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Month: November 2012

Why Minister to Children?

As a pastor, I occasionally have the opportunity (and privilege) to preach in “Big Church,” and I always enjoy it. With a degree in Bible theology and a love for the Word of God, I always enjoy getting to communicate with and challenge adults in ways that I can’t in children’s church. Afterwards, it is customary for the preacher to stand at the back and greet people as they leave, and in the course of doing so, people are kind to express thoughts on the message and often compliments, which is always nice. Who doesn’t enjoy a “good sermon,” or “great job?” – even when the goal isn’t to impress folks with my delivery but to challenge and change lives. But compliments should always be received with a thankful heart and with grace and humility. The compliment that always gets me though, is when people (meaning well) say, “You know, you should consider becoming a real pastor someday…you know, to adults. You’re good.” The intention is an extra big compliment, but the message is still clear. My talents are being wasted down there in the boiler room preachin’ at the kids week in and week out, when I could really…

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ENGAGE CHILDREN Conference TOP NOTCH

If you live on the East Coast – you need to bookmark engagechildren.org and plan on attending next fall. (In fact, it is worth a drive or flight in, from anywhere.) This conference is put on by a local network, but it obvious after several years of practice, they know what they are doing. They had nearly 400 attendees there – and a great mix of leaders WITH their volunteer teams. One church I sat with at lunch was a group from a nearby church that brought the whole CM team, and one volunteer wouldn’t even let a five month old baby keep her or her husband away. That tells you something about both their commitment to children’s ministry and the quality of the conference. Another woman shared with me that she was ready to quit – but after attending this conference, she was encouraged to keep on and never give up, no matter how hard ministry was. They brought in top-notch speakers (like Sue Miller from PromiseLand and Orange) but also local practitioners who could relate to your common kidmin leader and volunteer. The fellowship was as great as the training. I was a late addition because I just…

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Avoiding the GIMMIE GIMMIE’s

How do you help kids develop an “Attitude of Gratitude?” Every holiday seems to get derailed with the wrong focus. Christmas is about getting presents and Easter is about candy – and Thanksgiving can end up being about FOOD! MANY many years ago I wanted to develop a game for my students at church that would help them focus on being thankful, but in a fun and engaging way. I also had the issue of it being a low attendance Sunday with families traveling and as a result I often was short on volunteers. What to do? I ended up creating a large group game that became so HUGELY POPULAR it became an annual tradition. The game has been available on Kidology.org for over ten years in my “home made” version – but we finally decided to create a “real” version worthy of the FUN that it creates and make it available for wider use! If you have ever played Parker Brother’s classic card game of PIT – you will already know the basic rules – and get a mental image of how fun the game is. But instead of just a few players yelling out, “One! One!” or “Three!…

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What Obama’s Victory Means

It is no secret I rooted for Mitt. I have autographed campaign hats to prove it. So what does an Obama victory mean, as a Christian? It is important to start by saying that as a Christian – we operate on two plains. The earthly plain and the heavenly. For Scripture teaches that All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things… Only let us live up to what we have already attained. Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do. For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, (temporarily wants) and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious…

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From 18 to 70+

From 18 to 70+! Just had to save this awesome e-mail I got now that it’s time on the Kidology home page is over: Pastor Karl, Just a quick note to tell you how much we enjoy Kidology and the awesome resources that you provide. We were asked to take over the children’s church about 3 years ago and Kidology was the first place we went to.  Starting out with Toy Box Tales and a lot of prayer our ministry has grown from 18 kids to 70+! The latest curriculum that we are using is the Super Power Academy. We started this past Sunday with a Super Hero Sunday Kick Off Service. All of the kids were encouraged to dress as their favorite super hero. It was a huge hit and they loved the lesson! Here are some pics of our “Super Heros” as we worship the real “Super Power”, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Thank you so much for what you do! We are praying for you! Scott and Shannon Day Children’s Pastors Church House Rock LIVE! Children’s Ministries Jasper First Nazarene

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