what you need to do today

let's get right to it this week.

i want you to be debt-free.

i don't want to use today's blog to toss out a dozen scripture passages about money. or to use fancy word construction to convince you. or to appeal to your emotions. i really don't think i need to. do i?

the economy is awful, and even if it weren't, too many of us just aren't living financially in a way that honors and glorifies God. and if the reason that we are on planet earth, according to His Word, is to bring Him honor and glory, then we all have work to do.

but even if you don't give a hoot about God's view of money right now, do this anyway. do it for yourself and your family. get this debt-monkey OFF YOUR BACK!

so here's the deal: take the rest of the time that you would normally spend reading this blog, and sign up for Financial Peace University.

i hope by now you know it's a 13-week seminar on sunday nights that will teach you all you need to know about managing the account God has entrusted to you in this life (you haven't forgotten it's really ALL His, have you?).

6:30 - 8:30 PM.

something for every one of your kids.

and only $99.

that is precisely $7.62 per week.

you can afford this. you NEED to afford this.

i guarantee you'll make the $99 back in the first week or two if you do what you're taught.

but if you need a scholarship, just ask.

and by the way threshold isn't making a nickel off of this, for any of you who still think this church is all about your money.

ok, so go.

sign up. 

hurry up, i'm sure you've got a bunch of stuff to do today.

and if you already have... Thank You!

Details:

Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University

13 Sessions, beginning February 8

Each Sunday through May 24, except Easter and Mother's Day

$99, and well worth it.

Care provided for kids of every age (high school students are encouraged to take the seminar)

DEADLINE! Sunday, February 1.

actual grace

tuesday was a gift from God. one of those tangible gifts of actual grace that give us those seemingly all-too-rare glimpses of his hand at work, reminding us that he is real and that he is at work. i've seen them over the years, when i have had the eyes to see. and i'm sure i've missed a bunch of them when i've had my spiritual head up my own assets, worried so much about myself that i had no clue that God was anywhere in the vicinity.

but tuesday i saw it. actual grace. God's tangible activity.

it snowed. not a lot. but it did. i heard that it hasn't snowed in charlotte enough to cover the ground since 2004. but tuesday it snowed.

and as if that weren't gift enough in itself, it was also inauguration day.

now forget about politics, okay? there's just something about each of these that reminds me that we get second chances. that no matter how bad the past, there is a future. that while there may be decay in our rearview mirror, our rearview mirror is showing us what we are leaving behind.

i have never been one to make much of a new year. to me, it was just the next month in a long, long linear processional. a new year was often more annoying than promising. i put the wrong year on my checks for a week or so. i couldn't get a treadmill at the gym. last year's calendar got put on a shelf and i couldn't find it when i needed to refer back to something that happened only a couple weeks earlier.

but not '09. not this year.

this year, for some reason, i am excited. i am optimistic. i am expectant. i fully anticipate seeing and hearing life-changing stories this year like never before. growing closer to God. learning how to glorify him more and more in everyday life. learning his better and applying it more often. embracing his people in small communities where we can love, trust and serve one another. getting ourselves freed up and healthy in any and every way necessary, in order to stand ready to serve God and those he points us to, whether across the world or across the lunchroom table.

our staff met all day yesterday to map out 12 months of opportunities intended to help us all move into and through one of the best years of our lives. in a few weeks, we'll put that calendar into your hands. but even before you receive it, i hope you'll be praying. pray that God will move in you with his Spirit in ways that will help you commit to the things that are most important this year. ask him to show you very clearly where you ought to be engaged and active for his glory and your own health. beg him to take away the resistance, the laziness, the fear or the apathy that keeps you from worship or cell or service.

promise to read his word this year. promise your kids that you will lead them spiritually this year. promise your spouse that you will get out of debt this year - or at least make a significant dent in it. promise those who ask you that you will in fact finally join their cell. promise yourself that you will leave your comfort zone for one - just one - significant serve experience.

'09. it's a new year. a year full of promise.

the snow and the events of tuesday are now also in the rearview mirror.

but don't miss their message.

God is present. every day is a new one. He gives second chances.

Father, we thank you for the moments when we are clearly reminded of your presence and your hope. so many of us need the eyes to see that right now. we need that promise. we need that anticipation. we want so desperately to be drawn by your Spirit into this new year. change us. transform us more into the image of your Son Jesus.  cover our sins like a blanket of new snow, and inaugurate in us a new heart, ready to live solely for you and your glory. receive our humble and expectant pleas in Jesus' name. amen.

sweet!

it's tuesday, 6:30PM. twelve of us hang out in the kitchen for about half an hour, sharing a new bottle of wine. the cincinnati chili is simmering on the stove, while the pasta, onions and cheese are waiting to join it in my one deep bowl. two by two we arrive, distributing regular but no-less-heartfelt hugs to one another, each of us doing a little lap around the kitchen island, then holding our place for the next pair to arrive.

7 o'clock, and time has arrived to dive into the meal. but first things first. we gather side by side around the island - an altar almost, and in some very real ways it is - and we say thanks. thanks God, for this food and for the few hours ahead.

on to the dining room. it's an oval table, and getting a dozen around it is a squeeze - even before we eat. afterward, somebody is gonna have to push away a bit. it's another 30 minutes or so of joyful and rather loud conversation. what's up with kids, with jobs, with health, whatever...

seven thirty PM. we've been there an hour and bellies are full. the cincinnati chili was followed by a piece of dark chocolate cake and another bit of wine. God said "taste and see that the Lord is good..." no argument from me this night.

plates and silver make their way to the kitchen sink, and are replaced on the table by bibles - thin ones, thick ones, several translations. we open to philippians and begin our journey through it. we learn some things about the history and situation that gave rise to the letter. we pull out some stuff from chapter one that directly speaks to something we had all had an email conversation about last week. conversation is spirited and we don't all agree. a guy at one end of the table takes issue with a guy at the other end. it might scare some people to watch it, but i know these guys. i know how much they love each other. and i know in my gut that they both want more than anything to know the truth! to know what God is really trying to convey to all of us. this is awesome stuff!

we could talk all night, some of us, but it's now 8:30 and it's time to pray. we pray in different ways on different nights, but we have a major focus this night. i'll let arlene tell you about it...

"tuesday night my cell prayed for me. i was facing shoulder surgery the next morning. they all gathered around me and laid their hands on me and prayed. it brought tears to my eyes to have a group that loves me so much and really cares enough to be there for me. the prayer time definitely took away nervous anticipation and really calmed my nerves and spirit... i could really feel love and prayers going through directly to me. i had no problem sleeping that nite. my cellmates were all vessels used by God to calm me and give me peace."

"to my cellmates: i love you all... thanks for everything. i can't imagine not being in our cell. you're my expanded family. i can't imagine what it would be like without you guys."

so there you have it, THRESHOLD. a night in the life of my cell. if any of this story is at all attractive to you, and you aren't surrounded by community like this, it's time.

it's past time.

you know it and i know it and it's time to let other things go in favor of this new commitment.

we 12 will vouch - it's worth it.

if you're ready, click this link and fill out the form: I"M READY FOR A CELL

we'll have you in a cell that fits your needs and your lifestyle in no time.

i'm telling you, the cincinnati chili and the chocolate cake rock -

but what happens around the table AFTER dinner is the real meat.

and it is oh so sweet!

right arlene?

the bible this year... every day

hey all. it's january 1st.
happy new year.

i've found a really nice podcast that i plan to access every day in '09.
i hope maybe you will join me.
it's called the daily audio bible.

if you listen each day, you will make it through the entire bible this year.
the reader's name is brian. he seems really, really cool. i think if he lived in charlotte instead of nashville, he might be a part of THRESHOLD.

here's the link: www.dailyaudiobible.com
you can listen at your computer (scroll to the bottom of the page).
or you can download the podcast via itunes.
there is also a version for kids.

if you've never gone through the bible in a year, give it a try.

if you don't care for brian's style, there are other avenues for doing the same thing.
google around and see what you can find.

if you're up for this and care to join me, let me know, ok?