Developing Kingdom Leaders – Tom Yeakley

Taking the Mystery out of Leadership

Archive for the tag “kingdom growth”

21 Sep 2026

The Goal is Not Pins on a Map!

But now that there is no more place for me to work in these regions, and since I have been longing for many years to visit you, I plan to do so when I go to Spain. I hope to see you while passing through and to have you assist me on my journey there, after I have enjoyed your company for a while. Romans 15:23-24 NIV

How could Paul possibly say that there was no more work for him to do in the eastern Roman Empire?  The answer is found in his calling and ministry strategy. 

Paul was called to be an apostle to the Gentiles – the non-Jews.  Jesus told him this when He appeared to Paul on the day of his salvation (Acts 9).  Thus, his calling was one of pioneering, planting the gospel in places that had not heard the Good News of Jesus dying for their sins.  He says that he has been faithful to that calling for the past 25 years, intentionally avoiding places where someone else had already planted the gospel.

But how could he say there was no more work for him to do?  The final part of this answer lies in Paul’s ministry strategy.  Paul targeted locations that were transportation and communication hubs, knowing that the gospel would spread from those hub cities to the surrounding areas.  He knew others would come after him and build on his foundation (1 Corinthians 3). 

But we are not called to a vision of geographical expansion.  Rather, we are called to contribute to fulfilling the Great Commission of discipling the nations by raising up spiritual generations of disciplemakers.  We are not seeking to add more ministry locations to our ministry map. 

Our ministry locations are a means to an end – more trained disciplemakers.  As we raise up these spiritual multipliers, we will see geographical expansion.  But it is not our goal, nor is it a measure of our success to add more brightly colored pins to our ministry map.  Ministry locations will come and go.  We are trusting God to raise up those with vision and skill to reproduce their spiritual lives in others.  These fruitful disciplemakers are the measure of our ministry success. 

Posted in #1 KNOW- How a Leader Thinks, #3 DO - What a Leader Does and tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment
17 Nov 2025

The Kingdom and Strategic Growth

In Matthew 13:1-9 we find the familiar Parable of the Sower; one of the few parables of Jesus that He explains. In the parable, the farmer sows seeds that fall onto four different types of soils – hard, resistant ground, rocky, shallow soil, weedy soil, and good ground. Jesus explains that the farmer’s intention is not just scattering seed. But his desire is that the seed eventually produces a crop – the bigger the better.

After sharing the parable, His disciples ask why He teaches in parables (this was a change from His first year of ministry). In Matthew 13:10-17 He explains why parables and then in v. 12 He states a strategic principle –  Whoever has will be given more… The Lord of the harvest seeks to honor those who respond to the message.

In the explanation that follows (Matthew 13:18-23) He explains that the fourth soil person is. “But the one who receives the seed good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it.  He produces a crop…” v 23. The farmer’s goal is realized by those seeds that produce a crop.

Later in Matthew 25:14-30 Jesus shares another parable, The Parable of the Talents. Here He introduces it (v. 14-15) by saying the kingdom is, “…like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property  to them.” The three servants were given different amounts of capital to invest while their master was away – each receiving according to his ability. The first two immediately put the money to work.

After a while the master returned, and the servants were called to an accounting review. They reported their initial capital and the results of their labor. In v. 20-22 the first two say, “You entrusted me with… I have gained…” Note the growth and the master’s approval of their efforts. Also note the third servant is chastised for not growing the initial capital. In v. 27 the master says, “…you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned, I would have received it back with interest.”

Finally, in v. 28-29 the master says, “Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents.  For everyone who has will be given more and he will have an abundance.” It is a repeat of the same principle stated earlier in the explanation of why speak in parables.

Growth is a Kingdom principle and the Lord desires growth in our ministries. We labor to that end, always acknowledging the truth of 1 Corinthians 3:7 ESV, “So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.”

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

Post Navigation