Gilbert Thurston

Will You Be My Friend

August 13, 2009 by Gilbert 1 Comment

As many of you know, I’m a big fan of Facebook and Twitter and other social media networking sites. They allow me to follow some of my favorite pastors to get inside their head today instead of waiting for their next book to come out.

And Facebook to me is one of the best things that ever happened for pastors of larger churches like ours. We’re in the process of implementing some new software for the church and in the gathering of information stage, we’ve discovered that about 1600 people call CFCOG their home church. That’s a lot of people! It’s impossible for Earl and myself to know every single person’s name, much less details about their lives. Facebook however does help in at least getting a brief glimpse into people’s lives.

However, here’s my problem with it all. It has never been easier than today to have “Friends”. Just click the “accept friend” button or “add as friend” button and BOOM there you go, “I have another friend”. But really you don’t…yet many people are today gauging their quality of relationships on the quanity of friends or followers they have on these sites. So with that said, here are a few thoughts:

People aren’t looking for a friendly church, they are looking for a friend in church.– It’s easy to be friendly, but it takes time and effort to truly be someone’s friend. Just because you “friend” someone on Facebook doesn’t mean they are your actual friend. So when someone new comes in, we must be sure to go beyond the superficial and truly be a friend.
People don’t need MORE relationships, they need a few DEEPER ones where they give each other refrigerator rights.– Again the quantity of “friends” you have in life or Facebook means squat. My guess is that 99% of the people who are friends with you on Facebook would be irked if you called them during the middle of the night with a problem. A true friend is someone you can call in the middle of the night to say you need help and they just come right on over without asking a billion questions on the phone first. A true friendship is when someone is at your house and they just get in your refridgerator without even asking, because they’ve earned that right. The bible gives us 58 “one anothers” we are to be doing with each other…some of them are quite deep like, “confess your sins to one another”. Posting your deepest, darkest sins on your Facebook wall for all your “friends” to see is not the wise thing to do. So who are you intentionally developing a deeper, personal relationship with so you can pray, encourage and hold each other accountable?
Proverbs 18:24- “A man with many friends comes to ruin, but there is a friend he can have that will stick closer than a brother”.

If You Hate Technology So Much, Then Try This…

August 10, 2009 by Gilbert 1 Comment

Have seen and read a few things today that made me want to post this…

Often times people complain about the increased use of technology in life (texting, facebook, twitter, etc.) and in the church (lights, projection, etc.)

It’s on days like this (very hot and very humid) that I want to tell people that don’t like technological advances to turn off their air conditioners. I’m mean at one point AC was the latest and greatest but now is pretty common place. The key to technology in my eyes is this…Is it a tool or a toy?

To me texting is easier than sending a letter(tool). Facebook allows me to keep up on the latest and greatest in the people’s lives that I’m called to (lead). Lighting, projection and a lot of the other things we use at United help us to present the Gospel message in a way that reaches people that other churches aren’t reaching (tool).

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go downstairs to microwave (tool) my lunch, in my nice air conditioned home (tool) and watch my big screen TV (Toy…definite toy!).

Inside Today’s Experiences

August 9, 2009 by Gilbert Leave a Comment

Had a good day today!
Ok any day where 6 people come into a relationship with Christ qualifies as not just a good day, but a great day!
What a fun series as we look back at the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s.
Again the band did a fantastic job of putting a medley together.
That I got to help by rapping, Parent’s Just Don’t Understand was not only fun, but nerve-wracking.
I didn’t have in-ear monitors, so I had to go off the sound from the house,
but you guys were cheering so loud that I couldn’t hear the beat…got off a
few times, but all in all it was fun to participate.
I’m thinking Andrea was born to do covers of other bands…she again
killed her parts!
Had two new people on the team today and for the first time out, we
threw a lot of stuff at them and they came through…thanks Dan and
Cressa!
I again think that the medley wound people up and by the worship set
you guys were raring to go.
I loved that during the 9:45, there was one point where all our vocalists
dropped out and for about 1 minute it was nothing but the sound of your
voices…and LOUD!
I thought Brian did an awesome job with the song, Everybody Hurts. What a great intro into the message.
I know today’s message wasn’t all touchy-feely, but it was something we all need to be reminded of from time to time.
If Jesus brand was “love” and “compassion”, what makes us think ours should be anything different?
I’m really excited about the new You Matter ministry.
If you want to practically apply today’s message by getting involved helping the hurting in our community, You Matter is definitely the ministry for you to get involved with.
Big props to Scott McCurley for dressing in his best 1980’s costume…wow that was impressive. Don’t forget you can dress the part each week as well.
Next week we’ll again look at the 80’s, this time with the song, Don’t Stop Believing.
Almost hard to believe, but today marks the 1-year anniversary since we expanded to 2 Experiences.
What’s amazing is that one year ago we were blown away by the attendance. In fact we set a record that day.
Today even though we had higher attendance than 1 year ago, it felt like a let down because people are still in full vacation mode.
I’m excited about this series, but can’t wait for the next one when everyone is back and in inviting mode and we see dozens come to Christ each week, not just 1/2 dozen.
You say. “Gilbert can’t you just be content with what we’ve got”?
And the answer is a big fat NO. As long as there are people in our community that don’t yet know Jesus, our mission is not complete.
Join me in making a difference…you won’t regret it!
- Invite someone to church with you next week.
- Help “You Matter” to feed children in the Boys and Girls Club this week.
- Wear your “You Matter” wristband all week and use it to share the good news with others.
YOU MATTER and you can make a difference!

Here’s My Chance…

August 6, 2009 by Gilbert Leave a Comment

In this past week’s message, Imagine, I encouraged everyone to all week long remind yourselves when confronted with a tough situation or a person that you didn’t want to deal with or who had angered you in some way, to just simply say, “Here’s My Chance”. My chance to love the way God would want me to. To forgive in the same way Jesus has forgiven me. To prove to Jesus that I care more for others than I do for myself.

Monday I had my first opportunity to remind myself…”Here’s my chance”…and wow am I glad I followed through by “inconvenicing” myself to help someone else. Through e-mails, this blog and Facebook others have also shared some of their “Here’s My Chance” moments.

So how about you? Are you reminding yourself of this? If so, please share with everyone what happened so we can all be encouraged that it can be done.

Dress Code: Please Do

August 5, 2009 by Gilbert 5 Comments

Note: The Chambersburg Public Opinion is doing an article on how people dress for church. They are interviewing Earl this morning and he asked me to write up something with some of my thoughts. Don’t know if any of this will get used or not, but thought I’d pass along for you to get my 2 cents on the subject.

I always tell people that how they dress is greatly dependent on their primary view of Jesus. If your primary view is that of ruler, King, authority figure, etc., then when you go to his house, you will probably get all dressed up. If however your primary view of Jesus is that of being your best friend, then you’ll probably dress more casual.

For me personally there are two aspects to it…one is personal and the other is professional. From a personal standpoint, if I were to visit with our governor or President I would get dressed up. The reason for that is to be respectful, but mostly I’m doing it for them because that’s what they would expect and possibly require and in some ways I’d be doing it trying to impress. On the other hand, if I go to my best friend Andy or Bill’s house in a suit, they are going to laugh at me. To them it’s not about what I look like, but rather what’s going on inside of me that counts. So for me personally, I don’t get dressed up for church because I choose to see Jesus as my best friend. It was Jesus Himself in Matthew 23 who condemned the “religious leaders” of His day for looking good on the outside, but on the inside being dead. I guess my point is Jesus couldn’t care less what you look like on the outside, it’s what’s going on inside you that He’s most concerned about.

Now from a professional stand point, we have a little joke in United that our dress code is, “Please Do”. One objection that un-churched people often have is, “I don’t have anything to wear so I can’t come to church”. I’ve had quite a few stories from people who said they were able to share, “Well our pastor usually wears jeans and a t-shirt to preach in so as long as you have something like that, you’ll fit right in”. In the same way I’ve had new people tell me how comfortable it made them feel and how much more relatable I was because of the casual environment. The apostle Paul said, “I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some”. So for me if dressing casually will help remove barriers that might be keeping people from coming into a relationship with Jesus then I’m all for it.