Anne Marie Miller

Blog

  • i’m not going to do anything for christ (2 of 2)

    this thought of not doing anything for christ has really played itself out in writing my book.

    obviously, i can’t exactly ask god to email me my completed manuscript. i have to pray about it. i have to listen. i have to type it. i have to email it to my editor. i have to meet deadlines.

    but as i am writing, it seems as if during the process, i fall into one of two zones.

    one where i’m doing the writing.

    or one where i’m just pressing the keys.

    i know that sounds so corny, so spiritually-hokey, but as i read and re-read things i’ve written, it is VERY obvious which zone i was in. and it’s not like the stuff i write is bad. but the other words from the other zone are just…so different.

    when i find myself in a dry spell, i realize i have not been filling myself to begin with.

    how can i type words from the spirit to his church when i have separated myself from him?

  • i’m not going to do anything for christ (1 of 2)

    this year i have only one resolution: to do less.

    i’m not talking about simplifying, either. i mean that very literally.

    i will do less.

    this doesn’t mean i’m complacent. it doesn’t mean i’m lazy. it doesn’t mean i’m apathetic. it doesn’t mean i’m going to sit on my rump all day and google stuff. that’s not what i mean at all.

    lately i’ve been studying a really great book that has caused me to re-evaluate my typical complicated way of thinking and doing things.

    normally i think, “i want to do more for christ.”

    may i be so bold to state: i don’t want to do anything for christ.

    the more and more i walk along this road the more and more i realize how backwards i have it. i cannot do anything for christ. the things that are done through me for his kingdom are just that. they are done through me.

    in the aforementioned book, watchman nee talks about the process of saving someone who’s drowning.

    if they’re doing all they can, fighting to stay afloat, there’s no way somebody can rescue them. they’ll take both the rescuer and themselves down under.

    they only way you can rescue a struggling swimmer is to either let them freak out until they’re too tired to do it anymore, or you have to knock them unconscious in order to bring them back.

    i have been desperately treading water far too long.

    and i really don’t want to be knocked unconscious.

    i am going to go and walk in the fact that everything god has accomplished is done. and i just need to lose more of myself and let him guide my steps. i need to get out of the way.

  • jesus loves hillary clinton

    (yes, that title was just to make you click & read this post…but hey, he does, doesn’t he?) :)

    seriously though,

    if jesus lived as a us citizen today, do you think he’d vote?

    *please play nice*

  • 7 things i learned in 2007

    i know, i know, i had to pick 7…lame. :)

    7. when something good happens, don’t try and figure out why. just accept it!
    6. writing a book is really really hard work.
    5. just when you think you’re comfortable, get ready for stuff to shake up!
    4. take chances.
    3. if someone doesn’t like you, tough cookies.
    2. you can always find something positive to say.
    1. shut up and listen.

    you?

  • info porn – don’t spread bad stats

    %“christians like info porn”

    one of my friends, who’s been working in research and statistics for the last decade or so, wrote that in an email to me.

    what led us to that conversation were some statistics many of us have seen before. i know i have, and i was hoping to use them in my book. but having been recently influenced by my brilliant stats-minded friend, i knew i had to track down the source and make sure it was indeed scientific and unbiased before claiming it gospel truth.

    the stats i was looking up:

    1500 ministers leave the ministry each month due to moral failure, burnout, or contention
    50% of pastors’ marriages will end in divorce
    80% feel unqualified and discouraged
    50% would leave ministry but fear they couldn?t make a living
    70% constantly fight depression
    40% have had an extramarital affair while in ministry
    70% say their only time reading the Bible is when they prepare sermons

    i looked around and was able to track most of them down to an informal survey focus on the family did. sounds legit, right?

    not so.

    the survey was conducted at seminars for pastors/marriages. something i’ve learned in the course of writing mad church disease is just because you have a group of people answer questions, well, that doesn’t make it real research.

    unfortunately, these stats cannot be considered accurate for a couple of reasons:

    -it’s not a representative sample. the group is pastors who went to a FOF event. totally idiosyncratic.
    -the wording of the questions are biased. and grouped. you can’t ask if they feel something AND something.

    it would be like getting a group of 20 and 30 year old pastors together and then saying a majority of pastors are young. that’s just not the way statistics are done.

    97% of christians get 80% of their stats from unreliable sources, and 73% of them will pass it on as truth. and yes, that whole sentence was a bunch of bull. christians like info porn!

    moral of the story? take a stand against info porn. don’t spread bad stats!

    on another note, i do have some scientific research that was conducted legitimately. and because i want you to wait a year and buy the book, i won’t put it up just yet… :)

    but please let me say…things are not as bad as they may seem.

  • things not to get me for christmas

    shaver

  • quotes about oklahoma heard at lunch:

    “why would you move to oklahoma? they gave their land away! how dumb is that?” – wes

    …and my favorite:

    “so, will your teepee have electricity?” – christy

  • a courageous tale of grace – chapter 3

    cindy continues,

    My Word From God

    I needed to hear from God. The state of confusion that I lived in at this point in my life was extremely overwhelming. Many wise people in my life were telling me that I didn’t have to make a decision right away, but I couldn’t live with that. Something was calling me to get some clarity.

    Noah and I journeyed six hours down I-35 to my childhood home in Georgetown, Texas. I needed someone to take care of us. That someone was my mom. Not only did she play with Noah, which allowed me time to myself, but she cooked for us and cleaned up after us and rented movies for us and took us to eat Mexican food. She’s a terrific mom.

    But, she also pestered me a little. She was insistent that I go meet with her pastor, Dan Wooldridge. Because I literally had no strength, I didn?t even put up a fight.

    I was surprised how comfortable I was in Dan’s presence. A true shepherd, he listened to my story and watched as tears streamed down my face. I practically begged him to tell me what he thought I should do. He did something better. Here?s what he said:

    “I would respect you if you felt that you needed to remove yourself from your marriage. What you’ve endured is very hard. But, you are not a fool to stay and be a part of the redemptive work in a man’s life.”

    I was and still am absolutely certain that these were the words coming my Heavenly Daddy disguised in a middle-aged Baptist minister’s voice. I knew it immediately. Nearly six years later and I still remember this quote from him, word for word.

    And I’m so glad my mother was a pest :)

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  • What Causes Burnout?

    What do you think are some things that cause burnout in ministry – or in general?