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

This Sunday

Got a very special treat for you, ACC.  Joel Young is coming back to bring the Word again this weekend.  Joel is the pastor of Horizon Christian Church.  He is one of the most talented young communicators that I know.

It is not healthy for any church to only hear the Word from one person. One of our goals in 2010 is to mix it up more.  Different voices offer different perspectives. The more voices that speak truth into our lives, the more the Word will come alive in us.

This Sunday is going to rock your socks off.  You don't want to miss it!

Haiti in Pictures

I'm pushing the pause button on the series of posts I had planned for this week.  I'll wrap it up next week.  The Haitian earthquake trumps everything right now.

We announced yesterday that our church is stepping up to help the people of Haiti.  You can get all the details on our website.

Helping Earthquake Victims in Haiti

If you're not pumped up about this effort yet, you need to click the link below and view the pictures. In fact, we all need to see these pictures. They are incredibly disturbing.  Definitely don't view them if young children are close to your computer.  But definitely make the time to view these images.

Let them bother you.  Let them anger you.  Let them motivate you to do something to help.

Earthquake Pictures

Get the word out, ACC.  Post our relief effort on your Facebook page. Talk to your friends and co-workers about it.  Do whatever it takes.

Let's be Jesus to the Haitian people.

It Gets Even Better

Lifestream Christian Church has now teamed up with ACC and Horizon Christian Church in our effort to send food to the victims of the earthquake in Haiti.

God is good and so is His church!

What The Church Should Look Like

Just got an email from Joel Young, pastor of Horizon Christian Church.  They are going to partner with ACC in our effort to get supplies to the earthquake victims in Haiti.  I love it!

Joel summed it up best in his email.  "This is what the church should look like EVERYDAY!"

Helping the People of Haiti

Beginning immediately, ACC will be collecting food items to ship to the victims of the huge earthquake that hit the capital city of Haiti yesterday.

You can get all the details on our website. Click the link below.

ACC Helping Earthquake Victims in Haiti

The need is urgent, so we've got to move very quickly on this effort. Please help us get the word out.

The Team

Another lesson I learned in my ministry over the last four years at ACC is that the team is paramount.

The team of leaders in a church will make or break the church. If a church doesn't have a team of leaders who are sold-out to Jesus and sold-out to His vision for His church, then nothing is going to happen.

I have been part of various leadership teams in the church.  These teams all demonstrated varying degrees of health and effectiveness.

I can unequivocally say that ACC has the best leadership team that I have ever seen. That's not overstating it.  That's the truth.

These leaders love ACC more than most people will ever know.  They do more behind-the-scenes work than most people will ever realize.

Case in point…the basement in our building flooded the Sunday after Christmas.  Much of our staff was on vacation after a very intense, grueling month. (The Christmas season is one of the busiest and toughest seasons for our ministry staff.) And that is the Sunday that our basement flooded.  Our people didn't bat an eye. They just jumped in to get the job done.  And many of them are on our leadership team.

Did you know that John Bach, one of our elders,  gave up a full day of his vacation to work in our basement?  Did you know that Jeff Deatherage, one of our deacons, did the same thing? Did you know that Jim Luginbuhl, another elder, came to the church building every 8-10 hours for an entire week to babysit an ailing sump pump until it could be repaired?

And don't think for a minute that these guys are the only ones who stepped up, because they're not.   Our leaders rolled up their sleeves and did what needed to be done. And they wanted no recognition for it.  They just served.  And I love that about them.

This team is willing to make hard decisions. They are willing to endure criticism that is unwarranted and ill-informed.  They value character and integrity above all else.

I've said this before and I'll say it again.  I would take a bullet for anyone on this team. I know they'd do the same for me.

I remembering reading this somewhere.  If you want to know what God has planned for you, look at the people surrounding you.

I look at the leaders that God has brought to our church, and it can only mean one thing.  God is setting us up for something HUGE! He wouldn't have given ACC so many leaders of this caliber if He wasn't planning something really big!

Our leaders have vision.  Our leaders are servants. They love the people of ACC and they desperately want our church to go where God is leading us.

I've been a lot of places and seen a lot of different things in the church.  I'm here to tell you…our team is the crème de la crème.

The Burden

One of the first lessons I learned in my ministry at ACC is that there is no position quite like the Senior Pastor's position.

As I said in my previous post, I had logged over 10 years of ministry experience by the time I arrived at ACC.  I thought I knew all the ups and downs, ins and outs of ministry.  I thought I had seen everything that ministry could dish out.

I was wrong.

I had never been in THIS role before.

I heard someone say this at a conference, and I never believed it until I came to ACC. No one cares more about the church than the Senior Pastor.

I always thought that was a little arrogant.  I didn't realize that it is 100% true…until I became a Senior Minister myself.

I had been in ministry for over a decade when I arrived at ACC, but I had never stayed awake all night with my stomach in a knot because of the church.  I had never felt this kind of pressure.  I had never known stress at this level.

I had more health problems in 2009 than I've ever had in my life.  Part of it is because I'm not 19 anymore.  But a big part of it is a result of stress. My ministry is adversely affecting my health. That had never happened until I stepped into this role in God's church.

I'm not asking you to feel sorry for me.  I'm not fishing for your pity.

And I'm also not suggesting that other people don't care about our church.  We have committed people who live, eat, and breathe ACC.  It's absolutely amazing.

But here is the difference.  Throughout Scripture, God gave His vision for His people to one person. It was that person's job to take the vision to the people and make it happen.  And that person felt an incredible burden from this unique position.

I've come to realize that this is the burden of the Senior Pastor.  It is unique to him.  God lays His vision for His church on this one person. It doesn't mean that the pastor can accomplish the vision alone.  It doesn't mean that he is a rogue agent, doing whatever he wants with no checks and balances.  Most people who suggest this are either power hungry, they have a personal agenda against the pastor or the leadership, or they don't approve of where God is leading His church.

It doesn't mean any of those things listed above.  The burden of the pastor simply means that God speaks, first and foremost, to the Senior Pastor.  That is an amazing privilege…but it can also be a crippling burden.

It's difficult to explain.  And maybe you don't even believe it.  I didn't believe it either, until I stepped into this role.

Maybe you don't trust your pastor on this level. If you don't trust the pastor of your church to hear from God, then you are in the wrong church because that's the pastor's primary job.

And if you think this means that I (or any other pastor) am arrogant…you've got it backwards.  There is nothing more humbling than this. There is nothing that will make you feel more inadequate or ill-equipped than this. But it's the cost of this calling.

I'm working on how to deal with the stress and pressure of this ministry.  Truth be told, I have a long way to go.But God, in His grace, called me to an amazing church at ACC.  And I'm sure that He will give me the grace I need to do what He is calling me to do.

ACC, I covet your prayers.  I need them more than you will ever know.

And if you're not part of ACC, then take this opportunity to pray for your pastor.  I promise you that he needs it.

Four Years

This Saturday marks my fourth anniversary as the Senior Pastor at ACC.  It's been a wild ride, to say the least.

Four years ago, I accepted a new ministry position at a new church.  It would be my first preaching ministry position.

I had over 10 years of ministry experience when I came to ACC, but my experience was mostly in worship and youth ministry.  Truthfully, I had done almost everything there is to do in located ministry when I came to ACC…with the exception of being the Senior Minister.

ACC took a chance on me.  I entered into uncharted waters in my new role.  That was four years ago.

A lot has changed since then.  We've learned a ton of things together over the last four years. This week, I want to share some of the more significant lessons that I've learned over the last four years.

But for now, I want to say thank you. Thank you, ACC, for taking a chance on me.  Thank you for loving me when I hit it out of the park…and when I strike out.  Thank you for allowing me the privilege of being your pastor.

These four years have been the wildest ride of my life.  I feel like a kite in God's hurricane. But I wouldn't trade the experience for anything.

The Future is Bright for Smaller Churches

"People are yearning for a more intimate type of fellowship that they, in many cases, did not find in the very large church. In the course of one generation, as a culture here in the United States, we made a 180-degree turn–from valuing strong individuals to searching for a sense of community." (Carol Childress)

And We're Back

Hope everyone had a great holiday season.  I'm back in the saddle and ready to ride into a great new year.

Things on the blog will be a little slow this week as I get back in the swing of things.  I'll get back to posting regularly very soon, though.  Comments have been enabled once again as well.

If there is something you would like to discuss on the blog this year, feel free to let me know. I want to be sure that this blog continues to serve you in the best and most relevant way possible.

Email me if you have suggestions.