Gilbert Thurston

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

Say What?

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Missionaries have a big term called contextualization to describe how they first learn the culture of a country before they go to share the good news of Jesus with the natives.  The reason they do this is to know how to most effectively be able to share the Gospel in a way that will make sense to the people they are trying to reach.

In America we must do the same thing.  The sad thing is we’ve come up with our own little Christian language and most people have no idea what we’re talking about.  Sort of like if I went to China, but kept speaking English….most people wouldn’t understand me.  So here’s the question…if I’m in China to share Jesus with the natives, do I first expect everyone to learn English and then I’ll share the Gospel?  NO!!!  Instead I’ll learn Chinese and share the good news in their native tongue.

So again, what words or phrases do you use that only other Christians will understand?  How can you simplify it to say what it really means?  For example, many years ago I stopped saying, “You need to ask Jesus to be the Savior and Lord of your life.”  Now does that mean people don’t need that?  Of course not,  but now I say it this way…in fact if you’ve been around United long enough you can probably say it along with me…”You need to ask Jesus to forgive you of your sins and come in and take control of your life…that is be the leader of your life.”  It’s saying the same thing, but now anyone can understand it. 

I’ll give some more examples tomorrow, but in the meantime, what are some Christian phrases that you use or you hear people use that could use some better wording.  Comment below…if you’ve got the solution, go ahead and share it…if not, I’ll tell you how I’d say it.  In the meantime, “Here I raise my Ebenezer.”

Wow am I busy

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Just realized I hadn’t put anything out since Sunday, so here’s an up-date…I AM SWAMPED!!! Yesterday I started early in the morning and didn’t finish until 1am. Today I started out at 8:30 and I’m not thinking I’ll get home until at least midnight. Not complaining, but the week before a holiday and vacation are always hectic by themselves…combine them together and it’s a killer.

My prayer for you is that you are finding time this Christmas season to slow down. Also, don’t forget your 3 homework assignments (Sroll to the very bottom).   Later…

Inside Today’s Experience

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  • Ok, so the ice slowed us down a little.
  • I really enjoyed today’s Experience despite the attendance being way down with the ice.
  • I guess some people just got it in their mind that the ice would be bad and decided to stay home…truthfully when we left at 8AM to head to church the roads were already clear…by the time 10AM rolled around when most people would have to leave to come, it certainly was clear by then…oh well, you missed a good one.
  • “Angels We Have Heard on High” rocked!!!!  Our team is so awesome…big thanks to Curtis Miller from MD for suggesting that version.
  • We had brand new volunteers on both the projection computer and lighting computer…they did awesome as well…way to go Jerry and Chrissy!
  • I had a frog in my throat all day…hate when that happens.
  • Wow sometimes messages come out exactly the way I prepare them and then other times they don’t….today was one of those days where I just got out of the way and allowed God to do His thing.
  • As an example the long pause while talking about how many people just stand around during worship was a completely a spur of the moment thing.  The longer I stood there the more the point was made and eventually it got long enough that even I was feeling uncomfortable…however many people commented that it really got the point across and was quite convicting…yeah God!
  • We switched things up today with the amount of music and when it happened.  It’s always good to keep people on their toes.
  • Lisa heard someone comment towards the end….”Oh he forgot to take the offering again.”  Of course we were just adding in a song where one normally didn’t go.
  • It was good to share in communion with everyone even if the crowd was sparse.
  • After the Experience I got to share in communion with the worship team which is always a neat thing.
  • Had a huge Thanksgiving like meal at the Krull’s for lunch and now were heading out for dinner with some other friends of ours…wow it’s hard to keep my girlish figure.
  • I’ve got a busy week coming up with preparation for Christmas, Christmas Eve and our trip to Florida.
  • Don’t forget your 3 assignments for the week.
    1.  Write a thank you letter to the person who introduced you to Jesus.
    2.  Bring a birthday gift (tithe/10% of your weekly income) income in for
         the birthday boy, Jesus, next week.
    3.  Invite someone else to come into the Experience with you next week. 
         To do it on-line click here, then scroll down to the bottom invite. d

    • The Ice Can’t Stop Us!

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    There will be a normal Expereince this morning. However, for those of you that were thinking about the 8:15am service in the sanctuary or Sunday School, those have been cancelled.

    The roads are looking better and the temperature is rising, so enjoy the few extra moments of sleep and then come on out!