Simplify Christmas without sacrificing the joy.Mike Slaughter's beloved holiday classic Christmas Is Not Your Birthday is back in a newly revised and expanded edition to help you rediscover the true meaning of the season.Every year, the promises come easily: cut back, simplify, and celebrate a Christmas centered on Jesus. Yet every year, the pressure mounts. Advertisements flood every screen, wish lists grow longer, and overspending, overeating, an...

Ministry Makeover examines the decline within the church, especially the United Methodist Church (UMC), and some causes for this decline. It calls for a reforming of United Methodist structure and polity by drawing more attention to the value of the bi-vocational model of ministry and a re-visitation of the Wesleyan/United Brethren view and historical perspective. This book establishes a solid theological foundation upon which to build this shift and it goes a step beyond typical ecclesiol...

Clearly, something is not working. Despite the church’s place of prominence in American culture and the ubiquity of the church in every American town, misconceptions about the faith of Jesus Christ run rampant today. Christians are known more for exclusivity than for love, more for pot lucks than for solving world hunger. It’s time for churches to get over the cruise-ship mentality of being a program-provider, and reconnect with the true message and mission of Jesus: to bring good news to ...

People don’t give to church because we don’t offer them a compelling vision of the good their giving will achieve.Hearing a young attorney speak of the faithbased reasons for which he had just made a substantial monetary gift to a community youth center, Clif Christopher asked the speaker if he would consider making a similar contribution to the congregation of which he was an active member. “Lord, no they would not know what to do with it” was the answer. That, in a nutshell, desc...

Nothing in all the vast, created universe could prepare us for God coming down as a helpless infant, or for Jesus the son of God intentionally positioning himself as a mere servant, identifying with the lowest of lows. It's enough to confound the mind, to make the heart contrite. This Advent, God’s great surprise changes everything.Four weeks of devotions for use during Advent and leading up to Christmas, based on the down-to-earth, missional messages of the book and videos. Each d...

Nothing in all the vast, created universe could prepare us for God coming down as a helpless infant, or for Jesus the son of God intentionally positioning himself as a mere servant, identifying with the lowest of lows. It's enough to confound the mind, to make the heart contrite. This Advent, God’s great surprise changes everything.The Leader Guide contains everything needed to guide a group through the 4-week study for Advent, including session plans and discussion questions, as w...

What exactly is a disciple, and how will we know if we have made one? There are three core values that a disciple embodies: undiluted devotion to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, a Kingdom of God worldview, and a missional lifestyle.In Revolutionary Kingdom: Following the Rebel Jesus, author and Pastor Mike Slaughter explores why we must exchange comfortable cultural worldviews and values for the radical requirements of living out the Kingdom of God on Planet Earth. When God’...

What exactly is a disciple, and how will we know if we have made one? There are three core values that a disciple embodies: undiluted devotion to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, a Kingdom of God worldview, and a missional lifestyle.In Revolutionary Kingdom: Following the Rebel Jesus, author and Pastor Mike Slaughter explores why we must exchange comfortable cultural worldviews and values for the radical requirements of living out the Kingdom of God on Planet Earth. When God’...

Spiritual Entrepreneurs tells the story of an innovative pastor and leadership team who intentionally led their church to take spiritual risks. By using six principles, renewal can come to any church. These six principles are focus on: (1) Jesus Christ, (2) the Bible, (3) new forms of worship, (4) a commitment to membership, (5) equipping lay people for ministry, and (6) spiritual leadership. Slaughter belives that church leaders are inspired to work tirelessly when they hear or l...

What happens when we truly put God first in all aspects of our lives?In *First: Putting God First in Living and Giving,*pastor and author Mike Slaughter conducts a four-week all-church stewardship program to help participants reassess priorities andcreate a culture and a lifestyle of faithful living and giving and make a meaningful contribution to the world. To help parents educate and model generosity for their kids, First includes components for children and youth that h...

Popular author and pastor Mike Slaughter examines the two components of every miracle: divine action and human responsibility. For a real miracle to take place, we must act with God, using whatever gifts, talents, and abilities we have and directing them toward God’s work. We need to follow the examples of Mary in the birth of Jesus, Jesus’ followers when he healed them, and Jesus’ disciples after he rose from the dead.The Leader Guide contains everything needed to guide a group th...

What happens when we truly put God first in all aspects of our lives?In a culture guided chiefly by shiny, life-promising distractions, “enough” seems elusive and keeps us indebted to that next source of satisfaction. What if the Giver of Life offered freedom from this downward spiral—would you take it? In First: Putting God First in Living and Giving, pastor and author Mike Slaughter conducts a four-week all-church stewardship program to help participants reassess priorit...