Kidologist.com: Karl Bastian's Personal Site and Blog
Archive for August, 2009
August 10, 2009 at 8:51 pm · Filed under Children's Ministry, Kidology, Order of the Ancient
As my blog readers probably know, I wrote a novel for kids called The Order of the Ancient. You expects kids to love a good novel, but I’m always so extra encouraged when I get notes from parents and adults on how my novel for kids impacted them as adults… which was always an intent in my writing it, and why the language of the books was never ‘dumbed down’ to simply kids vocabulary. Here is an e-mail I got today that not only made my day, but asked some key questions that showed great insight into what is coming in book two:
Hi Pastor Karl- This summer our daughter Breenah attended Timber-lee Christian Camp and loved everything you said and did. We purchased your book and read it as a family. The spiritual growth in our family as we were reading this book was awesome (especially for Mom and Dad). As adults this book spoke to our hearts about the way we take our Bibles for granite and our time with God. God used this to change the heart of our family- Thank you!!
We would like to know when the next book is coming out? If there is no more books in this series please answer a few questions for us. (1) Is Josiah’s father still alive in prison and will Jeremiah find him in there? (2) What about “Brent’s” Guardians, will they become believers? (3) Will Josiah and Amy grow up and get married? (4) Is this book taking place before or after the rapture? As you can see we are hooked and would love to hear from you!!! Love- The Seivert Family
because I answer e-mails like this often, but because they asked both the common quesions but also some rather unique ones, I thought I’d answer their e-mail publicly in case others may have similar curiosities. And if there happens to be anyone out there who would like to fund the printing of Book Two, let me assure you, we have the demand, we lack only the funds for the initial printing!
Dear Brooke,
Without spoiling the next book, which I am writing and lack only the funds to print, there are some VERY cool developments and I am very impressed with your insights into it… so I will tell you: Yes! Jeremiah is reunited with Josiah’s dad in a VERY cool way, but that’s all I can tell you without spoiling it for you. Brent’s Guardians? Hmmmm…. you’ll just have to pray for them (as much as you can pray for fictional characters!) Brent and Amy’s romance? I’ll keep you guessing, but tell you, I do like happy endings. Theologically, the book takes place before the rapture, in fact, in the same theological time period WE are in. The only difference is that the freedom we enjoy as Americans has been removed, so the challenges faced in the book are the same we would face if we didn’t have the freedom we have here in America and are the same many of our brothers and sisters in Christ face around the world today. I wanted kids to understand what it is like to live for God in other areas of the world. What would it be like to be a Christian if it wasn’t “safe?”
The next book is VERY cool, and very different. Rather than taking place during the next year of school, it takes place during the summer break. Less of a ‘Harry Potter’ in school feel, it is more of a Lord of the Rings journey feel, as they learn of other Remnant groups gathering in far away places without the Book of Books and set out to take copies of the Book of Books to them and have to travel on foot through dangers to get there avoiding capture while Jeremiah has an adventure of his own in prison being reunited with David and discovering a grander plot…. but, again, I’d said too much. While the last book emphasized salvation this one will emphasize missions.
Has your family read the Christmas short story I released last year? You’ll enjoy it! You can get it here:
Josiah, and the Mysterious Child
and there is a discussion guide if you’d like to dig a little deeper into the novel:
The Order of the Ancient – Discussion Guide
THANKS AGAIN for writing and please keep in touch!!!
It’s been several years since my novel was written and I am continually encouraged by the impact it in having on young readers young and old alike. It’s a unique book. It has a compelling and exciting story – and yet it delves into theological and apologetic issues in a way few children’s books do without every getting boring. If you haven’t read it – regardless of your age, I’d encourage you to check it out! And right now, the new discussion guide if FREE with a case order! Call it shameless promosion, but I’ve seen the impact of this novel on so many kids it’s worth the backlash if a few kids can benefit from it. Over and over I hear kids call it the best book they ever read and all the honor and glory goes to God for the story and the impact is all about Him!
August 6, 2009 at 11:12 pm · Filed under Devotional, Life, Photography, Random Observations
There is just something amazing about these images of water captured with a high speed camera…
Every time I come across them, I star at them…
and study every detail…
every ripple and splash…
every color and reflection…
knowing that if not for the camera’s super fast shutter…
I could never enjoy this captured moment…
stolen out of time for me…
to hold in my hand… or in my mind…
a moment… forever…
how sweet it is!
an accident? hardly!
a planned disaster, actually!
a beautiful mess.
an explosion of motion and energy…
caught in the motion of the moment…
the camera catches what we miss every day.
MAKES ME WONDER… what do we miss? What could we capture with the camera of our eye, if we would just focus throughout the day? A sweet smile? A gorgeous cloud? A curious animal? An enlightened moment? An encouraged person?
What are the moments of our day that God creates that we miss? The splashes of his Grace? The colorful moments that He gives us? The green lights when we are in a hurry? The short line at the store? The empty parking spot near the door in a busy parking lot? The familiar face in a crowd that calls your name? An unsolicited “I love you” from your child? Whatever they are, don’t miss them today. Capture them in your in your minds’ eye, and cherish them.
(did you scrool too fast? look at the pictures again! did you drive too fast? walk too fast today? slow down already!)
August 4, 2009 at 9:04 pm · Filed under Family, Luke
While we are excited about moving to Colorado this fall, we won’t deny we will miss Chicago. (We just won’t miss driving downtown or paying to park downtown!) Today we decided to brave both and visit Millennium Park and our nephew Parker tagged along for the fun. (Click on any image for a larger viewing)
Our reflection in the Giant Silver “Bean” – the main attraction.
Sara and I in a rare moment with few people around, it was VERY crowded!
A fish-eye lens was almost redundant here!
Can you find Sara and Luke? Another fish-eys shot of the Bean.
Luke checkin’ out the Bean!
With the fish-eye lens I could get the whole Bean in the picture, kinda cool.
Luke lays down and just soaks it all in.
Luke underneath holding the whole Bean above him!
Mommy and her little bean in front of the Bean!
Next we headed over to the fountains where the kids can run and play in the water. It was pretty cool. Hundreds of kids, running and splashing, and laughing. It was very relaxing and seemed to hearken back to the days of community pools and parks – something we don’t have much of today. It was nice. Luke was mesmerized by the video displays behind the water walls. It was all pretty high tech and simple at the same time.
I love this picture. Click the image for a bigger viewing.
Look at the JOY in this kids face!
He chased me around for what seemed forever. Click for bigger image.
We had a great time. Other than extortion parking and over priced ice creme, the day was free and sunny and we went down in the convertible which made it even better for viewing buildings in the downtown area. (At least that’s what my passengers tell me, I had to keep my eyes on the pedestrians, cabs, and crazy drivers!)
August 2, 2009 at 10:10 pm · Filed under DiscipleTown, Kidology Update
By pre-ordering the very first DiscipleTown unit, How To Worship, you can be the very first to get this BRAND NEW children’s church curriculum from the creator of Kidology.org and DiscipleLand Bible Curriculum as soon as the final touches are ready… and its close!
This completely downloadable curriculum includes beautiful PowerPoint presentations, video object lessons, puppet scripts, dramas, games, and more all build upon a solidly biblical theme that is focused on teaching kids skills they need to build as Disciples of Jesus.
In addition to the all the incredible ideas provided for the classroom, DiscipleTown equips you for partnering with parents as well. Each week you are provided with an e-mail you can copy and paste to e-mail parents with what their children learned, questions they can ask their kids to get them talking, and a glimpse into what is coming next week. We’ve also introduced a creative tool that will help make it easy for families to gather just three times a week after meals talk about about what you are learning in children’s church in a fun and meaningful way.
ORDER TODAY for only $39.95 and the moment it is ready, you will get an e-mail with your download links. The target date is Aug. 12th, and it is guaranteed by Aug. 17th.
Once it is ready, the price will be $44.95, don’t miss this introductory rate!
Hey! The first person to order, I will announce on my blog, and they will get to see it first, as in RIGHT AWAY in draft PDF form, before it is even finalized… while it still has a few blank boxes on it to fill in with final graphics… oooo… couldn’t say that over on the “big” site! But I can say it here on my blog! ;o)
