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

SEAPs

I have the privilege today of participating as a judge in Amelia High School's Senior Exit Action Projects. These are projects that seniors have been working on all year long. It is a requirement for graduation. And today is the culmination of all their work as they present their project to a panel of judges. I'm sure there are some seriously sweaty students as they experience the anxiety of their presentations!

I can't wait to be a part of this. I love seeing the growth that comes when people are stretched. I love the art of public speaking. I love learning new things. All of which will happen today.

Should be fun!

Think About Such Things

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4:8,NIV)

We talked about this verse in our class this past Sunday. It's been resonating with me all week. This verse is a commentary on just how far-reaching our walk with God really is. God wants to be our focal point in everything we do…even down to the thoughts that we think.

How do we have a God-honoring thought life? The obvious answer is to avoid filling our minds with sinful things, but that answer is simplistic and incomplete. It's not just about avoiding the wrong thoughts. It's about focusing on the right thoughts.

To focus on right thoughts, I've got to develop cognitive tunnel vision. My mind is easily distracted. For example, when I'm doing sermon prep, I have learned that I have to close my email. I can't leave it open because, if I see an email appear in my inbox, I will check it. I'm a curious person by nature, and I simply cannot leave an email unread. And by spending time reading an email, my train of thought regarding my sermon is completely derailed.

To focus our minds on things that are noble, right, pure, etc., we've got to focus our minds on the best things. That means saying "no" to bad things in favor of good things. It means saying "no" to good things in favor of better things.

It calls to mind a principle I learned in college. I don't know who said it, but it's great advice. "Wherever you are, be all there." If you're at work, but your mind is constantly focused on stuff at home, you won't be productive at work. If you're not productive at work, then you'll be worried about work when you're at home with your family.

Lack of focus is cyclical. It cycles from one area of your life, to another, to another. At some point, you must simply choose to break the cycle. You have to intentionally choose to not allow what is bad to distract you from what is good, or what is good to distract you from what is better.

We need to "think about such things."

Heroes of the Week

My servant-heroes this week are:

Evelyn Troutman
Jason & Cindy Taggart
Kellie McDaniel
Eva Bright
Nicki Edmisten
Joe & Shelley Turner

These folks volunteered their time this past weekend to work at the greeting table as people arrived for their directory pictures. It was so nice to see bright, smiling faces as soon as I walked in the door.

Special props go to Shelley Turner for organizing everything with our directory, and to Kellie McDaniel who worked the table all day on Saturday.

Thanks to everybody who helped out! You're my ACC servant-heroes this week.

Sex Sermon Recap

What an incredible day today! I probably toss that word around too flippantly sometimes, but I really mean it this time. This morning was truly incredible.

Our worship was absolutely on fire today. Felt like our people were actively engaged in worshipping God, not just singing songs.

And then came the sermon. The sex sermon. It's been a long time since I've felt nervous before preaching a message, but I will admit that there were a few butterflies this morning as I stepped on stage. I knew I was walking up there with a bold message on sexuality. Maybe too bold? Maybe too graphic? Maybe too edgy? Those were some of my thoughts this morning. All those worries were for naught (as most of our worries usually are).

After the service, comments from people at the door are usually enlightening and encouraging. Today they were downright awesome. A few people gave me props for my "courage." Several told me that it was "exactly what we needed to hear." One couple joked that they were hurrying out the door so they could go "shopping" (possibly at that bright pink store in the mall). And one lady who's been married almost 60 years told Nicki that she and her husband could probably "teach young couples a few things." (My wife has already signed me up for lessons with her husband.)

I've got a few pastor friends who visit the blog, so this is for you fellas. Here's a free lesson that I was reminded of today. We need more authentic biblical teaching on sex. People are hungry for it. They need to hear the truth. God is not down on sex. He created it. His intention is for sex to bring joy and fulfillment to our marriages. There was a sense of freedom and joy as God's truth was communicated today. And it's not because I preached such a stellar sermon. It's just because I told them the truth.

If you didn't catch the message today, I encourage you to read it or listen to it on our website. Again, not because I'm such an awesome preacher. I want you to listen to it simply because we all need to hear God's truth about sex.

And then, if you're married…enjoy the homework.

A Sexy Sermon

We're kicking off our sermon series called The Maze of Marriage this weekend. In our first message, we're tackling a topic that a lot of pastors would rather steer away from. What's this "untouchable" topic? Sex.

Isn't it amazing that this little three-letter word is so powerful? The word comes packed with a superabundance of thoughts and emotions. What we have to do is make sure that our thoughts and emotions about sex are based on God's truth. And the truth is, God is not down on sex! He created it. It was his idea.

Sometimes Christians are stereotyped as anti-sex weirdos. There are professing Christians who are teaching some remarkably unbiblical stuff about sexuality.

Here's the truth. God does have principles to follow in regard to our sexuality, but that doesn't mean that he is anti-sex. When we venture outside God's principles for our sexuality, we experience pain and hurt in our lives. But when we live our lives within those godly parameters, we'll find the incredible freedom and fulfillment that God gives to his people.

Directory Pictures

The photographers are all set up and ready to go. I'm excited about the prospect of a new pictorial directory for our church family. Our old directory is woefully out-of-date.

If you're a procrastinator, you can still get into the game. But do it quickly. Register online today!

Rant Over

Apparently my little Reds Rant worked. It took 12 innings, but the boys finally pulled out another win. Do I smell the start of a winning streak?

What Do We Worry About?

An experienced physician decided to analyze the "worriers" who were his patients. He wanted to discern what they were worried about. Here's a summary of his findings.

• 40% of their worry centered on things that will never happen.

• 30% was rooted in things about the past that can’t be changed.

• 12% of their worry was about criticism by others, mostly untrue.

• 10% of his patients' worry was about health, which gets worse with stress.

• 8% of their worry was about real problems that will be faced.

Q&A continued

I've still got a few questions leftover from our Q&A series that I want to answer here on the blog. Here's a good one that we all need to understand.

What's the difference between a Christian and a Jehovah's Witness?

It would be impossible to answer this question fully in one blog post. So rather than answer it completely, let me just highlight a few important things.

1. Jehovah's Witnesses insist that there is no such doctrine as the Trinity. They believe it is a teaching that originated with Satan. The doctrine of the Trinity states that God is made up of three persons: Father, Son, & Holy Spirit. Throughout history, this has been accepted as a basic Biblical principle.

This does not mean that there are three gods. That would contradict clear Scriptural teaching. The Bible says, "The LORD our God, the LORD is one." (Deuteronomy 6:4, NIV) The Godhead is a perfect community of three persons, not three gods. God is triune, not triplex.

The New Testament clearly teaches that the Father is God (Romans 1:7), the Son is God (Hebrews 1:8), and the Holy Spirit is God (Acts 5:3-4). The word "Trinity" does not appear in the Bible, but the doctrine of the Trinity certainly does.

2. Jehovah's Witness theology denies the divinity of Jesus Christ. This fits nicely with their rejection of the Trinity. Jehovah's Witnesses believe that Jesus Christ was a perfect man, but he was not God. In fact, they teach that he never even claimed to be God.

I'm not sure who said this, but it's true. "Whoever can read the New Testament and not see that Jesus claimed to be God could look into the sky on a cloudless day and not see the sun."

Here's just one example. In John 10, Jesus said, "I and the Father are one."

"We are not stoning you for any of these," replied the Jews, "but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God." (John 10:30-33, NIV, bold and italics mine)

The official Jehovah's Witness website teaches that, "Jesus never claimed to be God. Everything he said about himself indicates that he did not consider himself equal to God in any way—not in power, not in knowledge, not in age. In every period of his existence, whether in heaven or on earth, his speech and conduct reflect subordination to God. God is always the superior, Jesus the lesser one who was created by God." (bold mine)

They believe that Jesus is a god, but he is inferior to Jehovah God. Jesus is not eternal, but instead he was created by God. However, Jesus clearly claimed equality with God in John 10, and in a myriad of other instances throughout the gospels.

3. Jehovah's Witnesses only accept The New World Translation of the Bible. That, along with publications from the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, constitutes their religious texts.

Charles Taze Russell (founder of the Jehovah's Witness faith) said that the basis for understanding Scripture is reason. Therefore, all J.W. theology and doctrine is tested by reason and accepted or rejected according to the writers of the Watchtower.

When you base your understanding of Scripture on human reason, you're on very dangerous ground. (See Isaiah 55:8-9) You become the arbiter of truth instead of God's Word.

This is a long post, and yet it still hasn't scratched the surface of some of the major issues and problems in Jehovah's Witness theology. If someone you care about is being evangelized by the Jehovah's Witnesses, you might want to read How to Rescue Your Loved One From the Watchtower by David A. Reed.

Reds Rant

Can I ask a stupid question? Are the Reds ever going to win another game? How could a team with such promise in spring training absolutely tank this soon into the season? I can't even read past the headlines in the sports section anymore because it's more of the same. Same story, different day.

Such is the life of a disgruntled Reds fan.