Gilbert Thurston

Inside Today’s Experiences

May 10, 2009 by Gilbert Leave a Comment

Typing this on my phone in the back of Dianna’s van as she, Gene and I are on our way to OH for a week’s worth of classes.
Rough day today especially in the first Experience.
When I plugged the cables in the back wall this morning things seemed weird but then everything booted up fine so it appeared we were ok.
Everything worked fine through practice but then the computer locked up 2 minutes before we were to start.
In the midst of fixing that we realized the lights were not responding either…
aaahhhh! We were at least 5 minutes late getting started which it figured was on a week we were doing really long music.
Had 6 children total get dedicated today.
Really cool seeing parents step up in that way for their kids.
At 9:15 the wrong phone number to text in questions was on the screen.
As I said…can you imagine what the poor guy who’s phone it was was thinking when all these questions about divorce and sex kept flooding his inbox.
10:45 went much better.
The two live text questions are each on the podcast. They were…
…Will I know my spouse in heave and at 10:45…If you get pregnant outside of marriage do you then have to marry that person.
I can’t wait for next week…the new series called HOSTAGE may end up being the best yet.
Pray for us this week as we travel and for us to pass our class.

Hockey Theology

May 8, 2009 by Gilbert Leave a Comment

As I promised the other day in this blog, I got a lot more out of Monday’s night’s hockey game than just a good time. Here’s a couple of thoughts God dropped in my head while there…

Everyone rooting for the Caps was easy to distinguish because we were all wearing red. It should be the same way with followers of Christ…it should be easy to distinguish who’s for us and who’s against us…not because of the clothes we wear but by the fruit of our conduct.
You’ve heard this from me before, but why is it that the loudest and rowdiest crowds are at sporting events. Don’t we realize that Jesus won a much more important victory for us than any athletic team ever will? Church should be full of rowdy, loud, passionate people on Sunday mornings…shouting, clapping and jumping up and down because unlike sports, we know we’re on the winning side.
Every time the Caps scored, not only did Andy and I high five each other, but we also high fived complete strangers sitting around us. Again we we’re able to distinguish those who were for us by the red they were wearing. It’s the same with churches…if another church around us is leading people to Christ and helping them to grow in their faith, we should celebrate with them…not tear them down which is so common nowadays.
One of our core values at United is that…”Excellence honors God and inspires people”. Seeing Ovechkin and Crosby at their absolute best was quite awe-inspiring. We need to make sure that in the same way they play all out to the best of their abilities, we do our very best to honor God with the gifts He’s given us.
The hockey game was quite an Experience but the excitement carried on beyond the end of the game and even went outside of the arena. Even blocks away as we were walking to the metro, people were still excited…and that excitement got picked up by people who weren’t even there. It should be the same for us…our faith and excitment can’t just be on Sunday mornings…it’s got to carry outside of the doors and make an impact on people whom haven’t even attended yet.

Caps vs. Pens Game 2 Thoughts

May 5, 2009 by Gilbert 1 Comment

Been almost 24 hours since the end of game 2 so here are my thoughts having been there…

Wow…I can’t believe we were there!

Even the national commentators are saying today that it was one of the most exciting games in recent history and that the noise level was unlike anything they have ever heard.

At arenas they blare music out of the speakers and you couldn’t even hear them from the time Ovie got his hat trick with about 5 minutes left until the end of the game.

My head still is ringing.

And oh yeah my throat is still raw from all the yelling.

I was making calls on the drive down and Andy missed our exit for the metro even though he was using GPS…it took us to the wrong place and I really thought we were going to miss the beginning of the game because we kept going in circles even though we were following the signs to the metro.

The 40 minute metro ride was interesting because some already (at least I think they were) drunk Pens fans were in our car…naaa on second thought they were just the usual obnoxious Pens fans. :)

As soon as we got off the metro at the Verizon Center you could tell it was different than the game we went to in February.

There was a definite buzz in the air.

Unlike February’s seats which were a few rows from the ice, this time we were only 3 rows from the top.

Still…we were there…even if there were another dozen or so obnoxious Pens fans around us.

Seriously people…there are more words in the dictionary than ones that begin with the letter “F”.

Got to be honest…I was nervous most of the game…the Caps weren’t really playing all that great.

I kept up-dating my Facebook and Twitter accounts which made for some fun interaction with some of you who were home watching on TV.

Towards the end of the 2nd Period I got a text from Curtis Bryan who attends United saying he was at the game as well…how cool is that…the wonders of modern technology.

The picture above is literally seconds after Ovechkin’s 3rd goal.

Already that many hats had made it onto the ice and there were plenty more to come.

What was funny was after they almost had them all cleaned up, a bunch more came down.

Found out today that Sidney “Whiner ” Crosby complained.

As much as i dislike him, I told Andy on the way home that by the time it’s all said and done, he and Ovie will probably be in the top 20 players to ever play and we can say we were there the night they both had hat tricks in the play-offs.

When the game was over, the party just spilled into the streets.

We walked up to the next metro stop to try to avoid the crowds and blocks away the car horns and yelling were still going on.

Even in Frederick when we stopped to eat on the way home we were asked about the game because a guy saw we had our Caps gear on and wanted to know what it was like.

Today I was in Chambersburg at the Sheetz near Target and I saw a guy as I was pulling out with a Caps jersey on.

I hit the car horn…Beeep, Beeep, beep, beep, beep.

He looked…spotted the car that had beeped and yelled to me…

LET’S GO CAPS!

Tomorrow I’ll give some spiritual insights that I gleaned from the game.

In the meantime…Beeep, Beeep, beep, beep, beep.

Things I’m Excited About…

May 4, 2009 by Gilbert Leave a Comment

Going to the Caps game tonight with Andy.

That God has promised never again to flood the entire earth (it’s pouring rain outside as I type this).

That I’ve had about a half-dozen couples approach me during the Re:married series saying they want to get married instead of continuing to live together in sin.

That other testimonies are coming in of broken marriages being restored.

That Lisa and I practice what I preach. :)

That John Winebrenner, the founder of our denomination and whom I’m reading about in a biography right now, was such a rebel. He was criticized for his methods but yet he was passionate about reaching people for Christ no matter what, even when it meant he got kicked out of his church.

That the same Holy Spirit who inspired such faith in men like Winebrenner resides in us.

That even more of the questions you wanted answers to about marriage, dating, relationships and sex will be answered this week as we wrap up our Re:married series.

That our next series, entitled, HOSTAGE will most likely be one of the most life-changing series that we’ve done yet.

That vacation is now less than 1 month away!

That I get to pastor such an awesome group of people who are more concerned with making a difference for eternity than money and material possessions!

Inside Today’s Experiences

May 3, 2009 by Gilbert Leave a Comment

What an ugly day…I think I hate rain as much as I do the snow and cold.

From a set-up and technical stand point it was a pretty good morning…nice and relaxing.

That helped because of some last minute changes we had made.

One of our core values at United is to be culturally relevant while remaining doctrinally pure.

To be honest for this week’s Experience we were flirting with the line…but I felt confident that in it’s proper context the creative elements were going to making some lasting impressions that would ultimately advance the Kingdom.

Friday night we decided to pull two things much to my disappointment…

So I went from an excited nervous to just plain nervous because it meant trying to go back and make the message make sense.

At 9:15 I just wasn’t in to it so I apologize to that crowd.

By 10:45 it was a little better and so that’s what we posted if you 9:15’ers want to hear a better version.

I’m trusting though that God still spoke to people even through the confusion.

Other than that, I felt it was a great day…

…the band did great and the crowds (especially 10:45) was lively.

Met some great people today…I love the wide variety of people that God is bringing to us.

Next week is nothing but Q&A so if you have any questions about marriage, dating, relationships or sex, text us at 301-991-5746 or e-mail me at gilbert@unitedworshipexperience.org

Time now for my nap…I need it…then off to friends house.

This week will be really busy becuase I’ll be travellling next Monday-Friday so I’ve got to get 2 weeks worth of stuff done this week.

One highlight though will be tomorrow night’s trip to DC with Andy for the Caps and Penguins play-off game.