Developing Kingdom Leaders – Tom Yeakley

Taking the Mystery out of Leadership

13 Jul 2026

Keep the Main Thing the Main Thing!

Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” Acts 6:1-4 ESV

When launching your ministry there is great excitement and zeal to begin building a generational ministry that sends skilled disciplemakers to the ends of the earth.  But as time moves forward, especially with increased numbers of people involved, the clarity of your mission can begin to fade.  Problems arise (they always do) and ‘shiny objects’ flutter in front of our eyes taking away from the laser focus we once had.  How do you  prevent mission drift and a loss of focus on the main thing?

First, you the leader must be crystal clear as to your responsibility and contribution.  You must gently say no to anything that would take you away from this contribution.  Just as the apostles did in acknowledging the importance of daily food distribution to widows, they also affirmed that their personal contribution was a  focus on prayer and the ministry of the Word of God.  They resolved the issue by delegating the solution to others without becoming embroiled in the details of the operations.

Secondly, you must continually cast vision and remind all involved with you about the mission.  As the ministry leader, you are the primary vision caster.  Saying it over and over again will embed not only the vision, but also the values which guide choices resulting in aligned behavior for the mission. 

Train yourself to communicate the mission and vision in multiple ways.  Use stories and metaphors to illustrate key values.  Model these values by your own behavior.  You are working against the natural degradation of the vision with the passing of time.  Remember the adage, “It’s hard to remember why you decided to drain the swamp when you are surrounded by alligators!”  Keep sharing the mission and vision wherever you go. 

Posted in #1 KNOW- How a Leader Thinks and tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment
29 Jun 2026
1 Comment

Recruit to Vision, Not Just Activities!

When recruiting others to join you in your vision, don’t just invite for something to do.  Invite them to join a change process for them personally and for a bigger cause.  People are looking for something bigger than themselves to give their lives to. 

Note how God recruits Moses at the burning bush in Exodus 3.  The bigger cause is the deliverance of God’s people from their suffering in Egypt at the hand of Pharaoh.  The activity required was that Moses himself would confront Pharaoh on God’s behalf and lead the people out of Egypt.  

When Jesus recruited the two sets of brothers to leave their fishing business and become vocational disciples, note what He said.  “Come, follow me and I’ll make you fishers of men.” (Mark 1:17).  They were invited into a change process – leave your fishing business and be made into new men who will fish for other men instead of fish. 

The clearer you can paint the vision for those you are recruiting the better.  They must be able not only to understand the vision but also be able to see themselves participating in it.  You are asking them to make a decision, often one that will require a cost, so make the invitation clear enough that there is no later regret based upon a lack of understanding of the cost.

Good vision casting is clear, concise, and compelling for others.  As the team leader you must work to communicate your ministry vision in such a way that others easily understand it and want to join you.  Your own commitment to making the vision a reality will motivate others like you.  Don’t underestimate the power of your personal example.  Trust God to bring the people you need!

Posted in #3 DO - What a Leader Does and tagged , , , , , , ,
15 Jun 2026

Don’t Compare or Compete with Others!

The Parable of the Talents – Matthew 25:14-30

A ‘talent’ was a measure of weight amounting to approximately 75 pounds and was often used to weigh out large amounts of gold.  For one servant to be entrusted with 5 x 75 lbs. of gold was a very large amount.  Even the servant who received one talent had a sizeable amount of starting capital to invest.   

Note that the Master’s servants were given different amounts of starting capital.  This difference was the sole choice of the Master, and this distribution difference was based upon the individual servant’s ability to manage the assets (v.15). 

Though not stated in this parable, but assumed, the servants were instructed to put the starting capital to work and grow it.  The first two did so and were rewarded by the Master for their obedience.  The third servant was punished because he disobeyed the Master’s instruction to increase the initial amount.  He was judged ‘wicked’ (disobedient) and lazy (he could have simply made a bank deposit).  His talent was given to the servant who had greater capacity to manage more. 

Any self-satisfaction measured by the number of people involved in your ministry is a foolish exercise.  You may be one who started with a large amount and are comparing yourself to another who started with less.  Your results could be deceptive given your starting assets.  “To whom much is given, much is required” (Luke 12:48).  We are simply to work as if to the Lord and let the results rest with Him (Colossians 3:23-25). 

Those who compare themselves to others are very unwise (2 Corinthians 10:12).  Keep your focus on Christ and do your best for His sake and for His glory alone. 

Posted in #2 BE - Who a Leader Is and tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment
01 Jun 2026

Two Are Better Than One and Three Is Even Better!

Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him–a threefold cord is not quickly broken. Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 ESV

Note that when the Holy Spirit launched the pioneering ministry to the Gentiles, He set apart Barnabas and Saul (Paul) for the work.  It was the Holy Spirit who created the team concept for pioneering the work.  These two men then added John Mark as their helper on the first missionary tour (Acts 13:1-5). 

Pioneering a new ministry takes much effort.  Many unexpected obstacles appear and must be dealt with.  Some tasks are operational and some are more ‘spiritual.’  But all must be done.  It’s so helpful to have several to join in helping shoulder the workload.  Don’t seek to go alone!  Two are better than one and a three-cord strand is not easily broken.  No one individual has all the gifts or abilities needed to establish a sustainable initiative.  Ask God to bring you help – men and women of like-heart and vision who are skilled in the task.

Some have concluded that the number one reason for cross-cultural missionaries returning home is conflict with other team members.  Many serve with teammates they did not select but were assigned.  Many also are seeking to expand the Kingdom in high stress environments with formidable opposition.  Any character ‘cracks’ are soon amplified under the work pressure and become ‘chasms’ due to the efforts of our adversary. 

Ideally, working as a team in a familiar environment before moving into the pressure cooker of cross-cultural stress can be of great benefit.  Note that Barnabas and Saul served together in Antioch before being sent to the Gentiles.  While this does not always guarantee a successful team experience, it can greatly help.  We see that John Mark deserted the team and before the second missionary tour even Barnabas and Saul separated.  Both took others with them and formed new teams as they went out again.

Posted in #3 DO - What a Leader Does and tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment
18 May 2026

Play Hardball, Not Softball!

Jesus had provided free food to 5,000 people and attracted many with engaging parables and wonderful healings.  He knew many were superficial in their commitment to following Him and their understanding of discipleship.  Thus, He drew a very clear line in the sand on what it meant to follow Him.  The Bread of Life sermon in John 6:41-69 defined the cost of discipleship.

“Everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life,” He said.  “I am the bread that came down from heaven,” He continued, referring to the physical manna God had provided for wandering Israel in the desert.  “I am the bread of life…unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.  Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life.”  The crowd grumbled as the cost of discipleship and His claims became clear. 

Jesus follows with, “Does this offend you?”  And John records, “From that time many of His disciples turned back and no longer followed Him.” (v. 66)  Jesus defined the relationship and left it to the people to decide if they would pay the price to truly follow Him as His disciples.  Sadly, many walked away.

Note too that Jesus did not assume the Twelve would continue with Him.  He says to them, “You do not want to leave too, do you?”  Peter sums up their attitude, “Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life?” (v. 67-68)

Billy Graham said, “Salvation is free, but discipleship will cost you everything.”  Discipleship is not about joining a social club or seeking fun with your friends.  It’s choosing life over death and a total commitment to obey Jesus whatever He may ask, trusting His promise of the resurrection and eternal life.

Posted in #1 KNOW- How a Leader Thinks, #3 DO - What a Leader Does and tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment
04 May 2026

The Foundation Determines the Superstructure!

“In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. And when day came, he called his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles…” Luke 6:12-13 ESV

Having spent a year since His baptism around Jerusalem and recruited the two sets of brothers to full-time discipleship, Jesus now creates a ‘leadership team’ called the Apostles.  The Twelve were chosen by Jesus as He looked ahead two years knowing that He would be leaving them to carry on His mission to reach the world. 

These Twelve would become the model for others who would come.  Anyone who wondered what following Jesus was like only had to look at the example of His inner circle to know what discipleship meant.  The Twelve were both catalyst and model for the disciplemaking movement.  They were the foundation on which Jesus would build. 

Within two years from their designation a ‘messengers’ (apostles), they were given the final command to ‘make disciples of all the nations’ (Matthew 28:18-20).  They would take what they knew and experienced, and empowered by the Holy Spirit, seek to conquer the world.  Local leaders commented, “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.”  (Acts 6:13)

As others are attracted to your disciplemaking they will evaluate the quality of your influence by the lives of those already involved.  Especially those designated as disciplemaking leaders act as a living advertisement of what discipleship means. 

In the case of the Twelve, it was undeniable that they had ‘been with Jesus’ and no other schooling experience could explain their behavior.  The first generation determines all who follow. 

Posted in #1 KNOW- How a Leader Thinks, #3 DO - What a Leader Does and tagged , , , , , , , ,
20 Apr 2026

The Launch Determines the Orbit!

When you first arrive at your new ministry location you will be greeted by excited people who welcome you, saying all sorts of nice things.  “We’ve been praying for a disciplemaking ministry here…” or “You are such an answer to prayer…” or “We’ve been telling everyone about you…”  So uplifting! So exciting!

These people mean well and perhaps you are an answer to prayer – someone’s prayer.  And in your zeal to get started quickly with ‘short term wins’ you invite these people into a core group bible study or even begin to meet with them one-to-one.  You assume that God has prepared this ‘fruitful field’ and that these initial contacts are the foundations of many future spiritual generations.  This is a very wrong assumption.

What often occurs is that these people are attracted to the latest new and exciting thing and you are it – for the moment.  But next week or next month there will be another new and exciting thing starting and they will be there to greet them and welcome them like they did for you.  That’s their strength and design.  Nothing is wrong with this, just realize that your foundational ministry people will probably not be the ones who you initially meet. 

Go slow in your commitments to others.  Get to know your new ministry environment.  Seek to know and be known.  Pray and wait for the Lord to confirm who it is that He has chosen for you to build the foundation upon.  And don’t be surprised if it is not the people who you initially connected with when you arrived at your new ministry location.  Don’t build your ministry on those who greet you at the train station! 

You only get one ministry launch!  Make it a good one!

Posted in #1 KNOW- How a Leader Thinks, #3 DO - What a Leader Does and tagged , , , , , ,
06 Apr 2026

God Himself Will Provide the Lamb

In Genesis 22:1-18 we read of the faith trial Abraham faced when God directed him to sacrifice his son. Abraham had waited 25 years for the fulfillment of the promise that through his offspring the entire world would be blessed, and they would multiply like the sand on the seashore or the stars in the sky.  Isaac was born at age 100 and now a few years later the young man and his father were off to make a sacrifice.  Isaac carried the wood, but no sacrificial lamb was found.

Isaac noted the lack of the sacrificial lamb and asked his father about it.  Abraham’s prophetic response was simply, “The Lord Himself will provide the lamb.”  Romans 4 tells us Abraham reasoned that even if God did allow him to plunge the knife into the neck of his son, God had the ability to raise him back to life.  What amazing faith and trust!  Of course, God stopped Abraham and as he looked up, there was a ram caught by its horns in the thicket.  It was the perfect sacrifice at the perfect time! 

Your leadership will be full of trials of faith where there is no visible means of deliverance.  The storm clouds will surround you, lightening will crackle, and the peals of thunder will rattle the walls.  You will fear all is lost.  But remember, God is never in a hurry, but always on time.  At the perfect time and in a way that brings glory and honor to Him, you will see His answer.  Stay the course.  Do not give way to fear.  Trust Him and His promises.

All who you lead will be looking to you for strength and hope.  You must point them to God who promises to deliver in times of trouble. (Psalm 50:15)  God Himself will provide the ‘lamb’ you need.  Don’t be like Israel who tested God in the desert, and  said in their unbelief, “Can God spread of table in the desert?” (Psalm 78:19).  Yes, He can!  And yes, He did!  He will do the same for you as you trust Him.  Plead the promises to Him!

Posted in #2 BE - Who a Leader Is, #3 DO - What a Leader Does and tagged , , , , , , , ,
23 Mar 2026

Bigger Does Not Mean Better!

It can be natural for some ministry leaders to think that the more people involved in our ministry the better.  We can assume that ‘more’ is better and a sign of God’s favor and blessing on the work.  Maybe or maybe not?

The disciples assumed that the rich man was favored because he had more money that others.  They assumed that his wealth was a sign of God’s blessing on his life.  But Jesus’ summary as he walked away from an invitation to join Him was that it is hard for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God.  Their resources make it easy to depend upon themselves and not on God. 

The disciples were amazed by this statement, for this was counter to a basic belief regarding God’s blessing on people.  Abundance is a sign of blessing and scarcity is a sign of His disfavor.  Don’t make the same mistake and assume that bigger is better! 

The vision of investing deeply in the lives of a few requires that we ignore the temptation to build some big ministry.  Building a  big ministry is not the goal.  Big ministries require great effort to manage.  Chasing after ‘bigness’ in ministry is not our focus. 

Having many people involved in your disciplemaking ministry is not necessarily bad.  We must avoid the other extreme of small numbers being an excuse for lack of effort or laziness.  We note that Jesus had thousands who He fed on at two occasions.  But caring for the hunger of the masses was not His primary focus.  It was an occasional endeavor. 

Don’t make the pursuit of many your aim.  Your aim is to equip a few people with vision and skills to make more disciples, thus changing the world one person at a time.  Go deep with a few for the sake of the many!

Posted in #1 KNOW- How a Leader Thinks and tagged , , , , , , ,
09 Mar 2026

Pray and Work for Critical Mass!  – Acts 2:42-47

 In a nuclear reaction energy needs to be added to split atoms until enough atomic particles are split to enable more atoms to split without needing more energy.  So it is in a disciplemaking ministry.  As a ministry pioneer, you will need to expend much energy to attain a critical mass of ministry.  But how do you do this and how do you know when you have it?

When starting a new ministry, you will want to lay a solid prayer foundation from which to begin to build.  Take adequate time and energy praying for ‘soil four people’ who will be the reproducers of many spiritual generations.  Recruit others to pray for God’s favor and expect divine appointments with those who He is bringing to you.  Walk the land and pray for God to bless!

Ask God to give you those who are ‘gatekeepers’ to many more relationships.  These people, like Andrew, will bring their friends because they are blessed to be a part of your ministry and want to share that blessing with others.  They are your ‘fans’ and always bringing others to meet Jesus in your ministry.

Have a short ‘elevator pitch’ answer that you can share when asked, “Who are you or What do you do?”  Make your answer short, engaging, authentic, and inviting.  You will want to meet a lot of people and have lots of practice sharing this.

Critical mass is reached when you have a consistent, sustainable number of committed people engaged with you in the ministry.  You, the leader, do not need to work so hard to invite because these people are inviting their friends.  You are able to delegate responsibilities to them, not having to do it all yourself.  You have increasing capacity to think and strategize, rather than ‘do.’

Posted in #1 KNOW- How a Leader Thinks, #3 DO - What a Leader Does and tagged , , , , ,

Post Navigation

← Older Entries