Gilbert Thurston

• Probably our worst day yet since we launched but always a good day when people come into a relationship with Jesus.
• 2 more today!
• Attendance was down with the holiday, we had more technical issues today than we probably have had all the other week’s combined and because of the holiday movie schedule, we had to rush to get out even though we have the theaters rented for far longer than they gave us today.
• I didn’t sleep well last night…so I think I appreciated the the extra half-hour I gave for the team to arrive more so than anyone else.
• We’re doing a great job of getting set-up…really got a system going now.
• Great to see some of my Chambersburg peeps make the trip up today to be a part of the Experience.
• Also had the Smith family in from the Boston area today…Mike is the pastor of LifeQuest Church and is a great friend.
• Today was the last message in the Mind Your Own Business series and since I was talking about saving and investing, we decided to start with the song Billionaire.  The problem is last week the guy who was supposed to do the rap part while he was home on Thanksgiving break fell through…
• So the rapping fell to…Me.
• I listened to the song about a billion times this week.
• Here’s a video in case you missed it or just want to laugh at me again.
• I don’t get nervous before speaking but I was before doing this.
• It was fun but I’m glad it’s done.
• Bill did an awesome job on his part considering it’s above his comfortable range.
• Because I knew the message was going to be longer today, we only had time for 2 participation songs but the crowd seemed to be into it and the band did a great job.
• I don’t know if it was because rapping sapped my energy or just because I was tired, but I never really found my rhythm preaching today.
• It could also be as I said during the message that it seemed more like a financial seminar than a sermon.
• Still good stuff though that has changed my life for 15+ years so I hope and pray that everyone will take all the principles of the series and apply them.
• With all that said, I’d still recommend you listen to the message from today…lots of practical financial tips.
• I love getting to meet people afterward and hear the stories…awesome.
• Next week we begin the “I Hate the Holidays” series by looking at the first thing that makes people hate them…STRESS.
• Make sure you invite someone to come out and be a part…have a great week and don’t forget to Mind Your Own Business.

It what has become sort of an annual tradition…because you know I’m all about doing things the traditional way :)…I wake up on Thanksgiving morning and blog about what I’m thankful for in the past year.  It’s cool to look back and see how things change from year to year to year.  With that said, here we go with the 2010 edition.

1. Jesus–    Funny how He keeps getting the number 1 spot every year…hmmm could that be because He is the number one love and priority of my life?  You bet it does.  I hope the same is true for you.  Every year I realize more and more how much I need Him and fall woefully short as a fragile, sinful human being.  If not for Him and His love, forgiveness and mercy I’d be miserable.  I read yesterday a quote I loved…”His grace just as powerfully has kept us from sin as it has forgiven us of it”.  Thank you Jesus for all you do, have done and will continue to do in my life!
2. Lisa- No surprise here either. She is honestly the most loving and passionate follower of Jesus that I know.  I would be nothing without her.  I’m not quite sure how she does it all, but she serves me, others and the church all week long, plus runs a successful business as well.  Add on top of that the health issues she faces that depletes her of energy for about half the week and she puts me and so many others to shame when it comes to discipline and work ethic.  Oh and did I mention that she’s super hot and sexy?  I am definitely lucky to have her as my partner in life…15 years of marriage and it just keeps getting better and better!
3. ExponentialChurch.tv– A new entry this year…partially because last year at this time it was just a figment of my imagination.  In fact at this point last year only 5 people knew it was something I was even considering with my dad becoming the 6th on a walk we took after eating our Thanksgiving turkey.  Now here we are and after a very busy summer the new church launched 6 weeks ago and so far things are going great.  35 people in just 6 weeks have made first time professions of faith in Jesus and the stories of life change we’re hearing are awesome.  Many people don’t know this, but like the majority of small businesses, most church plants fail.  We are by no means out of the woods yet, but it seems we’re building a solid foundation that should help us get out of the critical stages and allow us to stand on our own two feet.  None of this would be possible if not for…
4. The Team God has Given Me- Our staff; Bill, Chad and Chelsea are incredible.  They are each hard workers and are already pulling off stuff that many established churches don’t or can’t do.  Each of their stories of how God brought them to my attention is a fascinating story of how God works in mysterious ways.  So thankful that He does!  Now with that said we couldn’t do it without the incredibly hard-working launch team and group of apprentices that all gave and are giving of their time.  Many of our launch team member voluntarily gave up 3-5 nights each week of their summer to make ExponentialChurch.tv a reality.  For that I’m extremely thankful.  And from our first Sunday, it takes 41 people serving in various capacities to pull off a Sunday morning…incredibly we’re doing it!  Thank you to everyone who has been serving and thanks in advance to those who are not currently but are reading this and saying, “Hey I want to be a part of that”.
5. My family- I’m always thankful for my family and again this year for the most part everyone’s health has been good as well and when it wasn’t through prayer and medical support everything has turned out fine.  However, this year I’m extra thankful for my mom, dad, sister and niece.  Mom and dad decided to visit our first launch team meeting back in July just to be supportive.  They live an hour and 45 minutes from Harrisburg but thought it would be nice to see what was going on.  They been back every week since…sometimes multiple times in a week!  It’s been so cool not only getting to see them so often but to know we’re working together to make an eternal difference.  Along the way they started bringing Tara and Taylor and they too have been a huge help.  Love you all!
6. Supporting churches- 37 different churches from all across the country and many different denominations have helped support us with people, financial and equipment resources.  This includes the church closest in proximity to us here in Harrisburg and the one that’s closest in style to us.  It’s awesome to see God’s people working together instead of arguing like two ants about who gets to eat the elephant.  With 425000 people in the Harrisburg metro area that don’t currently attend a church, it’s smarter if we work together instead of compete and that’s exactly what we’re seeing.  Also I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the help that Chuck Frank, the Commission for Church Planting and the entire Eastern Region of the Churches of God have been in helping us.  Extra thankful for the trust and support they have shown us throughout this whole process.
7. Kevin Elworth- Sort of weird to thank someone I’ve only met once, but Kevin is the pastor that took my place in the United Worship Experience at the Chambersburg First Church of God.  As much as I wanted to come to Harrisburg to plant the new church, it broke my heart to leave behind a group of people that I loved in United and CFCOG.  We worked hard to build United and many people came to Christ so I and so many others prayed God would bring the right person to not just sustain what I had done but to take it to a whole new level.  From what I’ve seen so far it appears Kevin is that man I’m so happy for him and them!
8. My friends- Andy, Gayle, Bill and Nicole.  In what has been a very tiring and stressful year they as always give me a safe place to chill and just be myself.  I’m extra thankful this year though for Andy and Gayle (Dan, Jan, Dylan and Hannah).  When I told them I was moving to Harrisburg I asked them to make the move as well…And they did!  For them it meant job changes, school changes, etc., but they believe in me and the vision God gave me and so for that I’m beyond words thankful for your sacrifice.
9. Our new house…ok just two parts- It’s 1200 square feet smaller than the one we had in Chambersburg, but there are two things it has that I love.  The first is the 6 foot by 8 foot shower.  It’s got all those fancy shower head things, a sitting bench, lighting, music, and it’s a sauna as well.  Great place to relax.  Also, for the first time we have a pool.  It was so nice this summer to get home late at night and be able to go out and relax.

I need to stop there because it’s almost time for us to leave to go eat some turkey…there’s so much more I’m thankful for…God is so good!

• Gotta be honest…this entire week leading up to Sunday was rough.  I was sick and we definitely had Satan working over time trying to distract us from our mission.
• So for the first time since we launched I woke up not with a feeling of anticipation but “ughhh do we have to?”
• As I shared at our team meeting this morning…”New Levels=New Devils” (Thanks PK).
• Of course it’s just like God to help me keep perspective.  4 more people prayed today to ask Jesus for His forgiveness and leadership.
• That’s now 35 in 6 weeks!
• You say, Gilbert you seem to be awfully concerned with keeping track of numbers.  Well of course I am…each of these people represent someone Jesus came to die for and save.
• We’d all better be concerned with the numbers…if not you’re not on mission.
• As for the day, we keep getting better and better with set-up…we’ve got a great team that I couldn’t be more proud of.
• We were a bit short-staffed today but everyone came through and went above and beyond the call of duty.
• I wanted to snap a picture in the cafe area for today’s post but my camera battery died right as I was taking the first picture.  That wasn’t bad but the lens froze in the open position…don’t know why I thought it was funny in the moment but it was.
• It was great to have some family members visiting from out of town today…especially when they decided afterward to eat at Damon’s.  Sunday special = Prime Rib…mmmmmm.
• God continues to bring some really great people to be with us.  Each week I can’t wait to hear their stories.
• We had an awesome start to the Experience planned…a video immediately into (in fact blended into) special music.
• Video gets to the end…Tim starts “slapping the bass” and NOTHING.
• Ok, I was close enough to hear the strings but nothing coming out of the speakers.
• Turns out somehow one of the knobs on his bass got turned off…oops.
• We had to improvise but everything turned out ok…they were able to do the song later and as always they killed it.
• Speaking of special music….don’t miss next week…be there on time because you’re not going to believe what we’re starting with.
• Today I talked about tithing.  Many pastors think I’m crazy to be doing a finance series this early in the church’s history and especially crazy to be talking about giving only 6 weeks into our existence.
• But I’m sick and tired of hearing people complain about money when I know what Lisa and I have been able to do in 15 years of marriage handling money God’s way.
• In case you missed it, here’s today’s message about how, where  and why we should give.
• I’m hoping many people take me up on the 90 Day Tithe Challenge…again test God by tithing as He has said you can and if he doesn’t come through then we’ll give you all your money back.
• Again God blesses in more ways than just financially so keep your eyes open and watch Him move in ways you never expected.
• Again another great day altogether…can’t wait to be back with everyone next week!

• Been awhile since I’ve done one of these.
• Okay the truth is, I’m working on the 2011 budget and I don’t feel good to begin with so I’m procrastinating.
• Procrastinators of the world unite…tomorrow.
• That’s one of my favorite t-shirts…but here’s my favorite.
• No wait…my favorite is this one.  “Oh carp”  :)
• Ok while I’m on a roll…earlier I was listening to the radio and for some reason this question popped into my head…Do you think that Katie Holmes calls Tom Cruise her shorty?
• Now for those of you that are concerned about what the flu medicine is doing to me…realize I haven’t taken in yet…this is how my mind works.
• Here’s another random thing…I found two vials of bubbles in my car today from either the Miller or Swisher weddings.  Guessing I should clean it out.
• Just put in two pieces of Dubble Bubble to chew on…love it…but nothing beats the memories of stuffing my mouth full of Big League Chew as a kid.
• Wow these are really random today…
• On a more serious note, things are going really well with the new church…in addition to the budget I’m working today on some radio spots that we’ll be running over the next few months.
• Wondering if they’ll be as controversial as the mailers we sent out this summer and fall?
• Amazing how riled up people got….angry phone calls, nasty letters and 1 threat of a lawsuit.
• The mailers worked though…they were different enough that we had 2 TV stations do features on us and we made the front page of the Harrisburg paper.
• I’ve also had 2 job offers to work in marketing departments of local companies and many others are continuing to tell me stories of neighbors and co-workers “standing around the water cooler” discussing our ads.
• I’m excited that some of my extended family members are traveling to Harrisburg this weekend to check us out for the first time.  It’s a long trip but hopefully it will be worth it.
• I applied to be a part of Senior Pastors network that is very limited to how many get in.  I’m praying I do…would be tremendously helpful now that I’m “on the other side of the desk”.
• Tonight we’ve got rehearsal for the weekend and I’m super excited about what God is doing in this series, this weekend’s message and the kick-off song for  the conclusion of the series on the 28th…YES!!!!
• Just saw my Capitals jersey lying here in my office.  Another great season so far, but as we saw last year, the regular season means nothing if you don’t come through in the play-offs.
• Ummm speaking of play-offs…my Redskins suck.  They don’t deserve the play-offs…and according to this guy they don’t deserve much.
• I’m fascinated to see where Facebook’s big announcement this week will lead.
• If they can resolve some of their issues with handling info then it could be awesome to have everything all under one site.
• Speaking of technology…I’m soon eligible for a new cell phone.  Mine has been giving me problems for months now but I’ve been waiting for the free up-grade.  Can’t wait!
• It’s now 3PM and I just heard Lisa come home from the grocery store…guess it’s time for lunch…or at this time would it be dinner?  Linner?  Lupper?
• Anyone else excited that Conan’s back on?  Last night Russell Brand was hysterical!
• I wonder what Katy Perry’s parents (who are pastors) think of him?
• Guessing that would be an interesting Thanksgiving meal to be at this week.
• Mmmmm turkey.
• Do you ever get the feeling that I might be ADD with my…oh look a car.  :)
• Ok guess I should get back to work…love what I’m doing and the people I’m doing it with.  You’d think this would be a very stressful time but it’s not when you know you’re doing exactly what God wants.
• So how about you?  Are you in God’s will for your life or are you just “getting by” and “living for the weekend”?  That’s no way to live…get a vision for your life that’s beyond yourself and I guarantee you’ll never regret it.