not to be served, but to SERVE...

last sunday in worship we examined mark 10:32-45. in this text, Jesus reminds his followers not to be a top dog, but an underdog. not one who strives to rule others, but one who serves others. thanks to all who signed up to join the serving ranks within the family of threshold. for those of you who didn't, i hope you will prayerfully consider it. i can't stress this enough: people are dying out there. marriages are dying. relationships are dying. faith is dying. we've been called to do something about it in this community, and it's gonna take every one of us. so join the movement!

beyond our community, children are dying around the world for preventable reasons. you and i can make a difference there as well. consider sponsoring a child through compassion international - only $32 a month. you'll change a life - maybe even save it - and you'll never miss the money.

Compassion International Video

got a question?

let's try something new. if you have a question about theology, the bible, contemporary culture & christianity, or why we do something at threshold, email it to me and i'll answer it here on the blog.

jeff.gardner@thresholdchurch.com

earth day

since 1970, april 22 has been earth day. the goal in originating this observance has been to draw attention to the care of the environment. it's another one of those days that i wish we didn't have to have. not because i disagree with the focus - quite the contrary. the fact is, as Christ-followers, we shouldn't need such a day. trite as it might sound, we ought to act like every day is earth day.

you know, maybe earth day was created by Christ-followers, for all those other people who don't give a rat's ___ about this beautiful planet our God created. yeah, that's it. that's the ticket. right. unfortunately, earth day was more likely the idea of some guy most Christ-followers would call a liberal tree-hugger, or some other interesting title.

let me ask, when did things get so backward? when did we Christ-followers abdicate our role, our call, as stewards of this planet? when did we forget that God told adam in the garden of eden that his job - and by default, the job if all humankind - was to tend to and care for creation (see genesis 2.15)? why is it that so many church-goers label people who do care about creation with so any not-so-nice terms? i think we've lost our way.

so while i wish it weren't so, we do need an earth day. maybe in the future we won't, but for now, we still do. why don't we get serious about all the things God has called his people to, including care  of this planet? like it or not, those who don't follow Jesus are usually looking at those of us who do to see how serious we really are about it.

if you're still reading, and haven't already jumped down to post some fun-filled comment about how i must be some kind of left-wing communist or something like that, let me give you a few thoughts about how to make earth day more of an everyday thing. 

thanks to jessica gilmore for putting this list together for us.

earth day events

tuesday, april 22 - belk tower UNCC: showcase of environmental efforts; free school and office supplies; alternative fuel car displays.

friday and saturday, april 25 & 26 - clean-up of stumptown park, matthews.

friday, april 25 - matthews community center: free screening of "an inconvenient truth," 7PM.

earth day activities for your family

1. take your family on a hike to enjoy God's creation; explain to your children why the planet is special and maybe read the creation story.

2. change one of the light bulbs in your home to a compact flourescent bulb.

3. never throw spent batteries in the trash. they contain mercury, a hazardous substance that will leak into groundwater or be burned and released into the air. don't go there. either switch to rechargeable batteries or collect used batteries in a shoebox out in the garage, clearly marked. then take them to a recycling facility once or twice a year.

4. use rags or towels instead of paper towels for cleaning.

5. store food in bowls or tupperware that can be reused endlessly.

6. use unbleached coffee filters (not bleached).

7. use more waxed paper that is biodegradable (instead of foil and plastic wrap).

8. refrigerator temperatures should be set at about 40 degrees, give or take a degree or two. freezer temps between 0 and 5 degrees are just right. colder settings waste energy and won't help food.  did you know that your friendly refrigerator has a voracious energy appetite? it is the biggest consumer of electricity among household appliances and responsible for 10-15 percent of the electricity you use each year. older refrigerators, as a rule, are far less efficient than the newest ones - as much as 50 percent less efficient. but buying a brand-new, energy-efficient refrigerator is not always in the cards for most of us. fortunately, other things will help. don't set the thermostat too high. Lowering the temperature even 1 degree will make a big difference. if your refrigerator is near a heating vent, or always in the sun, then change the location, cover up the heating vent near it or cover the window. turn on your "energy saver" switch near the thermostat. clean the condenser coil. this one, very simple thing can improve the efficiency of your refrigerator reducing your annual energy costs by $20. get rid of your second refrigerator. if you don't need it, don't waste the energy. make sure the doors seal properly, and keep the cool in.

9. plant a tree, or two, or even three. they're beautiful, they provide shade, consume CO2, and they produce oxygen. But there are other reasons to plant trees - as wind breaks to save energy, and as shade to lower cooling costs. and even the short-term help while we get our act together is a good thing.  as for plants, do everything you can in your yard and garden to create ways in which plants use less water. choose hardier plants, plant things in groups that need more water and put in mulch to help keep moisture in. when you mow your grass, make sure you do it smartly - with sharp blades, and only when the grass needs cutting. finally, make sure you water your lawn sparingly. all of these will conserve energy.

10. it's difficult, but in today's consumer economy, an easy way to conserve energy is to simply use - and buy -- less. every time you buy something, energy has gone into getting that product to you. so the less you buy, the more you save energy-wise. this could be the single biggest way to make a positive impact for creation.  if everyone used less, the impact would be large indeed.  here are a few specific things you can do:

a. buy in bulk. In short, bulk items use less packaging, which translates into less energy.

b. go through your closet. donate or recycle what you really don't need, then make a pledge not to replace everything you just got rid of.  a great place to donate to is the local women’s shelter or goodwill store or trailer.

c. buy quality products that will last longer. over time, you'll obviously buy fewer products that way.

d. be sure to read the "Change Your World" section of Threshold's weekly newsletter for further tips on how to help and impact the environment for GOOD.

if for no other reason...

one of the biggest reasons we don't pay more attention to the environment is because, and let's face it, it's inconvenient and it takes effort. most if not all of us are more concerned with ourselves day in and day out than in others and our world. the cool thing about so many of jessica's suggestions is that we benefit! we save energy, which saves money. we buy fewer things, so we save money! we ebay all the crap we don't really need anymore and we make money! so if you just can't get to it in obedience to God's call, do it for the money! (of course, don't forget to tithe on the money you make!)

choosing a bible

  as promised in my talk yesterday, i want to give you some thoughts on how to choose a bible if you have recently decided to buy one. there are two main things to look for in a bible: translation and features. you'll want to consider them in that order. let's take a quick look at each...

1. translation. this is also sometimes known as 'version,' as in "what version of the bible are you using?" originally, the bible was written in two ancient languages. the old testament was written in hebrew and the new testament was written in greek. obviously these two need to be translated into english if you and i are gonna understand anything. this requires the work of translators - people smarter than me who take the hebrew and greek and translate it into english. in recent decades, more and more groups of translators have been at work, offering english-speaking people more translations or version than ever before in history.

when you go to a bookstore, you will have your choice of 10 or more translations. some will be very literal, a real word-for-word translation. others will be a little freer with their translating, more of a thought-for-thought translation, which will make for easier reading. more literal translations tend to have longer sentences which often require reading more than once in order to fully comprehend their meaning. less literal translations read easier, but may not be as accurate in conveying precisely what was meant. so there's a trade-off, and you need to decide which you prefer.

my advice would be to go to a website like www.biblegateway.com, and take a look at some bible passages in several different versions. this will help you decide which you enjoy the most. if it's not readable, you aren't gonna read it. for the record, i teach from the new living translation on sundays at threshold.

2. features. there are a variety of types of bibles on the market. some are daily bibles, assigning you several chapters a day for those who want to read through the bible in a year. if the bible is pretty new to you, i would not recommend one of these. there are other good bibles out there that have a daily reading schedule on the back if you decide to tackle this at some point. there are devotional bibles, which will tuck daily devotional readings among the pages of the bible, and tell you which passage of scripture to read along with the devotion. not a bad place to start. there are plain old text bibles, with no bells and whistles. you simply get the text of the bible with no book intros, study notes, helps, etc.  again, if you're sorta new, you'll want more. i like to recommend a study bible to most people who are looking to get serious about reading and studying the bible. my favorite, one i have used for many years, is the Life Application Study Bible.  it is filled with all kinds of things to help you understand what you are reading: book intros, book outlines, themes, timelines, maps, charts, and explanations to help you both understand and be challenged by what God's word has to say. the LASB is available in a handful of different translations, so after you decide which version you want, you can look for that version in the LASB.

once you've decided on translation (version) and features, the last thing to decide is what look you want. they come in paper, hardback, leather-like, and leather. black, burgundy, brown, blue, etc...

so... if you're looking for a bible, good luck. if i can help you decide or answer more questions, leave a comment with your email, or email me direct through the threshold site, and i'll be in touch.

whichever bible you choose, be assured that reading it regularly will net awesome things in your life. so get out there!

Remember: Don't Forget to Bring Your Bible Sunday

this week's blog is below

relax already

 WARNING: this post is bluntly honest, but i'm not looking for your sympathy or affirmation, so don't give me any, okay?

i beat myself up a lot. probably doesn't show 'cause it's all on the inside. but if you know me well, if you hang out with me long enough for me to get really transparent with you, you'll hear it. maybe you do it too. funny thing on my end though - i know all about God's grace, and think i can teach it with the best of them, but i have a tough time receiving it myself. i'll bet a therapist would tell me that i must have had a parent that was hard to please. i don't think so. or maybe i'm just one of the those over-achievers. puh-leez. my resume wouldn't bear that out either. if anything, i think i just long to hear the heavenly Father say, "well done good and faithful servant." and for some reason, i just have trouble hearing that.

one of the things i beat myself up most about is that threshold isn't reaching and drawing nearly as many people as i would expect or desire. i mean c'mon, you and i know what an awesome community THD is, so why aren't more people coming or receiving Christ or growing in faith or serving or whatever??? maybe if i were a better teacher, a better leader, a clearer visionary, a stronger get-er-done-er, or whatever...

this afternoon i was at starbucks with mike moses, lead pastor of lake forest church in huntersville (lake forest is a sister church of ours, both churches intentionally planted by the same mother church. after ten years, they welcome about 2400 people to worship every sunday). after almost two hours of shop-talk, and of unloading my feelings of inadequacies on him, i asked him: "mike, you know how to grow a church. you know me. you know threshold. if you were gonna give me some advice right now, what would it be?"  then i sat back and waited for something challenging. something i knew i was incapable of. one more thing to make me feel inadequate.

what my friend mike said (and how he said it) was one of the greatest blessings i have received in a long time. he said this: "jeff, first i would tell you that what you guys have done at threshold in just five years is an amazing thing. you have created a church where people come to Christ, a church that feeds the homeless, a church that is already serving in other parts of the world, a church that is so creative and special. i hope you are celebrating that." and not only did he tell me that, he was choked up. tears almost came to his eyes. and mike's no baby.

"why the emotion?," i asked him.

"because i get emotional at the sight of beauty, and threshold is a beautiful bride of Christ," he said.

wow. well said. 

and shame on me for thinking or believing anything otherwise. of course, it wasn't just me. it's also been all of you. through us, God really has done something very special in outfitting a very beautiful bride for his Son.

as i reflect on mike's words now, i want to share two things with you:

1. thanks. thanks for being my family and my partners in extending the kingdom of God's grace and mercy. threshold is an amazing and creative and beautiful family, and i am most honored and humbled to be your pastor. for your friendship, and your trust, and your co-laboring with me as the body of Christ, i can't thank you enough. well done, good and faithful servants.

2. if you beat yourself up like i do, quit it. step back and remember that you, too, are a beautiful child of God. there is no one like you, and God had everything to do with that. everything. you are unique and talented and special and loved and cared for and forgiven. right now, stop and celebrate that fact. when God looks at you or even thinks of you, He gets all emotional. you can bring up all the reasons why He doesn't or couldn't or shouldn't, but that doesn't change the fact that He does. so relax already. listen to almighty God remind you that you rock His world. 

'cause you do.

perfect vision

when i'm speaking on a sunday morning, i have no trouble looking at you guys and saying with conviction that God knows each of us intimately. but when i get up in an airplane, like i did a couple weeks ago, that whole thought process goes a little screwy. when i'm up there, i can't see all the thousands and millions of people that God supposedly knows so lovingly and loves so knowingly.  it really messes me up sometimes.

but the other day in my prayer time i was reading psalm 11. check out verse 4: "the Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord still rules from heaven. he watches everyone closely, examining every person on earth."

i closed my bible and began to pray around this verse. here's where i went...

God has perfect vision. perfect. not just 20/20, but perfect. he really can see absolutely everything. we think 20/20 is perfect, but it's only perfect for imperfect humans. God's perfection is so far beyond what we can imagine as perfect.

there is no hindrance to what God can see like there is for me. he sees it all. on the one hand, God sees everything about my past, unhindered: my regrets, my failings, my sins. i'm not sure i want him to see all that, but if he does, i might as well face up to that fact. on the other hand, God also sees my future:  my potential, the things i can accomplish. and because i am in Christ, he sees me as holy, redeemed, loved. nothing can hinder that either. and man, that is comforting. he sees the child he loves. he sees the stuff ahead in my life. and nothing takes him by surprise. i may not be able to seee around the next corner, but he can, and if he is with me and for me (see romans 8:31), then i can relax in that. i mean think about it - if God can see everything perfectly and unhindered, then what am i always so worried about. relax man. trust him.

a guy named david, the greatest king in the history of israel, seemed to know this when he wrote psalm 139, about 3000 years ago. spend some time reading this psalm slowly. and if anything strikes you that you don't mind sharing with me, send me a comment. i'd love to know if any of this connects with somebody besides me. thanks.

here we go:

PSALM 139

1 O Lord, you have examined my heart

      and know everything about me.

 2 You know when I sit down or stand up.

      You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.

 3 You see me when I travel

      and when I rest at home.

      You know everything I do.

 4 You know what I am going to say

      even before I say it, Lord.

 5 You go before me and follow me.

      You place your hand of blessing on my head.

 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,

      too great for me to understand!

 7 I can never escape from your Spirit!
      I can never get away from your presence!
 8 If I go up to heaven, you are there;
      if I go down to the grave, you are there.
 9 If I ride the wings of the morning,
      if I dwell by the farthest oceans,
 10 even there your hand will guide me,
      and your strength will support me.
 11 I could ask the darkness to hide me
      and the light around me to become night—
    12 but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.
   To you the night shines as bright as day.
      Darkness and light are the same to you.

 13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body
      and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
 14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
      Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.
 15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,
      as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
 16 You saw me before I was born.
      Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
   Every moment was laid out
      before a single day had passed.

 17 How precious are your thoughts about me, O God.
      They cannot be numbered!
 18 I can’t even count them;
      they outnumber the grains of sand!
   And when I wake up,
      you are still with me!