Hello #JustWrite family!! We have made it to the last blog post of 2015, yay!!! Thank you to those who stayed the course and have ran this race with us. We appreciate you and pray that you continue on this journey with us in 2016 and beyond. Now, you're probably wondering why the title of this month's blog is called"The Write Marriage: EICC and Just Write"? Well, there have been many inquiries regarding EICC (Embassy International Chamber of Commerce), its purpose and how it relates to Just Write. The relationship between the two entities can be seen as a marriage: you can't have one without the other, right? So I reached out to none other than Reginald Winfrey, a husband, a father, an attorney of 22 years and the President of EICC. Reginald was our guest speaker at a previous Just Write support session where he talked about intellectual property. He gave us a lot of great information about the business side of writing (check out the August blog, The Write Investment) so I was very excited to speak with him and learn more about EICC. 
In order for me to fully grasp EICC's purpose, Reginald had to take me on a vivid, biblical journey through scripture. He explained to me that one of the resources of EICC is a book called, "The Seven Mountain Mantle" by Johnny Enlow. In this book, Enlow writes about how he was given a vision and plan by God to disciple others and take back the seven mountains of influence or sectors of society. These seven mountains of influence are Religion, Family, Education, Marketplace, Arts/Entertainment, Government, and Media. From a biblical view, we see this in Matthew 28:18-20 where it says, "Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely, I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Do you see the correlation there between the bible verses and what Enlow wrote: "make disciples of nations", "make disciples and possess the seven mountains." Interesting....let's proceed further. So, the next scripture we discuss is Revelation 19:1-8 (NKJV). The key verses that caught my attention were verses 6-8: "And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, "Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns! Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready."And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteousness acts of the saints." These verses speak of Christ coming back for His bride (the church). His wife (the church) has made herself ready, speaks of the church getting in position, making disciples, as her King (Jesus) returns.
From a marketplace perspective, we looked at Revelation 18 (Before the "Wedding"). There is mourning over Babylon's fall and you see the detriment of the city's demise. This scripture speaks about two women in the marketplace: one who is honoring her husband (God) and one who is honoring herself (self-seeking and worldly). In Revelation 17, it speaks about a woman sitting on a scarlet beast full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. In verse 9, it is revealed that the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. The woman in the scripture represents the evil influence that's currently plaguing the seven mountains (mind molders of society). One notion that Reginald touched on is that "the real problem is the way one thinks." "In order to influence a nation, you have to change the mind of the people." "In the Bible, God spoke in regards to nations, not individuals." As believers, we have to work collectively as a team and get rid of the "all about me" mentality in order to bring forth change. Reginald further points out that throughout the bible, the ideal of "marriage" is woven from the beginning of the bible (the union of Adam and Eve), the middle of the bible (Jesus performed miracles at a wedding) to the end of the bible (final union of Jesus and His bride, the church). It is obvious that we as believers are to make ourselves ready for our King. This observation is also captured in Proverbs 31 as we read about a conversation between a Queen and her son. Throughout the verses, we see the description of what the woman should be. If you look deeper, the descriptions depict how the bride (the church) should prepare herself and where the bride was. She wasn't in church; she was outside the church, in the marketplace (made garments, sold them, extended hand to poor, etc.) It was through her efforts and obedience, she fulfilled her commission. We see more examples of this in the bible with Esther (became Queen and saved her people), Mary and Martha (one was focused on the cares of the day and one sat at Jesus' feet; this scenario represents the two churches we see today: religion vs. relationship) and the 10 virgins (5 were wise, prepared with oil filled lamps; 5 were foolish, unprepared with no oil filled lamps.) Amazing illustration.
After reading those scriptures and seeing the obvious pattern, the connection between EICC and Just Write was clear to me. EICC was started to help the "bride" (the church) understand she's a bride who needs to be prepared for her King (reaching the nations). EICC serves as a marketplace ministry that comes together to discuss the bible and how it applies to business. Just Write is a part of the Arts/Entertainment mountain. All of us that are a part of Just Write have the stories within us that represent those seven mountains. God is waiting on us to prepare and walk in our gifts as scribes to free others. Reginald's analogy describes it simply: "In order for a jigsaw puzzle to be complete, you have to have all of the pieces connected. A piece by itself is ineffective, but with all of the pieces, you get a bigger picture and result. That's how we have to view the Kingdom. All of us have the hidden pieces within us to bring that big picture to pass."
Reginald shared with me how EICC came to fruition. He took me back to the time God showed him a vision of how church, school, and family were all influential to each other. This was around 1986-1987. Between 1988-1989, the business sector became part of the vision of influencing church, school, and family. After coming to NewBirth in 1997, Reginald saw the vision in place. That vision sparked the idea of EICC. In 2006, EICC was birthed at NewBirth by the Beyond Tomorrow campaign. The Embassy part of the name was chosen to represent God's kingdom and its ambassadors. EICC is international and not exclusive to NewBirth. Anyone is welcome to join. EICC is simply, "a circle for the body of Christ."
As my conversation with Reginald ended, he challenged me to ponder where I was written in the bible. He shared with me that he is written in Matthew 22: The Parable of the Wedding Feast. In this parable, Jesus speaks of the kingdom as a marriage. The king sends servants to invite others to the wedding. Everything is ready, but the servants are selfish and go their own way (us, holding on to our gifts). This causes chaos to break loose and cities to be destroyed. The king commands his servants to go out and bring more people, good and bad. Unfortunately, a man does not have on the appropriate wedding garment (didn't prepare himself) and he is cast out. As I listened, it is clear that Reginald was referring to himself as one of the servants who is called to go into the marketplace equipped to make disciples out of nations. We are servants as well and it is up to us to collectively work together to fulfill God's plans and vision. Powerful.
#JustWrite, we have been called for such a time as this. As 2015 closes and the new year begins, let's continue using our gifts, equipping ourselves, going into our positioned mountains, boldly making disciples, and positively influencing the nations.
For more information on EICC, please check out the website: www.embassychamber.com and Facebook page: Embassy International Chamber of Commerce. Be sure to connect with Reginald via Facebook: Reginald Winfrey and join him and other members every Saturday at Panera Bread (Lithonia, GA location) at 7am for a netweaving session and fellowship.
Don't forget to register for the Writer's Workshop on 1/23/2016. Also, pay it forward and help someone walk in their calling. The Kingdom needs more laborers.
Remember, capture The Write Moment and Just Write!
Happy Holidays! See you in 2016!
Blessings!
~Lequvia Ousley~
