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  • November 30, 1999

Archives For November 30, 1999

Feeling Stuck in Your Growth?

Charles Kiser —  October 16, 2012 — Leave a comment

A few weeks ago I wrote about how pain, frustration and distraction are normal elements of spiritual growth. Unfortunately, when many of us experience these struggles in our spiritual journey we think that something is wrong with us and so we disengage. For some it turns into a cycle of engaging and disengaging. We get stuck in this rut and miss out on the spiritual breakthrough that comes when we persevere through the struggle.

Lately I’ve been reflecting on this dynamic through the lens of the 3DM Lifeshape, the Square. It offers some guidance for what to do when we’re feeling stuck.  I think it’s a helpful tool whether you’re feeling stuck in your professional growth, in parenting, in your marriage, or in your relationship with God.

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In Discipleship, Life Change, Spiritual Formation
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What CrossFit and St. John of the Cross Have in Common

Charles Kiser —  September 27, 2012 — 3 Comments

Last spring I bought a Groupon for 12 sessions at a CrossFit gym in Dallas. My inspiration was a friend who had dropped more than 100 pounds in 6 months while doing CrossFit workouts three times a week.


If you’re not familiar with CrossFit, it combines elements of rowing, Olympic powerlifting, gymnastics and stretching. And also death. It is not for the faint of heart.

I attended an introductory session called “Elements” to learn some of the basic movements of the workouts. It’s supposed to be an easier version of the full-blown CrossFit training.

About halfway through that hour-long class, as I was sucking wind and grimacing in pain, memories from high school weight training came flooding back. I knew what was coming – the way my muscles were burning. I knew what it meant.

I was going to have trouble walking for a while.

Oh, and I definitely had to run to the bathroom after the workout and puke.

That’s the way it is when you get back into weight training. If you get into it too quickly, and your muscles aren’t used to tearing so much, the lactic acid builds up, and the soreness can be excruciating.

Sure enough, in the days that followed, my body hurt. It hurt to walk on flat ground. It hurt to walk up stairs. It hurt to sit down. It hurt to stand up. It hurt to laugh. It hurt to get in the car. It hurt when someone looked at me.

It’s crazy, isn’t it? Something that’s supposed to be so good for you can hurt so bad!

And, as I think happens more than in just my experience, I didn’t go back. I certainly didn’t feel ready to go back 2 days later. And then a week passed. And then a month.

The initial pain of growth was too great to continue.

I think there’s some truth in this story that can be applied to spiritual training as well.

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In Life Change, Prayer, Spiritual Formation
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How Conferences Can Curse (or Bless) Your Soul

Charles Kiser —  September 19, 2012 — 4 Comments

I traveled to Abilene for ACU Summit this week – a ministry conference geared for the tribe of my youth, Churches of Christ. The main reason I came was because the resource group I work with, Mission Alive, hosted a Celebration on Monday night where we tell the stories of mission and discipleship from the front lines of the kingdom for those who are interested to hear and partner.

I’ve also had the opportunity to reconnect to old friends all over the nation who are pursuing God’s calling for their lives. Some are worship ministers. Others are preaching ministers. Still others are missionaries and church planters. It’s exciting to see what God is doing through them.

But I’ll be honest – coming to events like these is always a challenge for me on some level.

Part of it is the temptation for comparison. How am I doing compared to that person? How is the church I’m leading doing compared to the church that person is leading?

Another part of it is my vocation and calling. I was groomed to be a preaching minister. Yet God called me into church planting and missionary work. Granted, I do preach, and I enjoy it – but because I’m a missionary and work with a small church I do many other things as well – many of which I enjoy as much or more than preaching. So I’m not really a Preaching Minister (capitals intentional). Admittedly, there’s a sense of loss there for me because I don’t fit in with my preaching buddies the way I would if I was a Preaching Minister.

Enough about me. That just gives you a backdrop for what I really want to share.

I realized something in the midst of this internal dialogue I’ve had here at Summit that I was not able to realize a couple years ago.

This is an identity problem.

And it has a lot to do with the gospel.
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In Discipleship, Spiritual Formation
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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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A New Family Advent Tradition

Charles Kiser —  November 29, 2011 — 2 Comments

Happy Advent, everyone.

For those of you who didn’t grow up with the Christian calendar – I didn’t either – Advent is the four-week season starting the Sunday after Thanksgiving and culminating on Christmas day. It’s a season of anticipation and waiting for the arrival, or advent, of King Jesus into the world. It is preparation for the incarnation that is celebrated on Christmas.

As a way of teaching our kids about the season of Advent – and also to teach them that Christmas is not primarily about getting a Star Wars lightsaber or a princess doll that burps after feeding – we borrowed a great idea from our friend Summer Newman called the Jesse Tree. You should read her great post about their Jesse Tree last Advent if this interests you.

We set up a little tree on our dinner table with four purple candles around it (a symbol of Jesus’ royalty). Beside it sits a our kids’ Bible and a little box. In the box is a white candle (to be lit on Christmas day), four pieces of candy (because chocolate is delicious), a lighter, an ornament for that day, and a little card with a Bible story and prayer for the day. The daily Bible stories walk through the major moves of God’s story in Scripture that anticipate the arrival of the Messiah. You can see a PDF file of the ornaments and daily prayer cards here.

Each day after dinner during Advent, we’ll open the box together, light the candles, eat some chocolate, read a Bible story that anticipates the birth of Jesus, color and hang an ornament on the tree (each day’s ornament corresponds with the Bible story), and pray together.

I think the Jewish Community is really on to something in the way they train their children in the faith with hands-on spiritual practices. It’s fun and enriching – not just for the kids, but for the parents, too.

What does your family do to prepare for the birth of Jesus in the Advent season? Share your family traditions (so we can copy them)!

In Children, Spiritual Formation, Story of God
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