Gilbert Thurston

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

Random Saturday Thoughts

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  • Let me start by reminding you…DO NOT SET YOUR CLOCKS FORWARD!
  • We will all do this together after church on Sunday morning.
  • Enjoy the extra hour of sleep that you would have lost otherwise.
  • It was an interesting week…lots going on.
  • Thursday we had CPR training as a staff as well as learning how to use the AED device to shock people’s hearts back into rhythm.
  • Man…hope I never have to do either of those things.
  • Great to have the team from Haiti back home…sounds like they had a great time and got much accomplished.
  • RIP…Circuit City.
  • I can’t wait for the “You Asked For It” series to start on the 15th.
  • We’ve got some surprises in store for you that should be a lot of fun!
  • I’m so glad that the judges did not bring back Tatiana on American Idol…that girl was big time annoying.
  • I’m loving my new phone…it’s helping me to be more productive with time since I can check e-mails and stuff basically anywhere.
  • Mmm…also means my workaholic, Type A personality can work even more hours…maybe this isn’t such a good thing.
  • I’ll finish reading “A Whack on the Side of the Head” today…loved it!
  • Enjoy your nice spring like day…see you tomorrow…again at normal time.

    • “Mystery Shopper” Visits United

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    Late last night I was searching for any new health information on the status of Gilbert Arenas who plays for the Wizards…yes I’m a Wizards fan…let’s move on.

    In any case, searchng for stuff for him made me think, “It’s been awhile since I googled, ‘Gilbert Thurston’ so I should do so to see what the latest and greatest (in some cases gripes) about me are on the internet”.  Apparently it’s been at least 1 year since I last did it because I found out that a mystery guest from “Church Visit” had paid us a visit in February of 2008 during our 3 Wise Monkeys series. 

    I had heard of these guys before…they hire a person in various communities to “mystery shop” churches and then write up a review so guests can get a glimpse into what they might experience in a church before actually attending.

    With a sense of nervousness I began reading our review.  Wow you couldn’t have asked for much better.  And it’s not like this guy is afraid to speak the truth either.  He has now reviewed about a dozen churches in the Chambersburg area and he is sometimes even more brutally honest than I am.  You can read the others in the blog archive on the right hand side of his site.

    Way to go United and everyone else in CFCOG!  As I said this past week it takes all of us doing our part to make United truly an Experience.  Keep up the great work!

    Other Weekend Thoughts

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    With Taylor snowtubing

  • Friday didn’t turn out to be much of a day off, but I did get to spend Friday evening with my niece Taylor (pictured with me above) snowtubing at Whitetail.
  • This was the second weekend in a row I had done this and it was amazing the difference.
  • The week before it had been really cold and icy…this past Friday it was warm, rainy and the course was slushy.
  • Made for slower runs but we had a good time none the less.
  • They were having a problem with the conveyor belt that transports you to the top of the mountain…it kept stopping all of the sudden which means people go flying.
  • At one point a little kid maybe about 6 years old was in front of me riding up the mountian when it stopped and he went flying off onto the stationary ramp beside the belt.
  • The problem was the belt started again but he still had his arm attached to his tube which was riding up the belt.
  • So as I go riding by either I have to jump his tire or do something else…I did something else.
  • I reached down and with one hand picked him up by the back of his jacket and plopped him back down on the belt…I felt like Superman.
  • Then while still riding…I undid his arm from the tube and picked it up so he wasn’t tangled in it anymore.
  • Poor kid was so tramautized by the whole thing that he leaned forward and threw up all over the belt.
  • As we get to the top of the mountain I’m trying to warn the operator to avoid the puke but he for some reason didn’t see it until the last minute and jumped out of the way just in the nick of time.
  • Other than that…a pretty fun night hanging out with Taylor…and of course what night would be complete without stopping for ice cream on the way home!
  • Saturday involved a lot more work and then heading up to the church for our first ever Connection Event.
  • It went great…lots of newer people to the church got to mingle and get to know one another and by the time this weekend was complete, 3 new small groups had been formed out of the evenings festivities.
  • A great big thank you for a job well done to Dan and Jan Krull and Josh Schlotterbeck for getting everything coordinated and planned.
  • Next time we have one of these I’d strongly recommend attending…it was a lot of fun.
  • Yesterday after church Lisa and I made a commitment to do nothing at all…but yet do it together.  Very relaxing!!!
  • Got caught up on shows like American Idol…too bad Nick/Normal Gentle went home…he was hilarious.  Love Ryan’s line…”I think that’s the first time anyone got to 2nd base with our logo.”
  • Today is sermon prep day…working on messages for the You Asked For It series.
  • The votes are in and you have decided that I should preach on…..
  • Come on did you really think it would be that easy…stay tuned for details in the days and weeks ahead.

    • Inside Today’s Experiences

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  • Another one of those mixed emotions days.
  • The morning started earlier than normal for me when I was awoken by the sound of a snow plow…wait a second, what?  A snow plow…are you kidding me?!
  • I get into church ok, but I’m wondering about the parking lot…Earl is normally in charge of snow decisions.
  • It was a bit slippery walking in from the parking lot and I’m worried about the older folks at the 8:00 sanctuary service slipping and falling so I call to have at least the senior parking area and guest parking area plowed.
  • Uhhh yeah…when I come out then at noon time everything is melted…snow, no snow…are you kidding me?!
  • So I get into the multi-purpose room to discover that the gym floor is a mess from a wedding the night before and that all of our tables for the tech area need to be carried out.
  • Now I’m running behind but not bad…everything is ready for the band to do their morning warm-up except the batteries for the mouse died.  No problem more batteries in the back…ooops all batteries gone…send Brian out for batteries.
  • Ok, back on track…great band warm-up although Aaron asks for a bit of extra time.  I told him no it’s 8:30 and we still have to check videos and other stuff.
  • Hit the video button…it plays on the screen…uhhh were’s the sound?
  • Check eveything we know to check…nothing.  Starting to worry because we had 5 different video clips to play of which 2 were very important to my message.
  • Why do these things always happen on weeks that Andy is away?
  • Trying desperately to call him and wake him up on his “vacation”.  Nothing, try Gayle’s number, Andy’s sister’s number, his parent’s number to see if they know which room they are staying in at the hotel.  Nothing…nothing…nothing.  
  • Mmmm…starting to get nervous…time is ticking.
  • Finally get a hold of Andy.  “Oh no problem…do this.” “Mmmmm…already tried that”.  “How about this?”   “Nope did that to”.
  • Ok, time for plan “B”.  Have Andy talk to Chris on the phone and walk him through repatching our entire video system.  
  • 7 minutes left until the 9:15 is supposed to start.
  • 5 minutes…3 minutes…2 minutes…”Ok guys go ahead and start the countdown just without any sound”.
  • 1 minute and 15 seconds left and the sound kicks on…whew just in the nick of time…everything will be good from here right…wrong.
  • Because we took so much time getting all that fixed nothing else got checked so we were having problems in other areas and then I come out on stage and don’t have a functioning microphone because I had forgotten to switch it back to the right channel after being in the sanctuary last week.
  • Luckily Aaron figured that out and was able to get me back on track during the first video.
  • All in all the 9:15 couldn’t have been much more of a trainwreck behind the scenes and then somewhat on stage.
  • How embarrasing since I was talking about making a great first impression in the message.
  • In any case, I had quite a few people tell me afterwards that despite the obvious glitches, the message was really convicitng and motivating so hopefully the whole thing was just Satan trying to keep us from accomplishing what we’re called to do in Franklin County and beyond.
  • A big thanks to Chris, Jerry, Jason and Aaron for keeping their cool under pressure and making the most of a bad experience.  And oh yeah…thanks to Andy for being “on call”.
  • The 10:45 then went off without a hitch and was a reminder of why I was so excited about today.
  • The band did a great job in both Experiences and the new stage design Aaron did for this series is incredible.
  • I think the big light heart was a hit.  Although I had a few people tell me they thought it was unintentional. 
  • Guess that tells you what they think of Aaron’s ability to think creatively!  :)
  • I had told Aaron earlier in the week that this was going to be one of my longer messages and wow I didn’t disappoint.  :)   Nearly 45 minutes when you include the prayer at the end.
  • Guess I had a lot to share :)
  • In the hectic pace of the morning I lost my water bottle somewhere, so what the team doesn’t know is that backstage I was grabbing anyone’s bottle I could find and drinking from it.
  • I’d pay to see their reactions right after having read that!
  • So basically today was at both ends of the spectrum…but I’m still proud of the team for pulling through.
  • Today though was further proof of why we need more of you to serve.  I am in no frame of mind to preach when all those other things are happening and I need to be there to help. 
  • I look forward to the day when the only thing I have to do on a Sunday morning is preach and then be told afterwards about how things just barely came together in time.
  • When we were done today I went to lunch with Don Dennison, his wife Phyliss and Kim Mills.  I hear Don did a great job filling in for Earl today in sanctuary.
  • I’ll check-in tomorrow with some other weekend thoughts.  In the meantime, keep asking yourself “What if…”

    • This Weekend

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    This weekend we begin a brand new two-part series called “What If”. After last night’s rehersal, let me just say YOU NEED TO BE THERE!

    The music is going to be awesome, there are some new surprises on the stage, you’re going to see a video testimonial that will floor you and as always I’ve got a couple of things up my sleeve as well.

    Do whatever it takes to be there and make sure you invite someone along as well!