Gilbert Thurston

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

Momentum

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As I was driving to the office this morning, I was still lamenting last night’s Washington Capitals playoff game in which they lost 4-1.  For those of you who are not sports or hockey fans, my Caps dominated the regular season.  They are the #1 seed in the playoffs and were expected to dominate the Montreal Canadians.  The Caps won 3 of the first 4 games as expected and where only 1 win away from advancing to the next round….they had all the momentum.  However, that’s when things began to change…

Montreal goal-tender, Jaroslav Halak began playing out of his mind.  He had been so bad earlier in the series that he actually got replaced by the back-up goalie, but in Game 5, he held the high scoring Caps team to just one goal.  Then last night, in the first few minutes he made 3 spectacular saves that gave he and his team the confidence they needed to sustain the momentum they had started in the previous game.  By the time the game was over, Halak has stopped an incredible 53 of 54 shots taken at him.  To put that in context…if a team gets off 35 shots in a game it’s considered a lot…or another way to think about it is…a Hall of Fame goalie over his career will stop 50 out of every 54 shots taken at him.

Ok, so here are some random thoughts of what to make of the above….

  • People, businesses, teams, churches  and organizations need to get and then sustain momentum.
  • Sometimes momentum comes from just 1 person.  By the fact the Caps got off 54 shots tells us that the rest of the Canadians were not playing well.  Halak though was a difference maker.
  • There will always be a key moment or decision that will determine whether you will gain or lose momentum.  Halak’s first few saves gave him confidence that he sustained throughout the rest of the game.  Had he even let in one of those shots the rest of the game would have likely been very different.
  • When you have momentum don’t do anything drastic that might change it.  The Canadians kept the same strategy and line-up throughout.
  • In your life, family, organization, etc, what can you do to help build momentum?
  • Have you realized that YOU, even though you are just one person, can be a difference maker that will inspire those around you?
  • One final thought, the reality is this post was just a way for me to vent my frustrations with the Caps, so I came up with a lame blog post, trying to turn what Satan meant for evil into good.  🙂

So let’s hear from you…what lessons have you learned about momentum?  And oh yeah…Let’s Go Caps in game 7 tomorrow night!

Not Your Own

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My car died this week and now Lisa’s car is in the shop for it’s annual inspection and won’t be back until tomorrow.  Today Brian let me drive his car to go get lunch and then Earl offered me the use of his car for tonight once we realized Lisa’s car would be in the shop overnight.  I noticed in driving both of their cars today that I’m a much better and safer driver in their vehicles.  Why?  Simple…they’re not mine and I want to take as good of care of them as possible.  This got me thinking about scripture…

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says, “Your body is a temple where the Holy Spirit lives. The Spirit is in you and is a gift from God. You are no longer your own. God paid a great price for you. So use your body to honor God”. Hhmmmm these verses are saying that in the same way I don’t own Earl’s car and I’m trying to take good care of it, our bodies are not our own either.  So the question is how are you doing taking care of God’s possession (your body) that He entrusted you with?

David Lee Roth & M&M’s

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If you’ve ever heard me preach you know that I will do just about anything to include M&M’s in as an illustration…and not just a few either…pounds of M&M’s have helped illustrate giving and how our emotions sometimes come pouring out of us.  Well I just read an article in Fast Company magazine that had to do with M&M’s and I thought I’d share.

Back in the 1980’s when Van Halen was in it’s heyday, David Lee Roth was known for his wild antics and what we’d call diva like attitudes as he and the band were on the road.  One such diva like characteristic was that the band wanted bowls full of M&M’s in their dressing room.  Wow the nerve of some people right?  Wrong…read on to find out why.

Van Halen toured to many cities every year and when they pulled into a city with 9 tractor trailer loads full of equipment and staging, there was a lot of work for the local promoter and stage hands to set-up.  Van Halen like all bands had a contract with the local promoter of everything that needed to be done in order to ensure a successful and profitable show.  There were many technical points in these contracts like, “There will be 15 amperage voltage sockets at 20-foot spaces, evenly, providing 19 amperes.”  Roth himself said the contract was thick and convoluted but needed to be followed exactly in order to not have technical errors that might destroy the entire show.

So Roth did something quite ingenious.  He inserted in the middle of the contract, Article 126 which said that the bowls of M&M’s backstage for the band must not contain any brown M&M’s or the promoter risked forfeiting the show.  When the band would show up the day of the show the first thing Roth did was go backstage to the dressing room to see if there were any brown M&M’s in the bowls.  If there were not it meant that the entire contract had been read and more than likely each of the other line items were being followed to a “T”.  If they weren’t removed then Roth demanded that every item of every line be checked since the crews were not paying attention to ensure the show went off without any technical glitches.

So what’s that have to do with us.  Simple…details matter.  Whether it’s in life, business or church, paying attention to the little details will go a long way in ensuring success.  So what are the brown M&M’s in your life or organization that you need to take care of today?

University on Wheels

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There is an old saying that, “Leaders are Readers”.  However, so often in such a fast paced world, it can be difficult to read as much as you might like.  So that’s why I like to say, “Leaders are Learners”.  The key is to be learning as much as you can each and everyday.  So what can you do when you don’t have as much time to read as you’d like?  Simple…turn your car into a University on Wheels.

There are tons of CD’s and MP3’s that can be listened to while you’re driving that will make your drive time more productive.  Having trouble reading the bible?  Ok, listen to it instead.  Need to get some more info on healthy living.  Listen to something.  Have a big project at work you need to have more knowledge for.  Find a book that touches on the subject then buy the audio version instead.

I’m a huge fan of music and periodically you just need some music to listen to while driving, however if you’re smart you’ll start introducing some learning into the mix as well.  Even just 1/2 hour per day will add up to significant amounts of learning over the course of a year.  I started this habit back in the mid 90’s and now I hardly ever listen to music while in the car…between Cd’s and podcasts there is a never ending source of great teaching out there, the question is are you tapping into it?  Leaders are learners…how you doing?

The Challenge Has Begun

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This morning I issued the challenge to read through James and record your thoughts in the notebook we provided.  I just got this note from one of the young ladies in United…

I would like to thank you for this mornings service!! I have been struggling digging deeper into Gods word! I want to learn and grow more…. After the challenge you gave us i came home, got my little man down for his nap and started the challenge!!
I could not believe how much i got out of just one chapter of James!! Taking the time to read over a couple of times, digest it and write it out…WOW!
I filled 2 pages of what i felt God was showing me!! Then i broke it down into pointers so it was easier to read!
Just reading it is kinda like the verse that says looking in the mirror and forgetting what you look like when you turn away.. I sometimes read, then right away forget what it was about.. Doing it this was gave me time to really study it, and listen and hear what God is saying!
This was wonderful so thank you thank you thank you! I cant wait to share it!