Home Archive by category "Leadership" (Page 21)

Category: Leadership

Step Aside, and Let God Recruit

Got a great e-mail today – one of those that says it better than I can. Pastor Karl, I recently was granted a Kidology scholarship and I am SO thankful. It would take a book to explain my situation but I am sure you have heard it all before… a struggling Children’s Ministry without a Minister so a member takes the task on and is just overwhelmed. When I opened my email from Rachel (customer support) stating I had the Premium Membership there was a mention of this “Leadership Labs” series that was suggested I try out. I started the “First Things First” lab and had to pause the video after the first homework assignment. Can we say a gut check? I immediately started crying out to God and apologizing for making this MY task and MY service. I turned everything over to Him and asked Him to take care of everything. “Just show me what you want me to do,” I pleaded. I was in tears before our talk was over. That night I slept better than I had slept in weeks! I was actually planning on sleeping in the next morning, but the phone woke me up. On…

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Why Yosemite Summit?

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…

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Help Wanted: Workers or Volunteers?

On Kidology.org right now there is a discussion right now titled Alternative Names for Volunteers, and folks are discussing what we can call those who staff our kids ministry besides “Volunteers” because that word can often not capture the commitment we are seeking to have. The word “worker” came up, and it reminded me of something funny from my college days. As a Moody Bible Institute student, I always got a kick out of the evolution of the weekly volunteer “PCM” requirement. It stood for Practical Christian Ministry assignment. My ‘kick’ wasn’t that it was a bad thing or required, while lots of students complained, I loved it and learned a lot as they required a wide variety of assignments over the course of your college experience. What I thought was a little funny was that when my parents attended MBI in the 60’s it was a PCW assignment: Practical Christian Work assignment. Over the years Moody dropped the unattractive word ‘work’ for the more appealing ‘ministry.’ Now, I could just as easily defend the change and see the benefits of the word “ministry” over “work, BUT we ARE called to WORK for the Lord! I just think we sometimes…

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The 30 Percent Rule

I loved Christine Yount’s “from the editor” in the latest edition of CM Magazine. She admits, as we all would (or should!) – those unsettling moments when we feel out of control when everything isn’t going the way we think they should. No matter how hard to try, there are constant crisis’ and struggles and things going wrong in our life and work… and we just can’t seem to get a handle on things. It can be really frustrating. We have to look like we have it together for our staff and volunteers, so we let it out finally leak out to our spouses. (My poor wife!) Which Christine says she did on a walk with her husband, who gave her the following advice: “You need to understand that one-third is going to be icky – and just accept it.” Too often we focus on what we CAN’T CONTROL, instead of on what we CAN. We can spend a lot of time complaining to our spouse about what we can’t change – instead of making changes we CAN make, or pursuing excellence in the areas we CAN control. What can you change? What do you need to change? What are…

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The Power of Encouragement

Before there was Kidology.org – (well, it was members.aol.com/kidologyweb) – Before most people had heard of this guy who called himself “the Kidologist” – there was just this kids pastor name Karl Bastian who threw himself 287% into whatever he did! One of those times was when he got invited to provide the children’s programing (not child care!) for the Okoboji Lakes Bible Conference waaaay back in 1996. I was hired by none other than Scottie May. You may have never heard of her, but she is the Mom of Phil Vicher (Creator of VeggieTales), and he wasn’t a household name in kids pastor’s homes (or American homes for that matter) back then. I think the first VHS tape was just hitting stores! Anyway – Along with my wife and some youth I brought from my church, we were proving children’s programming for TEN DAYS while the parents were in sessions over in the “Big Tent.” We did full scale Kids Church-like lessons, game times, crafts, and so much more. As I always do whether I’m doing Kid’s Church, speaking at camp, or writing curriculum, I provide more than asked and try to make it the best I possibly can…

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