Developing Kingdom Leaders – Tom Yeakley

Taking the Mystery out of Leadership

Archive for the category “#1 KNOW- How a Leader Thinks”

12 Feb 2024

What Do Senior Leaders Do?

Simon and his companions went to look for him, and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!” Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else–to the nearby villages–so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” Mark 1:36-38 NIV

Note the expectations placed upon Jesus by His followers – “Everyone is looking for you!” In other words, “What are you doing out here away from the gathering crowd back at our front door? There are a lot of people that need your help.” They expected Him to continue what He had done the night before – a great healing ministry that went late. But He had to correct their assumptions as to His purpose and the direction of His ministry. 

Jesus replied with a new direction, “Let’s go somewhere else” and a new purpose, “…so I can preach there also.” He explained His motive for doing so was His personal mission, “That is why I have come.” 

Kingdom leaders, especially senior leaders, are often pressured to act by the expectations of those they lead. It can be risky to disappoint them if you don’t do what they expect of you. You must be very clear on what your contributions are as their leader, anchored in the mission, and do not wavier. 

Here are four primary contributions for senior leaders:

  1. Set and maintain direction – Your direction flows out of your mission and vision statements. Once set, do not let your focus drift or be distracted by ‘shiny objects’ that appear. Stay on target!
  2. Set the tone – What and how you interact and make decisions will set a tone for the entire work. You want an environment that is attractive, where people thrive under your leadership, not survive your leadership.
  3. Align resources to the direction – Because there are always more opportunities than resources, you will have to make choices to put limited resources (people, money) towards best opportunity (most important, most strategic opportunity). This means saying ‘no’ to other great opportunities and perhaps disappointing people who are vested in those. Allow other leaders to help with the alignment choices for more ownership. 
  4. Empower leaders to lead in the agreed upon direction – Get out of the way! Delegate and give others authority to lead without checking with you first. If you can’t trust them and their decisions, then you probably have the wrong leaders. You’re really not that important!

Finally, we note that Jesus did go to the surrounding villages in Galilee, but He and the disciples returned to Capernaum a ‘few days later’ (see Mark 2:1). He was not uncompassionate to those who needed His help. He returned, but it would be after He made a short trip to some other villages having taken advantage of the moment to clarify His purpose and the direction of His work. 

Keep your eye on the ball!

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29 Jan 2024

God Eats Pressure for Breakfast!

We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. 2 Corinthians 1:8-9 NIV

Note that while Paul was in the midst of carrying out his God-given mission he found himself in the midst of severe trials. This was not due to any disobedience, lack of faith, or poor decision making on his part. These troubles were all part of God’s good plan for him and his team (note the use of ‘we’). 

Paul describes these difficulties in the province of Asia (primary city, Ephesus) as bringing “great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure.” Note the qualifiers he uses: ‘great pressure’ and ‘far beyond’ what was possible to endure in his own strength. This was a very, very difficult time for them. And then, he adds how they felt about it all, “we despaired of life itself… we felt we had received the sentence of death.” He did not want his readers to miss how bad things were. They had assumed that this was the end – they were preparing to die. 

And then the shift in narrative comes, “But this happened….” Paul is now writing having come through the ‘valley of the shadow of death’ and is reflecting on what God had done. He now sees that God had allowed these extreme trials to force more dependence on Himself rather than their own abilities and resources. God, who does raise the dead back to life eternal, handles all threats easily for they are not threats to Him. Nothing is too hard for Him (Luke 1:37). God eats pressure for breakfast!

So, are you facing challenges that are stretching you far beyond your ability to endure? May it force you to your knees in dependence, keeping your eyes fixed upon Him. Hebrews 12:1-2

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15 Jan 2024
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A Way in the Desert

Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland. Isaiah 43:18-19 (NIV 84)

Today marks the beginning of a new season as Oaks International officially launches and I have the privilege to lead this new initiative. It is both humbling and unsettling to leave the known and familiar to embrace the unknown and unfamiliar. Yet, what is not clear to me is crystal clear to God who holds the future in His hands and directs us forward. He promises in Isaiah 42:16 (NIV): I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.

Notice in this Isaiah 42 passage the six times the Lord says, “I will…” He says, “I will lead the blind, I will guide them, I will turn the darkness into light, (I will) make the rough places smooth, these are the things I will do, and I will not forsake them.” When God says anything we should pay attention.  But when He repeats Himself six times in one verse, we must align our hearts, minds, and actions in complete, humble obedience to all He says!

Oaks International’s mission is: to proclaim Christ and multiply disciplemakers for the glory of God and the joy of all nations. It is a faith venture that is entrusted to God to do with as He wills – as He promises He will do. 

We plead with Him to do as He has promised and invite your prayers as God brings our work to mind.  2 Corinthians 1:11 (NIV) says, “… as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.”

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01 Jan 2024

Starting New!

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 of 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 look back through and observe themes or topics that Lord has been addressing in you.  Here are some questions to get you started in this reflection time.

Are you pleased with your own personal spiritual walk?  More importantly, is Jesus pleased with your pursuit of Him?  How’s the pace of life?  Do you have a margin in your life?  Are you living and leading from an overflow?  How’s the 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?  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 accomplishing the mission that you intended to accomplish?

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

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! 

Posted in #1 KNOW- How a Leader Thinks, #3 DO - What a Leader Does and tagged , , , ,
25 Dec 2023

Merry Christmas!

The blog – Developing Kingdom Leaders will restart next week on January 1, 2024.

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

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07 Aug 2023

Taking a Pause

After 11 years and over 500 weekly blogs regarding Kingdom leadership, I’m going to take a pause in publishing these blogs until later in the fall.

Should you be interested in reading more of these thoughts, click on the tab at the top titled Tom’s Materials and there you will find a free download of 100 of my most popular blogs titled – A Primer for Kingdom Leaders.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.

Proverbs 3:5-6 NLT

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31 Jul 2023

The Scope of the Mission – Bifocal Vision

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:8 NIV

For some Kingdom leaders the immediate and close up can be consuming for all of our attention and screaming for more. But we cannot be true to the Scriptures and only concentrate on our local task and ignoring the masses around the world who have yet to hear. It is not enough to say that God loves them, and He will get them the message of the Gospel with or without my help – as was said to William Carey by the spiritual leaders around him in 1790’s.

No, the Word of God demands that we faithfully execute our leadership locally in light of the Great Commission needs globally. Yes, we begin in our ‘Jerusalem’ but always with a vision to impact the ‘ends of the earth.’ It’s a bifocal vision – act locally but see globally!

So much energy is called for in our local responsibilities that it can be hard to stay current with the progress of world evangelization. That’s why a great website like Joshua Project can be helpful in keeping our heads up and eyes trained on the harvest fields of the world.

The unreached peoples of the world remain to be reached by those who know, give, and go. And though every new biological generation must be re-reached for Christ, some peoples of the world don’t not have easy access to the Gospel.  Many of these unreached peoples are in cultures predominated by Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, belief systems that are strongholds of resistance to the Gospel. In sending new workers into these harvest fields, it will require long-term, sustained presence and effort for lasting impact.

May we all be faithful to execute our local leadership responsibilities, but not neglect those isolated and marginalized from the Gospel message that has been entrusted to us.

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17 Jul 2023

Do Not Hold Back!

“Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes. For you will spread out to the right and to the left; your descendants will dispossess nations and settle in their desolate cities.” Isaiah 54:2-3 NIV

The context of Isaiah 54 is the promised restoration of Zion and the Lord’s people. The Lord encourages His people to prepare the “tent,” make sure that it is large and accommodating, for the Lord has promised to fill it with many people. Why would He have to exhort them so? What would cause them to think too small, build too small, and be short-sighted in their preparations for the Lord’s actions?

In observing Kingdom leaders’ actions, I would suggest the following reasons as to why we don’t believe God and thus, don’t prepare well for God’s promised blessings:

1. Lack of faith and trust – God is talking about a future that is known and assured for Him. But for us, it is unknown and looks very insecure. We now have a choice to make. Do we trust God, His promises in His Book which are backed by His character and His power? Or do we choose to trust in what we can see, know, experience and trust in our own logic? And all the while we frame it under the argument of being ‘prudent’ or ‘realistic.’

Now certainly God does not want us to ‘throw away’ our minds or ignore sound thinking when we lead others (see Proverbs 3:5-6). But, having done our due diligence, where do we place weight in our decision-making? Are we trusting in ourselves or in God?

2. Fear that limits risk taking – Notice how many times in the Scriptures the Lord says, “Don’t be afraid…” Yet fear is a normal response to a perceived threat. It can be lifesaving in some situations. But we are called to faith, trust, and courage in response to threats. The issue is what controls our actions – our fear that can paralyze us or faith that acknowledges the threat, but chooses to act in faith.

Note what God promises in the passages that follow the above in Isaiah 54:4-5:

“Do not be afraid; you will not be put to shame. Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated. You will forget the shame of your youth and remember no more the reproach of your widowhood. For your Maker is your husband–the LORD Almighty is his name–the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth.”

Will you choose to trust God and prepare for His promised help and blessing? Or will you choose to trust in your ability to see and what your current resources tell you is prudent?

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03 Jul 2023

Trapped in Our Past

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. Isaiah 43:18-19 NIV

It has been said, “You can’t drive ahead by focusing your eyes on the rear-view mirror!”

Some Kingdom leaders are so wrapped up in their personal past that they can’t see the new thing that God is doing right in front of them. They are trapped in their past conflicts, hurts, failures, and disappointments and fail to see how God is going before them opening new pathways for them to walk.

Notice God’s admonition above – Forget it! Let it go! Stop spending your emotional energy on it! For the more you dwell upon your past problems it can take root in your life and defile you with bitterness.

Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Ephesians 4:31 NIV

See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. Hebrews 12:15 NIV

God exhorts us to “see” – He is “doing a new thing!” It is springing up right in front of you! Look ahead, not behind! “Don’t you perceive it?”

In what appears to be wilderness or wasteland in front of you, God is already there making a way in the wilderness and creating streams in the wasteland to turn it into a fruitful, productive land. You just have to obey, follow Him, and occupy the land. He has you and your future in hand.

I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them. Isaiah 42:16 NIV

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19 Jun 2023

Beware of Lighting Your Own Fires

Who among you fears the LORD and obeys the word of his servant? Let the one who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the LORD and rely on their God. 11 But now, all you who light fires and provide yourselves with flaming torches, go, walk in the light of your fires and of the torches you have set ablaze. This is what you shall receive from my hand: You will lie down in torment. Isaiah 50:10-11 NIV

All Kingdom leaders have times when they do not know what to do, how to do it, or when to execute it. When leaders arrive at these pivotal moments they have a choice to make. They can choose to trust in the Lord and rely upon God to show them the way forward or they can trust in their own thinking/logic/experience and reap the consequence.

Those who trust in God and obey Him will not be forsaken or forgotten. He will lead you forward – in His way and in His time. Note what He promises in Proverbs 3:5-6 (NLT) : Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. He will show you the path to take! Count on it!

But this promise comes with a caution to ‘not depend upon your own understanding.’ The word ‘depend’ or in the NIV it says, ‘lean upon,’ means to place your full weight for support in it. Thus, as we seek the path to take we don’t use our logic/experience alone to find the way forward. Don’t put your full weight upon this for God’s ways are often different for our ways. See Isaiah 55:8-9. Use your mind, but don’t rely solely upon it! Those who do trust in themselves, who ‘walk in the light of their own fires’ will reap the consequences. The law of the harvest cannot be avoided – we reap what we sow.

What choices are you facing today? What light do you have from the Lord? Are you obediently following?

What light are you creating by setting your own torches ablaze? Are you willing to forsake your own self-created light and repent in order to follow Him?

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