In collaboration with his co-author Greg Treat, a knowledgeable figure in law and theology, Joe Durso presents I Will Build My Church. Greg, a graduate of the Master's College and McGeorge School of Law, is a practicing lawyer in Texas. He is also a devoted pastor and a keen student of Roman history and culture at the time of Christ. Joe graduated from Elohim Bible Institute in 1980 and later received a master's degree from Trinity College of the Bible. For five decades, he has been bi-vocational and occasionally in full-time ministry. His heart is for discipleship as God intended His Ekklesia to be. In I Will Build My Church, Joe and Greg examine the Old Testament model of a nation and the New Testament model of a family calling from all nations as God proposed for His people. Israel failed because only a remnant was saved. Satan quickly corrupted the majority because they never came under God's control, and the Ekklesia followed in Israel's footsteps for the same reasons. Likewise, the Church did not grow only with regenerate believers but artificially enlarged as Satan has contaminated the Church with false converts. Therefore, most people not adhering to God's plans for the Church set in motion systemic problems that even corrupt Authentic followers of Jesus Christ. By identifying the Old Testament model of growth and government and integrating it into a New Testament Spirit-filled, prayer-filled people of repentance and faith, the Church, not as a nation but as an organized group of families, can fulfill God's plan as it has during periods of revival in the past. To this end, Joe and Greg have written I Will Build My Church. I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH is a look at the Church that Jesus' perfect will builds in contrast with that of men who go off track. God's will is always good, acceptable, and perfect. However, God's will is not fulfilled through His people unless they do not conform to this world system. Honesty is the key element that must be present if God's people are to escape the snares of the devil, who prowls around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. If the readers of this book are as honest about the shortcomings of the Church in the West as the writers who penned them, repent of their errors, and trust Christ to restore faithful behavior, there will be less smoke at the Judgment Seat of Christ. This call for honesty is a challenge we all must face. Our book includes the Biblical history of Ekklesia, which was wrongly translated as a church and subsequently distorted the meaning of Christ's body. Furthermore, I Will Build My Church contains twelve contributing chapters or elements that compose a healthy church of Jesus Christ. We identify a corruption in the Church that occurred in the fourth century when it became incorporated into the Roman Empire. We speak to the error of thinking that Christ's body is an institution or an agency of men when, in reality, it is God's presence in individuals whom He brings together as a gathering. From all eternity, God had a plan to save man from sin and lost condition, and he would do so through a family that he began with Abraham. God promised Abraham many descendants who would become the nation of Israel. Moses gave the law, and within the law was the means for God's chosen people to be a light to the nations. Nevertheless, the religion became institutionalized, a legalism that suppressed God's sacrifices meant to lead the people to the prophesied Messiah (Savior). You will find additional material on my website, godlyincrease.com to help with the transition from church of men and as an an agency of men to an Ekklesia (Gathering of the called) of God's making. Christ's Sufferings Demand that Christ's Ekklesia Be Built His way.
