Gilbert Thurston

Inside Today’s Experience (Vacation Edition)

June 7, 2009 by Gilbert Leave a Comment

Talked with Brian earlier and heard you guys had great Experiences today.

Sounds like everyone reallly enjoyed Craig’s message.

Lisa and I on our way from Atlantic City to the Pocono’s attended Bethany Baptist Church.

They are the 40th fastest growing church in the US and are lead by Bishop David Evans.

His service is seen on TBN from 10-10:30 on Sunday mornings.

No you can’t skip United to watch some week…that’s what they made DVR’s for.

This is a predominately African-American church and one thing I was afraid of was that we wouldn’t be dressy enough.

Sure enough as we pull in, everyone is dressed to the hilt…except for a few people…so we ventured in.

One of the first things we noticed was that all of the ushers were dressed in white tuxedo’s with white gloves.

Wish I could say they were friendly but they weren’t.

You sat where they told you…no exceptions.

Even people that came in late…and by the way…this was a 2 hour and 15 minute service, were squeezed into a pew with others.

You absolutely were not allowed into a closed off section until every pew was full.

I went and checked out their video production studio and met the lady who was running the production for the day.

She and the rest of the TV crew are all paid outsiders.

The service started with the MC leading 5 minutes of clappping….seriously that’s all there was.

Something I found interesting was that there were ZERO songs in which the congregation was asked to sing.

In other words…you sat and watched the entire time.

Now don’t get me wrong…the congregation, which was typical of an African American congregation talked back to the people on the platofrm ALL the TIME.

I like that…wish you guys responded more during the music and message.

After a few songs there was a presentation of kids who are going off to college.

Something I liked was they have a full-time staff person who does nothing but work with kids in the church to help direct them to college.

After another song or two…came the video announcements.

I love video announcements…you can say so much more with them and in a shorter amount of time.

Problem was they had about 7 minutes worth AND THEN…came another 10 minutes of verbal announcements.

This was followed by a skit which was pretty funny except that the sound crew really botched the mircophones.

There were at least 7-10 actors and they had no clue who was on what mic.

Makes me so glad for two things at United…Number 1 that I’m such a sticklier for excellence and number two that we have a team that has caught that vision and week in and week out fulfills one of our core values…”Excellence Honors God and Inspires People”.

Another song and then…

The message.

I enjoyed David’s message on how our assignment is to leave a legacy for the next generation.

A few of my favorite lines:

“You had no trouble asking people to follow you when you weren’t a Christian but now that you are, you’re ashamed and are afraid to talk about Jesus”.
“Don’t try to have the biggest and best house YOU can…make sure that you’re children’s HOUSES are bigger and better than your own”.
“You should work because it’s what God created you to do, not because you need the money”.

The end of the message featured another thing typical in an African American church…the organ player playing a little diddy after every phrase that is spoken.

This of course got the crowd into a frenzy and about a dozen people gave their lives to Jesus at the end.

Hmmmm….what else…oh yeah…they took 3 offerings. Missions…Building…and the normal tithes and offerings.

All in all it was an interesting experience.

Vacationing at the Speed of Jesus

June 4, 2009 by Gilbert Leave a Comment

Often times I live life at 120mph. There are people to see, things to do and places to go. It’s constantly run, run, run. The problem with that kind of pace is that it will wear you out and quite frankly may not be all that biblical.

We’ve all heard that Christianity is simply a “Walk with Jesus”. Oops…last I checked the average person walks about 3mph. So is it possible that when you and I keep up an often times frantic and hectic pace that we are actually running ahead of Jesus and are thus out of His will?

I’ve got to be honest, living at a slower pace is easier said than done. However, this is the 3rd year in a row that Lisa and I have decided to “Vacation at the speed of Jesus”. We intentionally slow down our pace both literally and figuratively. Last night walking on the boardwalk of Atlantic City we had to a number of times remind ourselves to slow down…even eating at The Rainforest Cafe, I had to remind myself it wasn’t a race to see who could be done their meal first.

The result of vacationing this way is that it’s very relaxing. This year I’ve also decided not to check any work e-mail and I’m only answering my cell for close family and friends. I debated whether posting this was too much, but hopefully it will be a good reminder to me when I get back that even life should be lived “At the speed of Jesus”.

14 Great Years

June 3, 2009 by Gilbert Leave a Comment

Today marks 14 years since Lisa and I got married. I know it sounds like a cliche but we really do get happier and happier with one another with every passing year. I’ll be the first to admit that in life I’m far from perfect, yet she overlooks and/or forgives those flaws and loves me anyway.

Happy Aniversary Lisa…looking forward to growing old and more in love with you!

Inside Today’s Experiences

May 31, 2009 by Gilbert Leave a Comment

Really fun day.

Not having to preach but yet still attend was great.

Hectic morning getting everything set-up because of all the elements in the Experience but we got it done.

The worship team knocked it out of the park on both the worships songs and also with the specials…great job everyone!

Really proud of Josh…can’t wait to see what God has in store for him in the future.

Selfishly I hope it’s something with us, but my prayer is that God’s will be done.

He brought a great message for the close of the Hostage series.

Go get your crew!

My only real responsibility today was to do the announcements and not mess up Brian’s surprise.

For those that were in the 9:15 you got to experience something really cool.

Brian Miller who was my intern two summers ago and to this day is sort of my right hand man, FINALLY got up the nerve to propose to his long-term girlfriend Chrissy Weaver.

We were able to set it up perfectly so that even Chrissy’s parents who live a few hours away were able to be there without arousing any suspicion.

I typically don’t get nervous but I was for the whole set-up and getting Chrissy on to the stage without giving it away.

It was awesome watching her as the lightbulb came on to what was happening.

When she turned around (picture above) and Brian was down on one knee there on the stage it was awesome.

I looked out and everyone was crying…which was hard for me to see because I was bawling.

Brian and Chrissy mean so much to Lisa and I…we couldn’t be proudier of “our kids”.

So 10:45 crowd you really missed out…

Hey speaking of…for the first time ever the 9:15 crowd was larger than the 10:45…that’s really cool!

Well as soon as I post this, I’m offically on vacation!

I’ll miss you guys, but I’m definetely ready for a break.

Next week Craig Groeshcel (Lifechurch.tv) one of the greatest pastors and communicators in the country will be speaking to the United crowd as we begin the One Prayer series with the message, God is Love.

I may check in from time to time to blog about what’s happening on vacation, but don’t count on it.

If you need anything, don’t hesitate to call (717-263-9523) or e-mail (office@mycfcog.org) the church office.

See you in a few!

Who Gets the Glory

May 28, 2009 by Gilbert Leave a Comment

Do people stand amazed by your life? In other words do people in your life see something supernatural at work?

Often times when it comes to living for and serving God we tend to look at what we’re good at and what we like to do and then serve according to our ability. The result is we tend to not rely on God and the power of his spirit because we think we have everything under control.

The world therefore sees good people doing good things for their God, but they don’t see the power of God working through His people to accomplish what only He can do. The problem with that is if we function according to our ability alone,we get the glory. If however we function according to the power of His Spirit within us then He gets the glory.

So how about it…are you living for your glory or His?