Alliance-Building

Presented By: Robert J. Vickers, Founder and President

Artful Askers
P.O. Box 1225
Warrensburg, Missouri 64093
(660) 747-6390 C.S.T.
bob@artfulaskers.com
www.artfulaskers.com

"Benefits for the Faith Community of
Working in Partnerships, Collaborations, Alliances, and Coalitions!"

THE GREATEST BENEFIT of working together is this:
God will show up as we care for others, labor together, break bread and
fellowship, learn from each other, and meet needs.

“For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we , who are many, are one body in Christ and individually members one of another.”
We are all one part of One Body. Romans 12:4-5

Working together as a part of The Body is His Plan!

Remember, God’s work done God’s way will produce God’s results
and will NEVER lack His resources. . .
(time, skills, abilities, giftedness, education, human capital, and money–EVERYTHING–it all belongs to Him!)

King Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 4:10-12, “If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.”

Being committed in an Alliance allows:
1. Individual support and strength: Be strong in areas you are strong in and work on weaknesses. Allow others.
2. Organizational support and strength: Offer your strengths and ask for help in your weaknesses. Allow others.
3. Leveraging of resources.
4. Exponential ministry: Accomplishing more together than alone. For each other, others, and constituents.
5. Strength in numbers: Two are better than one; Five are better than two; More are better than fewer.
6. Help meet the need: Affirm, encourage, pray, inspire, challenge, assist, empower, etc.

Remember the example of the very first Alliance meeting in Acts 2: 42-47?

ACTION POINTS:
  1. Be.
  2. Do.
  3. Look around and find your “need” to fill.
  4. Join God there.
  5. Fill the role of the Body part that you play.
  6. Join with others who play a different role and engage in The Kingdom work.

Kingdom Involvement–There Are Many Threads in the Tapestry
“Though we are many, we are one Body. . .”

I. Doers: The ones who are doing the work to meet the needs of people.
A. Domestic
   1. Troops in field faith- and community-based groups meet needs working with Men; Women; Poor and Needy; Children and Families; Urban and Inner-City; Churches, Evangelism, and Counseling; Christian Education; International; Special Needs/Projects; Media and Technology Groups; Senior Adults; Camps; Youth; Alcohol, Drug, and Dependency; Crisis Pregnancy; Medical; and so much more.
   2. Connectors   connecting–supplies and troops to troops–alliance leaders, connectors, facilitators, builders, etc.
   3. Suppliers   of goods, services, products, human capital, etc.
   4. OTHER  ___

B. International
   1. troops in field faith and humanitarian organizations in various countries doing different/similar things with people groups, etc. . .
   2. Connectors   connecting–supplies and troops to troops–alliance leaders, connectors, facilitators, builders, etc.
   3. Suppliers   of goods, services, products, human capital, etc.
   4. OTHER  ___

II. Donors: Individuals, organizations, corporations, funders, churches, etc who give.
A. Corporate gleaners (these are ALL around you! Think RELATIONSHIP! See www.artfulaskers.com).
–products, goods, time, services, cash ($1 to $1 million), human capital/volunteers, in-kind gifts, cash, connections/relationships, other: ___
B. Foundations (these are ALL around you! Think RELATIONSHIP! See www.artfulaskers.com).
C. Government.
Local, county, region
Federal/Sponsored programs –HHS, DOE, DOJ –USAID –Faith- and Community-Based Initiatives.
State–80% of federal dollars to serve the poor come through State level.
United Nations.
D. Individuals (these are ALL around you! Think RELATIONSHIP! See www.artfulaskers.com).
E. Churches and Denominations.
F. Many other funders, funding entities, financial supporters, etc.
G. OTHER: Alliances who have studied and presented guidelines for product donation, acceptable accounting
practices and other criteria for nonprofits BUT our standards MUST be higher–must be His.

III. Supporters: can bring an interest/support and can help build in the way in which God has wired them, called and equipped them, etc. We may not even know how this group works NOR may we be able to tell them how they can help. They MUST see what we are doing–what God is doing–and bring to us their offering of help.
A. Prayer Warriors: Support/covering in need and ongoing.
B. Mailing list, constituents, donors, etc. In a relationship, keep in contact, informed, sharing vision, etc.
C. Government and policy-makers (political issues) and Think Tanks.
D. Information Technology issues.
E. Encouragers: Written notes, phone calls, words of encouragement, etc.
F. “Sharpening stones” and critical thinkers.
G. Connectors and facilitators.
H. Accountability people.
I. Nay_Sayers and skeptics–People hear Nay Sayers as negative. Need to hear them as purifiers who help us to hear God
better. The Spiritual Gift of Divination often came through the Nay Sayers and skeptics. That is what makes them so hard to hear. We hear what we want to hear. Nay Sayers often help us hear what we need to hear.
J. Logistic people.
K. OTHER interests and/or supporters to The Body–it is ALL for us!

How do we get there from where we are?

There are 3 Primary Keys. . .

Key #1. You MUST Be in The Kingdom and in Biblical Community:

Be----->then, Do----->then, Have

You are a thread. An important thread in the Tapestry of The Kingdom.

1. Who are you? Are you “BEing” who God created you to BE?
2. What are your motives?
3. Are you seeking to walk that walk? Aligned with talk?
4. What are your spiritual gifts?
5. Where is your heart?
6. What are you skills and abilities?
7. What is your personality fit for?
8. What is your experience and how can God entwine all of you/your gifts, etc. into building His Kingdom?
9. What is your purpose? What is your calling?
10. God would not call you to do it without His providing for it to be done. Financially and every other way!
11. Are you willing to be used?
12. We are all different. . . We are all the same!
13. The average person spends 70% of their emotional energy focusing on the future and spends 18% on the past!
  We can gain 88% of our emotional energy by letting the past go and living day-by-day TRUSTING Him.
14. 80% of what we worry about never happens so we spend our emotional energy worry about nothing. The
same energy used to create something rather than worrying about what will not happen can change the world around us. The energy we waste is the energy we need.
15. Related, the average person who meets someone new has 64% doubt, judgement, or other negative thoughts
  and energies toward that person–yes, this includes believers. . .
16. In fact, also according to the research, when the average person in our society looks in the mirror–the
  negative thought and energy level increases to 75% negative. Where’s the GRACE?!?
17. An Alliance around you will help you:
   –Affirm YOU in who you are.
   –Encourage and allow you to BE who you are.
   –Challenge you to BE and grow.
   –Inspire you to BE.
Romans 12: 4-5 “For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ and individually members one of another.”
Micah 6:8 "He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God."
Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
Philippians 4:19: “And my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”

A common struggle in working with thousands of pastors and ministry leaders throughout the country is this: They have moved away from the “basics” of treating people following model of scripture. There are certain characteristics that MUST be Present AND Growing in ALL Horizontal Relationships (all are on my website–www.artfulaskers.com):
R espect & Honor: Respect, honor, and dignity MUST be present for all relationships to work and flourish. . .
E xpressions of Encouragement: Positive words MUST be the norm NOT the exception. . .
L isten, Acknowledge, & Consider Response: "Listening. . . actively pursuing a common understanding."
A ppreciate & Affirm: Value what is there–even if it is different from you/especially if it is different . . .
T RUST In-Spite Of/Through Brokenness: Reasons or results? You can be happy OR you can be right. Rarely both.
I dentify & Build on Commonalities: Choose to see common things–add and multiply NOT subtract and divide.
O rder in Place & Deliberate Actions: Order helps us to assure common and equal treatment. . .
N urture & Understand: You MUST say 7 positive words for each 1 negative–increase positive OR decrease negative.
S elf-less Orientation: Biblical Mandate is to be other-oriented. Think of, see, feel, love, etc. others as much as self.
H ope, Faith, & Pursuit of Consistency: Merge faith and works. Be--> Do--> Have (not just in spiritual realm/words).
I ntegrity Journey: Integrity does NOT mean perfection. It is the pursuit of Godliness and increase toward perfection.
P ardon, GRACE, & Mercy MUST Abound: Not a little–bucketloads! Truth will not be present without GRACE more.

Key #2. Your Gifting, Calling, and Contribution to The Kingdom and Building Community:

Be----->then, Do----->then, Have

The placement of your thread on the table with the other threads in making the Tapestry of The Kingdom.

Creating communities of alliances multiplies our effort and the effect of our work.

1. The mandate of the New Testament is to be other-oriented–Are you other-oriented?
2. President Reagan had a plaque on his desk, “We can succeed at anything if we don’t care who gets the credit.”
  Credit for the quote was to President Truman but he had same plaque on his desk with credit to “Anonymous.”
3. Are you purpose driven?
4. Not with all religious words–focus on the value of what you do.
5. Habakkuk 2:2-3 record it, share it, and get ready to receive–allow Him to DO His part (This is God’s Mandate!)
6. Work as though it depends on you–pray, knowing better! Pray knowing that it depends upon Him.
7. Demonstrate the effect on people you are serving.
8. Communicate effectively–message convincing, compelling, and concise for your audience.
9. If you have appreciation within you, learn to express it!
10. “The Learning Process:”
                          D. Unconsciously Skilled (Know it without knowing you do)
                          C. Consciously Skilled (Know where and how to find it)
                          B. Consciously Unskilled (Know there’s a lot you don’t know)
START HERE: A. Unconsciously Unskilled (Don’t know what you don’t know)
11. An Alliance around you will help you:
   –Affirm YOU in what you do.
   –Encourage you to DO what you were created to DO.
   –Challenge you to DO.
   –Inspire you to Do.
Romans 12: 4-5 “For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ and individually members one of another.”
Micah 6:8 "He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God."
Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
Philippians 4:19: “And my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”

Key #3. Your Contribution in Advancing The Kingdom and Building Biblical Community:

Be----->then, Do----->then, Have

The placement of your thread with other threads and adjustment for The Tapestry–by The Master Weaver.

1. Be strong where you are strong; work on areas in which you are weak; ask and receive others’ help.
-  partnerships   -coalitions  -alliances  -cooperative work  -co-labor opportunities
-  collaborations   -Acts 2:42-47 -M.O.U.’s (Memorandum of Understanding)
2. Pro-actively engage and find where you fit–then, join God and others there! Too often we pray for God to bless
  what we are doing. Since God is the resource and has a better understanding of what needs to happen, why not ask God to allow us to help Him? Remember the Prayer of Jabez!!!
3. Move from independence and co-dependence to inter-dependence and dependence on Him.
4. “Ask NOT what The Body of Christ can do for you–Ask what you can do for The Body.” Giving IS Receiving.
5. What permeates all? Respect    Grace     Faith     Hope     Love.     The greatest of these is love.
6. A paradigm shift is necessary! We can do more together than any of us can do independently. BUT we don’t
  have to do ANY of it ourselves (we have Holy Spirit)–NOR do we have to do ALL of it ourselves!
7. Action points: Be. Do. Look around and find your “need” to fill. Join God there. Fill the role of the Body part that
  you are designed to play. Join with others who play a different role and engage in Kingdom work.
8. An Alliance around you will help you:
   –Affirm YOU in what you HAVE.
   –Encourage you to HAVE who you are/be/do/HAVE.
   –Challenge you to be a good steward in HAVING it.
   –Inspire you to HAVE.
Romans 12: 4-5 “For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ and individually members one of another.”
Micah 6:8 "He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God."
Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
Philippians 4:19: “And my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”

God HELP US to Build Partnerships, Collaborations,
Alliances, and Coalitions Throughout This Country
to Help People and Give YOU ALL Praise, Honor,
and Glory for it! In Jesus' Name!

Robert J. Vickers
Artful Askers
P.O. Box 1225
Warrensburg, Missouri 64093
(660) 747-6390 C.S.T.
bob@artfulaskers.com
www.artfulaskers.com