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

Broken Speedometers

I've had an interesting experience recently…driving without the help of a speedometer.

The speed sensor in our '99 Escort went bad, and so we spent a few weeks driving that car without a working speedometer. No matter how fast or slow we were going, the needle on the speedometer was pointing at zero.

I actually had no idea how often I look at the speedometer until now. I'm pretty sure I check it every 30 seconds. Most of the vehicles I've owned in my life did not have cruise control, so looking frequently at the speedometer has become an unbreakable habit for me. But looking at a broken speedometer did me no good…no matter how many times I did it.

There was great motivation to fix this problem…fear of a speeding ticket. There was no doubt that we were going to do whatever it took to resolve the issue. If it was your car, you probably would have moved quickly to fix it as well. Driving without a speedometer is risky business.

But why is it that when something is broken in our lives, most of us don't move with the same urgency? I see it all the time in my ministry. People know there is something broken in their lives, and yet they seem content to do nothing about it.

Why are we more motivated to fix something that is broken on our car than say…something that is broken in our marriage? In a friendship? In our community? In our parenting?

There's a cost when something like that is broken. A speed sensor is normally a simple repair, but some complications arose with our car. It turned into a major job with a major price tag. Still, it had to be paid.

But it takes even more to fix what is broken in our lives. And because of that, we're often content to just sit back and look at what is broken instead of taking the necessary steps to fix it.

Every time I looked at my speedometer, I was reminded that it was broken. I knew that I had to take immediate steps to fix the situation.

Have you spent too much time looking at something that is broken in your life? It's time to stop watching and start working. Watching my broken speedometer didn't fix it. I actually had to do something about it.

Stop watching. Start working.

Will it cost you? Yes.

But the cost of inaction is far greater.

In Awe and Appreciation

Those two words sum up how I'm feeling today. I am awed and appreciative.

As I think through the last three weeks at ACC, I am absolutely floored by what God did through The Other Side series. This series exceeded my expectations on every level. And honestly…I can take no credit for what happened. No one who was onstage or worked behind the scenes can take credit for what happened.

This series was an undeniable move of God. The worship was more heartfelt and passionate than I've ever seen in our church. The Spirit of God led the way in every message. People came to Christ every single week of this series.

I am in awe of what we didn't do. While I am grateful for all the encouragement we received from this series…ultimately, we didn't do it. God's fingerprints are all over this thing.

I am in awe of what he has done.

I am deeply appreciative that he allowed me to play a small part in it.

And you want to hear something really exciting? God's just getting started. Our best days are still ahead of us, ACC.

Lift Us Up

I've had a lot of people tell me that our focus on hell last Sunday messed them up. That's a good thing. Really…it is. God loves to mess us up. When he breaks us, then he can remake us.

But while God loves to mess us up, I'm convinced he loves to lift us up even more. And that's exactly what is going to happen tomorrow at ACC.

Last week we focused on hell, and God messed us up.

Tomorrow we're focusing on heaven, and you better believe that the power of God is going to lift us up!

The party starts tomorrow at 9:00 and 11:00 am! I know I've said it every week of this series, but do not be late! Some of the very best moments tomorrow will happen early.

And Then There Were Three

The Connecticut Supreme Court has ruled that same-sex couples have the right to marry. The court was hardly unified on the decision, evidenced by the 4-3 ruling. But that really makes no difference, because homosexual marriage is now the law in Connecticut.

This makes three states in the U.S. with legalized same-sex marriage: Massachusetts, California, and now Connecticut.

Spiritual Goals

A couple of weeks ago, I posted some random life goals I have set for myself.

Here is a different set of goals I have in my life. These are more serious spiritual goals.

This isn't an exhaustive list, but it's a good sample of the spiritual goals I have in my life. Some of them are definitely BHAGs (Big Hairy Audacious Goals), but what other kind of goals should you set when you introduce God into the equation? God can do more than we ask or imagine, so how can we possibly dream small?

Go big or go home.

Blessing Fido

I read this post on the Monday Morning Insight blog a couple of days ago.

And then, the very next day, I saw a church sign that was advertising The Blessing of Pets. You can bring Fido or Fluffly or Floppy and have them "blessed."

I make a concerted effort to stay positive on my blog. I will try not to go too negative here. But I would like to point out the obvious…

Jesus didn't die for your dog! Sorry if you believe that "all dogs go to heaven." Umm…they don't!

Your dog, cat, rabbit, turtle, snake, lizard, hamster, goldfish, or pot-bellied pig may be special to you…but the Son of God didn't give his life for their soul. They don't even have a soul!

Does the church not have anything better to do? This is it? Seriously?

If this offends you…sorry. But I have more important things to do than worry about your pet…like reaching people who are in very real danger of entering eternity without Jesus.

For what it's worth, that's a mission that gets my blessing.

Sunday

Brian and I spent the entire morning yesterday constructing the stage set for this weekend. We're talking about heaven this weekend as we wrap up The Other Side series. The staging for this worship experience will be unlike anything you've ever seen before. It will rock your socks off!

And the experience itself…wow! God is going to blow our church up this weekend!

Don't just come to church on Sunday. Come expecting to see the Spirit of Almighty God move in a life-changing, eternity-altering way.

The Most Difficult Subject

Hell.

It is, without a doubt, the most difficult subject to preach.

As I shared on Sunday, I agree with C.S. Lewis, who said, "There is no doctrine which I would more willingly remove from Christianity than this, if it lay in my power."

I hate preaching on hell.

But that's exactly what I did on Sunday. In fact, we built our entire worship experience around the theme of hell. How's that for a risky move?

And you know what happened?

God showed up and blew the doors off the place!

From the moment Cara opened our service with a song that she wrote just for that morning, I knew we were in for something big.

We witnessed a mighty move of God by talking about hell! That goes against every single thought in the "seeker sensitive" movement. Many church growth experts will tell you that you can't talk about hell because it's "offensive."

We threw all of that "conventional wisdom" out the conventional window. The talk about hell was honest. Frighteningly honest. Gut-wrenchingly honest. We pulled no punches because the Bible pulls no punches.

And then we celebrated because Jesus died to save us from an eternity in hell! I thought the roof was going to come down when a teenager named Ryan was baptized in our second service. What a God moment! And the worship set that we ended with was off the charts! The joy of the Lord was overflowing.

The whole morning was a raw, honest, emotional experience…and God used it in ways I couldn't have even imagined.

All because we were willing to take a risk and talk about hell.

It really makes me wonder what God is going to do when we talk about heaven this week!

Furtick on Excellence

Want to know why we pursue excellence in all things at ACC? Check out this post from Steven Furtick.

Good Enough Isn't Good Enough for Me

Right on, Steven. Right on.

Why Are You Talking About Hell on Sunday?

The great preacher, Charles Spurgeon, said it best.

“If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to hell over our bodies. If they will perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees. Let no one go there unwarned and unprayed for.”