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

Less Debating. More Doing.

A a few years ago, a woman who was visiting ACC started a conversation with me after church.  Actually, "conversation" isn't the right word. She didn't want a conversation.  She wanted an argument.

This lady took me to task for something I said in my message.  It wasn't a critical doctrine that is central to our faith. It was a very peripheral issue.  At least it should have been a peripheral issue.  This lady exploded like a volcano on Krakatoa.

I shut her down immediately.  I told her that I wasn't going to discuss the issue with her anymore.  She looked absolutely shocked, and she responded, "But…but…but…I ENJOY arguing about theology."

I simply responded, "Well, I don't." And she walked away in a huff.

I wish I could say that this was an isolated incident, but any pastor can tell you that this kind of thing happens all the time. There are certain people who simply want to debate and argue about theological minutiae. Oftentimes these people would rather run their mouth than wash someone's feet.  In other words, they are always seeking a deeper intellectual understanding of Jesus without doing what He said.

In Philippians 3, the Bible says, "And if there are things you do not agree with, God will make them clear to you. But we should continue following the truth we already have." (Philippians 3:15b-16, NCV)

There will always be things that we will disagree about. I'm not talking about issues like the deity of Jesus, the inspiration of Scripture, the death and resurrection of Christ, etc.  Those are core issues of our faith where there must be 100% unity among believers.

But there are a myriad of secondary issues in which there is room for disagreement.  The Bible tells us in Philippians that, in time, God will make these things clear to us.

But until that time comes, "we should continue following the truth we already have."

In other words, we need to stop focusing on the minor issues of disagreement and instead focus on the essential truths that we have.  We need less debating and more doing.

Mark Twain said, "It ain't the parts of the Bible that I can't understand that bother me; it is the parts that I do understand."

We can spend our entire lives debating the more difficult, obscure Biblical passages.  Or we can take the parts of the Bible that are easily understood (which is the vast majority, by the way) and put our faith into action.

Less debating. More doing.

Pray for Your Pastor

I found myself nodding my head in agreement with nearly every word of this post.  As Perry said in the post, this might seem somewhat self-serving coming from me.  But it needs to be said.

Pray for Your Pastor – Perry Noble

Now that you've read the post, take a minute and pray for your pastor. Don't put it off.  Do it now.

If you are an ACCer, I covet your prayers.  I desperately need you to pray for me and I'm not ashamed to say it.

If you're not part of ACC, then pray for your pastor. If he's never said it, then I'll say it for him.  He needs your prayers more than you'll ever know.

Taking Back Christmas Starts Sunday!

I can't wait for this weekend!  I just looked over the final planning draft for our service this Sunday and it is going to be unbelievable!

Sometimes I get accused of over-hyping stuff. Sometimes that criticism is valid.  Not this time.

Here are some guarantees for this Sunday…

1. Our band will blow the roof off.  A word of warning…don't be late. We're opening our services will the most requested Christmas song that our band has ever done. Sunday's worship set will be stellar…and it starts at 9:00 & 11:00 am sharp!

2. You will learn something you didn't know about the birth of Jesus Christ (which we refer to as "The Christmas Story").  We are challenging a ton of misconceptions that we have about the birth of Jesus.  Some of it might make you uncomfortable.  Some of it will flat out rock your world.

3. You will experience something you've never experienced in church before. It's gonna be fun!

4. Your friend(s) will be glad they came. We've pulled out all the stops to make it easier for you to invite a friend who needs Jesus to church this Christmas season.  We handed out business card invitations.  You can send evites directly from our website. If you haven't invited someone yet, do it today.  You won't regret it.  You won't have to apologize to them afterward. I promise.

5. You will encounter Jesus. Sunday isn't actually about Christmas.  It's about Christ.  He's going to be at ACC on Sunday. Make sure you and your friends are, too.