Marc Estes

This weekend marks a significant transition for the Estes family as we move our youngest son Kyle, to a very special place called New Hope Farms. For those of you who do not know, Susan and I adopted to developmentally disabled boys as babies who became a huge part of our lives. Over the past twenty-one years we have learned so much from these special boys and they have made us into better people. They truly our special boys. Kyle has now become a great young man and is excited about this next new season in his life.

Kyle has been with us for twenty years. Our saying at the house was, “Never a dull moment with Kyle.” Life was unpredictable. You never knew what would be taking place next and always expected the un-expectable. To be honest, the transition was much more emotional that I anticipated and am still trying to process just how quick those twenty years flew by. It seems like yesterday we brought this little brown-eyed boy home, and now he is off to the next chapter in his life. Here are the things I will miss:

I will miss the toilet flushing four to six times in a row every morning. I will miss the eighteen egg omelets. I will miss the lawn being mowed four times a week and sometimes just one strip down the middle. I will miss not missing all my tools. I will miss all of my shoe laces being used to make cardboard shields. I will miss the laughter as he switched between the History Channel and Sponge Bob. I will miss the flattened carpet where he layed every day and the oil stained hearth stones where he put his dirty feet. I will miss the empty channel changers as he would take all the batteries for his cutting edge DiscMan disc player. I will miss the mowed lots across the street and the tools that would mysteriously make their way to the makeshift forts and bunkers. I will definitely miss the circling of the home in rapid fashion while sporting a full faced helmet and make believe gun. I will miss whistling at the exit to Target and Walmart and him getting irritated with me for fooling people to think there was non scanned material in their bags.  And most of all I will miss tucking him in every night and praying with him for God’s protection and healing power to rest upon him. However, I do believe the twenty years of daily prayer over his life will continue to pay great dividends.

Life is full of transitions. Once again I realize that family and relationships are so important. Take the time to love those in your life. Don’t miss the moments as they will go by fast.

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

I received a blog post by Michael Hyatt today that was so good, I thought I would pass it on to those of you who don’t subscribe to his blog.  Over the past fifteen years of public speaking, I have incorporated the following practices into my preparation, which truly does make all the difference. Thanks to  my friend, Gary Beasley, this procedure was a must if I was to have any hope of being effective in public speaking. I agree with Mr. Hyatt (and Gary), the implementation of these disciplines in your preparation for public speaking will make you a better speaker. Take the challenge and give it a shot.

Here are the seven steps I took to make my practice effective:

1. Create a solid, easy-to-remember outline. This is the prerequisite. We spent a considerable amount of time on this at DCW. They teach you an entire methodology that works with both persuasive speeches and enabling ones. (You also learn the difference.) There’s nothing wrong with notes, but you don’t want the audience to be aware that you are using them.
2. Find a relatively private location. You want to be able to give your speech as though you were giving it live, without feeling like someone might be listening in. This was pretty easy while practicing at home. I just found an empty room, told my family what I was going to do, and shut the door. It’s tougher in a hotel room, but I did it anyway.
3. Set a timer with your assigned time. This was critical. I used the timer on my iPhone. I also found that my speeches ran about 10–15% longer when I gave them live. So set the timer for less time in practice than you have been allotted. Note: if you are going to use this when you speak live, put the phone in Airplane mode, so you don’t get a phone call or text message in the middle of your speech. Also, turn the screen saver off.
4. Stand up and give your speech out loud.This also makes a difference. Your physical posture affects your energy level and overall confidence. I put my outline on a podium, counter-top, or desktop, and then moved around as though I am presenting in front of a live audience. It’s also helpful to me to visualize two or three people I am speaking to in the practice audience.
5. Work on your facial expressions and gestures.This initially sounded inauthentic to me. But I think it was because I had forgotten that 70% of all communication is non-verbal. If that’s true, it is more important to practice this aspect of our communication than the actual words. In watching my video tape at DCW, I found that my face wasn’t always communicating what my heart intended! Overall, I found that I was more effective by being more expressive and with bigger gestures.
6. Practice pauses, inflections, and vocal dynamics. This is also something I did’t often think about. As a result, my overall speech pattern was predictable—and boring. My goal is not entertainment but communication. Regardless, you sometimes have to be entertaining in order to communicate. I am now working on more variation. The only way to keep this from sounding contrived and inauthentic is practice, practice, practice.
7. Nail your closing. I have traditionally worked really hard on the opening. This is important to be sure. But I think it is even more important to finish strong. The closing is the last thing people will remember. I want to go out with a bang not a whimper. I am now practicing my closing several times, all by itself.

I am enjoying a great weekend away from home in the beautiful state of Montana with some dear friends, Craig and Cara Dyson. They are the lead pastors at a great church in Kalispell, New Covenant Church. It has been a wonderful pleasure to spend time with their team of leaders over the weekend and will be speaking to the congregation on Sunday. I am confident that they will taking the church to new heights in the days to come. A big shout out for the New Covenant Leaders!!!

Today Pastor Craig and I took a drive up into the beautiful town of Whitefish. This smaller resort community is filled with great shops and a cool vibe. If I was ever to move to Montana, I think I would pick this cool place. I hear the Johnny Depp drives around in his yellow Lamborghini which I imagine would be an easy sight to find in the midst of all the monster pick up trucks that line the streets.

The best find of the day was the Red Caboose. This very cool Yogurt and Coffee shop is one of the most welcoming joints this side of the Amazon with some of the friendliest owners I have ever met. Reid and Kelli Trontel have made a trek all the way from Nashville to set up the hottest establishment to come to Whitefish in years. Rumor has it that they will also begin serving Portland’s legendary Stumptown Coffee in a few weeks. You should also follow them on Facebook, as they are constantly giving away cool things.  If you ever make it to Whitefish, take the time to drive over and grab a yogurt or cup of coffee and hang out at the Red Caboose. You won’t be disappointed!

There is a monumental difference between doing the right thing or doing things right (stop and think about it before reading further).  Although both are very important, the leader must make sure they don’t get caught in the trap of focusing all their energies on just doing things right. Often times we strive for excellence only to find out we scaling up the wrong wall. You might have climbed with great skill, yet it might have been  the wrong mountain your were climbing in the first place.

Peter Drucker teaches that within a few years of any organization, most leaders lose sight of their mission and essential role and become more focused on methods or efficiency, rather than staying focused on primary purpose. I have seen this with many churches who start with great growth over their first five years, only to hit a plateau, because they lost sight of the reaching and transferred all energies to caring for those who were already there. Don’t get me wrong, once again, both are important. But we can never comprise doing things right for doing the right things.

That is why leaders are so critical to the ongoing success of any organization. Leadership must stay focused on direction – making sure the rope is hung to the right wall. Management must then deal with how to get up the right wall. Leaders do vision, management does process.

Regardless of your role, it is imperative that you take time constantly to assess where you are going. I personally take time daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and annually to assess my direction. Take some time to block out strategic times to think and process your direction in your day planner. I highly suggest a small block each morning to make sure you are focusing your energies in the right direction for the day. Do the same for your weekly planning as well. You might carve out more time for your monthly and quarterly overview, and I would highly encourage a few days for your annual planning.

Don’t fall into the trap of just doing things right, make sure you are doing the right thing!

An Egyptian man died and left hes seventeen camels to the divided among his three sons. One was to get one-ninth; one was to get one-half; and the other was to get one-third of the camels. but seventeen camels aren’t divisible by three or even two. The sons argued long and loud about how to divide the camels.

Finally in depseration they agreed to ask a certain wise man what to do. He was seated in front of his tent whth his won camel staked out back. After hearing the case, theis wise man took his own camel and added it to the other seventeen camels.

This confused the young men until he gave one-ninth of the either – or two camels – to the first young man. Then he gave one-half – or nine camels – to the second young man. And finally, he gave one-third or six camels – the to the third young man. Besides that, he still had his own camel left!

The brother were so engrossed in their controversy that they failed to realize that their point of reference was too small. The sum total of their fraction was one-eighteenth too small. The wise man saw this controversy from a more enlightened view. His momentary sacrifice of his own camel provided the solution for the brothers; ultimately at no cost to himself.

We need to remember that sometimes there are solutions to our problems that we just can’t see. that’s why we need others. That’s why we need the church and leaders around us to speak into our lives and be a sounding board to the challenges we face.  When we allow others and especially God to enter in with a differing point of view, it may be the view point that extricates us from our problems and conflicts!

It is evident that we are living in rapidly changing times. The effects of these changes have colossal impact on the generation in which we are attempting to reach. Acknowledging the issue of “Aloneness” cannot be minimized and we must look for solutions in which we connect people to true, Biblical, authentic, purpose-driven community. Anything short of this goal, will produce a nominal church at best. Relationships are the key.

I was taken back by a statement made in John Burke’s book, “No Perfect Persons Allowed.” This is a book on my must-read list for sure. He addresses the issue of aloneness and how we should be looking at this issue. Here it is:

“The waves of change that have swept through the generation have created a culture of  aloneness, of people longing for community, but afraid to get close – surrounded by friends, feeling ever more alone. In his book, Bowling Alone, Robert Putman notes this trends: ‘For the first two-thirds of the twentieth century,’ he writes, ‘a powerful tide bore Americans into ever deeper engagementin the life of their communities.’ But over the last three decades, ‘Without at first noticing, we have been pulled apart from one another and from our communities.’ ” (Two other books by Robert Putman, are worth picking up and reading, “Better Together: Restoring the American Community,” and “American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us.”

“Think about it, half of all families break apart, often leaving children feeling abandoned and alone trying to sort our why Dad or Mom left. The other half live in a society fragmented and torn apart by the sheer velocity of twenty-first century life. No wonder people feel so disconnected and alone. My family has lived on our street for five years now and we have become friends with the people in the ten nearest houses, all of which have put a ‘For Sale’ sign in their yard!

We live in a highly fragmented, relationally isolated society. People move, change jobs, get divorced, commute hours each day, travel around the country weekly, then spend all their free time surfing the 1700 cable channels and millions of Internet sites, and all at the cost of relationships. We have increased our financial capital, but it has cost us relational capital. Add to it the other societal trends of the past half century, and you have a generation feeling painfully alone.

This provides a tremendous opportunity for the church. According to Scripture, the church is to function like family. We are to be that support community, that extended family to one another. we have a tremendous opportunity to teach people how to live in healing, life-giving relationships with one another. No one else in society can better meet this need. I thind it awe-inspiring to watch the Lord re-parent and grow people spiritually in the safe environment of the church family. I am convinced authentic community provides the context where the majority of spiritual growth and healing can take place.”

This is our opportunity to shine! We can be the answer to aloneness issues in our world today. Don’t be too busy yourself to connect with those God places in your paths.

It has been a while since I have posted and have been heavily consumed over the past few months in some colossal challenges, which have taken most of my virtue. My personal life and immediate family are doing very well, but am surrounded by impossible situations that need the God of Miracles to intervene. It is amazing how God puts you in impossible situations to force you depend upon the “All-Things-Are-Possible-God.”

Faith isn’t faith, unless it is exercised. Miracles don’t happen unless you are first immersed in an impossible situation. God has a way of answering your prayers to be used in mighty ways; He immerses you in valleys with insurmountable mountain ranges and reminds you that if you have faith and say to the mountain be moved, it will be gone!

Last week, I had the privilege to close off our “Shaken” series at CBC. I spoke on “Being Shaken to Being a Shaking.” I would encourage you to watch the message on my Media page, as I think it will inspire you. In addition, I think you will have a better understanding of why God allows miracles to happen and how they are instrumental to moving the obstacles in our lives.

Let me encourage you with a few simple steps you should take in order to position yourself for the miracle you have been asking for:

1. Believe that Miracles are for TODAY – They are not some distant blessing for a previous dispensation, or something that we should even believe in for the future. They are for today. You need God to move TODAY! You need a miracle TODAY! You should ask God to move TODAY! Except nothing, more, nothing less and nothing else.
2. Believe that Miracles are for YOU – God is no respecter of persons and desires to use anyone that is willing to be used.
3. Have the Desire to Be Used by God – Most aren’t used by God, simply because they are unavailable. Make yourself available and be willing. Ask Him to use you.
4. Actively Pursue the Miracle – Don’t be passive, but active. Step out and pray, believe and walk out what you believe God is asking you to do. Stir up the gifts, don’t be ignorant of spiritual gifts. You are called to have faith and walk in obedience, God’s job is to show up. Step out and begin moving in miracles today.
5. Never Quit Believing – Don’t let the busyness of life to distract you. Don’t let someone not being healed discourage you. Contend for breakthrough, continue to press through every day for the the God-of-the-Impossible to move on your behalf.

I came across one of the coolest Christmas song presentations, done by North Point Ministries in Atlanta, Georgia. It is great to see a bunch of guys having a blast in church playing a Christmas Medley on their iPads.  This is definitely worth the few minutes to watch ALL three songs. The last song is worth the wait!