Gilbert Thurston

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

Annual Things I’m Thankful For (2015 Edition)

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Don’t do as much blogging as I used to but every year since 2007, I have done this list of things I’m thankful for so not stopping now!

1. Jesus– Surprise, Surprise…the now 9 time champion! What else can I say but that He is everything to me and I’m continually amazed that not only has He forgiven me but He uses me to accomplish His will here on the earth sometimes in the most unusual ways. I don’t deserve anything from Him yet He keeps blessing me. I know some of you reading this think that Christianity is restrictive, but it’s actually the opposite…the freedom to know you’re exactly where God wants you to be is such an awesome feeling and it’s something only Jesus can provide. I liken it to traffic laws…they aren’t there to restrict you but to keep you safe. Because of them you have more freedom not less because there is order to things. God and His Word are the same way. The more you get to know Him the more you realize He always has your best intentions at heart whenever He says to do something or not to do it.

2. Lisa– This year we celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary and I know it sounds like a cliche but our marriage just keeps getting better and better! Words can’t even begin to describe how awesome she is and everyday I thank God that I won the wife lottery because I definitely don’t deserve her. Can’t wait to see what the next 20 years brings!

3. My Health– As many of you know I contracted some sort of bacteria/virus this summer while in Costa Rica which had me basically lying in bed extremely sick for a month. So I’m thankful I have my health back but I’m even more appreciative of those that have chronic illness, etc. I only had a month of illness and the mental side was as bad as the physical side. So for those of you who suffer all the time, I can somewhat empathize and want you to know I’m praying for you. Everyday now even with my minor aches and pains of getting older, I realize what a gift my somewhat normal health is.

4. New Building– Last year at Thanksgiving we thought it was just a matter of time until we closed on our new church building. Little did we know that it would take an entire year to finally close…which we did 17 days ago! The Church is people not a building but a building will definitely help. Can’t wait to see how God is going to use this new tool on our tool belt.

5. The People of ExponentialChurch.tv– Our church celebrated it’s 5th birthday this year and through those years literally hundreds of people have walked through the doors and been a part. Some were there just a week, some months, others for years. Each and everyone is loved and appreciated but I’m especially thankful for those we have right now. They have stuck through the good and the bad times and are currently a part of God being on the move in our midst. Their generosity of time and money is inspiring and I can’t wait to see what the next 5 years will bring as we continue to communicate through our words and actions that You Matter to God and You Matter to me.

6. My Mom and Dad– They are a part of #5 above…which is kind of funny. When I pastored a church 20 minutes from their home, they would show up 1-2 times per year. The when I pastored a church 30 minutes from their home, they started showing up 3-4 times per year. Now that I’m an hour plus away, they show up every week! What an honor to be able to be your parent’s pastor. But even more so, what dedication on their part to come up not just on Sunday’s but sometimes multiple times during the week to serve the people of Harrisburg in various ways. I’m so thankful that we get to work side by side in the most important task in the world…showing other people the love of Jesus.

7. Family on Both Sides– Lisa and I are fortunate to have relatives that we actually really like. I can’t think of a single relative that we ever dread having to be around. While we don’t get to see everyone as much as what we’d always like, things like Facebook help to keep tabs on everyone and stay invested in some way in their lives. I love the times we are able to get together and the fun we have!

8. DrewPeacoq8– In the real world better known as John Gonzalez. 3+ years ago John was the first of my 3 poker coaches that I hired. Immediately we hit it off and as the years have progressed he has gone from coach to friend to as of a few weeks ago a brother in Christ. Almost daily, whether it be phone, text, chat, email etc we are in communication with one another and increasingly it’s less and less about the game we both love and about life and living life to it’s fullest. He truly has become one of my best friends…in fact, Lisa and I are leaving tonight after family stuff to head to North Carolina to spend a few days with John and Brandy. Can’t wait to hang!

9. Poker in General– It’s amazing all the ways a card game has impacted my life. First, I still find it extremely relaxing as a way to unwind after a day of church stuff. Second, it has allowed me to expand my ministry reach. Whether it’s helping local players through various personal issues or the opportunities I’m getting nationally and globally to share the good news of Jesus, it’s so cool to be able to make an impact for the Kingdom of God in an area that so desperately needs it but yet many Christians would steer clear of. Third is from a financial stand point. This year especially I have been crushing tournaments which has allowed us to not have to depend on Lisa for any income, which in turn is allowing her to pursue some of her own dreams and goals. Last, it is an avenue to keep my naturally competitive juices flowing. Not only from tourney to tourney, but also each week when the new global rankings come out it’s fun to see how I stack up. As of this week, I’m the #1 online player in PA, #16 in the United States and #1110 in the world.

10. You– If you’ve read all the way through this then chances are you’re someone close to me and I just want to say thank you for your love, encouragement, friendship and support. No matter what area of life I know you from, my life is better because you’re in it…here’s to many more years of doing life together! Happy Thanksgiving!

Our New Mission Statement

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We are now 3 years into planting ExponentialChurch.tv and a few months back our staff and some other key leaders evaluated where we’re at and what we wish we knew then that we know now.  As a part of that process, we changed our mission statement to better reflect who we’ve become and the direction we feel God is leading us.  So our new mission statement is…

Helping people take life-changing next steps in their journey towards God.

Now obviously the question then becomes…”OK how do you do that?”  Our answer is below with each of the sub-steps.  In the coming weeks and months I’ll take more time to, in more detail, explore how we’re accomplishing each one.

EXPERIENCE
a.  Church in a new way.
b.  Jesus in a life-changing way.

ENGAGE
a.  With God’s Word.
b.  With others in biblical community.

EXPAND
a.  Your heart for serving.
b.  God’s message of love to the world.

To get a sneak peek at what I’ll be sharing, you can listen to 2 messages that I did this past fall on the topic.  The first was on God’s plan for all churches.  The second is more specific to God’s plan for us at Exponential.

FAQ’s about Chad’s departure from our staff

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Today I announced that Chad will be leaving staff at ExponentialChurch.tv at the end of January.  If you’d like to hear my announcement of this news in today’s message, fast forward to the 26:20 mark.  For Chad’s response fast forward to the 38:34 mark.  Here are a couple of FAQ’s to help you process through the news of this…

Q.  Where is he going?
A.  Ironically enough to the same church that I left to come to Harrisburg.  The Chambersburg First Church of God is continuing to see God move in amazing ways and as a result of that growth they have created a new position which Chad will be fulfilling.

Q.  What will he be doing there?
A.  Chad’s role will be to oversee all the Discipleship ministries of the church including, Sunday School, Wednesday night programs and Life Groups.  There will be other roles in that area that he will also be covering so pray for him that he can handle it all.

Q.  Why is he leaving?
A.  Ultimately because it’s God’s will.  Chad let me know last month that they had asked him if he would be willing to interview for the position.  With my blessing, prayer and support, Chad did the interview and not surprisingly they offered him the position.  From  there it was a matter of he, Tammie and the kids praying and discussing what God might want from and for them.  In the end, the decision was to accept the position.

Q.  If he was willing to leave does that mean you wanted him to or that there is something going on between the two of you that caused him to want to leave?
A.  No.  My job as his boss and spiritual leader during a time like this is to pray with and for him and give my input.  In our discussions I shared with him what I thought was a balanced slate of reasons to stay and reasons to go.  We talked about what was best for Exponential, Chambersburg First, him personally, and his family.  We also discussed the negatives to all those. The biggest issue though is what is best for the Kingdom of God overall?  At the end of the day the answer was to move on to a new season of life.

As for our personal relationship, I can honestly say that I couldn’t have asked for a better pastoral partner these past 3 years.  Getting Exponential up and running has been harder than either one of us thought.  There have been times where we’ve wanted to quit but together we’ve kept each other sane.  Oh sure, like in any relationship there have been days where we’d get frustrated with something the other did, but those issues would resolve in a day or 2 and honestly were few and far between.  Chad and I became friends through all this, will remain friends and will continue working on projects together to advance the Kingdom in any way we can.

Q.  Who at Exponential will handle Chad’s responsibilities?
A.  Great question and one I’m still processing through.  The initial answer is that this will be a great opportunity for many of you to step up and begin serving in new ways.  No one person may be able to do all that Chad was doing but if everyone pitches in, we can do it together.  Also, this transition is a natural time to re-evaluate how we’re doing all of our ministries.  As a result over the coming month(s), I’ll be getting together with many of our key leaders to see what types of shifts we need to make at this time.  I value your input, so please email me at gilbert@exponentialchurch.tv with thoughts or suggestions.  If you’d prefer to speak in person, we can arrange that as well.

Q.  When will Chad officially be leaving?
A.  The last Sunday of January which is the 26th.  In the meantime, make sure you get together with he and his family to let them know how much we appreciate all that they’ve done these past 3 years.  And of course plan on being with us on the 26th as we corporately celebrate their life and ministry!

Thanks for being such an awesome group of people!  I hope this blog post has answered some of your questions.  If you have any others, please let me know.  Remember the best is still yet to come!

Inside Today’s Experience

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  • Great ending to the Sun Stand Still series.
  • God definitely moved in a lot of people’s live throughout and today was no exception.
  • Got to sleep in this morning since we had 2 new guys (Justin Good and Bob Geisel) putting out signs.
  • Thanks guys!
  • Set-up was radically different than normal since we were missing 4 of our normal people including 3 band members.
  • However, all things considered it went rather smoothly.
  • The exception was I ended up being the one hanging the “sun” props.
  • I actually had a dream about it last night where I fell off the ladder…woke up with my heart beating a million miles per hour.
  • So I was a bit gun-shy doing it for real today…especially when I got light-headed at one point and nearly fell off for real.
  • Aaron did a great job leading worship again today in Bill’s absence (and no they still haven’t had the baby).
  • Also great to have Evan Reichley sitting in on drums.
  • He brought his own drum stool which really looked cool…sort of Captain America(ish).
  • Chad is doing an awesome job in his new role of coordinating all the people serving on Sunday’s which has taken yet another big stress off of me.
  • The Experience itself started out weird with one of the lights going on and off.
  • Really quickly grabbed another power strip since that appeared to be the issue but now looking at the picture for this post, I’m not sure it didn’t malfunction again.
  • Weird only having a 4 man band but they did a great job.
  • I think this was the worst of the messages in the series both from a content and presentation perspective but once again many people afterward were talking about how it impacted them.
  • Glad God can take my efforts and use it to change lives!
  • The lady I gave the $100 to came up afterward and shared her story…really cool.
  • Also it was great to hear that others of you stopped her and gave her even more money!
  • To hear why I gave her the money you can listen to it here.
  • The main theme of the message was what to do when you start chasing your miracle but opposition starts to come.
  • Again you can listen to it and all the messages in this series by clicking here.
  • Next week we begin a new series called, “Family:  Putting the Pieces Back Together”.
  • If you’re interested in knowing how to be a better parent or you know someone that needs some help, then don’t miss this series.
  • Tomorrow I’ll post a Facebook invite that you can use in addition to the invite cards we passed out today.
  • If you need more invite cards, please let me know and we’ll get them to you.
  • Don’t forget the difference passing out just 5 cards per week can make!
  • Also don’t forget to participate in March MADness this week and bring your bookmark back with your story written out.
  • Have a great week…can’t wait to start the new series with you and hear your stories of how you’re making a difference!

Inside Today’s Experience

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  • Another great day!
  • Saw 8 more people give their lives to Jesus!
  • Had a lot of new people doing “First Serves” today.
  • So awesome seeing people step up and use their gifts, skills, talents and abilities to serve others.
  • Great having church planters, Luke and Sabrina from Raleigh, North Carolina with us this morning observing what was happening and then having lunch with them at the Rock Bass Grill.  Holy cow is that some good food.
  • Also awesome having Aaron Hoke leading worship for us today.
  • Aaron is normally one of our guitarists but with Bill away for a few weeks while he and Meghan welcome a new child into the world, Aaron is stepping up and did great!
  • FYI, Meghan was there today along with Bill…she’s now past due by a couple of days…they’re hoping for a Leap Year baby now.
  • As I told Bill, “The good thing is you only have to buy birthday presents every 4 years, the bad news is the kid will live with you for 72 years”.  🙂
  • Not a lot else to report for the day…pretty smooth.
  • I preached part 2 of the Sun Stand Still series on how to turn your pitiful prayers into powerful ones.
  • Based on Facebook comments, it apparently was a good and convicting message.
  • You can listen to it here as I taught on how to pray using an acrostic for the word ASK.
  • Next week we’ll wrap the series up by looking at what to do when opposition comes to your new life of faith.  See you then…hopefully with a friend or two.