Anne Marie Miller

Author: Anne Marie Miller

  • Are You Hooked? The Christian Designer Drug

    Once again, I’ve found myself so easily wrapped up in doing, that I’ve strayed away from being.

    Pray for this person. Counsel this person. Preach on Sunday here and there. Encourage church leaders. Help some friends. Squeeze in some Bible reading. Turn my journal into a check list. Study Ezra backwards and forwards for my book. Go to church. Sing some stuff. Try to focus on the words. Try and make them resonate in my heart. Try not to wonder about what that weird thing is on the floor of the stage. Why is it there? Can we remove it between services? Oh, there’s a typo in that song. Pray with someone else after a service.

    Go home.

    Take a nap.

    A long, long nap.

    Hear me out. There is nothing wrong with naps. But when my “spiritual life” becomes exhausting, I think I’m missing out on something.

    It starts out small. I feel myself straying, just a little. Knowing I should be spending some time alone, in solititude, in a closet, with the One who restores. Instead, I feel the pressure of a book deadline looming. Of the boxes yet to be unpacked. So I pull a little bit away.

    Slowly, I realize I’m far off the pavement. I panic. I need a fix. I look around desperately. Where’s my Jesus? Crap. I lost him. Where is he? Oh, well, I can find him in doing this good thing. In going to church. Pray pray pray. Thumb through my devotional. Has it really been since May since I opened this? Read read read.

    Phew.

    That was close.

    I find myself turning religious activity into a Christian designer drug. I feel guilty, a little empty, and desperate so I opt for the quick fix. The problem? It’s like any other addiction (and trust me, I speak from experience). It only lasts a little while. You develop a tolerance. You need more. More often. It may temporarily kill the craving, but it’s not filling you with the abundant experience you’re intended to have in your faith.

    When I wrestled with various addictions, I was erratic. I didn’t think clearly. Addicts are never in their right mind. You simply do what you have to do in order to feel normal again. To feel like everyone else around you.

    Again.

    In our fast-paced, quick-fix, get-it-now-and-feel-better culture, I fear that many of us have fallen into a pattern of addiction to Christian designer drugs. A 90 minute experience on the weekend. Obligatory service. Routine and mundane “disciplines.” Saying yes to everything around us to fill that hole that only one thing can fill.

    Resting in a Redeemer.

    It’s not an instant feel good drug. It doesn’t alter your mood. But it provides long-term, growing, sustaining, life giving (to others…) health and energy.

    I need to begin recovery. Again. From the things that are, by all outward appearances good…and fall into something that I’ll never be able to tangibly grasp, but that will transform my soul into something lovely and great and generous.

    And hopefully I’m not alone. And hopefully, we can do this…together.

  • Heart Surgery Countdown: The Other Side of the Operating Room?

    I’ve been wanting to write a post for a few weeks now about a couple of things I’ve been feeling “passionate” about.

    Please note when I am “passionate” about something that usually means I need to wait a few days, and reframe my way of communication into a much less jerk-ish manner.

    So while I am de-jack-ass-ifying myself, I thought I’d send you a little video to update everyone on my heart surgery…which is four weeks away (as you’ll see on the video, I have a hard time doing basic math). And below the video you’ll find some links I mentioned.

    I continue to covet your prayers.

    (Oh, and please note that I actually do own more clothes than this black shirt and white earrings. My first video on my heart surgery I was wearing the same stinking outfit. The truth is, most of those clothes are still in bags in the back of my car from when we moved three weeks ago, and I haven’t had time to wash them yet.)

    Follow my heart on Twitter – this is where we’ll update on surgery day. Why not?

    Ride Well Tour (Nashville Benefit is THIS FRIDAY – I’ll be there! Hope you can make it!)

    Blood:Water Mission

    Dr. Pickett at St. Thomas Heart

    Details on what’s jacked up with my heart

    Details on the kind of surgery I’ll be having

    The end.

    —————

  • BOOK GIVEAWAY: Busted by Fred von Kamecke

    I am not a girl with answers.

    As much as I tend to live in a very black and white world simply due to my nature of being, not everything has a black and white answer.

    Yet when it comes to matters of the faith, I’m pretty flexible. If you had to make a label and slap it on me, it would probably say something more along the lines of? “seeker” or “mystic” and less along the lines of “literal” or “exact.”

    And as much as I’m fairly grey in describing my process for Scriptural interpretation, I am a big fan of resources. Of exploring context, history, and original text.

    And I’m just not that smart to do it on my own.

    Enter books like this week’s giveaway – Busted by Fred von Kamecke.

    Fred Von Kamecke is assistant pastor at The Chapel in Graslake, Illinois and an adjunct professor at Bethel College. He has also served as an adjunct at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (TEDS) where he also received his PhD in New Testament theology and exegesis. He teaches in the area of New Testament studies.

    That means he’s really edumacated.

    Fred wrote a book called Busted which researches misconceptions of the Christian faith.

    From the back:

    Following a brief summary of a recurring myth or misconception about the Christian faith, Fred explains why the myth is false and provides biblical and historical evidence in his response. He masterfully weaves together serious discussion with a touch of humor in his responses, all the while keeping the focus on the Scriptures. He avoids making fun of the people who hold views which differ from his own, but the views themselves are fair game.

    Fred has generously given us ten copies to give away to FlowerDust.net readers. To enter, leave a comment with a question about the Christian faith you’ve always wondered about. A myth. Something you can’t find an easy answer for. I’ll randomly choose ten commenters next week and email the winners with instructions. Use the Tweet This link to get double credit.

  • What Can’t You Say in Church?

    It’s official.

    My second book, Permission to Speak Freely, will be released with Thomas Nelson next fall. It’s inspired a bit creatively by the PostSecret movement and the content is driven by the post Things You Can’t Say in Church (which is now up to over 400 comments!)

    We will be using people’s confessions both on the website and in the book – which will be four colors. Similar to PostSecret, we’ll actually be scanning in your confessions and using them throughout the book. It will kinda have the same artistic vibe as Jesus for President (see below).

    jfp

    The thing that’s making me a little nervous? The manuscript is due in just a couple of months, so even before the website is launched, I’m needing to get some confessions in now!

    How can your confession wind up in the book and/or on the website when it launches?

    EASY!

    1) Write down your confession. What’s something you feel like you can’t say in church. You can make it as short or as long as you want. You can write it on anything you want – a piece of paper like a letter, a postcard, a bulletin, a page from the Bible, a photograph, a drawing, ANYTHING at all that you can mail. It can be any shape, any size. It doesn’t have uber creative (although it certainly can be). It can just be something written down. You also don’t have to currently attend church or even believe in God.

    2) Put at LEAST your first name on it. Part of this book is a revolution to claim our brokenness and God’s redemption. If it is anonymous, it won’t end up being used. You can use your full name if you want. But your first name is fine.

    3) Stick a stamp on it and mail it in. Send it to Permission to Speak Freely, PO Box 431, Franklin, TN 37065. Or if you’re a fancy Photoshopper, make it a digital file that is at least 300dpi at 6″x4″ and email it to [email protected]

    I would LOVE to have at least 100 of these in the next week if possible so we can begin scanning them in, prepping them for the book and the website.

    And here’s a little incentive for you…if I receive your confession by next Monday, July 27 AND you include your email address, I’ll send you the first 1200 words of the book.

    We will be talking MUCH MORE about how artistically you can be involved in the creation of this book. It is truly an art project focused on transparency and confession within community.

    But for now…I’d love to receive your confessions…fast!

    Can I count on you?

    ===
    *legal stuff they tell me i need to say and that i took from PS: By submitting information to this project, you grant Anne Jackson a perpetual, royalty-free license to use, reproduce, modify, publish, distribute, and otherwise exercise all copyright and publicity rights with respect to that information at its sole discretion, including storing it on my servers and incorporating it in other works in any media now known or later developed including without limitation published books. If you do not wish to grant me these rights, it is suggested that you do not submit information. Anne Jackson/Thomas Nelson reserves the right to select, edit and arrange submissions, and to remove information from the website at any time at its sole discretion.

  • The Type of Person the 21st Century Needs

    Much to contrary belief, the type of person the 21st century needs is not:

    • the most innovative
    • the most technologically inclined
    • the most intellectual
    • the most educated
    • the most creative
    • the most beautiful
    • the most gifted
    • the most ambitious
    • the best leaders
    • the visionaries
    • the productive
    • the entrepreneurial
    • the most articulate

    The type of person the 21st Century needs is…(drumroll please…)

    Yourself.

    ————

  • Hope to Meet Some DFW & ATL Peeps!

    I’ll be speaking this weekend in the Dallas area at The Oaks Fellowship (the Red Oak Campus). They’re ending the series called “I Want an Answer” and I’ll be on a panel with Dr. Len Sweet and Oaks Pastor Scott Wilson to discuss the most frequently asked questions in regard to Social Justice.

    JULY 12, 2009
    The Oaks Fellowship     (Sunday at 9 & 11 am)
    777 S I-35E
    Red Oak, TX 75154
    P: 214.376.8208

    THEN….

    On August 1 & 2, I’ll be speaking at Oak Leaf Church in Cartersville, GA. This is rescheduled from a few weeks ago when I got sick, but I am more excited about it than ever.

    AUGUST 1 & 2, 2009
    Oak Leaf Church (Saturday at 6 pm, Sunday at 9:30 and 11:15 am)
    245 S Tennessee St,
    Cartersville, GA 30121
    P: 678.721.2377

    Hope to meet some of you in person soon!

  • This Post is ALL About YOU!

    The results are in.

    Over 400 of you took my FlowerDust.net reader survey and I thought I’d share some intresting demographics about you group of crazy kids.

    If you’re interested in all the details, you can download a nifty PDF I made of the results here.

    • 60% of the readers who took the survey are women. Which honestly makes me believe it’s pretty evenly split. No offense guys, but I think women are more willing to take surveys than you are. :)
    • 31.6% of you are aged 25-31, with the next largest group by age is 32-40 (27.2%)
    • 94% have at least some college education, if not more. 23.2% have a grad degree (or two).
    • You guys have some money. 32% make between $35k-65k a year. Almost 30% make $65k-100k. And 18% of you make $100k or more annually.
    • 118 countries were represented. The USA had the most visits.
    • Texas sends the most visitors within the US, followed by California and Tennessee.
    • 51% of you attend a church activity at least once a week.
    • Almost 24% are on a church staff. 11% of you “formerly” served in church leadership…interesting.
    • 60% attend 1-2 conferences a year.
    • You love to read! Almost 33% read twenty books or more annually.
    • A surprising 31% of you don’t blog, but are active on Facebook (89.7%) and Twitter (71.1%)
    • 36% read new FlowerDust.net posts as soon as they are up, and 52% “usually” read them.
    • About half of you are new – have been around for under six months, but almost 29% have been reading for at least a year, if not two or three.
    • Most people get their posts through RSS (51%) and found FlowerDust.net because of someone’s blogroll (29%) or an article I wrote (21%)
    • THANK YOU to the 62% who have recommended something on FlowerDust.net to a friend!
    • Your favorite topics? Social Justice, Compassion International trips and other travel, controversial/taboo topics, women and leadership, honest struggles, church life, burnout, depression, anxiety, book reviews, spiritual revelations and videos.

    What do you think? Any surprises? Anything you’d like to add?

    Thank you all for helping…it was really insightful!

    =====

  • From Donald Miller to You…

    My friend Ben Arment is a genius. Not just a genius, but the kind who’s fearless, too. That makes him one of the biggest threats to the bad guys in this world.? You see, Ben had an amazing job with an amazing organization. But beyond that, he had a dream that would not leave him alone.

    So, what’s a guy like Ben to do? He leaves his job, moves thousands of miles away, and starts putting together one of the most creative experiences I’ve seen in a long time called Story.

    Both Michael Hyatt (CEO of Thomas Nelson) and Don Miller (author, speaker, and champion of cutest dog pictures on Twitter) are both speaking at Story. Last week, Don was in Nashville (where Michael and I live). Somehow the stars aligned and I was able to sit down with the two of them and have them share about what story means to them, a little about their own stories, and what they’ll be discussing at Story Chicago. (That video is coming in a few days!)

    Before Michael arrived to the video shoot, I pulled out my trusty Flip video camera and asked Don if he’d mind talking to you guys about his latest adventure, The Mentoring Project. He graciously agreed, and so, without further adieu, I’d like to present you Mr. Miller himself.

    =====

     

     

    =====

    I haven’t talked about an organization like The Mentoring Project on my blog before, simply because I’m not familiar with many like it. The statistics Don shares in the video should be a wake up call to us all. As the church, we pray and pray and pray for opportunities to make a difference and we often have them right in front of us.

    What can you do? Easy. You can cover the cost of supporting a child mentoring relationship. I have been supporting in this way for a few months now. If you’re part of a church, find out how your church can partner with TMP to help in your own back yard. And if you want to be a mentor, you can read more about that too.

    Because TMP has literally just taken off, they’re currently working within the Portland area, where they’re based. However, I think it’d be handy for them to take a pulse on interest levels around the country, so when it’s time to expand even more, it makes it that much easier to already have some people lined up, excited, and ready to dive in.

    What’s an organization you’ve discovered and fallen in love with lately?

    (BTW, you can download a free sample Chapter from Don’s new book A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by clicking here.

    =====

  • Adventures of a Travelin’ Preacher Chick DVD

    Getting to know Christine Caine the last couple of months has been amazing. For those who aren’t familiar with Chris, you can read (and should read) more about her here. The girl preaches at Hillsong – heck, preaches all over the world for crying out loud – while fighting sex trafficking and injustice and equipping other leaders. And riding a pink vespa. Of course.

    Could I find a more lovely lady to look up to?

    Next month, while Chris is down at Healing Place Church, I am going to join her and she and I are going to record a couple of DVDs about women and life and ministry. One about anything and everything, and one specifically on the life of a travelin’ preacher chick. Because I know there are more of us out there than we realize, and I know there are questions we are all dying to know.

    We would love for YOU to be a part of these DVDs and would like to hear any questions you might have on:

    1. Having and doing it all…
    2. Traveling preacher chick ministry stuff…
    3. Effective communication…

    So, this isn’t just open to the ladies. Guys, if you have questions you’d like answered, rock them out below.