Anne Marie Miller

Blog

  • opening up and closing down

    i’ve had the opportunity to meet some amazing people over the last month…some of them have spoken into my life in crazy and unexpected ways.

    last night, i had a conversation with a pastor who i really don’t know very well, but i wanted to hear some more of his story. by the end of the phone call, the objective of the call turned around and he had asked me about some of my story…and had me literally weeping as i sat in my car by my house. i was able to share some things with him that i rarely share…and he was able to speak into those things with truth, objectivity and love.

    it’s weird, and maybe it shows how messed up i am [how messed up we are?] when it’s easier to share some of the most ugly, painful things with people we don’t know, but we keep those things hidden or tucked away from the people in our everyday lives. i’m not quite sure why that is. or if it’s bad. or good. or neutral.

    all i know is i am really glad we never know how god can use someone regardless of how close they may be to us in either proximity or intimacy.

  • the holidays…

    ht: bs/sg

  • secret mission to fight injustice and poverty

    i need a small army who is willing to sign up, sight unseen, for a secret mission.

    only those who sign up will get the details (and you’ll have the option of saying no once you do sign up). the rest of you lurkers will just have to wait until november 10th to find out.

    three facts about the mission:

    1) you want to help provide dignity and safety to those who are living in poverty by using social media

    2) you need to have a blog and/or a trusted list of people you can email or message somehow (absolutely no spamming)

    3) you are not afraid of audaciously scary big goals. like really big.

    if this sounds like you, leave me a comment below (make sure to include a good email address in the email field) and by wednesday night i’ll be in touch with further details.

    i am so excited about this mission…it’s unlike anything i’ve ever seen before!

  • mystery shoppers in churches

    it was in the wall street journal a couple weeks ago* and it was covered by the tennessean this weekend.

    churches using mystery shoppers. or is it mystery worshippers?

    eh, call it what you will.

    from the tenneesean:

    The person sitting next to you in church today may look like an average visitor, but be careful, he might be taking notes.

    A growing number of churches are using mystery worshippers, consultants giving congregations the same kind of unbiased, unfiltered feedback that secret shoppers give retail stores or restaurants. The mystery worshippers give churches the kind of honest responses that newcomers almost never do. From angry parking lot attendants to boring sermons, they let the churches know what they are doing right and wrong.

    you can read the rest here.

    honestly, i have mixed thoughts on this. fresh eyes are a necessity. what does your sunday gathering communicate? is it consistent with what god has called your unique church to be? or are you missing the mark, but too close to see it?

    on the other hand, is it necessary? if you’re fully relying on what you sense the holy spirit is leading you to do, and trusting he will bring the right people, the right connections all together at the right time, do you need a stranger coming in with critical eyes to tell you the letters on your signage aren’t big enough? i think back to churches in the united states, in europe, and in africa that i have visited – some with all the right signage and people in place but had no sense of community or spirit…and some with what we would call terrible “first impressions” but god was clearly moving with no regard to the out of tune guitar or the uncomfortable seats or stuffy worship center.

    i’m not saying it’s right or wrong – i think this is a potentially subjective matter. but i do think it may be one that could be wrapped up a teensy bit too tightly in a layer of modern consumer mentality if we listen to everything we’re told or feel pressured that we should do.

    jesus was confident in the way he went about his work, and as long as we have the same confidence, no mystery church shopper (or long time member, for that matter) should be needed or able to influence us away from that.

    your thoughts?

    —
    *please note that my boss man was misquoted in the WSJ article — cross point church has never used a mystery shopper.

  • blankets, fireplaces and good books

    my weekend is friday and saturday. and i cherish these days. especially when i am not traveling to speak or having to work on authory kinds of things.

    this weekend is just that: two down days. no real plans (except sharing some meals with friends)…and that is it. it has been a weekend of sleeping in, eating cookies for breakfast, indulging in a law and order marathon, and reading.

    the book of the season is the fine line by my new friend kary oberbrunner.

    now, at this point, i am guessing several of you are familiar with “the blog tour” that surrounds pretty much every new release. some have written saying this is an unfair pimping of new books – using blogs as a cheap and easy marketing tool, thus disengaging the true community aspect these blogs hold.

    in some cases, i couldn’t agree more.

    so i wanted to clear something up with you before i participate in blog tours, because sometimes, i think blog tours are a very fair way of sharing new books that are seriously life changing.

    (raises up right hand in vowlike manner)

    i promise you i am not going to do a “blog tour” just because somebody asks. the blog tours i do are for books and for people who i personally know and personally believe in.

    i met kary at catalyst and got to hang out with him a little bit on wednesday. he’s one of those people i wish lived closer to nashville because i know i would be picking his brain all the time. his book has already captured me.

    so, there you have it. my promise to you. i won’t pimp books i don’t believe in or for people i don’t know. i know there is an element of trust you and i share and i don’t want to violate it.

    i’ll be writing a more thorough post on kary’s book after i finish it…but wanted to turn you on to it (and get this blog tour idea discussed a little).

    you can see the full list of blogs kary will be stopping by here. and you can read more about his book here. and get to know kary here.

    ===

    what do you think about book blog tours? useful information about upcoming books? shameless pimping? turn you on? turn you off? i’d love to hear your feedback.

    ===

  • you just wrote a book. you really did.

    in the “things you can’t say in church” post, i thought it would be fun to figure out how many words were in the comments. verdict?

    22,822

    the deadly viper book is under 20,000 words. mad church disease comes in at about 43,000.

    so seriously?

    you guys just wrote a book.

    on one hand, i feel badly because i know a lot of time and energy went into some of the comments that maybe didn’t have such a good return on investment. on the other hand, i think a lot of good issues and conversation was had. so i’m torn.

    it’s one of those blogging dynamics i just don’t know where i land…does something like that provoke and waste peoples’ time and energy? or is it worth it to have a healthy discussion?

  • great question from the mailbag:

    someone emailed me yesterday with this question and i thought hearing you guys discuss it would be a great way to provide a well rounded answer.

    ?When does someone become a Christ follower??

    1-2-3, go.

  • danger, danger!

    Dangerous

  • things you can’t say in church

    a few months ago i had a post titled “keeping your mouth shut” and asked people to contribute things they would never feel comfortable saying in church. we had over 200 comments…some were funny things like pastors and their flies being down and then we had serious stuff where people were afraid to say they were lonely or addicted.

    since we have quite a few more readers several months later, i thought i’d reintroduce the post, keeping all the original comments in tact.

    so what’s something you feel like you can’t say in church?

    comment here on this link…