Mike Edmisten

We have a busy weekend ahead of us…but we may end up cancelling a lot of our plans. Our boy, Ryan, is pretty sick. Terrible cough, sore throat, high fever, etc.

We already cancelled a family bonfire last night. Might have to do a little bit more altering of our weekend plans unless Ryan gets better fast.

Such is life. I know all you parents are feeling me. We've all had big plans ruined by the small people who live with us.

And I still wouldn't trade it for the world.

Ok, the secret's out. I like country music. Some of you have had a little fun with that this week.

Actually, I really don't listen to a lot of music, simply because so much of it sounds the same. It doesn't matter if it's "Christian" or "secular" music…so much of it is just cookie cutter stuff. Every song sounds like the one before.

But then, every once in a while, a song comes out that is different. It grabs me. And when it grabs me, it doesn't let go.

Recently I found just such a song. Sugarland, Little Big Town, and Jake Owen all combined to cover The Dream Academy's old song, Life in a Northern Town.

The harmony on this song blew my mind. It's good to see that quality musicianship isn't dead.

And the images of the song's lyrics are powerful. "We thought that the world would freeze, with John F. Kennedy and the Beatles." That's a powerful picture.

I can't stop listening to this song. Wow.

I know it's a downer of a day here on my blog, but more prayers are needed…this time locally.

3 Dead, 3 Injured in Felicity Crash

Pray for the Day and Delaney families today.

Here's a prayer post set up for the Chapman family.

Visit, read, comment, ponder, and most of all…pray.

Please Pray…Like Now - Ragamuffin Soul

Horrible, horrible accident. I can't even imagine.

Here's the story link.

Daughter of Gospel Star Steven Curtis Chapman Hit, Killed by Car

Lift up a prayer for the family today.

This is the fourth (and last) post in my reflections on this year's Academy of Country Music Awards.

I was struck by the varying styles that I saw on this year's award show.

Some of it wouldn't surprise you. George Strait was wearing his black cowboy hat and singing in his trademark pure, down-home style. When most people think of country music, they probably think of somebody like him.

But then, there was Miranda Lambert. Her performance involved head-banging, a bass guitarist with a mohawk, and a waterfall. When most people think of country music, they probably do not think of something like that.

But, whether or not everybody liked all the varying styles, it looked like everybody accepted them. The camera panned to George Strait, who was smiling ear-to-ear after Miranda Lambert's rocked-up performance.

When it comes to style…be it style of music, style of dress, etc…there is room for different opinions in the church. In fact, I believe the church does much better with a variety of flavors.

If people can love and accept each other while disagreeing on minor, non-Scriptural issues, that really is love at its best.

I think somebody preached about that this past Sunday. :o)

This year's ACMAs were great, but not perfect.

As Garth Brooks was singing a medley of his many hits, he made a very obvious mistake when he started singing one measure too soon.

Reba McEntire joined Brooks & Dunn as they sang their new song, Put a Girl In It. Reba botched a few lines in the song.

A couple of times, the cameras briefly focused on the wrong person.

Such is life when you're doing live TV. The show was excellent, as I noted in my previous post. But it wasn't perfect. Because it was live, there was no editing. No do-overs. And we got a chance to see that wealthy celebrities can still flub up.

As I said in the last post, the church should pursue excellence because God deserves it. He deserves our very best effort…but that effort will never result in perfection.

Every Sunday, something will inevitably go wrong in our worship experiences. It just happens. We simply have to accept it, if…

and this is a big IF…

we should accept the mistake if it was not a result of poor preparation.

The mistakes I saw on the ACMAs were obviously not a result of poor planning. They were simply the result of imperfect people being just that…imperfect.

I can easily accept the fact that people aren't perfect. Mistakes in our services happen weekly, and I'm totally cool with it…unless the mistake sprang our of poor preparation. If we make a mistake because we're not prepared, then that goes back to the mode of thinking I addressed in my previous post. That is approaching church with a lackadaisical attitude instead of an attitude of excellent preparation.

If we come into church and make mistakes as a result of poor preparation, that is unacceptable.

If we come into church and make mistakes because we're imperfect people, that is not only acceptable…it's healthy.

It's a healthy reminder that, despite our best efforts, we'll never achieve perfection. That's why we have a perfect Savior!

As mentioned in my previous post, I'm doing a little reflecting this week on Sunday's Academy of Country Music Awards. (If you're a non-country music type person, read on. I promise that it won't turn you into a hillbilly.)

As with any music awards show, the production of this year's ACMAs was excellent. The whole thing was done really, really well. We expect nothing less when we watch these kind of shows. We simply expect excellence.

Question…

Why would we expect less in the church?

The planning and production of the ACMAs was excellent. What was the driving force behind their pursuit of excellence?

Money. Pure and simple. It's in their best financial interest to pursue excellence. Excellence increases revenue.

As the church, don't we have an infinitely higher reason to pursue excellence? We're not chasing after money. We're chasing after Jesus! Money isn't the end of the game for us. Jesus is!

If an awards show can be excellent for the sake of money, how much more should we be excellent for the sake of God?

As I said, we have an expectation of excellence when we see an awards show that exists to glorify people and to make money. And yet, we often lower our expectations dramatically in the church that exists to glorify and honor God.

This type of attitude that gives God less than our best simply has to stop. God deserves our very best.

If you're teaching, God is honored when you prepare for your class. He is not honored by Saturday night specials.

If you're greeting, God deserves your very best attitude. You are greeting people in the name of Jesus Christ.

If you're a sound or media tech, God deserves your full attention. What you do dramatically impacts the quality of worship for those present. Stay focused and give your best.

If you're serving communion, remember that you are helping people to connect their minds and hearts to the crucified Christ. You're not just passing out a mid-morning snack. You are serving a memorial to help us remember the death of the Son of God.

If you're scrubbing floors, scrub them like you would if you were scrubbing for Jesus…because you are.

Let's raise our expectation of excellence to the next level. God deserves nothing less.

My wife and I are country music fans.

Given the previous sentence, I need to pause this post right now to answer all your stereotypical questions.

Ok, now that we've got all that out of the way, I'm going to take some blog time this week to reflect on this year's Academy of Country Music Awards show that aired on Sunday night. Should be fun.

Yee Haw.

I am overwhelmed by the reponse to the first message in our Church 101 series. I mean…I am SERIOUSLY overwhelmed. I had several people tell me that it is the best message I've ever preached at ACC. And this isn't coming from people who tend to "overcompliment." They said it, and they meant it. If you missed it, the message should be up on our website soon.

What really blows me away about this is that I felt absolutely lousy yesterday morning. My throat felt like I swallowed a box of burning nails. Even as I was driving to church yesterday, I simply said, "God, I don't have it today." Some Sundays I feel like I'm bringing my "A game." Yesterday I felt like I was bringing my "D+ game."

And on a day like that, when my head was pounding and my throat was on fire, I preached what many have deemed my best sermon ever. How does that happen?

God.

That's how it happens.

I have claimed these verses as my own.

But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:9-10, NIV)

I was weak yesterday, and God's power was made perfect through my weakness. All credit, honor, and glory for what happened goes vertical.

God showed up yesterday. It's just that simple.