Gilbert Thurston

Random Thoughts About Life, Ministry and Whatever Else Happens to be on my Mind

Archives for March 2009

You’re Not Gonna Wanna Miss It

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  • I can’t wait until this weekend…the launch of the You Asked For It series is going to be awesome!
  • Make sure you invite your friends…
  • The stage design is going to be sweet…
  • We’ve got a special musical performance planned that you won’t want to miss …
  • I’ll be preaching on is it alright for Christians to watch R rated movies, listen to music that isn’t labeled as “Christian” and in general enjoy the entertainment that society throws our way…
  • And to top it all off I’ll be answering at least 1 question live that gets text messaged in during the Experience.
  • This is such an easy series to invite people to…in other weeks we’ll be looking at the subjects of alcohol, temptation and how to overcome doubts about our faith.
  • In addition on April 5th most of that day’s message will be nothing but text message questions that I’m fielding live.
  • Have you ever wanted to ask me a question…now’s your chance.
  • And the cool part is I’ll have to come up with an answer in front of hundreds.
  • Uhhh yeah I’m a bit nervous.
  • So do whatever it takes short of sin to get people to attend with you…should be a lot of fun.
  • Don’t forget to utilize our new promo video which you can watch here or here.

    • Inside Today’s Experience

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  • What a contrast to last week…in more ways than one.
  • The weather today is incredible and unlike last week all aspects of set-up went very well.
  • Not sure though the extra hour of sleep helped though…even though we didn’t move our clocks forward, everyone seemed a bit lethargic.
  • I know some were fighting colds…Aaron was a real trooper battling through both Experiences despite a bad cold.
  • Had a record crowd for the 9:15…think we picked up some of the 10:45 crowd because attendance was down there although overall attendance was about average.
  • Here are some links I mentioned in today’s message…
  • Now you know why I don’t sing!
  • A lot of fun though with everyone singing along…especially the “Nobody Bothers Me” commercial.
  • At 10:45 though I started in a key higher than I should have an just barely made it through “Zacchaeus Was a Wee Little Man”.
  • I promise no more singing for awhile.
  • A big thanks to Dan Fry, Jenny Shilfer and Missy Kibbe for their testimonies during this series.
  • Can’t wait until next week and the kick-off to the “You Asked For It” series.
  • The creative team has some great surprises in store…don’t forget to invite someone.

    • Random Saturday Thoughts

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  • Let me start by reminding you…DO NOT SET YOUR CLOCKS FORWARD!
  • We will all do this together after church on Sunday morning.
  • Enjoy the extra hour of sleep that you would have lost otherwise.
  • It was an interesting week…lots going on.
  • Thursday we had CPR training as a staff as well as learning how to use the AED device to shock people’s hearts back into rhythm.
  • Man…hope I never have to do either of those things.
  • Great to have the team from Haiti back home…sounds like they had a great time and got much accomplished.
  • RIP…Circuit City.
  • I can’t wait for the “You Asked For It” series to start on the 15th.
  • We’ve got some surprises in store for you that should be a lot of fun!
  • I’m so glad that the judges did not bring back Tatiana on American Idol…that girl was big time annoying.
  • I’m loving my new phone…it’s helping me to be more productive with time since I can check e-mails and stuff basically anywhere.
  • Mmm…also means my workaholic, Type A personality can work even more hours…maybe this isn’t such a good thing.
  • I’ll finish reading “A Whack on the Side of the Head” today…loved it!
  • Enjoy your nice spring like day…see you tomorrow…again at normal time.

    • “Mystery Shopper” Visits United

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    Late last night I was searching for any new health information on the status of Gilbert Arenas who plays for the Wizards…yes I’m a Wizards fan…let’s move on.

    In any case, searchng for stuff for him made me think, “It’s been awhile since I googled, ‘Gilbert Thurston’ so I should do so to see what the latest and greatest (in some cases gripes) about me are on the internet”.  Apparently it’s been at least 1 year since I last did it because I found out that a mystery guest from “Church Visit” had paid us a visit in February of 2008 during our 3 Wise Monkeys series. 

    I had heard of these guys before…they hire a person in various communities to “mystery shop” churches and then write up a review so guests can get a glimpse into what they might experience in a church before actually attending.

    With a sense of nervousness I began reading our review.  Wow you couldn’t have asked for much better.  And it’s not like this guy is afraid to speak the truth either.  He has now reviewed about a dozen churches in the Chambersburg area and he is sometimes even more brutally honest than I am.  You can read the others in the blog archive on the right hand side of his site.

    Way to go United and everyone else in CFCOG!  As I said this past week it takes all of us doing our part to make United truly an Experience.  Keep up the great work!

    Other Weekend Thoughts

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    With Taylor snowtubing

  • Friday didn’t turn out to be much of a day off, but I did get to spend Friday evening with my niece Taylor (pictured with me above) snowtubing at Whitetail.
  • This was the second weekend in a row I had done this and it was amazing the difference.
  • The week before it had been really cold and icy…this past Friday it was warm, rainy and the course was slushy.
  • Made for slower runs but we had a good time none the less.
  • They were having a problem with the conveyor belt that transports you to the top of the mountain…it kept stopping all of the sudden which means people go flying.
  • At one point a little kid maybe about 6 years old was in front of me riding up the mountian when it stopped and he went flying off onto the stationary ramp beside the belt.
  • The problem was the belt started again but he still had his arm attached to his tube which was riding up the belt.
  • So as I go riding by either I have to jump his tire or do something else…I did something else.
  • I reached down and with one hand picked him up by the back of his jacket and plopped him back down on the belt…I felt like Superman.
  • Then while still riding…I undid his arm from the tube and picked it up so he wasn’t tangled in it anymore.
  • Poor kid was so tramautized by the whole thing that he leaned forward and threw up all over the belt.
  • As we get to the top of the mountain I’m trying to warn the operator to avoid the puke but he for some reason didn’t see it until the last minute and jumped out of the way just in the nick of time.
  • Other than that…a pretty fun night hanging out with Taylor…and of course what night would be complete without stopping for ice cream on the way home!
  • Saturday involved a lot more work and then heading up to the church for our first ever Connection Event.
  • It went great…lots of newer people to the church got to mingle and get to know one another and by the time this weekend was complete, 3 new small groups had been formed out of the evenings festivities.
  • A great big thank you for a job well done to Dan and Jan Krull and Josh Schlotterbeck for getting everything coordinated and planned.
  • Next time we have one of these I’d strongly recommend attending…it was a lot of fun.
  • Yesterday after church Lisa and I made a commitment to do nothing at all…but yet do it together.  Very relaxing!!!
  • Got caught up on shows like American Idol…too bad Nick/Normal Gentle went home…he was hilarious.  Love Ryan’s line…”I think that’s the first time anyone got to 2nd base with our logo.”
  • Today is sermon prep day…working on messages for the You Asked For It series.
  • The votes are in and you have decided that I should preach on…..
  • Come on did you really think it would be that easy…stay tuned for details in the days and weeks ahead.