This afternoon I went through the drive-through at a certain local fast food chain. When I asked the kind lady taking my money and passing my food through a hole in the side of the wall, I asked for a cup of barbecue dipping sauce.

“That’ll be $0.25,” she said in a semi-joking manner.
“Yeah, just put it on my tab,” I quipped in a like manner.
“No, seriously. If you didn’t order chicken strips or something that logically accompanies your order, we have to charge $0.25.”
“Yabba-dabba what?! Well, Nevermind, I guess my fries aren’t dippable enough. Thanks anyway.”

So, THAT’S where they’re going to overcome their losses – charging a quarter for 2 oz of barbecue sauce? Sign of the apocalypse.

About half way through, one of the sections hit me as one of those “Everyone needs to have this checklist” moments. It’s a table that gives some indicators of how to identify stress versus burnout.

We may all feel overstressed at times, no matter in what ministry capacity you serve. I would bet nearly all of us have been to the point where we’ve wanted to throw in the towel, but were (or are) we really at the burnout stage where we risk never to return?

Here is a table of indicators that Anne lays out in her book. Keep in mind this is just a snapshot of one page … GET THE BOOK – it’s worth it!!!!

Maybe you feel you’re there, or maybe this book will be able to give you some key indicators and help you avoid coming anywhere near the brink of burnout. If you are burned out, maybe this book will give you some refreshing hope that others can empathize with you – having been in a situation similar to yours and have been restored.

This book is filled with such good stuff. It is written in a conversational language that makes it easy to read and understand quickly … not like some of those high-brow, intellectual, theoretical books that claim to have answers who were written by people who haven’t experienced their own book’s topic.

Buy Mad Church Disease »

To those of you who have the later (first, i’m sorry) but … what would happen if you broke out with this arrangement?

[video here]

Ordered my official copy today … get your copy of Mad Church Disease. I’ve read a few sections and they are great!!!

Just go get it. Sure the title is Mad CHURCH Disease, but let me tell you, the burnout epidemic is rampant in all parts of life, and the biggest cause of burnout is (in my opinion) relational. We’ve all been through times like these whether we were on staff at a church or not.

Once you start reading this book, you will feel as though Anne is speaking directly to you. You’re going to start seeing, “hey, that same (similar) thing happened to me” … or to someone you know, who you should buy the book for or suggest they buy it and read it.

Just go get it.