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Beyond Church: The Lost Word Of The Bible- Ekklesia Kindle Edition

by Steve Simms (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 132 ratings
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Have you ever wanted something more from your faith? More than religion? More than church? One lost and forgotten biblical word, "ekklesia," holds the key to a more vibrant and life-changing Christianity.
--Modern English language Bibles quote Jesus as saying, "I will build My church." However, the earliest Bibles have Jesus saying, "I will build my ekklesia." For hundreds of years, this Bible word-switch has misdirected the way the body of Christ meets for worship.
--So what does ekklesia mean? Ekklesia was the name of the city council in ancient Greek city-states. It was a democratic, interactive, participatory body of equal citizens sharing their concerns and needs with one another.
--In the Western world, traditional church is in decline. Religious categories now include millions who are "Dones" (done with church) and "Nones" (have no church affiliation).
--Perhaps it is time for more than church. Steve Simms invites you to go "beyond church" and experience ekklesia, HEAVEN's CITY COUNCIL, not as a theological concept, but as a practical and living reality.

Compared to the preaching-industrial complex of modern western Christianity typified by 90 minutes of announcements \ worship \ Scripture \ preaching on a Sunday morning, we’re talking about revolution.
We’re exhorting you to leave the conventional paradigm for the revolutionary paradigm. We’re inviting you to trade the incremental for the monumental. We’re introducing you to ekklesia.
(Stephen Court-Toronto, 2015)

I love Steve Simms' writing style and the way he has
framed this important and foundational message. One word, ekklesia,
opens the door to our identity and function as God originally intended.
The recovery of this idea opens the way for the people of God to take
their rightful place and pull more of heaven to earth. Love it!
(Tom Griner, International evangelist & founder of Father's Heart International)

I've had the privilege of seeing and experiencing 'ekklesia' in action because Steve Simms was willing to trust the Holy Spirit in each and every person in our gatherings. I'm so glad that Steve has written about this crucial subject in a way that appeals both to the logic and the heart. I know that the Holy Spirit wants so much more for His followers than 'church as usual' and I hope this book can be a road map to what's possible! I hope thousands and thousands of people read this and get set free from the religious box! God knew what he was doing when He led me to Berry Street.
(Lara Landon, singer/songwriter/worship leader)

Not only is Steve Simms' a master communicator and motivator, he is a man who passionately loves Jesus and His church. In Beyond Church, Steve calls all believers into a deeper understanding of church-life, while also educating, challenging, and encouraging us.
I have watched this man at work. He invests his life in people. He exhibits grace and compassion, without ever apologizing for speaking the truth. His latest book is not only timely but crucial. It brims with wisdom, couched in real-life experience. Beyond Church moves past politics and hot-button issues, and awakens us to the vibrant life and possibilities of godly community.
(Eric Wilson, New York Times bestselling author of Fireproof)

Beyond Church is a call to every true believer to return to the roots of what Church or " Ekklesia" really means. I urge you to dive into this masterful work with an open heart, and mind, and to prepare yourself to fully embrace what the Holy Ghost speaks to your heart.
(David Harper, recording artist/songwriter/musicfromthecloset)
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  1. Print length
    213 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publication date
    December 6, 2015
  5. File size
    1076 KB
  6. Page Flip
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  7. Word Wise
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  8. Enhanced typesetting
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Editorial Reviews

Review

--"Groundbreaking . . . a plea to awaken to the vibrant life and possibilities of a godly community." --"War Cry," the national magazine of The Salvation Army USA.--"A how-to manual for a meeting of Christians who listen together to what Jesus is saying, let go of self effort and give Him freedom to work." --"Southern Spirit," the magazine of The Salvation Army Southern Territory USA--"Simms begins to share the story of his own personal search for the kind of no-hierarchal model so beautifully and organically powerful in the fellowship of fresh gatherings in Acts and beyond. This kind of ecclesia was (and is) immediately responsive to needs, a place where everyone listens to Christ Himself and then speaks her/his insights to the 'body gathered.' Citing the historical examples of the pure but often messy model, Simms encourages this simple church practice in our own contexts." --Bill & Gloria Gaither's "Homecoming Magazine."

From the Author

Ever since I was in college I have longed for and sought for a body of Christ-followers that would meet according to the biblical command in 1 Corinthians 14:26 (what I believe is the pattern for the New Testament concept of ekklesia): "When you come together, each of you has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation." (NIV) I've also devoured church history looking for groups of believers who followed that pattern. And I've discovered that both in history and in contemporary society, Christ-followers rarely follow that verse.--Therefore I have written about:
  • The key word "ekklesia" that was left out of almost all English language Bible translations;
  • My personal search for ekklesia in contemporary society;
  • Historical examples of Christ-followers meeting in ekklesia;
  • The concept of ekklesia as the city council of Greek city-states;
  • Practical and effective steps to ekklesia;
  • How ekklesia works to turn spectators into participants;
  • The real life benefits of ekklesia;
  • Our need for a new reformation;
  • And my own 95 Theses (following Martin Luther's example).
I've also include many powerful quotes about ekklesia from people of all sorts of Christian denominations and groups. I hope you enjoy going beyond church with me!

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0192D9PRY
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harper Simms Press; 1st edition (December 6, 2015)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ December 6, 2015
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1076 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 213 pages
  • Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 1518744567
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 132 ratings

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  1. Steve Simms

    Steve Simms

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    Steve Simms loves people and creativity. He likes to come up with original ideas to inspire and motivate people and to take fresh, new approaches to familiar topics. He has had a varied career as a salesman, a motivational speaker, a writer, a recovery counselor, a pastor, and an administrator in a major charitable organization. He lives with his wife in Nashville, Tennessee.

    See more on the author's page
  2. Steve Simms

    Steve Simms

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    Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

    Steve has been on a life-long journey searching for a way of worship that goes beyond church and religious tradition. He has been a pastor, a salesman, a writer, and a motivational speaker. Currently Steve and his wife Ernie help lead a non-traditional Christian fellowship in Nashville, Tennessee, that is based on the biblical concept of "ekklesia." Steve writes a regular blog called "Free Gas For Your Think Tank."

    See more on the author's page
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Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
132 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Must read for all true disciples of Christ!
Reviewed in the United States on December 27, 2023
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This book highlighted the fact that God is calling his followers to so much more than most have experienced in their Christian lives. Christianity for the most part, has become a spectator sport in which we rely on other professionals to feed and work for us.

Instead, God intended for our lives to be completely led by the Holy Spirit to empower us in our daily lives, for service and for us to be in a community with other believers in unity. In the New Testament we have the pattern of how to live out true ekklesia or church life.

The word "church" has so much institutional baggage and when it was placed into our English Bibles to replace the transliterated word Ekklesia it did much to cloud our understanding.

Instead, Ekklesia life is when Christ followers gather as a priesthood of equal believers who are led and prompted by the Holy Spirit to openly participate and share as they are prompted. No one person dominates or controls. God speaks through all which build up and edifies all there. Examples of this may be each person may read a scripture, ask questions and discuss, give a testimony, lead a song, a prayer, ask for prayer, share a story of God working, give a prophetic word, a tongue, or an interpretation. However we have so been trained to not have open sharing that it can be hard to let the Spirit flow through us and surrender.

Thank you Steve Simms for describing this beautiful picture of a Spirit empowered, joyous Christian life shared with our fellow disciples! May more Christ followers wake up and seek this out!
One person found this helpful
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Todd A. Hooper
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book!
Reviewed in the United States on May 7, 2020
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I read this book after first reading Unchurching by Jacobson.
It's a great book that talks about Steve's time as overseer of a free flowing, spirit guided ekklesia in Nashville, TN.
I long to be a part of a group like this, even though it may require my wife and I to move out of Chattanooga.
I believe the Lord is calling His bride out of the institutional church with all it's hypocrisy and falsehoods. He's calling those who are listening back into true, deep, Jesus guided relationship with Him.
I'm heeding the call thanks to these encouraging, heartfelt books.
I highly recommend you read this book. It touches on a lot of different things and it will bless as well as challenge you!
6 people found this helpful
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Bruce Dickey
5.0 out of 5 stars Searching for Ekklesia (will the authentic church please stand up?)
Reviewed in the United States on December 11, 2015
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I am submitting a book review today in it's simplest form. I know Steve Simms. I trust Steve. He is a wonderful believer in our common savior Jesus. Steve wrote this book on ekklesia (the real church of the new testament) I went straight to the chapter on My Search for Ekklesia. In the next couple of sentences is his take on the real church. "I did see the Son that night and I’ve never been the same. He rose in front of my eyes from a gathering of ordinary people who seemed as common as water. In His Presence, I experienced His warmth and felt it deeply – peace, love, compassion, sincerity, openness, reality, and meaning. It was wrapping around me and soothing my pain." It is not easy to find ekklesia, that is my experience. It is much easier to be ekklesia. We only have ekklesia to the degree we are ekklesia to others. That is why for years I have enjoyed my friend Steve over in Nashville. He is a person of peace and in his book you will find a photograph of what the church is like. Like Steve, we can all have ekklesia, which is kin to another term koinonia. Fellowship and gathering are part and parcel of authentic ekklesia. I recommend this book, because it will point you in the right direction. Thanks Steve for sharing these powerful thoughts with a waiting world, to those who also are searching for ekklesia.

Simms, Steve (2015-12-06). Beyond Church: The Lost Word Of The Bible- Ekklesia (Kindle Locations 203-205). Harper Simms. Kindle Edition.
9 people found this helpful
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Dennis A. Brown
5.0 out of 5 stars Ekklesia: A Decision-Making Community
Reviewed in the United States on September 11, 2016
Verified Purchase
I recently purchased Beyond Church. Excellent!!! Steve has managed to articulate very clearly things that have been crystallizing in my heart and mind for years. His explanation of ekklesia is exactly on target. Steve not only provides a description of the Greek concept of ekklesia in the time of the Apostle Paul (in smaller villages and towns across the Roman Empire, local elders would gather regularly to discuss and deliberate over a variety of social and political dilemmas facing the towns an villages). Steve also describes how the NT vision of ekklesia refers to a particular body of people called out of the Roman and Judean system to come together into a separate, politically autonomous community with the living, resurrected Christ as the head. I Corinthians 14:26ff is explicit that in the Christian ekklesia everyone was expected to seek revelation from the Lord, contribute to the meeting and exhort one another to love and excellent works. Most importantly, they were seeking direct instruction from Jesus on pressing questions specifically faced by the ekklesia. When I read the New Testament one fundamental aspect of ekklesia that I walk away with is the idea of receiving instruction directly from Jesus. In Ephesians 3:10 Paul writes concerning the purpose of the ekklesia - “that, through the [ekklesia] the manifold wisdom of God might be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places” (Eph. 3:10). Ekklesia clearly refers to a called-out group of people whose primary purpose was to make decisions for the community in which they lived and this was to be a witness to the larger world. Not only does Steve's thesis support this understanding, Steve clearly articulates a vision of how to create and sustain that vision of ekklesia today that does not merely give lip service to the concept of following Jesus, but provides a clear pathway and model to follow.
4 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

chur bro.
5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring
Reviewed in Australia on October 25, 2019
Verified Purchase
This book could of been written from the cry of my heart. So relavant if you are sick and tired of the status quo. If not ignore this and the higher call not just to join but to participate
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A. Price
5.0 out of 5 stars It examines the reason why the New Testament uses the word "ekklesia" to describe gatherings of disciples and why the word "chur
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 22, 2016
Verified Purchase
this book has an important and thought provoking message for disciples of Jesus. It addresses the gap or contradiction between the empowering spontaneity that the Hoy Spirit brings and the over-programmed predictability of many church meetings where most people take the role of observer. It examines the reason why the New Testament uses the word "ekklesia" to describe gatherings of disciples and why the word "church" is a poor translation. Ekklesia suggests a calling together of citizens to take decisions about the town or city they live in- a sort of town council - where every person can play a part and have a voice. This was the style of the early gatherings of disciples: no separation into clergy and laity, no hierarchy and no predetermined programme to govern everything that happens. Instead, everyone could bring a prayer, a testimony or teaching etc.

The book encourages us to give back the leadership of our gatherings to Jesus and uses examples from church history, from the Anabaptists to Azusa street to show the need for this.

Steve Simms' enthusiasm spills over onto the page - this is no dry academic text - and challenges us to rediscover ekklesia
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Rod Campbell
3.0 out of 5 stars I share his excitement for ekklesia
Reviewed in Canada on May 23, 2016
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I enjoyed how Steve shared from real life experiences. He helped me realize how I have experienced ekklesia many times. Experiencing it outside of the constraints of Christianity with its varied and opposing doctrines is refreshingly representative of what Jesus, the Christ established for us. He helped me realize that ekklesia can start within the institutional setting. It did for my wife and I and then we were called on from that point. Removing the one man clergy / Pastor model and letting Jesus be the only Head means removing the denominational / doctrinal headship of man too. I recommend this book for those seeking to see God at work through the priesthood of believers.
2 people found this helpful
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Lin Newton-Smith
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 4, 2016
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I enjoyed reading this perspective on 'Church' and learning more about how Steve Simms runs his meetings.
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JohnT
4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 3, 2016
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A good read.
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