Developing Kingdom Leaders – Tom Yeakley

Taking the Mystery out of Leadership

Archive for the tag “kingdom leaders”

27 Jul 2015

Great Leadership Books

‘Of making many books there is not end…’ (Ecclesiastes 12:12).   Just enter any bookstore and look at the litany of leadership books filling the shelves.  I’m often asked to help leaders sort through the many and find the few best books on the subject of leadership.  Here’s my suggested list of foundational leadership books for someone who wants to get a good start on this challenging subject.  It’s a good start for building a leadership library.

Leadership Bibliography

Books to be read for a foundational understanding of leadership

 The Bible  –  read and study this Book first as your basis for understanding the principles of spiritual leadership;  this will be the grid through which you evaluate all other teaching on the subject of leadership

Leadership Concepts

   1.      Spiritual Leadership / Sanders

  2.      Leadership is an Art  /  DePree

  3.      Leadership Jazz  /  DePree

  4.      Leaders:  Strategies for Taking Charge  /  Benni & Nanus

  5.      Principle Centered Leadership  /  Covey

  6.      The Leadership Challenge  /  Kouzes and Posner

7.      The Making of a Leader /  Clinton

Leadership Practice

  1.      The Effective Executive / Drucker

  2.      Developing the Leader Within You  /  Maxwell

  3.      Developing the Leaders Around You  /  Maxwell

  4.      The Training of the Twelve  /  Bruce

  5.     Leading from the Sandbox   /  Addington

  6.     Leading Change  /  Kotter

7.     Biographies of great leaders  –  Dawson Trotman, Hudson Taylor, George Mueller, J.O Fraser, Adoniram Judson, Amy Carmichael, etc.

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20 Jul 2015

The Amazing C.T. Studd

There are no guarantees we will live a pain-free life. God does not apologize for asking much of His followers. It is His right. He owns us. He bought us with His own blood. “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body” (1 Cor. 6:19-20).

But God also promises us that whatever cost we are asked to pay in denying self and following Him He will repay multiple times over. “I tell you the truth,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields–and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life” (Mark 10:29-30). Therefore, whatever has been sacrificed for Christ, when compared with what has been gained in return, will not seem to be too great a cost to pay.

C.T. Studd came from a wealthy English family and was a 21 year-old student at Cambridge University when he trusted Christ as his personal Savior. Studd was an outstanding athlete, with a possible career in professional sports, in addition to being a good student. After his conversion, he dedicated his life and wealth to Christ.

He and six other Cambridge students offered themselves to Hudson Taylor’s China Inland Mission in 1885. Nine years later he returned to England with a wife, but broken in health. After recuperating, he gave away his home to the mission and traveled throughout America for two years recruiting young men and women to give themselves to missions. In 1900 the family moved to India for six years when once again they had to return to England. In 1910 he left his family in England to pioneer a new mission into the heart of Africa. This ministry eventually became Worldwide Evangelization Crusade (WEC) which continues to this day.

Studd personally had a ministry on four continents and through those he touched, the entire world. But this adventure began with a decision to deny fame and fortune in this world in order that he might follow Christ.

Jim Elliott, martyred by Latin American Indians as a young man. said this, “He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep, in order to gain what he cannot lose.”

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06 Jul 2015

The Amazing John Sung

John Sung was a young Chinese believer who was sent by his family to America to study chemistry. After obtaining his PhD from Ohio State he went on to seminary before returning to China. During his time in the U.S., God called John to a life of service for the Kingdom. On the ship home one evening, he took his diplomas and threw them into the Pacific Ocean, telling God he would follow Him wherever He led.

After arriving home, he told his family of his calling and decision to serve Christ rather than teach science. The family thought he had lost his mind and committed him a mental institution. During his 193 days in the asylum, Sung read the Bible through 40 times! Finally, the family had him released, and he became an itinerant evangelist traveling throughout China and many Asian countries. His fifteen-year ministry was characterized by unusual power and influence until his death at the age of 43.

Not all of those who seek God’s best will be asked to give up their careers in order to serve Christ full-time. Many will serve Him in God-honoring careers, being light and salt in the marketplace. But whatever their vocation, the pilgrims of this new generation of believers will often live lives that will be misunderstood by others.

Pilgrim values will be contrary to the values of this world. Life decisions based on eternal values will go against the tide of this world’s norms. Pilgrims will be thought of as foolish or at least not living up to their full potential. It will only be in the world to come that we will see completely who made the correct choices. “But wisdom is proved right by all her children” (Luke 7:35).

How’s your value system?  Is it based upon this world or the world to come?

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29 Jun 2015

Living with and Eternal Value System

What will it take to find a generation of God’s people who will live for the summit of God’s best? It will begin with individual believers who base their lives on eternal rather than temporal values. It will take believers who are so convinced about the reality of life in heaven that this world’s pleasures will not be able to grip their lives. It will begin with an eternal value system in the believer’s life.

Both the seen and unseen world have values. Individuals adopt these values and life’s choices are based upon them. This world places value on such things as youth and physical beauty, intelligence and education, the accumulation of money and physical goods, personal power and position, and self-gratification.

The world to come says that this world and its values will soon pass away. In the world to come we will all be given new bodies that don’t age or deteriorate (1 Cor. 15:35-58), we will know even as we are known (1 Cor. 13:9-12), there will be rewards for faithful service (1 Cor. 3:5-15), and we will reign with Christ forever (2 Tim. 2:12; Rev. 22:1-5).

Those believers with an eternal value system will have a pilgrim’s mentality. They will view this life as temporary, a brief interlude on the way to eternity forever with Jesus. They are only passing through this world on the way to a better life. The time given for this temporal life will be used for God’s glory, always with the eternal end in view. Decisions in this life will reflect the reality of the eternal life we await.

All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country–a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. (Hebrews 11:13-16)

Jesus reminds us that where our treasure is, there our heart will be (Matthew 6:21).  Where’s your treasure?  Where’s your heart?

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22 Jun 2015
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Reaching the Nations

Dawson Trotman said, “World vision is getting on your heart what has always been on God’s heart.”

Christ’s Great Commission commands us to make disciples of all the nations. By ‘nations’ we do not mean geo-political units on a map, but rather peoples. We see the world as the Lord does – peoples with common cultures, languages, and affinities. It is within these peoples that the gospel moves and spreads.

There are 78 unreached people groups within our own U.S. borders, requiring no visa to reach them and few government restrictions (see Joshua Project statistics for current U.S. and world opportunities).

Immigrants and refugees are pouring into our country at unheard of rates. And we know from history that when people are in transitions they are more open to the gospel.

International students are also coming to study on our campuses at unprecedented rates. They too are in times of change and thus are very receptive to new ideas and relationships. And when they return to their home of origin they become leaders and influencers for a lifetime. These too require no plane ride or language school experience to engage. But they do require a huge heart, sustained commitment, and great perseverance to see the gospel take root and bear fruit!

The world today still is 40% unreached (see Joshua Project data). There remains 6,600 unreached people groups totaling nearly 3 billion people. These peoples will be reached if someone leaves their home and intentionally crosses cultures to plant the gospel among them. The remaining groups are historically the most resistant to the gospel – those with Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist background. It will require long-term effort and much sacrifice for the gospel to go to these ‘nations.’

Our Lord said, “Go and make disciples of all nations…” (Matthew 28:18-20). Paul reminds us, “And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard?” (Romans 10:14). Are you praying for the nations to come to know Him?  Are you listening to how He would have of you to become the answer to your own prayer?

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15 Jun 2015
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The Leadership Wake

Henry Cloud has described what he calls the ‘leadership wake’ that all leaders leave behind them as they exercise their leadership. Just as a boat moving through the water leaves a wake (trace) behind it of two waves, so too leaders leave behind them the impact of their influence.

On one side of the leadership wake we have the ‘wave’ of mission or task. It is the reason we have a need for leaders – a mission or a task needs to be done. A leader is identified to help set a direction forward, align resources, cast vision, and manage the work of people in order to accomplish the mission.

A good leader when looking behind them at one side of their personal leadership wake would hope to see mission after mission, task after task, accomplished, completed, and finished for the glory of God. It is often the reputation of being a leader who gets things done that draws the attention of other leaders and encourages them to give you more responsibilities. The reward for good leadership is more responsibility!

But there is a second wave on the other side of the ‘leadership boat’ that is equally important for Kingdom leaders. That side of the wake is people. We want to see people thriving under our leadership influence, not surviving their time with us. Too often we see mission accomplished on one side and forget to look at the other side of the wake. Do we see people thriving or struggling? Are we creating a healthy and attractive environment where people are operating in their strengths and growing in their contributions?

The good Kingdom leader is looking at both sides of their personal leadership wake. They are taking note of whether the job given is accomplished and accomplished well. They are also noting whether people are thriving under their leadership. 360 reviews can be very revealing when direct reports are given opportunity to evaluate their leaders.

Much of Kingdom leadership is leading volunteers. And because this is mostly a volunteer army they have a vote on whether or not to serve under our leadership. Good leaders have volunteers who continue to ‘re up’ with them to serve again and again. Volunteers can ‘vote with their feet’ and leave if we are not leaving behind us a leadership wake that is healthy and attractive.

Have you looked behind you recently? Are you looking at both sides of the boat?

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08 Jun 2015

If Laborers are Few, then Leaders are Fewer

Jesus states a simple fact in Mat. 9:35 – the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers (workers) are few. This reality was true when Jesus stated it, it is still true today, and it will be true when He returns. Why would there be ‘few’ laborers? Why are laborer-leaders in short supply?

First, the laborers are few because it is costly, hard work to labor for Christ. Most of us, if we are honest, have the ‘gift’ of being served, instead of serving others. It is this tendency that encourages many to let the few serve the many. It takes a lot out of us as we serve, lead, and help others. This effort is draining and personally depleting. Work is still called ‘work,’ even in the Kingdom.

Secondly, the laborer-leaders are few because it is a volunteer workforce. Just as we can opt in or out of salvation, we are also given the opportunity to opt in or out of spiritual serving. Yes, making disciples of all the nations is a command, but we have the choice to make of whether we will obey or not. We are incentivized with the promise of rewards for faithful service (1 Cor.3) and reminded of the potential loss of reward, but it is not conscription in the Lord’s service.

Thirdly, there must be a transformation with us in order to labor and lead in the harvest. We must change from being self-focused to being others focused. This is a spiritual work that the Holy Spirit does within us and the heart and mind of Christ are formed within all those who believe and follow Him. We can ask for a new heart (Ez. 22:30) that He promises and He will give it. But the transformation is truly a miracle of His grace as we grow out of our own ego centric world views to become others centered.

The amazing thing about Mat 9:35-38 is that Jesus is not complaining about the lack of a few laborers. He is simply stating the facts. God’s purposes will be accomplished, even though there are only a few laborers entering into the harvest. The harvest will be reaped. God’s plans will be completed, with us or without us.

It’s a volunteer outfit. Do I see that hand up?

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01 Jun 2015
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Leaders and Crisis

Life and leadership bring crisis moments whether we are expecting them or not. They just happen! This reality should prepare us to address them when they show up. But we are often taken by surprise when a crisis interrupts our plans. Crises are not something to be dreaded, but rather embraced.

The following are several thoughts on how to face up to your next leadership crisis:
1. Adjust your attitude! This current crisis is an opportunity for your personal growth as a leader as you address this latest ‘disaster.’ Rather than fearing this crisis, embrace it and look for the Lord to help you not only conquer the problem, but also turn this into a hidden blessing.

2. Move towards it now! It will not solve itself! If ignored, it will probably grow worse, bigger, more ominous, or ripple out to influence more people. Just as David ran towards Goliath (see 1 Sam. 17:48), move towards this threat and engage!

3. Do not delegate your problems to someone else on your team. Others can ‘smell’ that kind of lack of courage or unwillingness to deal with something that is messy.

4. While not delegating the crisis to another, loop in some others for help. You continue to run point on the crisis, but by bring in others for help they too will grow from the experience and their contributions will often help bring about a better solution than if you handled it all yourself.

5. Look for the best solution to the problem, not just the quickest or easiest. One practical discipline that I have tried to develop in this area of problem solving is to force myself to come up with several possible solutions, not just one. But doing this I am often pushing myself to think more deeply or broadly to different, more creative ways to solve the issue. The final action is often some combination of several possible solution scenarios.

6. Expect God to help you. He has promised to never leave you or forsake you (Mat. 28:20). Look to Him in the midst of seeking a way forward. The prayer of Jehoshaphat in 2 Chron. 20:12 is instructive, “Lord… we do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”

7. When the crisis abates, and it will, be sure to give thanks for deliverance from the current mess. An ungrateful spirit is disappointing to others serving with you and revealing about our hubris as if we were the ones who really solved the issue.
Crises come and crises go. Your either in the midst of one right now or one is coming soon. Get ready! One person’s crisis is another person’s ‘opportunity.’

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25 May 2015

Serving God with a Good Attitude

God has a volunteer workforce.  We are all invited to co-labor with Him (see 1 Corinthians 3).  When we ‘raise our hand’ and join up with Him and many other volunteers the key is have a good attitude.  The following are 3 Attitudes of a Spiritual Laborer that make us useful in the Master’s hands.

Attitude #1     Willing to Respond to a Call to Co-Labor

The Lord invites us to join up with Him, but we have the option to choose whether we will serve.  He will accomplish His purposes with us or without us.  It is a privilege to serve with Him.  We were designed for this destiny.

• Personal calling – you will know when He is asking YOU!  –   Moses – Ex 3:4; Samuel – 1 Sam 3:10; Mary – Luke 1
• God can use need or circumstances to call – Paul with the Macedonian vision – Acts 16:9; Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”

Attitude #2     Willingness to Work Very Hard

Volunteering for Jesus is hard work!  It requires serving others who will frequently no be grateful.  It requires perseverance for many tasks are difficult and complex.  The example of laboring found in Mat 9:35-38 is one of a common field hand worked the barley or wheat harvests with a small curved knife.  It was back-breaking work in the heat of the day.  Laboring with Jesus is not for wimps!

Attitude #3    Willingness to Risk Everything and Sacrifice

Those who volunteer to serve with Jesus give everything they have.  Billy Graham said, “Salvation is free, but discipleship will cost you everything you have.”  Volunteers commit themselves to God for their reward in heaven, not expecting rewards in this life.  They put Christ above comfort; living for world to come.  Two passages mentioning reward for service are:  Mark 10:29-30 and Luke 18:29-30.

How’s your attitude?  Have you raised your hand to volunteer for service?  Having second thoughts?  It’s time to re-up!  Raise your hand!

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18 May 2015
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The Amazing John Wesley

John Wesley was the fifteenth child of Samuel and Susanna Wesley.  Born in 1703,  he was converted at the age of 35 after university and a failed ministry attempt with his brother, Charles, in the Georgia Colony.  Though coming to faith later in life, Wesley made up for his ‘late start’ and his energy seemingly knew no bounds.

“John Wesley averaged three sermons a day for fifty-four years, preaching all told more than 44,000 times.  In doing this he traveled by horseback and carriage more than 200,000 miles or about 5,000 miles a year.

“His published words include a four volume commentary on the whole bible, a dictionary of the English language, a five-volume work on natural philosophy, a four volume work on church history; histories of England and Rome; grammars on the Hebrew, Latin, Greek, French and English languages; three works on medicine, six volumes of church music; and seven volumes of sermons and controversial papers.  He also edited a library of fifty volumes know as “The Christian Library.”

“His daily schedule was as follows.  He arose at 4:00am and worked solidly through to 10:00pm, allowing brief periods for meals.  In the midst of all this work he declared, “I have more hours of private retirement than any man in England.”

“At age 83, he was piqued to discover that he could not write more than 15 hours a day without hurting his eyes; and at the age of 86 he was ashamed to admit that he could not preach more than twice a day.  In his 86th year, he preached to almost every shire in England and Wales and often rode thirty to fifty miles a day.”  (Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations by Paul Lee Tan)

John Wesley finished his race just short of his 88th birthday.  While his lifestyle is one few could imitate, his passion for Christ is compelling.  How’s your work ethic?  Are you pursuing hard after Christ and His Kingdom?

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