No doubt, there are a LOT of places to interact and get help today on the Internet. Forums and Facebook groups and other places to ask for help and ideas and get resources abound. Twitter, Google+, Instagram, Four Square, Path, and so many other “places” allow us to ’social network’ and get instant help, ideas and keep in touch.

So why contribute and discuss on Kidology.org?

In a world of “I need it now” – Kidology.org takes a long term approach to helping Equip and Encourage children’s workers. We know that the same questions are being asked over and over again. What you are struggling with is not new. Others have struggled before you, and others will after you. In fact, the help you recieve, on whatever website you use, you will soon be able to pass on to others.

This is what makes Kidology.org different. The help given and shared and submitted to Kidology.org has a longer life-span than anywhere else. A question asked and answered on a Facebook wall gives immediate help, but quickly passes down the ‘river’ of the wall, and is gone forever. That wisdom is washed away by time. The investment of time and expertise and sometimes links and uploads are washed away never to be seen again. The same help, asked and answered on Kidology.org becomes part of a massive database of help that will help others again and again.

That is why when people ask me a kidmin question via Facebook I say, “Ask me in the Kidology.org forum, and I’ll answer you there.” It isn’t to push my website – it is because I want to invest my time and energy in a way that will help more than just that one person. I know that when I answer on Kidology.org, that post will have a life that will extend after that one day, it will continue to be read by others, and continue to help others for years to come.

People are constantly thanking me for help I gave them in posts and articles that I wrote on the site – many written years ago. If I had posted that info solely in a Tweet or a Facebook wall or on a site where it disappears after a short time, think of the many who would never have benefited.

And this is not only true of the things I write. This is true for you too. Your questions and answers are equally valuable! My words are now only a fraction of Kidology.org as the site has grown since 1994. And I know that after the Lord calls me home someday, it will live on to continue to fulfill it’s Mission of Equipping and Encouraging Those Who Minister to Children.

So let me invite you. Be active all over the web – as I am – it’s important. But be sure you are taking time to invest in the growing content of Kidology.org, for you will be helping others in a multiplying fashion, perhaps even long after you are even in ministry, or walking this earth! As long as the Lord Jesus shall tarry.

I’ve always called it giving a tithe of your ministry time to share what you are doing. Whether you are asking the questions, or giving some answers, content, ideas, or curriculum – everything helps us continue to build the Internet’s largerest source of Kid’s Ministry help on Kidology.org

Want to help keep it growing?

• Submit something to our Content Zones
• Join the Discussion in our Forums
• Sell something you’ve created in our store.

Instead of a Christmas Letter this year (December was just to crazy this year!) I opted for a more electronically savvy method, and created a video to reflect on 2011. Besides, it was too hard to choose which pictures to put into a letter – we started one, and which pictures to choose, was so hard!

This year included a trip to California to see my childhood best friend, Andy, get married, (and a trip to DisneyLand while there) and another trip back later in the year to perform my first wedding for his little sister, Lindsay!

We enjoyed many visits from friends coming to enjoy Colorado and stay with us (when are YOU coming?) and enjoying this beautiful state ourselves as we still discover its vast beauty!

Luke turned 5, and wanted a “real Jeep” for his birthday, so I rented a Jeep for the day! I started “Dad School” a mini-home school to focus on the areas he needed help, and also “Family Pit Stops,” our evening family devotional times as he got old enough for intentional spiritual input from Dad.

Sara is a table leader for MOPS at our church and I continue to write a children’s church curriculum called DiscipleTown in addition to leading Kidology. I wrap up a two year column in Children’s Ministry Magazine after being named one of the Top 20 Leaders in the past 20 years, which was a pretty big surprise and honor. We added three new employees this year, with new VP of Operations starting January 1st, so we are pretty excited about what God has in store for our little ministry.

In addition to my fourth Yosemite Summit, I also got to take Luke and Sara this year – and seeing Luke discover my favorite place on earth, and show him all my “secret places” the tourists walk right past was a real treat, and watching him find his own, “secret places” that he wants to come back to someday. And extra bonus, after speaking at two camps this year, was being invited back to one on short notice (a previously scheduled speaker got called to heaven on short notice) I took my dad with me and we added on a trip to Yosemite, just as father and son – yet another highlight of the year for me personally.

So 2011 was a busy year, but a good year. In 2012, I hope to find a slower pace and perhaps some more margin, but am still eagerly excited to see what God has in store for my family.

Thank you to everyone who calls us family, friends, and who supports us in prayer. If you are not a part of my personal prayer support e-mail list, it’s called the Kidology Champion Prayer Supports List, and you can subscribe here. Just update your Kidology Newsletters to include that list.

I hope you had a Merry Christmas, and we wish you a Happy New Year from our family to yours!

Karl, for Sara and Luke too!

Enjoy our “Year in Review” Video:

The range of products and services we offer our visitors and members now is breath-taking! And I oversee all of it.

It’s a little schizophrenic at times, and my staff are very gracious as I shift roles constantly, but its rough on me, my family and our organization. I also serve on the board of several other organizations and serve as a consultant to other kidmin ministries in our market helping them to succeed and improve behind the scenes. But it has spread me very thin. I have known for years that I needed a full time “right hand man” but have lacked the combination of the timing, funding and the right person for the job.But the time has come.

So we are taking a step of faith – it seems all three have come together. I have hired today a Vice President of Operations and will be shifting out of my current role of running everything at Kidology, moving into a Chief Creative Officer role, and working with a new full time VP of Operations who will work with me in the oversight and coordination of Kidology. Certainly, it will take some getting used to – but he seems to be the man for the job and it is definitely the time for it.

This is one of the times where we are stepping out in faith!

If you are a Kidology Champion – you are a part of making this possible, whether you are a donor, or just part of our Champion prayer network. (sign up, if you aren’t yet)

I would ask for your prayer as we head into 2012 for wisdom, insight, the mind of Christ, discernment and unity as a team as we make the needed changes and adjustments in order to take Kidology to the next level of ministry.

Do you know the IMPACT of Kidology.org?

When we combine all levels of members of Kidology.org, both Basic and Premium, as of right now, it is around 17,000 churches. Let’s be conservative and estimate that each of those churches represent only 100 children.

That would be 1,700,000 kids impacted by Kidology.org each and every week.

I believe it very well could be many more. We are accessed by users in over 70 countries.

God is using our website to make a difference in individuals, in families, in churches – and best of all – in the lives of kids.

OUR MISSION: To Equip and Encourage Those Who Minister to Children.

That’s why I am so thrilled to announce that starting January 1st, 2012 Kidology will have a new Vice President of Kidology. His name is Mark Maestas.

Mark has an Mdiv in Leadership from Denver Seminary. He has served as a Family Pastor, College Pastor, as an interim Children’s Pastor, but most recently also in business leadership at Target Stores here in the Denver area. Sorry, Target, but the Kingdom needs him more.

We look forward the leadership and management experience that Mark will bring to Kidology.org and ask that you pray for him as he prepares to begin in the New Year.

I do.

You watch.

I do.

You help.

You do.

I help.

You do.

I watch.

It summarizes the process of discipleship or training it a nutshell. This summer I volunteered at my church to teach the preschool Bible stories for our churches sports camp because my son was attending. (I knew that fit my skills better than volunteering to coach sports!) I used props and objects to illustrate the Bible stories. For my own self-training purposes I video taped the sessions with my flip camera. (I like to watch and learn to improve.) One of the leaders had to teach the same Bible stories a few weeks later for the second week of sports camp when I was off to teach at a camp and couldn’t volunteer. I boxed up all my props and spent a little time coaching her on how to do it and gave her copies of the flip videos to watch and study. She did great!

This week she is on a mission trip to Nairobi and I just got this picture posted on my wall via Facebook:

Imagine my joy to see my “student” using the same technique so many miles away! It brought tears to my eyes! I had used action figures in a boat to teach about Peter walking on water and given all the kids “waves” and had Peter walk out among them “on the water” – and here is Shelly doing the same lesson on a mission trip.

I did.

She watched.

Now she did!

I watch.

That is what equipping and encouraging is all about. I live for this! It is why my LIFE MISSION STATEMENT since I was age 19 has been:

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.

It is why I created Kidology.org, Toyboxtales.com, wrote OrderoftheAncient.com, lead YosemiteSummit.org, write DiscipleTown, created the KidsChurchCookbook.com and now BeTheDadToday.com

I do and I help – so that others can too, and then I sit back and watch. And it blesses my socks off.

Live for something amazing and you will never be bored!

Way to go Shelly!

Kidmin Toolkit?

Let’s suppose you had to pack for a week of teaching and ministry and all you could pack was a small “Kidmin Toolkit” – what would you pack into YOUR travel kit?

A Bible? Naturally. An iPad? Perhaps. A yo-yo? A small puppet? I’d pack a bag of jolly ranchers and a sling shot! Some action figures? Remember, this is ALL you will have for a WEEK of ministry. What will you need?

I’m gonna mail the best responses in COMMENTS a prize and then I’ll post what I’d put in MY Kidmin Toolkit – and then I’d encourage you to PACK YOUR OWN Kidmin Toolkit and have it READY TO GO, because you never know when you might just need it!

UPDATE: THE $50 PRIZE PACK Very soon… someone in comments, is going to WIN this prize pack I’ve assembled:

(Note: It all packs flat to fit in your Kidmin Toolkit!)

UPDATE: I was overwhelmed by the response to this blog post. Everyone submitted Great Ideas! However, I could pick but ONE winner, and the Kidmin Toolkit Winner is: Joan Eppehimer

SEE ALL THE RESPONSES & COMPILE YOUR OWN KIT!

We have compiled ALL THE RESPONSES into a single list so you can create your own Kidmin Toolkit! Download as a PDF or Word Doc:

Kidologist_com-Kidmin-Toolkit-List.pdf (196 KB PDF)

Kidologist_com-Kidmin-Toolkit-List.doc (114 KB DOC)

I added two more, same list, just numbered: (209 items)

Kidologist_com-Kidmin-Toolkit-List-numbered.pdf (116 KB PDF)

Kidologist_com-Kidmin-Toolkit-List-numbered.doc (116 KB DOC)

So for all you bean counters out there who have been waiting for a deal, HERE IT IS!

In the next 52 hours, if you JUMP and take advantage of the ONLY144.com sale, you will get a TOP SECRET CODE that will give you an EXTRA THREE MONTHS FREE to a Premium Membership to Kidology.org! It’s the deal you’ve been waiting for.

PLUS – you’ll get all the goodies below! Keep reading, it’s just our way of partnering with the good folks at Only 144.com as we try to lure you, er, I mean, equip and encourage you in your children’s ministry!

We know Kidology readers are always looking for a great deal.  Here’s your chance to turn $97 into $1,074 worth of children’s ministry resources for your ministry.

Hop over to Only144.com… but there’s not much time left.

The good folks there help keep Kidology tools and resources affordable, and they’ve put together this epic bundle sale by partnering with over 15 resource providers we know you’ll recognize.  Plus, if you aren’t a Kidology member, this deal includes 3 FREE months of Kidology Premium Membership (an additional $24 value!)

Take a look at some of this resources included in this bundle:

• Children’s Pastors Conference Coupon (14.4% off)
• River’s Edge iGo Green Kids Camp/VBS Curriculum Files ($99)
• River’s Edge Elementary and Preschool Curriculum ($95)
• Kidzmatter Coupon ($50)
• Children’s Administrative Forms Bundle ($19)
• Yancy Worship Videos ($60)
• High-Voltage Kids Resources ($40)
• Timbuktoons Animated Videos ($120)
• PreteenMinistry.net Curriculum ($88)
• Gameshow ScoreKeep from Digital Stache ($25)
• Orange Conference Registration Coupon ($100 off)
• Jim Wideman Leadership Resource ($20)
• Kidz Graphics ($50)
• Name It PowerPoint Games ($34.95)
• President Bush Volunteer Appreciation Videos ($34.95)
• Kidology 3-Months Premium Membership ($24)
• Volunteer Training Audio from Church-Volunteers.com ($198)

All these resources for just $97!

However, the clock is ticking on this special deal.  There are only a few hours left. Don’t wait.  Click on over to Only144.com and save your church some bucks as you prepare for the fall!

» Visit Only144.com NOW!

Gave me the idea… I wondered if anyone might like to take a stab at guessing how one might share the Gospel with flying chickens! For the BEST “Gospel Presentation with Flying Chickens” provided in comments, whether it is the one I used, plain funny, or another great original idea – I’ll mail you one of MY flying chickens!

I’m teaching this week on Spiritual Climbing, a topic I have done here many times, so I wanted to a take a totally new approach (my past series is available on Kidology) so I am going through the Awesome Adventure Series (gave a copy to each camper) adding an object lesson with a piece of hiking equipment I use when I go hiking and comparing to spiritual growth, but for the game, I created 12 games with these flying chickens I got on sale at an outlet store! The store couldn’t believe it when I took every chicken in the store up to the counter!

But when you find something that is usually over $10 for only $3 – a smart children’s pastor buys them all! Every game is now an object lesson that fits my lesson! The campers are going nuts over these flying chickens, and they even make noise after they hit the ground. You HAVE to have unique games like this when you are a camp speaker, it ends up being the high light. Of course, I have a new puppet as well, he is a monkey name Pogi, who sounds like Yogi Bear, but Pogi is a Filipino word. Go ahead, Google it.

SO THE CONTEST IS ON! How would YOU share the Gospel with Flying Chickens? Share in Comments? (or just comment for fun!)

Yosemite Summit Guys 2011

This isn’t the “Official” report – I have thousands of photos (and video clips) to sort through and a highlight video to create for that – BUT I wanted to at least let y’all know I made it back alive and we had another great UNconference in Yosemite National Park!

Despite some negative weather forecasts, we had actually perhaps the best weather of all four years – maybe tied with year #1, though that was a bit warm, so I think the best weather of all four years for hiking. That was fantastic!

Just for fun, Pat arrived a day early to help me shop for all the food. Here he is at Costco in Sacramento:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

And that is even before the Super Wal-Mart trip for the stuff Costco doesn’t sell! It takes a lot to feed a lodge full of hungry hikers! (And we eat well!)

Soon we were all gathered and ready to head to Yosemite… all but one Californian who was meeting up with us farther South.

Soon we were off! It was a great four hour drive getting to know each other, and the guys had absolute trust in my driving abilities and attention to all the laws of the road:

(For the record, I AM parked legally, but it’s a great picture snapped
by Scott Dodson before I knew why he asked me to look!)

If you are wondering if the trip was refreshing – this next picture is proof that it is… we DRINK UP YOSEMITE:

Michael Murphy drinking from Bridalveil  Falls

This place is so in-tune with God, it seemed, even the animals were praising God:

Photo by Doug McKinney

I look forward to sharing more about this years Summit after I take some time to pray and reflect and journal and soak in the impact of this fourth time of turning off my busy electronic life for nearly a week and just enjoying some time in God’s Awesome Creation for a few days. Of course, everything back home piled up and now I have some catching up to do! To make matters worse, I got some really serious food poisoning on Sunday which put me on my deathbed all through the Memorial Day weekend so I feel even farther behind than I would have been with the long weekend to unpack and do some catching up before the work week got here – but such is life!

How are YOU like a Water Fall?

While you await the full report, I’ll share one insight with you that was actually shared during the week by one of the guys in our evenings of sharing after a day of hiking. Doug noted that in the path of our life there are a lot of obstacles and problems that get in our way and cause of frustration and disappointment and can irritate us or cause us to have to reroute our path or change our plans when we would rather things go smoothly. But as he was watching these majestic waterfalls come pouring over the cliffs and down the mountainsides and crashing along the river banks – it was actually the rocks and boulders and trees – the OBSTACLES in the waters path that make the waterfall and the river so majestic to watch. Were the waterfall and the path that followed at the bottom smooth it wouldn’t be as spectacular to view. It is actually the obstacles that give the falls and the rivers their character. Interesting – the flaws are what give the character. The same is true with is. Our character is developed through the obstacles in our lives. If God were to give us a smooth life, without problems, bumps and obstacles, what would grow our character?

So the next time you see a big boulder up ahead – instead of being frustrated or complaining – realize God is just forming you into a majestic testimony of his power and grace that other might be able to point to – even snap pictures of – and say, “Wow, there IS a Creator, and doesn’t He create the most Beautiful Things!”

We called this our “Album Cover”

NOTE: All images in this post can be clicked on to view larger.

Every year when Yosemite Summit rolls around, I am never ready for it.

And that is exactly why I do it.

I have projects that are not where I want them. Deadlines I’m behind on, so many to do’s unchecked they are overwhelming at times, countless more items floating in my head that need to get on a to do list. Even more dreams and ideas of things I’d like to do. The reality is, I’ll never be “ready” for a week off of work to just relax, refresh, renew and re-create. I am too driven by my life Mission and Calling. But I am also driven by disappointment. We all have this ideal in our mind and hearts of the way life is supposed to be – and when life turns out differently and we don’t get want we want (the core of sin is selfishness) we bury it in busyness, and as Christians we can bury it in Christian service and “Godly” busyness – whereas the rest the world may attempt to hide it in entertainment, the accumulation of power, wealth or pleasure – if not outright debauchery. (Some do seek to redeem it through a life well lived, though those are rare.) I have this ideal in my mind of the type of man, husband, and dad I want to be – and I just can’t get there. And I’m not just talking the deep stuff, its the simple stuff too, like an organized garage or getting the landscaping in the back yard finished. Hanging out with my dad more or reading all the books stacked in my office. So much to do and not enough time to do it in. I have a Calvin and Hobbes T-shirt that says,

“God put me on this earth to accomplish a set number of things. Right now I am so far behind, I will never die.”

But the reality is, I am haunted by what I will left undone that I wanted to do, and what I did instead.

So I go to Yosemite Summit to STOP – stop everything – and Think. Listen. Reflect. Refocus. Reconsider. Recalibrate. Reconsider.

Have you ever just wanted to scream, “I need everything to just STOP ALREADY!” Well, that’s what Yosemite Summit is. The world freezes for several days. Everything stops. Nothing matters for a few days. You aren’t so important anymore. People can get along without you, and guess what? The world survives! And everything is OK when you get back. Sure, there is some pile up, but its manageable.

That’s why I created Yosemite Summit. Because first and foremost I need it. It’s for me. I know that sounds selfish, but it is the truth. But it’s so good and I need it so much, I decided NOT to be selfish about it, and decided I’d invite just a few guys to come with me. First of all, because part of me wishes someone had invited me to something like this a long time ago when I didn’t know I needed it. But mostly because its just too amazing a time to keep to myself.

I hope you will create your own Summit. Don’t wait until you are ready. You never will be. Just put it on the calendar, and promise yourself you won’t cancel it no matter what happens. And when the time comes, just go. Pick a place you love. Invite some others to go with you. And just do it. You know you need it. Freeze the world for a few days. Honestly, we’ll be fine without you. And we might like you better when you get back.

This will be my last blog post until June. Until then… try to survive!

CHECK OUT THE GUYS I’VE SHARED THIS EXPERIENCE WITH THE PAST THREE YEARS AND CLICK ON THE PICTURE FOR A REPORT, HIGHLIGHT PHOTOS AND VIDEO:

2008

2009:

2010:

2011: UPDATED:

Will you be in the 2012 picture?

Quite Times Break Out Everywhere!

Wouldn’t it be great to start getting reports from parents that children in your church were starting to have Quiet Times all on their own?

Imagine hearing that your students were carving out special places in their closets, lofts, or backyards club houses and scheduling when they were going to meet with God!

It has happened to me many times over! I’ve even had kids draw me pictures of their “top secret” places where they meet with God.

And you must know, these meetings have life-long, even eternal results!

But they don’t happen without INTENTIONAL and PRACTICAL training!

That is why I have written HOW TO MEET WITH GOD.

I urge you to make this next installment of DiscipleTown a part of your disciple-making strategy and work it into your educational plan for Kid’s Church.

It is AVAILABLE NOW!

Karl.

During this unit, your kids will learn tried-and-true techniques for enjoying a personal “Quiet-Time” with God so that they can learn how to deepen their friendship with God. Next, they will learn how to enjoy His company throughout the day and how to call on Him in times of need. Meeting with God is something we can do in a focused “Quiet Time,” but it is also something we can do anytime we want to experience the presence and power of God in our daily lives.

Happy Resurrection Sunday…

Hello Friends.

Grace = Getting what we don’t deserve.

(vs. Mercy = Not getting what we DO deserve!)

That’s what this weekend is all about. It’s about the Grace God showed us by looking past our short-comings, our failures, and our imperfections… and loving us anyway.

It’s about wanting us to be Family in spite of us. It’s about Him DYING to make us Family, even though we were wrapped up in ourselves and our needs.

We’ve all got people in our lives (and families) and drive us nuts and who are wrapped up in themselves. People who have let us down. People who don’t deserve a second chance. People who don’t deserve forgiveness. People who are a “lost cause.”

Christ was demonstrating for us what He expects of us by what He did for us. While WE were a lost cause, beyond hope, undeserving, selfish and wrapped up in OURselves – He died for us, and then did the biggest “come back” in His-Story to redeem us.

We have no excuse to hold anyone at arm’s length or hold a grudge. Those who have truly experienced Grace, find it so much easier and natural to extend Grace – for they have been to the foot of the Cross and begged for it.

This Easter, look around for who you can be Jesus to… someone perhaps you’ve overlooked, forgotten, or even given a cold shoulder too… and welcome them back.

After all, it’s what Jesus did for you and me on the first Good Friday and Easter not so long ago. (In God’s eternal timing)

Happy Easter!

A grace receiver,

Karl.

I am SO excited to have the GO FISH VBS KITS on Kidology.org that I’m gonna give a 100% REFUND to one of the first ten orders of EACH of their VBS Kits! Not only do I LOVE their music, but I love the strong emphasis their VBS materials place on Scripture!

You already SAVE $25 just by being a Kidology Member, and now you might just get it free!

Whether you go with their first unit Backstage with the Bible or the brand new release, Kickin’ it Old School – or just order both – I’m gonna give a refund to one of the first ten orders of each! After we sell ten of either VBS, we will randomly select from the first ten orders and do a 100% refund and let the winner know who won via e-mail! So order right away!

WHAT IF YOU’VE ALREADY ORDERED YOUR VBS? Some of you have already picked and are half-way done planning your VBS programs! (You super admins, you!) Well, then, use these for an Awesome Kids Church unit instead!

ORDER YOUR VBS KIT TODAY!

DiscipleLand, the publishers of DiscipleTown, are coming out with the most beautiful preschool Bible this Spring – BUT RIGHT NOW – you can get exclusively from Kidology.org a gorgeous Easter Story Book for your children at an amazing BUY ONE SET OF TEN and get a SECOND SET FREE!

This special offer won’t last long – and it is unique to Kidology.org due to my special relationship with DiscipleLand as the author of DiscipleTown.

DOWNLOAD A SAMPLE PDF and then hurry over to the Kidology.org Store while supplies last!

You will get TWENTY 16-Page books for the SAME PRICE as TEN over on Discipland.com! (compare)

You’ll want to give one of these beautiful books to every one of your children on Easter Sunday Morning! VISITORS COME ON EASTER SUNDAY! This bibllically rich book tells the Story of Easter and shares the Gospel Message!

FIND OUT MORE and ORDER!

Roger Fields, the creator of Kidz Blitz, is a pioneer of Children’s Ministry. In fact – he was one of the first workshoop presenters I heard at my first CPC waaaay back in 1995 at my first CPC. I loved this guy’s passion and unique approach to ministry and knew right away he was a guy to watch, learn from, and one who would always approach ministry differently than everyone else. He isn’t afraid to try new things – whatever it takes to reach kids. (He was the one who brought leaders the Children’s Ministry Conference Cruise in 2001-2002 and is the creator of CMX!)

Famous for his “T.P. Blower” – Roger is a guy who knows how to “BRING THE FUN” to a kids outreach event!

Here is me “BRINGING THE T.P.” to Roger at CPC:

If you are looking for the most OUTRAGEOUS and CRAZY and OFF THE WALL event that KIDS and FAMILIES will absolutely LOVE and be talking about for the rest of the year… then KIDZ BLITZ is the event you need to bring to your church!

But it’s not just the fun – it’s the Message too! Roger and his other regional reps use high energy and audience participation and large group repetition to teach kids simple but important Truths about God and the Gospel, so its fun, but with a purpose. It is the perfect outreach or community bridge building event. If you’ve done events that you were kinda embarrassed to invite your neighbors too – it’s time you brought Kidz Blitz to your church and packed out the place!

This is DA MAN who can BRING YOU THE FUN and ENERGIZE your next OUTREACH EVENT!

What are you waiting for? CLICK ALREADY!

Here at Kidology we are bursting with pride over discovering Marty Martin’s article in the latest issue of CM Magazine! Marty is the Kidology to Go director, our roaming Kidmin Training Ministry!

Download the entire article: Kids Pastor or Circus Master (1.3mb)

Enjoy the article – and mention this blog post and get $50 off a Kidology to Go event booked during January or February in Southern California, Arizona or South New Mexico or Nevada – check out the schedule for more info!

We hope you enjoy Marty’s article – but better yet, we hope you’ll book Marty and his family at YOUR CHURCH!

Kidology to Go is visiting ALL 50 STATES and driving across Canada so BOOK YOUR EVENT NOW before all the slots are taken.

PLUS, you can now book Rob Biagi for a Friday evening Family Concert the evening before the training event. Contact Marty for complete details!

If you aren’t a subscriber to Children’s Ministry Magazine (in which I have a column, Age Level Insights, ages 6-9) you truly are robbing yourself! In this issue alone my good friends Jamie Doyle and Gordon West contributed!

And, of course, while I’m at it, I have to recommend, Children’s Ministry Magazine Professional Edition as well.

AND remind you that BOTH of these can be subscribed at a DISCOUNT on Kidology.org!

CM MAG (Save $5) and CM PROS (Save $15!)

O.K. – I’ll be honest. There WAS one thing I hated about being a children’s pastor. I avoided it like the black plague. It was pure evil. Satan, I thought, must have come up with the idea. It was a plot to keep me from ministering to kids, sharing the Gospel, doing visitation, and equipping and encouraging my volunteers.

Database Management.

And it wasn’t my fault! The church’s database stunk too! If they couldn’t even keep theirs up to date, what hope did I have?! So I’d create my own, I thought. I bought every software sold on the market. Even programmed my own once. (that was a nightmare!) For seasons at a time, I didn’t bother, or I’d let it look I was keeping track of the kids – but God knew I didn’t have a clue who had really been there or not. Don’t worry – I made sure the person who dropped off the kid picked up the kid and that we had a “never alone” policy in place. Sunday morning security was a priority. But beyond keeping the kids safe on Sunday – my data was usually a mess! Please tell me, I’m not the only CP guilty of data confusion!

If only KidCheck had existed when I was a full time children’s pastor!

AND I KNOW HOW THEY DID IT TOO!

They got a hold of 1.21 jigawatts and a Delorean and traveled back in time and read my mind!

MANY a time as I sat for hours typing in data or asking some poor sap of a volunteer to do it I thought to myself,

Why am I doing this? This makes no sense! We should be having our parents and volunteers fill this in themselves at home online! And when it changes, they should update it. Who knows better how to spell all these names, when these kids where born, what they want to be called, when they move, and if they even still attend our church.

Well. If you have a sinful nature like me, and are wiling to admit you hate your current database system and are spending countless hours hacking at a computer or fussing with equipment when you could be doing ministry – or you are devoting precious volunteer talent to a database when they could be invested in building or leading a ministry – then you owe it to yourself, and to your ministry to take a look at KIDCHECK, and be prepared to be blown away.

I just KNOW they have a time traveling machine there at KidCheck, because they have built in EVERY feature I ever wanted and that NO OTHER check-in system ever included all in one easy-to-set-up package!

You might just get your sanctification back under control!

KidCheck is a web-based check-in system that is EASY to use, user-controlled and maintained plus it is scalable for both small and large ministries.

and is incredibly affordable!

It has everything you’d ever want in a check-in system from reports to alerts to forms to ease of use – it practically does it all for you with onscreen videos to walk people through the process at church AND (more importantly) at home. It even works for multi-site churches too!

But don’t let me start into the details, that’s what their website is for! Check it all out at KidCheck.com | Info Specifically for Churches

Greg Baird

Greg has been a long time friend and of mine, as well as one who I have learned from and have recommended to others to learn from. He has been a featured trainer at our Kidology University in Chicago. (see him featured in this crazy YouTube video)

Greg is a sought after authority in children’s ministry and shares my passion for equipping and encouraging those who are “in the trenches” of weekly ministry. Read his complete bio to see why I have asked him to host the Leadership Forum on Kidology.org.

By hosting our Leadership Forum, Greg will be available to provide leadership insights, stimulating discussion, help answer questions YOU post and keep Kidology folks aware of the exciting things happening at Kidmin360.com, such as…

The timing of Greg’s hosting of the Leadership Forum couldn’t be better! Greg has asked eighteen Kidmin leaders from around the country to write about they they think lies in store for children’s ministry and will be posting their articles in the weeks ahead on his site, and an opportunity to discuss them in the Leadership Forum. When complete, it will be compiled into a PDF book, complete with quotes from the discussion. (Yes, your comments from the forum might make the book!)

Right now, here is the schedule (subject to adjustments)

November
1 – Karl Bastian
3 – Todd McKeever
5 – Larry Shallenberger
8 – Ryan Frank
10 – Dale Hudson
12 – Matt McKee
15 – Matt Guevara
17 – Amy Dolan
19 – Jonathan Cliff
22 – Tina Houser
24 – Tony Kummer
29 – Henry Zonio

December
1 – Mike Johnson
3 – Justyn Smith
6 – Gordon West
8 – Kenny Conley
10 – Rick Chromey
13 – Michael Chanley
15 – Sam Luce

These are the kind of people that Greg brings together! So be looking forward to their thoughts on the future of Kidmin – and be prepared to discuss YOUR thoughts and interactions on what they wrote in the Leadership Forum with Greg Baird on Kidology.org

Kidology’s “This One’s On Me” fundraiser is a way to support one of your favorite children’s ministry websites with small donations that otherwise may seem insignificant. To make it fun, you can choose to “buy” the equivalent of many every day products as your donation. The catch? You’ll get nothing in the mail, but will receive our heartfelt thanks and a tax-deductible receipt at the end of the year!

If you’ve ever treated a friend to lunch or picked up the tab for a colleague’s Mocha Frappucino latte with whipped cream, then you know the joy a small gift can bring and the satisfaction from giving it. Here at Kidology we consider you a friend of our ministry and enjoy giving you the tools, resources, and ideas you need to be effective in your ministry to children.

We’d like to give you a fun opportunity to give back to a site you love! As a non-profit ministry we are dependent on donations to underwrite the costs of this extensive high-traffic site. Keeping our membership fees low means we need those who benefit from the site to help cover the expenses that memberships and product sales can’t cover alone. Plus, it may surprise you that a large number of members pay nothing due to being a student, an overseas missionary, or because of a scholarship.

So ask yourself, what would you be willing to give for Kidology? A Starbucks drink? An ice cold Mountain Dew? Perhaps just a candy bar or a new pair of shoes? We’ve created a fun “This One’s On Me” section in our store to help you give symbolic ‘gifts’ to Kidology ranging from a $0.99 iTunes song to a brand new Lexus or Lear Jet.

While we are a very small ministry, using conservative estimates, Kidology.org impacts well over a million children each and every month as over 20,000 unique visitors come each and every day to find ideas, soak up encouragement, and shop our helpful resources. As we look to enhancing the site we often wonder, “What if every visitor gave just a small $1-5 donation (or more)?” The impact on our ministry and the Kingdom would be significant.

So shop the “This One’s On Me” section and pick something that you’d like to give to Kidology. We’ll send you our utmost appreciation and continue to invest in making Kidology.org even more helpful to your ministry!

Shop the “This One’s On Me” Store!

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

One of my “Kidologist Secrets” of relating to kids is to have fun games or “inside jokes” with the kids who I love. It makes them feel special – and let’s them know they are more than just another kid to me. They are unique. They are one of my favorites. I’ve always had a running joke that I was my Grammy’s favorite of her nine grandchildren. Of course, I assumed every grandchild believed that! But it was a theory I loved to humorously defend. In fact, at my grammy’s wake last week, in one of the photo albums featuring full sized photos of her grandkids, when I discovered I was on page one, I proudly declared, “See!? I was her favorite!” and was greeted with groans and rolled eyes.

Imagine my surprise when during the memorial service my father read a note written by my Grammy where she wrote, “To set the matter straight as to my favorite grandchild, not withstanding Karl’s claims to whit – I loved all my grandchildren the same.” Everybody laughed. I had no idea my claimed to favoritehood had gained Grammy’s attention to the point she decided to set the record the straight in her service! It was all in good spirit, and the teasing I got afterward was well deserved!

But there was a reason I felt extra special I can now reveal that I shared during the service that began some thirty years ago, and that applied to children’s ministry and what I mentioned as I began…  the power of secret game that makes a child feel extra special, even for thirty years!

When I was ten years old I saved up my money and bought my own ticket to fly from California to Indiana to spend a summer living with my grand parents. (I did this several times actually.) During the first visit they set up a room for me in the basement that became my home-away-from-home. And I loved these stays with Grammy and Grandpa!

I went to Cubs games with Grampa and learned to sew from Grammy. (That Garfield puppet was the beginnings of making puppet costumes, though Grampa didn’t really approve of that.) I went downtown Chicago on the train with Grammy often and in the evenings watched Columbo and played Rummy – a card game. However, one of my ways of entertaining myself was to toss tennis balls at the stairs in the basement like a pitch back and one time I left them on the stairs and later, Grammy gave me a very gentle scolding not to leave them on the stairs lest she step on one and fall down the stairs. But the next day, I accidentally left all four on tennis balls on the stairs again. Instead of just scolding me, she instead humorously reminded me by saying that she thought my tennis balls were out to get her as they looked like they were coming to get her, because they were higher up the stairs this time, each on a separate stair, and I’d better lock them up, because obviously, I couldn’t have left them there, since she told me yesterday to put them away after I played with them. I played along and said I had put them away and that they must be alive. (I said it in a way that she knew I wasn’t lying, I was playing along.)

The next day, to keep the joke going, after I played with the four tennis balls, I remembered the kind way she had reminded me, but instead of putting them away, I put them in the kitchen, at the top of the stairs, four in a row, across the kitchen, as though they were “alive” and heading toward her room. Instead of her making a joke about it, she simply moved them later, placing them four in row in the basement heading toward my room.

This began an unspoken joke, that lasted thirty years. All that summer, the tennis balls continued to be placed, when the other wasn’t around, four in row closer and closer to the others room, until they were in each other’s bed. Then in our clothes, and then finally just being hidden in places we were sure to find. When I finally flew home, I found the tennis balls packed in my luggage. Grammy assumed the game was over. Little did she know!

When I returned the next summer, the tennis balls returned with me! Any time I came to visit as a young college man, a tennis ball was hidden in her home. I once lived with her for a summer in college and the tennis ball war was resumed though we never spoke a word of it! When she came to visit me, as a young married man, soon after, I would find a tennis ball somewhere in my house. Even as she lived in different states around the country, and me too, the tennis ball war continued, often with years between the secret placement, though over the years, it had at some point gone from the original four to just one strategically placed tennis ball. Many times we simply had to just buy a new one. It didn’t matter. It was more about leaving a tennis ball behind. It was our way of saying, “I love you, you’re special.” It was Grammy’s way of saying to me, “You’re still that little playful boy to me, and you always will be.”

I’ll look at tennis balls and cry sometimes now and people will think I’m nuts. But you will understand. A silly yellow ball holds a lot of love for me. All because my Grammy decided to be playful with a child, and then just decided never to stop. And people wonder why I thought I was her favorite. I’m O.K. with all her grand kids thinking they were her favorite. They all were, in different ways.

The same can be true in your kids ministry. You can have favorites. EVERY kid can be convinced that they are your favorite. And they can all be right!

People ask me all the time what’s the secret to connecting with kids. Have you figured it out yet? YOU are the secret.

Me and My Grammy Maggie Just One Year Ago at Navy Pier

I was supposed to be traveling to speak at a family ministry conference, but when she got ill, family suddenly was more important than a “family ministry conference” – so I called and asked if I could back out last minute. They were very gracious and understanding. So instead of speaking at this national conference I had been looking forward to for two years, I was at my Grammy’s funeral.

My Grammy with Her Favorite Grandchild

In love with Downtown Chicago, last year I had the honor of taking her on a “date” downtown with my wife and four year old for what we knew would probably be her last excursion downtown, as it was getting harder and harder for her to venture out. This was an annual dinner cruise my wife and I did to celebrate our first date as Moody Bible students, and since we were moving to Colorado last October, we knew this 20th occasion would conclude our tradition and she was so honored to be invited – though it did take some arm twisting to get her to go through with it, even after I’d bought the tickets. But oh how she loved the outing, and she has thanked me probably a hundred times over the past year for “making her” go. Later I will post more pictures from that special day.

Precious Memories

This amazing lady lived on her own even thought she never got a drivers license. She always remembered your birthday and anniversary and believed in hand written cards and letters, even though she did pick up e-mail over ten years ago knowing it was the only way she’d get us to write to her.

Teachin' an Old Lady New Tricks

I did try to teach her the way of the Mac – but in the end, she decided to stick with her text only e-mail machine, even though she couldn’t get pictures. The laptop had too many buttons and the things on the screen to click was a little much!

Gonna Miss That Smile a LOT

It was really fun the time I was “borrowing” a wireless Internet connection from a neighbor upstairs by holding my laptop up to the ceiling to get some e-mail, and was trying to explain why I was holding my laptop to the ceiling because her upstairs neighbor had an unsecured wireless network and I could borrow their Internet and get my e-mail…. she just laughed and said, “what will they come up with next?” But after asking several thoughtful questions – I think she actually got it!

I have the joy of putting together a photo video for her memorial service, and am actually posting this via broadband card as we drive across the country. I’ll post the video once it is done and the service is over.

Good Bye Grammy... I'll Walk With You Again Someday.

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