Mike Edmisten

Took in one more day at the Brown County Fair today. Another chance to continue my little sociological study of T-shirt messages. (What in the world am I talking about? Read this post first.)

Here are the memorable messages from today, along with the description of the shirt wearer:

It’s not easy being perfect. (toddler girl)

I make dirt look good. (toddler boy)

Do not fear the reefer. (young teenage boy)

Life is a joke. Fishing is serious. (50-something man)

Alcoholics Anonymous: A great place to pick up drunk chicks (for sale in a merchant’s booth)

I hate everyone. (teenage girl)

Don’t be fooled. I just look like I care. (40-something man)

Life is hard. (teenage boy)

The presidential campaign is heating up with all kinds of interviews, stump speeches, debates, etc. I’m already getting tired of hearing non-answer answers that seem to flow so freely from the mouths of politicians. It angers me when someone ducks a hard question because they’re afraid that an honest answer might cost them votes.

And yet, as much as I dislike this approach, it’s incredibly easy to do in ministry. It’s easy to transition from being a pastor to being a politician. Honesty and authenticity might “cost you votes,” so instead you speak in religious platitudes and catch phrases. A minister might feel that he can’t be honest about his struggles or shortcomings because people won’t like him as much anymore. He feels like his preaching or teaching or worship leading or youth ministry might suffer if people got to know the real person behind the facade. So he keeps up appearances. He keeps playing the game.

The problem is that, at its best, this is dishonesty. At its worst, it is hypocrisy.

I’m done playing the game. A few years ago, I committed to make a radical shift in the way I carry out my ministry. Instead of superficial spirituality, I want to minister with an authentic and honest passion for Jesus. Part of that means publicly owning up to the fact that I don’t have it all together. I striuggle with some things in my life. I sin. Please notice that I’m speaking in the present tense. It’s not just that I used to sin or that I sinned once upon a time. I still engage in behavior that the Bible says is sinful. I’m not involved in the sins that get preachers fired, but I do sin…and in God’s judgment, sin is sin. He makes no differentiation.

So there it is. I love Jesus. I do. Passionately. Totally. And yet, I sin. I’m better than I used to be. Far better. My walk with the Lord is growing, but that doesn’t mean that I’ve achieved a life free of struggles and frustrations and sins.

I realize that I would be a terrible politician. I’m too honest. But that’s because I truly believe that God works best through people who love Jesus too much to be religious.

Thought I’d get some of these thoughts posted as I prep for our next series called Confessions of a Pastor. This baby is gonna be the real deal…and I’m 100% convinced that God has some big stuff up his sleeve.

I’ve been very happily married for 10 years. Even so, I still have a lot to learn about the whole husband thing. That’s why I’m looking forward to grabbing Craig Groeschel’s new book, Going All The Way: Planning for a Marriage that Goes the Distance.

Craig’s writing has been a huge blessing to my life and ministry, so I can’t wait to get my hands on his new book.

Brandon Phillips just hit his 30th home run of the year about 3 minutes ago, making him only the third 30/30 man in Reds history. (30 home runs, 30 stolen bases) The other two are Eric Davis and Barry Larkin.

For my money, Brandon has been the brightest spot in an otherwise abysmal season. Can’t wait to see how his future with the Redlegs will shape up. I think it’s gonna be huge!

Had dinner with my folks this evening. On the menu: frog legs.

Friends, that thar is some gooooood eatin’!

The videos from our worship experience this past Sunday are now on our website. We asked four people in our church family to share their faith stories, and they delivered big time!

Check them out here.

The fair in nearby Brown County is going on this week. Since this county fair actually takes place in our hometown, my family enjoys spending time there. It’s always good seeing folks we haven’t seen in a long time. Ryan loves the rides. The food is expensive but very good.

And then there’s one more intriguing thing about the fair…people watching. A county fair is a very interesting study in sociology. It draws all kinds of people from all kinds of backgrounds.

As I was walking around the crowded fairgrounds, I decided to purposely notice the different messages that people were wearing on their T-shirts. Here are some memorable ones, complete with the description of the person wearing the shirt…

Eat. Sleep. Fast pitch. (teenage girl)

Does your face hurt? Cuz it’s killin’ me. (middle aged woman)

Stop reading my shirt. (middle aged woman)

Every great idea I have gets me in trouble. (teenage boy)

Thank God for country boys. (John Deere shirt worn by a 20-something woman)

You call me bi*** like it’s a bad thing. (for sale at a merchant’s booth)

I imagine that you have developed an opinion of each person based on their age, gender, and the message on their shirt. (For the last one, you probably have an opinion of the person who would buy that shirt.) As hard as I tried not to, I did the same thing a couple of times.

Snap judgments are so easy. How often do you take just a cursory glance at someone and immediately make a judgment call? Or you hear them utter a sentence or two and you judge them. Or you notice something about their clothing and you pass judgment on them.

It reminds me of another shirt I saw recently that had this message printed on it:

Judge, Jury, and Executioner (worn by a 30-something man)

If the shirt fits, wear it. Would that shirt’s message fit your life?

It’s no secret that I love Starbucks. Love it. But it’s not just the coffee that attracts me. It’s also a great environment. I can write sermons. I can hang out with my family. It’s just an awesome atmosphere. And that atmosphere has been intentionally crafted, as noted in a recent article from Psychology Today. The article talks about the rapid growth of Starbucks and, among other things, attributes that growth to the “Starbucks experience” rather than the coffee.

Tony Morgan posted the following thoughts about the article on his blog. Definitely worth repeating here.

Here are some highlights from the article and the questions and thoughts it raised in my mind:

Vision. “From a base of just 100 stores 15 years ago, Starbucks has grown into a 13,000-strong coffeehouse armada. It operates cafes in all 50 states and in 37 countries… The company now opens more than 2,000 coffeehouses per year, an average of six new stores a day.”

The company’s current goal is to have 40,000 stores worldwide. Does anyone else read that and think our vision for the Church pales in comparison? We complain about and try to discredit the ministry of churches that are approaching 40,000 people while this company (that’s just trying to sell more coffee) is trying to open 40,000 unique locations. Aren’t we thinking too small?

Intentionality. “At Starbucks, nothing is accidental. Everything the customer interacts with, from the obsessively monitored store environment down to the white paper cups, is the product of deliberation and psychological research. The coffeehouse as we know it is a calculated creation…”

It ticks me off that Starbucks has demonstrated this much intentionality in selling coffee while the Church embraces a passive (or maybe it’s just lazy) approach to spreading the Gospel.

Community. “Starbucks filled America’s need for a public gathering spot–…a ‘third place’ with home and work being place one and two. This became Starbucks’ community rallying cry: It wasn’t a coffee company, but a place for bringing people together through the social glue of coffee.”

Here’s an example of a need that people had that could have easily been filled by the Church. Maybe we’re too focused on arguing about what we’re against instead of being what the Church was intended to be in people’s lives.

Atmosphere. Starbucks interviewed coffee drinkers and found that they “talked very little about the coffee itself, but quite a bit about feelings and atmosphere… The coffee wasn’t the point–the feel of the place was.”

What if God gifted artists to create an atmosphere for people to be more receptive to hearing the Gospel? What if God created some people with the gift of hospitality to design a welcoming environment for people to hear the Gospel? What if God gifts people and directs them through the Holy Spirit to think about effective building design, sound systems, video capabilities and children’s ministry so that more people might hear the Gospel? Is it possible that we’re trying to put God in a box by limiting how he chooses to reach people?

I happen to believe God will use methods we’ve not seen before to reach people who have yet to commit their lives to Christ. As I’ve read through the Bible again, I’m amazed at the variety of different approaches he used to get people’s attention and transform lives. I don’t think God’s done creating. And, I don’t think he’s done redeeming people’s lives.

There’s a talk show host here in Cincinnati that usually ends his show by saying, “We’ll be back to wrap up another award winner.” Apparently his show has won some awards, so now every show is an “award winner.”

I kind of feel that way about Sundays. It’s just getting better and better every week. Every weekend is another award winner at ACC.

The end of our Decibels series was off the charts! Four people in our church shared their faith stories and the impact was huge. I want to publicly thank Marie Young, Ralph Beighle, Sharon Layman, and John Bach for sharing their stories. Their courage to be authentic and transparent was an incredible blessing to our church family. Awesome stuff! We’ll have the videos posted on our website soon if you missed them or if you just want to take them in again.

Fast-forward to tonight…Our first session of Ground Floor was tonight. Ground Floor is a class specifically crafted to cover the basic truths of our faith. I can’t even describe what happened in that little room. The atmosphere was electric. I honestly could feel the hunger for God in the lives of the class members. I left completely exhausted and completely energized, both at the same time.

There is something amazing about being around people who are starving to know God more. I admit that I can grow complacent at times in my walk with the Lord. There are times when I don’t feel hungry to know God more because I’m satisfied with where I am. What a sinful and stupid attitude! I love being around people who are hungry for God, because it makes me want more of God, too.

I can easily say that Ground Floor is one of the most important things I’ve ever done at ACC. Tonight was a moment when I knew that I was in the sweet spot of God’s plan for me. I was right where he wanted me to be. I honestly cannot wait until our next session next week. If tonight was any indication, it’s gonna be stellar!

This session of Ground Floor is full, but don’t worry. If this sounds like something you want to get in on, we’ll offer it again. In fact, you can pre-register for the next session of Ground Floor on our website.

It’s now 9:05 pm, but it might as well be 1:05 am. I’m tired, but it’s a great fatigue that I’m feeling. It’s one of those days when I can truly say that I gave it my all, not for my glory, but for God’s glory. I wish I could say that at the end of every day of my life. I want to live every day going all out for God. I want to hit my pillow every night knowing that I left it all on the field. I want to lie down every night feeling like there’s nothing more I could have done for God during that day.

In other words, I want to end everyday feeling like I do right now.

Ladies, we just made it even easier for you. Now you can register for our “For Women Only” session online!

Head on over to our website and register today. You don’t want to miss this!