BREW

It has come to my attention that some may feel that we are running 100 miles an hour. A sense of “rush” or “urgency” may fill the air. Some love this, others react or feel pressured by it. Whatever the reality may be, I assure you, we are not seeking to increase, speed up, or rush in anyway. However the ministry is ever increasing, speeding up, and the weight of the mystery and glory of the Church is upon us. I liken it to having babies (or having a family). Some may feel that we are making “babies” (programs, events, ministries, counselings, etc) that we are not able to care for. I would like to think that we are not doing that too much. Instead, what I’m sensing and seeing is that many “babies” (people, needs, counseling, discipleship, mentoring) are being dropped off on our doorsteps. Recently, more than ever, God has been speaking to me about our church being a type of spiritual “adoption house” and orphanage. The babies are coming. The babies are here. Much care is needed for all to survive. God will definitely feed them all, but someone needs to hold the bottles and hold them in their arms. I am reminded of George Mueller’s ministry, I am inspired by it, I feel Ekko being somewhat like it. He had tremendous needs and much burden but the Lord would miraculously answer every need. I am confident that he will answer our need, for it is his “Orphanage”. Anyways, this may be the reason why some may feel that a lot is going on. But I would say to them, don’t worry. Instead, prepare with me, plan ahead with me, dream with me, mentor with me, and pray with me.

I would ask them to join me in these prayer points:

More Harvester to enter - i.e. leadership to rise, people to embrace their portion of the ministry, etc.
More Investors - i.e. I feel the need to connect with leaders outside of Ekko more and more often. Please pray that God will lead us to the right movements, leaders, mentors, etc.

Matthew 9: 36-38
When he looked out over the crowds, his heart broke. So confused and aimless they were, like sheep with no shepherd. “What a huge harvest!” he said to his disciples. “How few workers! On your knees and pray for harvest hands!”

Anyways, despite how things may appear, there is no “urgency” or should I say, no “emergencies”. But there is a lot of work to be done and at this stage… But as tired as I am at times, I feel like the luckiest, most blessed guy on earth. I get to pastor these great people AND I get to do it with my friends.

James 1: 27
“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”

Let us aim to “see” what He has to “say”.
Moments in Ekko’s “Drawing Prayer”.

Every time we seek to “hear” from God amazing things happen.
Breakthrough, encouragement, confirmation, challenge, and assurance.

I wish I could record all the stories that come out of these sacred moments.

(For thoughts that drive our Drawing Prayer exercises)

Proverbs 23: 7a
“For as he thinks in his heart, so is he…”

What are you thinking about? What have you filled your mind and heart with? What movie is playing in the theater of your mind?

Scripture teaches us to, “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind”. But how?

One way we at Ekko is attempting to be transformed by the renewing of our mind, is through the discipline of Drawing Prayers and other more Right Brain worship.

In Acts 10, God sets out to show Peter a new way to live and to do this, God puts him in a trance and gives him a dream.

What is a dream though? I was watching Sesame Street today with my daughter, it was Bert and Ernie’s segment. In the intro song Bert sings, “Every night when I lie in bed, I see pictures dancing in my head….” Bert was obviously referring to dreams, images encountered during his sleep. Peter saw pictures, these pictures re-framed his faith life and prepped him for change.

In this trance, Peter “saw” heaven open and saw all kinds of animals he was taught to never touch or eat.

“13 Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.” 14 “Surely not, Lord!” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.” 15 The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”

Peter’s first reaction, often like ours, is to cling onto our past mindsets. But God had a new way for him to live. God used a dream to replace Peter’s internal script and bias! He is free love the Gentiles, empowered to serve the “Others” in his life.

You see God has a new way of living for us. We too need to make time to dream, to imagine. What you can imagine you will have faith for.

Imagination is the primer for faith.

It is also the door to any behavioral transformation. You see, all actions are preceded by images. Therefore, In order to become new, act new, we need new images from God. This is why we pray via meditation, drawing, and other right brain worship activities. We are opening not only our hearts but both sides of our mind to God.

Our attraction to speeches that are more like words spoken in a court battle… our respect for logic and linear thinking, we owe to the left side of our brain, mentored by our Hellenistic/Greek culture. Hence, I call the left side, the Greek brain. But the right side needs to be restored back to its rightful place of influence in God’s people and house. I call the right side, our Hebrew brain. We need to learn Hebrew as well as Greek. We are called to love God with our mind, hence our Ekko’s drawing and Meditative prayers and worship along with our sermons, lectures, training…

It takes both sides to worship God. We wouldn’t imagine giving God half our heart, why would we endeavor to offer him only half our mind?
 
At Ekko, we’ll study the text (left brain) but we’ll also imagine in the context (right brain). We’ll find formulas (left side) looking for cause and effects in order to navigate ourselves effectively through this pilgrimage. But we’ll also unveal the paintings, the stories, the big picture (right side).  Led by the Holy Spirit, we’ll find ourselves, fall in love with God, all within in the pages of God’s grand narrative. At Ekko, we want to love God with all our heart, our soul, and mind (both sides of it!)…

Perhaps this is an indicator as to why Jesus wanted us to be child-like. Children dream, they are full of imagination. Their imagination fuels their hopes… they have faith.
The right brain is nurtured alongside their left brain. But somewhere along our journey, we are told to stop dreaming, to stop imagining, to stop praying. And as our right brain begins to become an outcast, so goes our hearts broken to pieces. Let us now become like children… not childish, but child like… Let’s be the children of God… Let’s rest our hurts, insecurities, fears at the foot of the cross. And in the embrace of God, let us dream again and pray.


CHECK THIS OUT
Refocussing / Dr. Dianne Divett
A Whole New Mind / by Daniel H. Pink
Dialogues with Silence / by Thomas Merton
A General Theory of Love / by Thomas Lewis
Prayer / by Richard Foster
The Spiritual Brain / by Beauregard & O’Leary
3 Ways the Brain creates meaning / Tom Wujec

There is something that happens when God’s people begin to simply “try”. Another word for try would be - Seek. When we seek together, we seem to possess a clearer signal where we can communicate or commune with God.

God loves to inhabit the praises of his people. It’s as if our prayers and worship weave a network, a “tent” he can dwell in.

We meet him here, in silence, in longings, in aches and pains of life, in joy, in gratefulness, in community.

Kavvanah Nights are Ekko’s tent gatherings. Kavvanah basically means prayers too deep for words, filled with intent and focus and sometimes agony and always with honesty. It’s the prayer Hannah prayed when crying out silently to her God because of her barren state. God answered, God heard her silent anguish. His answer was Samuel. Probably the greatest prophet and definitely my favorite.


Have you ever prayed like that?

Loud prayers from heart but can barely make a sound?
It’s a groan. It’s a longing. It’s pain. It’s hope.

Something’s been happening at our Kavvanah Nights. People are opening up. People are encountering God. We’re learning to pray, learning to worship. We’re learning to how to seek him.

Post Kavvanah Party / Boba Loca in La Mirada
Jenny Kim has graciously invited us all to hang out at her Boba cafe immediately following our Kavvanah night. Here’s how to get there. It’s open just for Ekko! Thanks Jenny!

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