FlowerDust.net | Anne Jackson

Act Now! Get a FREE Autographed Copy of Mad Church Disease!

So, we have been trying to figure out a good way to get the community here at FlowerDust.net involved in the Dominican trip this week. I have really enjoyed getting to know the staff here at GO Ministries and learning what they are doing to equip local pastors.

The average Dominican makes $6500/year…so you can guess what the average pastor makes — not a lot! What GO is doing is forming a library for the 44 churches in the area they support.

Here’s the deal.

From 7 am CST Monday to 7 am CST Tuesday, if you purchase any book from the list below, I WILL GIVE YOU A FREE AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF MAD CHURCH DISEASE WHEN IT COMES OUT! Simply purchase the book and leave me a comment letting me know. I will email you to get your info this week.

So, buy a book, or buy fifty (I can only send you one copy of mine either way, but hey, don’t let that stop you!) and get a free autographed copy of Mad Church Disease.

You guys donated over 100 mosquito nets on World Malaria Day…so let’s show some love to some pastors and get them some study material they would never be able to afford otherwise. By the way, the money that comes through the Amazon Associates referrals also will go directly to GO Ministries!

Now ready? Set? GO! Don’t eat out today and instead, buy a book for a pastor!! Their Wish List is below!

The Waitress is Watching

This is an excerpt from an article I wrote for the Catalyst monthly online magazine thingy…

Evidently, this little freestanding building was the place Nashville’s best comfort food called home. Tucked away in a residential area with limited and awkward parking, my husband Chris and I decided, after several recommendations from friends, to explore what this cozy little café had to offer. We moved to Nashville at the end of June, and finding delectable hole-in-the-wall restaurants is one of our favorite hobbies.

A waitress with frizzy blonde hair appeared. She seemed older than her fifty years, with deep wrinkles and a posture of a woman who has spent most of her life carrying food to hungry customers. Her southern accent was thick as she took our order. When she returned with our rolls and butter, she grinned as she asked us a question that caught us completely off guard.

[read the rest of the article here...i hope you enjoy it!]

Catalyst Road Trip in Nashville

friday, pete and i had the amazing opportunity to meet up with the guys from the catalyst road trip. if you’re not familiar with catalyst, well, you need to be. [read more about catalyst and the catalyst road trip]. if you’ve been around here for any amount of time, you probably know that i’m a bit of a conference cynic. catalyst is much, much more than a conference, and has totally won my heart!

anyway, after some fine dining at star bagel, we took them to cross point to show them what it’s like to have church inside an old baptist church building…we talked about blogging, blogging, and well, blogging.

(by the way, holy cow has my hair gotten HUGE since moving to nashville. the humidity here is nuts! why hasn’t someone told me??! big hair rivals having something between your teeth!)

i’ll let you read more about what talked about here on their blog, but i have to say, it was such an honor connecting with these guys.

have you ever been to catalyst? are you going this year? if you are…i’d love to connect. i’ll be there doing some undercover spy work.

Pastor Stats: Overweight & Unhealthy

Some more tidbits from Mad Church Disease. This is from a survey conducted by Ellison Research.

71% of all ministers admitted to being overweight by an average of 32.1 lbs. One-third of all ministers were overweight by at least 25 lbs, including 15% who were overweight by 50 lbs or more.

Two-thirds of all pastors skip a meal at least one day a week, and 39% skip meals three or more days a week.

83% eat food once a week that they know they shouldn’t because they’re unhealthy, including 41% who do this three or more days a week.

88% eat fast food at least one day a week, and 33% eat fast food three or more days a week.

50% get the recommended minimum amount of exercise (30 minutes/day, three times a week). 28% don’t exercise at all.

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Anyone surprised?

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EDIT: According to the center for disease control, the percentages for adults over 20 years old:

- 66.3% are overweight or obese with 32% being obese (30 pounds or more).

So it seems the pastor sub-section might be a little higher than a national average.

Keeping the Church’s Soul Alive

When someone invests into the unique call that God has placed on your church, there’s no stopping them. They’re inspired by what the future holds.

It’s vital to the health of whatever team you are leading to clearly and consistently communicate that calling with your team. God has placed you there for a reason, and he’s placed them under your care because he wants all of you to carry out this calling together.

Proverbs 29:18 says this,

“Where there is no vision, the people perish.” (KJV)

Many times, the word “vision” in this verse has been misinterpreted to mean “goals” or “plans.”

The word “vision” in this verse actually means “divine guidance” or “revelation.”

And without divine guidance, people will perish. As important as it may be to be on the same page with your goals and your plans, without relying on God for wisdom and guidance that only he can provide, your environment will fall apart.

Matthew Henry’s Commentary says, “How bare does a place look without Bibles and ministers! And what an easy prey is it to the enemy of souls! That gospel is an open vision, which holds forth Christ, which humbles the sinner and exalts the Saviour, which promotes holiness in the life and conversation: and these are precious truths to keep the soul alive, and prevent it from perishing.”

Without true divine guidance, we scatter. Our unity is broken.

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[this is an excerpt that may or may not be cut from Mad Church Disease. thought i'd give yall a little peek as i finish editing this week].

THE COMPETITION-DRIVEN CHURCH

We are creatures needing affirmation. And the spotlight seems to promise us everything we’ve ever wanted. Whether it’s an actual spotlight on the platform, in front of an adoring congregation, or a more passive spotlight – perhaps you glow under the praise of a certain leader – it’s natural that we seek out opportunities in which we can shine at our best.

One of the problems I see plaguing unhealthy environments is ego. Ego can be loud and abrasive or it can be subtle and deceiving. Either way, it’s the antithesis of the character of Christ.

Society today is competitive. We feel that our voices must be the loudest and carry the furthest in order to be heard and validated. It breaks my heart when I hear pastors of small churches say, “we only had seventy-five people today” or “only two hundred people showed up.”

Only? I’m sorry. Are those seventy-five or two hundred people not enough for you?

I am not going go into length discussing the perceived importance of numbers. Keeping track of “how many” is a valid metric to measure some kinds of effectiveness in what we are doing. Numbers do represent people. Christ did say that he would grow his Church.

However, our view is so limited as far as what that actually looks like in our church today.

Unfortunately, I think numbers have become an addiction. We flaunt our numbers, we despise our numbers, we fret about our numbers. Our numbers can validate us. But they shouldn’t. We have absolutely no right to know how God is using us. We only need to know he is, and be grateful.

This spirit of competitiveness (whether clearly stated or implied) has damaged so many churches and leaders who haven’t seen the same “success.” After hearing it over and over again, leaders who aren’t as “successful” start believing the lies that maybe God just hasn’t blessed them like he “blesses” other churches or leaders. And at that point, those leaders either shut down or they begin to be driven by their need for man’s affirmation.

Just yesterday, I met with a church leader. She went to a church creative leadership conference (and she is self-admittedly a conferenceaholic, loving to meet other leaders to encourage and network). But after walking through some hard times in her own church and ministry, at the conference, she sat on the back row and wept.

“How can I ever keep up with this? I’m just not good enough.”

Looking back, she knows that nobody is good enough and it is by the grace of God we do what we can do, but when most churches are under or around 500 people, with little resources, although aspects of these conferences are practical…it seems like a lot of times, they can do more damage than good.

Not because a host intendeds to flaunt their stuff. Not because they are able to hire professionals when someone else is lucky to have found Bob who can play guitar on Sundays. But because the church culture has gotten so competitive. And it’s happened so slowly, we don’t even notice it.

When we think our calling is to be the biggest, the most creative, or the best, we have completely lost sight of the only important fact.

And that is that we are called.

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[this is an excerpt that may or may not be cut from Mad Church Disease. thought i'd give yall a little peek as i finish editing this week].

celebrating the church’s “big givers”

sometimes churches have special events to celebrate their top givers. most of the churches i know do this for members who give over a certain amount of money per week/month/year. usually there is an appreciation dinner or vision casting event.

so, i’ve always wondered why this is. don’t get me wrong…i realize those who give significant amounts of money to the church typically do it consistently and that saying goes “20 percent of the people give 80 percent of the income” and i do think giving (in general) should be celebrated.

but equal giving does not mean equal sacrifice.

someone who making six figures a year can easily drop $500 a month in tithing but for someone else to give $500 a month could be extremely sacrificial.

why aren’t those things equally celebrated?

does your church celebrate the “big givers?” do you celebrate all the givers? do you celebrate giving at all? what do you think?