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

Hero of the Week

I haven't written a hero post for a while. And it's not because there's a shortage of servant-heroes at ACC! It's because I'm a loser and just haven't posted them. I've got a little bit of a hero backlog, so hopefully I can catch up this week and highlight some of our servants.

My hero from this past weekend is Jason Taggart. Jason, Cindy, and Ethan are new additions to our family at ACC. They recently moved to our area from Rolla, MO. It didn't take long before they were asking about where and how they could serve. Gotta love that!

Our youth/worship minister, Brian, was on vacation this weekend. Jason took the reigns of the teen class yesterday morning in Brian's absence.

Last night was our monthly Chapel Service. I led worship in Brian's place, and here comes Jason again. Jason brought the message last night so I didn't have to lead the entire service myself. (I'm always uncomfortable if it feels like I'm leading everything. This isn't the Mike show.) Jason brought a unique perspective on a familiar Scripture that really got my wheels turning.

Teaching a class and speaking for Chapel in the same day is quite a load. Thanks Jason! You're my ACC servant-hero this week.

Weekend Reflections

Good weekend. Busy weekend.

Spent a lot of quality time with my bride on Friday and Saturday. See my two previous posts.

Today was another great day in the life of ACC. This morning we explored the story of Rahab in a message I called Unlikely Heroes

Should be up on our website in the next day or two.

I like preaching from Bible stories. Stories engage our imaginations. Stories allow us to relate to the people we meet in Scripture. And it's in those relational points that we find hope. There is great hope in Rahab's story. God used a prostitute to accomplish his purposes. And when you fast-forward to the New Testament, you see that the Bible says that Rahab (the prostitute!) was righteous.

God often does the exact opposite of what you'd expect him to do. Working through a hooker to accomplish his purposes definitely qualifies! And I love that about Him. I love the fact that God is unpredictable. He is wild! He is untamed! He refuses to be pigeonholed or typecast! God is going to do his thing, and he's going to use a lot of unlikely people like Rahab, and like you and me, in the process.

GABP Tour

What an experience today! We took an insider tour of Great American Ballpark sponsored by the Rosie Reds. Jackie Jump, a very sweet lady who is a new member of of our church, is a Rosie Red. She invited us on the tour…an invitation that I readily accepted!

So cool to be on the field, in the dugout, and in the Reds clubhouse. It was awesome to see the broadcast booths, to meet the official scorer for the Reds, and to sit in the Diamond Seats. The Reds Hall of Fame is really impressive, especially now with the Pete Rose exhibit.

I loved taking in the trivia that was offered throughout the day. For example, did you know that Pete Rose was the first person to ever hit a ball at Great American Ballpark? They brought him in while the stadium was still under construction and pitched a few balls to him. The stadium technically belonged to Hamilton County and not Major League Baseball at that point, so Pete's lifetime ban didn't matter.

Also, there are 7 bats atop each of the Pepsi Power Stacks in the outfield.

7+7=14, which just happens to be Pete's number. Coincidence? The Reds neither confirm nor deny the significance of 14. :o)

I felt like a kid today. The entire day was a Reds fan's dream. Thanks Jackie!

Here are a few pics from the day.

Great Date

Had a great date with my girl last night. Ryan was more than happy to spend the night with his grandparents last night. He'll be back home this afternoon. A fact that is sure to disappoint him.

With our boy hanging out at Pappaw and Nana's house, Nicki and I were off to Red Lobster. I've said it before, I'll say it again: crab legs are my favorite food on the planet. And Red Lobster hit it out of the park last night. Everything was fantastic!

Our next stop was Starbucks. Awesome, as usual.

Then to a movie.

All in all, a great date to celebrate our anniversary.

No More Friday Posts

This should be the last post I write on a Friday for a long time. Friday is my day off and I need to make it just that. A day off. I am realizing more and more that I never completely unplug for a whole day. I'm always checking my email, doing stuff for work, etc. on Fridays. And it's draining me. So today I'm committing to make a change.

When it's Friday, I'm committed to no blogging, no emailing, no nothing. I'm hoping that will pay some dividends for me in the long run. I think it will.

Dry Times

I've been involved in an email conversation over the last few days with someone who senses that they have lost the joy in their faith. Since I can easily do this without divulging the person's identity, I thought I'd share some of my email comments to them here on the blog. This might just resonate with someone else, too.

Here's a portion of my most recent email to this person…

There are different seasons in anybody's spiritual walk. Seasons where everything is green and growing and seasons where things seem to dry up. It's easy to keep going in the good times. But it's critically important to keep pressing on in the dry times. This is going to sound like a simplistic answer, but I mean it in all sincerity. We need the church more in the dry times than in any other season. And that's usually the exact time that people jump ship. They leave because they're "not feeling it anymore." Faith is more than feelings. There is an emotional component to faith, but our faith is based on so much more than simple emotion. A faith that lasts is one that presses on, even though we don't feel like it.

Remember, happiness and joy are two different things. Happiness depends on right happenings. We can have joy anytime in our lives because it's a decision we make. I decide to come to church. I decide to serve in the church, not just sit. I decide to worship. I decide to (fill in the blank). There's great power in deciding to do something even when you don't feel like it.

You asked, "What can rob us of our joy?" Circumstances can't do that, unless we allow it. Anything can rob us of our joy if we decide to let it happen. It basically comes down to a conscious decision to enjoy the good times, and keep pushing on through the dry times in our walk with the Lord. The dry times can be a good barometer of our faith. In other words, God tests us in these times. He tests us to see whether this faith is something we say, or if it's at the very core of who we are.

10 Years

Today is a great milestone for the Edmistens. Nicki and I have been married ten years today. Yep, that's ten years of wedded bliss.

It boggles my mind when I think about it. I still feel like Nicki and I should be going on our first date. It's March 5, 1994. We go see the movie 8 Seconds. Head over to Applebee's for dinner. I make sure she's home by her 10:30 pm curfew. And then I drive back to my house in time for my 11:00 pm curfew, reliving every moment of the date, wondering if there'll ever be another one.

Thankfully, there was another date. And another. And another. For whatever reason, Nicki and I didn't date anyone else after that night. (Not that I had offers pouring in, but I would have turned them down anyway.) And to this day, there's no one else. No one else I'd rather be with. No one else that I'd rather walk through life with.

I can honestly say that marriage is a lot like wine. It gets better with age. Our relationship is a lot happier and more fulfilling now than it was ten years ago. And I don't anticipate that trend changing. It can be discouraging as I see the current state of marriage in our culture. The average American marriage lasts 7.2 years. But then I see Ralph & Dorothy Bieghle and Amos & Jerri Robbins. Both are couples in our church who celebrated their 60 year anniversary this year. That changes my attitude and my perspective. I was 19 and Nicki was 20 years old when we got married, so we've got a great shot at hitting that 60 year milestone, God willing. Whatever our final number of years together might be, I know we're in this for the long haul.

Here's to another ten years…

The Jesus Tree

This is no joke. I wish it was.

Members of a church in Memphis, TN say the bark pattern on a tree near their parking lot resembles the face of Jesus.

I think it's really interesting that we're sure this bark pattern looks like Jesus, and yet we have very little knowledge of what Jesus actually looked like.

Sigh. Is it any wonder that people look at Christians and think we're just a little wacky? I'd rather look for Jesus in the lives of his followers rather than on the trunk of some tree.

VBS Site

Our Vacation Bible School website is now online. You can get info about the week and register your kids online. It's easy, safe, and secure. No more waiting around at the registration table on the first night. Just check in and you're done!

Our VBS schedule has changed this year. VBS will run Sunday-Thursday, July 29-August 2.

Head over to our website to get registered for an awesome week at Avalanche Ranch! Yee Haw!

Turn the Radio Off

Had a cool dad moment in the car tonight. Ryan (my three-year-old little boy) and I were heading home. I was listening to music because there was no Reds game on at the time. A song came on the radio that I hadn't heard in a long time, so I turned it up a little bit.

But then I heard something coming from the backseat. I turned the radio down and found out that what I had heard was Ryan singing. And what was he singing? He was belting out Jesus Loves Me.

I immediately turned the radio off and soaked up the moment. Too cool.