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Posts in category Church

Passing The Torch, Part 2

Mar12
2010 Leave a Comment Written by Jeff Slater

When Jill and I got married in June of 1989, our first apartment was in Woodhaven, Michigan (southern suburbs of Detroit).  The Sunday after we returned from our honeymoon, we showed up at the Trenton Church of Christ, which was only about 2 miles from our apartment.  Mark Frost was (and still is) the minister at Trenton.

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I had heard of Mark before we met him that Sunday in June.  He was the director of Teen Week at Michigan Christian Youth Camp, so he was widely known in the metro Detroit area.  But he was also known as one of the best preachers in the area.  I remember one year at the Metro Detroit Bible Lectureship when one of the speakers was ill and was not able to make it, the organizers got together to decide on a last-minute replacement.  Someone mentioned Mark Frost and said, “He’s the best in the area.”  So Mark filled in at the last minute and did a great job (I still have the tape!).

Mark welcomed Jill and me to the Trenton Church, and got us plugged into ministry right away (I think he had us teaching the Junior High class — thanks Mark!)  As an aspiring preacher, I really appreciated Mark’s sermons, and he taught me a lot about ministry through our many conversations.  I remember how intimidated I was when Mark asked me to teach a Wednesday night adult class — a class in which Mark himself was a student! But it gave me some valuable experience, and I will always appreciate the fact that he believed in me and encouraged me.

I’ve been blessed to stay in touch with Mark through the years, and am honored to consider him a friend.  I’ve had him come down and speak at my week of Camp the past few years, and he is always a hit with the campers and staff.  A few years ago, we roomed together while participating in the Pastors of Excellence program at Ashland Theological Seminary, and that was  a great experience.  Thanks Mark — for the guidance, advice, and the positive influence you have had on my faith and my ministry.

Posted in Mark Frost, Ministry

Dressing up for church?

Feb25
2010 6 Comments Written by Jeff Slater

Remember when you were young and had to dress up in those itchy, uncomfortable clothes to go to church?  When you got back home, you couldn’t get to you room fast enough to change into a comfortable pair of jeans and a t-shirt.  When we asked why we had to “dress up” for church, we were always given the same answer: “We have to give our best for God.”  Well, I certainly agree that we should give our best for God, but I really don’t see how that is relevant to the clothes we wear to the Sunday assembly.  And there are a lot of unanswered questions:  If I own a tuxedo, should I wear that every Sunday?  Should women wear their wedding gowns?  Why does this only apply to Sunday morning, and not Sunday evening and Wednesday evening?

Well, Tim Archer has presented a good, Biblical argument for NOT dressing up for church.  Read it HERE and see what you think.  If you want, you can come back here and discuss it.

Posted in Dressing up

Outstanding Quote

Jun18
2009 1 Comment Written by Jeff Slater

“As church leaders, we need to make decisions based on who isn’t here yet rather than who has been here the longest.”  –Eric Bryant

How would our churches be different if we put this into practice?

Posted in Leadership

Messy Churches

Jul16
2008 5 Comments Written by Jeff Slater

I love this quote from Eugene Peterson:

“The churches of the Revelation show us that churches are not Victorian parlors where everything is always picked up and ready for guests. They are messy family rooms. Entering a person’s house unexpectedly, we are sometimes met with a barrage of apologies. St. John does not apologize. Things are out of order, to be sure, but that is what happens to churches that are lived in. They are not show rooms. They are living rooms, and if the persons living in them are sinners, there are going to be clothes scattered about, handprints on the woodwork, and mud on the carpet. For as long as Jesus insists on calling sinners and not the righteous to repentance – and there is no indication as yet that he has changed his policy in that regard – churches are going to be an embarrassment to the fastidious and an affront to the upright.”

h/t Mike Cope

Posted in Sinners

Settle Matters Quickly…

Feb26
2008 8 Comments Written by Jeff Slater

“If a brother or sister sins, go and point out the fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church…” (Matthew 18:15-17)

The wisdom of Jesus never ceases to amaze me. In just a couple of verses, He teaches us to handle conflict, bring about reconciliation, and build unity. When you have a problem with someone, go to that person and work it out (in Matthew 5, He tells us to take care of it before we go to worship). Then, if they two of you just can’t work it out, get a few more people involved. And if that doesn’t work, as a last resort, take it before the church.

It is such a marvelous and effective plan to deal with conflict. So why don’t we do it? Because its easier (and maybe more fun) to tell our spouse, or some friends, or even the elders. We can get them to sympathize with us, take our side, and tell us how wrong the other person is. Of course, the main problem with such an approach is that it is contrary to Scripture. But beyond that, it doesn’t seek to solve the problem (and will likely make it worse). It is mean, underhanded, cowardly and divisive.

Conflict is inevitable. We must choose how we will deal with it. My advice is to follow the direction of Jesus, and “Settle matters quickly…”(Matthew 5:25).

Posted in Conflict

I’m Back!

Nov08
2007 5 Comments Written by Jeff Slater

My site has been down for several days as my hosting company had some server trouble.

Big News…..

Last Sunday night I had the opportunity to preach at the Ashland Christian Church.  In the interest of promoting unity among Restoration Movement churches, they asked me to be one of the speakers at their Fall Revival.  It was a great experience, and I’m thankful for their invitation — and that my elders gave me their blessing.

Posted in Christian Church, Church of Christ, Restoration Movement

No Whining!

Oct17
2007 5 Comments Written by Jeff Slater

Trey Morgan has written an excellent piece about complainers in the church. With his kind permission, I share it with you:

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SPIRITUAL TEMPER TANTRUMS

1 Peter 2:2-3 “Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.”

What a great picture for those whiny Christians, who are in every church in America. They wear their spiritual feelings on their sleeves and whine about everything. Churches just can’t ever seem to get everything perfect enough for them and so they are never happy.

  • The worship arrangements are just not what they think they should be.
  • They have never liked one single preacher the church has ever hired.
  • They are the ones that constantly cry, “So-in-so hurt my feelings (or did something I didn’t like) so I’m just going to quit coming to church.”
  • “But we’ve never done it like this before.”
  • They whine, “I don’t like the decision the church leaders made about this, so I’m withholding my contribution to show my displeasure.”

Come on people, it’s one thing for my six year old son to occasionally show his immaturity and stomp his feet or fall in the floor and throw a fit because he’s not getting his way. But when you’re an adult and STILL showing your spiritual immaturity by stomping your feet and saying, “Fine, you’re not my friend anymore, and I’m not playing with you again” something is wrong.

Unfortunately, churches everywhere are spending too much of their time trying to deal with these “two year old” adults and their spiritual temper-tantrums, instead of trying to reach the lost around them. When will we catch on that God says it’s about unity, growing up and becoming mature spiritual adults.

So my advice to those adults who are continually throwing these spiritual temper-tantrums because something isn’t the way you like it, is the same advice I tell my little boy when he throws a fit … “Grow up, you’re acting like a big baby.”

By Trey Morgan

treymorgan.net

Posted in Complaining, Maturity, Whining

October is Pastor Appreciation Month

Oct05
2007 2 Comments Written by Jeff Slater

This is a repost from last year.

For those of you who are not aware, October is Pastor Appreciation Month.  Don’t know what to do for your Pastor or Minister?  Here are some suggestions from the Pastors Retreat Network:

12 Ways to Appreciate Your Minister

 

When we look at our minister what do we see?  A spiritual giant?  Someone who can go it alone?  Someone who works a day and a half a week?  A servant of the congregation? Someone who does it all? 

 

The truth is that ministers are real people with real families, dreams, needs, desires and gifts.  And like all of us, they shine best in situations where they are appreciated and supported.  Here are a dozen ways you can bring out the best in your minister:

 

  • Write a note of appreciation.
  • Pray for your minister regularly.
  • Stop the rumor mill.
  • Invite him out to lunch, golfing, or some other shared interest, without an agenda.
  • Offer to babysit the kids so your Pastor and his spouse can have an evening together, even better, offer them a gift certificate to a restaurant they enjoy.
  • Honor his day off – allow time for rest, personal renewal and family time.
  • In times of loss, offer sympathy, care and practical help.
  • Consider holidays and other family days – if the minister is far from their family of origin, invite them to your celebration – no strings attached.
  • Ask him how you can help and then follow through.
  • Tell him what you’ve learned from their sermon.
  • Go to http://parsonage.org/cam/index.cfm for ideas on how to celebrate your minister during Pastor Appreciation Month.
  • Consider a sabbatical time for your minister and find a way to provide one as needed.

    • Posted in Pastor

    Just Call Me Jeff

    Aug30
    2007     13 Comments Written by Jeff Slater

    I am a Preacher… Evangelist… Minister… Pastor.

    I was confronted with this dilemma over the past few days. Reporters from two different newspapers came out to interview me about our new building. They both (along with the photographer from one paper) referred to me as Pastor. The first reporter did specifically ask about my title, and I said it is Preaching Minister. But I suspect that both papers will refer to me as Pastor when the articles come out. And that’s fine with me.

    If you know anything about the Churches of Christ, you know that we don’t call our preachers ‘Pastor’. We believe that the title of Pastor belongs to those who serve as elders (sometimes preachers also serve as elders, but not very often). In most other churches, the preacher is the Pastor — which explains why everyone outside of our church refers to me by that title.

    Why do we make a big deal out of this? Some will say it is because we need to call Bible things by Bible names. That’s fine, but we don’t do that in a lot of other areas. Every week I hear people talk about “going to church.” You can’t go to church — the church is the people! We don’t seem to get too bent out of shape about that inaccurate statement. We call the Sunday assembly the “worship service.” You’ll never find it called that in Scripture. Why don’t we get upset about that? What about Sunday School? I’m sure you can think of more.

    Here’s the point: I don’t think it’s unbiblical to refer to our preachers as “Pastors”. Most preachers/ministers I know certainly do a lot of pastoring. Rather than an official title, “Pastor” is a descriptive term — like “Preacher” or “Minister.” Thus, whether you call me a Pastor, a Minister, a Preacher, a Preaching Minister, or a Teaching Pastor — you are correct! However, I don’t think it would be correct (Biblically) to refer to me as an “Evangelist.” It seems to me that refers to someone who goes from place to place preaching and establishing churches rather than someone who settles in and works with one church exclusively.

    Lest you think I’m hung up on titles, whenever someone asks “Should I call you Minister or Pastor or Reverend or…..?” I always respond by saying, “Just call me Jeff.”

    Posted in Church of Christ, Pastor, Titles

    Christian or Church-Goer???

    May16
    2007     Leave a Comment Written by Jeff Slater

    Check out This Video.

    So….. Were you amused, convicted, or both?

    Posted in Christianity, General
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