One of my favorite pastors, Craig Groeschel, did a couple of blog posts this week on becoming friends with your pastor.  I liked some of his points, others I didn’t, so I thought I’d adapt it, add some of my own  and hopefully by the end you’ll have a better idea of how we can become friends:

1. Not everyone can be best friends with the pastor…just like you my time is limited…I can’t have 600 best friends.  However, that doens’t mean I don’t want to get to know you better.  If that leads into a deeper friendship great, if not great again…there’s a lot of other people out there that make a much better friend than me anyway…just ask my friends…they’ll confirm that for you.   :)
2. Don’t be pushy.  That comes across as needy and needy people are what we have to deal with on an almost daily basis. 
3. Be real.  Too many times people put on a mask around the pastor trying to be someone they’re not.  As Craig put it, “We’d rather see the dark side of you than a fake spiritual side.”  I try from the stage each week to give you a glimpse into the real Gilbert, in return let me see the real you and together we can grow to become more like Christ.
4. Allow me to be me.  So many people put unrealistic expectations on the pastor forgetting that he’s human just like they are.  I will make mistakes…I will mess up…I will hurt you at some point…not intentionally, not because I don’t love Jesus, not because I’m out to ruin your life, but because I’m just as human as you are.  Please extend to me the same grace that I will in turn extend to you.  My 5 best friends on this planet all allow me to be Gilbert, not Pastor Gilbert.  It’s great to know that some people love me warts and all and will be with and for me no matter what.
5. Speaking of unrealistic expectations…I can’t say yes to everything.  I’m learning this the hard way…the bigger we become and the more influential I become, the more the invitations roll in for all kinds of opportunities for dinners, parties, speaking engagements, etc.  The problem is if I say yes to everything, then that means I’m saying no to something else…unfortunately that may mean time with Lisa or spending time in the areas that I’m truly gifted.  So if I say no to your request to come to your Great Aunt Ruth’s, 40th anniversary of the the time she was employee of the month at the local bank, it doens’t mean I don’t like you…it just means I don’t have time for everything and I hope you’ll understand.
6. Like you I have a life outside the church, so it’s Ok to talk with me about just normal stuff like, sports and hobbies and TV shows, etc.
7. Less than 10% of people who are ever in full-time ministry as a pastor will retire from the ministry.  Not trying to make pastoring sound like the most dangerous job in the world but in some ways it is.  The stress levels are extremely high when you consider that we are like the generals leading the troops out into war against the devil and all of the negatives that he brings into this world.  Add on top of that the long, unpredictable hours, the many times unrealistic expectations that church members have of the pastor and church and you’ve got a recipe for burn-out.  So with all that being said the greatest way to be my friend is to let me know that you pray for me.  I’m not just talking an “Oh yeah God and bless Gilbert also” type of prayer…I mean seriously praying that God would lead, guide and protect me as a follower of Christ first, as a husband second and then as a pastor of His church.
8. One last thing…my love and friendship can be bought. :)  Seriously you don’t know how much it means to get cards, letter’s, e-mails, gift cards, etc. letting me know that you’re life has changed in a small or big way because of my influence, example or teaching.  Again ministry can be hard and sometimes I think “Is it all worth it?”  Then I get a reminder from someone that yes indeed my time and sacrifice are not in vain and that helps carry me on sometimes for weeks or months at a time. 

To those that are already close friends…thank you…I love you all.

To everyone else, I look forward to on varying degrees getting to know you better in the coming months and years!

The truck is rented, the boxes are packed, the house is ready…hmmm somethings missing…oh yeah YOU. If you can help us with our move on March 1st that would be greatly appreciated. We will begin at 8:30am and we should hopefully be done in the 12PM-2PM time frame.

The last time we moved we were done by 12PM, with about 12 people helping. I hope for at least that many again if not more. For those of you who know me well with my attention to organization and detail, if at the end of the day you don’t say, “This was the easiest move I’ve ever helped with”, then we’ll give you your money back. :)

Lunch will be provided. If you’re interested in helping please e-mail me at gilbert@unitedworshipexperience.org.  There is a crew leaving the church at 7:45am to head our way and for any locals, I’ll give you the directions of how to get here.  Thanks in advance for your help!

• Last night we celebrated Valentine’s Day at Nick’s Airport Inn.
• I love to date my wife…she’s a lot of fun.
• For those of you who aren’t familiar with Nick’s, it’s a ritzy place…cloth napkins, etc.
• I had to blow my nose, but I wasn’t about to use a cloth napkin so I had to go with what was available.
• Yes that’s a hundred dollar bill.
• No it’s not real.
• Why Lisa carries around Kleenex that looks like that I’ll never know.
• After 12 years of marriage she keeps me guessing…and I love it!
• She re-enacted one of the scenes from the first time we ever went to a fancy restaurant by stabbing her salad and holding the leaves up above eye level saying, “Look how big this lettuce is?”
• Unlike 14 years ago, I didn’t yell at her to “put that down you’re embarrasing me.”
• I mean how could I be embarrassed when I’m blowing my nose with hundreds.
• As for the meal itself we had jumbo shrimp as the appetizer, followed by salad and some out of this world homemade bread.  For our entree’s Lisa had Crab Imperial and I had the Fillet Mignon with Crab Cakes.  Dessert consisted of a chocolate raspberry cheesecake for me and a Chocolate Mousse Cake for Lisa….mmmm good.
• Best part was it was all free thanks to a very generous gift from someone here at the church.
• For that couple, thank you so much!  We prayed for you that God would bless this seed (or in this case food) you sowed into our lives 100 fold.
• On the way out I reached up to take Lisa’s hand not realizing she was still hanging onto a used tissue she had used…eewww.
• The moral of the story…you can dress us up but you can’t take us out.
• Both yesterday and today I had to get up early to let in the guys installing and testing our new water system at the old house.  It was the final thing that needed to be done before the sale of the house so it looks like we’re on track.
• This morning I had an unexpected visit from Denny Koontz and Dave Draper.  Dave is the president of the Seminary that the Churches of God has and he is one of the nicest and most pleasant people you’d ever want to encounter. 
• I’ve decided I want to be just like him when I grow up.
• I’m so excited about Guest Speaker, Cathy Pence coming in the weekend.
• I know I say it all the time, but please, please, please, invite someone to come with you this weekend.

• Great Experience today!
• Realized that all the people who help Lisa do set-up were away at the marriage conference.
• They all have good marriages.
• So the moral of the story is if you want to have a good marriage you need to help Lisa with set-up!
• In any case, had quite a few people who came to help…thanks!
• I told Andy to turn on the hazer and then we both went our separate ways.  Oops we came back at about the same time and I thought the glory of God had filled the temple. 
• The haze was so thick we couldn’t even see the back screen…someone came in looking for Gayle and Andy said…”Uhh she’s up there somewhere.”
• Luckily it lifted before we started.
• The experiment with the acoustic set I thought went well.
• It really connected with the Christians in the room, but in talking with some seekers afterwards they said they weren’t really into it.
• It just goes to show that you’ve got to know who you’re trying to reach and keep things geared in that way.
• So next week we’ll be back to normal…however, I want to figure out how to, on maybe a Saturday night, once a quarter or so have worship nights.
• Yes, that was a terrible last sentence but you know what I mean.
• Standing backstage we we’re running so quiet sound-wise that I could hear the kids over in the Children’s Worship Center singing.  That was definitely a first.
• I had forgotten that slow songs take so long…we were way behind…but it didn’t matter…God was definitely present and the team did an awesome job.
• The one song was an original by Karl Hartman from the team…great job Karl!
• During the week I didn’t feel good about the message but it all came together…I love when God does that.
• Saw quite a few people crying during the video in the message…what an awesome video on perspective!
• Ben Myers ran the computer for the first time himself today…great job Ben!
• During lunch today we were showing some funny videos on our laptops and one of our friends was laughing so hard she puked her beverage out her nose…love when that happens!
• Tonight we’ll get together with some friends while other friends of ours who shall remain nameless got tickets to see the Blue Man Group but not enough for all of us…oh well.