Gilbert Thurston

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

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University on Wheels

March 16, 2010 by Gilbert Leave a Comment

There is an old saying that, “Leaders are Readers”.  However, so often in such a fast paced world, it can be difficult to read as much as you might like.  So that’s why I like to say, “Leaders are Learners”.  The key is to be learning as much as you can each and everyday.  So what can you do when you don’t have as much time to read as you’d like?  Simple…turn your car into a University on Wheels.

There are tons of CD’s and MP3’s that can be listened to while you’re driving that will make your drive time more productive.  Having trouble reading the bible?  Ok, listen to it instead.  Need to get some more info on healthy living.  Listen to something.  Have a big project at work you need to have more knowledge for.  Find a book that touches on the subject then buy the audio version instead.

I’m a huge fan of music and periodically you just need some music to listen to while driving, however if you’re smart you’ll start introducing some learning into the mix as well.  Even just 1/2 hour per day will add up to significant amounts of learning over the course of a year.  I started this habit back in the mid 90’s and now I hardly ever listen to music while in the car…between Cd’s and podcasts there is a never ending source of great teaching out there, the question is are you tapping into it?  Leaders are learners…how you doing?

Filed Under: Growth Tagged With: car, CD's, leadership, learning, MP3, podcast, reading

Alcohol is More Popular than Sex

March 27, 2009 by Gilbert Leave a Comment

Alcohol greater than sex copy

I said last week in this blog that I felt the message on alcohol would quickly surpass the total number of downloads we had gotten of the previous week’s message on whether Christians can enjoy movies and music that are not “Christian” in nature.

By Wednesday that had happened.  What I didn’t expect was that last night the message would become the number 2 most downloaded message ever, surpassing the message on sex that I had done in May of 2008.  Now only the controversial 2009 vision message is keeping it from the top spot.

All that to say I am really enjoying this series and apparently so are you.  This week we’ll look at how to deal with temptation (plus take more live text message questions) and then the following week I’ll do an abbreviated message on the last question you asked for…How Do I Handle Doubts About My Faith…then I’ll take the remainder of that day to take as many text message questions as we can squeeze in.

Don’t forget to invite someone to join you.  Once again here is the link to our 2009 Promo Video if you’d like to use it help explain what United is all about.

Filed Under: Sermon Series, You Asked For It Tagged With: alcohol, podcast, sex, text message, United Worship Experience, vision

Inside Today’s Experiences

March 15, 2009 by Gilbert Leave a Comment

brian

  • Now that’s what I’m talking about.
  • Great Experiences today!
  • 3 more people asked Christ to forgive them of their sins and asked for His leadership!
  • That never gets old.
  • Coolest part was a son and his mother were two of the three but they both did it at seperate Experiences.
  • In other words…God spoke to both of their hearts and they responded but about an hour and a half apart…amazing!
  • The 9:15 set another attendance record…total we had our 2nd highest attended day ever and church wide we did set a new attendance record.
  • So great to be a part of something where God is moving in so many ways.
  • The day started out real early…it was still dark when I got in, but all the extra work was worth it.
  • Got a call right before practice from Hannah to say she has laryngitis.
  • That meant a lot of what we practiced on Thurday needed to be changed but Aaron and Andrea did a great job of adapting.
  • Speaking of Aaron he and his creative team did an incredible job with the new stage set for this series and the corresponding lighting.
  • And what can you say about Brian?  What an awesome job he did on the turntables. (pictured above)
  • What other church can say they used Fergie, the Beastie Boys, and the Shop Boyz to set-up a message today?
  • Brian did a great job mixing it all together and the lighting for it was sick!
  • I included Brian’s mix on the beginning of the message podcast.
  • And speaking of the podcast…I also included both live questions we took at the end of each message.
  • At 9:15 the question via text was “What happened to the dinosaurs” and at 10:45 it was “What does the Bible say about swearing”?
  • Ok actually at 10:45 they wanted me to answer, “How do you stay so good looking” but I refused.
  • The 9:15 crowd must have gotten a lot of sleep last night…they came in rowdy and ready to go…the energy was great.
  • I had alot of fun with today’s message and yes at 10:45 I did say that God can even use an ass to get his point across. 
  • If you don’t believe me read this…Numbers Chapter 22
  • In the message I also referenced Tim Steven’s book “Pop Goes the Church“…seriously pick up a copy…you won’t regret it.
  • I can’t wait for next week…the next question you wanted answered was “Is It Alright for Christians to Drink Alcohol”?
  • Yet again you’re not going to want to miss what we have up our sleeves…do whatever you can to get people there!
  • Don’t forget to use our new Promo Video to help in the inviting process.
  • Ok time for a nap and then it’s off to some friend’s house for dinner.
  • Filed Under: Inside Today's Experience's, Sermon Series, You Asked For It Tagged With: Aaron Schwindt, Andrea Miller, Beastie Boys, Brian Miller, dinosaurs, Fergie, gilbert thurston, Hannah Richards, Pet Shop Boyz, podcast, Pop Goes the Church, promo video, salvation, swearing, text message, Tim Steven's, United Worship Experience

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