Knocked out another book of my 2009 Reading List.

The book was “Mad Church Disease: Overcoming the Burnout Epidemic” by Anne Jackson.

Anne’s book gives a real confession and information to help the reader diagnose burnout. She starts by sharing her own story of a long road towards burnout and how she prayed as a sixteen year old telling God that she would desert the church forever if He did not use her to unify it.

The book uses comparisons to mad cow disease and shows us how “mad church disease” can knock anyone out of ministry–not just pastors. Burnout affects all church staff and even volunteers at times.

Anne shares five principles of recovery and then takes the reader through some paths to recovery that include spiritual health, physical health, emotional health and relational health. The book is also full of practical exercises to help readers work through burnout and “second opinions” from others in ministry such as Bill Hybels.

You can click here to read a free sample chapter of MCD. Anne Jackson currently serves on staff at Cross Point Church and lives with her husband who is a musician, in Nashville, TN. You can also follow her blog at www.flowerdust.net.
Here are a few hard hits from the book at knocked me down:

• “Since I had allowed spending time with God to be replaced by spending time doing things for God, my spiritual tank had been sucked dry.”
• There is no if or when. Satan is trying to destroy you no matter what.
• The successes, failures, joys and pains are all wonderfully woven together to make you who you are at this point. Don’t regret the bad stuff.
• Creating boundaries isn’t selfish. It’s necessary.
• “Everybody thinks of changing humanity and nobody thinks of changing himself.” -Leo Tolstoy
• Self-reliance quietly whispers to our souls, “You don’t need rest. You don’t need to refresh. You can do everything on your own. God is helping you, right?” (Not true)