Gilbert Thurston

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

God’s Plans Are Not Our Own

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The last few months have been crazy as I knew I was leaving a great church in Chambersburg to begin ExponentialChurch.tv in Harrisburg.  I was determined to finish well in Chambersburg before I left at the end of May despite the million and one things I had to do for the new church like find a meeting location, hire staff, raise funds, etc.  One way I was helping at Chambersburg was by trying to find my replacement.  I wasn’t in the decision making process but I was able to spend time with each candidate that came in and offer my opinion.

One such candidate was a pastor from Ohio named Chad Chute.  I met privately with he and his wife Tammie for about an hour and then throughout the weekend we had other chances to talk as he was evaluating United and the church was evaluating him.  I was really hoping he’d be my replacement, but for a number of legitimate reasons on both ends, it didn’t work out.

When I discovered this, I asked Earl if it was alright for me to approach him about coming on staff with me.  Earl said yes and thus began a month long process of hours of phone calls, capped by spending a week together with he and Tammie in Harrisburg doing testing, assessments, interviewing, team meetings, all along with attending a 3 day church planter’s boot camp.  What I’m trying to say is we grilled and tested them pretty hard.  The result…

Chad, Tammie, Christopher, Michael and Caitlyn are packing up and moving to PA to be a part of the exciting things that God has planned for ExponentialChurch.tv.  Chad will be heading up our Community Outreach and Life Skills portion of the vision.  He has awesome experience in these things and it’s a huge relief to me to have a partner in ministry that is strong in the areas where I am weak.  Please pray for Chad and his family as they transition into the area over the next few weeks and for the work he will be doing.

The lesson for us all out of this story is that God will sometimes take us to places that aren’t really the final destination He has for us in order to introduce us to people that will help us get to where He really wants us to be.  So don’t be discouraged when you hear no, you may have needed to hear that no in order to get the yes He has for you.

Sacrifice

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Jesus said, “I can guarantee this truth: Anyone who gave up his home, brothers, sisters, mother, father, children, or fields because of me and the Good News
will certainly receive a hundred times as much here in this life.”  Mark 10:29-30

The picture you see is of my very good friends Andy and Gayle Krull just moments after walking into their new home in Harrisburg, PA this afternoon for the very first time.  Why do they have a new home?  Why are they living in a strange city?  Because they believe so much in following Jesus wherever He may call and they believe so much in the vision God has given me to start ExponentialChurch.tv that they were willing to leave their old world behind.  House, family, friends, jobs, kids schools, a great church and more…all because to them being a part of a major movement of God is more important than personal comfort.  All because Jesus command to Go is more important to them than any personal sacrifice.

Thanks Andy and Gayle for your sacrifice, you are an inspiration to many for your faithfulness to the cause of Christ!

God Provides!

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Part of the sacrifice that Lisa and I are making to plant ExponentialChurch.tv is taking a 21% pay decrease.  It won’t be easy but we are already seeing God bring Philippians 4:19 to life.

My car’s transmission went out about 2 months back and we decided to try to survive off of 1 car for as long as we could.  Two Friday’s ago a man from the church e-mailed letting me know that he was selling his car and willing to give a really good deal on it…I’m talking well below what he could have gotten.  That same day, a check arrived in the mail  for $1000 from another person saying they heard we were without a car and they wanted to help us with some of the cost.

Then today I stopped at the bank to deposit my last check from my employment with the Chambersburg First Church of God.  When I went to put the deposit slip in my wallet, I noticed another check in there that I had forgotten about so I told her “Oops I need to make another deposit”.  Then I went to the coin counter machine and poured in some coins that had been accumulating on my desk at home.  I didn’t realize that it prints you out a slip and then you need to take it to the counter for deposit.  So for the third time within a few minutes the same girl waited on me and made yet another deposit on my behalf, this time for $210.72.  I apologized for doing 3 deposits and promised I wouldn’t be back today…I promised there were no more checks…but then I added, unless God wants to bless us with something in the mail today.  When I got home and got the mail, sure enough, we got a check from a class action lawsuit for $327.47.

My point is this…You can’t out-give God.  His promise to us that are faithful in giving back a tithe to Him is that He will open up the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that we don’t have enough room to contain it.  Lisa and I have tithed all 15 years of our marriage and we have never been in need.  Even during times like this where we’re not sure how we’ll make ends meet, God always figures it out!

Time to Plant

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Today begins a new chapter in my life.  Yesterday we said good-bye to a church family that we have grown to love the past 3 1/2 years and now it’s time to plant a church in Harrisburg, PA.  Since change is in the air right now, I decided to give the blog a make-over.  It’s got a brand new look and a couple new features.  In addition, the content for the next few months will become more of a running diary of what’s happening as we get ready to launch and some additional thoughts along the way.  Please feel free to leave a comment about what you think of the new design and anything else you’d like to see me post about here on the site.  Have a great rest of your holiday.

Inside Today’s Experiences

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  • Thank you all so much!
  • We couldn’t have asked for a better send off.
  • The Experiences, party, cards, gifts, plaque, poster, etc all meant so much to Lisa and I.
  • We are emotionally exhausted but praising God for the 3 1/2 years we spent together and the awesome send-off you gave us.
  • Thanks to Thom Lambert for driving me to church this morning.
  • Thanks to Brian, Earl and Aaron for putting together a very moving Experience.
  • Loved all the testimonies and the video’s.
  • Thanks as well to visiting family members and denominational leaders who came in to be a part of the day!
  • Thanks to Chris and Amanda for heading up the party…I’m stuffed!
  • Wow, I’m so tired and my mind is swimming so I’m sure I’m forgetting tons of things and people to thank.
  • In any case, thanks again for a great day and all the support we’ve received.
  • Again we’d appreciate your prayer support.  If you’re interested on being on our prayer team, please e-mail to prayerteam@exponentialchurch.tv
  • Also other ways you can help us financially and thru short term missions trips can be found at the links.
  • I’ll hopefully post some video’s and pics soon, but for now it’s time for a nap and then Lisa and I will be off for a vacation before we start the real work of getting the new church up and running.
  • Thanks again and much love to you all!