Doug Heisel

Thanks to all who participated in our online survey. It was very helpful, and I appreciate your time!

Here is a link to a file revealing our “Church Health Survey” (2008-health-survey-summary.pdf). Some pretty cool stuff. As you will see, we are a remarkably healthy church! You should be proud of yourselves.

Surveys not only reveal your strength though, they hopefully reveal what you need to focus on. That too happened. The two biggest areas of need are the exact two areas we are bringing Gary and Marcy Jones in to help us. We have outgrown existing structures and desperately need a “Family and Volunteer Ministry Champion”. He will help us to have better systems and programs to meet more of the needs of our individuals and families, as well as help more of us find meaningful ministry and leadership. I can’t wait!!!

Tags: New Life Church - INFO by Doug
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This past week we added another key piece to “Biblical Break Thru”. It falls under the category of “Less is MORE!” Too often we attempt to gain ground on too many “Break Thru Battlefields”. This strategy is understandable but generally ineffective. A better approach, that takes into account how God designed our brains, is:

Manage other areas, but give

Break Thru FOCUS to

ONE battlefield at a time.

Implementing this simple strategy has made a huge difference in my spiritual progress and personal victories. Take time to let God give you his “next step” for your life. His way leads to LIFE & PEACE (Romans 8:5-6).

Tags: BREAK THRU, Weekend Series (past series) by Doug
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As part of our Break Thru series, I talked about the “fuel” we need for our “Break Thru Journey”. We already talked about how “Break Thru Behavior Requires Break Thru Beliefs” — but this past week we went deeper. We talked about how to fuel new beliefs with “reasons”. Our take-away line was “Giant Reasons Fuel Giant Results”.

That lead into Matthew 6:33 (But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.) The point was this. What if Jesus was telling us that this concept needs to be our ultimate motivation for EVERYTHING we do? What if behind every Break Thru that we desire, we make our top “reason” this — we believe it will help us to better affect or reflect the Kingdom of GOD? And when we do that, than God’s promise kicks in — “… and all these things will be added to you as well!” In other words, doing EVERYTHING for God’s Kingdom aligns us to receive EVERYTHING God wants to do in and through us! That “reason” can become our “Ultimate Fuel for Life’s Journey.” Giant Reasons Fuel Giant Results!

Here’s where something special began to happen. In each service I shared that I am committed to being a Matthew 6:33 person … and I asked for people to join me in being Matthew 6:33 people … and I committed our church to being a Matthew 6:33 church. That phrase “being a Matthew 6:33 person”, seemed to connect in a unique way. In fact, it grew each time I shared it. It seemed to help people ask this — “Is my whole life about building ‘my kingdom’ and am I simply using Jesus to help me, or am I truly being a “Matthew 6:33 person, committed to seeking his kingdom and his ways FIRST?”

It was an “I got it” moment for many. The response at the end of each service was spontaneous, genuine, and definitely something God was doing!

It made me begin to think about a doing an upcoming series just on the topic of Matthew 6:33 (or being an Msix33 person).

If you missed the service, make sure you listen online (link to our audio files by clicking on the Msix33 logo above — it was part 3 of our Break Thru series). But even more, plan to be here this next weekend as we add a few more details to it.

Finally, on a fun note … as a way to stay focused on this idea, and to share it with others, I think we’ll begin to create visuals (a logo we can put on some printed material — including shirts and hats, etc). Perhaps God will use us, as a leading church, to put a spotlight on this Msix33 Priority. Simple tools like this could help serve that end. Stay tuned for a fall series – called “Msix33 – Life’s Ultimate Fuel”

Share some of your comments or ideas from this weekend — and your commitment to being a “Msix33″ person!

Tags: BREAK THRU, Weekend Series (past series) by Doug
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