Greg Atkinson

• 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.

Are you orange? ORANGE IS THE COLOR OF FREEDOM. Wearing orange shows you’re a part of the movement to stop slavery. 

Also, I had a great phone conversation with Charles Lee from JustOne this week. They are working on some wonderful initiatives to raise awareness and support for some causes that the Church should take seriously. We’re meeting where they headquarter for the Church 2.0 Local Forum in Portland on Nov. 7th. I look forward to hearing more about their ministry as they share at this gathering.

Here are some facts that were printed in my church’s bulletin this past Sunday: The modern practice of human trafficking enslaves 27 million people around the world. This is more than at any other time in history. UNICEF says that most children who are trafficked are “sold” by unsuspecting parents who honestly believe that the children they have just “sold” (most for under $5) will be educated, learn a trade, and be carefully looked after by their new “caretaker” (human trafficker).

Little do the impoverished parents know that their child is likely to be sold several times, moved to other countries, and will become virtually untraceable. The United Nations office on drugs and crime has estimated that the total market value of illicit human trafficking is more than $30 billion dollars per year - a third of this profit coming directly from the sale of individuals.

This is not simply a problem on a foreign shore: there are more slaves in the United States today than ever, including the era of American slavery and the Civil War. The Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking (CAST) reported that every ten minutes, a woman or child is trafficked into the United States and forced into labor. The CIA recently reported that as many as 50,000 women and children are brought into this country every year under false pretenses and then forced unwillingly into roles as abused laborers, servants, and prostitutes.

*** I blog about this because this is a huge part of Church 2.0. Church leaders in the 21st Century have to be aware of and battle against social justice issues. What can you do?

• Donate: I listed some great organizations in my last blog on slavery
• Get Educated: Check out the links HERE
• Pray: for the victims of human trafficking
• Write: Send a letter to your local and state officials asking them to approve stiffer laws against human trafficking.

Today I leave for Tulsa. Church leaders from around the state of Oklahoma will be gathering to discuss issues such as design, innovation (I hope to stretch their view of innovation), technology, social justice, leadership, missions/outreach, communications, working together as the Church (capital “C”) and whatever else God leads us to discuss. Please pray for this gathering tomorrow. Below are the details:

• 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.

This morning I fly to Boston. This will be my first, but hopefully not last, trip to this city. Pray that my time would be fruitful there this weekend. Below are the details:

• Friday, Oct. 17: Church 2.0 Local Forum - Boston (at Grace Chapel)
• 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.

1. Communicate
2. Connect
3. Contribute
4. Collaborate

Do you think that slavery ended with Lincoln? Today I want to share what has been breaking my heart lately. These Church 2.0 Local Forums I’ve hosted around the country have been used by God to stir my heart. God really used the Atlanta one to open my eyes to the problem of child sex trafficking right here in the good ‘ol USA. Since that time I’ve done some research and soul-searching.

Did you know that there are more slaves today than ever before in human history? Alltop now has a slavery version. You can find great information and links HERE. In my blog about the Art+Music+Justice Tour, I mentioned one of their sponsors: The International Justice Mission - a human rights agency that secures justice for victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and other forms of violent oppression. I highly encourage you to get to know IJM and support them. 

A few things you can do to learn more about this real problem:

• Attend the Art+Music+Justice Tour in your area
• See the movie Call + Response - I’ll be blogging about it soon
• Look through the Slavery Alltop and read the blogs listed
• Read what one city (Phoenix) is doing to stop this. Get and watch the documentary “Branded“.
• Join ROOV and get involved with their groups that address these issues. 
• Check out Freetheslaves.net
• UN Toolkit on Human Trafficking via Charles Lee
• Become a supporter of Just4One - I just bought one of their hoodies 2 weeks ago. 
• Check out Not For Sale

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.

My friend, DJ Chuang, has put together some great information and links on internet campuses HERE and HERE. So - what are your thoughts? Have you ever attended an internet campus? Would you consider launching one?

Today I continue with the other 2 internet campuses I attended this past Sunday.

Seacoast Church:

Number 3 was Seacoast Church. I know Seacoast well. I lived in Charleston, SC for 8 years (went to Charleston Southern University) and used to attend Seacoast on Saturday nights, then lead worship on Sunday mornings at my church. My friend and classmate at CSU, Shawn Wood, is the Experiences Pastor at Seacoast. I have a great respect for their ministry as a whole. 

This month Seacoast is celebrating their 20th anniversary. They had an AMAZING video intro and message graphics that Shawn told me were created by Dallas’ own Barton Damer. Below is a still frame from Rick Warren saying a “Happy Anniversary” to Seacoast Church.

Below is pastor Greg Surratt preaching. He shared a powerful true story of a major car accident that his family had been in 20 years ago. It was very moving. I have always loved his transparency. Notice the interactive response elements at the bottom. You can nail your sins to the cross, light a candle or prayer virtually. Click “More” for more information on communion and giving a tithe.

Out of the 5 internet campuses that I worshipped with, my favorite musical worship was Seacoast hands-down. Keep in mind that I was a worship pastor for 11 years and have a degree in music, so music and worship is very close to my heart. I’ve been a supporter of worship leader Martin Chalk for years, almost 10 years to be exact. 

One thing I love about the worship experience at Seacoast is that they always end with responsive worship. The message doesn’t end the service. I love that! I think once you encounter God through His Spirit and the teaching of His Word, you should have a chance to respond. Seacoast gets that! Below is their Internet Pastor (and fellow CSU alumni) Brad Singleton.

Central Christian Church:

Central Christian was a last minute add-on. I was reading Twitter and saw Mike Foster say that he was watching CC’s internet campus. I jumped on and caught them mid-service. With that being said, I didn’t get a chance to experience any of their music. I will another time. I did, however get to catch Senior Pastor Jud Wilhite - he’s great. I attended Central Christian when I spoke at NAB in Las Vegas.

Below you’ll see something that I found very helpful and just plain cool. You can not only take notes during the message, but you can also print out those notes or email them to yourself. I like that. 

I forgot to mention yesterday that Flamingo Road emailed me message notes - that, too, was very cool. Isn’t technology just an amazing tool God has given us???!!! 

* More information on internet campuses tomorrow. Today I speak to students at Dallas Theological Seminary on Church 2.0. My question to them: “How do you define innovation?”

Yesterday I (and my family) were home sick. I had already watched LifeChurch.tv’s Saturday night service online, but ended up worshipping with 3 other internet campuses while home sick. I actually saw a 4th internet campus, but was not happy with it and decided not to call them out. In the next 2 blog posts, I’ll share with you the 4 churches that blessed me this weekend:

LifeChurch.tv:

I think the “Mix & Mingle” Lobby Chat is fascinating and am amazed to see how God uses it. 2 weeks ago, over 50 people prayed to receive Christ through LifeChurch.tv’s internet campuses - that’s more than most churches see in a year.

No, that’s not Craig Groeschel. They had an awesome guest speaker. Of notice in this picture is their “Give Online” area of the screen. At the botton left, you can follow the message notes. Great experience. Most people think of LifeChurch.tv when they think of an internet campus.

Above, LifeChurch.tv always let’s you choose between 2 different worship leaders. This is cool, but I have an issue. What happened to Stephen Cole?? Stephen Cole is my favorite worship leader at LC and I’m thinking about starting a petition to bring him back as an option. He rocks!

Above is LifeChurch’s Internet Campus Pastor Brandon Donaldson. I need to get to know that dude.

Flamingo Road Church:

Above was a screenshot taken after one of their morning services. The red dots show you who was watching around the world!

Flamingo was having a baptism that day (they had a great video announcment about it - very cool). Want to participate in baptism? Just text the word: BAPTISM. Folks, we are literally watching the face of Church change before our eyes.

The thing that impressed me the most about my south Florida friends is that they know how to make church fun. This is a screen shot of beach balls being tossed around the auditorium. You’d have to be there to understand.

Above is Flamingo’s Lead Pastor, Troy. Flamingo was truly the highlight of my morning and a wonderful surprise. There is talk of the Church 2.0 Local Forum in Miami being held at Flamingo Road Church - shhhh!

Above is Flamingo’s Internet Campus Pastor, Brian Vasil. I was introduced virtually to Brian through my friend, Tony Steward via last week’s LifeShare. I was introduced to Flamingo Road’s Internet Campus through my friend, DJ Chuang.

More to come about these and other internet campuses this week on this blog! So… what are your thoughts? Does the thought of over 50 people praying to receive Christ via the internet freak you out? Do you praise God? Both? Is your church considering an internet campus? Are you philosophically opposed to one? Let me hear ya.