Marc Estes

Once again, I wanted to give you a cool cut from my new book coming out soon, “What Now.” There is a cool section of my new book where I am addressing the area of personal make up. I am wanting the reader to understand that every person is made differently on purpose, and that we should be excited about how we are made and not disappointed. The following section has been edited down greatly, but I thought you might want to read the ‘raw’ version, straight from the horses mouth. My editor’s Cara and Tia, are two of the greatest and coolest editors on the planet, and did a great job. I just thought you might enjoy Marc’s long-winded approach to the story. Enjoy:

 

Your personal makeup influences everything you do! The way you think is filtered through your personal makeup. The decisions you make, the type of friends you hang out with, the mate you are attracted to, the type of career and position you pursue, all pass through the filter of your personal makeup.

 

The fact is we are all very different and unique in our own way, but our uniqueness is always to be appreciated and honored. Some people tend to be more task-focused, while others lean toward being people-focused. But either way, people have the same capacity to achieve greatness. Many are extroverts, many others are introverts. Male or female, young or old, short or tall—the dynamics of our personal makeup is unique to each of us. And those dynamics directly affect your perspective in life and your modus operandi.

Read more…

I thought it would be cool to let you have some clips from my new book, “WHAT NOW” that will not make it to the final book. In the chapter entitled, “Miracle Grow,” there was a cool story regarding the phenomenon of monster pumpkins to hit America.  The story below was a lead in to a section in the chapter.  Have fun while you read.  It won’t be in the book:A quirky phenomenon is taking root in rural America (actually, rural-everywhere) and it’s so exciting to horticulturists it has them buzzing around the farm every summer and fall like bees. Farmers armed with genetically juiced-up pumpkin seeds (dare we read engineered?), a months-long deluge of filtered water and a little blue fertilizer called “Miracle Gro®” are growing pumpkins the size of Honda Civics, all in the name of gamesmanship.  They plan for years in advance to win pumpkin growing contests as if they were raising thoroughbreds.  Pumpkin pedigrees matter.  From the time the female plant is pollinated, the baby pumpkin has a name. “Mighty Max.” “Gourdzilla.” “Big Bertha.” “Fertile Myrtle.”  They’re born for greatness and their name has to show it.

During the pumpkin’s youth, the farmer will “bond” with the fruit (I’m not making this up) by gently talking or singing to it, all the while reinforcing the pumpkin with words of affirmation because (duh), as everyone knows, pumpkins clearly need positive reinforcement to grow.  “You’re a good pumpkin, Hugo. If anyone can tip the scales, you can…remember, you come from a long line of champion pumpkins.”  As one pumpkin-doting website gingerly admonishes, “Don’t ever threaten your pumpkin or mention your doubts and disappointments within hearing range of the plant.  The mere mention of your disappointment of its growth rate can cause the growth to completely stop for a period of time.”  I digress.Come October, one of these behemoth beauties will win the coveted International Weighoff blue ribbon, everyone will celebrate—is that a banjo I hear in the background?—and begin making plans for next year.

In the past, these colossal gourds were widely heralded for tipping the scales at 1,000 pounds, but that number continues to grow. To date, the world record pumpkin is recorded to have reached 1,469 pounds (in 2005), but like spirited Olympians, with time, future contenders will top that number as well.  Their secret? Miracle Gro®.  This potent plant food is rich in chemicals and nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium young pumpkins need to bulk up.  It’s like a pumpkin steroid (but without all the stigma, shame, or embarrassing side-effects).  Although it’s completely legal and sold everywhere, Miracle Gro® has done for pumpkinry what BALCO did for baseball.

Everything that God has ever created was destined for growth—physical, that is.  But you and me, we’re different than the rest of creation.  We are created to grow both physically and spiritually.  It’s a vibrant, full and abundant miracle growth. Jesus himself said, “I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of.”  Unlike champion pumpkins, we don’t need added earthly substances to grow; we only need a hunger for what God has for us.  In fact, the absence of such amendments doesn’t make our spiritual growth any less miraculous but rather more so.  Our blueprint for spiritual growth is as alive as our blueprint for physical growth in our DNA but we have to feed our spirit properly.  Yes, God wants us to have healthy, growing natural bodies, but more importantly, He’s passionate about us growing our spiritual man.  God wants each of us to make spiritual growth, health and maturity one of the highest priorities of our life.

There are so many opinions flying out in society today regarding whether the church is really something we need or not. Many today feel they can get the “God-fix” just by hanging out in the woods, working in the yard, or just reading a good book on the back deck. Although, one might encounter God in each of these encounters, I would have to say that there are many other reasons why one might need a vibrant, life-giving local church experience in their life.

I think we do not only need the local church, but should love it! Jesus gave Himself for her. As Christians we might want to follow His example, as that is what the term ‘Christian’ means.

Rick Warren says, “A Christian without a church home is like an organ without a body, a sheep without a flock, or a child without a family. It is an unnatural state.”Without a local church, our lives are incomplete. You may have needs that aren’t being met through your local church, but God intends for it to provide the following needs:

• An environment of spiritual growth.
• An atmosphere of God’s presence.
• A place to belong to a genuine community.
• A family to help meet your needs.
• A place of covering and protection.
• A place for accountability and safety.
• A place for wisdom, direction, and counsel.
• A place to make a difference.
• An opportunity to pour your life into others.
• A safe atmosphere to raise families.
• A place to give of finances, time, and energy.

If you can think of anymore or would like to give me your thougths, let ‘er rip!  Marc

Pause for a moment and ask yourself these questions: “Do I love my local church?” “How passionately involved am I in both serving and supporting my local church?” Hopefully, these questions are more of an encouragement than an exhortation.

What if we were to ask Jesus the same questions today? “Jesus, do you love the Church?” Scripture answers that one quickly, “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” (Eph. 5:25, TNIV). Next question: “Jesus, how passionately are you involved in serving and supporting the local church?” Again, Scripture answers, “Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them” (Heb. 7:25, TNIV).

It seems pretty clear. Jesus died for the church, and He also lives, always interceding, for her. Jesus loves the Church. As a young boy at the age of twelve, Jesus’ parents thought He was lost, so they went on a massive search to find him. Three days later they found Him. Where? In the Jewish Temple! He said to them, “Why were you searching for me? Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” (Luke 2:49, TNIV). His answer states the obvious.
On many occasions Jesus referred to the Church as His bride. I have been to many weddings in my life, perhaps hundreds. While the crowd stares at the beautiful bride walking down the aisle, my eyes are set on the groom. Oftentimes he is crying, overwhelmed with emotion, as the love of his life walks down the aisle to be presented to him. As an illustration to help us attempt to comprehend Christ’s love for the Church, God compares it to a man’s love for his bride. In his book, Stop Dating the Church, Joshua Harris says, “Is it possible that God didn’t get His inspiration for loving the church from marriage, but the one reason He created marriage was to illustrate His love for the church? God invented romance and pursuit and the promise of undying love between man and woman so that throughout our lives we could catch a faint glimmer of the intense love Christ has for those He died to save. What a passion He has for His church. The strongest argument I know for why you and I should love and care about the church is that Jesus does.”