Gilbert Thurston

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

New Levels=New Devils

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The saying “New Levels = New Devils” was a popular phrase that my first pastor used to say a lot and it is so very true.  Satan doesn’t attack as hard those who are not doing anything for God because why would he want to arouse them from their ineffectiveness.

However, when you are making a difference for God, Satan will attack like crazy because he wants to discourage you and get you to quit.  Honestly that’s where we are at right now.  We just completed our highest attended month and quarter ever…people are having their lives changed by the power of God and people are continuing to come into a relationship with Jesus!

The good news/bad news is Satan is on the prowl.  You wouldn’t believe some of the crap he is throwing at us.  Just this week alone has been attack after attack like you could never possibly imagine…I’m talking 3 instances where we are literally talking about matters of life and death and then a barrage of other things as well.

So on the one hand I’m emotionally exhausted and would love your prayers.  On the other hand, I’m jumping up and down on the inside for joy because I know Satan wouldn’t be working this hard if he weren’t really scared about what we’ve already done and what we can and will do in the future.

United and CFCOG…this is the adventure of a lifetime we are getting to participate in.  Stop right now and thank God for the privilege of being able to participate in something so much bigger than ourselves.  Then ask Him to draw you closer to Him because, “New Levels=New Devils”.

Other Weekend Thoughts

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  • I’m still pretty pumped up about yesterday’s Experience where we discussed Is It Alright For Christians to Drink Alcohol?
  • Aaron, the worship team and creative team have done a great job of making this a very memorable series.
  • One unexpected side benefit from yesterday’s message has been the number of people who have told me or e-mailed me about giving something else up for the 30 day challenge.
  • In other words, they don’t drink alochol, but they are giving up chocolate, coffee, caffine, fast food, Mt. Dew, TV, for 30 days to make sure nothing has higher precedence in their lives than Jesus.
  • I realized yesterday after I sent out Inside Today’s Experience’s that Easter was one year ago yesterday.  This means for the second year in a row we broke our attendance record on the 4th Sunday of March.
  • Friday and Saturday Lisa and I travelled to Cove Valley Camp for a 2-day leadership retreat with about 40 others from the church to pray and discuss about what the next 6, 12 and 24 months may look like in the life of CFCOG.
  • Let me just say…buckle up tight, the adventure is just now beginning.
  • God has such incredible things in store for us to do…the key is staying faithful to Him and trusting in Him more than our own wisdom, the economy, the President or anything or anyone else that may tempt us to stray from the vision He has given us.
  • Was really disappointed to get home and watch my Terps get crushed by Memphis in the tournament.  I at least thought they’d keep it close but Memphis shot the ball incredibly well.
  • This week should be a good one.
  • Sometimes when we get done on Sunday’s I think…”Oh no only 165 hours until we have to do all this again”, but right now I can’t wait for Sunday to get here…
  • We’ll be talking about temptation and I believe God is going to set a lot of you free in amazing ways.
  • As always do whatever it takes short of sin to get someone to the Experience with you.

    • “Mystery Shopper” Visits United

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    Late last night I was searching for any new health information on the status of Gilbert Arenas who plays for the Wizards…yes I’m a Wizards fan…let’s move on.

    In any case, searchng for stuff for him made me think, “It’s been awhile since I googled, ‘Gilbert Thurston’ so I should do so to see what the latest and greatest (in some cases gripes) about me are on the internet”.  Apparently it’s been at least 1 year since I last did it because I found out that a mystery guest from “Church Visit” had paid us a visit in February of 2008 during our 3 Wise Monkeys series. 

    I had heard of these guys before…they hire a person in various communities to “mystery shop” churches and then write up a review so guests can get a glimpse into what they might experience in a church before actually attending.

    With a sense of nervousness I began reading our review.  Wow you couldn’t have asked for much better.  And it’s not like this guy is afraid to speak the truth either.  He has now reviewed about a dozen churches in the Chambersburg area and he is sometimes even more brutally honest than I am.  You can read the others in the blog archive on the right hand side of his site.

    Way to go United and everyone else in CFCOG!  As I said this past week it takes all of us doing our part to make United truly an Experience.  Keep up the great work!