Marc Estes

I was forwarded a story regarding a true hero of defending our country and should have some honor and recognition. This is truly a REAL man! I personally think, these are the stories that should take the “Top Story” or “Breaking News” of our News stations for sure.

The actions of Captain Ed Freeman were well documented in Hal Moore’s book “We Were Soldiers Once, and Young” about an intense battle described below and how be risked his life for the sake of others. It was the first major battle between the US Army and the North Vietnamese Army and took place in the La Drang Valley. I hope this story challenges you to consider possessing a heart to risk your life for the sake of others. Jesus did!

You’re a 19 year old kid. You’re critically wounded and dying in the jungle somewhere in the Central Highlands of Viet Nam.

It’s November 11, 1967. Your unit is outnumbered 8-1 and the enemy fire is so intense from 100 yards away, that your Commanding Officer has ordered the Med-Evac helicopters to stop coming in. You’re lying there, listening to the enemy machine guns and you know you’re not getting out.

Your family is half way around the world, 12,000 miles away, and you’ll never see them again. As the world starts to fade in and out, you know this is the day.

Then – over the machine gun noise – you faintly hear that sound of a helicopter.
You look up to see a Huey coming in. But,  it doesn’t seem real because no Med-Evac markings are on it.

Captain Ed Freeman is coming in for you. He’s not Med-Evac so it’s not his job, but he heard the radio call and decided he’s flying his Huey down into the machine gun fire anyway, even after the Med-Evacs were ordered not to come. He’s coming anyway. And he drops it in and sits there in the machine gun fire, as they load 3 of you at a time on board. Then he flies you up and out through the gunfire to the doctors and nurses and safety. And, he kept coming back!! 13 more times!
Until all the wounded were out. No one knew until the mission was over that the Captain had been hit 4 times in the legs and left arm. He took 29 of you and your buddies out that day. Some would not have made it without the Captain and his Huey.

Medal of Honor Recipient, Captain Ed Freeman, United States Air Force, died last Wednesday, 12-14-2011, at the age of 70, in Boise, Idaho. May God Bless and Rest His Soul.

Medal of Honor Winner Captain Ed Freeman, we honor you and thank you for risking your life for others and your country. You are a REAL man!

This year will mark my 51st Christmas. Over the past half of a century, I have had many memorable moments. I vividly remember hitting a parked car on my brand new bike at age six; that was definitely memorable. I also remember the time throwing up at my Aunt’s house from eating too much fudge and peanuts; yep, that was a memory. I also reflect back on all the special moments with my children being snowed in at Lake Tahoe, sharing those precious moments as a young family; definitely memorable. But this year will have to go on record as the the Christmas that I will remember for a lifetime.

Last summer, our church decided to take Christmas to a different level. We dreamed, “What would it be like to bring Christmas to over 1,000 children, who may not have a Christmas due to their difficult life circumstances?”  The dream was turned into an action plan led by Melissa Vogel and Dot Tobey, and these two incredible ladies raised over $40,000 in gifts, donations and food to serve hundreds of families in need.

Yesterday, the dream became reality as we hosted our First Annual Live Love Christmas. 280 volunteers showed and transformed our lobby and gymnasium into a huge shopping center, complete with shopping aisles, wrapping centers, hospitality section and places for people to sit and enjoy special music.  Parents came in and shopped for over 1,000 kids. (See TV News video below).

The day was filled with tears of joy and gratefulness  as families filled their bags with toys for their children. We also gave out fifteen bikes to specially selected families, who were overwhelmed with the reality that their child would receive their Christmas wish. I wish I could publish the incredible stories that unfolded throughout the day, but the list would be too long. Needless to say, many life changing moments took place throughout the day.

Presents were all donated by  KGW TV, Zing Toys, Toys for Tots, KOHL’S Department stores and many private business people. Starbucks and Panera Cares supplied all the coffee and pastries. CBC members donated wrapping paper, and we even were given 150 Christmas Trees  for any family needing a tree.

After two days of set up, thirty hours on my feet, a steady diet of cookies, coffee and pizza, I have to say this will be a Christmas to remember.  I do understand that the actual day of Christmas is still a few days a way,  but I have to confess, I feel like I already had the best Christmas ever. Living to give, not to get is the best way to spend Christmas. We are already dreaming of our next Live Love Christmas. Hope you will be a part, or start a Live Love Christmas in your town!

Creation itself show the genius of God. You can see it all around you, but if you look closely, you can even see it right in front of you in the things you put in your mouth.

Here are some interesting thoughts that may inspire you to believe more in the Genius of God as well as maybe eat a little healthier!

• A sliced Carrot looks like the human eye. The pupil, iris and radiating lines look just like the human eye… And YES, science now shows carrots greatly enhance blood flow to and function of the eyes.
• A Tomato has four chambers and is red. The heart has four chambers and is red. All of the research shows tomatoes are loaded with lycopine and are indeed pure heart and blood food.
• Grapes hang in a cluster that has the shape of the heart. Each grape looks like a blood cell and all of the research today shows grapes are also profound heart and blood vitalizing food.
• A Walnut looks like a little brain, a left and right hemisphere, upper cerebrums and lower cerebellums. Even the wrinkles or folds on the nut are just like the neo-cortex. We now know walnuts help develop more than three (3) dozen neuron-transmitters for brain function.
• Kidney Beans actually heal and help maintain kidney function and yes, they look exactly like the human kidneys.
• Celery, Bok Choy, Rhubarb and many more look just like bones. These foods specifically target bone strength. Bones are 23% sodium and these foods are 23% sodium If you don’t have enough sodium in your diet, the body pulls it from the bones, thus making them weak. These foods replenish the skeletal needs of the body.
• Avocados, Eggplant and Pears target the health and function of the womb and cervix of the female – they look just like these organs. Today’s research shows that when a woman eats one avocado a week, it balances hormones, sheds unwanted birth weight, and prevents cervical cancers. And how profound is this? It takes exactly nine (9) months to grow an avocado from blossom to ripened fruit. There are over 14,000 photolytic chemical constituents of nutrition in each one of these foods (modern science has only studied and named about 141 of them).
• Figs are full of seeds and hang in twos when they grow. Figs increase the mobility of male sperm and increase the numbers of Sperm as well to overcome male sterility.
• Onions look like the body’s cells. Today’s research shows onions help clear waste materials from all of the body cells. They even produce tears which wash the epithelial layers of the eyes. A working companion, Garlic, also helps eliminate waste materials and dangerous free radicals from the body.
• Olives assist the health and function of the ovaries
• Oranges, Grapefruits, and other Citrus fruits look just like the mammary glands of the female and actually assist the health of the breasts and the movement of lymph in and out of the breasts.
• Sweet Potatoes look like the pancreas and actually balance the glycemic index of diabetics.

The following is a guest post from Jon Gordon. For those of you who have not had the privilege of being introduced to his books, blog and articles, you may want to take a few minutes and acquaint yourself with his great leadership insights. You will also really enjoy his newest book, The Seed: Finding Purpose and Happiness in Life and Work. Please enjoy the post and you can find more information about him and his materials at the end of this post.

Failing Forward

By Jon Gordon
Like most people, I have failed more times than I care to remember. I’ve struck out playing baseball, I’ve failed to win the client, I’ve lost the big opportunity at work, I’ve had to close two of my restaurants, I lost my race for city council of Atlanta when I was 26, I was fired once, I was once a month away from bankruptcy, I was initially rejected by over 100 publishers, I’ve made mistakes as a parent and boss and the list goes on and on and on.
Yet, when I look back, I realize that every failure has moved me forward. Every failure taught me a lesson and made me stronger, wiser and better. I failed many times but I failed forward (I first heard this term from John Maxwell).
Failing to win a client taught me what not to do so I could start winning more business. Shutting-down restaurants taught me to be smarter about picking the right locations. Losing the race for city council led to me leaving Atlanta, moving to the beach in Florida and doing the work I do now.

I’ve realized that sometimes we have to lose a goal to find our destiny. Sometimes we have to fail to move forward.

I know some of you might be saying, “Well that’s you Jon. You’re just lucky. It doesn’t work that way in my life. You have no idea what failure has done to me.” I hear these comments often and I always respectfully disagree.

I believe there are two kinds of people in the world: those who fail and those who fail forward. We all fail but what we do with our failures is our choice. At any moment we can stop being someone who fails and become someone who fails forward.

Through each challenge and failure we must stay hopeful and know that failure always leads to a better future if we have an attitude of faith, are open to the possibilities and trust that new and exciting opportunities are coming our way. We have to look at failure not as a dead end but rather as a detour to a better outcome than we could have ever imagined.
If you are experiencing a failure right now at work or home, please know that you are not alone. If you haven’t failed, you haven’t lived. It’s time to ask what you can learn from your failure. What is it teaching you about yourself and your team?

Don’t be afraid to fail; just make the choice to fail forward. Use it to learn, grow and become the you who you were meant to be.

About Jon Gordon:

This post is a guest post by Jon Gordon. Jon is the Wall Street Journal and international bestselling author of a number of books including The Energy Bus: 10 Rules to Fuel Your Life, Work and Team with Positive Energy, and his latest, The Seed: Finding Purpose and Happiness in Life and Work. Learn more at www.JonGordon.com. Follow Jon on Twitter @JonGordon11 or Facebook www.facebook.com/jongordonpage.

I received an email today regarding from Chuck Colson, who I admire greatly.  He is a sharp thinker and has spent much of his latter years discussing dangerous cultural trends that have an impact on our country. This one issue, was one worth passing forward.  I am saddened at the decline of our educational institutions and their lack of knowledge or concern regarding issues that affect the lives of those they are called to educate. On the other hand, I am excited about the few that are willing to stand up and say that, “Enough is enough!”  This is truly one of those articles that will make you  mad AND glad at the same time. In my personal opinion; Yale University has taken their liberties way too far! You can quote me on that!

So Long, Sex Week at Yale?
Students Fight Back

November 29, 2011

The older I get, the more I realize my need for nothing… but one thing; to live life beyond myself.  I might not be a quick learner, but have now recognized that satisfaction that comes when I give something away. Don’t get me wrong, I do have that temporary carnal nature that likes the new shirt, TV or car, but the reality is, the pleasure of the ‘new thing’ quickly fades into the abyss with the appetite for something else to fill the carnal void. I guess Solomon had it right when he said, “All is vanity.”

I came across a great story that will make you laugh as well as challenge you as to your heart concerning giving vs. receiving. I hope you enjoy it. But most of all, I hope it challenges you to think about giving yourself away for the sake of others!

There was a little five year old boy named Benjamin, who had begged his parents for a new bike for Christmas ever since the summer. Every time it was brought up, his parents would tell him maybe for Christmas. It was now bedtime on Christmas Eve, the cookies and milk were neatly placed by the fireplace for Santa, and one last scan across the living room brought disappointment to the boy’s hope, as no bike, or large box was by the tree. His parents tucked him in and prayed with him. Once they left the room, he went over to his desk, turned on the lamp and began writing his letter to put out by the fireplace next to the cookies. “Dear God, I’ve been a very good boy…”  He stopped, thinking, “No God knows everything, He won’t believe that.” He wadded up the paper through it on the ground and started on a new piece of paper. “Dear God, most of the time, I have been a pretty good boy…” He paused and thought again, “No this won’t move God’s heart,” so he wadded the paper and chucked it on the ground as well.  Then he had the perfect idea. He ran into his bathroom grabbed a terry cloth towel, a shoe string from his closet and snuck down into the living room and laid it out on carefully on the couch. He then went over to the mantle, reached up very carefully and grabbed the little statue of Mary in His mom’s manger scene,  wrapped it up, ran back up to his room and hid it under his bed. He then went back to writing his letter, “Dear God… if you EVER want to see your mother again… you had better cough up a bike!”

Last night as I crawled into bed, I was acutely aware of the 60,000 people who were stuck on the freeway, frothing at the mouth to get to the Woodburn Outlet Malls. Traffic was backed up for miles in hopes of each person getting the deal of the day. It would be 3 a.m. before many would even get out of their cars and find a place to park!  If that isn’t enough to inspire you to save fifty bucks on a pair of Nikes, how about the family that has been camping at Best Buy for over a week, to insure their place to save a few hundred bucks on a big screen TV. I figured out the math on how much it must have cost him in food and loss wages, and he could have bought one at full retail in each room of his house for about the same amount of money!

Over 139 Million Americans ventured out in the dark night for the big deal to kick off the official Christmas buying season, where we will eventually spend $439 Billion in the next thirty days, the size of the Gross National Product of many nations. The average American will go in debt over $739.00 just to insure the each loved one receives that special gift for the holiday.

Please understand, I am a real softy for the Christmas season. I truly enjoy buying that special gift for each person that has a place in my heart. But do you think we just might have be missing the reason for the season just a little bit? Does Santa and His Sleigh really need to take such a predominate role, or should we be looking for ways to really bring back the true meaning of the season.

Here is a  humorous study that was done, that will help all you faithful Santa-ites adjust your priotities a little. PLEASE don’t let the little kids read this as I don’t want to ruin their belief in the big bellied, jolly ol’ fellow:

Engineers Take the Fun out of Christmas

There are approximately two billion children (persons under 18) in the world.  However, since Santa does not visit children of Muslim, Hindu, Jewish, or Buddhist (except maybe in Japan) religions, this reduces the workload for Christmas night to 15% of the total, or 378 million (according to the population in reference bureau).  At an average (census) rate of 3.5 children per household; that comes to 108 million homes, presuming there is at least one good child in each.  Santa has about 31 hours of Christmas to work with, thanks to the different time zones and the rotation of the earth.  This works out to 967.7 visits per second.  This is to say that for each Christian household with a good child, Santa has around 1/1000^th of a second to park the sleigh, hop out, jump down the chimney, jump into the sleigh and get onto the next house.  Assuming that each of these 108 million stops is evenly distributed around the earth (which of course, we know to be false, but will accept for the ! purposes of our calculations), we are now talking about .78 miles per household; a total trip of 75.5 million miles, not counting bathroom stops or breaks.  This means Santa’s sleigh is moving at 650 miles per second—3,000 times the speed of sound.  For purposes of comparison, the fastest man-made vehicle, the Ulysses space probe, moves at a poky 27.4 miles per second, and a conventional reindeer can run (at best) 15 miles per hour.

The payload of the sleigh adds another interesting element.  Assuming that each child gets nothing more than a medium sized LEGO set (two pounds), the sleigh is carrying over 500 thousand tons, not counting Santa himself.

On land, a conventional reindeer can pull no more than 300 pounds.  Even granting that the “flying” reindeer can pull 10 times the normal amount, the job can’t be done by eight or even nine of them-Santa would need 360,000 of them.  This increases the payload, not counting the weight of the sleigh, another 54,000 tons, or roughly seven times the weight of the Queen Elizabeth (the ship, not the monarch).  A mass of nearly 600,000 tons traveling at 650 miles per second creates enormous air resistance-this would heat up the reindeer in the same fashion as a spacecraft re-entering the earth’s atmosphere.  The lead pair of reindeer would absorb 14.3 quintillion joules of energy per second each.  In short, they would burst into flames almost instantaneously, exposing the reindeer behind them and creating deafening sonic booms in their wake.  The entire reindeer team would be vaporized within 4/26 thousandths of a second, or right about the time Santa reached the fifth house on his trip.  Not that it matters, however, since Santa as a result of accelerating from a dead stop to 650 miles per second, in .001 seconds, would be subjected to acceleration forces of 17,000g’s.  A 250 pound Santa (which seems ludicrously slim considering all the high calorie snacks he must have consumed over the years) would be pinned to the back of the sleigh by 4,315,015 pounds of force, instantly crushing his bones and organs and reducing him to a quivering blob of pink goo.

Therefore, if Santa did exist, He’s dead now.

Ho, Ho Ho, Have a Merry Christmas! AND Don’t forget about the real reason for the season. Jesus came for you and me as the ultimate gift from a God who loves us!

Well, the leaves are falling from the trees, the nights are growing longer and the cool brisk air seems to think it is time to hang around a while. With Thanksgiving just a few weeks away, the retail giants have chosen to inch their marketing madness upon us a few weeks earlier. Maybe in a few  years we just might be seeing sleigh bells in August? At any rate Ho, Ho Ho is already here, here here!

For many this is a time to get excited about what you might get for Christmas. I remember as a child dreaming for months about the endless treasures that would soon be laid up under the tree for me to devour. Lego’s, GI Joe seem to always be at the top of the list. Oh, how I remember the thoughts and emotions associated with this time.

The older I get, the more I realize, life is really about what you give, not what you get. The joy has seem to have shifted 180 degrees in the opposite direction. I seem to catch myself dreaming about what I can give away, how I can bless another person to make their life a little easier. After all, what do I need another shirt, sweater or???

So this year, I am looking forward to working with a few amazing people to bring Christmas to over 1000 under-privileged children. We are spending hours looking for people to donate presents, volunteer and make the season a memorable one for many families. On December 22nd at our Rocky Butte Campus, we will convert our auditorium into a FREE toy store.  Parents will be able to come and select presents for their kids, wrap them and take them home with a sense of dignity and joy.

If you are looking to give and not get this year, you might consider getting involved with us and get excited about Ho, Ho, Ho already! If you know someone in need that you would like to refer for free gifts or would like more information to get involved just go to our:

LIVE.LOVE Movement  site.

Lets make this memorable for others and in turn, make it memorable for yourself.

The Great Commission is a mandate that is understood by most Christian leaders and embraced as one of the Church’s main responsibilities. However, there continues to be colossal gap between the principle and the practice.  The reality of hell and the implications of not sharing seem to get lost in the midst of all of life’s challenges, pressure points and other priorities. There is a desperate need for a significant shift in taking ownership of our mandate and making important adjustments so that we might share the Good News with a world that is in desperate need of Him.

The Great Commission is our mandate. A mandate is simply, “An authoritative command to act in a particular way, toward a critical end.” Stated another way, it is, “An order given by God that must be obeyed without question or delay.” There must be some significant shifts in our lives if we are to move from believing to behaving. Jesus didn’t over complicate it, he made it quite simple. We should do the same.  Here are six simple, yet profound steps you can take to align your life to behaving as you should:

#1 Pray It

Our confession: “Our consistent and fervent prayers focus on reaching those in need of Jesus.”  

Colossians 4:3-4 NIV  And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. ⁴ Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.

Here are some important, yet practical pray points to pray as a leader:

• a.    Pray daily that God would change your heart toward the lost.
• b.    Pray daily that God would give you daily divine appointments. 
• c.     Pray daily for 7-10 relatives and friends that need Christ.  
• d.    Pray for the church to reach the metro area.
• e.    Pray for unsaved in every leader meeting.  
• f.     Encourage others to pray the same.

 #2 Believe It

Our Confession: “We believe our mandate to be true, trusted and worthy to be acted upon.”  

Mark 9:23 Everything is possible for those who believe.

Mark 11:24 whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.  

#3 Live It

Our confession:  “Our beliefs become our behaviors. Our principles become our practices.” 

Acts 8:4 Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.

James 1:22MSG Don’t fool yourself into thinking that you are a listener when you are anything but, letting the Word go in one ear and out the other. Act on what you hear!

#4 Preach It

Our confession: “Our speech is filled with a passion and urgency to fulfill our mandate.” 

Acts 10:42 He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead.

Romans 10:14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?

#5 Plan It

Our confession: “Our strategies reflect our mandate and carried out through our time, energy and resources.”

 Here are some planning suggestions:

• Block out some time to prayerfully consider how you might add a Mandate emphasis to all aspects of your ministry.
• Develop an annual outreach plan for your specific area of ministry.
• Consider how you might add an outreach component to existing programs and events.

#6 Reproduce It

Our confession: “The fulfillment of our mandate is evident in the multitudes that are passionately passing it on to others.”

2 timothy 2:2 And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.

 Here is a great video that will challenge you, it is worth the watch!

Over the past few decades there have been many attempts to redefine marriage.  These attempts have been both intentional by a few select groups, and somewhat unintentional by swinging trends of culture itself. I am a firm believer that marriage works! I have been happily married for over thirty-one years and have the privilege of observing hundreds of other marriages work successfully.

There was a study done recently by the Oregon Family Council regarding marriages in America. There findings were both surprising and encouraging.  In this study you will find out that marriage isn’t as bad as portrayed by the media. Divorces aren’t happening at the rate that is communicated in certain circles and that there are a huge amount of benefits that exist for those who choose to do relationships the ol’ fashion way; God’s way!

This report is worth downloading and worth the read. Take the thrity minutes to digest the content, it just might change your life!!

  CLICK HERE FOR:   Marriage in Society Report OFC 2011