Greg Atkinson

Monday, July 13th (at Church of the Highlands in Birmingham, AL) I’ll be speaking at the BUG Conference. This is a first of its kind event for you to get hands-on training for how to use social media and social networking in your ministry setting.

Also speaking at BUG are Maurilio Amorim, Shaun King, Jeff Murphy, Lynse Leanne Stevens, Michael Trent and Guy Walker. 

BUG is put on by ARC (Association of Related Churches)  - an organization that I’m growing to love and appreciate for their Kingdom heart and passion for church planting. I’m, personally, starting to do more and more with ARC and encourage you to check them out. 

BUG is a day you can learn about church marketing.  BUG is focused on identifying, exploring and developing current trends in marketing.  Come learn how ARC pastors are reaching more people than ever before through LOW COST , high impact VIRAL MARKETING.

Our goal is to educate, enhance, and enable pastors to reach their local community through social media.

I hope you’ll come join me at this new conference. You can register HERE.

12 years ago today, my dad dropped dead of a heart attack. It’s hard to believe that it’s been 12 years. I was 21 and had just graduated college. Now, many years of life later and with 3 kids that my dad never got to see – it seems like forever. 

Death was a wake-up call for me. I learned the bitter bite and sting of the finality of death. There was no one more time to say goodbye or hug him – it was done and there’s no going back. I also learned whether or not what I believed about Heaven was real and if I truly trusted and believed that my dad was with Jesus. 

It took me about 7 to 8 years to properly grieve my dad’s death. I learned a lot about grieving and that’s it’s okay to cry. It’s okay to talk about someone after they’ve gone and it’s okay to look at pictures and share stories about him. 

It’s been a process and a journey. I hope most people get to make it to their 40s or 50s before losing a parent, but that was not my path. My 6 and a 1/2 year old son is named Tommy after my dad: Tom Atkinson. Each of my children have something about them that reminds me of my dad (my mom, too – who is still alive). 

The biggest lesson I learned was that life is precious. I have to remember this as I minister to people who have lost a loved one. Even if they are 80 or 90 years old, they are someone’s dad or spouse or brother and it’s painful. I know that now and I have a different sensitivity about death now than I did when I first started out in ministry at the age of 18.

I can still remember the last time I looked my dad in the eyes. It was the day before he died and I was leaving his house. My wife was gathering up stuff and I was standing and waiting while my dad was seated looking up at me. We locked eyes and smiled at the situation. I had no idea it would be the last time I saw him alive.

Today I honor my dad. He became a Christian as an adult after my mom led him to Christ. He raised us well and was a faithful, honorable, man of integrity. He taught me about tithing and giving and imparted to me a strong work ethic. He came to all my sports games, musical recitals and loved to visit the church where I served while in college. He ran a family business and I was the only one that wasn’t a part of it. That didn’t bother him – he was proud that I was in vocational ministry. I’m proud to be his son.

Thursday I leave for Miami. I’ll be leading a Church 2.0 Local Forum there and can’t wait to meet so many new friends. If you are in South Florida or know someone that is, you/they can register HERE. 

Some have asked what goes on at these gatherings (this will be the 15th one I’ve led). The Church 2.0 Local Forum is a true unconference and is very informal/casual, but I’ll give you a little overview of what the day will look like. We’ll go from 10am to 2:30pm. 

• First hour: We’ll discuss new media/technology – specifically Twitter and Facebook and how they can be used for ministry purposes. I’ll share 4 key realities of these new technologies. *** I’ve added a 4th since the last one.
• Second hour: We’ll dive into a huge discussion on the topic of innovation. I’ll share 5 ways that innovation is born and what God is teaching me about innovation. 
• We’ll then break for lunch and encourage people to go eat somewhere close by with someone they don’t know and get to know them over lunch.
• The post-lunch part we’ll discuss social justice/what breaks my heart and the heart of God – as well as have time for Q & A.

Sponsors for Church 2.0 Miami are:

• Church Teams
• EasyWorship
• Fellowship Technologies
• National CineMedia
• Integrity Music
• Planning Center Online

I wish you all a great Memorial Day. I hope you have time to spend with your family. I thank God for our military and the many sacrifices that have been made for our freedom.

Here’s a new article I just wrote for Catalyst:

Innovation is a popular buzz word now and a sought after topic of discussion in conferences and the ministry resource world. I approach innovation a little differently and try my best to look at it through a Biblical lens. Innovation is the act of introducing something new. God tells us in Isaiah 43:19 to “Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new. It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it? “(MSG)

Something that was foundational in my own life was studying Henry Blackaby’s Experiencing God. In the book, Blackaby teaches that “when you recognize where God is working, you can join in what He is doing.” That to me, friends, is at the very core of being innovative – to be so in tune with God that His dreams become your dreams. May we stop bringing God our plans to bless and seek where He’s already at work around us?

Ephesians 5:1 reads, “Watch what God does and then you do it.” (MSG) What does being innovative require? A few things: First we must grasp onto this concept of joining God in His mission. Blackaby teaches that “God’s activity is far greater than anything we could aspire to do for Him.” Let that one sink in a little bit. For some of you it may be painful. For some it may be a relief.

So a first step in being truly innovative is listening to the Spirit of God and looking for where He’s moving. It requires that our innovation antennas are up and seeking God moments that lead to breakthroughs in our ministries.

Another step in being truly innovative is walking with God and being men and women of integrity. Genesis 6:9 teaches us that Noah “was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God.” What did Noah do? Only one of the most innovative and unprecedented acts in all of human history. He built an ark to protect himself, his family and many animals from a flood before it had ever rained! – that’s innovative (doing something new).

The question is: Whose idea was it? Let that sink in for a moment. Did Noah come to God with a plan to build a boat and ask him to bless it or did God speak to Noah and guide Him because he was a man that “walked with God?” When it comes right down to it, we really can’t take credit for innovative ideas. They are truly gifts from God that should lead us to worship.

I could talk about innovation all day. I’ll simply close with five thoughts on how innovation is born. Innovation is born out of times of inspiration, conversation, situation, frustration and desperation.

First, innovation is born out of times of inspiration. These are those God moments when we have our spiritual antennas up and the Holy Spirit whispers to us in that still small voice. Sometimes He speaks to us through our dreams, sometimes in quiet times of worship and reflection. Sometimes while communing with him in nature and taking in his amazing creation.

Second, innovation is born out of times of conversation. Blackaby teaches that God uses people and circumstances to help us discern the will of God. I believe that in our conversations with friends, family, co-workers, co-laborers in ministry and especially our lost and unbelieving friends and family that God uses those discussions to show us areas of need and new ways of doing things.

Third, innovation is born out of your situation. I know a church that doesn’t have any musicians in their local body to put together a worship band, but they do know a DJ. So, now they are known as the “cool church with the DJ” – when in actuality they are just making the most out of the situation they are in.

Fourth, innovation is born out of times of frustration. I was listening to Larry Osborne of North Coast talk on innovation recently and he said that it often comes from the guy who questions things and says, “There has got to be a better way to do this” or “Why do we have to always do it like that?” I believe God can and does use the things that drive us crazy to allow us to find new and creative solutions for doing things differently.

Lastly and where my heart is most is I believe innovation is born out of times of desperation. I think of small churches and church plants that are in survival mode and are so desperate as a church to make it that they are willing to risk it all. I, and many other mega-church staff leaders, have my eyes on smaller churches that are doing some extremely innovative things.

I also think we can learn a lot from our brothers and sisters overseas that are sometimes meeting underground and are in true “survival” mode. They are seeing God move in mighty ways and are finding new and wonderful ways of reaching the lost and making an impact in their community.

What do they have that we often miss? A sense of desperation that leads to a dependency on the Holy Spirit. Friends, there are no shortcuts to innovation. You cannot bypass prayer. Prayer isn’t just the way to open a brainstorming meeting, it is the meeting. If you want to be truly innovative and start doing new and exciting ways of ministry you must be dependent upon the Holy Spirit.

I’ll close with Scripture and let God have the final word. Jeremiah 33:3 teaches us, “Call to me and I will answer you. I’ll tell you marvelous and wondrous things that you could never figure out on your own.“

Yesterday I spent the entire day helping produce the Catalyst OneDay Dallas at Bent Tree. Thankfully I didn’t have my hands too full that I couldn’t enjoy it as well.

I must say it is a huge blessing and gift to the Church to have men like Craig Groeschel and Andy Stanley share their wisdom and insights into leadership. There are less busy pastors that don’t give back, share and build the Church (capital “C”) like these 2 extremely busy men. 

The thing that stuck with me the most is something that resonates deep within me. I preach it. I write about it. I’ve done articles and workshops about “less is more”. My favorite phrase came from Craig, who said “You can reach more by doing less.”

Years ago I heard Andy Stanley teach on “the blessedness of subtraction”. He also said “no ministry has a forever shelf-life” and that stuck with me all these years. 

I wonder if we, as Church leaders, are doing too much. I wonder if we haven’t killed something that should have died long ago. I wonder (like in their last session) how many ugly couches we have in our churches.

Andy specificially mentioned and joked about handbells. I, having been a worship pastor a long time ago in a traditional Baptist church, can totally relate to that and got a good laugh. Personally, I think today’s “handbells” or “ugly couches” are most dramas. 

Hear me out – I don’t have anything against the art of acting, I just think most of it nowadays should be done in-front of a camera. Use your drama team for in-house video clips like Granger does. Find creative and innovative ways to present the art of drama. Unfortunately, most of what I’ve seen over the years is tired and in need of retirement. 

Your thoughts? I’m sure I upset someone. What are areas or ministries that have had a forever shelf-life in your organization that you wish would end?

Friday I’ll be speaking at the Dynamic Church Conference in Frisco, TX. If you’re going to be there, drop by and see me. I’m teaching on the “Birth of Innovation”. I recently wrote on this topic for Catalyst. I’ll post my thoughts on the topic once the Catalyst article comes out.

Guest Blog Post by Bill Cummings:

Life in the La Limonada Slums of Guatemala City 

Nora has six children.  Grace is her youngest.  She is a beautiful one year old baby.  Grace had health problems and was able to get medicine from the doctor at the community hospital, but Nora doesn’t read and she doesn’t follow instructions very well.  So, Grace was getting half-doses and double-doses of the medication.   

Food is scarce in Nora’s home.  She had to hide Grace’s formula and baby food from her five other middle school and elementary school-aged children so they won’t eat it nor mix it with water and drink it. 

This is Nora’s reality.  Every day. 

Thankfully there is a Mother Teresa-like woman in this community and others like her who have made it their life’s work to love Nora and her children and to help them through the life they live in the La Limonada community of Guatemala City. 

Tita Evertsz, a native Guatemalan woman, began volunteering her time to serve the people of La Limonada fourteen years ago.  In the early years she felt drawn to reach out to the teenage gang members who guarded their turf in the community and who sold small vials of commercial glue – the substance whose hallucinogenic fumes medicate the people from the pain of life in the alleys of this forgotten community. 

Several years later a gang member poured gasoline on his family while they slept, lit a match and burned them beyond recognition.  As a result of this act and after years of attending the funerals of gang members who were needlessly killed by rival gangs, Tita made a commitment to give her life to the people of this community. 

She made a commitment to the children first – believing that God could use her to help prevent another generation of people in La Limonada from being caught in a cycle of poverty and hopelessness. 

My wife, my sons and I met Tita about five years ago and made several trips back to Guatemala to be with her and her community of friends who give their lives every day to love more than 250 children and who are committed to make sure that La Limonada is no longer a forgotten place. 

There are two schools in La Limonada now where theses children are loved, fed healthy meals, and provided with scholarships to attend formal school in Guatemala City.  These amazing people live life among the people of this community.  They provide shoulders to cry on as children tell horrific stories of sexual abuse – many times at the hands of a parent or sibling.  They are there to literally pick people up off the cold cement alleys after passing out from uncontrollable drinking and glue sniffing. 

Last year my wife, Cherie, and I, along with close friends, had the privilege of moving ahead with something we had been talking and praying with Tita about.  We began Lemonade International and incorporated as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based here in Raleigh, NC – to serve as the voice of La Limonada here in the United States by raising awareness and support for the real work of ministry Tita and her friends engage in every day in La Limonada. 

While there is a lot of talk of success and growth in our American business and church culture, the Tita Evertszs of this world are putting us to shame.  They are putting hands and feet to these ideas that many of us just sit around and talk about. 

Because of Tita’s influence I have been given the incredible opportunity to stand in Nora’s 8’ by 8’ home and to love and befriend her family.  I’ve had the opportunity to set up a small two-burner stove and place a boxful of food on the cement counter of her home to help feed her and her children for the next couple weeks. 

There are too many Noras out there in La Limonada and around the world for us to continue to sit around and talk about justice and about loving and caring for the poor. 

And too many Graces that need to be loved and held and kissed. 

Bill Cummings is the founder and Executive Director of Lemonade International based in Raleigh, NC.  Lemonade International serves as the voice of La Limonada in the United States – raising awareness and support for the people there – primarily through child sponsorship and by leading teams to serve in La Limonada.  Bill also blogs at www.billkcummings.info

Today I leave for Denver. I’ll be leading a Church 2.0 Local Forum there and can’t wait to connect with old friends and meet new ones. If you are in Colorado or know someone that is, you/they can register HERE. 

Some have asked what goes on at these gatherings (this will be the 14th one I’ve led). The Church 2.0 Local Forum is a true unconference and is very informal/casual, but I’ll give you a little overview of what the day will look like. We’ll go from 10am to 2:30pm. 

• First hour: We’ll discuss new media/technology – specifically Twitter and Facebook and how they can be used for ministry purposes. I’ll share 3 key realities of these new technologies.
• Second hour: We’ll dive into a huge discussion on the topic of innovation. I’ll share 5 ways that innovation is born and what God is teaching me about innovation. 
• We’ll then break for lunch and encourage people to go eat somewhere close by with someone they don’t know and get to know them over lunch.
• The post-lunch part we’ll discuss social justice/what breaks my heart and the heart of God – as well as have time for Q & A.

Sponsors for Church 2.0 Denver are:

• Church Teams
• EasyWorship
• Fellowship Technologies
• National CineMedia
• Integrity Music
• Planning Center Online