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CPC 2014 VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS and MORE!

Just search my blog for CPC and you’ll see I’ve been blogging about how amazing it is for many years. As far as I can tell, I am the record holder for the most consecutive CPC’s since I’ve not missed a single one in any location for the past 43 events. They are just plane fun! This year, we have already given away over $12,000 in kidmin resources! Here are some of the video highlights from the first CPC of 2014, and I may toss in a few bonus ones from years past, just for extra measure: Joel and Stan in the Kidology booth where every SPIN was a WIN! JUMBO Sport Stacking with TWO Opponents… who won? I got to race against a US Sport Stacking Champion… it wasn’t pretty… Every year we do a Kidology Gathering… this is an intimate get together with no agenda other than to get to know each other, encourage and have fun. It is always a highlight of CPC, and YES, you are invited. Just watch Kidology.org for time and location while you are at CPC. This year’s Gathering featured an explosion by Joshua the Wild n Wacky scientist from ScienceVBS.com Last year…

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Kidology Gave Away Over $12,000 in Kidmin Resources at CPC

My 43rd consecutive Children’s Pastors Conference is now past, and my 44th is rapidly approaching! While there are MANY fantastic kidmin conferences today to choose from, only CPC brings together all the large publishers and many small ministries to exhibit, has general sessions to knock your socks off, and more workshops than you can count. OK, maybe you could count them, but there are a LOT! This year Kidology exhibited and had a blast with a “PRIZE WHEEL” giving away resources from Kidology and a select group of our vendors who we featured in our booth. When all was said and done we gave away OVER $12,000 in Kidmin Resources. WHY would we do this? Because of our MISSION: To Equip and Encourage Those in Children’s Ministry. EVERYONE who came to our booth won something – and not just samples! They went home with a set of Speed Stacks or DVD curriculum from EKG, or they won a free downloadable resource like River’s Edge Easter lesson, The Hunt is On!, or Jesus is Real from Tadpole Tales, or Knights of God 12 week curriculum from NextGen4Christ, or Scripture Lady’s downloadable Fruit of the Spirit music collection, or TruthQuest’s Easter curriculum…

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Baptism Like Being a Bronco Fan? Really!

Today I was guest teaching at a local church – and it happened to be the divisional play off game between the Broncos and the Chargers… which the Bronocos ended up winning later in the afternoon 24-17, though I didn’t know that when I was teaching! My topic was John’s baptism of Jesus – I explained that sports “fans” originated from religious “fanatics” and  I compared how a fanatic, in the words of Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill, is “someone can’t change his mind and won’t change the subject.” We stick with a team, often even after moving, because we are loyal, and sports fans often “won’t stop talking about them.” What if it were that way with our devotion to Jesus? We were sports gear to show our team spirit, what do we do to show our “Jesus spirit?” Of course, we can wear Christian t-shirts or put bumper stickers on our cars, but God came up with something better. It’s called Baptism. Below is a video of the lesson, and my lesson plan is linked below. The only thing not in the lesson plan is the magic appearing/disappearing dove and much of my puppet routine, but the basics…

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Balancing the Sacred vs. Silliness

In kids ministry we try to connect with kids in order to reach them – Kidology is a philosophy of ministry that strives to minister to kids from within the culture of kids. In order to interest, engage and even at times (dare I say it?) entertain kids, we will do the craziest things, won’t we? Dunk tanks! Drop eggs from helicopters! Pies in the face! All manner of craziness and silliness goes on in children’s ministries. And this is good! But there is also a danger. We can risk losing the sacred. We can risk being flippant with holiness. And at some point, all that FUN needs to decrescendo down to some sacred seriousness, or else it loses it’s purpose and was all for naught. Fun isn’t the goal, it is a means to a greater end. We aren’t in the business of giving kids a great time. We are in the business of making disciples. Consider: “Don’t be flip with the sacred. Banter and silliness give no honor to God. Don’t reduce holy mysteries to slogans. In trying to be relevant, you’re only being cute and inviting sacrilege.” Matthew 7:6 MSG I’m not going to offer the answer…

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Why I Do What I Do

I just got an e-mail that MADE 2014. It defined why I do what I do. I share it with his permission: Subject: I’m Going to Be a Children’s Pastor! Hey Karl, This Sunday I am going to be appointed as the Assistant Pastor of Children’s Ministries at my church. I am so excited to finally get to be focused on Pastoral ministry to kids and their families. However, when I think back over the years, I know I need to thank you. You were a HUGE encouragement to me and one of the reasons I kept pressing forward in this call. At one point I was simply a 6th grader with a call from God, but you were one of the touch-points God used along the way in order to keep me focused on that call. I know I was not the best employee at times, but you still saw through my work and saw the call God had put on my heart. I wanted to thank you for supporting me through the years I was blogging and working for Kidology. Honestly, I’m not always sure why you were so willing to empower me, because I know I was…

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