Mike Edmisten

I’m working on my sermon at Chick-Fil-A this morning. Good breakfast, free wi-fi…it’s a good place to work.

One of the managers just came up to me and told me that they made too many chicken biscuits. Now that breakfast isn’t being served anymore, he wondered if I would like a free biscuit.

Um…yeah!

It’s gonna be a good day.

The third post in a series focusing on less-than-Olympic moments at this year’s Beijing Games.

Are they 16 or not? That’s the question swirling around some Chinese gymnasts. To compete in the games, the athlete must be 16 during the Olympic year.

Allegations are flying fast and furious, claiming that several of China’s gymnasts who competed in the games are 13 or 14 years old. Seems like some new information is unearthed every day.

I don’t know how old they are. I know how old I think they are. Looks can be deceiving, but they sure don’t look 16.

This controversy really uncovers something deeper than gymnastics. China’s government claims to have verification that the athletes are indeed 16. But nobody seems to believe them.

Are we surprised? The Chinese government doesn’t exactly have a great track record for truth-telling and reliability. They do have a reputation for suppressing free speech and religious liberty.

Want an eye-opener? Check out this page on Voice of the Martyrs’ website.

Olympic Persecution

Not exactly the China that we saw at the glorious Opening and Closing Ceremonies, is it? But the reality is that China has a long-standing reputation for oppression and persecution.

With that kind of sinister track record, are we shocked that they would lie about a gymnast’s age if it supported the government’s agenda?

If you want to read further, you can check out Voice of the Martyr’s complete description of Chinese persecution here.

This is the second post in a series reflecting on some of the more forgettable moments from this year’s Summer Olympics.

This was not a very good year for the U.S. Track & Field team. There were a few shining moments, but it seemed like there were a lot more moments like this.

Both the men’s and women’s 4×100 relay teams dropped the baton on the anchor leg of the race in the qualifying rounds. To clarify for those of you who don’t give a rip about Olympic sports, this is the race when four people run 100 meters, each passing the baton to the next runner.

It sounds so simple. Pass this stick that is a foot long and weighs only 1 1/2 ounces to the person in front of you. But both teams dropped the batons, thus ending their hopes of running for a gold medal.

As John Crumpacker put it, “Watching the bumbling performances of American relay teams Thursday night at the Bird’s Nest, it’s obvious that while Dick and Jane can run, they sure can’t pass the baton around the track.”

That’s a little harsh. Funny, but a little harsh. It was raining that night. It is the Olympics, so the pressure is intense. I can see where this could happen.

But the problem is that this is an area that USA Track & Field has largely ignored. Crumpacker points out that, “For decades, American 4×100 relay teams have been getting by on superior speed to cover up for less-than-perfect handoffs…That speed brings with it the arrogance of taking for granted the seemingly simple act of passing the baton from one to another.”

The lesson in all of this? Details matter. Ignoring the little stuff will eventually come back to bite you.

Are there little, seemingly insignificant details in your life that you need to address? They don’t seem like they matter…but over time, it’s the little things that can take us down.

Little lies can destroy our credibility.

Lustful glances can wreck a marriage.

Seemingly insignificant words can have a profound effect on your child’s life.

You would think that in an Olympic race, speed is all that matters. It’s the big thing. But if you can’t pass a baton around a track, your speed doesn’t matter. The little thing you’ve ignored will destroy you.

The Beijing Olympics are now history. Lots of exciting Olympic moments. Nastia Liukin, Michael Phelps, Shawn Johnson, May-Treanor & Walsh, Rodgers & Dalhausser, the Redeem Team…all exciting stuff. (If you don’t know those names, you don’t love the Olympics as much as I do.)

But, for all the gold and glory, there were some less-than-Olympic moments at this year’s games. Thought I’d take this week to reflect on some of these not-so-glorious moments.

How about this for starters? Angel Valodia Matos, a Cuban taekwondo athlete, kicked the referee in the head after he lost the bronze medal match. Matos, a 2000 Sydney Games gold medalist, pushed Swedish judge Chakir Chelbat and then caught him with an axe kick on the head after being disqualified in the Olympic taekwondo men’s tournament.

This outburst has cost Matos big time. He has received a lifetime ban from the World Taekwondo Federation.

The sport in which he won a gold medal in 2000 is also in trouble. Taekwondo is barely hanging on as an Olympic sport. The International Olympic Committee only approved it by one vote for the Beijing Games. Because of Matos’ actions, it will likely be defeated when the committee votes again.

This whole drama serves as a good reminder of this truth…our actions affect other people. We may like to believe that each of us is an island…that what we do only affects us. But that’s simply not true. What I do affects a lot of other people. Same goes for you.

Your words, your attitude, and your actions all have ramifications on other people. They reflect, either positively or negatively, on your family, your church, your friends, and ultimately, your God. How you carry yourself doesn’t just affect yourself.

Matos may have cost a lot of young people the chance of a lifetime. How many young athletes have been training for years, hoping to compete in taekwondo at a future Olympics? They may never get the chance, thanks in large part to the actions of Matos and a few others who may have irreparably damaged the sport’s reputation.

As you go through your day today, remember that the words you say, the demeanor you carry, and the things you do will impact a lot of other people.

I’m reading through the gospel of John right now. I recently ran smack into a description of Jesus that I’ve read before, but never fully considered. And honestly…it’s kind of scary.

“Now while [Jesus] was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many people saw the miraculous signs he was doing and believed in his name. But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men. He did not need man’s testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man.” (John 2:23-25, NIV)

Huge crowds were clamoring for Jesus’ attention. As far as celebrity status is concerned, Jesus’ stock is soaring like a rocket. Everybody gathered around him, wanting to see a miracle.

But the Bible says that “Jesus would not entrust himself to them” for one simple reason. He knew them too well. John says that Jesus “knew what was in a man.”

Think about that. Here was a crowd, seemingly ready and willing to believe in Jesus. Wasn’t that his mission…to bring people to a saving faith in him? So why in the world didn’t he trust any of them?

Because he knew them, inside and out. He scanned the crowd of cheering, adoring fans…and saw no one that he could trust. No one that he could count on. Jesus has the supernatural ability to see beyond the outer facade and into a person’s soul.

These verses hit me a like a freight train. One question is swirling in my head…can Jesus trust me?

Things were going great in this scene from John’s gospel. Jesus is performing great miracles, and everybody was pumped! I wonder what happened to this crowd when Jesus was hanging on the cross. More than that, I wonder if some of this cheering throng later joined the angry mob, shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”

Makes me wonder if Jesus can count on me. Am I one of his swooning fans who will stick by him when times are good? Do I jump ship when things are heading south?

Jesus knows the answer to that question. The Bible reminds us that Jesus knows what lies buried deep within us. He knows if he can trust me or not.

I’m wrestling with finding the answer myself.

What about you?

Ready to relive a little bit of VBS excitement?

Pictures and videos from the week are on our website. If you haven’t checked ‘em out yet, do it today. I dare you to do it without smiling. Can’t be done!

VBS Pics & Videos

Tomorrow is the biggest workday of all for our basement renovation project at ACC. Our goal? Paint the entire basement. Definitely a pretty auspicious goal, but there it is.

Grab your roller, paint pans, etc. and let’s get after it!

Another little family update…

Brock is really breathing better today. We all crashed very early last night and got some much needed rest.

Appreciate the prayers!

Ok, so I don’t think I’m ever going to write a post about being stressed ever again. Things got even more stressful after that post.

We ended up spending Wednesday night in Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. Our youngest son, Brock, was having some significant difficulty breathing. We took him to urgent care. After he didn’t respond well there, we were admitted to Children’s. By that point, it was almost 1:00 am.

We’re home now. Brock is doing a lot better. We’ve still got to administer breathing treatments for the next couple of days, but I think he’s turning the corner.

I appreciate your prayers for the health and rest of my family. We are completely exhausted.

We just completed the longest sermon series of the year. Our Heroes series was spectacular! I loved going back to some of the classic, heroic stories from the Old Testament.

We’re going to follow it up with a short, super practical series called God@Work. As we lead up to Labor Day, we’re going to talk about how a Christ-follower carries himself/herself at work. How can we live for God while we’re on the job?

We’re going to focus on two problem areas for a lot of us.

This Sunday, we’re talking about accepting authority. How does a disciple of Jesus deal with this? What if your boss is a jerk? We all work under authority at some level, so we need to know how God wants us to react to it.

Then, on August 31, we’re exploring how to deal with difficult people. Got any of those at your job? Almost everyone does. How can we be faithful to God and deal with these people who make us crazy?

This series isn’t going a be an encouraging, “touch your heart” kind of series. It’s going to be nitty-gritty, practical Christianity. You’re going to know how to walk into work on Monday and apply what you learned on Sunday.