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If you are a Christ following leader, whether in ministry or in the marketplace, you are called to do something more than simply make a living or build commerce. You are called to be a transformational leader. If you are a Christ follower, no matter your leadership arena, you are about the heartbeat of the Father. You are a transformational leader. You are called to make a difference in the lives of the people you love and lead.

For the complete article and episode note, continue reading.

Living and Leading Out of a Prophetic Vision

About 5 or 6 years ago, I was staying in a cabin I used to frequent in southern Illinois for a strategic prayer retreat. On one of the July days, with the temperatures soaring well above 100 and the humidity close to 100%, I felt compelled to search the woods for two small logs and fashion them into a cross. After doing so I cleared a spot beside a creek bed and anchored the cross in the ground as a place of contemplation and listening.

I’ve been a listener for most of my life. I get quiet and I listen for the voice of God and I listen for my own inner reflections. As was my practice for the rest of this retreat and for a few to follow, each sunset I took a camping chair down to my spot to listen and talk to God. I do the same thing almost every morning of my life in my study. This is where my greatest ideas, best decisions, and insights emerge. It’s how I calibrate.

Our Source

One evening during this retreat, I sat between that creek bed and the cross. While contemplating my passions and charting a course for what would become Calibrate360 and the life transforming resources I hoped to someday publish, I thought about going more mainstream. I thought about de-emphasizing talking about the spiritual leadership part of it and anchor more in leadership principles adapted from biblical leadership patterns and my observations. I would create the same kind of transformational resource, I just wouldn’t mention my sources often.

I had a defining moment at that cross. I sensed the Spirit of God in essence saying to me, “Okay, let me get this straight. You intend to create transformational resources based upon things you’ve heard, learned, and practiced, but you plan to leave out the one piece of it that actually causes the transformation.” I sat there feeling foolish for a long time. In my prayers, I apologized to the Holy Spirit and determined in that moment that I could not, I would not leave out the piece of the equation that actually causes significant transformation.

I feel a vocational calling to lift spiritual leaders. In the network I serve, that is my vocation. If you are a Christ following leader we want to challenge you to calibrate your life, establish your paths, press beyond the tough stuff, transformationally lead those you love, and experience the joy of living, leading, and loving.

Our Responsibility [11:22]

[shareable]You are called to do something more than simply make a living or build commerce, you are called to be a transformational leader.[/shareable]

I derive my mission statement from the writings of Henri Nouwen where he says, “I have to kneel before the Father, put my ear against his chest and listen, without interruption, to the heartbeat of God. Then, and only then, can I say carefully and very gently what I hear. I know now that I have to speak from eternity (unseen) into time (seen), from the lasting joy into the passing realities of our short existence in this world, from the house of love into the houses of fear, from God’s abode into the dwellings of human beings (incarnation). I am well aware of the enormity of this vocation. Still, I am confident that it is the only way for me. One could call it the “prophetic” vision: looking at people and this world through the eyes of God.” (An excerpt from the preface of The Return of the Prodigal by Henri Nouwen.) [12:42]

I stumbled across this passage about 8 years ago and it so pierced my soul that it immediately integrated into who I am. I am a prophetic leader. My leadership source is listening intently to the heartbeat of the Father. Calibrate360 is about getting in the Presence of God, allowing a passion to arise within us, seeking the emergence of a resulting plan, and putting a resulting practice into action.

The line in Nouwen’s statement, “One could call it the ‘prophetic’ vision: looking at people and this world through the eyes of God.”

[shareable]My leadership source is listening intently to the heartbeat of the Father.[/shareable]

Our Prophetic Vision [18:45]

Christ following leaders ought to be prophetic leaders. Every spiritual leader is not a prophet, and I don’t have time in this episode to fully define a prophet, but every spiritual leader ought to function primarily out of the wisdom and revelation of God. We are a Kingdom of priests and prophets. Through His Holy Spirit, God is able to reveal himself and his wisdom to us.

[shareable]Christ following leaders ought to be prophetic leaders. [/shareable]

A lot of Christ following leaders segment their lives. They have their “spiritual life” segment and their “work life” segment. We cannot half-way follow Christ. We either follow Christ or we do not follow Christ. Maturity is a process, but the end is a transformed life fully devoted to Christ. We understand wisdom and respect must be applied in the marketplace, but that does not change who you are.

If you are a Christ following leader you are a transformational agent. Whomever you lead, you are to lead them with a heart toward them that reflects the compassion and love of Christ. A desire should be ever rising within you to provide the kind of leadership that will make their lives better. This is love. This is why we say so often, “Lifting those you love and lead.”

Our Transformational Calling [19:55]

Calibrate Life and Calibrate360 are about calibrating our lives, not so we can simply experience the joy of living. We calibrate our lives because we have a calling and a vocation to transformationally lift those we love and lead. This is why our tag is, “… experiencing the joy of living, leading, and loving.” We must first experience the joy of living, then we must experience the joy of leading, which is the joy of participating in transformational godly and spiritual leadership. We experience the joy of loving when we are people focused. We are motivated by our loving, and our loving emanates from listening to the heartbeat of God.

[callout]We must first experience the joy of living, then we must experience the joy of leading, which is the joy of participating in transformational godly and spiritual leadership. We experience the joy of loving when we are people focused. We are motivated by our loving, and our loving emanates from listening to the heartbeat of God.[/callout]

Christ following leaders lead according to what God is saying to them. They cannot help but do so, be they in church ministry or marketplace ministry. This is prophetic leadership, leading out of what we’ve seen through the eyes of God and what we’ve heard through the heartbeat of God.

Our Motivation [22:26]

Last year we went on an 8 week sabbatical. In fact, In the episode notes I’m going to use a picture you (Donna) took of me at a very pivotal moment. I was listening to the heartbeat of God very intently in that moment and the Holy Spirit was impressing things upon my soul and spirit. Much of what we are doing, creating, and developing was boosted in that moment. This is prophetic leadership: It is taking our direction, as best we can and as imperfect as our listening can sometimes be (this is why revelation is rarely a one time event), and moving forward with an ignited motivation.

[shareable]Revelation is rarely a one-time event.[/shareable]

In May of 2012 the Calibrate360 journey began. I’d been writing resources for our network for years. I started writing in earnest quite by accident. We started a small group network in 2001 and we could not afford to purchase books for every participant and we felt it may be an obstacle to require a book purchase so I started curating resources. After a short time I found gaining use permissions and copyright obstacles to be very time consuming. Out of necessity I started writing. I was encouraged by many, but often discouraged when I suspected some of the resources were ending up on the floor of the leader’s cars because after the meeting they tossed them into the back seat and forgot about them. I decided to start making them available to a wider audience in 2012.

Then November came. November of 2012. Losing a spouse shut me down.

I could not write. I could not think. I was in a dark fog. I lost every single ounce of creativity. I could not focus. I walked through The Dark Night of the Soul (in reference to a work by St. John of the Cross). I was broken.

After a couple of years it started coming back, in a different way, with a different focus. It started coming back as a directive. It came back, not as something I should do, but as something I must do. Out of the brokenness came an insight I had not known before. Somehow and in some way I discovered my prophetic gift and began to walk in that gift.

Our Identity [23:50]

You are a visionary leader. You are a prophetic leader. Your source for transformational leadership is the heartbeat of God. This is what Calibrate360 and Calibrate Life are about. We are called to resource and encourage your prophetic leadership gift. Leadership out of what you’ve seen and heard in the Presence of God.

You must lead with prophetic insight. We are not all prophets, but the prophetic vision can be developed in Christ following leaders through brokenness so we can be the transformational leader God has called us to be.

We’ve only just begun. We don’t have to do this. I already have a platform with our network. I’m funding this out of our own pockets because I believe in it. I am writing my brains out like never before out of the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. I cannot even begin to expound upon the vision beating within us given through the heartbeat of God.

I’ve got enough in me for the next 20 years. I am pumped up about it. I want to spend the next 20 years of my life providing life calibration tools to leaders, not only to calibrate their own life for joyful living, but to step behind the plate as transformational leaders, lifting the people they love and lead.

Join the community. Track with us. Join the Calibrate360 Weekly Resource Update. Follow the link below and you will stay fully apprised of new developments and resources. [27:13]

As a spiritual leader, you also have a call to transformational leadership. Your calling probably looks a lot differently than our calling. When you, as a spiritual leader, pursue the heartbeat of God, you gain prophetic insight, revelation, and divine wisdom. That is your source, that is your strength, that is the fuel for your calling.

Calibration Tools… Calibrating Your Life and Lifting Those You Love and Lead [27:57]

Do you see yourself as a transformational leader? Think about your calling and vocation as a Christ follower. In what ways do you feel you are to bring or encourage transformation.
Who are the people you love and lead? We believe God has placed people in your life in whom you are to make a difference, who are they?
Do you compartmentalize your spiritual life and your marketplace life? How can you appropriately be a prophetic leader in your day to day surroundings? How should you be a prophetic leader in the lives of those you love?
How do you best hear the “heartbeat of God”? What renewed commitments must you make to your spiritual life to position yourself in the Presence of God to hear more clearly?
What are you most passionate about? Make a list. Work the list and identify the top three things. What do your passions tell you about your calling and vocation? What insight did you gain that will help you focus your gifts and opportunities in transformational leadership?

Finally, Remember… [33:32]

Help us bring transformation and life calibration to leaders around the world. If you will take a moment to subscribe in Apple Podcasts and rate and review the Calibrate Life podcast, it will help us speak into the lives of greater numbers of people. You can partner with us in this simple way — and it is free!

029 – Living and Leading Out of a Prophetic Vision