Gilbert Thurston

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

Random Thoughts on a Friday

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  • Haven’t done a random thoughts for awhile so let’s see where this goes…
  • Why oh why on my day off did I wake up at 6am wide-awake?
  • Couldn’t believe the news yesterday about Michael Jackson.
    • Thriller was the first album I ever bought.
    • Too bad he got really weird because he was an amazingly talented man.
    • However, no matter how talented you are, death is coming for all of us and it will sometimes come unexpectedly.
    • The moral…you’ve got to be prepared for eternity and the best way to do that is to begin a relationship with Jesus.
  • I’m getting back into the swing of things after vacation.
  • Working on two huge projects right now…1 is exciting…the other is overwhelming…both will be great when they’re completed.
  • Vacation highlights were:
    • Spening time with Lisa 24/7.
    • Celebrating our 14th anniversary.
    • Our dinner at Phillips Seafood in Atlantic City overlooking the beach and ocean.
    • Not checking e-mail the entire 2 weeks and truly being able to relax.
    • Walking with Lisa hand-in-hand up and down the boardwalk with no cares (ok dodging seagulls but other than that) or agenda.
    • Treating my parents to a couple days away in the Pocono’s with us.
    • Hiking to Bushkill Falls…beautiful!
    • Hacking around a par-3 approach course with my dad.
    • Celebrating my birthday.
    • Getting a sweet authentic Alexander Ovechkin Caps jersey from Andy and Gayle.
    • Getting to hang out with my friends.
  • We’ve got some pretty cool stuff coming up for July and August in the Experiences that we’re pretty excited about.
  • This week is the last week of the One Prayer series…Perry Noble…can’t wait!
  • Then I’m back preaching again…really excited about what God is going to do in the next series.

Hockey Theology

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Rock the Red

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

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Ovie Hat Trick

  • 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.

    • Random Friday Thoughts

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  • Enjoying my day off…just woke up from a nap.  🙂
  • Last night’s practice for this weekend was awesome…I’m a combination of excited and nervous!
  • You’ll have to be there to see why.
  • This is about as edgy as I think we’ll ever be, but I truly believe that God has directed all of this to create an Experience that not only will you never forget, but will also get you truly re-thinking sex.
  • Speaking of excited, Andy and I got our tickets for Monday night’s Caps vs. Penguins play-off game. 
  • Alexander the Great vs. Cindy (oopps I mean Sidney) the Sissy   haha
  • Yesterday was Dianna Best, our children’s director’s, birthday.
  • The staff went out to a great liitle Italian place in downtown Chambersburg to celebrate.
  • For 44 days Dianna is a year older than me…ha!
  • In all seriousness, Dianna does an awesome job with “little people church”…please don’t forget to thank her for all she and her team does next time you see her.
  • Tonight CAYA is hanging out with a stop at Brusters in the mix.
  • If you’re in the 18-29 range stop by Brusters at 7PM to hang with them.
  • Going to try out Twitter for a week or so to see if I like it.
  • Got another busy week coming up where I’ll have to get 2 weeks worth of stuff done…definetely looking forward to vacation!
  • If you haven’t yet invited someone to United for this weekend…stop what your doing and do it now…you won’t regret it.