Almost Isn’t Good Enough shares Wayne Elseyʼs story from a teenage boy on the verge of committing suicide to the founder of one of the fastest growing charities in the world. Along the way, Almost Isnʼt Good Enough takes a look into what has made Soles4Souls grow to where it is today.

Almost Isnʼt Good Enough will speak purpose into your life, much like the purpose Wayne discovered when he founded Soles4Souls. 100% of the proceeds will go directly towards furthering Soles4Souls mission.  For every book sold, 10 pairs of shoes will be given to people in need!

Wayneʼs hope is that this book will provide 200,000 shoes to kids around the world in 2011! Soles4Souls is asking you to join in using the book to change the world.

Buy Two, Give One, Tell Five

• When you BUY TWO, 20 pairs of shoes will be distributed to people in need wherever you designate.

• When you GIVE ONE, a message of hope and purpose will be given to someone you care about.

• When you TELL FIVE, you will help Soles4Souls hit our goal of giving away 200,000 pairs of shoes to people in need all over the world.

TELL FIVE by sharing this post on your Facebook or Twitter. Use the hashtag #200kShoes. Sign up and share email updates from the book. When you do, youʼll be providing shoes to an entire village.

The following is an excerpt from Chapter 6 of Almost Isn’t Good Enough:

I chose to leave my corporate career and make Soles4Souls my life’s work. Just because I made that decision doesn’t mean that is the only option you have available. Maybe you’re in your twenties, thirties, fifties, or whatever age and wondering what you can do. You might be discouraged that you can’t leave your job and start a nonprofit organization to solve a looming social problem. Maybe your feet are backed into a corner with your career and family obligations and think there is no way you can get a do-over in life.

If you’re in your twenties, let me encourage you to learn as much as you can about yourself. Surround yourself with people who are better than you at just about anything. Listen, watch, observe, and practice. Change jobs more frequently if you need. Not everyone wakes up one day and recognizes what he or she will do with the rest of their life. With the pace at which technology is changing the world, chances are whatever you are doing today won’t exist by the end of your career. Even better are the chances of you stumbling into a career that didn’t exist when you graduated from college. Use this time to discover who you are, your unique talents,and how you can leverage those skills to help others and yourself.

If you’re in your thirties, keep a balance between work and family. Don’t be consumed with building your career that you leave your family behind. Your family will be there when your job fails you and when the company you have been so loyal to decides they no longer need your services. There is no amount of money that will buy you security you can find in the loving arms of the ones you love and who love you.

If you’re in your fifties or older, it’s not too late. You may be entering a transitional period in your life that is very similar to those who are in their twenties. Perhaps you are on the brink of retirement. Your identity is wrapped up in your work, your airline rewards account, and your membership to the corporate gym. Retirement does not mark the end of your life but an opportunity to invest in other areas.

To purchase your copy of the book click HERE.

Here’s a sneak peek into Almost Isn’t Good Enough:

I was very happy to receive my copy of Sun Stand Still in the mail a couple of weeks ago. I knew Steven Furtick when he was a teenager. I remember him going to North Greenville College near where I grew up. Now I get to hear stories of how God is using him and his amazing church in Charlotte, NC. I hope you’ll get a copy. Read what Pastor Steven has to say about it:

When you strip the biblical miracles of their spectacular special effects, a common plot point emerges: extraordinary moves of God begin with ordinary circumstances and acts of obedience.

It doesn’t matter who you are or what you do for a living. If God lives in you, you have the potential to witness God do the impossible. In you. Through you. And around you.

That’s easy to say. But it can be hard to believe. My upcoming book, Sun Stand Still, is all about audacious faith and the invitation to believe that you were made to experience the miraculous on a regular basis. But what I found in writing the book is that it’s easy for me to share my story of audacious faith. It’s easy for me to make applications to other church leaders about how to have audacious faith.

But it’s much harder to relate the concept of audacious faith to people who may not see their life’s work in a very audacious light.

Maybe you can relate. You might be thinking that nothing remarkable—much less supernatural—ever happens to you. Your prayers appear to be rarely and randomly answered. And no agenda item in your life seems big enough to warrant God’s undivided attention anyway. Audacity seems to be reserved exclusively for others—the special Christians.

Clearly, God does special things in a special way through special people. But where does that leave the rest of us?

For instance, how can you be an audacious school teacher?

An audacious parent?

An audacious hourly employee?

An audacious student?

An audacious wife?

What I concluded is that audacity is not simply an activity. Audacity is an approach. Audacity isn’t qualified by what you do. It’s all about how you do what you do. Sometimes audacious faith is defined by the nature of the activity. Being a missionary in a third world country requires audacious faith. Audacity kind of comes with the package.

Other times, audacious faith is activated by your approach and attitude. In other words, it’s possible to approach a simple or ordinary activity with an audacious attitude, and glorify God in a remarkable way. Audacity is every bit as attainable for you, whether you are a stay-at-home mom or an electrical engineer—if you dare to relate to God on a new level.

Here’s what I know: God is able to stir up your spirit, pour out his presence, and reveal his glory in your family, business, or community. And in Sun Stand Still I want to show you that the extraordinary presence and purpose of God will burn brightly in the life of anyone willing to be set on fire.

For more info, visit the Sun Stand Still page.

*** By the way, today I (Greg Atkinson) turn 35. Wow! I’m grown.

The New York Times best-selling authors of One Month to Live are back with another 30-day plan in Love At Last Sight: Thirty Days to Grow and Deepen Your Closest Relationships.

The new book by Senior Pastor Kerry Shook and Chris Shook, co-founders of Woodlands Church in The Woodlands, Texas, helps readers focus on their key relationships—spouse, children, close friends—with the aim of deepening each. Instead of what they call “love at first sight,” the authors are encouraging a “love at last sight” mentality.

With regard to marriage, Chris Shook said: “Love at first sight is the idea that you meet that one and fall in love and that’s it. As Kerry and I found out in our 26 years of marriage and in raising four children, we found that love is really what happens in the in-between times, what you do in the tough times and in the times when you aren’t filled with butterflies and roses and music.

“We want the last time that we see each other, we want us to be more in love than ever before,” Shook added. “Since that’s our goal, it means working on that every day.”

Readers are challenged “to think of three key relationships in your life—and it could be family members, friends, co-workers—and tell them they are important to you,” Shook said. “Find people in your life that mean a lot to you and then really focus on those three relationships during the first 30 days, and we hope that after that month, this will become a lifestyle, a ‘love at last sight’ lifestyle.”

The book divides the 30 days into four weeks and the four keys behind the “love at last sight” lifestyle: being all there, acting intentionally, risking awkwardness and letting go.

As with their previous book, Love At Last Sight can be used by an individual, group or whole church. Drumming up interest among churches, Shook said: “There are actually many churches who did a campaign for One Month to Live who have already expressed a lot of interest in doing this as well, so we will be launching and meeting a lot of churches this fall with churches across the country.”

As one part of the book’s launch, the Shooks are encouraging participation in a Facebook Fast on Aug. 25.

“We do feel like it’s really important to recognize that we’re becoming too dependent on social-networking sites to conduct everyday affairs of relating to each other, to the people we love,” Shook said. “So we are encouraging a national Facebook Fast where for a day you don’t go to social-networking sites and only use your computer for necessary things that day for work or school or whatever—not texting if possible, but calling people or seeing them face to face.”

To order the book, go HERE.

My friend, Scott Wilson just wrote another book. This one is through Zondervan and is called “Steering Through Chaos“. We’ve all heard the saying, “Change is good.” But it can also feel frightening. In the midst of a transition, many church leaders struggle with clouded vision and doubt that they have a real, authentic calling from God. According to Scott Wilson, it doesn’t have to be that way. You can maintain a crystal-clear vision during times of change and transition, and boost your church’s momentum rather than start to drift.

Addressing common transitions such as the building of new facilities, changing of staff structure, addition of new services and becoming a multi-site ministry, Steering Through Chaos is the ideal resource for a church staff or leadership team facing the challenges of change now, or the inevitable change to come.

Scott draws from his 20-plus years of pastoral experience, but also taps the expertise of other seasoned leaders like Larry Osborne (North Coast), Dino Rizzo (Healing Place), and Tim Stevens (Granger). Each leader shares key principles he’s gleaned from helping his own church navigate change. Scott shares a little bit about the book and a glimpse into his heart in this video HERE.

Scott and his church brought me in to do a secret shopper last Fall and I had the honor of helping them do what they do better. You can read Scott’s words on my visit HERE. I’m reading this book and I encourage you to do the same. You can get your copy of the book HERE.

Renee Johnson is a spirited speaker and writer to twenty-somethings. She graduated from Biola University and has had the pleasure of working with the top nationally-known Christian speakers and writers at Outreach Events. Her devotional blog reaches hundreds of readers.

Renee’s mission in life is to “spur others forward” (Hebrews 10:24) using the lessons learned from her own trials to encourage others in their walk with God. Sign up for weekly devotionals at http://www.devodiva.com. Learn more about Renee and her ministry at www.devotionaldiva.com. For more information on her book, go to the book website: http://www.faithbookofjesus.com.

I had a chance to ask Renee some questions. Take a look:

1. GREG: What led you to write this book? RENEE: When I read through new devotional books year after year I eventually ran out of relevant devotionals. There were the classics such as “My Utmost For His Highest” and “Streams in the Desert” and then the fluffy ones for teenagers or women (or men) only. I decided I had had enough and started to write my own. That was seven years ago and it took me that long to learn the publishing world and to find my voice as a writer!
2. GREG: Why do you think 20-somethings in particular will benefit from reading this? RENEE: 20-somethings will especially benefit from reading “Faithbook of Jesus.” I surveyed over 300 plus 20-somethings and young adults and picked the best quotes for each daily devotional.
3. GREG: Do you think this book is good for people of all ages? RENEE: “Faithbook of Jesus” can be read by people of all ages. However, it is the first devotional book written for men and women, ages 18-35! GREG: I’m in that target age group so I look forward to using it daily!
4. GREG: Tell us a little more about your background in ministry. RENEE: I had the pleasure of working at Outreach for the past two years. I helped pastor’s plan Events and was able to represent amazing speakers such as Josh McDowell, Lee Strobel, and Kirk Cameron. For me to work at Outreach was a dream come true.
5. FUN FACT FROM RENEE: My Literary Agency and NavPress found and discovered me on Twitter! For any individuals, pastor’s, or faith-based ministries wondering how to impact young people, social networking is definitely the way to go!

*** I encourage you to pick up your copy HERE.

So – BAM – yesterday Google Buzz dropped. There’s been a lot of talk about whether or not people like it. I’m still not sure myself. I’m such a huge fan of Twitter. I did just do my first “buzz” though. So, what do you think about it? Will it survive?

This weekend I saw Clint Eastwood’s new movie Invitus (twice). “Invictus tells the inspiring true story of how Nelson Mandela (Morgan Freeman) joined forces with the captain of South Africa’s rugby team (Matt Damon) to help unite their country. Newly elected President Mandela knows his nation remains racially and economically divided in the wake of apartheid. Believing he can bring his people together through the universal language of sport, Mandela rallies South Africa’s underdog rugby team as they make an unlikely run to the 1995 World Cup Championship match.”

I blog about movies that move and inspire me. I’m a movie-guy and God speaks to me through movies. I saw Crash and instantly knew it would win an Academy Award. I saw Slumdog Millionaire and instantly knew it would win an Academy Award and blogged about it on here.

Earlier this year, I blogged about Jamie Foxx and his performance in The Soloist. I think it’s an amazing movie, so I’m currently torn. I think Clint Eastwood should win Best Director for Invictus. I think Morgan Freeman will be fighting hard against Jamie Foxx for Best Actor and it will come down to these 2 movies for Best Picture. Matt Damon also ought to be up for an Oscar.

You heard it here first. Now go see the movie. It’s a powerful story of forgiveness and reconciliation.

My friend, DJ Chuang, posted an article entitled “Can the online church really be the church?” Here it is:

This new book by Douglas Estes, SimChurch: Being the Church in the Virtual World, tackles the brewing questions surrounding the legitimacy of an online church. Many church leaders are discerning and discussing the “what is the church?” question that’s been going for years, and now, growing numbers of church leaders are asking it in the context of online worship experiences and forming relationships and communities virtually.

The book’s official website poses the question as: “Church on the Internet? Seriously?” This is the question many people are asking as more and more people chose to congregate online, and more and more churches look to launch internet campuses. But are these internet churches real? Are they healthy? Are they productive for faith? This is a conversation you can’t afford to miss as together we ask, “What does it mean to be the church in the virtual world?”

The official website links to a number of commentaries, including these positive ones: Internet Campuses from A Multi-Site Church Roadtrip, Responses to concerns about online church by Tony Steward, and A lesson from history for doubters by John Saddington; and negative ones:There is no virtual church by Bob Hyatt, Is Online Community real Community? Questions about the Virtual Church by Drew Goodmanson, Limitations of online church by Bobby Gruenewald.

As I’ve started reading through the book, I appreciated the author not taking a cautionary posture, throwing up warnings and fears of how technology could be misused. Estes digs behind the assumptions and cultural lens we have about being present with one another in inter-personal relationships. This is excerpted from page 60-61,

“If we want community to flourish in the virtual world, we’ll need to scrutinize our learned understanding of presence. Most people raised and educated in the Western world think of presence or being present as a physical act… Though defining presence simply as the location of our bodies is one of the foundational bricks of modern Western understanding of the world, itis not a God-given or biblical idea.” [emphasis added]

I think the book makes a compelling case for how relationships can occur through telepresence, and that a biblical community and a biblical church is not limited by the geography of a physical location.

And, last week, a SimChurch blog tour connected bloggers with reviews, commentaries, and interviews:

• Theology and the SimChurch [a chat with Douglas Estes] at Dan King’s blog,BibleDude
• SimChurch Blog Tour Discussion and Can a Church Exist in Cyberspace? at Chad Estes’ blog, Captain’s Blog
• Book Review of SimChurch, plus questions about WikiWorship at Eric Nygren’s blog, Returned Sheep
• SimChurch and Typical Churches at Mark Robert’s blog, MarkDRoberts.com
• Intro to Online Churches at Cynthia Ware’s blog, The Digital Sanctuary
• Discussion on the Advantages of Virtual Churches at Kent Shaffer’s blog, Church Relevance
• Book Review of SimChurch at Dave Bourgeois’ blog, Lessons from Babel
• Plus an unofficial post on the blog tour, my myth-busting In Defense of Virtual Church over at Christianity Today’s blog, Out of Ur

While I’m not so sure the discussions and reviews will change a lot of minds at this stage of the dialogue, I do think this book is one to be reckoned with. Where are you at with your thinking about the church in the virtual world?

Today  I’m a stop on the Whole Church Blog Tour. I asked author Mel Lawrenz 3 questions and he answered them below. I read this book on two flights a week ago. It’s worth your time to check it out.

1) In chapter 10, you talk about the struggles we all face when it comes to change. In your experience, what’s the first hurdle leaders need to overcome to change their culture from fragmentation to engagement?

MEL: Our biggest hurdle to overcome is our obsession with ourselves. All churches (and especially their leaders) tend to be focussed on themselves. We do that because we’re human; and we have fragmentation in our churches because we human beings are fragmented. We should come back to the question: what really constitutes success in a church? What are we really aiming at accomplishing? Whole Church contains 350 practical ideas on promoting cohesion in a church.

2) Is there a linear path from fragmentation to engagement? Or does each church’s individual context influence the steps leaders need to take?

MEL: Churches, like families, grow and improve in an organic way, not in a linear path, in my opinion (at least, with regard to the spiritual dynamics of a church). Engagement (as God’s resources being brought into contact with human need) happens when, in dozens of different ways, we close the God-gap. For instance, re-tooling worship so that it is a true encounter with God in every element of worship, or shaping small groups so that they produce true koinonia (not just gatherings), or getting a congregation really engaged with global needs by connecting with a school in southern Sudan. These are not a few steps along a linear path, but a pattern of a multitude of cohesive experiences.

3) You end the book with a chapter called “Choosing Wise Leaders” – why did you choose to finish with this?

MEL:Wisdom is a neglected theme of church leadership. Get leaders who are wise (in the James 3 sense), and they will know that engagement with God is where the real power of ministry comes from and they will raise the church above small-mindedness.

Mel Lawrenz 
http://www.wholechurch.org/

Mind mapping is something that I learned and began to truly appreciate through my friend, Tony Steward (Online Community Pastor at LifeChurch.tv). Up until recently it was always done on paper (Moleskin). Yesterday he sent me an email introduction to MindMeister. I was instantly interested! I signed up and watched their helpful tutorial video (it’s brief).

There are a number of ways that you as a Church leader could use this new tool. Whether it be as a Senior Pastor, Executive Pastor, Worship Pastor (leading a creative team), Small Groups – you name it – there’s a way that this can be a great tool and resource for your ministry.

You can share your mind map with friends. Share instantly any mind map with friends and colleagues. Invitees will receive an email with a link and – depending on what access you give them – will be able to contribute or just read.

Real-time collaboration. When two or more users open the same mind map at the same time you are in brainstorming mode. Every change you make will be replicated instantly to your fellow editors’ screens via our server. Through colour-coded effects they will see what you did and vice versa, no reload necessary.

Summary: MindMeister brings the concept of mind mapping to the web, using its facilities for real-time collaboration to allow truly global brainstorming sessions. Users can create, manage and share mind maps online and access them anytime, from anywhere. In brainstorming mode, fellow MindMeisters from around the world (or just in different rooms) can simultaneously work on the same mind map and see each other’s changes as they happen.

There’s a free version and a premium version that only costs $4 a month. $4 bucks a month! Check it out and let me know if you have something you’d like to share. I may have something I’ll share soon with you.

PERSONAL:
Today is 9/11. We pause to remember what happen on that tragic day. 9/11 is also my mom’s birthday. Mom: Happy Birthday!