Developing Kingdom Leaders – Tom Yeakley

Taking the Mystery out of Leadership

Archive for the month “December, 2025”

29 Dec 2025

Launching the New Year!

2025 has ended and now we launch 2026!  As we end one and begin a new calendar year, it’s good to pause and reflect upon what was and what we hope will be.  It is through reflection that we can gain perspective and see more clearly the overarching, God-orchestrated, macro-movements of our lives.

Leaders are often too busy to stop and reflect.  We always have more things to do and people to see.  We take one item off the do-list and add three more!  Who has time to stop and think?

Today…..now is the time to stop and reflect upon who you are becoming and what you are doing!  Your personal diary, journal or devotional notebook can be of great help to you as you look back and observe themes or topics the Lord has been addressing in you.  Here are some questions to get you started in this reflection time.

Are you satisfied with your own personal spiritual walk and growth?  More importantly, is Jesus pleased with your pursuit of Him?  How’s your current pace of life?  Is it sustainable long-term?  Do you have a margin in your schedule?  Are you living and leading from an overflow?  How’s your family doing?  Are you paying the price to experience the marriage you committed to on your wedding day?  Are you investing deeply in your children and grandchildren, knowing that the years for significant influence are rapidly passing you by?

What fears are you trying to ignore related to your leadership?  Are you leading with faith and courage?  Are you more concerned about your reputation or God’s glory?  Is the vision of where you are leading to focused or foggy?  Do you have a team that is unified and empowered around a shared vision?  Are you making progress in the God-given mission that you intended to accomplish?

These and many more questions are helpful for taking stock of where you are today and where you intend to be/go tomorrow.  Use this season for reflection and refocus as you start a new year full of new hope and new beginnings.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.    Hebrews 12:1-2  NIV

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2026!

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15 Dec 2025

Long-term Goals vs Short-term Needs

The phrase, “like sheep without a shepherd” is repeated twice in the Gospels.  Here are the references:  Matthew 9:36 ESV – “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd,” and Mark 6:34 ESV – “When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things.”

The Matthew event happened before sending out the Twelve in pairs, while the second occurred after they returned from their short-term ministry trip.  Both events evoked a response from Jesus of compassion for the many people who were wandering through life without someone who cared for or protected them.  But note the different applications that followed His compassion for the crowds.

In Matthew, we know that He saw a ripe harvest of souls all around Him and the application was to pray for more laborers for the harvest.  The solution was more workers in the harvest, and the means was prayer to the Father.  Implied in this request was a willingness to personally engage in the harvest as it was immediately followed by Jesus sending them out into the lost crowds in the villages of Galilee (see Matthew 10).

In Mark, after the Twelve returned, on the premise of seeking to get some time away, they once again encountered the many people in the ‘great crowd’ who had followed their boat from the shoreline.  Upon arrival, He saw the crowd, had compassion on them, and responded by ‘teaching them many things.’  And yes, He did eventually feed them – all 5,000 of them! 

As we go about our busy lives, may the Lord make us sensitive to the many lost, wandering souls around us who are living quietly desperate lives.  They may look all ‘put together,’ but we know the truth.  They are harassed and helpless – like sheep without a shepherd.  They have no one who is watching over their souls.

May our response be one of loving care for these lost ones.  May we engage in praying for them, teaching them the truth of the Gospel, and treating them as we would want to be treated – with dignity and respect.  Let’s be careful not to lose our focus on spiritual generations of disciplemakers – for that will ultimately address the eternal needs of the great crowds.  But let’s not be so future focused that we miss the immediate opportunities He brings our way.  Not moved to action by guilt, but from a compassion for the lost. 

Jesus dealt with this same dynamic tension of completing His strategic mission with the Twelve. He was always responding to the daily clamoring crowds immediate needs, who He helped by teaching and healing.  We too must address some short term ‘crowd’ needs and still fulfill our Mission just as He did.

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01 Dec 2025

Greatness and the Servant Leader

But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:25-28 ESV

The greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. Matthew 23:11-12 ESV

Note the context of both of these teachings about greatness in the Kingdom.

In Matthew 20 the two Zebedee brothers, James and John, made a preemptive power move involving their mother’s request to sit on Jesus’ right and left when He takes the throne of His Kingdom. Assuming this would be soon, these two positions would be numbers 2 and 3 in authority and power in the new Kingdom. This self-promotion at the expense of the other 10 apostles did not sit well. They became indignant with this ‘all for me, none for thee’ attitude of the two brothers. Not a good way to build trust with your comrades.

Jesus did not rebuke the brothers for their request. Rather, He simply said that those seats were designated for others.

The second context was in a rebuke of the Jewish religious leaders who loved the trappings of their leadership but were not applying what they taught personally. Position, title, and influence were what they desired rather than serving others.

Both lessons contain the same teaching – greatness in the Kingdom of God is found through becoming a servant. Note that Jesus does not say, “Greatness is found in serving.” Rather, greatness is found in becoming a servant. The issue is one of primary identity. Servant leaders have found their identity is being (becoming) a servant who expresses that identity as a leader who serves others. It is identity first, then the actions/behavior of serving flows from that primary identity.

So, don’t pursue greatness. Pursue becoming a servant and that humility will lead to greatness with leadership influence in the Kingdom.

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