Ekklesia launched publically on Super Bowl Sunday, February 3rd, 2008. We started in a Livonia shopping mall, and ended up in a Westland “church” building. Since day one we’ve enjoyed doing ministry in the marketplace, especially since most of the people we reach have had bad experiences with church.

We’re really good at working with the church haters… people who aren’t currently following Jesus… the kind of people who see a “church” building and say to themselves, “The people inside that ‘outdated’ structure are lifeless, boring, judgmental hypocrites who want nothing more than to tell me when to sit down and when to stand up… they want to take my money, and sell me some kind of out of touch with reality spirituality that has nothing to do with my current life, or my future.”

That being said, we prefer to meet in atypical structures. We’ve been working toward purchasing retail space for quite some time now, and we’re getting closer and closer. However, before we get there, God is going to take us to John Glenn High School!

We are extremely excited about this opportunity, and we hope you are too. The auditorium is gorgeous. Superb acoustics! Also, working with the city of Westland has been an immense pleasure.

You’re invited to help us get ready for our grand opening! You can pray, get your hands dirty, join the setup/tear down team, partner financially, and/or participate in some other fashion. Our first Sunday service will be October 11th, and we will meet from 11:00-12:15.

Hope to see you then!!!

In my 29 years of existence, I’ve heard a good number of sermons preached on “money.” Almost all of them have focused on telling people, “As long as you give God your 10%, then you’re doing a good job with your finances!”

However, this raises the question, “What about the other 90%?”

We hear a lot about what to do with the 10%, but what do we do with the other 90?

This reminds me of the recent story of Macquarie Island? Don’t know the story of Macquarie Island? I didn’t either, until last week. Here’s a short video clip about it. Enjoy!

Things get messed up when we narrow-mindedly focus on one issue without understanding the big picture. When it comes to money, we often focus on giving the 10% to God, but we end up really messing up the 90%.

Jesus talked a whole lot about money, and when Jesus talked about it, He rarely focused on just the 10%. When Jesus talked about money, He challenged us… “What are we doing with every single penny?”

If we get caught up on just the 10, we may really miss the 90.

In Matthew 6:19-24, Jesus says not to purchase things that won’t have eternal impact. This raises the question, “How can I buy stuff that will have eternal significance?” The answer is this: purchase only that which facilitates your purpose for existence, the meaning of life.

So what’s the meaning of life?
One time Jesus said it all boils down to this, “Love God. Love people.” Being that Jesus was a huge fan of the word “disciple,” we say it like this, “Be disciples. Make disciples.”

Things aren’t bad, unless you’re buying the wrong things, or if you’ve got too many of the right things. God created stuff, and said it was good!

Jesus says, “Take a look at your life… how you’re spending your money… every penny… Now this is an excellent indicator what kind of person you really are.”

So who’s it gonna be? God… or Money…?