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

Basement Renovation

Our basement renovation team met for the first time last night. Our leadership has made some bold decisions for 2008, namely that we're going to revamp our children's ministry from the ground up. We're looking to hire a part-time children's minister. And we're going to renovate our church basement, creating a fun, engaging atmosphere for our children's ministry.

Our facility presents more than its fair share of obstacles, but none are bigger than the basement. The renovation is a massive undertaking, but I was so encouraged to see the team just dive into it. We've pinpointed the major issues that need to be fixed, and we're beginning to piece together a vision for what we want the finished product to look like.

Bottom line, it's all about kids. It's all about reaching kids with the good news of Jesus. It's all about letting kids see that church is actually a fun place to be. (How many of us grew up in churches that were definitely not fun???) It's all about growing kids in their relationship with God.

It all starts with the right staffing and the right environment. I'm not going to sugarcoat this, ACC. It's going to be expensive. We're going to ask unapologetically for you to support our children's ministry upgrade, both in prayer and financially. But all the prayer, effort, and money that goes into this is an investment. We're building kids. We're building the Kingdom.

First Laugh

Had one of those very cool parenting moments this morning.

Brock laughed for the first time.

I am so thankful that Nicki was also there to experience it. In fact, she's the one that got him to laugh. He definitely loves his mama.

It's one of those priceless family moments that I'll never forget.

Great Lunch

Had lunch yesterday with Jim Willison. Jim is on the leadership team at our church. He returned home from active duty in Iraq just before Christmas. I finally had a chance to get together with him and listen to his stories. I found myself in awe as Jim very calmly told me about some of his more harrowing experiences. Wow.

I was very impressed to see how much Jim has grown spiritually. He was a committed man of God before he left, but now…it's amazing. He told me that, "God always grows you when you're in the desert." In most of our lives, that is true figuratively. In Jim's case, it's true literally.

I left with an even deeper admiration for Jim and appreciation for all those who are serving our country in the most dangerous places in the world.

Overhype but Underdeliver

The church can be the king in this area.

What does it look like?

It's the youth ministry that uses the word "extreme" to describe everything from programming to pizza, but the only extreme thing about their ministry is the extreme boredom of the students.

It's the preacher who promises that this next sermon series will be the best yet, but it winds up being a rehash of one of his two good sermons.

It's the church who labels itself as "cutting edge" or "innovative," but they're simply copying different megachurches than the traditional churches in town are copying.

Can we please just stop for a second and consider what happens when we overhype but underdeliver?

We lose a ton of credibility.

Seriously, if we hype, hype, hype and yet deliver the same tired, old stuff…it won't be long until people stop listening because we're no longer believable.

I'm not saying that we should stop the hype. I'm simply suggesting that, if we hype it, then we had better deliver the goods. As a pastor, I hype stuff all the time, but I'm learning to be more selective in what and how I hype.

People are used to hype. We are bombarded with marketing at a clip of more than 5,000 ads per day. As a result, people in our culture are pretty jaded when it comes to hype.

I know of two local pizza joints that both use the same pizza boxes. The boxes say, "Best Pizza in Town." They can't both be the best. If everything that claimed to be the best actually was the best…well…you get my point.

We've got to be really careful about overhyping everything in the church. Not every church can be the best in every area of ministry. It's just not possible. We would do a lot better to focus on a few things and do them really well. Then instead of having a bunch of mediocre ministries, we would have a few that might really be worth the hype.

Baseball is Coming Soon

Any normal person wouldn't care about this…but for a serious Reds fan, Saturday is a great day. Pitchers and catchers report to spring training this Saturday.

Can't wait!

A Beautiful Synergy

I'm at home today watching our boys. (Our babysitter's family has been hit with illness, along with 1/2 the population of southern Ohio.) Something occurred to me today.

Sometimes I struggle watching our infant son, Brock. Watching our three-year-old, Ryan, is no big deal. Why the difference?

Because Ryan can tell me what he needs. If Ryan has a problem, he tells me…and I fix it.

Doesn't work that way with Brock. Well, sometimes it does. If he's hungry, I can fix that. Needs a diaper change? I can fix that too. None of that is a big deal. What gets to be a big deal is when I can't figure out what's wrong. If I don't know the problem, I can't fix it. That goes against the grain for a man.

Men are just naturally wired to fix stuff and solve problems. Women are more naturally wired to be nurturing and caring. God had a lot of wisdom when he planned the family. Moms and dads compliment each others' weaknesses. I see it play out in our family all the time.

If Ryan has a problem that needs to be solved, he comes straight to me. But when he just needs comforted or consoled, he goes to his mama. When mom and dad both play to their strengths, there's really a beautiful synergy that occurs.

Hair Uninsured

Maybe Tom Jones hasn't completely lost his mind after all.

Tom Jones denies chest hair insurance rumors.

What NOT to Give Her on Valentine's Day

1. A box of chocolates, clumsily rearranged in an attempt to hide the fact you ate all the caramel ones.

2. Lingerie that you think will look almost as good on her as on the Victoria's Secret model.

3. Any clothing item with the words "push-up" or "slim-down" on the label.

4. Any food item with the words "diet", "light", or "high fiber" on the label.

5. Any video starring Sylvester Stallone, Jim Carrey, or Angelina Jolie.

6. Poetry, no matter how heartfelt, that starts out "There was once a girl from Nantucket…"

7. Anything you ever gave another woman, including your mother.

8. Any household appliance, power tool or other item from the harder side of Sears.

9. A gift certificate. (I actually did this when Nicki and I were dating. Bad idea.)

10. Cash.

11. Anything you could have bought at the gas station mini-mart on the way over, even if you didn't.

12. An apologetic look and the words "That was today?" (Valentine's Day is this Thursday, guys. You've been warned.)

Hearts Dinner/Dance (complete with pics)

Last night was ACC's annual Hearts Dinner/Dance. I love this event! It is so much fun to get together as the church in such a different setting. You definitely see a side of people at this event that you never see at church!

We've got some ACCers who really brought their "groove thang" last night. And we've got a few others who seem to have misplaced theirs. I fall into the latter category. My wife tells me that I'm "cute" when I dance. I'm pretty sure that's married code for, "You stink, but I don't have the heart to tell you."

If you didn't come to this year's dinner/dance, you absolutely need to clear your calendar for next year. What a great time!

Some pics from last night…

Hair Insurance

Definitely need to place this one in the "truth is stranger than fiction" file…

Tom Jones, who sang It's Not Unusual, did something that would qualify as very unusual recently.

He took out an insurance policy on his chest hair. He bought the policy from Lloyd's of London for…

brace yourself…

seven million dollars!

Wow. Or maybe a better way to put it…

Whoa, Whoa, Whoa.