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

Unleash Conference

I'd appreciate your prayers for our ACC Leadership Team over the next three days. Our team is leaving for Anderson, South Carolina this morning to attend the Unleash Conference at NewSpring Church.

Brian and I attended this conference last year and it blew us away. As soon as we left, we looked at each other and said, "We've got to get our team here next year!"

Welcome to next year. I'm so excited that so many of our team members are going to the conference. It is going to be nothing short of amazing!

Please pray for our safe travel to and from South Carolina. Pray for God to move in us in a mighty way. And pray that we will have the wisdom to apply what we learn in our church.

I'm hoping that I'll be able to give you a blog update on the conference tomorrow night. Stay tuned.

Off to get Unleashed!

Motivated by Love

The more you are motivated by love, the more fearless and free your actions will be. (Katherine Mansfield)

How is the truth of this quote playing out in your life?

Tragedy in Illinois

I'm sure you've heard by now about the fatal shooting of a pastor in Illinois on Sunday. Fred Winters was shot to death while preaching in the 8:00 am service at First Baptist Church in Maryville, IL.

This should serve as a sobering warning for anyone in church leadership. Mark Driscoll has a post on his blog that every single church leader should read regarding the security programs in their church.

Pastor Shot Dead in the Pulpit: Five Questions to Heed – Mark Driscoll

Looking Back at Habakkuk

We wrapped up our three week series called Habakkuk yesterday at ACC. I loved this series!

But, I will admit that this was a tough series to preach. Preaching from one of the Minor Prophets (the last 12 books in the Old Testament) isn't easy. The wording can be complicated and the themes feel antiquated.

But I am so glad that I didn't give up on this series! God did a work in my life as I worked through the book of Habakkuk. I was reminded that the Word of God is timeless. It's truth never fades, regardless of how many years go by.

And maybe this sounds weird, but I kind of feel like I know the prophet personally now. I realize that Habakkuk lived about 2,600 years ago, but through this preaching series, I really felt like I connected with him. I heard the cry of his heart. I felt his pain. I witnessed his hope.

Now, I'll be honest…I don't plan on preaching through another of the Minor Prophets anytime soon. If I had to keep up that kind of level of study for my messages, I'd probably turn into a blithering idiot before long. (No comments from the peanut gallery, please!)

But I am so thankful for my new found understanding of the book of Habakkuk. I had read the book several times before this series, but now I know it. And the truth I found in that book had a profound impact on my life.

DST

Here's a friendly little reminder to set your clocks forward one hour tonight. The annual tradition of Daylight Saving Time is upon us.

Wanna know more about DST? Here's an article that contains everything that you never wanted to know about the time change.

13 Things You Probably Didn't Know About Daylight Saving Time

When Life Falls Apart

God is going to move in a powerful way at ACC this Sunday. Notice that I didn't say, "I think God will move in a powerful way." Nope. I know that God is going to do something big this weekend at ACC.

We're wrapping up our Habakkuk series this Sunday, and God has a laid a message on me that you need to hear. Especially if it feels like life has knocked you down. If you are in pain, you need to be at ACC this Sunday. If someone you care about is in pain, get them to church this Sunday. Beg them. Plead with them. Drag them. But do something to get them to ACC this weekend.

Just so you know upfront…I'm not going to give you any cliché, bumper sticker answers that will fix the pain in your life. It's not that easy. I don't have a "take two of these and call me in the morning" kind of remedy for your suffering.

What I do have to offer you is truth. It's raw. It's real. And it's coming at you this Sunday.

Dating Anniversary

Today is the anniversary of my very first date with the beautiful woman that is now my wife. Nicki and I went out for the first time exactly 15 years ago today.

We went to see the movie 8 Seconds (still a great movie to this day), followed by dinner at the Eastgate Applebees. Not the most romantic evening ever, but I was a high school student. This was pretty much all I could afford.

Romantic or not, something must have worked because neither of us ever dated anyone else from that moment on. And 15 years later, I still wouldn't want to be with anyone else.

Ordination Message – Part 2

A second excerpt from my message at Aron Kirk's ordination service on Sunday night.

The Apostle Paul declared, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes…” (Romans 1:16a, NIV)

Aron, the gospel is the engine of your ministry. The gospel is what saves people. The gospel is what transforms lives. The gospel is what changes eternities. Any other stuff you do under this umbrella that we call ministry is just details. It is all insignificant minutiae compared to the gospel.

And something else to notice in that verse I just read…Paul reminds us that the gospel is “the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.” The gospel is the power of God. Not the power of Aron. And actually, that’s great news for you.

Along with busyness, the other major problem that I see plaguing ministers today is intense feelings of insecurity and inadequacy. The dirty little secret is that most pastors are scared to death. We have this great and grand calling in front of us, and it scares the pants off of us.

Paul gives us great news. If our ministry is focused on the gospel, then our ministry will be successful because it will be empowered by God.

Mike Edmisten can’t save anybody. Andy Timm (the senior pastor at Aron's church) can’t save anybody. Aron Kirk can’t save anybody. That’s why our ministry has to be built on the gospel, because that’s how the power of God is unleashed.

Aron, every song you sing, every chord you strum, every lyric you write, every message you preach, it all comes back to this…the gospel of Jesus Christ. His grace is what changed your life. And his grace is what will change countless other lives through you.

Ordination Message – Part 1

An excerpt from my message at Aron Kirk's ordination service on Sunday night.

Ministry encompasses a lot of things, but there is really only one thing that matters. Sharing the grace of a loving God who would rather give up his Son than give up on us.

It is so frustrating to see how many people in ministry have gotten away from their main purpose. Instead of meting out the grace of God, they just go to meetings. They build programs instead of people. Instead of being busy seeking God, they’re just busy.

Listen to what Jesus said to the church at Ephesus in Revelation 2. “I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.” (Revelation 2:2a, 3-4, NIV)

In these verses, Jesus acknowledges that the church at Ephesus had been very busy. No one would ever question their work ethic. They worked hard. They persevered through tough times. They were busy doing all kinds of good things for Jesus. But his stinging indictment trumped every good thing that they had done. Jesus told his followers, “You have forsaken your first love.”

Sadly, this verse could easily apply to a lot of what passes for ministry today. I don’t know a minister who isn’t incredibly busy. But what are we busy doing? A lot of guys in ministry have been consumed with church politics, board meetings, annual budgets, building programs, etc. And I’m afraid that, in the process, many well-meaning, busy pastors have forsaken their first love.

Aron, your first love is the gospel of Jesus Christ. Nothing, absolutely nothing is more important than that.

Ordination Service

As I said in my message on Sunday morning, everybody's walk with Christ contains mountains and valleys. Sunday night was definitely a mountaintop experience for me.

I spoke at Aron Kirk's ordination service. I've known Aron and his wife, Erica, for years. They were students in my first youth ministry. I can't even express how privileged I felt to speak at the service where Aron was formally ordained into the ministry.

It is difficult to find two people that are more special than Aron and Erica. Their love for God is evident. Their spiritual depth is impressive. I might have been their youth minister, but honestly, I kind of feel like a spiritual dwarf compared to them! They both push me to a deeper place in my spiritual life.

Some of the moments on Sunday night were almost surreal. There were times when I couldn't believe that I was at an ordination service for Aron Kirk! Aron freely shared in his testimony on Sunday that he ran away from God for a few years. Instead of pursuing God, he said that he was simply pursuing his next opportunity to get drunk. That was the sum total of his life for a while. But God never gave up on him.

Aron's life and ministry are testaments to the grace of God. And that's what I felt more than anything else on Sunday night. God's grace is so long and wide and high and deep. The only reason he can use a person like Aron…and a person like me…and a person like you…is because of his grace. His grace really is amazing.

In my message on Sunday night, I talked a lot about this thing that we call ministry. It was an opportunity for me to really highlight what are the most important parts of being in ministry. Over the next two posts, I'll share a portion of my message from Sunday night.