Anne Marie Miller

Blog

  • search engine enjoyment

    i was on my couch all day saturday. really.

    my “thankful it’s not a full body ache cold” turned into “well, at least it’s not pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis“ yesterday.

    and as such, i’ve been bored out of my mind.

    read a book. watched four movies. slept a lot. and checked in on my search engine stats. just what has brought people to flowerdust.net lately?

    *what if you dont poop for a whole month? (i suggest you talk to my friend)

    *can you get a dui on a golf cart (have you seen this video?!)

    *the daddle (oh yes. who could forget the daddle?)

    have a great sunday. i know you are much more enlightened now.

  • can boys and girls just be friends?

    i’m doing some research for something…

    and similar to, but not as focused as my post “sex rules” (wow, did that one get a little crazy or what?)…

    can boys and girls just be friends?

    and to what extent?

    if you’re married? single? how do you keep it healthy? without being legalistic?

    what does it mean to “honor your marriage?”

    do people shut down potentially thriving relationships because it’s with a member of the opposite sex? how is this approached differently between believers and those who aren’t (especially since divorce rates are identical to each other).

    how is this looked at from the viewpoint of those not in america?

    are all emotional or intellectual connections between members of the opposite sex potential hazards to their respective marriages?

    how much investment or relationship can or should married members of the opposite sex have with each other?

    all skate…just share your thoughts on as much or as little of this as you want…whatever they are.

  • don’t rely on obama

    i am not a political person. i don’t enjoy discussing politics much because, to me, it seems almost as fruitless as discussing the grey areas of theology. just lots of opinions going ’round and ’round and ’round. i don’t like things that go ’round and ’round and ’round. but hey, that’s just me.

    america is full of mixed emotions now. some are angry that the perceived anti-christ and his liege of evil, democratic minions are calling the shots. some are elated that the party tables have turned around a little bit and are looking forward to the change that could bring. some are disappointed, but hopeful.

    this post has nothing to do with obama winning last night. this post has to do with us, the american people. if anything, this election has shown us that change is possible. that hope is present. and that there is a new generation of leaders that are excited and optimistic about the future – regardless of who is hanging out in the whitehouse.

    by the time i woke up this morning, my inbox was already inundated with “sure, everyone is hopeful, but once they see obama can’t deliver, they’ll be let down.” and i think that is an immature and ridiculous way of looking at the current state of our country.

    why?

    we shouldn’t rely on obama. or congress. or the house. we should rely on each other. on the american people. in the last year, we have united like never before. we have celebrated and challenged the status quo and passionately supported people we believe in.

    at this pivotal time in our nation, i ask that you do a few things:

    1) if you’re whining, stop.

    2) look around your own neighborhood. what needs to change? get to know your neighbors and make those changes!

    3) what’s going on in your city? more importantly, who is leading your city? get involved and share your voice. and get to work!

    4) what’s a cause you believe in? for me, it’s healthcare. there are local and regional organizations for just about anything under the sun. find them. join them. get to know your state representatives and congresspeople. let them know how they can best serve you.

    5) pray. obama can’t change the world. but he sure could use your support and prayers, whether you agree with his position on issues or not.

    don’t rely on obama to guide this country into the future.

    you have responsibility beyond voting.

    so ask yourself, as an american, what are you going to do with that?

  • Winners of Mad Church Disease Giveaway & the Second Chance!

    I used Random.org to generate the numbers and here they are:

    MCD Winners

    Therefore, congrats to:

    Mike Mitrovich
    Mike Shaw
    TJ Reid
    Susanne Reeder
    Thom McGuire
    Th.eophli.us
    Randi (Seeds in my Heart)
    Ryan Guard
    Dan Lacher
    Phil

    Congrats! If you are one of the winners, please email Chris Fann ([email protected]) and send him your name, blog name and physical address!

    NOW…IF YOU DIDN’T WIN…you still have one more chance.

    I will be having a special contest for the “Fight Mad Church Disease” FaceBook group that I will announce to them tomorrow morning, so if you are not a member already, jump in and join it (heck, even invite your friends for good measure!) and maybe you’ll win on Friday when the Facebook winners are announced! Ten more copies will be given away!

    CLICK HERE TO JOIN THE FACEBOOK GROUP!

    Thank you guys SO much for getting excited about the contest yesterday. I can’t tell you how encouraging your comments were to read. At the same time, my heart was broken by many of them. I am praying so much that this book will be a catalyst to start conversations about health and healing.

  • how long did it take you to vote?

    i voted today at 9 am after meeting a friend for coffee. i was in and out in less than five minutes.

    how long did it take you to vote?

  • Get a free copy of Mad Church Disease in your hands NEXT WEEK!

    Mad Church Disease has officially been sent off to the printer and we thought we’d celebrate by giving you a full and free copy of it. Yep. You can be reading your own copy of MCD at this time next week!

    Zondervan has made special “Advance Reader Copies” available and we have twenty we want to give away!

    So…for the next 24 hours, ten copies are up for grabs.

    HOW CAN YOU WIN?
    Leave a comment saying why you want a copy and tomorrow we will *randomly* select ten winners. The books will ship out and you’ll have them next week!

    The only catch is that if you win, you have to promise to review it on your blog and on Amazon. That’s not too much trouble is it?

    I’ll announce the winners on Wednesday and then share how we’ll be giving the other ten copies away.

    So…

    Leave a comment & let us know why you should win. I realize that’s kind of silly since winners will be picked randomly, but just play along. Cool? :)

    You can also download a free copy of the chapter “Processing through Pain” here…they did a really rad design on the interior. It’s amazing.

  • locked in an airplane lavatory

    in february, i was flying from oklahoma city to chicago on an american airlines flight. after having one too many diet cokes, i walked the green mile to the back of the plane to, well, take care of business.

    much to my surprise (and dismay, and fear), i was locked in. the sliding latch that moves the “unoccupied” to “occupied” was stuck. surely there was no oxygen coming in. i was going to die a lonely death in the bathroom on an airplane. fortunately, my certain death did not come, and five minutes later i was back in my seat drinking more diet coke.

    now, in chicago, i’d meet up with fifteen almost-strangers and together we’d travel to uganda for a week on behalf of compassion international.

    we’d laugh together. we’d play with kids together. we’d run from bats together. and ultimately, we’d fight poverty together. you can read about those adventures – the good, bad, and challenging – here.

    yesterday, another group of blogging strangers departed from around the country to meet at an airport in miami before heading down to the dominican republic. from what i can tell, nobody was locked in an airplane lavatory and they arrived safely.

    today was their first day in the dominican. i imagine they’re probably at a project now, meeting a pastor and learning how compassion is releasing children from poverty. they’re learning about what some of the local children want to do when they grow up. and they’re probably starting to ask a lot of questions.

    i encourage you to follow them on their trip this week. you can read more about it here, or subscribe to their group RSS feed here.

    and while you’re thinking about it, do more than just read along. sponsor a child by clicking here.

  • there are a lot of lazy church staff people

    “the reason a lot of people choose to work on a church staff is because they’re too lazy or too afraid to get a job in the real world.”

    wow. that was pretty harsh. i didn’t mean for it to come out so bluntly.

    so at the lunch table with some friends, i backpedaled just a little bit and added,

    “of course, that’s a very broad statement…not everyone who works in a church is afraid or lazy…i’m just saying there are a lot of people who take jobs in churches because a church can be a really easy place to work.”

    emphasis on can be.there are a lot of people floating along in life by working at a church.

    sure you may get paid a little less or not get as many benefits, but it’s so easy…why would you stop?

    you want to know why some people get burned out in ministry? it’s not because they’re working too hard. it’s because they’ve set their level of expectations (both spiritual and pragmatic) so low that when something actually happens that causes them to rely on god’s strength rather than their own strength, it freaks them out. and then there’s no accountability in place, so even more chaos ensues.

    let’s face it: there are so many things you can get away with working on a church staff that would never happen in the real world, and many of us take advantage of it. i know i have before. and if we ever expect anyone outside of this little bubble we’ve created to take us seriously, we’ve got to stop.

    like it or not, pretty much everyone else can see straight through it. how do i know? because i have had more than one person outside the bubble tell me this in recent days. and our behavior is setting a terrible example of so many things: stewardship of time, money, relationships, to name a few.

    the fact that there is even a bubble to speak of says there’s something seriously wrong.

    when i interviewed bill hybels for his contribution in mad church disease, i asked:

    what are some of the diseases you see plaguing the church today?

    he said,

    I see twin towers of concern. One is burnout; the other is complacency. There are a lot of Christ-followers who haven?t taken the time to figure out what their holy discontent is, and so they?re doing a gradual slide into apathy and complacency?and that is unconscionable in a broken and lost world. I?m as concerned about Christ-followers? apathy as I am about other believers who are borderline exhausted. I would hope we could find the kind of energy that comes only from the Holy Spirit so that we can sustain productive, Christ-honoring ministry over the long haul.

    bill’s a smart guy.

    so, if you’re currently on a church staff i want you to take a good hard look inside and ask yourself why you’re there. is it because you’ve been called and are fulfilling god’s dream for you? because you see the brokenness in the world and you absolutely MUST do something about it, and the local church is the place you’re supposed to be?

    or is it because you know you can’t get away with half the stuff you do if you were to get a “non church” job? because you don’t know how to relate to people outside the bubble? because you’re afraid that you might actually have to be stretched and grow outside of a safe, christian comfort zone?

    ====
    note: i really battled posting this for fear that it was too negative. ministry is hard work and there are a lot of great people out there kicking tail. at the end of the day (and after reassurance from a couple of people who got a sneak peek) i decided to go ahead and let it roll. so know that i’m working on how to communicate the things in my head a little more redemptively. in the mean time, thanks for hanging in there with me as i learn.

  • my prayer for you this weekend [and for me]

    Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace;
    Where there is hatred,
    let me sow love;
    Where there is injury,
    pardon;
    Where there is error,
    the truth;
    Where there is doubt,
    the faith;
    Where there is despair,
    hope;
    Where there is darkness,
    light;
    And where there is sadness,
    joy.

    O Divine Master,
    Grant that I may not so much seek
    To be consoled,
    as to console;
    To be understood,
    as to understand;
    To be loved
    as to love.

    For it
    is in giving
    that we receive;
    It is in pardoning
    that we are pardoned;
    And it
    is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

    Amen.

    St. Francis