Anne Marie Miller

Category: Church

  • So, tell me what you want…I’m Blogging Catalyst 08…for YOU

    i have decided to step out of my introverted comfort zone a bit.

    last week, after a lovely telephone call with this guy, i learned that i will be given the honor of wearing a pretty little badge that gets me in everywhere (except maybe the men’s restroom, maybe?) at a nifty little conference called catalyst. Catalyst 2008

    what this allows me to do, i think, (without getting ushered out by big, hairy security guys) is to talk to speakers, including a couple of my favorite people, ask questions, and then blog it as live as humanly possible.

    and maybe even get some of it on camera.

    roll that beautiful bean footage.

    so…again, the thing that makes this adventure different than the other live blogging adventures of the past is i want to know what YOU want.

    not what you want to ask people (yet)…but what would make this a good experience for you?

    think outside the conference blogging box, mkay?

  • what’s one of your dreams?

    for the last few years, i’ve wanted to start a non-profit something-or-other that accepts donations and supports pastors who are in transition or out of work. when i was sixteen, my dad went for almost a year between pastoring and working in the marketplace. my parents cashed in his retirement and accumulated a ton of debt just to pay the bills.

    i haven’t forgotten that, and now that my friends and peers are the ones in transition or have been justly (or unjustly) released from ministry, it’s something still fresh in my mind. i am dreaming of finding a way to make this happen.

    what’s one of your dreams?

  • Weekend Thought: DANG!!!!!!!

    this one cut straight to my core.

    Regarding the Sabbath: “It’s hard to preach about a commandment The Church doesn’t keep.”
    — Dr. Matthew Sleeth

    (the entire message: download here)

  • STARBUCKS AND WORMS: WHY I AM GIVING UP STARBUCKS

    two years ago, being the color-coded spreadsheet chart-and-graph making weirdo that i am, i decided to analyze chris’ and my starbucks spending pattern. in april and may 2006, we spent $237.21 (or $118.61/month) on coffee drinks that make us gain weight.

    Starbucks Spending Pattern

    seeing it on paper like that was a shock, so we have cut back significantly.

    well, at least, that’s what i thought.

    i just went in and added up our starbucks for the last two months. in april and may 2008, we spent $42.82 (or $21.41/month) on coffee drinks that make us gain weight. actually, that is way more than i thought (and hoped) it would be.

    monday, i shared with you a decision the pinkhairedgirl and i made to forgo our annual tradition of tattooing. with that donation, the one-month salary for a rescue center employee was just paid. with crystal’s donation on top of mine, two employees had their salary paid.

    today, i am sharing with you my “no more paying for starbucks” decision. i am not going to buy anything at starbucks for the next year. the java chip frapp i am sipping on right now will be my last until june 1, 2009. i am taking that money ($20) and de-worming 128 kids a month. because really? that is a lot of kids with worms and that just isn’t right.

    No More Starbucks

    i am sharing these facts and figures with you not as a “oh, check out MY sacrifice” kinda thing…but to show you that we are putting our money where our mouth is (or perhaps taking away our money from where our mouth is?)

    your starbucks fund can help feed children. even if you just gave up two or three lattes a month, look at what you can do.

    Real Hope for Haiti

    as aaron said earlier…we are unapologetically asking for your help and sacrifice.

    it’s your turn. you will make a decision today. what will you do?

    WILL YOU GIVE UP YOUR STARBUCKS (OR _________) WITH ME? ONE YEAR. DARE YA.

  • things you can’t say in church…aussie style

    people have still been commenting and linking to the post “keeping your mouth shut” — about things you feel you can’t say in church.

    i found out yesterday it was featured on a radio station in Australia! you can listen to the discussion online here. i have to admit: it’s pretty cool to hear “flowerdust” said with an aussie accent! they read some of the comments too…maybe they read yours!

    the discussion is great though. take a listen!

  • the tattoo adventure [unexpected!]

    pinkhairedgirl.net (her real name is crystal) and i have been friends for about five years or so now. and, every year for the last three years, we’ve upheld a tradition of body modification (tattoos, piercings, etc.)

    this year was no different. she flew down to okc, we made an appointment…and this is what happened. (and seriously…could my freeze frame be any more awkward?)

    after you watch, click here for more information.

  • the right kind of influence

    a few people i known have referred to blogging as a grown up and online version of high school. you have all your stereotypical groupings…the cool kids, the nerds, the teacher’s pets, the testosterone-driven, and the moms.

    (yes, the moms. i grew up in west texas and in high school, the moms had their own table. but i digress.)

    based on the description of others, evidently i sit somewhere on the cool kids table. but since punctuality is not in my nature, i consider myself to still be standing in the lunch line, waiting on my rectangular pizza from a greasy lunch lady named helga.

    (but again, i digress.)

    i used to watch my stats and analyze them all the time. how did i stack up to others? will i ever break 100 subscribers? 500? 1000? will i ever break 100 authority on technorati? 300? 500? can i hit 10,000 pageviews a month, 30,000, 75,000?

    let’s just say i became a little obsessed. especially since the giants of this blogging business are mainly men…i wanted to be the cool little sister who was able to follow closely behind.

    to confess: jealousy was a commonly played tune in my head. all the cool kids went to all the cool conferences. they got free stuff. they met each other and it was all off the hook. i mainly sat behind my computer.

    if only i could be one of them. if only…

    and then i realized…

    even if “if only” happened…would i really care?

    don’t get me wrong. i love my blogging brethren. i have met many of my fellow bloggers in person and they are sharp, and they are amazing. they are impacting the church culture in so many ways.

    but me? my heart and my passions are expressed in different ways. and that’s just peachyfine by me.

    for example – i am not a conference-going kind of person. i am not uber-extroverted leader, and speaking to a billion other uber-extroverted leaders would probably make me curl up in a ball and suck on my thumb until jesus comes.

    it took a while, but i finally realized that it’s not a large amount of influence that matters.

    it’s the right kind of influence.

    so, i look around.

    kids living in poverty are being sponsored left and right because of the community on this blog. over 100 malaria nets were donated from the community on this blog. pastors who were broke and needed help were helped, mission trips were funded, people were prayed for, addictions were spoken about, and ultimately…god’s name has been glorified by this community BEING the church in relational and missional ways.

    this blog isn’t about me. it is about us. a group of believers reflecting the love of christ to the world in a million different ways.

    that’s the right kind of influence.

    thank you for being a part.

  • jesus brand spirituality

    i recently got a copy of jesus brand spirituality, a book by ken wilson, which came out this week. anyone who knows me well knows i love reading, but i read so much, i really only skim books to find nuggets that will stick with me.

    this book, however, had me sucked in from the first couple of pages. technically, it had me sucked in from the title. last weekend, i read it in about three hours and highlighted/underlined so many things in it.

    i’m going to have to do another post just to share all the insights, but i thought i’d share the first chunk with you now.

    i should also say that nobody asked me to review this book…this is straight up out of my own felt need to share this book with you and express that i think it is one of the most important books any church leader or believer could read.

    with that said:

    • we can only hope jesus will continue to challenge every effort to hijack his brand, because he is, and always will be, the main attraction.
    • jesus invited curious onlookers to help him do what he was already doing so that his actions would have greater impact…there were no faith quizzes to pass before you could help out; all it took was the willingness to go somewhere with jesus because you liked what he was doing.
    • jesus was a mystic who prayed with his eyes open
    • the roman empire embraced christian faith as the state-sanctioned religion. this in turn gave birth to the monastic movement as devout individuals sought a more spiritually enlivened form of faith, removed from the trappings of the empire (*my thought: we are on the cusp of this again, with people getting worn out from “trappings of the empire” and are longing for a deeper, more Christ-like faith)
    • since religion can both illuminate and obscure jesus, sometimes we need to dig to find him. a good place to dig is the gospels. here, we find jesus on a mission from god to repair the world. in his glance, we catch an invitation for us to join him.
    • caring for the most vulnerable isn’t a matter of compassion alone; it’s a demand of justice and the true sign of religion.
    • as we engage with the realities that engaged jesus’ attention, we are more likely to encounter him.
    • the gospel is a message with personal, social, and global reach. if it’s not good news at all these levels, it’s not good enough.
    • have we front-loaded people with so many matters of belief that we are, in effect, asking them to swallow the whole package as a pre-requisite for a meaningful engagement with jesus?
    • as a result of our long and productive love affair with rationalism, we tend to suffer from an anemic view of what we call “spiritual experience.”

    anything resonate with you?

    if you’d like to get your own copy…you can get it right here! i seriously can’t tell you how much this book rocks.

  • two sites you should check out

    CompassionBloggers.com – WOW. from the first time brian mentioned the trip to me, to now, three months after returning from uganda, i don’t think anybody really knew the impact blogging could make in releasing children from poverty. well, needless to say, it has blown everybody’s stinkin’ minds.

    shaun (in between wearing a dress and a cute little girly hat, and hanging out with cuban assassins) has been working really hard on this site which connects bloggers and children to the world. the next blogging trip is in november, and he is looking for people to go that want to passionately explore this new road of getting children sponsored and having their own lives changed forever. oh, and you can also post about 2873 cool widgets and stuff on your blog.

    VISIT COMPASSIONBLOGGERS.COM NOW! :)

    WeTheChurch.org – i love prayer. i love praying for others, and hearing how god is working in their lives probably more than anything in the world. it is powerful and transforming.

    my friends chad and scott launched an amazing site called WeTheChurch.org. people submit either prayer or praises — keeping their thoughts within 140 characters like twitter — and from all over the world, people can pray and celebrate with them.

    my favorite part of this site is that i can get new prayers/praises in my twitter feed. let me tell you there is nothing like reading,

    “A friend’s father had a massive stroke today, in ICU, doctors said he has 50/50 chance of surviving, if he does, he’ll have permanent damage”

    in between the daily tweets of “at starbucks” and “my cat barfed up a hairball.” it’s divine. truly.

    CHECK OUT WETHECHURCH.ORG and FOLLOW THEM ON TWITTER.

    =====

    in all the craziness, i have had some great posts brewing in my head this week that i haven’t fleshed out. thanks for hanging in there with me.

    what site or blog have you been digging lately?