Stop Trying to Bear Good Fruit!

For years one of my “pet peeves” theologically has been how much I hear kids being taught to “work on the Fruit of the Spirit.” There are countless kids church series that go through each fruit helping kids to work on them, one by one. I’ve even seen sermons to adults admonishing Christians to work on being more kind or gentle or self-controlled. But there is a serious flaw in this approach! Fruit produced by our effort, isn’t Fruit of the Spirit – it is fruit of the flesh, even if the end result is good. Stick with me for a moment before you start yelling at me! I know the Bible says to produce good fruit – we should! But too often our approach is backwards. In our church’s scripture reading plan, I find my self in the book of Matthew, and was struck with this truth again as I read the following passages: By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good…

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So Long Summer Party! Break the Mold!

This past Sunday I had a gift – an extra week between the lesson series I am doing. I finished up my summer series based on Rock Solid and will be starting GO! I love when I get a chance to break the mold and do something completely different! It is exciting for the kids and refreshing for the volunteers! So last Sunday, at my wife’s suggestion, we had a So Long Summer Party! We moved outside, played games, did acoustic guitar worship, ate popsicles and enjoyed using no multi-media! What a treat to not have to set up the computer, if only for a week! I planned the whole thing on one piece of paper! I gathered all the games I could find from my house and the church, and created a fun obstacle course where several teams could play at the same time. (I did a short Facebook Live with my drone if you’d like to see it from the air!) When is the last time you broke the mold and did something completely different? Shake things up. Do something new. Try something different. Don’t get stuck in a rut!

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Connecting Digitally with Your Kids

For Father’s Day my son cracked me up when he wrote in my card, “I love you more than the games on my ipad! :)” So touching. But the reality is, my son is growing up in an age where he plays on an ipad as much as he does with physical toys and games. I’m delighted that Lego still captures his imagination as much as Minecraft, and that he’d still rather play outside than on his X-box, but at the same time I have a love-hate relationship with iPad games. There are times I wish he didn’t have one – but I also realize that touch-tablet technology is the world he is growing up in. While he can use the family iMac with ease, it is very likely that by the time he is a teenager, the computers we use will be the technological dinosaurs of a past age. I enjoyed growing up using the very first personal computers and leaping on each advancement as they came out. Even waiting in line for a new Apple OS to be released instead of the free downloads of today. But this ‘Old Dog’ has to recognize that both the reality of…

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Take Your Kids on a Great Adventure!

Last Saturday night I had so much fun getting ready to launch The Great Adventure Cards on Sunday. I mixed up the cards, put up the poster that shows all of them, and got ready to introduce them in children’s church. It was a HIT! Kids earn these cards these cards for coming to church, bringing their Bible, inviting a friend, and rewards for participating – answering questions, games, etc. They can compare the cards they got the poster and work to collect series. Once they complete series, they can win small prizes if they can answer the simple questions on the cards. This requires them to look up the Bible verses which gets them into the Word of God. I love visiting homes and seeing bundles of Bible trading cards on the kitchen table next to a Bible! Parents love them too. Here is a video I filmed Saturday Night that shows the cards and explains it a little more: Soon your kids will be enjoying collecting these as much as the kids at my church! Get Your Great Adventure Cards Today!

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Join Me at the Kidmin Conference

Join Karl at Kidmin Conference this fall! Save $100 – If you register by May 1st! I’m excited to be presenting at Group’s Kidmin Conference in Chicago this fall. I’ll be teaching workshops on Unleasing Your God-Given Creativity, Adding Pizzazz  to Your Teaching, and Becoming KIDmissional. These are extended hands-on learning experiences that will transform your teaching and give you practical ministry tools you can go home and immediately implement! Learn more and save $100 by registering before May 1st. To see my workshop descriptions, visit the Presenters page and click View Sessions under his name. I hope to see you there! Because Jesus Loves Children, Karl Bastian

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