My name is Chad Estes. I'm a Vineyard pastor from Boise, Idaho and the director of the Discipleship in Action school at the Vineyard College of Mission. I am living in the security that God loves me totally and completely. In that He has given me compassion and love for the world and strength to fight for the hearts of others.
An Interesting Fact
My favorite quote from C.S. Lewis: "To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully around with hobbies and little luxuries . . . lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket-- safe, dark, motionless, airless--it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable . . . The only place outside heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers of love is hell!"
I have some friends who are missionaries in Rawanda where the wife specializes in midwifery. She passed along this video of a woman who sings the 23rd Psalm while she is having labor contractions (on what will be a 10 lb son). It may not be the video for everyone, but it sure brought me a lot of peace while I watched it.
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Last October I posted a blog entry called “Taking the First Step” about my lifelong dream to participate in an Ironman Triathlon. Now the race was coming to me, in Boise, part of the 70.3 mile series; all I had to do was enter, train, and finish. All I got done was that first step. It wasn’t for lack of desire. I REALLY want to run this race. It wasn’t for lack of cause. I want to run in the memory of my cousin’s little boy, Griffin Schellhaas, who drowned last fall just before his first... Read Full Story
I know that "The Shack" is becoming hugely popular, but I had no idea that one of it's publishers, Wayne Jacobsen, was captilizing on the success to run for president. I found a link to the news bulletin below. The Wayne Jacobsen Phenomenon Okay, if you'd really like to see what Wayne and Brad are up to, I encourage you to check out their "God Journey" podcast.
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It was fun to dream about all the things Jamie and I could do with our government issued stimulus check. Our ideas were all over the map. We thought about our tight budget and schemed together that this might be a way for us to pry apart the rusted hinges on our dreams box. But then almost as quickly we would slam down the lid with an attempt to be practical, knowing the “right” thing (and by that I mean the Dave Ramsey thing) would be to spend the money on debt reduction. Proper, yes. Fun... Read Full Story
Many father’s end the holiday named after them with an article or two of clothing that will never again make it out of the closet. My kids are smart. They bought me a couple of DespairWear shirts that I can’t wait to walk around town in. Both of them made me laugh when I saw them online earlier this year. The first one simplifies the concept of a superiority complex. Hilarious if you ask me! The second one makes fun of bloggers who count their readers (not that there is anything wrong... Read Full Story
Douglas Coupland, the author who gave us the term “Generation X” wrote a fantastic book called “Life After God.” In it he outlines the struggles a generation has when they have been raised without religion and a core set of beliefs; a generation that appears to be beyond God. I’m going to spoil the end of the book and give you his punch line. I figure it is permissible since his book is nearly 15 years old. At the end of Douglas’ journey weaving his way across the country and through... Read Full Story
What does the world look like through your glasses? Do you tend to think that everyone elses experience is similar to yours? This project, called "The Minature Earth" might give you a more realistic picture of what our society really is like. "If the world's population were reduced to 100, it would look something like this..." The Minature Earth Website
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My friend Amanda writes a great blog called, "Within the Discord". Her last post so echos what I am learning in my journey as well. ...it is so often our own fears that make situations worse than they actually are. Like Peter, when he took his eyes off of Christ and began to sink into the waves, it is so easy for me to get caught up in the details of the trial instead of keeping my eyes on the Savior who is in complete control and knows exactly what it is that will happen. Not only that, I... Read Full Story
It’s nearing the end of the school year and my kids can sense the freedom of summer that awaits them the end of next week. It really is a shame that their break hasn’t already began. If I was running for political office my first campaign promise would be to designate all the days between Memorial and Labor Day holidays as free from institutionalized schooling. I would gain the votes of all school children regardless of their parents’ political leaning. So even though my kids have one week... Read Full Story
