Gilbert Thurston

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

4th of July

by Leave a Comment

Well I was going to do a post about the 4th and how our true independence comes from having a relationship with Jesus…it does…but then I read Mark Batterson’s post this morning and thought it was a must read for you to understand the spiritual history of our country. 

Enjoy your day…don’t forget to invite someone to come with you Sunday, Steven Furtick’s message is going to blow you away.

1/2 Year Stats

by Leave a Comment

Wow it’s hard to believe that 1/2 of 2008 has already passed us.  Thought it would be interesting to see which blog posts and which Podcasts got the most hits in the first half of the year.

Blog Posts:  In total I posted 136 times in the first 6 months…here are the 5 most popular.

  1. Wow I’m Honored:   The post where I shared that Tim Stevens had asked me to help review the manuscript for his new book Pop Goes the Church.  By the time it was all said and done, more than 10 people helped out, but still an honor none the less.
  2.  Inside Today’s Experience (2/17 Edition):    Not sure what made this one so popular.  I will remember it as the day we tried an acoustic set and a certain friend of mine went that night to see the Blue Man Group without me…yes if I sound bitter I am.  :)
  3. Off the Top of my Head:  Overall when you look at what consistently gets the most hits, it’s the Inside Today’s Experience posts and any time I do random thoughts.  It amazes me that you like to hear so much about my personal life, but I guess it’s good in that you get to know me better as a person, not just some guy you see up on a stage once a week.  In any case, this Valentine’s Day post was about as random as they come.
  4. Inside Today’s Experience…Sort Of:  My thoughts of visiting ForeFront Church while on vacation in Virginia Beach.
  5. Inside Today’s Experience (4/20 Edition):  The morning that all of our technology stuff seemed to die beforehand and Andy was back stage soldering right up to the start of the Experience.

Podcasts:  Obviously we had 26 messages in the first half of the year.  I spoke 20 times and 6 guest speakers filled the other 6 weeks.  Here are the top 5 most downloaded messages of the year thus far.

  1. A Time to Run:  From the series, Take It to the Limit.  This was the message I talked about how to deal with sexual temptation. 
  2. Speak No Evil:  From the series, 3 Wise Monkey’s.  Guest Speaker, Cathy Pence shared how powerful our words can be.
  3. As Is:  From the series, Everybody’s Normal til You Get to Know Them.  Here I talked about living an authentic life before people.
  4. Be With:  From the series, Everybody’s Normal til You Get to Know Them.  In this message I talked about why small groups are such an important part of your spiritual growth and maturity. 
  5. Just a Little Bit:  From the series, IMPACT.  Here I shared the way Jesus wants you to begin to see yourself.

Karson Crawford

by Leave a Comment

I just found out that my cousin’s boy Karson died this afternoon.  Please pray for Deron and Megan and the rest of our family.  This was their first child and it’s got to be rough right now.

Random Tuesday Thoughts

by Leave a Comment

am PUMPED UP about this up-coming Sunday’s message from Steven Furtick!

  • It will sound vaguely familiar to some of you, but that’s OK.
  • By the way the 4th commandment doesn’t say “To honor the Sabbath unless it’s a holiday weekend.”
  • The 4th of July is Friday…you’ve got all day Friday and Saturday to celebrate until your little heart is content.  There is no excuse to miss on Sunday…none…nada…zilch…zero.
  • Ok, if you die…maybe….but as Ed Young shared last week…let’s at least pray for you and see what happens.
  • Seriously though….don’t miss this weekend it will be an incredible lead-in to the Unstoppable series that will be starting the following week where I’ll be sharing the next steps we’ll be taking as an Experience and as a church to continue impacting Franklin County and beyond.
  • Got an up-date on my car this morning.  It will take a week to get the part in, so I’ll be able to pick it up today and drive it around, just won’t have AC.
  • I’m such a baby sometimes….waaaaaa…I may break a sweat or have the wind mess up my hair…or in my case…hairs.
  • Just got done a brainstorming meeting for the series after Unstoppable….it’s going to be awesome…if you enjoyed the GodPod series last year, you’ll enjoy this one as well.
  • We’re starting to get some resumes in for our Pastor of Creative Arts Position.  While some look promising, most are terrible.
  • As a lesson for yourself, remember when sending resumes in the future to do the following:
    • Make sure you read the instructions carefully that your potential employer has asked.  It’s amazing how people aren’t following simple directions.
    • Make sure you fit the job description…again amazing that people who have no skills in the areas that we are looking are applying.  It would be like applying for a job as a secretary and saying you don’t know how to type and you’ve never used a computer and you hate using the phone.  Well then why apply?
  • In any case, we’ll weed out the bad ones and find the guy or gal that God would have for us.  If you know of someone who may be interested, they can get all the details here.

    • Other Weekend Thoughts

    by Leave a Comment

    • My vehicle on Friday afternoon lost it’s air conditioning on the way home from the conference.
    • Wouldn’t have been so bad if it didn’t start raining and then hailing…the windows were fogging and I couldn’t get any air to them because if I put the window down I got drenched.
    • Funny how just a few weeks prior to that I was at an amusement park and paid to get on rides where I’d get drenched but for some reason riding in my car I wasn’t willing to do the same thing.
    • In any case, the car is in the shop today for repairs.
    • After the 10:30 services were done yesterday I was talking with the Bricker’s and Jill shared with me that their 4 year old Chase is still repeating something I said to him a few months back.  I said, “Chase you’re a mighty man of God.”
    • They said that on Saturday they were at a picnic where he was telling that to everyone….just then he comes running up and says to me, “do you remember me…I’m a mighty man of God.”
    • Just then Dirk Detweiler goes walking past holding his son Luke and I said, “Look there’s another mighty man of God.”
    • Chase looks at me and says, “I’m the mighty man of God.”  I said, “Well there can be more than one mighty man of God.”
    • He looks back up at me and says, “Nah he’s the baby man of God.”
    • Hysterical!!!  But parents it’s also a reminder that you’re kids are listening to what we say to them.  If you say, “You’re stupid.”  “You’re not as good a your brother.”  “You’ll never be able to do that.”   “You’ll never amount to anything.”  “Why can’t you be more like _______?” etc…they here that and will begin to live it out…but if like I did with Chase you speak something positive into their lives, they will begin to identify themselves that way.
    • I’m so thankful for my grandmother who would tell me bedtime stories about a little boy named Gilbert who could do and achieve anything he wanted to.  In her stories there was never an obstacle too big or challenge too great that Gilbert couldn’t overcome.
    • Today my confidence in who God is and what He wants to accomplish through little old me is off the charts because she spoke a positive word.
    • So be careful what you say to a child…encourage them, build them up.  As I discovered, it’s not hard to speak something that changes how a child begins to see themselves.
    • In fact, why don’t you volunteer to help with Vacation Bible School or in one of our Children’s Ministries on Sunday mornings? 
    • You see it’s not always about teaching or even helping…it’s about being a role model and a positive influence.
    • A friend of mine used to say that in almost every area of life we are over-trained and under-motivated.  So go motivate a child to live fully for Jesus and to become our next pastor, president, astronaut, school teacher, etc. and to do it all for the Glory of God!
    • Wow that got long…I’ll post some more thoughts tomorrow.