Leave ‘Em Better

Today, I want to share a thought that I got via e-mail from a friend of mine – a CP in Florida who is an “off the charts” super kids pastor. Not because she is well known, or runs a huge ministry, or for any of the reasons we tend to look for in the “Kidmin Who’s Who’s” – but because she has a HUGE heart for kids and Jesus. I talked about Shelly in the Kidmin Podcast, “It’s All About Jesus!” I love her personal motto, which comes in handy quite a bit in kids ministry. When things don’t always go as planned, you’ll hear Shelly say, “It’s All Good.” She even has it up on the wall of her office as a constant reminder, when God is in control, and you are trusting Him, “It’s All Good!” Shelly writes: Hello Friends! I want to share something that God whispered to me the last two minutes before I walked out the doors of a conference our staff recently attended. I was in the bathroom… the conference was over and I had dashed back in before we hit the road home. As I was washing my hands, I noticed a…

Continue reading

It’s Time to Unplug

Let me invite you to jump over to my lastest post on YosemiteSummit.org and read a personal challenge from me to you… It could just be the thing you need today. Sincerely, Karl

Continue reading

Recently Discovered Ancient Document Reveals Modern Kidmin Strategy

  Recently Discovered Ancient Document Reveals Modern Kidmin Strategy Could it be that a recently uncovered document once thought lost forever in the archives of the Kidologist’s vast children’s ministry vault of hand written resources from before the dawn of the computer could reveal a ministry strategy that could revolutionize your ministry today? Archeologists have discovered a hand drawn ministry strategy document dating back to circa 1993 from when Karl Bastian, aka “The Kidologist,” was just a “Green Thumb” children’s pastor at the historic Moody Church in downtown Chicago. Yet this ministry strategy has been guiding his ministry for over twenty years. Once guarded as a valuable treasure and only shared with the most trusted colleagues, Karl has now revealed its secrets on his podcast. Will clues within this ancient drawing lead you to gold or a national treasure? Or will it simply make your ministry programing and event planning more strategic and purposeful? You be the judge. Listen to Kidmin Talk #53 today… and download the full resolution historical document for yourself. Discover the secret that will set your ministry planning on a whole new Quest!

Continue reading

Hobbit Huddle – The Lure of Adventure!

The Hobbit came as a delight to me. I knew it would be visually stunning and the music would be sweeping and amazing to listen to… but it also rose above the usual fluff of meaningless formalistic drivel that passes for entertainment today. While much credit must be given to the author, Tolkein, Peter Jackson has done wonders to bring it to life, and capture the wonder of this timeless story. I am not one who is bothered by the three movie approach, but looking forward to it. When I go to a movie, I ask, What is the Message of this story? What are the timeless truths? What are the transferable principles to real life? What drove the author to write the story? Why did the movie maker create this? What can I learn? The Hobbit is loaded with life lessons that should not be missed. Some are obvious, others are more subtle – the subtle ones are the more powerful ones. In this post, I’ll start with the obvious: The Lure of Adventure. Bilbo, forgetting his Tookish roots, has settled into a life of comfort because of the culture in which he lives. It is not a bad…

Continue reading

CM Leaders Conference is a Must

The 1st CM Leaders Conference, hosted by INCM, is coming to a close. It was a fantastic time of challenge, inspiration and fellowship for leaders in children’s ministry. I highly recommend it to leaders for their own enrichment – in addition to CPC, and INCM is offering a bundle on registration that makes the cost of this conference close to a meal out with a colleague if you attend both next year, so you have no reason to miss it. I especially enjoyed meeting folks from Kidology that I’ve never crossed paths with before and getting to ‘break bread’ with my ‘kidmin peeps’ at meal times. The conversations were fun but at times intentionally focused on issues we were facing in our ministries. Opportunities to encourage or equip one on one were memorable. The comradore on Twitter via the hashtag #CMLeaders was at times hysterical. I appreciated that there was both speakers who were well known and experienced, but some who may be less known, but equally qualified and with much to share and great challenges and insights, even if conference speaking isn’t a career for them. The blend was well thought through. There were some helpful resource providers, but…

Continue reading