Gilbert Thurston

We’ve been doing alot of work at the new church building the last few months, which has required some really late hours.  Last night at a little after 2am, Andy sent me to Wal-Mart to buy a handsaw.  In this whole process, I’ve ruined 4 pairs of jeans, so there I was in Wal-Mart, with ripped up jeans, covered in dust, with various little nicks and cuts all over my hands and buying a saw. 

Guess what types of looks people give you when you buy a saw and only a saw at 2am and you look the way I did?  Yep, looked like I was getting rid of the body.  OK, everything seems funnier at 2am, but I got  a huge laugh out of some of the stares I received and I hope you do as well!

Last night I was helping with our College & Young Adults and in the small group I was a part of, another one of the older adults shared something awesome with me and the group that has been quite the motivator today. She said that for years she used to take young people (teens) out to Findlay, OH to our denominational headquarters for a 4 day conference designed specifically for them. She said that they always got pumped up, but that it was hard to sustain once they got back.

She said what she likes about United is that we are actually doing better music and have better creative technology pieces than what they did at the conference each year. What she said next really was the biggie…she said, what’s amazing is you guys pull it off every single week, not just once a year. Wow, what a compliment…obviously I don’t do that on my own, so a big thank you to the entire team that works behind the scenes each week to make every Sunday an Experience with God, not just a service we offer!

I once saw a survey where people were polled on their greatest fears. The funny thing was public spekaing was higher on the list than death. I’ve often said that what this means is that more people would rather be the guest of honor at the funeral than give the eulogy at the funeral.

Yesterday I saw this principle play out in another unique way. About 20 minutes before the funeral I was speaking at, I went up to one of the deceased persons grandson’s and asked him if he’d like to say a few words. He looked at me like, no way…there’s no possible way I’m doing that.

Now for the ironic part…he’s a heart surgeon! So operating on hearts doesn’t faze him in the least, but speaking in front of people does. Isn’t it funny how God wired us all up in different ways to do many different things? I thank God for men like him that can physically restore a human heart and I thank God that He has given me the gift to speak of an even greater heart surgery…the one Jesus can do spiriutally in each and everyone of our lives.