Gilbert Thurston

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

What Happens to People Who Never Hear About Jesus?

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I talked with and then received an e-mail over the weekend from an attender of United who was wondering, “If only people who pray and ask Jesus for forgiveness make it to heaven, then what happens to people who have never heard about Him?”  I e-mailed him back with my response and thought it might be helpful for others of you as well.  So here’s what I wrote…

As we spoke about Jesus is the only way to heaven.  The question then becomes…”Well then what about people who have never heard of Jesus”?  That question can be answered in Romans chapters 1-3.  In chapter 1 we read about how God reveals Himself to us through His creation.  It’s hard not to look at nature, space, the changing of the seasons, the complexities of the human body, etc and not come to the conclusion that something greater than us created it all.  We call this “The Light of Creation”.

In chapter 2 we read about how our own conscience convicts us of right and wrong.  As I shared with you, “Even thieves in the deepest, darkest, jungles of Africa still steal under the cover of darkness”.  Why?  Because they know deep down, even if there are no commands or laws against it in their society that it is wrong.  This we call “The Light of Conscience”.

In Romans 3 then we read about the good news that Jesus is that “higher power” and that He can and wants to forgive us of all the wrong our conscience has convicted us about.  This we call “The Light of Christ”.  Now everybody during every time has had the “Light of Creation” and the “Light of Conscience”.

Many throughout time have been able to hear of Jesus and His offer of forgiveness.  For people like that (which includes you and I) we will be judged on “What decision did you make about Jesus in regards to how to handle your sin?”  If you’ve truly prayed and asked for His forgiveness and leadership in your life, then you will be forgiven and are given the assurance of eternal life with Him in heaven.  If however you decide that you are going to try to make it into heaven based on your own good works and deeds then you’ll spend all of eternity in hell because heaven is a perfect place and only perfect people are allowed to enter in.

Some though never get the chance to hear about Jesus.  So does this mean that they will have to suffer in hell forever just simply because they never heard about Him?  The answer is no.  Does this mean then that people who never hear about Jesus automatically get a free pass to heaven then?  The answer again would be no.  While they may be ignorant about the claims of Christ, they are not innocent of sin by any stretch of the imagination.  So then what happens to these people?  Simple…they will be judged based on the amount of light in which they have received.  Again we all have an innate sense that there is something out there greater than us (whether we know to call Him God/Jesus or not) and we all feel conviction about the wrongs which we’ve done (even if we don’t know the theological term, “sin”).  So the question is, do they acknowledge that sin in their life and recognize that only that “higher power” has the power to forgive them and change them?  So all people need forgiveness of sin, we just happen to know that Jesus was God in the flesh who made that possible for us.  So you and I will be judged on all 3 “lights”, some will only be judged based on the first 2 “lights” because that’s all they had.

Inside Today’s Experiences

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  • Great day today.
  • School’s back in and vacations are over!
  • So nice to have the energy of a big crowd again at 9:45.
  • Now we need to do a great job of inviting more to the 11:15 so we can get the momentum going there.
  • Funny to think that last year at this time it was exactly opposite…huge crowds late and sparse crowds early.
  • In any case, things ran pretty smoothly today with the exception of one funky light that didn’t want to stay the proper color.
  • We also had an unexpected absent by a key person on the tech team and another key person missing so we were scrambling there.
  • I ended up running some of it and Josh Schlotterbeck stepped up to “learn on the fly”.  Thanks Josh.
  • If you are interested in helping with tech, let me know.
  • Also don’t forget we need some more volunteers in the set-up and tear down crews.  Again let me know and I’ll get your name to the proper people.
  • It was great to have Aaron back for a week…love his energy.
  • Speaking of energy, I think Andrea had an energy drink this morning…she was pumped up and I love hearing her sing “Unveil”.
  • Had a few people tell me how much they appreciate that we cover hit songs.  Aaron and the team did a great job with Kings of Leon’s, Use Somebody.
  • We do this so that hopefully when it comes on the radio, a new association has been made in your mind between the song and the message.
  • I had a ton of fun with the message at 9:45.  Not so much at 11:15…just couldn’t get into a good rhythm.
  • Guess which one got posted online?  :)
  • Met some great people today at the guest receptions…we’re so fortunate to be attracting so many people that are hungry to have God speak into their lives.
  • All in all, a good day…I’m already looking forward to next week!
  • Tonight we’ll be hanging with some of our small group peeps.
  • Also excited about the Redskins game today!

Welcome Home

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Last night I was travelling to church and saw a couple of people out in their yard very excitedly putting up a rather large sign.  At first I thought it was a political sign, but then when I got up close I noticed that it was a welcome home sign for a solider.  The joy on their face, even though I only saw it briefly was so apparent. 

That got me to thinking.  One day if we’ve been a follower of Christ, heaven will throw a part for us when we die saying “Welcome Home”!  Like a solider, we will have been in a temporary battle, in a land not our own, but now we’ll be safely home.  Notice that soliders realize that they are only going to be living in the land for a short while so they don’t get too comfortable there.  Yes, they set up temporary shelter, but they realize this is not their real home…every day they yearn to return to home to a place of safety.  Everyday they look out for thier fellow soliders because the goal is that none would die, but that all would return safely home to their mother’s and father’s. 

So how about you.  Are you too comfortable in this foreign land (earth) which you live?  Are you setting upwhat you think is a permanent residence here not realzing that you could be shipped out any day?  Are you doing all you can to help your fellow soliders make it home safely?  Lots to think about…let’s hear what you’re thinking…comment below.

Information vs. Transformation

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Today Leadership Network hosted a great idea.  It was a 1-day event called, The Nines (in honor of today being 09/09/09).  The basic concept was starting at 9:09 this morning and continuing through this evening, over 70 pastors and church leaders delivered 9 minute talks on leadership.

I’ve had it running in the background most of the day, but I’ve got to be honest.  Even though it featured many great speakers, some whom I consider friends, others who are mentors from afar and others yet whom I had never heard of.  All gave great talks, but eventually I had to turn it off.  Why might you ask?  Well the answer is simple.

Too much information that wasn’t related.  Again every single bit was great, but as a whole, it was too much to take in when there were so many different topics being talked about.  In other words, I was getting tons of information, but my fear is that there will be no transformation in my life or leadership because I couldn’t possibly process it all.

And that’s my fear for our lives as well.  Between daily devotions, Sunday school classes, mid-week classes, small groups, sermons, podcasts, tv and radio preachers, etc, we consume an enormous amount of religious education every single week.  If the sign of spiritual maturity were simply are we getting more and more info, then we’d be the most spiritually people in the 2000 years of Christianity.  Yet were not, why is that?  Again simple.  God wants transformation in our lives, not just us being consumers of information, or as James put it, “Be doers of the word, not just hearers”.

So while info is great, make sure that you’re being intentional each day and week to taking one or two concepts and applying it to your life.  So how about it…are you just about information, or are you about being transformed day by day?

Inside Today’s Experiences

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  • Mixed emotions about today.
  • It was a fun and impactful weekend, but with the holiday, attendance was way down.
  • Pretty hard to get pumped up, especially during the second Experience.
  • However, still got to keep the perspective of even on our “off” weeks, God is still doing something amazing amongst us so we an never take that for granted.
  • After being away last week, it was nice to be back preaching again.
  • I’m so excited about what God is going to do in people’s lives…can’t wait for next week!
  • Love the stage set Brian designed for the series…very clever!
  • I just realized that for the first time in weeks, I didn’t have to wear a costume to church!
  • While REWIND was fun, glad to be back to “normal”.
  • Although I have been having some difficulty with my mic (thanks Brian :) and Andy between Experiences decided to tape it to my head…I’m sure pictures of that will show up eventually online.
  • I bit the inside of my lip pretty hard between Experiences as well…ouch that hurt.
  • I liked the new song the team introduced today…and the way they introduced it, with Brian teaching you guys what to do.
  • We came up with the idea this morning during warm-ups.  Wish you could have seen that.  Brian and Gayle were like Abbott and Costello doing “Who’s on First”…hilarious.
  • The special music song “Unveil” was weird…at the end of it at the first Experience the crowd roared…at the second they sat there in complete silence.
  • In any case, it’s a great theme song for the series and we’ll give you chances to sing along in future weeks.
  • I felt good about the message…think if we’ll all apply the tips I’ll be sharing, we’ll all hear clearly from God about what His will for our lives is.
  • Can you tell I’m writing this after a long nap…I’m all over the place.
  • Time to go…dinner with friends!