Greg Atkinson

Things are busy around my church (Bent Tree). Here’s what’s going down:

• Last month we had our Grand Opening (pics HERE). 
• This month we have our annual Missions Festival. This years theme: GLOCAL. I’ve been using that term a lot lately. Our Visual Arts team is transforming our church for this yearly extravaganza! More info HERE.
• Saturday, Oct 25: We host the Art+Music+Justice Tour. More info HERE.
• In November we’ll host the “Hymns of Hope” featuring worship leaders (including our own) from 4 amazing churches. Click HERE to see a sneak peak of them on The Worship Network and hear our worship leader, Scott Dyer. 
• In December we’ll have some sort of theatric/dramatic presentation in the early part of the month. I’m told we’ll do something “simple” for Christmas Eve. I’m counting on it!
• In January we host Leadership Network’s Innovation 3 Conference featuring MANY amazing speakers. Be there!
• Word on the street is that we’ll also be hosting Catalyst in May ’09.  Andy Stanley and Craig Groeschel will be on the Bent Tree stage. Watch out!

It’s been LONG overdue. I have been meaning to blog about LifeChurch.tv’s Digerati team for quite a while. I’ve blogged about LifeChurch.tv many times, but in this blog I’d like to spotlight the Digerati team and their projects. 

You might be wondering: “What in the world does “digerati” mean?” To get to the bottom of something, I go to Wikipedia. Wikipedia reads:”The digerati are the elite of the computer industry and online communities.” From what I know of my friends Terry Storch and Tony Steward (and the rest of the Digerati Team) this fits them very well. 

Maybe you don’t recognize the team, but you may recognize their work. Here is what the Digerati team has been up to and is responsible for:

• YouVersion (Web, Mobile, and iPhone)
• OPEN
• ChurchMetrics
• Internet Campus 
• LifeGroups
• LifeShare
• OnePrayer

The Art+Music+Justice Tour is coming to Bent Tree on Saturday, Oct. 25.

ART*MUSIC*JUSTICE on tour this fall, benefiting both the International Justice Mission and Food For the Hungry.

The International Justice Mission is a human rights agency that secures justice for victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and other forms of violent oppression.  Food for the Hungry works in more than 26 developing countries providing disaster and emergency relief, and implementing sustainable development programs to transform communities physically and spiritually.

Derek is pleased to be joining Sara Groves, Brandon Heath, Sandra McCracken, and Charlie Peacock on this tour, running from September 19th-October 26th, bringing not only the music of these tremendous artists but also telling stories of the great work of these organizations as they work for justice, advocate for the oppressed, and point towards the day coming when all things will be made right.  More than just music, these unique evenings will bring with them opportunities to involve yourself in the stories of our poorest neighbors.

EXTRA:
This past Sunday, we were blessed to have Tommy Walker lead us in worship. He, and his band, were a blessing to our church and our worship & arts family. God is still using him!

PERSONAL:
Last night was one of the greatest nights of my life. I attended my first ever Cowboys game with my friend, designer Ben Jordan. The Cowboys/Eagles game was a “Monday Night Football” game on ESPN and didn’t disappoint. It was a VERY intense game until the very end. Amazing!

I just saw this on Church Marketing Sucks. Let me take a breath. Chill – drink some Green Tea. BREATHE. I can’t tell you how much this angers me, frustrates me and honestly: breaks my heart. What the heck are these people thinking?

Friends, we are called to love and serve. Do you really think you can debate someone into Heaven? I remember years ago at a Willow Creek evangelism conference hearing Bill Hybels describe some of the long-term relationships that he’s in with lost friends. Yes, he considered them true “friends”. He said some he had been praying for for 5, 7, 10 years before they even asked about church or became a Believer. Some still haven’t. Some may never become a Christian. He’s committed to loving them and befriending them regardless. To paraphrase Hybels – he’s in it for the long haul and not just something to check off a spiritual list.

Personally, I’ve been thanking God for some of my non-Christian friends lately. I’ve interacted with people in-person, on the phone, through Facebook, Twitter and via email that are agnostic, a universalist, Muslim or Jewish. Our neighbors are Muslim. I LOVE it! I had a great conversation with a new Muslim friend the other day (who reads this blog). I hope to continue the relationship and develop a friendship.

I know the arrows will come. My email is greg@gregatkinson.com.

What do YOU think of this sign? I want to hear your voice. Also feel free to comment on CMS HERE.

A couple of things that I’m proud about last week’s Fine Arts Day Camp at my church:

• The great leadership by our own Karen Johnson (who is a vital part of our staff).
• The tremendous amount of talent and heart that went into the week.
• The hundreds of volunteers that gave of their time.
• The way the various Worship & Art Ministries worked together to encourage, train and equip the children. Worship & Arts ministries that participated were music, drama, dance, visual arts and technical arts (my team).
• My staff and the youth that served in tech all around the campus throughout the week. There were rooms all over the campus using sound, video and lights.
• My technical arts volunteers that came out Friday to serve for the end of the week musical.
• I’m most proud that all this happened while I was in South Carolina. True leadership is working yourself out of a job. This was a huge deal and I was able to be away and see my team flourish. I thank God for the team I get to lead!

The set built by our Visual Arts team, led by Aaron Bensko, and the lighting done by our own Scott Row:

Side close-up view of the set:

This is what 400 kids on the stage looks like:

From their Facebook update:

The wait is over. As the web is buzzing with reports of the new iPhone 3G and iPhone 2.0 update, we’re adding to the excitement with the debut of a Bible App for the iPhone, powered by YouVersion.com.

The ease of use you’ve come to expect from YouVersion.com now fits in the palm of your hand. We’re thrilled to launch this new application that iPhone and iPod Touch users will be able to download for free. It’s called the Bible App and it’s available now from Apple’s built-in App Store.

* Now that’s cool. Well done LifeChurch.tv! You can sign up on iTunes HERE or read more about it HERE.

The Swerve blog announced a summer message series entitled “One Prayer“, which is very intriguing. It’s many churches coming together and participating. Check out the explanation video from Pastor Craig. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this. Is this something you’d do at your church?

EXTRA:

I am thrilled to announce that SermonSpice has opened a Spanish media store. I have been begging producers for years to produce content in Spanish or at least with Spanish sub-titles. I applaud….cheer… and herald SermonSpice for their vision and commitment to equip this HUGE part of our Church. Well done!

I know several people that are coming to Dallas this week for the C3 Conference at Fellowship Church. I’m planning to meet with a few of them and give them a tour of Bent Tree. If you’re coming to town this week and want to get together, just shoot me an email and let me know: greg@gregatkinson.com.

EXTRA:
We have a team of leaders from our church in Pune, India training Church leaders for our adopted people group, the Marathas. This past Sunday we spoke with one of our elders live during our Sunday morning worship service. It was about 9pm his time and it was morning for us. It was very cool. We could all hear him clear as a bell and he heard us with no problem. We did it using Skype!

EXTRA, EXTRA:

According to TechCrunch yesterday, a source close to Microsoft says the company will launch a new desktop software called WorldWide Telescope on February 27. Pretty cool. You can read more about it HERE.

BONUS:
I read this in WIRED magazine: You can place a picture of you and/or your family on the moon – that’s right: on the moon. Check out HERE for more info.

The holidays are the biggest season for volunteering. In the spirit of the Christmas season, I wanted to see if you might consider checking out ChristianVolunteering.org.

ChristianVolunteering.org is a FREE directory with over 2,000 volunteer opportunities in ministries serving the “poor.” The site’s partners include the Salvation Army, GospelCom (BibleGateway.com), World Vision, the Association of Gospel Rescue Missions and over 1,000 ministries serving under-resourced communities. In addition to volunteer opportunities for individuals, you can also search the site for opportunities that might be appropriate for church small groups and for short-term missions trips. If you just type your postal code, you can get a listing of the volunteer opportunities in your region.

Today we have another meeting to plan for our Christmas Eve services. We’re doing 2 services on Sunday, the 23rd and 3 services on Monday, the 24th. We’re doing a mixture of special music, a small dramatic presentation and a message. This is a small Christmas for us, as we’re maxed out with the new building coming soon. I’m curious… what are you doing at your church for Christmas?

Also, if you did something special for Thanksgiving, I’d love to hear about it.

EXTRA:

Many of you have emailed me about the audio equipment we’re selling at my church. Tomorrow I should have a complete list of model numbers, prices, etc.

PERSONAL:

It all comes down to the showdown tonight – the Cowboys and the Packers! Wouldn’t you know we have rehearsal during the game?