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

Demons

We're wrapping up our Angels & Demons series this weekend by exploring what the Word of God says about demons.

I'll be honest…some of you are going to be WAY uncomfortable.  You might even have a hard time buying what I'm bringing.  But I've got the Bible backing me up all the way.

We're going to blow it up this Sunday.

Pray for Criticism?

This sounds completely inverted from what a normal person would want to do, but here is what I'm pondering today:

Should I actually pray for God to bring criticism my way?

I hate criticism with everything that is in me.  I have shared publicly that I don't handle criticism well. I've learned a lot over the years.  I'm a better handler of criticism now than I used to be.  But I'm still far from perfect in this area.

I don't know anyone who likes criticism.  So the logical thing to do would be to pray for God to shield you from criticism.  Who would ever pray for God to bring criticism into your life?

Consider these words of Jesus:

Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets. (Luke 6:26, NIV)

As I thought about this teaching, God brought this truth into great clarity for me.  According to Jesus, if everyone always speaks well of me, I am not standing for the truth.

Jesus said that people praised false prophets.  False prophets who said what people wanted to hear…not what they needed to hear.  False prophets who exchanged the truth of God for the approval of people.

If everyone always speaks well of me…if I am never criticized…then I am a pathetic excuse for a preacher and I am a horrible example of a man of God.

On the other hand, listen to this teaching of Jesus:

Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.  Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, becasue great is your reward in heaven.  For that is how their fathers treated the prophets. (Luke 6:22-23, NIV)

When we are critcized because we are following God's will for our lives, that should be a catalyst for joy. Jesus points out that people harshly criticized the true prophets of God. Prophets who were willing to tell people, not what they wanted to hear, but what they needed to hear.

Which brings me back to my original question…should I pray for God to provide criticism in my life?

Actually, I think a better way to approach it is this: pray for God to give me the courage, strength, and wisdom to live for His glory…and then view the inevitable criticism that follows as proof that I'm doing something right.

Amazing Volunteers

One more post about last week's Sports Camp.

Our volunteers at ACC are unbelievable.  It took a ton of committed people to make last week happen.

So many of our volunteers left work early each day.  Fought rush hour traffic to get to our camp.  Worked hard all evening long, with almost no break.  Went home and ate dinner around 10:00 pm.  Then went to bed, just to get up and do it all again the next day.

They did all that for two reasons…

1. They love God

2. They love kids

Love was the fuel that made our engine run last week.  And in keeping with that theme, let me say this…

I love our volunteers!

If you served in any way last week, THANK YOU! I'd love to list every volunteer individually, but that would make this post a mile long.  But I do absolutely mean this…if you served at Sports Camp in any capacity…you are awesome! Thank you so much!!!

Last week is one of many reasons why I am so proud to tell people that I'm the pastor at ACC.

A Little Weather Story

Something really amazing happened at Sports Camp last week regarding the weather.

We had been praying since September that we would have a dry week for our camp.  Rain would really, really throw a wrench into things.

Before camp on Thursday night, the skies opened up.  You wouldn't even believe how much it rained.  Roads were flooded.  There was a severe thunderstorm warning an hour before our camp was set to begin.  There were tornado warnings in neighboring counties.  It was a big time storm.  We decided to forge ahead with our camp, knowing we could go inside the township building at the park if we needed to.

We held our worship time inside, not knowing if we could play sports outside at all that night.

I kid you not…the skies cleared at the exact minute that we needed it. The sun came out.  We didn't even hear a rumble of thunder the rest of the night.

At one point, the radar indicated that there should have been a storm right on top of us.  Instead, we had sun.

You will never convince me that God didn't direct those storms right around us. It's one of the clearest and most immediate answers to prayer that I've ever seen.

Why Sports Camp?

We raised a few eyebrows earlier this year when we announced that we were going to hold a sports camp instead of a traditional Vacation Bible School (VBS).  There were a lot of questions.  Some weren't quite sure about this.  These questions were very understandable.  After all, we had never done ANYTHING like this before.  But our Leadership Team got behind Melanie's vision.

Now that Sports Camp is in the books, I think the question of "Why Sports Camp?" has been answered tenfold.  I saw so many things happen last week that I've never seen at a VBS (and I've seen A LOT of them).

1. Our goal was to make some noise in this community.

Done.

We canvassed the entire county with yard signs.  Fliers went home with almost every elemntary age child in our area via their school.  We got a little promo on TV.

2.  We wanted unchurched kids to hear about Jesus in a positive light.

Done.

Consider this particular conversation one of our volunteers shared with me.  When our worship time started on the first night of camp, one of the kids in his group told him, "I thought this was sports camp, not God camp."

By the end of the week, this kid was singing and dancing more than any of the other kids in his group.

3.  We wanted to plant seeds, not only about Christ, but about our church.

Done.  Done.  And done.

The comments from parents were flowing.  Some of them were even applauding for our volunteers as they drove through to pick up their kids on Friday night.

Why Sports Camp?

Those are just a few reasons why.

Sports Camp Pics

Last week blew my mind.  Seriously. I would say that it was awesome, but that would be a gross understatement.

I'll post some more in-depth reviews as the week progresses, but for now, here are some pics of the awesomeness.

Sports Camp on The Sports Authority

A quick heads up…ACC's Sports Camp is supposed to be featured on The Sports Authority tonight.  The show is at 11:30 pm on Channel 12 (WKRC) in Cincinnati.

Tara Pachmayer, one of the sports anchors for Channel 12, visited our Sports Camp last Wednesday.  She indicated that some pics from our week would be on The Sports Authority tonight.

Angels and Demons

We're kicking off a powerful series this weekend called Angels and Demons.  Spirituality is such a hot topic in our culture today.  In many ways, people are more "religious" and "spiritual" than ever before.  People are obsessed about the spirit world…which inevitably leads to a lot of misconceptions and wrong ideas.

For the next two weeks, we're cutting through the hype and exposing the truth of the Bible.  This week, we're going to explore the truth about angels.  Next week, we'll seek the truth about demons.

Be prepared to have your beliefs challenged…your perspective broadened…and your faith strengthened.

Can't wait!

Baptism-palooza

I had the privilege of baptizing my friend, Charlie, today.  That's an experience that never gets old!

ACC, we've had four baptisms in less than a week! Rock on!

When You Least Expect It

I'm currently reading through the book of Luke.  Yesterday I read the account of the angel Gabriel's appearance to Zechariah. (Luke 1:5-17)

As I read this story, it struck me how unexpected Gabriel's appearance was for Zechariah.  Zechariah had been a priest all of his adult life.  He had served in the temple countless times.  He could probably perform his priestly duties in his sleep.  But then, from out of the blue, he witnessed a mighty move of God in the middle of his ordinary routine.

Luke writes that Zechariah was "startled" and "gripped with fear" by this experience.  Even though he was a faithful man of God, he didn't expect to see God's power displayed like this.  He expected to perform his duty in the temple and then go on his way.  But God showed up in an unexpected way and it forever changed the course of Zechariah's life.

But God did this in His time. As I said, Zechariah had been a faithful priest all his life.  It wasn't until he was an old man that God chose to move in this way.

If Zechariah hadn't remained faithful…if he hadn't faithfully carried out his God-given role for so many years…he would have missed out on this powerful move of God.

If you're feeling like God isn't doing much in your life, just hang on.  Stay faithful.  Don't walk away.  You never know when God will show up and everything will change.

God seems to relish the element of surprise.  He enjoys showing up when you least expect it.