Home Articles posted by Kidologist (Page 11)

Author: Kidologist

Karl Bastian is the founder of Kidology.org, the creator of ToyboxTales.com, and the author of OrderoftheAncient.com. His personal website is Kidologist.com He is Big Kid with a passion for equipping and encouraging those who minister to children.

Why Patriotism?

Over on Kidology.org there is a hot discussion that was started by a brother “down under” who asked: Why do American Christians see the need to teach patriotism? Doesn’t God love all nations equally? (see full question and discussion here) I’ve been watching the conversation, discussing it with family and friends, and waiting to post my answer until I could really give it some thought, and decided to answer it here on my blog rather than just in the Kidology forum. I’d love your feedback here or there. My short answer would be, I have never taught “Patriotism” to kids in church, but I certainly have modeled it. They see my flag ties and my red-white-n-blue converse shoes I only wear on US holidays. There is no secret I love my country, but I don’t teach “patriotism.” What I have taught is gratitude to God for our blessings, many of which are being American, and civil responsibility, both which are not USA dependent. “nation” not “America” I can go on and on about what a good and amazing country this is, but that is beside the point. I think the Kidology discussion got off on that rabbit trail, which is…

Continue reading

Luke Goes to the Park

Just want to post some pictures from the park for family, friends, and Luke fans! Luke moves up to a bigger bottle! Luke’s first time to see bubbles! He was fascinated! Luke learns to swing! Only his second time in one! Couldn’t choose between these pictures, so putting both! BUT THEN THE MOST AMAZING THING HAPPENED! You MUST SEE THE VIDEO to believe it! After setting Luke on the slide and holding him from behind a bunch of times, and then keeping my hand behind him several more times in case he fell back, he finally pushed me away as if to say, “Let me do it alone.” So I nervously put him at the top of the small slide (it has hight sides, which was nice) and then video taped his first decent down a slide solo… and you won’t believe what happened! OK, I figured out how to put flash video on my blog, here is the first:

Continue reading

Beautiful Dandy Kid Lions

Sunday afternoon we went on a picnic with some family friends we haven’t seen in awhile. Their dad wandered off at one point and returned with a GIANT dandy lion for his daughter. I have never seen one so big! Here is a ‘very dramatic’ girl holding the bundle of seedlings. (taken with my iPhone by the way, and edited in iPhoto) As I had fun do doing some effects to this picture, I couldn’t help thinking how much the dandy lion and my little friend have in common. Both are full of tons of potential that won’t truly be discovered until they are set free to go wherever the Lord blows them. Once blown way, this beautiful puff of seeds will soon give life to many others once it finds its place and begins to grow, though right now, there is no way to know where those plants will be. Likewise, this beautiful girl will also someday produce fruit in ways and places that only God knows right now. I know mom and dad aren’t eager for the day she is ‘grown up’ (neither am I!) but it is comforting to know that when that time comes, wherever God…

Continue reading

Karl’s iPhone Review

As you may know, I waited in line for about four hours on June 29th to get one of the first generation iPhones. (Links: eager to go, in line, ten minutes to go, first review) Reviewing the iPhone will be an ongoing process, so rather than post multiple posts, I will just keep updating this post when I have new information, feedback, or gripes. So far, I am so incredibly impressed, I know that some will ignore my review as being too positively biased… but I will try hard to find bad things to keep the skeptics and Mac haters happy, as much as I can. As I have often said to my Mac-attack friends, I am a big Mac fan, but I am an honest one. I have ripped on my Mac online, so I don’t only say the positive – it’s just that there just is so much more positive than negative. And that is the truth. REVIEW OF FEATURES: (will update) TEXT MESSAGING: Not only does it look sweeeeet, and typing easy with the intelligent keyboard, looking people up is a snap, but there is a COOL feature. If you get a Text Message, and the phone…

Continue reading

How Important Are Kids… Really?

Most churches claim to value children… but few actually do where it counts. A friend recently sent me to this blog post, and I thought it was fantastic, so I am re-posting a part of it here for feedback. (italics is quoted) These questions are good food for thought for those who claim to value children and/or children’s ministry in their church: Are your kids’ rooms painted beige, so they can be “multi-purpose”? (preferring to be attractive to adults who may share them) Could you answer specific questions about the curriculum in your kids’ rooms? Do you believe it’s the parents’ job to lead their kids to Christ, while they assume it’s the church’s? Have you addressed this disconnect? Does your children’s ministry struggle to get and keep passionate volunteers? Even if you can list the activities you offer children, can you show how they support your desired outcomes? Do staff salaries/prestige increase in proportion to the age of the people they serve? Are your children’s ministers regularly challenged to update their strategies? Can they demonstrate a healthy return on resource investment? Are you satisfied with merely “entertained kids” and “satisfied parents”? GOOD QUESTIONS! Thank you Kendra Golden for these questions.…

Continue reading

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...