By friend Glen Woods asked this question over in the Kidology forums recently. And I think its a great question.

Here was my answer:

I think facebook has hurt blogs as I think people have gotten Internet-lazy. They just stay on facebook and don’t move around the web as much, however, I think a blog can still get traffic if done well. I read blogs, but focus on ones that are consistent (like yours, Glen) and solid content (also like yours).

If you want to get FB readers, you MUST install a Facebook “like” button and ‘like’ your own posts so they will appear on your wall so people who follow you on Facebook will see you blogged and hop over and read your blog.

RSS Readers (Like Bloglines/Google Reader) are less used today (I think) by the general public, as they were once how blogs were read.

Tablet readers are now stronger, like Flipboard, and I read a lot of blogs that way, and through Twitter feeds, so be sure to Tweet your blog posts through hashtags like #kidmin #leadership etc. as that will drive traffic.

Bottom line: Do people visit blogs directly today? No. Do they read them? Yes, but mostly because they are driven there by other means, so you need to drive people to your blog, and then try to get them to like it enough to create a way to get your content more regularly.

If you want to be read, you need to work at it. You can no longer just post and assume it will be read.

What do you think?

(Hey, prove to me you read MY blog by commenting!) LOL

If you are a Kidmin Blogger, jump over the KidminAndy’s site and give a few minutes and provide some feedback on how you blog for the betterment of the Kidmin Blogger Community. Your input could help others when he shares the results… maybe even you!

As for me:

I’ve been blogging since March 2005, but that’s only if you count when I’ve been using blogging software. I used to blog before there was blog software! I like to say I was blogging before there were blogs because I used to just make pages when I went places in pure HTML, like this: kidologist.com/alaska or Air Dad (If you look carefully, you’ll find a link to my first “web company” that is still live, even though the host company, Flash.net, has long since gone out of business. LOL)

Anyway, I HIGHLY recommend WordPress because it is easy to use, themes abound and are easy to install (though I had a custom one made for me by a friend) hosting yourself on either One and One or GoDaddy.com (even though I hate their advertising, they are the easiest to use and have the best prices and remind you when you are up for renewal, etc.) and as for what I blog about – because I have another main site for Kid’s Ministry, (that you may have heard of) my blog is more personal in nature – though I do blog about kids ministry.

So my blog is meant to be the from the “man behind Kidology.” As the description says,

Welcome to Kidologist.com, the personal site of Karl Bastian. Sometimes fun, sometimes serious, always what’s on my mind.

So it touches on kids ministry, what’s new on Kidology, but it’s also my personal family journal, things I’m thinking about etc. Unfortunately, I’ve had to learn to steer away from politics because people didn’t seem to get that this was my personal site and would say they were dropping their Kidology membership if they disagreed with me politically. They couldn’t separate the man from the ministry. So I’ve been censored a little in that area on my blog. (I have an alias Twitter account and blog that is VERY political and some people have discovered it… if you do, contact me there, but don’t mention it here. I’ll admit I am Karl on that site, if you ask me there! That has been my solution that dilemma.)

I have some other posts on my blog about blogging linked below, but jump over and Fill out Andy’s Survey.

• What Makes a Good Blog?
• Starting a Blog?
• Life Online Changing
• Number One Blogging Rule

He had his family put his last blog post live after he died:

The last post

It’s a nice final post that has received millions of visitors since last week. He declares pretty confidently what he thinks will happen (or rather NOT happen) after he dies, which stimulates a lot of conversation in the comments on his site, and as usual, the Christians make fools of themselves doing more to hurt the cause of Christ than to help it. I usually find myself wishing Christians would just SHUT UP or stay off secular sites because they never seem to remember that Jesus said we are to known by our LOVE not our mean-spirited holier-than-tho argumentedtiveness. Sigh. How do these “Christians” ever think the lost will come to Christ if we are yelling at non-believers on websites comments and in forums?

Anyway – here was my comment on the site:

I very much enjoyed his post – since I’m also 41, it was very sobering. I found it sad he didn’t have any eternal hope of any kind, but find the mean spirited posts by Christians even sadder. (Jesus said we should be known by our love) I enjoyed his expressions of peace and love for his family, and as a techie myself, especially his wondering what technology he’ll miss out on – that will be my longing too should I get to see death coming slowly. (Also what movies I’ll miss! LOL) A good post that should get ALL of us to consider life after death regardless of the conclusions Derek made.

Just wanted to share it with you. It gives us all pause the thank God for our families and every day that we have here to enjoy our family and the gifts we have.

I posted about another Last Lecture a few years ago and my thoughts on that.

Every day is a Gift. It’s why its called the Present.

Breath Deeply.

and

Yup, I was Number 198 on a list of 200! Barely made it! Whew! But what an honor to be noticed and because they did the ranking based on Google ranking and subscribers to Google Reader and RSS feeds, I must say:

THANK YOU

to those you YOU who read my blog, because it must mean you find my posts interesting, helpful, encouraging or something in order to keep coming back. I often say “I’ve been blogging since before there were blogs” and so it’s nice to know there are people reading!

I don’t often post (or concern myself) with awards or recognition (my dad raised me to not give much thought to such things) but as long as I am here to say “Thanks”, I should mention Tony Kummer’s Blog List – not because I’m on it – but because so MUCH WORK goes into creating these lists, and he has 99 OTHER great Kidmin Bloggers on it, all worthy of checking out, in addition to my blog:

So thanks again for reading my blog. Again, it’s nice to know folks appreciate it – it’s just another part of my Life Mission: To Reach and Teach as many children as possible with the Good News of God’s Love and in the process to Enlist, Equip and Encourage Others to do the same.

I both love social media and fear it. I can’t attack it too much or I’d be a hypocrite I have over 10,000 “tweets” so far, and nearing 1000 friends on Facebook, but why do I still feel so lonely? Social networking is a part of my daily – O.K., let’s be honest, moment by moment, life! I do not, not, think it is an addiction or bad for me! (I could quit any time I wanted to, right? I just don’t want to!)

Quite to the contrary, it has given me yet another avenue to amplify the message God has given me to share. Unlike many who live their lives like a pin-ball game bouncing through life from one opportunity to another with no clear game plan, I sought God for a very specific Life Mission at age nineteen and have had a laser focus on that Mission ever since. It is written and defined and has enabled me to say “no” to many good things and focus on the Great my entire life and ministry (not that I haven’t gotten distracted and needed to get back on course at times!).

Social Networking has enabled me to expand this Mission into spheres that otherwise I could have never reached, and on a daily basis during idle moments that other wise could have been wasted… Relaxing? Reading? Enjoying my family or praying or… There I go again… the internal struggle erupts! But would I truly be doing those noble things every time I tweeted or updated by Facebook status? The simple answer is no. Social networking has enriched my life with friendships I would have never made until heaven! Now heaven will be a grand Tweet-Up!

But enter children into the conversation, and the conversation shifts. Is it good for them? Unfortunately, folks, there is an element of surrender here. Frankly, we can’t stem this tide – only steer it. Let’s look at it from a different or historical angle. How many teenagers DIE annually driving cars? Do we ban them from driving? Perhaps we should! Unfortunately, that will never happen. You, like them, were destined to drive. My preschooler is already talking about when he will get to drive. In fact, all he wanted for his fifth birthday last month was a REAL Jeep. So we rented one for a day and I taught him how to control the wiper blades and turn signals and let him sit on my lap and steer around the block. My own dad understood both the dangers of driving and the inevitability that the son he loved would soon be on the road without him. Once of the best things he did was take me out and teach me, not only how to drive, but how to slide and spin and control a skid. He had me memorize, “When you are spinning, you are not out of control, you have only lost the ability to stop.” This saved my life years later when my wife and I spun out of control on the highway in winter on the highway. As we crossed the center line spinning with a semi-truck plowing toward us and cars spinning in all directions off the road I yelled at my wife, “I AM NOT OUT OF CONTROL! I HAVE ONLY LOST THE ABILITY TO STOP!” And I control spun the vehicle in front of and around the semi, and back to the correct side of the highway, all while spinning. While God had a lot to do with it, for sure – my dad had trained me for this event, and saved our lives.

The point? Today kids are driving Social Media! We cannot prevent it. We would be fools to think we could stop it. They are in the drivers seat. But we can, and MUST prepare them for the spins and wipe outs ahead. They will listen to our wisdom and advice, and we can give them the guidance and protections they need to keep them safe. We can teach them to put it down. We can give them limits. We can help them find balance and foster real relationships outside of 140 characters and digits and keyboards. We can show them sunshine and go for walks and plan outings and plan in-person socials. We can help them stay real and remind them that we care and make sure they know they don’t need to turn to anonymous sources when they need companionship, counsel or help.
- Karl Bastian, Founder of Kidology.org

This is my portion of a complete Kidology Report featuring several authors. Download the entire report and then add your own input in the Kidology Forum.

You can also WIN A FREE BOOK by Jim Weidmann of Heritage Builders just by adding your comments in the discussion forum. So let me know your thoughts on Kids and Social Media. Details in the forum discussion thread.

The full report is HERE and the discussion is HERE. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the topic!

Once again it is time to post the Bastian Christmas Letter! We hope you are in the midst of enjoying a wonderful Christmas Season! As usual we are getting our letter out the week of Christmas! (Ahhhhhh!) We mail it to family and some friends, but to save on postage I also post it here on my blog so anyone interested can also download the PDF and enjoy it, just click on the image here:

Bastian Christmas Letter 2010 (3.1MB)

2010 was our first full year in Colorado and while I don’t feel I have taken advantage yet of all the reasons I move here, it was a fantastic year. I’m glad it wasn’t as busy as 2009 was!

In January, of course CPC is always a blast!

Then, in February, I went on a personal solo sabbatical to experience “Yosemite in Winter” snowshoeing the valley. It was incredible. I didn’t blog about it, as it was a personal time between me and God. But I did make this highlight video:

March saw another CPC – I’ve lost track how many I’ve been to, but I’ve been to every single once since 1995, so I’ve been to over 35 of them with all their locations, some years there being three! (See Why You Should Go to CPC)

In April I hiked Devil’s Backbone with some friends as the beginning of Hiking Group I’m trying to start in Colorado.

In May, I went on my third Yosemite Summit. This has become the highpoint of my year, as I unplug (quite literally!) from everything and spend almost a week disconnected from normal life with God and some other children’s ministers.

June was a real treat, as I finally got to go to Toronto to see my brothers town, just before the G4 riots and before he moved to Ohio! I also spoke in at the KidBuilders conference while I was there.

July brought be back to Camp Timber-lee for the zillionith time and August was mostly down family time.

September would have taken me to D6 but Family Trumped Family Ministry when my dear grandma passed away and I finally revealed a decades old secret!

In October, I decided to become a rat, and we lauched our Family Pit Stops, which have become a highlight of our family – and are mentioned in the Christmas Letter. (My dad says that reference in the Christmas Letter needs explanation and sounds like we all head to the restroom together. If so, read this link.)

In November, of course, I reflected on all I have to be thankful for, and then, before I knew it: December was here!

I do plan to do some re-thinking of how to integrate all my online data collection in the New Year… its tricky! But I do know, I much prefer things on my blog, as they are “safer” and better preserved than Facebook, but things are read more on Facebook.

Well, breakfast is ready… back to the REAL world!

Relationships can’t be measured.

Relationships can’t be quantified.

Relationships can’t be R.O.I.ed

I’m getting really weary of reading articles like this one that talk about the value of Twitter in terms of whether people click on them or “ReTweet” them as though they are a waste of time otherwise. So what if only 29% of tweets are “acted” upon and of those only 6% are “retweeted” or if 71% of tweets have a “shelf life” of one hour and get no “reaction?” They were never intended to be works of literature to last the ages. They were intended to be flashes of data sent out to those who might be watching and might be following who might find it interesting.

I’m on Twitter because I value relationship with people not geographically close to me. It provides a stream of humor, links, photos and information of a nature Facebook simply can’t.

Society has gotten obsessed with “making money” on Twitter. As one who DOES make money on Twitter – I still do not primarily see it as a money maker, nor is that WHY I am on Twitter. The money I make via Twitter is merely as a side benefit because of the increased presence my company has because of Twitter.

I know it works because as soon we launch a new Twitter account, sales will increase. Case in point, this week I launched the ToyBoxTales twitter account – but it proved all the “experts” wrong, as the account had NO click throughs and NO retweets (other than the few I did myself with other accounts) and yet sales spiked as soon as that account launched.

Should I write an eBook on making money on Twitter? No.

Quite the opposite. I think too many people are ONLY trying to make money on Twitter and have forgotten it original purpose. Yes, Twitter can be used for communicating resources and products you have that have been forgotten – get the word out there. Go for it!

But the vast majority of what I Tweet is just personal stuff – fun stuff – humorous things I experience, stuff I’d laugh with a friend about, things I find interesting, new blog posts, so I share with my “friends” that are following me, my friends all over the world. I allow Kidology folks (and anyone else for that matter) who wants to see the “man behind Kidology.org” a little more personally, to follow me on Twitter.

It backfires sometimes – they don’t like things I say politically sometimes, so I’ve chilled out there and set up a separate political Twitter account for that. (No, I won’t say what it is, you’ll just have to figure that out on your own, some have.)

But for all these articles that only measure Twitter success by click throughs and retweets:

THEY ARE WRONG. Twitter success is not limited to click throughs and retweets and “actions taken upon tweets.” This is near sighted and shallow thinking.

But, of course, it is because it is all they can measure. Think about it, if actions were all you could measure, why would anyone advertise in a magazine? You can’t click on a magazine ad? And I’ve advertised in a magazine and put a discount code or offer thinking that would give me measurement and gotten ZERO results – did that mean the magazine ad was useless? No. That would be faulty thinking too.

Magazine ads are visual advertising. They get your brand under the eyes of viewers. They get you into their consciousness. They say you are successful. They say you are innovative. Your message – if done well – will stick in their head and alter their thinking. It will cause reaction in your competitors. It works. And it pecks away at their misconceptions.

Twitter is the same way. People read them. Over and over they read about your company. They get to know you. They learn about you. They change their perception about you. As they interact with you, perceptions can change. As they DO click through they will gain insights into you, but even if they don’t, they see you making an effort to be relational – to reach out.

I also know as a user, I read over a hundred tweets a day (at least) and “act” on very few, but am influenced by many, and enjoy many – and have deepened many relationships as a result. Many of my friends I read daily, even if I don’t actually “talk” to them every day, I’m aware of what’s going on in their life. Often, as a Christian, I stop to pray for them. That’s an action that never makes a chart! But certainly impacts them!

Twitter works best when you focus on what you give TO it, not what you get FROM it.

You have to decide to contribute to it consistently. When you do that, in turn, you benefit. But otherwise, you are just a consumer or focused on results, and you’ll never be satisfied. When focused on what you can share and contribute – you enrich others and indirectly benefit as a result. I meet people all the time who let me know they enjoy my tweeter feed, and I’m always surprised because they have NEVER responded or retweeted. But the relationship is there nonetheless. That’s the key.

But as a business tweeter, here is another aspect to consider, if YOU click through, retweet, respond – if YOU are relational, then you show yourself to be relational, to care – to be engaged with your audience.

Twitter isn’t about click throughs and retweets. Twitter is about relationships.

It is about talking to your customers and to those who have an interest in you. Duh, that is why they choose to follow you – they have an interest in you at some level. It may be a one direction conversation for a long time – you talking at them, but talk. They are reading. Yes, they will miss a lot of your tweets, that’s the nature of the beast, but keep talking, keep tweeting. It’s like sending messages into space and hoping they get picked up someday. But the more followers you have – they DO get picked up, and read – and you ARE being read, even if no one “acts” on them.

So all these experts who measure effectiveness by click throughs and retweets – don’t listen to them, because you can’t measure relationships on action.

Imagine life before Twitter. YOU HAD NO WAY TO TALK TO THESE PEOPLE! Now you have a direct connection to their commuters, their cell phones, iPads and a growing number of other reading devices.

The purpose of Twitter isn’t to make money. It is to engage in a relationship with your friends, family — oh, and customers too. Keep it in that order.

Yes, you can make money. But if that is first, you will give up. Because you will be focused on that and will be disappointed and trying to make the numbers work – and the numbers won’t add up,

…because you can’t fit relationships into charts and graphs.

But if you focus on relationships, you will love Twitter! Because it connects you to PEOPLE every day, all over the world you share common interests with you. And then your company will get some benefit on the side.

It’s all about focus. Focus on People and Relationships and you will always come out ahead and satisfied.

Related: Why Twitter?

Michael n Karl, er, Karl n Micheal!

Now there is an easy and uniquely visual way for you to connect with others in children’s ministry who live near you. You’ve long been able to interact with your “kidmin” peers in the free Kidology.org Forums or on sites like CM Connect, but a discussion forum doesn’t easily help you know where people live – and more importantly, who lives near YOU!

But now, Micheal Chanley, the same mega-networker and innovator who created CM Connect has done it again, this time creating IMAKIDMIN.com, a site specifically designed to help those in children’s ministry find who lives near them. And like CM Connect, it is completely free to the users.

You can list yourself on the main map page, but also on the blog page, twitter page and facebook page too. Eventually there will be individual maps for each state as the population of the site grows, a few states have already been launched.

HOWEVER – I’m most excited to announce an IMAKIDMIN KIDOLOGY PAGE where Kidology Members can list themselves so that Kidology Folks can network and find out where each other live as well.

Here is a cool historical image of what the Kidology Imakidmin Map looked like blank, as it is already filling in! We even have a global map below this USA Map since we have members all over the world.

So visit: www.kidology.org/imakidmin and sign up and find out what other Kidology Members live near you! And if they aren’t too far, plan a get together to visit each others churches and network and share ideas and encourage each other. After all, that is the ultimate purpose of this site, that we get off the web and get together in person. I can’t wait for my first IN PERSON MEETING that came about as a result of IMAKIDMIN.com

THIS FREE e-Book
(Download 2.5MB PDF)

Thank you to Henry Zonio for including me in this project as well as Matt Guevara, Amy Dolan for their hard work on it and Imago for their incredible design work which was donated.

A print version will be available June 14th to help offset the costs of this beautiful and thought provoking contribution to the world of Children’s Ministry.

If you are a Twitterer, be sure to follow @cmwhatmatters in order to be the first to learn of planned upcoming project related to this release. Use the hashtag #WMNkidmin when you tweet about it!

I enjoyed reading all the contributions and found each thought provoking and challenging. The word I chose was:

RELATIONSHIPS

Long ago I learned from your statutes that you established them to last forever.
(Psalm 119:152)

The most incredible aspect of Creation was that God walked in the garden with the crown of His creation. They had a relation-ship with God that sin severed: ending a fellowship we can only imagine. For centuries, that relationship became one of dis-tance and of fearful respect until Jesus came to walk, talk and relate with man. He came to live in relationship with mankind. He didn’t just die on the cross to offer salvation. He invites His beloved creation back into an intimate relationship with Him- self and to genuine fellowship with each other. What matters now in children’s ministry is the same as in any era of history: Relationships. All that has changed is the means in how we relate to each other. At one time, we walked to each others’ homes, rode horses, drove cars, and used rotary phones. Now, many text and use mind-boggling electronic social networks on devices that can span the globe in seconds. Who knows what might be next! What matters, though, will never change! It is Relationships.

DISCUSS THIS PROJECT IN THE KIDOLOGY FORUM

Tell others with these easy links:

www.tinyurl.com/downloadWMN
www.tinyurl.com/discussWMN

Anyway – recently I got to witness to an atheist – and I get jazzed when I have a positive encounter. Now, that doesn’t mean I converted him, it means I had an encounter where I didn’t offend him! Because I believe many Christians do harm to Christ by be offensive in their witness. Granted, some will say, the Gospel is by nature offensive – I understand that, sinners are by definition in rebellion against God, but that doesn’t mean we need push them further away by being obnoxious!

Anyway, since this conversation happened on my well known Twitter account, @Kidologist, I thought I’d go ahead and preserve it here, and also break it down and explain what I’m trying to do int he process. Keep in mind, these are small bites – you are limited to 140 characters, and you know you only have a short time to engage the conversation isn’t going to last long, and your goal ISN’T conversion on Twitter – it is to change someone’s deep rooted impression of either God or Christians. And that is extremely difficult to do in 140 characters and a few tweets – but I believe we CAN do it. Both as Christians (and in the political arena as well.)

I love engaging in the arena of ideas.

So, here is a SAMPLE OF MY CONVERSATION WITH A VERY ANTI-GOD ATHEIST. I will not give his user name, out of respect, and so as not to draw attention to his site, or draw his wrath to mine, but to give you an idea of his passion against God, his icon is GOD with a circle around it and a slash through God’s name, and the motto on the site is: (repeated over and over on the background)

“Believing Bullpoop* Doesn’t Make it True” (*Obviously, I have changed a word here)

This prompted me to respond to him, in defense of my God, and open a dialogue. Here is our entire conversation, to give you an idea of how I engage non-believers. It ended positively:

NOTE: If you are not familiar with Twitter, @username means the comment is directed at the person, so @atheistuser means I was directing the comment at the atheist (though it was public) and @kidologist means he was replying publicly to me

(This is reverse order, since on Twitter, newest would be at the top)

@atheistuser* if “believing bullpoop doesn’t make it come true” – neither does denying or making fun of it make it not true. truth just is.

Here I am inviting conversation – yes, it is bait. I’m quite aware of it. But if someone were to say “Your wife is ugly” or “Your kids is stupid” would you not defend them? A few weeks ago I twittered a quote:

Silence in the face of evil is itself evil. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act. - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

This was my chance to act on that principle.

@kidologist “Truth just is” what? Religious dogma? Faith claims? Wishful thinking? The Holy Bible? Koran? Book of Mormon? Bullpoop?

Here the real dilemma of our age comes to light – pluralism. If we are honest, it is a valid concern.

@kidologist Bullpoop? Did you actually say bullpoop? As I’ve said before, all bullpoop talk, aka god talk, is cognitively meaningless.

This is a little ironic for him to say, that all “god talk is cognitively meaningless” when on his site, he demonstrates quite strong cognitive skill in talking about God! He quotes many famous people’s thoughts about God from modern times back to founding fathers (if they are negative) and points out many of the horrible atrocities of the Catholic Church that any Christian today would agree were terrible and that led to the Reformation and when what we would call “true Christians” had to go into hiding because the official church had become a political system and no longer God’s institution – though he probably isn’t interested in genuine church history at this point in his life. As I often tell people, 99% of the time, atheists are people who have been hurt by Christians. What they complain about are usually not their real beef so to argue about what they talk about is a waste of time. That’s not really what made them an atheist – though it’s keeping them there now.

@atheistuser* what I mean is, our opinion doesn’t change Truth. 2+2=4 regardless if we think it is 5 or 7 or 143. It is still 4. Good day.

Here I try to address the world view issue of absolute truth – I tried to define absolute truth in 140 characters. My “Good Day” was a hint that I would let it go, if he really didn’t want to engage with me. I’d drop it unless he wanted to continue. I gave him an out. If he doesn’t reply, we are done and can blame me, but if he keeps it going, it is by his own invitation. He will have tossed the ball to me, so he can’t be mad at me.

@atheistuser* Absolute Truth can be discovered. Unfortunately, not in 140 characters nor in thru debate. I hope in time you will discover it

Again, I give a hope that Truth can be discovered, but I say I don’t want to argue, I hint that the path to discover is elsewhere, and offer to close the conversation unless he reopens it, which he does.

@kidologist If your God lived in my town I would throw bricks through his windows. Try reading your Bible. You’ll understand.

He shows his hand, his issue is with the Bible, or how its been taught or applied in his life. His background is Christian. Probably Catholic. I got that in 140 characters. He isn’t a pure atheist. He is a hurt religious child, perhaps spiritually abused. Christian parents even. Minister’s kid maybe! So I aim for the wounded heart.

@atheistuser* I am sorry if your experience with some Christians has not been positive – i hope in time your experience with God can be.

I apologize. And I redirect from people to God. I try to draw a distinction between the people he is angry at and the God who he shouldn’t be. I want him to know that God didn’t do the things that have led him make a hateful anti-God website. That the God who He hates probably hates whatever he experienced as much as he does.

@atheistuser* All I can say is, there are answers, but they aren’t found through arguing or nitpicking your valid concerns.

He expected me to argue with him, like so many obnoxious Christians have in the past, and I want to be the one who doesn’t bother. No cosmological argument. No teleological. No ontological here. No Bible verses. No “God said it, that settles it” And the killer – I called his concerns “valid” – he may have reread that a few times.

@atheistuser* you obviously have a bone to pick for some reason – whatever it is, I am sorry for whatever caused it. sincerely sorry.

I was glad I had the characters to add the “sincerely sorry” because I really am sorry for whatever in his past has led him to hate God so much. I want to find the Christians who turned him off from God and show them what he has become – and energy he puts in to turning others away from God and show them what they did. I blame them. He will be held responsible for his own actions, but I blame them for not showing this man God’s real love.

@kidologist Just how do you define “Absolute Truth”? And how can you ever be sure you are right about it?

The venom is gone. Now he is just talking to me. And asking a legitimate question. It’s 1 Peter 3:15 time!

@atheistuser* I define “Absolute Truth” as that which is true regardless of whether we find it or not, admitting that I too could be wrong!

Some Christians won’t like me saying “I too could be wrong” – but from the perspective of the one I’m talking to, this is important honesty, and ultimately, of course, it is true! Of course, I don’t think I am wrong! And neither does he. But if I expect him to even consider the remotest possibility that he is wrong – I need to be willing to do the same. If I am stubborn and insist on me being 100% right, how hypocritical to judge him for thinking the same of himself!

@kidologist I was raised to be Roman Catholic. Fortunately, I survived that period of my life when I was not allowed to think for myself.

My suspicion confirmed. Not only the religion of his youth, but deeper, that he feels he wasn’t allowed to think for himself. He felt brainwashed. His questions were not answered. His objections were not explored. He doubts were not addressed. He was not allowed to wander so that he could come to God on his own terms when he was ready. So when he finally could break away he RAN and wants to free as many others as possible. I hardly blame him!

@atheistuser* those are fair questions with no easy answers. I’m sorry you were not allowed to think for yourself. I was.

Again, like “valid” I want him to know, those are “fair questions” – something he wasn’t told as a child. I’m not intimidated by tough questions. You can be a Christian and have tough unanswered questions. Some are never answered! That’s O.K.

Again, I apologize.

And I let him know, I was allowed to think for myself. I argued with my dad over theology. We still disagree on some things. Some issues, I still don’t know where he stands. Why? Because he wanted me to form my own opinions based on Scripture and my own ideas, and not chose a position based on what “dad thinks.” He had to write a theological position paper for a church position once and let me look through it, but wouldn’t let me have a copy for that very reason. (even though I wanted a copy!)

@atheistuser* can I ever be absolutely sure? For me, I have concluded that Christianity (not Catholicism) is the most reasonable explanation

This was a tough one. I didn’t want to say, “no.” So I answered this way, that Christianity is the most reasonable explanation for the questions of life. Am I absolutely sure? Whew. That’s a tough one. How would you answer that?

@atheistuser* Ultimately, I’d rather be wrong and die and be dust, than be like you and be wrong and stand before God. grace beats atheism 2me

I hope he thinks about this one. If I’m wrong I lose nothing. If he is wrong, he loses everything. I become dust. He goes to hell. There’s a big difference between the two.

@atheistuser* thanks for listening, i hope i have not offended. i have many friends who believe as you do, and we enjoy friendly discussions

This was my conclusion. My olive branch – the end of my mini-twitter sermon. I wondered how he would respond. The next day, I got my answer:

@kidologist No offense taken. Friendly discussions are best. Wish there was more of that today between people on matters of religion & gods.

Victory. Not sure if I provoked any deep thought – but I pray that his exchanges with me at least were a good experience and let him know that there are Christians who care. I may try to talk to him again in time. So I ReTweeted (RT) his final tweet and ended with “we agree on that”

RT @atheistuser* Friendly discussions are best. Wish there was more of that today between people on matters of religion // we agree on that!

How are you engaging non-believers? We can’t just witness to those who come into a church! We need to find ways to engage those who are farthest from the Cross. One of my ways is on Twitter with my missionary Twitter accounts you’ll never know that follow many people who will never have a #kidmin hashtage in their tweets, and that is by design!

*username has been changed

As I tried to engage one of these folks, just to apologize and let them know we’d ‘unfollow’ them, we eneded up getting into a public conversation about God, atheism and the pointlessness of prayer, etc. One of them (not the one who dropped the F-bomb) claims to be a “well adjusted free thinking atheist.” Not sure what she is “well adjusted” from. Perhaps, adjusted from life without God, since she mentioned giving up on God 30 years ago since He never answered her prayer. Made me sad. I wonder what she prayed for? I also wonder what she is free of? She mentioned be guilt-free? That also made me sad. I don’t know if some Christians have imposed guilt on her for sins they see in her life or some life-style overlooking their own sins? Or perhaps she just perceives this. If I’ve learned anything in my journey, it is that Christians can be the most judgmental people on the planet. Or maybe she feels a sense of guilt knowing she is not in line with her Creator’s design for her life? I wish she understood that the most beautiful thing about the Christian Faith is that we can walk GUILT FREE because of Jesus. That our God doesn’t point His finger at us, He points at Jesus who came to die for our sin and take the punishment for our sin away from us, not judge us for it.

She mentioned that she was disappointed that her prayer of years ago wasn’t answered. I don’t know what that prayer was for. But I do know that God answers prayer. In small and in huge dramatic ways. I’ve experienced it many times. Millions have. Apparently she had not. Why? Of course, I can’t answer that – especially not knowing what she prayed for, but I do know that God answers prayer for His children differently than He does for those who have not yet surrendered to Him. It’s like the difference between a kid asking his own parents for something, and asking a parent in a house down the street. A neighbor parent might give you something – but your own parent has an obligation to provide for you. When you are just a creation of God – you live on His block – He often will help you out, but when you become His child, things change – I wish so much this woman would understand that were she to give her life to God, to give God a chance, to become one of His children, the floodgates would open, and her prayers would have the ear of a Father, not just of  her Creator

Nevertheless, I was sad to hear of her disappointment with God and therefore choice of Atheism. But it was understandable. You can’t argue someone to faith – you can only graciously hope to guide them to be open to what God might what to show them, if they will be open to experiencing it. If they aren’t, there is nothing you can really do. No one was every argued into the Christian Faith.

Sometimes I wonder if it is worth engaging in discussions on twitter or facebook or blogs with atheists or non-believers… does it really do any good? Can I really change their minds? Probably not.

But if I don’t answer – if I don’t try – do I really believe what I believe? And if I leave a question unanswered – too I give the impression that there is no answer? So I try. Too many Christians don’t even try. Or they just quote Bible verses or preach back at them with meaningless arguments that I think just tick them off or at least annoy them. I’m sure I have in my sincere attempts. Though I try to use compassion and logic rather than spouting off Bible verses. What good is quoting a Bible verse if they don’t believe the Bible? You and I may have studied the historicity of the Bible and understand why it is reliable – “God said it, I believe it” works for us, but when you don’t even believe God exists, the source is in doubt.

Instead, they need someone to answer them with a little more compassion. I told this woman not to give up on God – that even in the silence, God still cares. And I admitted that answer sucks. I think non-Christians need to hear that kind of honesty from us because I think sometimes we are afraid to admit it. The truth sucks sometimes. God doesn’t always answer our prayers. Sometimes He seems distant.

And so, some people, give up. Like this lady on twitter. They give up on Him and decide instead to be “well adjusted free thinking atheists.” She gave up, 30 years ago. How do we invite her back? We engage her. I probably failed. Did I bring her a step closer? Maybe. Maybe not.

I have no idea if I handled this right. But at least I’m engaging the lost. Sometimes we get too comfortable in our Christian circles and loss sight of WHY we do what it is that we do – to reach the lost.

And so I ask you – when was the last time you had the F-bomb dropped on you? Maybe that’s a good sign you are on Enemy territory? Every time it happens to me over the years I realize, I’m engaged in the battle!

At least this woman with her unanswered prayer of 30 years ago, who has learned to adjust to life without God was reminded today through a chance tweet that God does care, He does love her, and He does want to know her.

And I prayed for her. I guess both she and I will find out 1,000 years from now whether anyone heard my prayer.

Follow @Kidology on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/kidology

Follow me on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/kidologist or @Kidologist

Just thought I’d put that out there since I have nothing to blog about.

RT w/ http://tinyurl.com/num1blogrule

Todd McKeever isn’t a new blogger, he’s just started a new personal blog. He’s been bloggin’ insightful posts on leadership and children’s ministry for years on his church website, but has decided to split them out and make the church blog church stuff and make have his own separate blog at www.toddmckeever.com.

We are also excited to announce that Todd has been hired on staff at Kidology part time as our Executive Operations Coordinator to help to staff and project management, a much needed addition to our team. He’d been a volunteer member of our team for years, so it was about time we promoted him and tapped into his leadership gifts at a greater level. Hey, he even made the staff page on Kidology.org today!

HOW HAS MY LIFE ONLINE CHANGED?

#1 My iPhone has changed online life for me! Dramatically. I do Facebook and Twitter almost exclusively from my iPhone. Seriously, when I’m at my computer, I have WORK to do! I can even do WordPress blogging from my iPhone, but haven’t found the practical need to do som, maybe I should try that more – for personal outings. I really want to blog more – I need to figure out how to do this, whichout it becoming a duty or obligation.

First, some thoughts on FACEBOOK and TWITTER and WHY I BROKE THE LINK BETWEEN THE TWO. I probably just lost half my audience! But the rest, have been asking.

FACEBOOK

Since I started on Facebook, I had my “Tweets” (Twitter status updates) automatically update my Facebook status. Why? Because I was first and foremost a Twitter user and Facebook was an afterthought – it was something for college kids, right? But I had an account because underneath this aging  body, I’m still that young Moody student, right? Times are changing, Facebook is now made up of MORE OVER 35 PEOPLE than college kids (much to their frustration!) and becoming the #1 networking site in the world. (could ultimately be a blog killer) I ended up slowing down my Twitter use because I didn’t want to be overwhelming my Facebook status with every little Twitter update – which tend to me more trivial and more links; news feeds, marketing, and twitter conversation. Now, thanks to Selective Twitter Status (a Facebook Ap) by ending my Tweets in #fb I can selectively decide which Tweets end up as my Facebook status and only change my FB status 1-3 times a day, where as I may tweet 10-20 times a day.

I AVOID FACEBOOK on the computer because I rather hate it. Please don’t invite me to groups and causes I ignore them all, and please don’t take it personally. If you invite me to be a Fan of starving children on the moon and I ignore it, it isn’t because I don’t care about starving children on the moon, it is that being a fan of them won’t feed them, it will give me more email and things to click every day. They get fed by people feeding them, and if you are feeding them, GOD BLESS YOU, I too am devoting to giving to and supporting charities and have founded one myself.

Facebook is for networking with people – and I use it exclusively for that – and I LOVE THE iPHONE APP because that is ALL IT DOES. No groups, no causes, no games, no snowballs, no pokes, none of the stupid Facebook stuff, just Friends, Status, and Messages. Ahhhh, the good stuff. I love my friends and family, all of them! (Even the ones I have no idea who they are!)

Be my friend at: www.facebook.com/karl.bastian

TWITTER

Now that I have freed my Twitter from the question, “Do I really want this on my Facebook page too?” I feel liberated again! I can tweet anything at any time, and the fun has returned! When I see something that makes me laugh, snap a pic, and tweet it. When I’m irritated, rant to the world. If a company gives bad services, finally there is  consequence, with instant feedback to the world, interaction with friends and family, checking in on others, twitter is just fun and fills idle moments. Yes, there are times to just turn off the iPhone and enjoy your family or a quiet moment, and I do, no worries. But when you are fueling the car, or stuck by the train, the only option you had in the past was the radio. Twitter puts my in charge of my loose time. (I don’t like calling it ‘free’ time, because often it isn’t ‘free’ it’s costly, but it I’m not able to spend it the way I’d prefer to!) Follow me at www.twitter.com/kidologist

KIDOLOGY.org

And in case you are the last to finally hear about it, we finally got the ALL NEW Kidology.org launched, and besides the personal excitement over it, I am loving the new dynamically loaded home page so I am CONSTANTLY checking the home page for what is the latest discussions in the forum and jumping to chime in. My personal interaction in the forum has probably soared – which is probably a good thing since I’m the creator of the website!

I also have a new “From the Kidologist” spot on the home page (also posts and archives here on my blog) that I’ve enjoyed updating) that gives me an opportunity to talk directly to the visitors to Kidology.org, granted, IF they scroll down on the home page. I put my spot “below the fold” intentionally as I’m not the most important thing, but I am glad to have a place on the home page so that it’s a little more prominent.

You know, we DO have a free membership now! Join at: www.kidology.org/join

Shopping?

I leave shopping online to my wife! She is the expert there. But I do find Froogle.com to be a huge time saver! When I do need to find something fast and still want to save!

That me online!

So that’s how I spend my time online now – (not counting e-mail) – networking on Facebook and Twitter and contributing to Kidology.org. How do you spend your time online?

I appreciate Todd for a variety of reasons, and not just because he has been a member and supporter of Kidology.org nearly since the beginning both as a member and Champion and CP Team Captain, but because he a great leader.

What makes Todd a great leader?

1. He always pushes for excellence. Nothing Todd does is half-baked and nothing frustrates him more than settling for the minimum. He is always asking how it can be done better, look sharper, and be more effective. After our first Sunday at his church his first questions were, “What was your experience? First impressions? What was difficult? What could we do better?” Next I found a survey in my email. Everything Todd touches can’t help but improve, and that is a mark of a leader.
2. He has an  insatiable appetitive for learning and growing. Todd is the personification of “leaders are readers.” His idea of a family outing is a trip to Barnes and Noble to read together. The latest books are open on his desk with bookmarkers sticking out of the places he doesn’t want to forget and his twitter account flows with quotes he want to remember and share. Twice when I dropped by his office last week training recordings were playing on his computer. Here is a guy with a lot to offer who hasn’t stopped learning, and that is a mark of a leader.
3. He is humble. For Todd, it’s never about Todd. Eager to serve and sleeves rolled up, Todd is as likely to be the guy who helps clean up afterward as he is to be the guy who came up with the grand idea in the first place. Realizing that he is there to serve and not be served is a mark of a leader.
4. He pours into the lives of others. When Todd talks about the ministry, he talks about people. I talk to a lot of leaders who are eager to show me this program or this facility or that aspect of the ministry, but once I was coming to his church, Todd had people he was eager for me to meet. Realizing that the ministry is made up of people is a mark of a leader.
5. He encourages others to go to the next level. And this is probably what I appreciate the most about Todd. He isn’t just trying to build himself or his ministry, he desires to build into his friends and colleagues. He gently but persistently challenges those he knows to improve, to push ahead, to tackle that next thing. Knowing that we all rise best when we rise together is a mark of a leader.

Todd, me and Charley
(They want you to know I’m up on a step!) 

Thanks, Todd, for a great week of ministry together, and for your encouragement and investment in me as a friend and brother. The world needs more friends like Todd McKeever!

You can check out Todd’s Blog here: TakeTwoMinistries.com

The full story is here if you missed all the updates on Twitter and Facebook!

Yes, I was twittering (which updated facebook) during the whole thing, and live blogged to give more detail than you can in status updates. It was really quite amazing that due to today’s technology I literally had more people praying for me probably than your average church prayer line – for those scratching their heads that I would twitter while having a heart attack, let me first say,

A) I didn’t technically have a heart attack (explained in blog post)

B) I was never in great pain, just enough pain in my chest to know something was wrong and decided the smart thing was to go straight to ER and

C) I really truly believe in the power of prayer and wanted to get the word out so that I’d have prayer for myself and family during the critical hours when it mattered most. I never really felt dread or fear, though I had a sober understanding that this was indeed serious – and yet really felt peace that I was in God’s hands and that He was walking me through the steps to address this.

Did you know if you hold your breath the
white line on the monitor will go flat?

If I were to add a D) it is that a big part of me is wired to want to encourage others and remind others that God is in control – thats easy to say when everything is going hunky dorey – (good) – but I wanted to show that even when our life is in danger (literally) there is always reason to laugh, enjoy life and savor the moments – even if our time to say so could be soon over. My twitter updates were intended to show that there can be moments of joy and reasons to smile even in the midst of hard times. You can’t say it if you don’t live it!

I asked not to be “put under” during the procedure because this is my LIFE and as long as I am alive – i want to LIVE every moment of it, even those moments that should be scary. I gotta tell you, its very sobering when they have you remove everything you own and you watch them put it all in plastic bags. (I hid my iPhone under my leg, I wanted to take it in with me – my link to all my friends and family!)

It was amazing to watch on a screen what the surgeon was doing inside my heart! The funny thing was later, even though I was never “out” or asleep, I couldn’t remember the journey from the surgery room to ICU. I finally asked my nurse if I had indeed been out because there were some details of the day I couldn’t remember and she said that they did give me a drug that caused short term memory loss! Wow! I asked if I can get that at Walgreens, that could come in handy in life! In fact, that might come in handy in pastoral counseling too! “Just take this, and soon you’ll forget all about it.” I’ll have to look into that. (My wife probably thinks I already take that it on a daily basis!)

One of the cool things was getting to meet a fellow Twittering in person, @scotthodge who I was hoping to meet today anyway, since I was doing the children’s services at this church at 3,5 and 7pm after the massive egg hunt this morning. Well, I did get to meet him, but not as I planned; he visited me in the hospital! It meant a lot since I was too far away for most friends/family to come visit, and I know he’s in the midst of Easter weekend! Even a pastor enjoys a pastoral visit! (Our pastor from our previous church did call too and offer to come, but we told him it was too far from Easter-eve, but that was very nice too!) Of course, my wife DID come while my awesome sister took Luke for the entire day!

I am now staying over night but it looks like I’ll get to go home tomorrow. Please pray for my sweet wife, I know this is harder on her than me!

I was able to get my friend, Jonny Magic, to take the shows I had the rest of today as he was in town to perform with me tomorrow, but pray for the church I was supposed to be at tomorrow – they’ve got a lot of entertainers, so they should be fine, but I was doing their preschool program so they’ve got to make adjustments. I have a pretty good excuse, but I still feel bad!

Going to sleep now – just wanted to let some friends and prayer partners know the scoop.

So nice to know others share my struggles!

ANYWAY – the point of this post is less about blogging, and more about my dad and how proud I am of an accomplishment he just made this month: his first solo flight on his life long quest to become a pilot. He just sent the family the poem below to try and answer the oft asked question, “WHY FLY?” I love the poem and am proud of my dad, but I teased him that he left out the time he took me up for a flight, and he replied that he doesn’t remember it, and to send some “proof.” Which is why I mention the ancient blogging, as I blogged the adventure was back in the early nineties, pre-Y2K!

The original post is here: AIR DAD, but I include a few pictures here for those too lazy to open yet another window. Just ignore the contact info on that page, as it’s a tad bit outdated!

But first, the poem:

WHY DO I FLY?
By Doug Bastian
12/20/08

It’s a question you’ll ask me,
I have asked myself, too.
A clear day pulls my gaze up
And my day-dreams turn blue.

Back in grade school I wandered,
Since my bike set me free,
To the airfield on Broadway
Lots of airplanes to see.

Walked around them, peeked inside,
Wondered how each one flew;
Found some books to explain it,
“I can do this!” I knew.

Years of dreaming passed by me,
Just a ride here and there
With a pilot acquaintance
Lifting me in the air.

The first ride was with Welman
Over Lansing near by.
Then, a cross-country junket,
Mountains, desert, and sky.

Moody Church had some workers
Flying missions and such;
Stayed with David in Haiti,
Flew the island so much.

David once was on furlough
And he offered a trip
Out of Midway…took Jordan,
Overflew school he skipped.

Came the time I was lonely
And my kids took a cue,
Bought me one airplane lesson;
I was hooked for a few.

I became the Red Baron
In son Karl’s view;
We flew South Chicago,
Then he blog’d me so cool.

Later, Jeff was my blessing,
A full CFI, too.
This bush pilot could teach me,
So, real lessons I flew.

Now my logbook had hours,
But, the time was not right.
Many years would flee past me
Without one single flight.

Finally had to decide it…
“To give up, or give in?”
Dash the dream, impossible!
I would try, lose or win.

Now I’ve crossed the first threshold,
I have soloed my plane.
I can do it…I know it.
Life will not be the same.

Have I answered the question
That of, “Why do I fly?”
I can’t think of an answer.
Got to run…”Coming, Sky!”

My dad promised to add a stanza about our trip if I can send some proof of the flight, so this post is my proof along with the pictures from when I had to explain to everyone who saw it, what a “digital camera” was! (‘You mean there is NO FILM?!?!) I love being on the edge of technology!

Here’s your proof, Dad. (entire original post here)

Is that proof enough that your eldest son once flew with you? I love you, Dad, and I’m proud of you!

The Little Red Baron!

Here I will try to explain what Twitter is, how you Twitter and lastly WHY Twitter.

WHAT IS TWITTER?

It would help first of all, to try and explain what Twitter is. First of all, it is found here: www.twitter.com. And if you know a Twitter-er’s username, you can simple put it after the domain, such as mine is: www.twitter.com/kidologist. Users can customize their page with a background as well as the color scheme of the page. And their Twitter profile icon of course.

But what IS Twitter? It is a micro-blog whose posts are made up not only of your own, but of those you are “following.” It is similar to a blog except that your posts are limited to 140 characters or less. So you can’t get too wordy. And like a blog, your most recent post is at the top of the page. But what makes it unique is that the post of anyone you choose to follow also appear on your Twitter page. So your Twitter page becomes not only a mini-blog of what you are doing, but a news feed on what your friends (or whoever you are following, they don’t have to be friends, as I’ll get into below) are doing or thinking or posting.

As you can see in the image above, as of this morning, I am following 65 people. 109 are following me and I’ve posted 1208 “Tweets” so far. That means that whenever any of those 65 people post, it appears in my Twitter and anything I post, 109 people are blessed or bothered with what I posted. And I’ve sent 1208 such messages to whoever was following me at the time!

HOW DO YOU READ & POST TO TWITTER?

The key to the success of Twitter’s growth, is that there are MANY ways to post and read the posts that appear on your page. You can simply use the webpage interface, but that is the least used method for me. I have a desktop application called Twifferrific. It can be on top of all windows, minimized, and set to check at intervals I choose and actually “tweet” like a bird when someone posts. A screen shot of it is to the right.

You can also post via text message to your phone.

You can also have your facebook status post to your Twitter. (I do that in reverse, anything I post to Twitter becomes my Facebook Status.)

But I do most of my Twittering directly from my iPhone using a variety of applications, each has its advantages.

If you are an iPhone user try Twinkle, it allows you to also see people who are nearby and Twittering. I tend to use Twittelator the most and love how you can include pictures taken on your iPhone so I paid $4.99 for Twittelator Pro which bosted of extra features and the ability to have multiple accounts, and it flat out doesn’t work and I can’t get my $5 back. Every time I open it is says “Server load error, unable to load Tweets, try again later.” And its been over a month. OK, rant over. Don’t waste your $5 like I did.

With the iPhone application, (showing Twittelator here) you have many more options than the website, or at least, easier and faster to access such as:

But my favorite thing about Twittelor (and Twinkle can do it too, but crashes often) is attach pictures from my iPhone picture library OR simply take and attach a picture:

Then you simply type your message and post!

(note: iPhone changes your spelling a lot,
like: Twitteding, I didn’t type that!)

To most users, the image will look like a link from Twicpic.com and they can click on it to go view it. When Twittelator Pro works, it actually displays the picture IN the Tweet, which was why I wanted the $5 version, to just show the picture and skip the clicking and waiting to view just to see a picture wasn’t worth the wait to see.  (see link at the beginning of my first post)

You can see the picture of my laptop I just Twittered here. Curious if these pictures will remain hosted “forever” or if there is a time limit, no one seems to know.

BUT WHY TWITTER?

That, indeed, is the question. Yes, Twittering takes time to post and to read, and can become a bit of an addiction. So what is the value in it? Why bother? Why should YOU Twitter? Here are some of my reasons.

• It’s fun. Hey, it’s O.K. to have fun, not everything has to have a profound ministry purpose!
• It fills idle time. When you are stuck somewhere bored, communicating with friends is just a text message or iPhone away.
• It’s fast. Calling a friend takes time. It’s important, but a Tweet to a friend is a fast easy way to let them know you are thinking about them, praying for them, that they matter to you.
• Keep up with friends. I have a bunch of friends around the country that without Twitter I’d only see or talk to once or twice a year, perhaps at a conference. But because Tom Bump, Todd McKeever, Larry Shallenberger, Henry Zonio, Dave Truit and others Twitter, I get to be a small part of their daily life and know what they are dong. If I only see them once a year the conversation goes, “How’s it been?” They answer, “Great!” But with Twitter I know about the ins and outs of their daily lives and can ask more specific questions about the kids, the job, or whatever.
• Monitor your staff. Know what your employees are really doing during the work day. Ha! Just put that in as a joke to see if my staff read this. They all have flexible hours and most are part time, so I’m just razzin’ them!
• Get to know new friends. When I make new friends at a conference or somewhere, like Ken Wheeler, Twitter is a way that we can get to know each other and keep in touch. Otherwise, those infant friendships might not get the chance to grow.
• Keep a pulse on the world, politics and even people unlike you. By following people unlike me, I get glimpses into how other people see the world. I’ve had some people comment that not all my followers (which I can’t control) or those I follow are Christians. Yes, I’ve even seen bad words appear in my Twitter! (oh, no!) If someone gets too offensive, you can block them. (It’s a little tedious as there is no system to how your followers are listed, that I can tell.) But I don’t just follow people who I agree with or who see the world like me. I want to be IN the world (not OF it!) and following people unlike me when it comes to religion or politics is good exposure. I’m trying to reach these people, and it starts with listening.
• Argue Politics. As a passionate American, I am very engaged politically. Sometimes that annoys people – which baffles me – as to be a true American you ought to care and be engaged in politics. Not that our hope is in politics, but they do matter and impact our lives, freedom and economy. You can follow streams of political posts here: http://election.twitter.com and I’ve picked up some people I follow there. Warning, most Twitters are pro-Obama and the venom and nastiness can be shocking if you aren’t used to it. Sad but true. Go be a light. (regardless of your political leanings)
• Save links and quotes. I use Twitter as a way to save links and quotes I like. Sometimes I come across something cool or funny or helpful or insighful on the Internet and I just Twitter it and then mark it as a favorite. Going back through your favorites later can be like an electronic scrap book
• Follow / Broadcast Live Events. When friends get to be places you can’t be, they can Twitter and let you experience a taste of it, like a friend recently did at a McCain Palin rally and like I will at the Chicago Marathon this Sunday or at various CM conferences. When my wife went on a trip across the country with her parents, she Twittered their progress and pictures for me and the little back home. We got to feel a little less lonely and could picture where she was along the trip. It was great to get those glimpses into her days while she was away from us.
• Entertain and brighten people’s day. If you are like me, you enjoy telling jokes or looking at life through a humorous lense. Twitter allows you to share those funny moments. Normally, it would be pretty lame when you see someone to say, “last week the toilet bowl handle broke and I had to reach in the water to flush.” But as a live Twitter its funny, as every one can picture you doing this, as it JUST happened. Or like one I saw this morning, “Unless someone actually invented a real flux capacitor, I’m pretty sure I need a new watch battery.”
  
• Communicate with friends. Twitter also allows back and forth communication, either publicly or privately. If you start a post with @kidologist than I and everyone knows the comment is directed at me, though anyone can read and enjoy it. If you put a “d” before it: d @kidologist than only I will get the message. This can be fun. One time I Twittered, “Where should I go to lunch today?” and there were a bunch of @kidologist replies/suggestions. While they were all to me, others got to see the suggestions. A bunch of people separated by hundreds of miles and time zones all collaborated on my lunch destination. (Taco Bell won) That is a part of what makes Twitter unique.
• See what’s new on Kidology.org That’s right! One of the best ways to see what is new on Kidology (or other sites that publish to a Twitter account) is to follow www.Twitter.com/kidology as you will get notified when new things post to Kidology. It’s now one of the main ways I click into discussions and see new posts!
  

There are other reasons I’m sure I’ll think of after I publish this, and please gives yours in comments. But Twittering is a fun way to interact and stay connected with a wide variety of people from literally all over the world, instantly.

Try it, you’ll like it.

If you follow DiscipleBlog.com, you may have caught my post What Happened To The Bible. It fueled a healthy discussion over on Kidology.org. Then, Christine Yount, editor-in-chief at Children’s Ministry Magazine featured it on her blog.

Then, I was honored when Christine asked if she could interview me for her podcast on the subject. You can listen to the podcast here.

Christine Yount is a leading voice in children’s ministry and someone you need to keep in your virtual circle of advisors. I’m excited to see her blogging and podcasting now. I’ve been listening to her for as long as I can remember and her longevity in children’s ministry leadership is a true mark of someone who is dedicated to a mission, not to a business or just trying to being heard. When Christine Yount speaks, I listen. (That doesn’t mean I always agree – but it does mean she forces me to think and constantly be evaluating. And I love that!)

D = Develop a Relationship

“And He walks with me and He talks with me;
And He tells me I am His own;
And the joy we share as we tarry there;
None other has ever known.”

Every notice that Jesus’ primary method of discipleship was based upon relationships? Jesus didn’t establish schools, write curriculum, or host seminars. While He certainly did teach the masses – he discipled in relationship with those who were close to Him, and it was THOSE disciples who turned the world upside down after He left them.

As I look back over some fifteen plus years of professional children’s ministry and many more years of just life ministry, it is those I discipled relationally who I see producing the greatest fruit. They are ones in Bible college, becoming missionaries, and going into ministry. While I am NOT assuming any credit for their godly choices, I am saying that being discipled prayed a part in their spiritual formation.

If you want to be a discipler of children, it is no secret that I recommend DiscipleLand if you are a church leader and would be delighted if you used Awesome Adventure as a tool for one on one studies, but the first thing you need is NOT curriculum – it is to build some relationships with kids that are deeper than the educational or “fun” level.

It may just be that some of your best disciples you never formally “discipled” through printed lessons – you just walked with them and became a part of their spiritual journey.

Whether you lead an entire children’s ministry with hundreds of children or teach a small class or volunteer in a club with a small group – pray through your kids and ASK GOD TO SHOW YOU A CHILD YOU CAN HAVE A DEEPER RELATIONSHIP WITH. And become their friend, not just their leader or teacher.

Jesus is my Master, my Lord, my Redeemer, my Savior, my Creator and my Guide, but best of all He is my Friend – and it is that relationship that spurs on my spiritual growth. Yoy may be many things to the kids in your ministry, but when you become their friend, you begin to truly impact their spiritual walk.

What does a friendship with a child look like?

• You know their name
• You know about their family
• You have some common interests
• You pray for them
• You look for them
• You ask them relational questions
• You get together with them
• You remember their important dates
• You love them unconditionally

Take some time and think through the kids God has brought into your life – is there one or two that you could pour your life in to? A few you could become a friend to? That you could disciple intentionally? The impact on their life is indescribable!

GO FOR IT! What are you waiting for?

The time has finally come! I’m launching a Children’s Ministry Podcast this summer, and as usual, my blog readers get the first peek! So here is very first episode:

Episode 1: What Are Your Red Sneakers? In this very first episode of Children’s Ministry Podcast, Karl and his faithful sidekick Gus ask listeners, “What Are Your Red Sneakers?” Tune in to learn helpful insights and tips to help you and your children’s ministry become more effective.

DOWNLOAD HERE: Children’s Ministry Podcast w/ Karl and Gus – 001 (MP3 14.5mb)

Let me know what you think! And any ideas for direction/topics along the way.

UPDATE: You can now listen and subscribe at Kidology.org/podcast

Starting a blog? I often get asked advice on starting a blog since I’ve been blogging since before there were blogs! (I used to create stand alone webpages to record events, like this one or these) I have a detailed post titled What Makes a Good Blog? but let in short I’d say just start one (and yes, just ONE will do) and keep in mind, it is primarily for YOU not your readers. I consider my blog to be my personal digital scrap book. It is first and foremost for stuff I want to save and remember, secondly to keep in touch with family and friends and yet I know that there is a wider readership and so I keep them in mind to – but I don’t seek to please them or worry whether they ‘approve’ all the time. (I’ve had complaints from time to time which is really odd since its a personal blog and the complaints I’ve received are totally inappropriate for what a blog is, but oh well.)

Bottom line: Blog whatever you want. You’ll be your #1 reader over the years, especially the old posts! (I doubt anyone reads my archives, but I cruise them often!)

Thanks to the folks at iwphone.contentrobot.com, my blog is now iPhone (or iPod Touch) friendly! I love my current theme (created by PowerServe.net) but on the iPhone it was a bit much to navigate. Now you can enjoy my blog on your iPhone, those of you lucky (or smart) enough to have one. ENJOY!

Then today he tells me she is back from vacation! (not stalking, huh?) Well, to make up for it, I immediately logged on to Live News Cameras and e-mailed Kat again and this time asked how her vacation was and asked her to say hi to Steve for me, and she did! Hopefully this puts me back on good terms with Steve. It’s a good thing that me and Kat are obviously such good friends now and that she has twice responded to my e-mails live on a channel that is watched nation-wide by probably millions of online viewers.

Maybe someday Steve will get the courage to e-mail her himself and say “hi.”