Back to School Fall Curriculum!

Just wanted to make my blog readers aware that I’ve written a 4 week “Back to School” children’s church series!   This is a 4 Week BACK TO SCHOOL Series by Karl Bastian, and Kidology.org All Access Members get 50% off! Overview of Lessons:  LESSON ONE: MAKING THE GRADE (Becoming Friends with Jesus) LESSON TWO: BETTER THAN BRAINS (Growing in Wisdom)  LESSON THREE: YOUR BEST FOR GOD (Growing in Stature) LESSON FOUR: TWO THUMBS UP! (Growing in Favor with God and Man) The purpose of this unit is to help get kids excited about school in the fall and to see it in a new light. Instead of just somewhere they have to go to learn, they will be challenged to see school as a place they can shine for Jesus by being more like Him. They will be encouraged to do their best understanding that God has a plan for each of us, and preparing for that plan is very important. They will also be reminded not to compare themselves to others, but to see that God made them special and unique and no one else can be or do what they are meant to accomplish in this life.…

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Helping God Wash His Car

Does God NEED my help? On my podcast today I talked about how to RECLAIM OUR ZEAL IN MINISTRY when we feel it waning. The Theme Verse was: Romans 12:11 Never be lacking in ZEAL, but keep your SPIRITUAL FERVOR, serving the Lord. I used the letters of the word Z.E.A.L. to offer four ways to rediscover ZEAL: Z = Zero in on What Matters Most (get away from the distractions that pull you away from what drew you into ministry in the first place) E = Encourage Others (get the focus off yourself) A = Abandon Busyness (get away from ministry periodically) L = Love Jesus (get back to relationship over service) As I mentioned on the show…why do I have my son help wash my car? Is it because he is actually helpful? Do I need his help? No. In truth, I can wash the car faster and better without him. He actually hinders the task a bit. I let him help because he wants to be a part of what his dad is doing. We wash the car together out of a loving relationship, not out of my need for his assistance. Guess what? Our service to…

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Christian Apps 4 Kids

READ HOW TO WIN A FREE iPAD APP! This week on my podcast, KidminTalk, I featured two beautiful iPad Apps for kids and I’m giving some away! I’m delighted to tell you about The Sounds of the Night and The Lonely Stable Both are stunning story book apps for young children written by Jessica Kirkland from ChristianApps4kids.com The first app is called The Sounds of the Night and it is a story about a boy going to bed and hearing noises outside that make him a little scared, but learning what they are. Each is explained as a creature God created with touch screen interactive options that are fun to discover as well as pop-out words for early readers. The story can be read to you, or you can read it to your child. There is even an option for the book to advance by itself if you are just cuddling and want it easy. And while Christmas may be in December, The Lonely Stable is a story for all year around because it is a story of understanding that we all have a special purpose for why God made us. It also has fun interactive touch elements, shapes, sounds,…

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FREE Online Training

Looking for FREE Online Training? Looking for help to be better equipped as a teacher in your Sunday School or other children’s ministry venues? Did you know that DiscipleLand.com offers FREE Online Training Webinars? My good friend and a very wise and experienced children’s ministry guru, Dick Crider, who has decades of teaching experience both as a professional and as a father and grandfather, provides LIVE online training seminars via DiscipleLand that you can sign up for and attend FREE of charge. HOWEVER – attendance is LIMITED so it is important to sign up in advance for the online workshops that interest you. For a complete list of the ONLINE SEMINARS or other training opportunities available from “Professor Crider,” visit DiscipleLand’s Training Events Page for complete details.

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Day 21 – Thankful for My Customers

This is part of a series called 24 Days of Thankfulness. These posts are in RANDOM order, NOT priority order. Each is something I am thankful for leading up to Thanksgiving. DAY #21: My Customers Back in 1994 when very few people knew what the “Internet” was, I got an idea for a website: The KidologyWeb: I was already calling myself “The Kidologist” in my workshops as I sought to equip and encourage children’s workers to approach children’s ministry from the perspective of a child: By 1996 the first “Kidology Handbook” was published: VERY FEW people remember when Kidology.org (before I had that domain!) looked like this: OR when you clicked into it and saw crude pages like this: Only hundreds were lucky enough to BE on the Internet surfin’ kidmin back then! (And only a few bought the “Life Time Memberships” I offered back then when I needed to raise some money to buy some much needed Microsoft FrontPage software, and yes, they are still members!) More remember the next version of the site: Kidology 2.0 (which I called it long for “2.0” was hip) It had the infamous “frames” that if you navigated just right, would give you…

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Day 5 – Thankful for Pandora

This is part of a series called 24 Days of Thankfulness. These posts are in RANDOM order, NOT priority order. Each is something I am thankful for leading up to Thanksgiving. DAY #5: Pandora! I was going to say “Music” but wanted to be more modern, and Pandora is the #1 way I listen to music now, whether it is at the computer, on my iPhone, driving or in the morning getting ready for my day. If you don’t know what Pandora is – you are truly missing out! Whether you use the iPhone/iPad app or the website, Pandora allows you to create your own custom “radio stations” based on the music you like and the mood you are in. You can enter any song, artist or genre of music and it will create a “station” or channel of music based on that entry and play music you will like that is “like” that original entry. As they explain on their site: We believe that each individual has a unique relationship with music – no one else has tastes exactly like yours… the Music… spans everything from this past Tuesday’s new releases all the way back to the Renaissance and…

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