Greg Atkinson

When is a good time to bring in someone like myself for a secret shopper visit? Anytime is really good, but summer has some key advantages. If you bring me in July or August, you have a chance to get solid feedback and make strategic changes before you crank things up in the Fall.

Most churches do some big Fall campaign or push and having me in this summer to help you do what you do better could be a huge win for you and your church. See what Ray Johnston, pastor of Bayside Church in Sacramento, CA had to say about my visit with them last month (Bayside is a church of 12,000 where Lincoln Brewster leads worship):

“Greg Atkinson is smart, detailed, thorough and saw things that we would never notice.  His feedback was invaluable and we are making several strategic changes as a result of his visit.  We will use him again.  I encourage to you do the same.  In a word – he’s the best.” – Ray Johnston, Senior Pastor, Bayside Church, Sacramento, CA

I’m confident that I will notice things you would never notice and positive that I can help YOUR church make several strategic changes. Like Ray, I want YOU to say, “We will use him again.” So, I encourage you to make the investment and bring me in to help your church make guests feel loved and welcomed.

To get more details, endorsements and prices (based on size of church), go HERE.

In the last couple of months I’ve talked with several churches that are interested in bringing me in for a secret shopper/mystery worshiper visit, but don’t have it in this year’s budget. They are setting aside money in their 2010 budget to bring me in.

I bring this up for you to consider. Maybe you’d like to arrange a secret shopper visit. I’d encourage you to budget/plan for it now and you’re working on next year’s budget. Plan on $2000 or less for the visit (that includes all my travel expenses).

If you’d like to schedule a 2010 visit, contact me and let’s begin to look at the calendar. It’s a wise investment. You can go here for more information and to read endorsements of my ministry.

After over a year of traveling to 15 different cities, I’m finally bringing the Church 2.o tour to my hometown of Dallas, TX. This Thursday, the 23rd we will host another Church 2.0 Local Forum at Fellowship Dallas off Park and 75.

If YOU are in the DFW area or know someone that is, PLEASE consider joining us or inviting someone to attend. You (or they) can register HERE.

Some have asked what goes on at these gatherings (this will be the 16th 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 6 key realities of these new technologies. *** I’ve added 2 since the last one.
• Second hour: We’ll dive into a huge discussion on the topic of innovation. I’ll share 7 ways that innovation is born and what God is teaching me about innovation. *** I’ve added 2 ways since the last one.
• 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 Dallas are:

• EasyWorship
• Fellowship Technologies
• Planning Center Online

Some of you may have never seen me before. Below is an interview I did with Charles Lee at The Idea Camp in February. Included in the interview is an overview of my first book (which I’m working on hard the next few weeks).

The Idea Camp – Greg Atkinson from The Idea Camp on Vimeo.

I thought I’d follow-up my posts on impotent preaching by calling out one more person: myself. As I’ve traveled the country the last 9 years speaking, teaching, consulting and meeting with Church leaders, one thing I’ve found myself saying over and over to people that ask about my ministry and my personal thoughts about how God is using me – “God uses weak people.”

When you think about it and study Scripture, it’s pretty obvious, but it truly still amazes me. I’m the most weak, screwed up, unworthy person I can think of. As Paul said, I do believe I’m the “chief of sinners”. I struggle with many things, I could definitely be a better husband, father, friend, pastor, person, etc. My flesh is weak and my body is weak with numerous health issues. 

I struggle with weight/living a healthy lifestyle. I struggle with anxiety and take medicine for it. I struggle with depression and take medicine for it. I have other medical issues which I won’t share on here, but believe me, more medicine is involved. I sleep in a drug-induced sleep and can not even begin to tell you how hard it is to wake up in the morning. 

When my tech team gathers at 7am on Sunday mornings (meaning I have to get up at 6am) – it is the hardest struggle to be there and be on time. Waking up for me (coming out of the drug-induced sleep) is very difficult – it’s like waking from a coma. 

I love flying West and speaking because I get more sleep. When I fly to the East Coast, I really struggle with waking up (as my friends and hosts in Atlanta, South Carolina and Boston can testify to). 

My moods and emotions are all over the map. I bounce from high to low and when I crash, I really crash. Only my family, a few close friends and my therapist really know the depth of my struggles. 

Why do I share? Because I love to brag on God and testify to his grace and mercy. God truly uses weak people. One of my favorite lines in a worship song is from “Your Grace is Enough”. The second verse says “You use the weak to lead the strong.” I don’t understand why that is. I just watch as it happens. 

I thank God for his unconditional love, amazing grace and mercy that is new every morning. My first-born child is named Grace because I could think of no better name considering my past and my struggles. 

I boast in Christ and will continue to until my last breath. Friends, if you’re struggling with depression… if you’re struggling with anxiety… whatever you struggle with – hear me: you’re not alone. God is faithful. Surround yourself with people you trust that can pour into you, lift you up when you’re down and bear your burdens with you.

For me, personally, I want to be a friend to you as well. If you struggle, email me. Also contact, share with and follow friends and people that also understand like DJ Chuang, Anne Jackson and Rhett Smith. They are great people who blog regularly about issues like this and truly understand the challenges that many are faced with. You are not alone!

1. Friday, Oct. 17: Church 2.0 Local Forum – Boston

• Register for Boston on Facebook HERE. Not on Facebook? Register HERE.
• Sponsors for Boston are: LifeWay Threads, National Cine Media, SermonSpice, CircleBuilder, Planning Center Online, EasyWorship, 360Hubs, ReelWorship, FreeFoto.com, COLLIDE Magazine and Unifyer.

• Register for Tulsa on Facebook HERE. Not on Facebook? Register HERE.
• Sponsors for Tulsa are: Fellowship Technologies,  EasyWorship, CircleBuilder, National Cine Media, Planning Center Online, Unifyer and SermonSpice.

• Register for Portland on Facebook HERE. Not on Facebook? Register HERE.
• Sponsors for Portland are: Planning Center Online, National Cine Media, SermonSpice, CircleBuilder, 360Hubs, LifeWay Threads, Unifyer and EasyWorship.

This past week I got the new books you see to the left and below:

• 
  Everything Is Miscellaneous: The Power of the New Digital Disorder
  by David Weinberger
• 
  The Game-Changer: How You Can Drive Revenue and Profit Growth with Innovation
  by Ram Charan
• 
  IdeaSpotting: How to Find Your Next Great Idea
  by Sam Harrison

After spending some time with my friend, DJ Chuang, last week at Barnes & Noble, I have added a few more books to my birthday wish-list. Today is my 33rd birthday. This is what my friends and I call the “Jesus year”. It really is hard to believe that Christ gave His life at this age in life. I feel like I’ve got so much time ahead of me. Wow – really makes you think.

Below are books on my Amazon wish list. What other books should I have on my wish list?

EXTRA:
Last night’s LifeShare was awesome. I might make a special appearance with Tony Steward in CA this Wednesday night. Watch out!

I had an interesting conversation with some friends this week. I found that many follow several, random people and in turn, those people then find out about them and follow them – thus they have a lot of people following them on Twitter.

That, honestly, never occurred to me. I only follow people that interest me, so it’s a relatively small group (78). I could probably have more people following me if I followed more people (makes sense), but I don’t want to get constant updates from people that I don’t particularly want to follow. Does that make sense?

So… How do YOU use Twitter? Do you follow as many as you can? Are you picky? Are you following me? You should. I will be releasing updates and exclusive Church 2.0 info on just Twitter.

BONUS:

Check out my friend, Bill Seaver’s blog on Podcasting 101 HERE.

Yes, I could of said “Top Ten Texts from Me”, but I put my name in the title for Google search reasons.

Here are the Top 10 things I text regularly:

1. Where we eating?

2. Going to a movie.

3. In the movie.

4. Leaving the movie.

5. Pray for me.

6. Flight just landed.

7. Chilling with the family.

8. At the restaurant – you want to join us?

9. What’s going down? or What’s up?

10. 50 cent Tuesday at the dollar movie – you in?

Yesterday I broke 1000 friends on Facebook. As you know, I wrote the Foreward for “Facebook for Pastors“. I’m a pretty big fan of Facebook and think it has tremendous potential for networking and ministry. I’m curious as to how many of you are not on Facebook and what your reasons are. If you ARE on Facebook, but we’re not friends, yet – hit me up for an “add friend” HERE.