This and That (A Message from Koop)

Fellas,

What a great week-end we had for a smaller version of TAC. Thank you and kudos to James Blake and his wife Alaina for opening their home to us and making us feel welcomed. James has a very immaculate home and for 15 guys (some with their wives and children and some with a girlfriend) to invade his home, speaks volumes about the man he is. Thank you James.

For those of you who missed TAC, there are some changes you need to know about. I will do my best to give you the cliff notes of the day. The afternoon started with a 1 mile hike to the desert. Each man there had to exchange his shoes with someone else. The objective of this exercise was to give each man a chance to walk in another man's shoes. It was a difficult task for a few people when they had to put a size 13 foot inside a size 9 shoe.....thanks for sticking it out Glendale Matias. Once we arrived at the location in the desert, James Blake led us in a moment of Praise and Worship. It was a magnificent time watching men praise God out in the desert.

A majority of the mighty men in the Bible spent some quality time in the desert and wilderness listening to God prepare them for their purpose......Jesus, Moses, John the Baptist, Abraham, David, and Elijah. The Alliance was following the steps of some powerful men. The majority of the men spoke about various challenges in their life. Once every one had spoken, each man prayed for the man who was wearing his shoes.

Powerful time fellas! After the time of prayer was over, I spoke to the group about commitment, changes, and how we are going to move forward with these changes. First, let's talk commitment. During TAC on Saturday, each man was asked to make a commitment to his wife, his girlfriend, or if he had neither, to the group. The purpose was to establish a foundation in which to build responsibility in your life for what is important. WE discussed how each man would be held accountable for his actions on the commitment made and the consequences of not following through on his commitment. Accountability is great, but the weak link in accountability is not having any consequences to follow it up with. Each of you signed a commitment letter to be the "best" man you could be daily. You were given instructions on how to be the best you could be. Those instructions are knowing, following, and committing to the practices of the vision, vow, covenant, and 8 disciplines of The Alliance.

Each of you agreed to write emails before 11pm Sunday night and send them to your AP. Each of you agreed to be part of the ACC each Tuesday and Thursday at 11am, and each of you agreed to being part of the SMS every 3rd Saturday. While you have agreed to do this, it has not always been done. This past Saturday, each of the guys were asked to re-commit to the group and be held accountable with consequences. The consequence? If you are not growing in the group and by growing I mean knowing and putting to practice the elements of The Alliance, that are designed to help you grow and change, you will be asked to step down from the group. You will not be shunned by The Alliance, and you will not be treated unfairly by The Alliance, but you will be asked to step down. How will you know if you are being asked to step down? It's simple. If you are inconsistent with sending out your emails, inconsistent with making the ACC's, inconsistent in making the SMS, and if you and your AP are not working together as a team for you to know the vision, vow, covenant, and 8 disciplines of The Alliance, then you are not growing and will be asked to step down. I am not looking for any excuses as to why there have been inconsistencies with your commitment, but I do know that where there is lack, there is slack.

It is your job to discover where that slack is in your life that keeps you lacking in your commitment. I'm not speaking to those of you that have missed one or two SMS's or ACC's, I'm talking to those of you who are very consistent in missing. I will not call names out because you know who you are. You know if you have committed to doing your 100% best this year. You know it, and if you know it, and you still have not done anything about it, then all of
The Alliance is at fault. WE are all at fault because we see the inconsistencies and have not called you on it. As of Saturday, April 19, 2008, you will be called on it and if growth and change does not happen, you will be asked to step down. Now that we have talked about commitment, let's talk about the changes we are making...... Except for the Rookies, there will no longer be emails sent each Sunday night. Once again, except for the Rookies, there will no longer be emails sent
each Sunday night. The Rookies will continue to send emails each Sunday night BEFORE 11pm. Your times will be checked. Why am I checking the times? If you can't follow a simple instruction to be on time with an email, can you really be trusted in other areas? I am certain that if you are "lacking" in one area of your life, that lack will be evident in other areas as well. So, no emails should be sent after 11pm on Sundays. Everyone else (Seniors, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd year AM's) will be sending me (Koop) an email every 3rd Saturday before 11pm. Once I receive the emails, I will read them and share them with another Alliance Member who will hold you accountable for the struggles that you have in your life.

For example: Antony Powell sends me his monthly email and he talks about how he has glorified God, what his goals were, what he would like prayer for and the areas where he has stumbled. When he talks about the areas he has stumbled he mentions drinking, gambling, and being late for work everyday. I will read the email, share it with another AM like Marshall Allman, and then Marshall and I will hold Anthony accountable to grow and change in those areas he is struggling. The accountability that we will provide for Anthony is not just a lot of words of encouragement, but we will ask him specific questions as to why he is struggling. What influences led him to start doing these things? What steps are in place for you to stop doing these things? What are the consequences if you don't grow and change in these areas of struggle? Each week at church or via email or phone call or text messaging, Marshall and I will keep a daily or weekly conversation going on with Anthony in regards to his struggles. When Anthony sends out his next monthly email and he says that he is still struggling with drinking, gambling, and being late for work, then one of two things is happening: (1) Anthony has not been following up with doing the "work" to help him overcome his struggles, and (2) He has been lying to Marshall and I when we have asked him specifically about the last time he
has drank, gambled, or been late for work. At this point, Anthony will be asked to step down from the group. I'm sure some of you are asking the question, "Well, Koop, what if Anthony has been trying? Do you still ask him to step down? No, not at all. The key words here are growth and change. If Anthony is making efforts for these two things to happen with consistency, then he will not be asked to step down.

The purpose of this higher standard is to discipline each of us to growth. In the emails that you send to me every 3rd Saturday of the month before 11pm, you will need to answer each of the 10 accountability questions. If you don't know what they are, ask someone. After you have answered each of the questions, then write me a detailed description of how your month was.

The choices you made, the struggles you had, the strength you brought to another situation. Anything that will tell me what you are doing with your life. Understood? The next change that we are making is a daily change. One of the things that God spoke to my heart regarding the growth of The Alliance is the disconnect that He has with us. WE don't spend enough time connecting with God daily. While I have given you daily readings, for some of you, reading is all that you do. There is no time for prayer, worship, quiet time, fasting, and other elements that can bring us closer to God. WE often say, "Well, I don't hear God speaking to me." Are you quiet enough so that He can? In The Alliance, we will do the following daily activities to draw closer to God: (1) Monday we will all pray at a designated time. Preferably at 11am, but if you can't pray at 11am, then let me know what time you will be praying so that I can be praying corporately with you. (2) Tuesday, is a time of praise and worship. Play a CD, sing from a CD, but spend some time praising God for 10 minutes at 11am. Again, the 11am hour is the chosen hour, but if it doesn't work for you, then choose a designated time that does work for you everyday, and make it happen.....GED. (3) Wednesday is quiet time. Sit quietly and just listen. Don't think about work or any other frustrations you have. Take the time to focus on those things that are pure, just, lovely, and of a good report. (4) Thursday is fasting. Fasting is nothing more than you feeding your spirit as opposed to your flesh. You can fast any meal, breakfast, lunch, or dinner. For one hour fast for the meal of your choice. During your fast, you should do all of the things you have been doing throughout the week......praying, praising, quiet time. All of these should take place during your fast. (5) Friday is Word time. Don't just read it, but study it and get a better understanding of what you have read. (6) Saturday is preparation time. Take the time to prepare yourself for Sunday. Pray for someone else, call one of your Alliance Brothers and see if they are going to be at church on Sunday, but prepare yourself to be available to not only be ministered to, but to also minister to others. And finally (7) Church time. All of you
should be at church, serving, praising, and being ministered to.

If you have a Rookie member as an Alliance Partner and they don't know the vision, vow, covenant, 8 Disciplines of The Alliance, and the history of The Alliance, you have set them up for FAILURE. We are 4 months into the New Year and many of the Rookies do not know the vision of The Alliance. Again, that says something about the entire team.....me included. The final change that we are making is a chain letter. If you emailed me your address last week, at some point during the week, you will be receiving a leather bound journal. Read all of the information on the letter that will be inside the journal and follow the instructions. I will speak more about the changes we are making on each of the ACC's on Tuesday and Thursday.

Here is your reading schedule for the week:
Monday: Review
Tuesday: II Chronicles 6-9
Wednesday: II Chronicles 10-12
Thursday: II Chronicles 13-16
Friday: II Chronicles 17-20
Saturday: II Chronicles 21-25
Friday: II Chronicles 26-28
Saturday: Review
Sunday: II Chronicles 29-32

Leading men, changing lives, bringing strength, impacting people.....Alliance Strong!


Koop