Last nite I was down in the basement chillin’, listening to some tunes, when Zayra (my 8 year old daughter) came down to see me–an hour after she was suppose to be sleeping. She said her throat hurt, so we cuddled for a while as we listened to the end of the album.

I asked her, “What should I write about tomorrow?”

And she responded immediately, as if she had been holding back a sermon, just waiting to share it. So I thought I would pass it along to all of you. Maybe it’s just what one or two of you need to hear today.

Here it is:

Life has difficulties. Difficulties are hard. They make life more challenging than it seems.

But you’re never alone because everyone is with you. God and Jesus are with you. They love you.

There are challenges in life, so you need to step up and work on them. You need to agree and do things you don’t want to do.

You’re enemies have a soft spot down in there, and they love you, but they just don’t show it or know it.

Poor people have pain and suffering. So please help them.

You shouldn’t try to be perfect because, to God, you don’t have to be. God loves you even when you’re not perfect.

OK, that’s all I have to say.

John 15:4,11

Remain in me, and I will remain in you! The branch can’t bear fruit by itself, but only if it remains in the vine. In the same way, you can’t bear fruit unless you remain in me.

I’ve said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and so that your joy may be full.

We are capable of so much.

We are meant to live at such a high level of awareness of the divine and live the life which that awareness offers us.

We can get really good at just about whatever we set out to master. It’s only a matter of single-minded focus combined with consistent practice over a long period of time.

Think of how good you are at the skill of driving. It’s incredibly easy because most of us have been practicing driving almost daily for over twenty years.

What are you choosing to practice daily?

What are you getting really good at and mastering?

(Some of us have gotten really good at talking about ourselves.)

I mean, think about it, we could choose something random like jigsaw puzzles, and choose to dedicate a significant portion of our every day to master the skill of putting puzzles together. Not sure why you’d choose that one, but hey, you could conquer the art of piecing together 10,000 piece double-sided jigsaw puzzles if you so desired.

What about spiritual matters? Does it work the same way in that realm? Neuroscience is showing us that it does. Did you know that just thinking about something, like practicing a particular song on the guitar for instance, is the same as actually, physically doing it, as far as your brain is concerned? Many great athletes, like Michael Jordan, utilized the practice of visualization and reaped the benefits because he was literally practicing even while away from the basketball court.

Why is prayer so important and emphasized in Scripture? Could one reason be that God has always known that it rewires our brains for more peace, joy, happiness, and love? (Unless of course you’re constantly praying for someone’s cruel death or misfortune.)

Meditation and prayer has got to be the simplest and cheapest means for wiring yourself toward God and peaceful living. Think of how good you would get at this if you chose to practice it everyday, no matter how short the duration, for the rest of your life. Imagine your state of consciousness twenty years from now. Heck, even five years from now.

I believe we are made from Love to love. To love God, be filled with Love, and love all other people. Do you ever think of what it takes to become more loving? How do you become more loving? More like God? I mean, what else is there? Why else are we here? What is the point of our existence?

It is what we do, with intention, consistently, over a long haul that molds us, wires us, and defines us–not what we do only occasionally. I say “with intention,” because I guess you could do something daily and still suck at it and not be molded by it. Just because I have fathered two girls everyday for close to a decade now does not necessarily mean I am good at it. Perhaps I  have done without intention, much thought, or presence.

I think of how God desires to bless us with His presence, guidance, and peace if we just make ourselves available to Him. If we choose to create the space for Him to work in us what He wishes. One way this looks for me, personally, is carving out 30-60 minutes everyday, no matter what, to sit in God’s presence in order to soak in it, listen, and pray. When I’m doing this, I feel superhuman–maybe because I am, due to more of the supernatural flowing thru me!

But when I remain “unplugged” consistently over time, I am weak, drained, and pathetic.

What is it for you, that if you did everyday, say, the rest of this year, would bring you closer to oneness with God and make you more like God? Are you willing to let some things go in order to do this? Why or why not?

What if our #1 objective everyday was to know God “more better”?

What if we read something Jesus said everyday, and thought about it all day, for the rest of our lives? Just thrown’ that out there.

Would it be worth the time?

What do you most want in life?

How do you hope you are spoken of when you are not in the room?

How do you want to be remembered.

Jerry Hislip, who at 77 was our most seasoned brother to attend our Ripple Effect group, went to be with our Lord Jesus two nights ago.

Though most of you do not know Jerry, I feel I cannot go without giving him a tribute in this forum.

He came to our group just a couple times last year when he was in town (from Vincennes) and able. But he made quite an impact. I know he had a lasting impact on me.

Jerry epitomized what The Ripple Effect is and stands for–seeking God first in utter simplicity. He gave all credit to God for everything good in his life, as well as saving him from a life of alcoholism. It was so incredibly inspiring to hear his story. He would always urge us to “just call on God” for anything we needed help with. God had worked in such a powerful and real way in his life that one could not argue with his very simple message.

We love to complicate things. Jerry showed us, humbly, the foolishness of this approach and the importance of simplicity. I so appreciated him and the short time I was able to spend with him. I consider it a most blessed gift.

What sticks out to me possibly even more than his simple approach to pursuing God was his beautiful gratitude for the privilege of attending this group of crazy dudes (“land of the misfits” I call us) as if we were doing him a huge favor, when in fact, it was Jerry who was greatly blessing all of us.

In all sincerity, I am a better man for having met and interacted with Jerry Hislip. Thank you, Lord YHWH, for putting him in my life for as long as you did.

God bless you, Jerry.

We love you.

In Jesus’ name. Amen

Hebrews 13:7,17

Remember your leaders, who spoke God’s word to you. Look carefully at how their lives came to fruition, and imitate their faith.

Obey your leaders; submit to them. They are keeping watch over your lives, you see, as people who will have to give account. Make sure they can do this with joy, not with a groan as a burden. That would be of no value to you.

Our church leaders have quite a task. Our pastors’ responsibilities are many. The burdens can be heavy. They are servants who are appreciated and thanked for but a small percentage of what they do for us.

How do you encourage them? What are you doing weekly to relieve some of their burden? How are you sacrificing in order to assist them in their sacrifice? Do you help or hinder their work? When was the last time you gave your pastor a hand-qritten note of encouragement and appreciation?

Our job as Christians is not to sit back and be fed or entertained. It is to participate. There’s that saying, “Spectators become critics, participants become supporters.” I don’t think Jesus’ church model was for the pastor(s) to do all the work. I think it is for them to fulfill their part by equipping us to do our part.

You know studies have shown that in church it’s no longer the 80/20 rule–20% of the people do 80% of the work–it’s now the 93/7 rule.

Yikes.

What if we could just raise that to even 90/10? It’d make a huge impact. What if every person in a given church was participating in some manner, even if “small.”

What are you doing within your group, whatever it may look like, to encourage and support the leader(s)? What is your part?

Don’t just go and sit.

Here are some more provocative questions for us concerning this passage of Hebrews:

• Who are those leaders in your church life that you should be holding up as examples worthy of imitation?
• Have you of late thought carefully about the fruit of a great leader’s life, using that scrutiny as a motivation in your own spiritual life?
• Do the expectations your church has of its pastor(s) facilitate a spiritual life that is worthy of imitation, or is the pastor so overwhelmed with responsibilities that there is little time to be with God in prayer and study?
• Are you respecting your leaders, having a teachable spirit?
• Do you value the community of faith?
• What in your life demonstrates clearly that value?
• Do you value your leaders’ seriousness about right doctrine?
• Do you encourage their further sharpening of themselves in what they do?
• Are you characterized by thankfulness to God, or are you a grumbler, constantly finding fault with people and processes in the church?
• Are you engaged in meeting the needs of others in the church on a weekly basis?
• Do you see your ministry as a sacrifice that pleases God?
• Does your relationship with your leaders facilitate the difficult work they do, or hinder it?
• Are you a source of emotional refreshment or fatigue?
• Does your pastor leave you with a song on the lips or a groan in the heart?
• What might be a way you can show encouragement to your church leaders this week?

We all need encouragement and appreciation, not least of which our church leaders. Lord knows they receive enough criticism and complaint. We can be such a source of encouragement and alleviation for them if we intend to do so, even a little bit, every week.