Mike Edmisten

Dude, this is awesome! Channel 5 has posted all their holiday greetings from local servicemen and women on their website. I couldn’t find Jim Willison’s, until I remembered that his first name is actually Donald.

Check out the greeting here.

Too cool!

Listen up, ACC! You need to watch the Army/Navy football game this Saturday at 12 pm on CBS (channel 12 in Cincinnati). Jim Willison’s unit made a clip that will air sometime during the game. Look for NPDB3 from Camp Bucca Iraq.

Guys, you’ve gotta love this. When your wife asks why you’re sitting around watching football, tell her that the pastor told you to.

We’ve definitely hit on some of those at ACC recently. I spent three weeks teaching on tithing in our LIE$ series. I loved the series, but I also know it’s not a popular topic.

And then to follow up the tithing series, Brian Morrissey preached a message called The NeverEnding Story where he taught on the eternal states of heaven and hell. I listened to the message yesterday and his teaching on hell was flat scary…but thoroughly Biblical.

There are some churches that will try to duck the tough topics in order to grow their church. Teaching on things like tithing and hell might offend people, and we just can’t have that.

The problem with this line of thinking is that if you are not offending anyone, then you are not teaching the truth. We like to think that the Bible is just a book full of fluffy, warm, comforting words. There are definitely passages in the Scripture that can provide comfort beyond human understanding. But there is also a flip side.

Listen to what the Bible says about itself. “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12, NIV)

The truth of God is a sharp, double-edged sword. Swords are offensive weapons used to maim and kill. They’re definitely not objects created to keep everyone happy. When you get stabbed in the gut with a sword, I can guarantee you that you’re having a bad day.

There have been people who have left our church because of something I have taught in a sermon. If I were on stage pontificating on my opinions, then I would be worried about who I offended. But if I am standing up to preach God’s truth from the Scripture, I can’t worry about who is offended. God’s Word, by it’s very sword-like nature, is cutting, uncomfortable, and offensive.

I don’t set out to purposely offend people. I actually struggle with being a people-pleaser, so my natural instinct is to avoid offending people. But I know that, as a teacher of God’s Word, I am accountable for teaching the whole truth. If I change the message to avoid offending people, then I have offended God. And if I have a choice of offending you or offending the Lord, I’ll choose you every time.

Sorry if that offends you.

Had the radio tuned to an all Christmas station tonight. Once again, I heard what I consider to be the worst Christmas song ever: Wonderful Christmastime by Paul McCartney. This song gets heavy radio play every year and I just don’t get it.

Agree? Disagree? What song do you think should win the title of worst holiday tune ever?

Haven’t had a chance to process some thoughts from Thanksgiving ‘07 since I took a little blogging respite last week. A few reflections…

-I’m so thankful that Nicki and I have families that we actually enjoy being with. There are so many people who don’t have that blessing.

-The chefs in our families flat out brought it this Thanksgiving. Awesome grub!

-My brother’s family traveled from Virginia to Ohio for the holiday. I wonder if we’ll ever get to visit with them without somebody being sick. This year it was my nephew, Logan, who was ill. Hope you’re feeling better now, buddy.

-Nicki’s family = white meat people. My family = dark meat people. And yet somehow our marriage still works.

-It was fun to watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade with Ryan. He was digging the big balloons.

-Ever go to a store to buy a tablecloth on Thanksgiving Day? Almost impossible. I’m convinced that I found the last two tablecloths in Clermont County that morning.

-We decorated our house for Christmas this weekend. Our house always feels warm and welcoming…even more so during the holidays. Christmas is going to be pretty crazy this year. We’re two weeks out from our son’s due date. A new baby should definitely add some spice to our holidays.

So much to be thankful for.

Back to work. Back to blogging. Comments are back on.

My vacation begins on Tuesday, November 20. I’ll be on vacation until Tuesday, November 27. During this time, I won’t be blogging and the comment feature will be disabled.

I love the fact that I can take some downtime and not worry about what’s going to happen at church. We have a stellar leadership team that I would trust with my life. If something happens, they’ll be all over it. Plus, I know that Josh Young will do a great job leading worship and Brian Morrissey’s got a great message cooking up for you ACCers this weekend. It’s such a creative idea. You won’t want to miss out.

Since I’m checking out of the blogosphere, let me go ahead and wish you a very happy Thanksgiving. I have a ton to be thankful for, and I certainly plan on taking time to reflect on all the blessings that the Lord has lavished on me.

I didn’t preach a Thanksgiving message this year, but if you’d like a sermon to help get you in the giving thanks frame of mind, you can check out my message from last Thanksgiving called The More You Know.

Catch ya later, friends.

We completed our LIE$ series yesterday. For three weeks, God challenged us to bring the tithe for one week. He says that we’re allowed to test him in this, so for one week that’s just what we did. We tested God and brought the tithe.

I about flipped when I saw our offering numbers from yesterday! How much was it?

Come Sunday and find out. :o)

I had lunch with my buddy, Jason Galley, today. Jason is the Family Life Minister at the Georgetown Church of Christ. It was great to reconnect with him. I wish we had time to do it more, but this particular lunch was very well-timed.

I needed some encouragement, and Jason is one of the biggest encouragers that I know. He sees things in me that I don’t often see in myself. I know that’s why God has commanded his church to connect with one another in fellowship. It’s because we need to hear what other people see in us.

I’m currently in a season where I’ve been feeling depressed and frustrated. I needed Jason to look at me over a couple of Skyline 3-ways and tell me what he sees God doing in my life.

The phrase that I’ll take away from this lunch: “Mike, you were born do this.”

Wow. That’s strong, but Jason doesn’t toss words around flippantly. He truly believes that God put me here to preach his Word and to be a leader in his church.

During the hard seasons, during those times where I feel like quitting, I hope I can remember Jason’s strong, encouraging words.

You may have heard recently that a new Guinness world record was set for the most expensive dessert ever.

Serendipity 3 in Manhattan serves up a dessert that will cost you a cool $25,000. The name of the dessert is “Frozen Haute Chocolate,” a blend of 28 cocoas fused with 0.2 ounces of edible 23-karat gold. It comes with an 18-karat gold bracelet with 1 carat of white diamonds at the base of the goblet. The sundae is topped with whipped cream covered with more gold and a side of La Madeline au Truffle, which sells for $2,600 a pound.

But if you’ve really got a hankerin’ for this pricey treat, you’ll have to wait. The restaurant has been temporarily closed by the board of health because of a continuous mouse and roach infestation.

You can’t make this stuff up.