Mike Edmisten

The following is a blog post from Mark Batterson. It’s a great observation for all of us as we enter a New Year, so I thought I’d share it with you.

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In Luke 8, Jesus encounters a demoniac named Legion.

A legion was a military regiment consisting of up to six thousand Roman soldiers . Stop and think about the practical ramifications of being possessed by six thousand demons. This man heard six thousand different voices. He was pulled in six thousand difference directions.

With that as a backdrop, check out Elizabeth O’Conner’s profound observation: “My name is ‘legion’ is the plight of us all.”

We may not be possessed by six thousand demons, but most of us feel like we are pulled in six thousand directions. We’re hearing six thousand different voices.

We’re legion.

II Thessalonians 3:11 says: “Some among you are idle. They are not busy; they are busybodies.”

The word busybodies means “to busy oneself with useless or needless matters.” The Thessalonians were majoring in minors and minoring in majors.

Stephen Covey offers a great reminder as we enter a New Year: “Anything less than a conscious commitment to the important is an unconscious commitment to the unimportant.”

I’m really trying to prioritize my life and my ministry in 07. I know I need to do less. I know I need to say no more often. I honestly think that busyness is lazyness. If we don’t control our calendar then our calendar will control us.

What time demons need to be cast out? What do you need to say no to? What do you need to stop doing?

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If those thoughts resonated with you, you might want to check out Mark Batterson’s full blog at evotional.com. He normally posts several times a day, so there’s always something new to read.

It’s no secret that I enjoy working on my sermons at Starbucks. It gets me out of the office where I can focus more easily. The fact that they offer some of the world’s greatest coffee is a nice side benefit.

Lately, I keep running into somebody at Starbucks that you might recognize. I have run into Marty Brennaman during 2 of my last 3 visits to the coffee shop.

For those of you who aren’t from Cincinnati, Marty Brennaman is the Hall of Fame radio broadcaster for the Cincinnati Reds.

I’m beginning to think that maybe Marty is stalking me. So Marty, please hear this: I’m a huge fan and I would welcome the chance to be your friend. But you don’t have to keep following me around. Just give me a call sometime and we can hang out.

Our family had a stellar Christmas this year. We enjoyed spending time with both sides of our family. Ryan had a great time opening all his gifts and playing with his grandparents, aunts, and uncles.

This evening, Nicki, Ryan, and I headed to downtown Cincinnati to see the Duke Energy train display, the musical bears in Carew Tower, the skaters on Fountain Square, and all the other festive stuff the city offers. We all had a great time. I definitely recommend you head downtown and check it all out before the holidays are over. We had a blast and we spent a grand total of $3.00 (parking in Fountain Square garage).

Proof that some of the simplest, most inexpensive things are still some of the best memory makers around.

Just wanted to wish everybody a Merry Christmas. Hope your holiday is filled with family, fun, food, and, most of all, the love of the Father who sent His Son to a dark and undeserving world. I pray that the Christ of Christmas would be present in your homes and in your lives today and every other day of the year.

We had a stellar morning at church today. Our Christmas Eve service was a homerun. (Any day I get to preach from a recliner is a good day!) I’m really thankful that so many of our people stepped up and made it happen today. It didn’t matter if it was up front or behind the scenes. Everyone handled their responsibilities beautifully.

I pray that we’ll all remember the truths that we reflected on this morning. Christmas is about seeking Jesus. It’s about pondering Jesus. It’s about being changed by Jesus.

I’m really jazzed about our church’s Christmas Eve service tomorrow. Since Christmas Eve falls on a Sunday, we are holding our annual candlelight service during our morning worship at 10:30 am. This will allow people to have the rest of the day for family gatherings.

However, this is going to be so much more than just a traditional candlelight service! This service is going to be very different and very special. I’d tell you more, but I don’t want to spoil it for you. I will say this, though. It will be unlike any Christmas Eve service I’ve ever been a part of.

If a warm, welcoming, dynamic church home is on your Christmas list this year, I’d like to invite you to be our guest tomorrow morning. I think you’ll be glad you did.

I went to the hospital today to visit Joy, one of the ladies from our church. Joy was out of her room for tests when I arrived, so I went to the hospital cafeteria to eat lunch and to kill some time until she returned. As I was eating the world’s most bland burger and some fries that were probably hot yesterday, I flipped through a Cincinnati Enquirer that someone had generously left at my table. And as I was reading some of the paper’s holiday articles, I stumbled onto one that really grabbed my attention. It was about Festivus.

Seinfeld fans will remember Festivus as the holiday that Frank Costanza created because he didn’t like celebrating a commercialized Christmas. He called it, “A Festivus for the rest of us.” There was no tree or tinsel to decorate for this new holiday. Simply an aluminum pole. Crazy, right? Apparently not to some people.

The Wagner Company, a Milwaukee-based maker of hand-railing components, is producing Festivus poles. For $38, you can deck your halls with your very own silver aluminum pole.

There are a couple of reasons why my house will never be adorned with a Festivus pole. For one thing, I’m quite content to stick with Christmas. (Ok, I’m not thrilled with all the commercial aspects of the holiday either, but my family still manages to find our way around all of that.) Secondly, there’s no way I’m shelling out almost $40 for a pole. That would be a real Festivus miracle.

There’s an old hymn that churches used to sing as a benediction called Take The Name of Jesus With You. Apparently someone in New York wanted to take it to the next level. He/She/They decided to simply take Jesus.

John and Joan Leising of Buffalo, New York had the infant Jesus stolen from their lighted nativity scene last year. The perpetrators left a note saying that the statue would be returned in three days. Three days turned into eight months. But Jesus was finally returned, complete with a photo album of his travels.

Someone had posed the statue in front of Thruway signs in Binghamton, Rochester, Albany and Poughkeepsie. Other photos showed little Jesus on a bicycle, on a horse, wearing a seat belt in a car, in a chair next to a campfire, and in someone’s kitchen.

Maybe it’s the prankster in me, but this just makes me smile. And I love John Leising’s response to all this. He said, “The real Jesus would have forgiven the pranksters — and I do too.”

I was saddened to hear the news that Peter Boyle passed away on December 12. Most recently, he was known for playing Frank Barone on the sitcom “Everybody Loves Raymond.” Not only is that show one of my favs, but Frank is my very favorite character. It’s weird, because even though I never met Peter Boyle personally, I feel like I knew him. But actually I only knew his on-screen persona. Frank was an old codger and a grump, but you always knew that deep down, he was a softie who cared very deeply for his family…yeah, he even cared for his wife, Marie.

That was Frank Barone. But what about Peter Boyle? Billy Baldwin said, “His characters were sort of curmudgeonly and ornery and intense.” But in his real life, Peter “was just a big bear of a man who was loving and caring and sweet. And of course, he had a marvelous sense of humor.”

I liked Frank, but it sounds as if I would have really liked Peter. And as I think about that, it makes me think about how many “actors” I know. Instead of sharing the real you with other people, you share the character that you’ve created.

I guess we’re all tempted to do that. But the people that I’m drawn to are the people who have no pretense. They put on no show. They’ll never win an Oscar for their role as the perfect man, woman, Christian, etc. They simply are who they are. Some of these people are a little rough around the edges, but they are real.

I really despise hearing somebody say, “Oh, I’d better not say that. The preacher is here.” As if they need to somehow change who they are just because I’m there. Gotta be honest. That puts me off quicker than anything. Instead of impressing me, it depresses me. I love people who are real, no matter who is around. If you want to be an actor, move to Hollywood.

And now the Christmas cookies are finished. After my multiple shopping trips, I got my hands into the dough as well. My wife simply shook her head when she saw the mess that my sister and I made. But we still managed to crank out some serious peanut butter cookies.

It’s been a good day. Some fun family memories. If you visit my blog often, you’ll know that I strive to find the spiritual significance in my everday life. It’s actually quite easy to see the spiritual side of our cookie quest. My wife and I are blessed to have families that legitimately enjoy being together. That’s not something that I take for granted because I know a lot of people who do not have that same blessing.

Now you’ll have to excuse me…there’s a sugar cookie with my name on it.