FlowerDust.net | Anne Jackson

Mad Church Disease for $11.55

I just noticed my book has dropped in price to just a little over ELEVEN DOLLARS! I had no idea until I just logged in and saw it tonight.

What the heck? A hard cover for not even twelve bucks? The Amazon and Zondervan people must have gone crazy.

Even though the book doesn’t ship until until February, remember, Amazon has a price lock! If you order it now, you lock in that price. And I honestly have no idea how long it will stay at $11.55. It’s kind of like a slot machine. But not.

Just thought I’d let you guys know! Book pimping over for now! Have a great weekend.

Buy Mad Church Disease NOW & One Final Excerpt

But first…here is one last excerpt…

As much as we may want to, we can never rid ourselves from our past – the good or the bad. And regardless of how normal or even how terrible your past might be, you have experienced those things for a reason. The successes, the failures, the joy and the pain are all beautifully woven together to make you who you are at this moment.

By taking our focus off of the dysfunctions of our past, and changing it to how God can work through us using our journey as a whole – our history, our present, and our future – we are less likely to burn out. Any time we become less and He becomes more, it’s His power being perfected in us.

You can preorder the book below.

**A few Facts About the Book**

• It’s a hardcover with no jacket. Along the lines of Rob Bell books, but with a little different shape.
• It includes questions and a study guide to help you walk through your own personal journey of healing from (or preventing) burnout.
• Several leaders contributed “Second Opinions” to the book (their own thoughts on aspects of burning out and restoration) including Bill Hybels, Wayne Cordeiro, Perry Noble, Mike Foster, Gary Kinnaman, Brandi Wilson, Matt Carter, Shawn Wood, and Craig Groeschel wrote the foreword.
• It will be somewhere right around 200 pages. We are shooting for 192.
• It will be chock-full of creative artwork and design on the inside.

So all that AND more for $16.99!

This is so exciting on many, many levels. Just a little over a year ago, the website for Mad Church Disease launched and people began sharing their stories..thousands of people! Thank YOU!

Now, a year later, well…here we are! If you preorder Mad Church Disease now, with Amazon, if the price goes any lower after you order it today, you will lock in the lower price (because…correct me if I’m wrong…but I don’t think it charges you until it ships, which will be February 1, 2009).

I’d like to announce the Mad Church Disease website will be completely relaunched later this year, and will include a forum for pastors, church leaders, their families, and volunteers to dialogue and encourage each other to pursue a holy, healthy ministry.

**CASE ORDERS**

If you would like to purchase a case (40 or more books) there is a 30% discount! Please email me and I will get you hooked up.

And it would rock if you could spread the word!

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].

MONKEY SEE, MONKEY DO

everyday, we set examples.

(even in the tiniest bits of minutia.)

how we drive.

what we wear.

what we buy.

how we spend our time.

my hot hubs shared a podcast with me (here)…which honestly and boldly notes that christians are the worst at taking a day off. finding rest. family time.

we operate 24/7.

and with that in mind, more specifically, i’d like to ask…

those of you who are pastors…what kind of example are you setting for the team that supports you? even if you don’t push them to go-go-go-all-the-time-like-you, what does your example say to them?

those of you who are leaders…what kind of example are you setting for those who follow you?

even if you don’t think you’re a leader, you are. someone’s watching. your kids. your spouse. the girl who doesn’t talk a lot that sits in the cubicle across from you. your team. maybe even your boss.

what kind of example are you setting?

just a little something to chew on today.

INPUT WANTED ON MAD CHURCH DISEASE COVER ART!

as i’ve said before, this whole book writing process has been fun because of the input you all have. so, after having some initial chats about direction and look and feel for the book, they have landed on two concepts.

these are the drafts, and as such i need to explain a little bit.

the words behind the title are true (but anonymous) stories that people submitted through the mad church disease website during the month the surveys were open. this is how people REALLY feel.

in the first image (A), these are reversed out from the texture. in the second image (B), what the plan will be is to print out the chosen pieces of the stories (and change their font/type size, etc. to make some stand out) and use a photograph of that behind the illustration. currently it is just a similar photograph of bible verses. but, you get the idea!

the marketing and creative directors and i have already talked through these with a few opinions from some lifechurch.tv staff, my agent, and some friends. so we kind of already have a “gut” feeling and some thoughts on changes…but this is where you get to help confirm us (or scare us in another direction!)

what do you think? what do you like? not like? what would you change?

would love to hear your thoughts!!