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 Experience

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  • Good news, bad news kind of day.
  • The bad news is I thought my sermon was one of my worst ever.
  • I just never got into a good flow.
  • Usually when I’m not really feeling a message, God takes over and it all seems to click.
  • Not today though.
  • However, just because I wasn’t feeling it doesn’t mean that God didn’t still use it.
  • Had a few people tell me this was one of their favorite messages they’ve ever heard me do.
  • And now for the good news…
  • 4 more professions of faith today!
  • Like last week i find this slightly amusing since today’s message was on how to verbally share your faith with other people.
  • Ironic huh?  Taught on how to share your faith and 4 people realized that they first need to have faith.
  • You can listen to the message here if you’re interested.
  • As a reminder…practice the Bridge Illustration (can be downloaded at the above link under the documents section) and don’t forget to email me your 3 minute testimony so I can review it and make suggestions.
  • As for the rest of the day, it was kind of weird as well.
  • Normally we have 40-43 people serve on a Sunday to make everything happen.
  • Today so many people were gone because of the holiday that we only had about half of that number.
  • Considering half of those are in the band or tech area, it made for a very short staff.
  • However, everyone stepped up and did what they could where they could and we didn’t seem to skip a beat.
  • Love my team!  What an awesome group of servants.
  • Surprisingly, attendance was actually really good today even with a lot of our regulars away.
  • That’s a good sign that perhaps we’re going to get some good momentum going.
  • The rest of the day was pretty much as normal…
  • Set-up and tear-down both went quickly and smoothly.
  • The band as always did a great job.
  • It was great to have George and Rebecca Spangler with us today.
  • George is the current pastor at the Camp Hill Church of God and will be planting Turning Point Church next fall.
  • We’ll be sharing with you in the coming months ways that we can partner with George to help him as he starts from scratch just like we did in the fall of 2010.
  • One of our core values is that, “It takes all types of churches to reach all types of people”.  We’re honored to be able to help another church here in the local area reach the 425000 that currently don’t have a relationship with Jesus.
  • Next week we wrap-up the “Just Walk Across the Room” series by looking at having a personal vision for your life that includes being an eternal difference maker.