Paul Fleischmann - Better Together: Discovering the Dynamic Results of Cooperation

Discovering the Dynamic Results of Cooperation

Paul Fleischmann

better TOGETHER

Discovering the Dynamic Results of Cooperation

Paul Fleischmann

Better Together Discovering the Dynamic Results of Cooperation
Copyright 2014 by Paul Fleischmann

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or other without the prior permission of the author or publisher, except as provided by USA copyright law.

All rights reserved.

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, New International Version. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. The NIV and New International Version trademarks are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by International Bible Society. Use of either trademark requires the permission of the International Bible Society.

Scripture references marked NKJV are taken from The Holy Bible: New King James Version 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission.

Scripture references marked NLT are taken from The Holy Bible: New Living Translation 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Scripture references marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

ISBN: 978-1-839183-65-1 Paperback

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Printed in the United States of America.

To those who have poured into my life so deeply and so consistently, those with whom I am so much Better Together.

My wife Toni,
Dan Maltby, now with Jesus,
Carson Kiesel, my accountability partner and faithful friend.

The times we live in mandate networking as a necessity, not an option. Better Together is a rare treasure of wisdom and experience that will help us work together to reach our world.

Josh McDowell
Founder, Josh McDowell Ministries

Linking arms with Paul has been one of the great privileges of my life! From the National Networks beginning we have learned and lived out the values of Better Together. I can attest that every story and the principles behind them have the mark of proven reality.

Barry St. Clair
President, Reach Out Youth Solutions

Our cities are fragmented. The message of Better Together is desperately needed to connect urban leaders and ministries in order to more effectively reach this young and urban world.

Larry Acosta
Urban Youth Worker Institute

Whether applied to youth or adults, the principles outlined in Better Together pave the pathway to spiritual impact. Paul discipled me when I was in high school, and I know first-hand the effectiveness of his insights, teaching, and ministry. You are in for a blessing.

Randy Pope
Senior Pastor, Perimeter Church

Paul Fleischmanns Better Together is an inspiring and practical road map to help you achieve Spirit-empowered unity in your ministry, vocation, and even your personal relationships.

Ron Boehme
Youth with a Mission

God raises up people and movements to lead the way for each specific generation. Better Together is an inspiring story of how God used grassroots networking across America and around the world to bring about spiritual renewal among young people. This book reads like a beautiful story.

Jim Burns
President, HomeWord

Teamwork works. Better Together tells impacting stories of how teamwork helped ministries fulfill their purposes and goals over several decades. Readers will feel the urge to impact todays culture by revealing Gods lovebut they will realize it is most likely to happen if they choose to not travel alone.

Chris Maxwell
Director of Spiritual Life, Emmanuel College

Paul Fleischmann has spent the better part of his life living out the heartbeat of Better Together. I cant think of anyone better to rally the church around our common cause of bringing the gospel to every person possible. The principles in this book are counter-culture to most norms, but will bring anyone willing into a broader Jesus-coalition with greater impact than any of us could have on our own. Hopefully, we will all gladly give in to the glorious reality that we is greater than me.

Louie Giglio
Passion City Church, Atlanta

There is no way to thank everyone who has contributed to the process of creating Better Together. At the risk of overlooking some, I am counting on the premise asserted in this book that all of us have left our logos and egos at the door! My heart-felt thanks to all of you!

Daryl Nuss my chief advisor and right-hand man on the book. His memory goes back as far as mine, but he remembers things I have forgotten or didnt know.

Our Wives who supported us in countless ways: Donna Nuss, Daryls wife, headed up a staff prayer effort every week. Toni Fleischmann, my wife, understood the significance of this project to me and was extremely patient, despite her distracted husband. Both Donna and Toni had invaluable perspectives, ideas, and suggestions that made their way into the book.

Barry St. Clair a life-long friend whom I discovered pre-Network at our first meeting in 1979. He walked by my side then, helping to craft the Network Covenant and Objectives, and he has continued to this day by helping me to tell the story of what God has done since the formation of the Network. We have experienced first-hand what it means to be Better Together through challenging times in personal life and ministry. His experience as an author and his ready availability were invaluable to me.

In a book about networking it makes sense that there would be teams of people collaborating and contributing to make the project happen.

Ministry Sponsors Possibly, the most unique aspect of this book is that it has been a joint project of like-minded ministries from day one. While it was just an idea, key donors came behind it. Before a word was written, fellow youth ministries agreed to sponsor and co-brand the book to make it a resource for networking and collaboration in their own ministries. To the sponsors listed in this book: From the bottom of my heart, thank you for believing in me and for your deep commitment to networking our efforts in the cause of Christ.

Reading Team Thank you to the team of readers who were my sanity check on each chapter: Doug Clark, Doug Tegner, Ron Boehme, Daryl and Donna Nuss, Toni Fleischmann, and Barry St. Clair. Special thanks go to Dr. Dale Taliaferro who critiqued and advised my many Scripture references throughout the book. Refining the content was a rich blessing for me.

Focus Groups My thanks to the Networks Regional Coordinators who conceived of a book like this apart from any dream of mine. They gave valuable input as to the concepts, principles, and use of Better Together among our 800 local youth worker networks. At the design level, many thanks to people I didnt even meet who offered their opinions on the cover design and graphics.