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

A Little Sermon Follow Up

My friend, Jason, came up to me Sunday with his Bible open. He showed me a Scripture that would have fit perfectly with my message…but I didn't think of it during my message prep. And it's weird, because it's a Scripture I know by heart. So I thought I'd do a little sermon follow up blog-style.

"Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart." (Psalm 37:4, NIV)

This verse has been twisted and turned by so many who preach the "health and wealth gospel." They only focus on the second half of the verse: God will give you the desires of your heart. And they have used that to tell people that, "God wants you to drive a Maserati. He wants you to live in a mansion and eat filet mignon for breakfast." (These comments are often followed by, "And he'll give you all of that if you send $1,000 to my ministry right now!")

If you're going to understand the truth of this verse, you have to read the whole verse! The key is the first part of the verse: Delight yourself in the Lord.

As I said on Sunday, the question is not, "Is God on my side?" The question is, "Am I on God's side?" Like we talked about last weekend, Joshua had to get that one straightened out before the battle of Jericho. And we have to be sure we are on that same page in our lives.

God does want to give you the desires of your heart. But the key is delighting yourself in Him first. It's all about surrendering your will to His will, as we talked about on Sunday.

God will give you the desires of your heart when the desires of your heart mirror the desires of His heart.

Two Funerals, One Day

My marathon funeral day is over. Preaching two funerals in one day is pretty tiring. But I was really glad I could be there for both families.

While funerals aren't my favorite thing to do, there is something very special about them. When I officiate a funeral, I get a front row seat to observe how many lives the person touched. How deeply their family and friends loved them. How much they will be missed.

Every funeral I've ever done had its poignant moments. Today's services were no exception.

One of the joys of being a pastor for a lot of years is that you build up a large bank of beautiful memories. Definitely got a few more today.

Funerals

I'm leading two funeral services today. I've never had two in the same day before. It will definitely be challenging.

Even though funerals are part of almost every pastor's job description, they are still difficult. Doesn't matter how many funerals you've participated in…they're always tough.

I welcome your prayers today as I minister to two grieving families.

Wild Goose Chase

Mark Batterson's new book, Wild Goose Chase, will officially release a week from today.

I'm honored and humbled that my blog was chosen to be part of the book's blog tour. I've got a copy of the book in my hands now and I can't wait to tear into it. After I read it, I'll review it here on my blog. That's how this blog tour deal works.

I've admired Mark's ministry at National Community Church from a distance for a long time. I think of him as a long-distance mentor. His last book, In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day, was an amazing read.

I've chased the lion.

Can't wait to chase the goose!

Auditions

Last weekend, our worship ministry held auditions.

Many churches bristle at the very sound of the word…auditions.

People hear the word and they immediately think of American Idol, with Simon Cowell saying, "That was absolutely awful. Possibly the worst I've ever heard." (If you didn't read that with a British accent in your mind, go back and read it again. Gotta get the full effect here.)

Speaking as one who auditioned, it was nothing like that. But make no mistake about it…it was still an audition.

Why would we kick against that? If we are all about offering our very best for God, then an audition just stands to reason.

And by the way…it was a lot more than just evaluating musical ability. It was about evaluating our hunger for worship, even in our personal lives. (One of the requirements for members of the worship ministry is three hours a week in prayer and in the Word.)

I appreciate the leadership of Brian and Josh in coordinating the auditions. It's a very clear way of communicating that we're pursuing excellence in all things.

Dunn is Done

The Reds have traded Adam Dunn to the Arizona Diamondbacks for a minor-league pitcher that you've never heard of and two players to be named later.

I've never been as hard on Dunn as other fans. He has hit more homeruns in the past four years than anyone in baseball. Sure, his defense is atrocious, but he'll give you 40 homeruns, 100 RBIs, and 100 walks every season. That's going to be tough to replace.

All I can hope is that by unloading Griffey and now Dunn, they're clearing some salary room to make a play for some impact players during the offseason.

If not, the future of the Reds just went from bad to worse.

Criticize By Creating

The most amazing moment so far in this year's Olympics was the men's 4x100m free relay in swimming. The French team was favored to win.

In fact, earlier this week Alain Bernard, one of the French swimmers, said, "The Americans? We're going to smash them. That's what we came here for."

Not quite.

The Americans took the race in world record time. It was the closest, most exciting 4×100 in history. Seriously, even if you're not a fan of the Olympics, take a few minutes and watch the video of the race posted by NBC. Absolutely unbelievable.

These guys know how to handle criticism. Instead of sending back a verbal counterattack, they simply allowed their performance to speak for itself.

That's a pretty good example for us. When we're criticized, when someone is talking smack against us…how we respond in that moment is very telling of our character.

Insecure people return the criticism. They get into a blow-by-blow verbal bout. You criticize me, I'll send it right back to you.

But people of character don't see the need to get involved in this type of battle. They simply let their performance speak for itself.

Michelangelo gave us some enduring wisdom when he said, "Criticize by creating." Let what you create…what you do with your life…speak for you.

Our men's swim team did just that.

And I'm striving to do that every day of my life.

Do You Want to be Liked?

If you just set out to be liked, you would be prepared to compromise on anything at any time, and you would achieve nothing.
(Margaret Thatcher)

Got Olympic Fever?

I do. I love the Olympics.

If you're a sports fan at all, I don't see how you can't love the Olympics. The games represent the best the athletic world has to offer. It's competition at its finest.

Opening ceremony tonight! Time to get your chant on.

U S A!

U S A!

What's Right About the Church – Part 2

Continued from yesterday's post.

Just a few things that are right about the church. What did I miss?