Gilbert Thurston

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

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Willow Creek Leadership Summit 2010 Recap

August 13, 2010 by Gilbert Leave a Comment

I’m way behind on stuff but still wanted to post a couple of thoughts from last week’s Global Leadership Summit that Willow Creek hosts each year.  I don’t have time to post my full notes so I’ll just give a highlight or two from each speaker.  Today I’ll give you the day 1 line-up and then tomorrow I’ll give you the day 2 notes:

Bill Hybels- I wouldn’t be who I am today if not for him.  From the first time I heard him speak to even today, he makes me cry when he talks.  There is just something that deeply resonates within me as he talks about lost people and how the local church is the hope of the world.  Bill’s talk at the Summit was about a recent time in his life when he was struggling to lead and went back and reminded himself of what he’s learned in 30+ years of leadership.  Again I won’t go into each of them, but the thought that struck me most was this…Leaders move people from “here” to “there”.  Often times though the mistake is spending too much time talking about the “there” (vision) before you’ve adequately made built the case for why it’s unacceptable to stay “here”.

Jim Collins- To be honest since my first degree was in business and marketing, I probably read as many “secular” business books per year as I do Christian ones.  Jim Collins wrote a classic a few years back called, Good to Great. He has gone on to write other books including a new one he just released on why successful businesses sometimes fail.  What was interesting in his talk was that in the first 3 stages of decline (of 5 total), the company or organization is still growing and looks good on the outside.  Once you hit step 4 then it’s the real wake-up call where everyone finally admits what was obvious but ignored because of the apparent look of continued success.  It’s here that either you make the necessary changes or you go on to Step 5 which is “Irrelevance or death” of the business or organization.

Christine Caine- I’ve been hearing about her a lot recently but hadn’t had the opportunity to hear her or read any of her writings.  My bad!  She is a huge bundle of energy packed into a tiny body.  She’s a part of Hillsong Church (one of my favorites).  She heads up many organizations, including one that cares for and helps heal those that have been victims of human trafficking.  My big take away from her was actually one of those Holy Spirit moments where she said something that then led my mind down a similar path so that God could speak to me exactly what it was that He wanted.  Here it is…”Don’t shy away from the darkness. Run to it, because that’s what I’ve called you to do.”

Tony Dungy- Tony of course lead the Indianapolis Colts to a Super Bowl a few years back.  I knew he was a Christian, but how differently he coached the team as a result was amazing.  He refused to coach like all the other coaches and insisted his assistants coach the same way.  I love one of the things he said, “Hours worked doesn’t equal productivity”.  What he was getting at was how some coaches stay until 2-3 am working on game plans thinking that more hours will mean more success.  I see this (and at times have done myself) in pastors all the time.  Instead of sticking to a set schedule, they instead allow the urgent to crowd out the important, but then since the important still needs to be done, they end up working way too many hours.  I told one of my staff the other day…and I’m paraphrasing Jesus, “What does it profit a man if he has the world’s best ministry but sacrifices his marriage”.  Tony got this when it came to coaching and I pray other coaches, business leaders, pastors and myself would keep this in mind.

Adam Hamilton- I had never heard of him before the Summit but the topic he talked about was one that many need to hear.  He was asked to speak because recently two of the staff in his mega-church were caught having an affair with one another.  Adam talked about how to navigate through these difficult times.  Unfortunately you hear more and more about this in churches all the time.  I remember John Bradford’s famous words, “But for the grace of God go I”.  In other words, all (especially males) are capable of this very deadly sin.  That’s one of the reasons I have always had such stringent guidelines for myself when it comes to dealing with the opposite sex.  In fact I’ve had others, including fellow staff members, laugh at me because some of them seem ridiculous, but that’s how seriously I take this.  Something Adam said will be one more tool for tool belt to help me and others.  “You’ve got to recognize the Moment of the Maybe.  That’s when in your mind you start to rationalize, ‘What if’ and fail to imagine the consequences”.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Adam Hamilton, adultery, Bill Hybels, Christine Caine, Hillsong Church, Indianapolis Colts, Jim Collins, leadership, marriage, productivity, staff, Tony Dungy, Willow Creek

Inside Today’s Experience (Vacation Edition)

June 14, 2009 by Gilbert Leave a Comment

Francis Chan & Gilbert

  • Again heard through texts and seeing people in person at lunch that you guys had a good day today.
  • Hope you got a lot out of Francis Chan’s messgae…love that guy.
  • When I was in Orlando a few months back I got to meet him. (pictured above).
  • The best part of that day though was the hilarious intro he got.
  • As for us…today we visited King Street Church, right here in Chambersburg.
  • King Street is the area’s largest church but until today I had not had the opportunity to visit them.
  • Unfortuantely I didn’t read their web-site well enough and we ended up at their blended service instead of the contemporary one.
  • However, that was by far the best blended service I’ve ever seen.
  • Their 50+ member choir rocked it out.
  • I guess the thing I liked best about them wasn’t neccisarily their song selection or singing ability but the “attitude” in which they sang.
  • They were having fun and you could tell they really believed what they were singing.
  • They had a guest speaker so I wasn’t able to gauge that aspect of their services, although the guest speaker gave a good message on compassion.
  • One funny thing happened…the lady sitting next to me stole mu bulletin.  Don’t think she did it intentionally but I was partially sitting on it so you’d have thought she’d have at least asked.
  • One other cool thing was seeing that Ryan Payne was playing acoustic guitar, in the background, for King Street’s worship team.
  • Ryan’s band is really growing and has quite a following and I expect one day they will be signed by a major Christian label.  Neat to see hi humble himself to serve.
  • Reminds me of what Brian Houston, pastor of Hillsong Church, said about Darlene Zschech when she was becoming famous…”She has never forgotten that she’s to still serve in her home church”.
  • After the service was over I got to meet the Senior Pastor, John Beukema.  Seems like a nice guy and I’m proud that we get to partner with King Street and so many other great churches in our area to reach people for Christ.
  • I’ve said it before an I’ll say it again…It’s not about United or CFCOG, it’s about Jesus and the Church which He died for.  I’m glad we have other great churches in our area…we’re not in competition, but partners together. 
  • We meet with Lisa’s sister and her family for lunch at Red Robin.  The 4 of them plus Lisa and I all share birthday’s within about a 40 day period…4 of us within 11 days…so this turned out to be our birthday meal.
  • Funny thing was Lisa and Gayle were texting each other while we were there.  I look up and over in the corner were the whole Krull family having lunch.  In other words Lisa and Gayle were in the same restaurant texting each other and didn’t even know it.
  • Of course we had some fun sending her texts about things she was doing and wearing…finally she caught on and realized we were there.
  • Time for a nap and then our normal Sunday night crew will be getting together.
  • Vacation is almost done…enjoyed it and for the most part I’m refreshed…can’t wait to see everyone next week!
  • Filed Under: Inside Today's Experience's Tagged With: Adam Gayman, Brian Gayman, Brian Houston, Chambersburg First Church of God, Darlene Zschech, Francis Chan, Gayle Krull, gilbert thurston, Hillsong Church, John Beukema, Jordan Gayman, King Street Church, Linda Gayman, Lisa Thurston, Red Robin, Ryan Payne, United Worship Experience, vacation

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