Mike Edmisten Follower of Jesus. Husband of Nicki. Father of Ryan & Brock. Communicator of the Word.

Volleyball Team

My family went out to support our church's volleyball team this evening. Great victory tonight! It was awesome to watch the synergy that our team has on the court.

We took first place during the regular season which ended tonight. Now it's on to the tournament.

Go mighty ACC!

New Glasses

Just got a brand new pair of glasses. I hate breaking in a new prescription. Everything is really looking weird today. My equilibrium is definitely a little off. I was told that I could expect this for a couple of days. Having worn glasses for a long time, I know the routine. I'll be hating life the next couple of days as I feel dizzy, probably bumping into a wall or two along the way. And then, once my eyes adjust to the new lenses, everything will be peachy keen again.

Tax Day Thoughts

Today is T-Day. It's April 15 + 2. Tax Day 2007. Nobody in their right mind enjoys paying taxes, but maybe a little bit of perspective will help.

In Matthew 22, a group of Pharisees (the religious leaders of the day) came to Jesus to try to trap him with a question. They asked, "Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?" (Matthew 22:17, NIV)

The Pharisees were threatened by Jesus. Since they lived under Roman rule, they would have liked nothing better than to trick Jesus into saying something against the Roman government. They thought that Jesus was attempting to establish a political kingdom, therefore he would teach his followers to avoid paying taxes to Rome. But Jesus rarely, if ever, does what people expect him to do. He didn't fall into their trap. Instead, his answer left these religious people speechless.

Jesus said, "Show me the coin used for paying the tax."

When they heard this, they were amazed. (Matthew 22:19-22, NIV)

I love Jesus' answer. "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's." Give the government what is due the government. Give to God what is due God.

Interestingly, we are compelled to "give to Caesar what is Caesar's." We have to pay taxes. If we don't, we'll wind in up in room with striped sunlight. We'd rather pay taxes than go to jail. So, largely out of compulsion, we "give to Caesar what is Caesar's."

But do we "give to God what is God's?" God wants far more than our money. He wants our time. He wants talent. He wants our devotion, obedience, and love. In short, He wants us. All of us.

If you skip out on paying your taxes, Uncle Sam will soon be knocking on your door. There will be warnings and threats issued. "You will pay your taxes, or else."

God could take the same approach…but he doesn't. God will not force himself on you. Instead, he'll wait patiently for you to respond to his loving invitation.

When the Pharisees heard Jesus' answer to their question, "they were amazed." I am too. I am amazed that, even though God deserves everything from me, he doesn't take it by force. He would rather me offer my life to him out of joyful gratitude instead of out of fearful compulsion.

Today, as we "give to Caesar what is Caesar's," let's not forget the second, and much more important, part of Jesus' answer.

Back At It

I needed to return to work today so I could rest. My "vacation" was largely spent working around our house. Even so, I still enjoyed a few days off.

Had some fun taking Ryan to Chuck E. Cheese's for the first time, although I was significantly disappointed in their pizza. Used to be one of my favs, but they've changed the sauce. Why mess with a good thing? I'm thinking of writing a letter to Chuck E. Cheese himself. Somebody needs to tell that mouse what's what.

Yesterday was my back-to-work day. It was a great day in the ACC family yesterday. Several new faces. Awesome spirit among our people. Great start to our Q&A series. Just a slam dunk day all the way around.

A Little Downtime

Had some vacation time scheduled for this week. It really hasn't worked out like I planned, but I'm still taking a little downtime starting tomorrow. I'm going to do my best to totally unplug from church stuff for the next few days, including my blog.

I'll shift things back into gear on Sunday. I'm looking forward to kickstarting our Q&A series this weekend.

Have a great week.

Worship Samples

We've recently added a couple of worship samples on our website. We're so blessed to have such a talented worship band. A lot of our visitors on Easter were blown away by the caliber of musical worship that we offer. I know that's true because they told me as much.

Music is often one of the weaker elements in churches our size, so it is a special blessing to have so many talented people who are willing to serve in our worship ministry.

We'll upload more samples on our website as time goes on, but for now, you can give it a listen here.

Date Night

Had a great date with a pretty girl last night. To quell any potential rumors, I happened to be married to this girl.

Ryan, our two-year-old son, spent the night with his grandparents last night, so we took advantage of the freedom and went out on a date. We try to do this often, but we don't do it often enough. I wholeheartedly believe that spouses must continue to date. You can't stop dating when you start mating. :o)

Dating gets more difficult as life gets busier. We have a young son. Nicki has a full-time job. She's also in grad school. I have a very busy ministry. Nicki is also heavily involved in church stuff. Add all that up and it's very easy to stop dating. But we're committed to not allow that to happen.

The only problem with dating once you're married: you don't have a curfew like you did when you were a teenager, but now that you're older you can't stay out late, anyway.

Heroes of the Week

Got quite a list of servant-heroes this week. My heroes are:

John Bach, Jim Bettle, Nicki Edmisten, Nancy Forster, Sharon Layman, Mary Lou Riggenbach, Jerri Robbins, Sandy Sheley, and Josh & Marie Young.

Last week, this group all jumped in to help Jason & Cindy Taggart, a new family in our church, clean up the house that they just purchased. So awesome to see our church family jump in and help out this young couple. Some of this group had never even met the Taggarts, but they were still willing to extend the love of Christ by helping out at their house.

Thanks to all my heroes this week!

Easter Recap

Totally awesome Easter weekend! We offered two worship experiences this morning and things ran like clockwork. Our attendance was 205. First time in my experience at ACC that we've broken the 200 mark. In our ministry at ACC, we don't focus solely on numbers, but numbers do represent souls. Had a ton of first timers this morning, which is always sweet.

It really felt like a "best foot forward" kind of morning. Everything was running on all cylinders. I left tired (had to get up at 5:30 am to be ready for the morning), but I also left energized. So exciting to see God working overtime in our church!

Easter 2007

So excited about Easter weekend at ACC! We've already had a baptism this weekend, so we're off to a stellar start!

We'll be offering two identical worship experiences on Sunday at 8:30 & 10:30 am. We don't have a "special" service planned because we believe that all of our services are special. We simply want to provide an opportunity for people to come, worship God, and hear the good news of Jesus in a simple, straightforward style. I think we'll accomplish that goal tomorrow.

If you're not locked in with a church family, we'd love to invite you to check out the Amelia Church of Christ tomorrow. Our church has a warm, welcoming atmosphere. You can wear whatever you want. You'll see suits and you'll see jeans. Doesn't matter to us. We're a lot more concerned that you feel loved and accepted, and that you have a meaningful encounter with God.

Jesus is alive! God is good! Can't wait to celebrate what God has done tomorrow morning!