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

Back At It

I'm back in the office after some time off for Thanksgiving.  New blog posts will begin tomorrow. Comments are back on.

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving.

Taking Back Christmas

I can't wait for Christmas at ACC this year! This might just be the most amazing Christmas series in the history of our church!  That's not hype…that's the truth.

Recent studies have shown that people are now more willing to accept an invitation to church at Christmas than Easter.  Along with an incredible series this Christmas, we also have an incredible opportunity.

You know that friend…that co-worker…that neighbor…that family member that you want to invite to church? This is your time.

We handed out business card invitations on Sunday at ACC.  They'll be available again this week.

We also have an evite that you can send to as many people as you want. It's super simple.  You can access the evite and all the info about this series on our website.

Taking Back Christmas

Get creative in getting the word out.  You don't have to stop at the invitations and evites.  Post our promo video on your Facebook page. Got a blog?  Post it there, too.

I can't wait to take back Christmas!!!

Thanksgiving Thought

Before you sit down to your feast today, take a minute and read this post from Mark Batterson.

Thanksgiving Thought – Mark Batterson

I hope you and your family have an incredible Thanksgiving. And I hope this helped you remember why we celebrate this special day every year.

Taking Some Downtime

I have just completed a marathon season of ministry. Other than being down for a week with the flu, I haven't taken a vacation day since early June. (I do faithfully use my day off every week.  I'm not THAT crazy.)  I've preached every Sunday, except for my sick day.  It's been a whirlwind, and I'm tired.

I'm not saying this to whine.  I don't expect anyone to feel sorry for me.  I don't feel sorry for myself.

I'm also not saying this to brag.  Some people brag about how much they work with no time off.  That's stupid.  It can even be sinful.

I'm not bragging…I'm confessing.  I need to do a better job of taking some downtime.  I am already working on a plan to make 2010 a much better year than 2009 in this regard.

But for now, the marathon stretch is over.  I'm taking some vacation time for the remainder of the week. But I do have blog posts scheduled everyday through the end of this week.  The only difference will be that the comments have been temporarily disabled.

If you're in the same situation as me, then I really hope you'll use this week's holiday to unplug from the insanity.  The problem with burning the candle at both ends is that you will eventually run out of candle.

Take some downtime with your family. (They probably miss you.)  Eat some turkey.  Give yourself permission to take a nap. Seriously…it's ok.

God didn't create you to be a machine.  You need rest.  He wired you that way.

We've got a HUGE Christmas series planned at ACC this year.  Thanks to some time off this week, I'll be ready to rock and fire this Christmas. Can't wait!

Traditions

The Detroit Lions have hosted a football game on Thanksgiving Day every year since 1934. (The Dallas Cowboys also have a long Thanksgiving streak going, but for the sake of this post, we'll focus on the Lions.)  In 1999, there was a resolution to rotate the games every year to involve other NFL teams, but the Lions successfully squelched it.  For the football fan, Thanksgiving runs through Detroit every year.

It started when the Lions left their original home in Portsmouth, Ohio for Detroit. Their new owner wanted to boost attendance, so he used his powerful media connections to book a game on Thanksgiving Day that was broadcast on NBC.  That started a tradition that exists to this day.

If you're not a football fan, you might not know this…the Lions stink. And this is not a new phenomenon.  They Lions have stunk for many years.

And yet, they will be playing on our TVs this Thanksgiving Day.  It makes no sense. Who wants to watch the Lions play?

The more I consider this, the crazier it seems.  It's Thanksgiving Day. Everyone has the day off.  The NFL has the potential for a huge TV audience…and they give us the Lions.

Why?  The answer is simple…tradition.

Contrary to what some people believe about me, I am not anti-tradition. Some traditions are fine.  But some are not.

I'm not anti-tradition.  I am anti-ineffective tradition. When a tradition ceases to be effective, we have lost the reason that it became a tradition in the first place. It's time to move on.

The Lions Thanksgiving Day tradition worked well in the 1930s.  It doesn't work anymore.  Move on.

Similarly, the church is often guilty of maintaining outdated, antiquated, ineffective programs because of tradition. Sure, these things worked at one time.  Otherwise they wouldn't have become a tradition.  But if they are not effective anymore, the right thing to do is to do something else.

Why would we think that God is pleased when we keep doing something based on tradition instead of effectiveness? God wants His church to do whatever it takes to win people to Christ…not prop up ineffective traditions.

Maybe this old adage says it best…when the horse is dead, dismount.

Good advice for the NFL.

Better advice for God's church.

A Little Sermon Postscript

Just wrapped up a two week series called Money Talks.  It was a lot of fun!

Some preachers won't even touch the subject of money.  Others preach about it, but they preach apologetically instead of passionately.

I don't see Jesus doing that. Jesus had some very hard things to say about money (Matthew 6:21 & Luke 16:13 come to mind), but He never apologized for it. If Jesus never apologized for it, then those of us who preach His Word don't need to apologize, either.

I love preaching on money.  It fires me up! I get passionate about it because I've lived on both sides of the issue.

I've done money my way and I've done money God's way.  I can tell you from personal experience that God's way is better. Not just a little better.  It is A LOT better!

Nicki and I didn't tithe for a long time. We were in ministry, and we still didn't tithe!  (If you think that's pathetic, you're right.)  We convinced ourselves that we couldn't afford to tithe.  And our finances kept spiraling downward.

But when we were finally convicted of our sinful selfishness (which is exactly what it is when we refuse to give God what is already His), we started tithing. What happened after that is nothing short of amazing!

We are giving more now than we ever have before, and we are blessed more now than we've ever been before.  That's because the 90% we keep is blessed by God. In God's economy, generosity is the key to blessings.

You might think that you can't afford to tithe.

Nicki and I have discovered that we can't afford not to.

Money Preaching

Jesus talked about money in about 25% of His teachings. That's amazing.  When Jesus talked, He talked about money ¼ of the time.

I don't even come close to that in my preaching. And yet when I do preach on money, people say, "The church is only interested in my money.  All he ever talks about is money."

Jesus talked about it WAY more than I do!!!!  If anything, I need to preach about it more, not less.

We're wrapping up our series called Money Talks this weekend.  God rocked me with this message.

It's hard.

It's straight.

It's true.

It's money…done God's way. And anytime we choose to do something God's way, there is freedom.

You've gotta get to ACC this weekend.

Reminded of My Shortcomings

"Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, 'Today I am reminded of my shortcomings.'" (Genesis 41:9, NIV)

I know how he felt.  There are times when it feels like everything I see, hear, touch,  and experience are all just reminders of how much I don't measure up. There are those days when I echo what the cupbearer was feeling.  The entire day reminds me of my shortcomings.

Here's what I'm talking about…

• I know Philippians 4:6, but I still worry.
• I know Psalm 20:7, but there are times when I still don't trust God.
• I know Philippians 2:14, but I still complain.
• I kn0w Ephesians 5:25, but I fall so short of it in my marriage.
• I know Ephesians 6:4, but I also know that I often miss the mark.

The more we know the Bible, the more we are reminded of how often we get it wrong.  God's Word exposes our every shortcoming.

It would be a completely debilitating thing, except for this…

• I know Isaiah 53:4-5.  Jesus took my sorrow.  He was crushed for my sin.  By his wounds, I am healed.
• I know Lamentations 3:22-23.  God's compassions for me never fail, regardless of my sinful failings.  Everyday I am reminded of my shortcomings, but His compassions for me are renewed everyday.
• I know Titus 3:4-5.  My salvation is not based on anything that I have done.  It is completely because of what Jesus has done.

I didn't plan on posting this.  In fact, I set out to write about something completely different.  But God seemed to redirect me to this.  I hope it helps you the way that it helped me!

Entitlement

In case you haven't noticed, a lot of people in our culture live with an entitlement mentality.  They believe that they are entitled to certain things just because they exist.  "I deserve this because I am me."

Our government doles out money by the billions to people who believe they are entitled to it.  The entire concept of the welfare state is completely foreign to most people in the world.  But we believe we are entitled to it because we are Americans.

We are conditioned to believe that we are entitled to own nice things. We deserve new clothes, a new car, etc.  We wouldn't dream of buying a USED car.  We're entitled to a new one.

I could go on, but you get the point.

Here's the deal…you are not entitled to ANYTHING! Nothing.  Nada.  Zip.  Zilch.  Zero.

This is especially true in our relationship with God.  It's easy to begin believing that God owes you something.  He owes you good health.  He owes you a good husband or wife.  He owes you a good job.

No He doesn't.

God doesn't owe you anything.  He doesn't owe me anything.

Steven Furtick wrote, "Anything short of eternal torment and separation from God in hell is a blessing. No matter how unfair your current situation may be, it’s a lot better than what you deserve. Never forget that."

God has graciously made salvation available to us.  We deserve hell, but He has lovingly provided an incredible alternative.

In light of that truly amazing grace, how can I tell God that He owes me anything?

Scott Smith

Our church has a young fellow that's been struggling for most of his life. Scott Smith has very severe Crohn's disease.  He's been hospitalized much of this year.  It's been an uphill battle every step of the way.

You need to read this piece from the Cincinnati Enquirer about a unique visitor to Scott's hospital room.  And you MUST watch the video that accompanies the story.

Therapy Dogs Are Patient's Best Friend – Cincinnati Enquirer

Absolutely awesome stuff.