(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*
Category: Hmmmm
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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 sermonsi 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.
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in between the past and future
i love time off and away from work. especially after an unusually hectic monday and tuesday, it was nice to relax with chris, my family, and have some alone time as well.
on the flip side, sometimes it’s difficult for me to have that alone time because i end up over thinking. do you ever do that? one thought leads to another, then to another, and another and soon you have all these thoughts piled up in your head.
as we spent time with my family (who live on the fort worth side of things) it reminded me of times past. i lived over that way from the time i was sixteen until i moved to kansas city when i was twenty one. lots of memories. some good. and some i wish i could forget.
on saturday when we were back at our place, we started packing our boxes. all of our decor is now packed away, as well as all of our books. i am so excited about moving! i only have four more weeks at lake pointe, then a couple of weeks off until a new chapter at lifechurch.tv begins.
even though i feel a little overwhelmed with memories of the past screaming at me from behind, and hopes for the future shining so brightly in front of me, this moment right now is the present.
and as quiet as it seems, it’s just as important as the things which have shaped me before, and the things that have yet to come.
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not waiting on winter (yet my brain is frozen)
my brain has totally locked up. i have been trying to bust through as much mad church disease writing as possible, as well as finishing up some things for our move (we found a place downtown and it is totally smashing…and quite reasonably priced!)
brain-is-frozen!
texas, on the otherhand, is NOT frozen. it has been in the 80s for the last week. yet i have decided not to let the temperature outside reflect my clothing decisions. it is fall, and i want to wear a sweater. so i am today. and here is a goofy photo of me at-this-moment posing with my african autumn rooibos tea in said sweater.
that as about as interesting as it’s going to get here today. (and for you people who swear i look like kat von d…proof i really dont!)
what’s it like in your world?
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i love sparkly things
is it christmas yet?
when do your lights go up? -
do not disturb
i’m not shy, but i hate confrontation. i can be extremely blunt (dare i say tacky?) with those i am close to, but to complete strangers, i admit – i allow myself to get walked on a little bit.
two of my last four trips to starbucks to work on writing-type-things, i have encountered unexpected company. both times, these gentlemen came and took a seat next to me. both times my iPod earbuds were firmly planted in my ears and my eyes focused on my screen. yet both times these men began a conversation.
assuming these strangers only had honorable and friendly intention (one was married, one old enough to be my father), i usually unplug one of my ears and engage in small talk. i hint at the fact i need to get back to work, but that only seems to provoke a more indepth conversation regarding whatever it is i am writing about.
tonight i had to use the emergency escape call, quickly IMing an online friend to come to my rescue. i just want to get my work done. yet i don’t want to be a jerk to random people. i should take time to listen, to learn…right?
drawing that line for me is hard. how do you do it?
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dismembered?
there are a few different thoughts out there on church membership. some people think a formal church membership (through taking classes, signing forms, and being listed on a record of some kind) is biblical. others think that church membership is subjective, meaning you are a member of a body of believers to whom you are committed, but no formality is required. others think it’s completely nonessential to technically be a part of a local body of believers. a “between god and me” kind of relationship.
what are your thoughts on church membership? if you have contextual Biblical references for such, don’t forget to leave them.
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the poverty of love
what brings 30,000 people a weekend to a spiritual center in india?
Mata Amritanandamayi is known as the “hugging guru.” Some days, she will sit for up to 20 hours straight as tens of thousands of devotees line up to feel her embrace and hear her whisper motherly advice.
Mata Amritanandamayi, aka the “hugging guru,” embraces everyone she meets in an effort to spread love and healing.
Followers come from all over the world to Amma’s ashram, or spiritual center, in Kerala, South India, to get a hug; many choose to stay.
“There are two types of poverty in the world, financial poverty and the poverty of love; the second is more important,” says Amritanandamayi, who goes by Amma, which means “mother.”
we read so much about what’s being done in the world; how much money is being given here — or there — and that is not a bad thing.
but there is a poverty of love that is world-wide in its spread. even in our iPod loving, “TiVo LOST for me, I have to meet my coworkers for $12 martini-nite, but email me what happens-i’ll get it on my blackberry” kind of society…we are so emotionally and spiritually impoverished.
how can you show love this week? how can you serve?
more importantly,
will you?