Gilbert Thurston

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

Random Thoughts I’m Having Today

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This is a “Whatever Wednesday” so I thought I’d just get some random thoughts out that are rattling through my mind….

  • Had a good time away Monday and Tuesday with some other pastors dreaming about what a collaborative church plant might look like.
  • My role is to do some demographics research.  This is actually something I really enjoy doing so it should be quite easy.
  • We went on Monday night and played Laser Tag together.  It was a ton of fun but we were all drenched with sweat by the time we were done 4 games.
  • It was only afterward that we noticed the sign, “No Running”.
  • See just goes to show you even pastors need grace in following the rules.  :)
  • I was the high scorer of the night!!!
  • See just goes to show you even pastors battle with pride.
  • On a more serious note I was thankful for hour long conversations that I had with both George Spangler and Steve Dunn.
  • Both listened well and then helped to advise and counsel.  Thanks guys!!!
  • Tonight I’m meeting with a great friend, Doug Coldsmith, who is visiting from out of town…can’t wait!
  • Last night I had a meeting about a potential new meeting location for ECTV.  Please be praying that all goes well.
  • Tonight is the start of another season of American Idol.  Can’t wait to see the chemistry between the new judges.  I think it will go well.
  • I’m really frustrated with the Orioles right now.  After the excitement of making the play-offs 2 years ago it seems like they are losing steam.  PLEASE sign someone already!
  • Lisa has been sick for over a week now…she finally went back to work yesterday but she’s still hacking pretty good.
  • To help her rest well (not hear my snoring) and for me to not catch it (hazardous to my job), I’ve been sleeping on the sofa for the past week…My back hurts.
  • We had 2 different cold weather issues effect our water system at the house.
  • Anyone know a good plumber?
  • I’ve enjoyed getting back to blogging…if you have ideas or questions you’d like me to address, please let me know.  Again the days are by categories.  Ministry Monday’s (anything related to ECTV or churches in general).  Topical Tuesday’s (my comments on things in the news)
    Whatever Wednesday (self-explanatory)
    Theological Thursday’s (answering your theological questions…which by the way has been the most popular days so far)
    Funny Friday’s (stuff that makes me laugh)
  • Again would really appreciate you letting me know what topics, questions, thoughts you might have so the blog is truly something we enjoy together.

Inside Today’s Experiences

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  • I’m useless without my wife.
  • What’s that have to do with today…
  • She had her wisdom teeth taken out Wednesday and has been having trouble sleeping so she slept in the guest room last night so I could get a good night’s sleep.
  • She’s the one who is normally in charge of the alarm clock and even though I set it and double check it last night…I still messed up.
  • Imagine my surprise when she wakes me up this morning at 8:30 and says, “Aren’t you supposed to be at church now?”
  • Oops…luckily the team is proficient enough to function without me during set up and our morning run-through.
  • Except that someone forgot to unlock the back stage door (which I normally do) so when I went to go on stage during the 1st Experience, I was again greatly surprised to be locked out.
  • Other than that it was a really good day.
  • The team and both crowds were really energetic, which makes preaching so much easier then.
  • Have already had about a dozen people stop me to say how convicting today’s message was.
  • Andrea absolutely tore it up on the song “Battlefield”…great job!
  • I think everyone had fun with the word S’mikheh.
  • Aaron heard me preach a similar message to this one 3+ years ago where I talked about S’mikheh and he still says it from time to time.
  • Two of the ladies back in the tech area this morning thought that it was funny that I wear stage make-up on Sunday’s.
  • Hey it’s not like I’m Adam Lambert or anything, but a little foundation to smooth the skin and cut down on the glare never hurt anyone.  :)
  • Please pray for our bass guitarist Brett.  He never showed up today and we’re hoping he just overslept since he works late on Saturday night’s.  Or since we had practice on Saturday instead of Thursday because of Thanksgiving, it’s also possible that he thinks today is Friday.  In any case we’re worried about him since we still haven’t been able to reach him.
  • All in all I really enjoyed this series…Brian designed an awesome stage…we got to hear from Doug for the first time…many more people came into a relationship with Jesus…lives were changed…all because Jesus is a Maverick unlike any other.
  • Tonight is Hanging of the Greens or HotG as we like to call it.  Only time I get to hear I’m hot.  :)
  • Have a great week.  Be sure to invite a lot of people as we kick-off the PARTY series next week.

Inside Today’s Experiences

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  • Really good day!
  • Loved being able to just hang out.
  • Doug gave a great message for the launch of the Maverick series.
  • He had been sick all week long so I was glad he was feeling better.
  • So nice having others that can step in and deliver God’s Word in a United like way.
  • Although Doug talking about the trampoline and being able to see into the neighbor’s yard was a bit disturbing?  :)
  • Peeping Doug.
  • The 9:45 crowd was rowdy today…loved it…great energy!
  • Brian and the team did a great job with the new stage design…looked really cool!
  • Thanks to Dan Bogle for the loan of the motorcycle and to Dan Fry for playing the Maverick in the bumper video and for revving the bike on stage.
  • Dan said when he did it at the first Experience the entire front row jumped.
  • It was cool, but the fumes on stage were strong.
  • Thanks for Kris and Klayton, two more new techies today!
  • The band as always was amazing…I threw them a wrinkle at the end of the first Experience by asking them to start in the middle of the song…no problem, when you’re that good!
  • Other than a couple minor things, it was a smooth day and many shared with me how touched they were by Doug’s message..yea Doug, but more importantly yea God!
  • Also since I forgot, here’s the link to last week’s Reality Check video.