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

Break The Chain

In my message on Sunday, I talked about my mom and how she really changed the spiritual tone of our family. Mom was not brought up in a healthy, Christ-centered family. But she was determined that her family would be different. She broke the chain of her past to give her family a future. My father and my siblings are all recipients of her willingness to break the chain.

It's doubtful that I'd be a Christian today if my mom hadn't broke her chain. I certainly wouldn't be a pastor. With that in mind, check out this email I received on Monday (shared here on my blog with permission from the sender).

On our way home from church, Matt & I were talking about your sermon (as always). Here's even more perspective on how great your mother is…If she hadn't broke the chain, I probably wouldn't have found Christ. Not to mention Matt, Alivia, Autumn, Justin, Michelle and Bill, plus their three kids. All of that in one little chain. Your mom is a great woman. Thank her for me…

And on top of all that, it gives me hope that Matt and I can break our chains.

My mom broke her chain, forever impacting my life. This gives me the opportunity to impact other lives through my ministry at ACC. Every time I preach the gospel, every time I impact somebody's life for Christ, you can trace it back to my mom…every time.

If you don't have a godly heritage in your family, break the chain! You can't begin to measure the impact when those chains are broken.

When Life & Truth Collide

I'm pumped about the new series of messages that kicks off this Sunday at ACC! For the next four weeks, we'll be exploring what happens When Life & Truth Collide.

The premise of this series is something that all of us have probably dealt with at some point in our life. The Bible says one thing, but the circumstances of our lives seem to say something very different. On the one hand, there is God's truth. On the other hand, there is the reality of our lives. What do we do when those things seem destined for a head-on collision?

The discussion begins this Sunday.

Breathing

We took our new son, Brock, to Children's Hospital late last night. He was really struggling to breathe. In fact, there were three different episodes last night where it seemed as if he couldn't breathe at all because of severe congestion in his head. That convinced us that we needed to make a hospital run.

Of course, as luck would have it, Brock's congestion cleared up significantly on the drive there. By the time he was examined, he was breathing perfectly. His oxygen level was excellent. The doctor told us, "He looks great." I wish she would have seen him an hour earlier, but you know how that goes. My car doesn't make the wickety-wack noise for the mechanic, either.

Don't get me wrong…I'm very glad Brock is ok. But it was a frightening experience for a little while. When your child can't breathe, you leap into action. Given the chance, I'd probably do the same thing all over again.

It really makes me stand in awe of the love that God must have for us. Because he allowed his own Son to endure the agony of the cross. He watched as Jesus was beaten beyond human recognition. He saw people spit upon him, drive a crown of huge thorns into his skull, and mock him mercilessly. His eyes observed every swing of the mallet. His ears heard the sounds of that hammer driving the spikes into the body of his Son, followed immediately by shrieks of pain coming from Jesus. And then he watched as Jesus hung on that cross for six hours.

One of the cruelest parts of crucifixion is the victim's inability to breathe. On a cross, a person is hung in such a way that breathing is next to impossible. You would have to pull yourself up to get a breath. But pulling yourself into that position meant putting enormous pressure on the nails in your feet and hands, which would send intense signals of pain through every nerve ending of your body. When the pain got to be too much to pull yourself up anymore, breathing became impossible.

Last night when Brock couldn't breathe, we sprang into action. We took every immediate step we could to help him regain his breath. And yet God simply stood by as his Son was suffocating. And the reason he did that was because it was the only way. It was the only way he could restore his relationship with us.

I'll never understand that kind of sacrificial love. I'll teach it. I'll preach it. But I'll never understand it.

Better Than I Deserve

In a routine greeting at our church today, I asked a fella how he was doing. He smiled and said, "Better than I deserve."

Man, is that ever true in my life! I have so many blessings that I don't deserve. I could never earn all the good things that God has given me in my life. It's something I need to remember when I'm dragging or moping or just flat out feeling sorry for myself. (Yeah, I do all of those things from time to time.) Even when things aren't going exactly the way I would like, I'm doing far better than I deserve.

I love it when things get brought back into perspective for me, especially when I least expect it…like in a simple greeting at church.

Cancer Free

Last week I wrote about my visit with Dylan, a 14-year-old boy in our church who had been diagnosed with kidney cancer.

Today, I'm so excited to report that the latest round of tests have confirmed that Dylan is cancer free! I can't explain it, other than the fact that a ton of people have been praying for this young fella.

Aren't there times when God just blows your mind?

Being Served

A lady at our church came to the church building today to shampoo some of the carpet in our facility. One of the rooms happened to be my office. She gave me very specific instructions not to tell anybody who cleaned the carpets, so my lips are sealed.

Right now, I'm just sitting here looking at my newly cleaned carpet and feeling humbled by it. One of our church members served me by doing the menial task of cleaning my office carpet. And she wants no recognition for her service at all.

She's definitely living out these words of Jesus.

Two Years

Today marks my two year anniversary at Amelia Church of Christ. Wow. In some ways, it feels like I just started here a couple of months ago. In other ways, it feels as if I've been here ten years rather than just two.

My mind is overflowing as I reflect on my anniversary today. So settle in, because this post is a little longer than normal.

A few reflections on the past two years…

-I've been in ministry for 12 years, but I feel like I've just begun to hit my sweet spot in the last two years.

-Our church looks a lot different than it did two years ago. Some may say that's a bad thing, but the vast majority would agree that God is doing something fresh and exciting in the ministry of ACC.

-We're not there yet. As God's vision for our church comes into clearer and clearer focus, it is evident that there is more hard work ahead of us.

-I love preaching. In my 12 year ministry, I've done it all. I've been a worship minister, children's minister, student minister, discipleship minister, etc., etc., etc. It's been a great ride, but I know that preaching the Word of God is my calling.

-I don't always love sermon prep. I love preaching, but I don't always love preparing. I didn't fully realize the grind of prepping a solid, Biblical message every week. I basically have an 18-20 page term paper to write every week for the rest of my life. I wonder if McDonald's is hiring?

-Regarding the above statement…I'm kidding. (Shouldn't have to point that out, but you never know.)

-I am so thankful for Brian Morrissey, our youth/worship minister. I can't even tell you the blessing it is to serve on staff with somebody that I genuinely like. Do we always agree? Not a chance. But we like and respect each other. We can have fun together. Our families love each other. That makes the tough times of ministry a lot more bearable.

-Along that same line, I love our leadership! Our church follows the elder-led model that we see in the New Testament. Our elders are amazing! I'm convinced that these guys would take a bullet for me. In fact, they have on occasion. The full extent of our leadership team is comprised of elders, deacons, and staff. These men are solid, godly men who have a vision and a passion for our church. I love it!

-We have had more decisions for Christ in the past two years than in the previous five. All glory for this goes vertical. God gives the increase.

-Ministry is a wild ride. There are times when I wouldn't want to do anything else. There are times when I wish I could do anything else. Maybe that surprises you, but I'm just being honest. I've learned this about being a pastor: The good times are very good. Conversely, the bad times are very bad. But through it all, God is faithful. I'm not just spouting a religious platitude. It's the truth. As I look back over the past two years, I see mountains and I see valleys. But over it all, I see God. I can never forget that ACC is his church, not mine. He has simply given me an opportunity to serve here for a short time and all I can do is be faithful to his leading for that duration.

-ACC is the best thing going. Yeah, I actually do believe that. I think that every pastor should believe that his church is the best thing out there. Actually, I think every church member should believe that about their church, too. It's not that churches are competing against each other. (Please see my previous post.) But if we don't believe that our church is the best, then our church won't receive our best. Whatever church you call home, that church deserves your best service, your best attitude, your best tithes and offerings, your best prayers, your best words, your best effort, your best love.

-And as a final, parting thought…our church has been unbelievably blessed over the last two years. But I say this with the strongest faith and conviction that I can muster…the best is yet to come.

I love you, ACC. Thank you for the privilege of being your pastor.

Connecting vs. Competing

A lot of my day today has been spent connecting with other local pastors. I talked to Steve Henderson, the preaching minister at Glen Este Church of Christ, on the phone this morning. And then I had lunch with Brian Richard who preaches at Loveland Christian Church.

Both contacts were very encouraging to me. It's critical for me to connect with other local pastors. Contrary to some people's opinion, churches are not designed to compete with each other. In fact, just the opposite is true. We're all on the same side! Competing with another church is pointless. There are plenty of lost people to go around!

Every Sunday Matters

You'll never find somebody more convinced of this than me. A lot of churches zone in on "big Sundays", like Easter, Christmas, Mother's Day, etc. And admittedly, we try to step it up at ACC even more on these "big" days. But my goal is to see that kind of intensity 52 Sundays a year.

Why?

Because every Sunday represents an opportunity for someone to experience our church for the first time. And much more important than that, every Sunday represents an opportunity for someone to hear the gospel for the first time.

On my desk right now, you will find the list of first-time guests who checked out our church yesterday. It's long. And the last time I checked, yesterday was January 13. I'm not sure there's anything special or significant about that date on the church calendar. It's just an ordinary Sunday. And yet that ordinary Sunday was the day that all of these people chose to give ACC a test drive.

Steven Furtick says that, for the church, "Every Sunday is the Super Bowl." He's right. Every Sunday holds the possibility of someone hearing the good news of Jesus for the very first time. If that doesn't deserve our very best effort, then what in the world are we really all about?

I'll be honest. Some Sundays, we hit it out of the park at ACC. (For what it's worth, I think that aptly describes our worship experiences yesterday!) On other weekends, we hit a ground rule double. On very occasional Sundays, we may do no better than a single. Things don't always go as planned. But whatever the outcome, I can tell you this…

We're swinging for the fences every single Sunday.

Who's Going to Win the Super Bowl?

I don't care anymore. With the Colts loss to the Chargers yesterday, I lost the last dog I had in that hunt. So who am I pulling for during the rest of the playoffs? Anybody who isn't the Patriots. But I honestly don't care now that my teams are out.

When does the Reds' season begin?