Gilbert Thurston

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

Archives for April 2010

Momentum

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As I was driving to the office this morning, I was still lamenting last night’s Washington Capitals playoff game in which they lost 4-1.  For those of you who are not sports or hockey fans, my Caps dominated the regular season.  They are the #1 seed in the playoffs and were expected to dominate the Montreal Canadians.  The Caps won 3 of the first 4 games as expected and where only 1 win away from advancing to the next round….they had all the momentum.  However, that’s when things began to change…

Montreal goal-tender, Jaroslav Halak began playing out of his mind.  He had been so bad earlier in the series that he actually got replaced by the back-up goalie, but in Game 5, he held the high scoring Caps team to just one goal.  Then last night, in the first few minutes he made 3 spectacular saves that gave he and his team the confidence they needed to sustain the momentum they had started in the previous game.  By the time the game was over, Halak has stopped an incredible 53 of 54 shots taken at him.  To put that in context…if a team gets off 35 shots in a game it’s considered a lot…or another way to think about it is…a Hall of Fame goalie over his career will stop 50 out of every 54 shots taken at him.

Ok, so here are some random thoughts of what to make of the above….

  • People, businesses, teams, churches  and organizations need to get and then sustain momentum.
  • Sometimes momentum comes from just 1 person.  By the fact the Caps got off 54 shots tells us that the rest of the Canadians were not playing well.  Halak though was a difference maker.
  • There will always be a key moment or decision that will determine whether you will gain or lose momentum.  Halak’s first few saves gave him confidence that he sustained throughout the rest of the game.  Had he even let in one of those shots the rest of the game would have likely been very different.
  • When you have momentum don’t do anything drastic that might change it.  The Canadians kept the same strategy and line-up throughout.
  • In your life, family, organization, etc, what can you do to help build momentum?
  • Have you realized that YOU, even though you are just one person, can be a difference maker that will inspire those around you?
  • One final thought, the reality is this post was just a way for me to vent my frustrations with the Caps, so I came up with a lame blog post, trying to turn what Satan meant for evil into good.  🙂

So let’s hear from you…what lessons have you learned about momentum?  And oh yeah…Let’s Go Caps in game 7 tomorrow night!

Not Your Own

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My car died this week and now Lisa’s car is in the shop for it’s annual inspection and won’t be back until tomorrow.  Today Brian let me drive his car to go get lunch and then Earl offered me the use of his car for tonight once we realized Lisa’s car would be in the shop overnight.  I noticed in driving both of their cars today that I’m a much better and safer driver in their vehicles.  Why?  Simple…they’re not mine and I want to take as good of care of them as possible.  This got me thinking about scripture…

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says, “Your body is a temple where the Holy Spirit lives. The Spirit is in you and is a gift from God. You are no longer your own. God paid a great price for you. So use your body to honor God”. Hhmmmm these verses are saying that in the same way I don’t own Earl’s car and I’m trying to take good care of it, our bodies are not our own either.  So the question is how are you doing taking care of God’s possession (your body) that He entrusted you with?

Inside Today’s Experiences

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  • Another solid day.
  • Got off to an early start because Thom was sick on Thursday night and was unable to make practice.  So everyone came in early to make sure we could run through everything at least twice.
  • Great job by the band as usual to come through despite everything happening.
  • The middle projector burnt out right before the 2nd Experience…arghhhh.
  • Other than that, everything went well behind the scenes today.
  • Heard the message connected with quite a few people.
  • I’m always amazed that even the ones “I’m not excited about”, God still uses to touch the hearts of people.
  • Pretty clear though…forgive others or God will not forgive you.
  • Watching people from backstage write their enemies names or hurts on the wall was interesting…you could tell some were deeply moved and others were just going through the motions.
  • Jesus said that the seed of His Word will land on different types of soil and that some will spring to life and others will die.
  • Not a knock on anyone…I’m sure each message touches people differently…just interesting to watch the dynamic.
  • I was drained before the 2nd Experience even started…not sure why…had a great nights sleep.
  • Both Experiences got done at least 5 minutes early today…making up for last week!
  • Got to talk with a great couple in visiting from OH…neat story and praying that God’s will be done in their lives.
  • Reality is starting to sink in…only 6 more messages I’ll be preaching in United.
  • Let’s make this stretch drive something memorable…invite like crazy so we have great momentum for whoever my replacement ends up being.
  • If you haven’t checked out what I’m doing in Harrisburg yet, the web-site is www.ExponentialChurch.tv
  • Plenty of ways you can help out even from a far.

Inside Today’s Experiences

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  • Just now getting home after a full day of church and family activities.
  • Amazed by today’s Experiences…so awesome.
  • Won’t have the final count until tomorrow but we know of at least 12 people who made decisions to follow Jesus today!
  • Makes all the hard work and spiritual warfare I mentioned earlier this week worth it!
  • Big props to the entire team for working nearly around the clock to make all the elements today so successful.
  • Special thanks to Brian and Thom for the two huge 20 foot truss crosses.
  • Leave it to United…if we’re going to have crosses they will be big and they will have all kinds of cool things they do.
  • Basically loved everything about today…
    • Brian had an idea to do a live countdown with video and light show and it definitely had the crowd pumped more so than the normal countdowns.
    • Thought the roof was going to blow off the place during the first two songs at the 9:45 Experience.  Man you guys were loud and rowdy…just the way we like it.  🙂
    • Good laugh playing the Here Comes Peter Cottontail song during the fill out connection card time…hilarious.
    • Loved the Desperate People song…it started the whole tear down the walls theme if you were listening to the lyrics carefully.
    • The Slam Poet definitely kicked things into another gear.  Jesse Fisher is the guy who did it and he is amazing.  I included it on the beginning of the message recording if you’re interested in hearing him do his thing.
    • About 6 weeks ago as the guys pitched me the idea of doing a series called Absolution, all I could think of was someone going into a confessional booth and the wall that separates them.  This led to me having the idea to make Easter all about walls.
    • A few weeks back as I was ready to write the message, the idea then came to put a wall on stage that I could put graffiti on represent my sin.  Then last week I had the idea to tear down the wall and then Thursday night as we were practicing it,  God spoke to me that we needed a cross to be the only thing left standing.
    • Brian had the idea to do the song Tear Down the Walls a few weeks back and the rest as they say is history…from what I’ve heard it was one of the most memorable and touching moments we’ve ever created.
    • I know it was for me.  Seeing my sins written on that wall and then getting to tear it down was very emotional.  At the first Experience I couldn’t help but break down and cry.  At the 2nd Experience I got more physical with the wall and took out my frustration on the wall like it was Satan himself.
    • Long story short…between both Experiences, kicking, punching and tearing down a wall, has left me hands and arms scraped and cut up.
    • But I don’t regret a moment up it…in the moment I didn’t feel a thing.
    • As I reflected on that this afternoon, it made me think of Jesus.  It was because of His great love for us that He endured the pain of the cross.
    • Certainly a few cuts on my arms pale in comparison to what He endured so I’m not going to complain.
    • Ok funny story.  Thursday night we did a full walk through of Sunday morning like we normally do.  When it came time to tear down the wall, Andrea said, “This isn’t going to be dangerous is it”?  I assured her no, but then as I began to destroy it, the prototype that had been built completely feel apart, framework and all.  It went toppling towards Andrea…she dodged out of the way…and it barely missed crashing into the keyboard.  The guys then set out to build the mother of all walls…which they did…that frame today wasn’t going anywhere!
    • Also funny is that in the first Experience as I was tearing the wall apart, I wasn’t thinking about how forceful I throwing pieces of drywall.  Imagine my surprise when I turn around and there are pieces lying at the feet of people in the front rows.  Oops.
    • So much to say about today and so many people to thank…what an incredible day.
  • Overall we had 1211 people in attendance today at all services and Experiences…so awesome to see everyone invite like crazy to make sure as many people as possible could hear the good news about  Jesus.
  • Hopefully later this week I can post some other stuff about today, but for now I’m whupped and ready for some sleep.  Thanks again for celebrating Easter with us…have a great week!

As Honest As I Can Be

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Just a few more days until Easter.  To be honest I’m an emotional mess for a number of reasons.  I think the primary reason is I realize this is my last big event for United.  For 3+ years we have worked together as a team to reach as many people for Jesus as possible.  Over 300 people have made 1st time professions, which is awesome but the work is far from done and I realize my influence on this community is quickly coming to a conclusion.  I want so bad for us to have one last big-time push to bring people to Jesus.

I’m also emotional because the team has been working nearly around the clock all this week to make sure the Easter Experiences this year are something memorable, impacting and life-changing.  When I think about what could be this Sunday I well up with emotion realizing that we’re doing all we can and just praying that you’re doing your part inviting as many people as possible to hear the Good News of Jesus victory over death and sin.

Finally I’m emotional because the devil isn’t happy about this and all week long as been doing all kinds of things in my life to try to stop this Sunday from being all that it can be.  Honestly constant spiritual warfare is draining, tiring and sometimes deflating.  I’m talking so bad that this week he’s been constantly whispering to me how bad I am, how my life isn’t making a difference and how I should just quit and do something else with my life.  Reading God’s word though reminds me that I am forgiven, more than a conqueror and a vital piece of the puzzle in seeing God’s kingdom come here in Chambersburg and beyond.

So with all that being said.  If you are a part of the United Worship Experience and really want to do something to make a difference in people’s lives and want to do something nice for me as a kind of going away present, then do whatever it takes this week to make sure you have at least 1 guest with you.  People’s eternal lives really do depend on what we together as a church accomplish.  Don’t let this just be another week or weekend that goes by without inviting those you know and love to come check out what it is that we do and more importantly who it is that we worship.  Jesus hanging on a cross was not comfortable, yet he did it anyway because He loves you.  Won’t you show your love in return by getting out of your comfort zone and inviting multiple people to come with you this week?

I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is God’s powerful method of bringing all who believe it to heaven.  –Romans 1:16

For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”  But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? -Romans 10:13-14