Gilbert Thurston

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

I Can’t Believe I’m Posting About…

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…Women’s college basketball.  Ok so most of you know I’m a huge sports fan and will watch just about anything.  However, I’ve never been a fan of women’s basketball.  I think in this sport you most see the difference’s in athleticism between men and women and to me a fast break that doesn’t end with a dunk is just a bit boring.   However, I’m not posting this to get into a conversation about that, instead I want to talk about…

The University of Connecticut team that last night won their 70th game in a row.  This is the second time they’ve done this, but what stood out to me in the article I just read about it was that every victory in this streak has been by at least 10 points or more.  In other words, they’re very good at what they do and they don’t let the outcome in doubt.

To me that’s what churches should be all about.  Work together as a team to do the very best you can and each week make sure the devil knows that he’s not just beat, but stomped on big time.  I believe we need to run up the score on him.  Never should a Sunday pass us by that we just barely got through.  Never should we go into an Experience/Service without a game plan to severely humiliate our opponent.  God is the Harlem Globetrotters, the devil is the Washington Generals.  We should make him look foolish and our record should be unblemished.

Here’s the bad news.  The church in America is on the decline.  While the population has increased…and surprisingly people’s interest in God has increased over the past decade, statistics tell us actual attendance is on the decline.   In fact the amount of unchurched in our nation has doubled since 1994.  Is the problem with God?  No, He hasn’t changed.  Do we need to give up on church and do something different?  No the church was Jesus idea and He said the gates of hell would not be able to prevail against it.  Do we need to change our strategy in how we do church?  Yes!

The same game plans that won basketball games back in the 1950’s no longer works today.  Same goes for football.  The best teams and coaches keep up with what’s winning now, not what won 50 years ago, 20 years ago or even 5 years ago for that matter.  Our culture in America is always changing and either we keep up and redeem it or our culture looks at us like we’re in the stone-age and thinks of us a boring and antiquated.  That’s not a reflection on God, that’s a reflection on us and our methods.

I had no idea where I was going with this post when I first started writing, but it’s become pretty clear that this was meant for pastors and church leaders to examine your methods.  Remember, the message never changes, but our methods must.  Are you just barely surviving and sometimes that devil wins a game or two, or are you like the UConn women’s team?  Each week executing your game plan and running up the score?  Geno Auriemma the UConn coach gave the predictable, “We just take it one game at a time” quote when asked about their success.  But there’s truth there.  Just concentrate on creating the best worship experience you can this week.  After that’s done, repeat it again the next week and then the week after that.  Before long you’ll have put together a nice streak and the devil will have been put on notice that he’s in for a losing battle.  So be strong!  Be courageous!  Do not fear for God is with you and will give you victory!

Dress Code: Please Do

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Note:  The Chambersburg Public Opinion is doing an article on how people dress for church.  They are interviewing Earl this morning and he asked me to write up something with some of my thoughts.  Don’t know if any of this will get used or not, but thought I’d pass along for you to get my 2 cents on the subject.


I always tell people that how they dress is greatly dependent on their primary view of Jesus.  If your primary view is that of ruler, King, authority figure, etc., then when you go to his house, you will probably get all dressed up.  If however your primary view of Jesus is that of being your best friend, then you’ll probably dress more casual.

For me personally there are two aspects to it…one is personal and the other is professional.  From a personal standpoint, if I were to visit with our governor or President I would get dressed up.  The reason for that is to be respectful, but mostly I’m doing it for them because that’s what they would expect and possibly require and in some ways I’d be doing it trying to impress.  On the other hand, if I go to my best friend Andy or Bill’s house in a suit, they are going to laugh at me.  To them it’s not about what I look like, but rather what’s going on inside of me that counts.  So for me personally, I don’t get dressed up for church because I choose to see Jesus as my best friend.  It was Jesus Himself in Matthew 23 who condemned the “religious leaders” of His day for looking good on the outside, but on the inside being dead.  I guess my point is Jesus couldn’t care less what you look like on the outside, it’s what’s going on inside you that He’s most concerned about.

Now from a professional stand point, we have a little joke in United that our dress code is, “Please Do”.  One objection that un-churched people often have is, “I don’t have anything to wear so I can’t come to church”.  I’ve had quite a few stories from people who said they were able to share, “Well our pastor usually wears jeans and a t-shirt to preach in so as long as you have something like that, you’ll fit right in”.  In the same way I’ve had new people tell me how comfortable it made them feel and how much more relatable I was because of the casual environment.  The apostle Paul said, “I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some”.  So for me if dressing casually will help remove barriers that might be keeping people from coming into a relationship with Jesus then I’m all for it.