always reserves a remnant, as he assured Elijah when he was discouraged, I do not see any evidence of those assemblies. The world seems to have assimilated them back under its control long ago. Why?
Because people sin and do not follow the example Yehoshua taught us. Paul and Peter saw it coming.
Many people fled the monarchies of Europe and brought their Bibles to the New World, but they retained Babylon in the form of the institutional church. Americans established assemblies to govern themselves as they revolted against the British monarch, but in hindsight it appears that same monarch used the opportunity to shirk obligations he had agreed to with Native Americans by having his cousin, George Washington, arrange for a war. The Americans won their freedom on the Land and Soil, but the British monarch and the Popes retained control of Sea and Air Jurisdictions, and a half century later re-took control by guile through the mercenary conflict known as the American Civil War. I have discussed those things elsewhere on this blog.
Americans are trying to reconstruct the Land and Soil Jurisdiction assemblies that operated 160 years ago, and I hope they succeed. I am trying to help make that happen, but I am concerned. The same conditions that resulted in the disappearance of the New Testament assemblies and the American assemblies remain, and unless people realize and implement the necessary "Margin of Victory," they will be defeated again.
That margin of victory is doing things God's way. It is recognizing lies so we can recognize our sins and repent. It is putting ourselves under the authority of Yehoshua, who has been given all Authority in heaven and on earth.
What I am seeing is not good. I see selfishness and pride distracting and diverting people from the necessary tasks that must be done. I see emotions trumping logic and foolishness disrespecting wisdom. I see fanciful rumors and wishful thinking building castles of sand that will be washed away by the inundation of reality.
I am feeling a bit like Elijah in the cave, but know God is in control and will bring about what He intends. I remain with Him and pray He will do what is right, as He always does.
All glory to God.
UPDATE, November 1, 2023...
Paul described what some call "the five-fold ministry" for building up a biblical assembly...
And He Himself gave some as apostles, and others as prophets, and others as evangelists, and others as shepherds and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the building-up of the body of Christ... (Ephesians 4:11-12 DLNT)
If the American assemblies were modeled after biblical assemblies, then it makes sense these roles should be applicable and necessary for reconstructing land and soil assemblies today. How might that work?
Back then, apostles were sent out as messengers in times of war. They were expendable, and I believe that is why Yehoshua told his twelve guys they would suffer and die. As we reconstruct the michigan assemblies, we will need to send messengers to each of the counties to demonstrate authority and introduce the concepts of American land and soil government. This would necessarily include giving prior written notice to the "defacto" county governments about our intentions, and then going to them and peacefully explaining the facts and what must be done.
Prophets are coordinators who live on each of the counties and make sure the assemblies are being properly populated and constructed. They obtain and are given necessary insight, and have the skills to guide and encourage people while resisting the temptation to do the work themselves. The people must do their own work.
Evangelists are those who do "outreach" to introduce concepts such as jurisdictions, the various frauds that are in play, and the need to reconstruct the Land and Soil governments to avoid losing their sovereignty and their soil to foreign interests.
Shepherds are ombudsmen and advocates for the weak on each county.
Teachers are those who live on each county and ensure all ages of people have access to information and necessary materials for learning to live privately on the Soil of their county. People learn in different ways and at different rates and those who are teaching must recognize this.
These are all divinely inspired roles, and if we embrace them I believe we will be successful. What we call them does not matter, but they are all necessary.
Here is a good discussion about "the five-fold ministry"...
An important point in this video is how "teaching" has taken over the modern church. We think if we have enough teaching we will be successful, but we need all five roles.
I am seeing the same thing in The Michigan Assembly. All of the emphasis is on teaching and learning, but nobody is actually doing anything. Experience is the best way to learn, and that is what apprenticeship is all about; that is how Yehoshua taught his guys.
Will we make mistakes? Of course, but we learn from our mistakes. That is why we hire people with experience, and why we hire professionals to fix our car and wire our house. They have already made mistakes and learned, so mistakes aren't made on our car and our house does not burn down.
If all we ever do is study, study, study, study, study..., we will never get anything done and we won't get to learn from our mistakes. Our education system has indoctrinated us into this, and former public school teachers are probably not really the people we want doing the teaching in our assemblies, bless their hearts.
I see the reconstruction of these Land and Soil assemblies as metaphors to help us comprehend how to follow Yehoshua as he builds His Kingdom in this present age. God uses the things of this world we can see to help us understand the things we cannot see.