Archives For November 30, 1999

The Key to Knowing God

Charles Kiser —  August 21, 2012 — 10 Comments

I’ve been reading Saint Teresa of Avila’s Interior Castle as part of some training I’m receiving from Mission Alive in Spiritual Direction. It is one of the most formative books I’ve read in a long time.

Teresa, a Carmelite nun who lived in the 16th century, describes one’s soul as a castle. Within the castle are seven rooms or mansions (or sets of mansions). At the heart of the castle, in the seventh mansions, is God.

The spiritual journey toward union with God, according to Teresa, is a journey through these seven mansions. Prayer is the way one enters the castle.

My biggest takeaway from the book is what Teresa says is the key to moving through the mansions.

The key to reaching the seventh mansions.

The key to intimate relationship with God and knowledge of oneself.

Again and again she mentions it.

One word.

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In Life Change, Prayer, Spiritual Formation
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Leadership Pipeline – How Are Leaders Made?

Charles Kiser —  August 16, 2012 — 9 Comments

I’ve been attending a 3DM Learning Community this week in Pawleys Island, South Carolina with the Mission Alive team. The theme of this particular 4-day immersion is “Multiplying Missional Leaders” (see their book by this title).

3DM’s credentials for leadership development: 30+ years of experience and provenness in the post-Christian context of Western Europe. Hundreds of thousands of disciples made. Thousands of missional communities formed. Global missional movement seen. That kind of thing doesn’t happen without a leadership development engine (and the Holy Spirit, of course!).

It’s some of the best stuff I’ve seen on leadership development, particularly because of 3DM’s ability to overlay several lenses on leadership in the same setting. The synergy of all those lenses together is powerful.

The fundamental process for multiplying missional leaders is what they call the “Leadership Pipeline.” Jesus seemed to have one; Paul seemed to have one, too. The main question of this immersion experience is: do you have one?

The Leadership Pipeline has four basic stages.


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In Leadership, Mission
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Flowing vs. Striving in Mission

Charles Kiser —  August 7, 2012 — 6 Comments

A couple months ago Chris Chappotin asked me if I was interested to participate in his “What’s Missing in Missional?” blog series. The deadline came and went, so sorry Chris, but the question has stuck in my head.

My interactions with 3DM over the past 18 months have put the Triangle in the forefront of my mind as an evaluative filter. Simply, the three sides of the triangle reflect the sets of relationships that Jesus balanced in his life rhythms: 1) UP – his relationship to the Father; 2) IN – his relationships to the community of disciples; and 3) OUT – his relationship to the lost sheep of the world. The church, as a community of Jesus’ followers, should balance the same rhythms in its own life.

If “missional” is synonymous with the OUT edge of the Triangle, then churches need to be more than just missional. They also need to have rhythms for UP and IN in their communal life.

To answer the question: What’s missing in missional? The UP and the IN!
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In Mission, Prayer
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Charles Kiser's avatar

I’m fasting from media for Lent – which includes the blog – so I’ll reappear again after Easter on April 8!

Blessings!

Posted on February 22, 2012 In Uncategorized
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What Zebras Taught Me About Leadership

Charles Kiser —  January 24, 2012 — Leave a comment

Ryan and I studied Zebras yesterday as part of his homeschooling curriculum.

We learned that Zebras move in families. In each Zebra family, there is one stallion (male). There are also several mares (females) and foals (kids). The stallion mates with each of the mares; they give birth to the foals; they raise the foals together; then they send them out to start new families. So God wired polygamy into creation after all!

What caught my attention is what happens when a threat to the family arises.

When a lion attacks or another Zebra stallion tries to take over, the mares run off to safety with the foals.

The stallion, however, stays behind to fight off the threat. He faces it head on.

Effectively, he puts his life on the line for the sake of the rest of the family.

He doesn’t dash away and let the rest of the family members fend for themselves. He doesn’t use his superior speed to run away from the predator (Zebras can run up to 37 M.P.H!), leaving the younger, slower foals behind.

He stays and protects the family. And if necessary, he loses his life to do it.

This is a great example of leadership in the kingdom of God. Leaders in the kingdom lead not by expecting others to serve them but by laying their lives down for the family of God.

The Zebra stallion epitomizes perfectly the words of Jesus in Mark 10:42-45:

Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

What are the obstacles to Zebra-style leadership in your family? Church? Workplace?

In Leadership
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