Marc Estes

Over the past few years I have posted some resource tools that are designed to help you in becoming a more effective leader. These items have been very popular and I have received many encouraging emails as to how they have helped others. I thought it would be good to put the list in front of you and allow you to download as many FREE resources as you want.

Let me know which ones have been a blessing to you!

FREE Downloadable Leadership Notes

Connecting to Community – Web Verison

Building a Thriving Team Culture – Web Version

Building a Leadership Pipeline – Web Version

Keys to a successful Volunteer Ministry- Web Version

Destroying Disabling Delusions of Discipleship – Web Version

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Combatting Perspectives of the Church – web

 

FREE Evangelism Resources

Irresistible Christianity Handbook

The Road Ahead Follow Up Booklet

Sharing the Gospel in the 21st Century – web version

 

FREE Pastoral Resources

Counseling in the Local Church

Water Baptism Booklet

FREE Self Assessment Tests

Identifying Your Spiritual Gifts

Defining Your Passions

Clarifying Your Talents and Abilities

Learning About Your Personal Makeup

Discerning Your Spiritual Maturity

Making Sense of Your Life Experiences

Making Priority Adjustments

 

FREE Downloadable Charts

Leader Development Chart BLANK

Leader Development Chart EXAMPLE

Growth Strategies Chart

Small Group Personal Growth and Development Chart

FREE Downloadable Miscellaneous Leadership Documents

Leadership Recruitment Code of Ethics

ENGAGEMENT READINESS EVALUATION

Most of us avoid conflict at all costs. First of all, it is no fun. Secondly, our natural tendency is to avoid confrontation. However, avoiding conflict will not solve the issue at hand, but will only multiply it.  The reality is, sooner or later, you will have to face the situation, and facing it early on in it’s conception will greatly reduce the potential of an all out war.

Here are some things you migh consider the next time you have to confront a situation or person:

1. Confront in private, not in public – Don’t create a scene, or embarrass someone. Have some wisdom and find a quiet place.

2. Don’t delay – The longer you wait, the harder it becomes and the easier it is to justify why you should leave it alone -

3. Deal only with a single iusse – Don’t bring a laundry list and attempt to address every issue that is on your mind. It may be overwhelming.

4. Don’t repeat yourself – Unless they didn’t hear what was being said, avoid be redundant. Most people comprehend the issues being presented.

5. Be careful of the words you use -  Don’t be condescending and don’t exaggerate of overstate your issues.

6.  Don’t confront issues that a person can’t change – There are some issues beyond a persons ability to control. Be sensitive to the battles you choose to face.

7.  Avoid demeaning or tearing the person down -  Talk to the person, don’t talk down to the person.

8. Help direct the person to acknowledging their problem by asking open ended questions -  You might consider asking questions that cause them to own the problem.

9. Don’t apologize for being truthful – Being sheepish will only minimize the truth that you are trying to communicate.

10. End on a positive note -  Reaffirm your support, thank them for listening and communicate your commitment to forgive and move forward.

Over the past few months our church has been investigating ways in which we might assist in combating the child sex trafficking in the Portland/Vancouver area.  Our city has been nicknamed, “Pornland” by Dan Rathers and has become one of the highest areas for sex trafficking in the entire United States.

Our journey has begun, by making a commitment to get involved and use our influence and resources to make a difference. On Sunday evening, August 15th, Pastor Frank presented our passion and commitment to get involved to the congregation at our Super Sunday Night. We asked our congregation to consider getting invovled in five different areas:

1. Commitment to Pray – We handed out thousands of prayer cards and asked people to pray. Over 300 people committed to pray daily for the cause.

2. Purchase a Care Package for Victims – Emergency Care Kits are available to any women who come into a S.A.R.C. drop in center.  Their need consisted of approximately 200 care packages for a year. We were able to commit to purchasing 246 Care Kits, thanks to the generosity of the CBC family.

3. Purchase Quilts – During the winter, most of these young girls are cold and need bedding to assist with their circumstance. The annual need is for 100 quilts. We were able to raise the money to purchase 127 quilts!

4. General Donations – We asked the congregation to donate money toward developing a ministry base in which we might be able to begin attacking the problem. The church raised over $1400 with many more commitments.

5. Volunteer to serve – Almost 200 people stepped up to the plate and made the commitment to serve in some capacity.

I am so proud of our church and their passion and commitment toward those in need. We truly do have a heart for the city and desire to make a difference.  If you are interested in helping us, you can also donate to help with the cause simply by clicking here, and selecting the ”Fight Sex Trafficking” category.

Here is a recent video that was also posted on Facebook, by a close friend, Tanell Morton. It will give you a fresh perspective at the challenges ahead.

This is one fact that is for sure; life is filled with challenges and problems.  We all have a desired outcome to each day in which we live, but often times there are ‘surprises’ that come our way that may detour our desired plans and goals. Much of the outcome of a potential problem lies in our ability to discern, assess and resolve the situation promptly.  A leader is not measure by the challenges they face, but their respsonse to them!

The Los Angeles Times ran a quote that stated, “If you can smile whenever something goes wrong, you are either a nitwit, or a repair man.” I prefer the second option.  Realizing the only problem you really have is the one you allow to be a problem due to the wrong response to the issue at hand. Problems are really opportunities in the making. If God is truly in control of all things, He must have caused or allowed the situation to evolve and has a purpose in it.  The list of reasons could be endless.

Here would be a few thoughts that might help you next time an ‘opportunity’ comes your way:

1.   Intuition: You must sense it before you actually see it – There are a variety of factors that will allow you to sense that a potential challenge is on the horizon.  Slow down long enough to recognize unusual changes unfolding right in front of you.

2.  Discernment:  Ask yourself some honest questions – Believing the best in every situation is a noble position to take, but it can also end up in disaster. Face the brutal facts, don’t ignore or minimize the challenge at hand. Look at it objectively and discern what is unfolding and where it might potentially end up. Look at your options.

3.  Investigate: Gather important information – You will never make an intelligent decision without intelligent information. Get the facts and write them down.

4.  Evaluate: List all of the potential outcomes and all the potential choices and solutions you might choose. Look to God’s Word for scriptures that apply to your situation.

5. Feedback: Present the options to those you respect – Get outside input; there is wisdom in a multitude of counsel.

6.  Process: Develop a written action plan – Sit down and take the time to list the process for change. Include the who, when, what and where to insure that you are making the changing in a strategic manner.

7. Lead: Activate the plan – Don’t be wishy-washy in implementing that which you know is best. Procrastination is the devil’s workshop.

The next time you are faced with a problem that has the potential of ruining you day, head it off at the pass!

I am once again overwhelmed with the urgent need to let a world know that Christ loves them. There are thousands that drive by the coffee shop as I type, many who are in desperate need of a savior.  I am forever grateful for what God has done for me and in me. I am passionate about serving Him and His cause due to His amazing grace at work in my life.  I am sure you feel the same.

Unfortunately 95% of Christians will not share their faith. This surprising statistic should be the catalyst for each of us to really assess our daily opportunity to share the best news ever. Most of us have the desire to share, but simply get busy or our deterred by fear or intimidation. However, there is an incredible joy that is released when we break through the barriers of silence and share with those that need Him.

I wanted to resurrect seven important posts from over four years ago, and challenge you to take the seven day challenge. Read one post a day, pray about the principles and ask God to activate these truths in your life. I would trust that you might be more fruitful in sharing your faith next week. Here they are:

Day 1: Building Relationship is the Key.

Day 2: Be an Example

Day 3: Be Aware of Your Enemy

Day 4: Fervently Pray

Day 5: Meet their Needs

Day 6: Be Ready when the Opportunity Comes

Day 7: Have Faith

 

I am sitting alone in Lake Tahoe at Alpen Sierra House sipping a fresh cup of hot coffee thoroughly enjoying my first day of summer vacation. I am not alone because I have no friends, it is just what I do while I wait for the rest of the family to wake up at the ‘crack of nine.’  I am reading one of my new magazines that I have wanted to read, but have had little time, and came across a statement that really got my attention.

Charles Swindoll is quoted from a conference saying, “One of my greatest goals in life is to live long enough to where I am in the pulpit, preaching my heart out, and I die on the spot, my chin hits the pulpit – BOOM! – and I am down and out.  What a way to die!”  Let that one germinate in y0ur thinker for a moment. Where is this guy coming from? Great goal in life? What about climbing Mount Everest or sailng around the world, or going on a safari, or even riding your bike in the Tour deFrance? But hitting your chin on the pulpit while preaching and dying?

I gulp another cup of my depth charge and sit back and realize, “Here is a guy that I can relate to. Maybe I am not crazy. Maybe it is o.k. to think about God and church all day long (obviously in between surges of thoughts and emotions about my great wife, kids and grand kids).  Maybe being passionate all the time about something purposeful is not an indictment on your refusal  to read Louie Lamore books on vacation (what is the point?). Some might call it being a work-a-holic, I might just choose to call it passion for God’s kingdom.

Don’t get me wrong; I am going to go to the beach, hang out with the wife, kids and grandkids and LOVE every second of it. I am passionate about my family. We are going to build sandcastles, go on hikes, play Marco Polo, and I will even let them win…most of the time. It is possible to have a passion for your family and ministry; they don’t have to conflict. In addition, recreation and relaxation have their place and finding balance is a true to key to ministry longevity.  But having a constant flow of passion pumping through your veins is not all that bad, in fact in might just be God.

Ralph Waldo Emerson said quite poignantly, “A man is what he thinks about all day long.” The inference here is that what you are passionate about is exactly the thing you have the greatest potential of becoming.

God intended passion to be all-consuming, “[Not in your own strength] for it is God Who is all the while effectually at work in you [energizing and creating in you the power and desire], both to will and to work for His good pleasure and satisfaction and delight” (Phil. 2:13, AMP). God intended all-consuming passion to be for His good pleasure and delight. Passion is and must remain God-centered and God-focused.

So where is your passion focused? That passion you have for golf … where is it leading you? What about your passion for success … is it for God’s good pleasure and delight, or your own?

Passion directed by God is an unstoppable force. But make no mistake, the devil conspires to arrest your passion and redirect it to futile motives. Passion that isn’t carefully understood for its motive and regularly monitored for its effect has the potential to send anyone, even the most disciplined person, careening off course. This detour is, at minimum, a distraction and, in some cases, quite devastating.

John Maxwell said, “One of the greatest sins we commit against God is not reaching the potential he has placed in us.” Every person has been chosen, then given a purpose and a measure of passion. How you direct your passion in everyday life will greatly determine whether you are successful in fulfilling your purpose. Like a sharp knife in your kitchen drawer, passion can be extremely helpful or extremely harmful. It must be carefully directed and used for its intended purpose.

For many, being able to articulate a passion may be difficult, even though most of us have pursued our passions in some form or another. But have you ever taken time to define how God made you or to assess how your passions play a role in your overall makeup? Finding this important component just might be the thing that will propel you to a life of fruitfulness and fulfillment.

Well… my coffee is almost gone, and it is off to the beach.  It is going to be a great day.