Gilbert Thurston

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

Archives for July 2010

Happy 17th Spiritual Birthday to Me!

by Leave a Comment

The summer of 1993 started out like any other.  Since 1989 had I had started doing magic professionally and summers were a chance to be on the road a bit more.  The picture in this post is me with Harry Blackstone Jr taken in June of that year.  One thing that was different in my life was I had started reading the bible on a daily basis back in March.  The primary reason for that was a girl I had met named Lisa who unlike me was excited about God, church, the bible, etc.  I really liked her and was drawn not just to her beauty, but also this sense of peace she had in her life.  She attributed it to Jesus…I doubted that because I went to church every week and I certainly wasn’t excited or peaceful about any of it.

That all changed on July 27, 1993.  Like today July 27th fell on a Tuesday that year and like today the heat and humidity were high.  I arrived home from working at the magic shop and made myself some dinner and was planning on watching the Orioles game on TV.  The door bell rang…”Hmmmm wonder who that could be?”  Standing at the door were two men from the church Lisa attended, which I had attended as well the previous Sunday (side note:  I hated it because they played drums and guitars and the preacher walked around instead of standing behind a pulpit the whole time…sort of ironic huh?).  To make a long story short, Keith Skidmore and Marvin Bower shared that night with me what it really means to be a follower of Christ and for the first time in my life it all made sense.  Standing there on my front porch I prayed and asked Jesus to forgive me of my sins and to become the leader of my life.  The rest as they say is history…little did I know that day how much Jesus would change my life.  17 years…wow what a ride it’s been…can’t wait for the next 17 and beyond.  Thank you Jesus for all you’ve done for me!

First Launch Team Meeting

by Leave a Comment

Last night we had 26 people show up for the first official meeting as we get ready to launch ExponentialChurch.tv in just a few short months.  I shared my story and then the stories of both the founders of Microsoft and the forgotten (and poor) 3rd founder of Apple.  Surely if these few individuals could change our world, certainly we the founders of Exponential, with the power of the Holy Spirit living in us, can change the world as well was my premises.  The key is to rely on God and take some chances.

We have 6 blocks parties and 2 preview Experiences planned, as well as some other outreach opportunities, before our October 17th launch so Chad shared how people could get involved.  We then practiced how to easily share the story of Exponential with others in the community and we each set goals for how many people we’ll share the story with this up-coming week.  All in all it was a great first meeting and people hung around for quite awhile afterward getting to know each other and strategizing with others in how to best accomplish their specific parts of the mission and vision.

Thanks to Jeff and Alana Case for hosting.  Next week we’ll be meeting at Chad and Tammy Chute’s house.  For more info or directions, shoot me an e-mail at gilbert@ExponentialChurch.tv.  Below is a flier I put together with more of what’s happening:

Random Thoughts on a Friday Morning

by Leave a Comment

  • Wow haven’t done a random thoughts post in a long time.
  • Biggest thing on my mind right now is our housing situation.
  • At noon we’re supposed to sign a contract with the people that want to rent our house here in Chambersburg and then at 6pm we’re supposed to finalize the details for the house we put a contract on in Harrisburg.
  • It’s been quite the roller-coaster week in relation to all this…even now I won’t believe it until all the paperwork is done.
  • If however things go as we hope, then we can actually start moving into our new place starting tonight!
  • The place we found in Harrisburg will be a huge sacrifice as compared to what we’re used to but it has some nice features that will help lessen the “pain”…can you say…in-ground swimming pool!
  • This week Chad officially started on staff and we were able to lay-out a good game plan for what the rest of this summer will look like as we prepare for launch.
  • We visited Antrim Brethren in Christ last Sunday.  I’ll post my thoughts at some point in the near future.
  • We were on the road 22 of the 30 days in June and my body suffered because of all the eating out.  I put on 12 pounds so I’ve been working to lose them for not only health reasons but also to just have the necessary energy I need as we get ready to launch.
  • Anyone else as disappointed in Lebron as I was?  Not mad that he chose Miami…that’s what free agency is all about.  Just disappointed in how he went about doing it.
  • Can’t believe it took this long for them to get the oil spill under control.  Not 100% sure it’s totally solved yet but at least it’s better than it was.
  • Been reading through the Gospels this month…amazing that after now literally dozens of times having read them devotionally in the nearly 17 years I’ve been a follower of Christ how each time you pick up something new.
  • Stopped by CFCOG yesterday to drop some stuff off.  Didn’t even think about it, but I just happened to stop by when they were having staff meeting.  So awesome to get to see everyone.
  • People of Chambersburg…listen up…having traveled all over the country, I’ve eaten at Sonic plenty of times.  It’s not THAT good to justify sitting in line for 45+ minutes.  Give it a couple of weeks and it will be just like any other Sonic in the country…drive-up, get served right away and then drive away with your 1/2 decent order.
  • I find it funny that many of my Facebook friends are outraged that their phone number can now be found on Facebook and are urging everyone to hide it in their privacy settings.  Ummm hello, I went out to get the mail today and what did I happen to receive…the 2010 phone book…with people’s phone numbers in it.  Ah the irony.
  • Just for fun last night I decided to get out my Tiger Woods golf game for the Wii and play at St. Andrews since that’s where the 2010 British Open is being played.  I shot a 61…umm think I shouldn’t have played off the ladies tees.  🙂
  • Just read the following.   Need + Vision= Inspiration.   Need – Vision= Desperation.
  • Alright gotta go…our noon appointment should soon be arriving…appreciate your prayers!

What Are You Excited About?

by 1 Comment

I was just at a conference where I saw a few guys excitedly showing and telling others about their IPAD’s.  No doubt their excitement will lead to others going out and buying one.  The same phenomenon happened when the Wii first came out or when people found out that Sonic was going to open a store in our area…when you’re excited about something you tell other people about it.  In fact, you don’t even think about it…it’s just so exciting that it comes out of you…you can’t help it…YOU’RE EXCITED!

So as I was driving home from Harrisburg today I got to thinking…”Why is it that so few people ever share with others about their relationship with Jesus?”  My conclusion…they’re not all that excited about Him.  Listen, if you go see a movie and it’s awesome, you’re going to tell others about it.  Some people will go see it, others won’t.  Do you care? No.  You just shared your excitement and wanted to offer to them the same joy you received from it.  Well guess what…that makes you a movie evangelist.  In fact, I’ll go as far to say that we are all evangelists about something…tv shows, bands, ice cream flavors, brand of jeans, the list goes on and on.  Again what you’re excited about, you tell others about…that’s evangelism.  So why do so many Christians say, “Oh I could never share my faith, I don’t have a gift of evangelism”?  My conclusion is that they’re more excited about all kinds of other stuff more so than what Jesus has done for them.  So my question is…”What are you excited about”?

Life House Church East

by Leave a Comment

Yesterday Lisa and I visited the Life House Church which meets in Hagerstown, MD.  I had first visited them about 4 years ago and got to know them and their pastor, Patrick Grach, when they used to meet in a local elementary school.  Since then they have moved to the Leitersburg Pike Cinema’s.  It was interesting being back in that building because I once consulted for a church that met there when the place was a real dump.  Patrick and his team have done a great job working with the new owners to fix the place up and it is now a very nice building to walk into.

One of the reasons I wanted to visit is it is looking almost 100% positive that we’ll be meeting in a movie theater as we launch ExponentialChurch.tv this fall.  I met with Patrick for breakfast on Friday morning and he gave me saw great tips for not only meeting in a theater but also for starting the church in general.  One thing Patrick had mentioned about meeting at the theaters was that you need to work harder than normal to get people connected since they’re not used to going into a theater to connect with others in a deep, meaningful way.  So one of the first things we noticed when we went in was that they pull out tons of tables and serve breakfast.  Unlike most churches which simply have a Cafe type area, Life House’s entire lobby is filled with people talking and eating for extended periods of time.

Once the worship time started, the band played some oldies but goodies.  I don’t know why but almost everywhere we’ve visited this summer (including huge mega-churches) have been playing old songs.  Maybe it’s because it’s summer and a lot of the normal band members are on vacation so it’s easier to pull out the old stuff.  In any case, the band did a good job, although something else Patrick mentioned to me was very evident…lack of audience participation.  Since people aren’t used to being in a movie theater; singing, shouting, clapping, etc., you need to encourage participation even more than normal.  This was probably the worst part of the Life House experience…the room was dead…hardly anyone participated.  Definitely something I’ll keep an eye on as we launch.

Having preached in that theater a number of times, I know how difficult it is when you can only see people’s eyeballs because of the high-backed seats.  Patrick did a good job though as he shared how we are all called to be missionaries, even if it just to our neighbors and co-workers.  Altogether the service lasted about 1 hour and 15 minutes and then everyone scattered quickly to get to various 4th of July picnics that Life House was sponsoring throughout the area.

I’m glad we visited Life House, I certainly learned some stuff for how we are to proceed with our launch.  Patrick and his team are very creative when it comes to getting out into the community and reaching people that way.  The theaters were pretty full for both of their services (on a holiday weekend nonetheless) which is a testament to the awesome things they are together accomplishing to reach the Hagerstown area.