For MacFriends Only

Introducing Pastor Karl’s MAC BLOG. This won’t be for everyone – but for those who already know the Mac Way of Life, or for those interested in learning more about Macs, I am starting a separate blog that will deal with MacIssues. It will be a place where I will post tips, tricks, secrets, advice, links, software recommendations, and the occasional gripe. (No, they aren’t perfect… but pretty close!) The address is www.kidologist.com/macblog/ I will also be inviting my MacFriends to be members of the blog so that they can add posts as well (rather than only comments). If you know me personally, and use a Mac, and would like to be a posting member of this new blog let me know. Everyone else, enjoy the MacBlog, or keep to your PC ways. But at least know you do have a choice.Question for comments: the new blog displays the mac you see above and appears fine on my computer, but on my wife’s ancient PC (no she has not switched and has been given the option) the bottom of the laptop is not visible… let me know in comments to this post if you can’t see the whole powerbook when…

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Hold That Tiger!

Well, I did it. I finally upgraded to the all new OS X Tiger! And was reminded again of why I changed to Mac – forget the days of spending all day (or even hours) on an operating system upgrade… pop in the DVD, after a few clicks, it started installing. Rather than sit and look at the computer screen for 20-30 minutes, I went to get a taco at Taco Bell… when I got back, the upgrade was done, and it had even rebooted and was ready to go. Wow. Back to work. I thought the big “X” stood for “TEN” but I know now it stands for CROSSING OUT WINDOWS! (and all the problems associated with Windows) For fun, you can check out the longest running discussion on Kidology.org – the Mac vs. PC discussion.

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Redwood National Forest!

See those storm clouds rolling in? We have seen many examples of God’s provision on this trip! Just tonight we stopped to eat at a Marie Calendars and I decided to take my laptop in to look at pictures (via Mac instant slide shows) while we waited for our food and noticed (in honor of Branden) that there was a local unsecured high speed wireless network! (that’s a good thing) I was able to check my e-mail at dinner! (maybe not a good thing) Anyway, by the end of dinner it was pouring rain – and we found out our destination was 2.5 hours away, not the one hour we thought, and that there was no lodging in the town where we were planning to stop and look for a place to spend the night… so I followed the wireless connection next door, and here we are at Best Western! It has rained a lot on this trip, but God has been gracious – it must rain (this area is so lush and green) – but rain has not ruined a day, it always seem to rain either when it doesn’t matter, or when it actually makes the view better.…

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Children’s Pastors "Havefunner"

Who is the Man Behind the Mask? Allow me to travel back in time, a few blogs anyway, to Portland Oregon where we visited Shiloh Hills Fellowship. (see post and photo gallery) Spokane held a few surprises for us. Besides the amazing hospitality shown to us, I was glad to get to meet a great children’s pastor. Our original purpose in visiting Spokane was to meet Danile Bigler, a gifted young man who has impressed me (and many others) with his contributions to Kidology.org A Young Man with a Heart for Preschoolers. Daniel proved to be a fascinating young man with many talents and passions that could lead him in many directions… though I’m encouraging him to be a children’s pastor, one of his many possibilities. But whatever he does, he will have a great impact on the Kingdom, I’m sure. I was very glad, however, to find out that he is working as an intern for a fantastic children’s pastor at Shiloh Hills Fellowship. Daniel is at home with kids… Rick “Havefunner” Pastor Rick Haffner, (often called by his kids Rick “Havefunner”) has over thirty years of children’s ministry service, having served both in the church and public school…

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Let’s Be Frank…

As promised, here is the summary of my visit with Ryan Frank… Let’s be Frank… Let me be Frank with you…. Ryan Frank began his ministry at Liberty Baptist Church the same year I came to my present church, 1998. However, for Ryan, it was the church he grew up in. While marrying the pastor’s beautiful daughter may have helped in the job interview, sine then he has shown himself to be both a creative and resourceful children’s pastor. This was not my first time to his church. Ryan has been a long time contributor to Kidology.org and has been a trainer at Kidology events. Though I wasn’t able to visit on a Sunday during this visit, I did get several opportunities to sit down and ‘talk shop’ with Ryan. I asked him to share some of the lessons he has learned from being faithful to one ministry for seven years. I told him to feel free to be ‘Frank’ with me… DEVELOP A LEADERSHIP TEAM Ryan said one of the critical things he has learned is the importance of Team Building. An effective children’s ministry leader has got to surround himself with qualified and dedicated people. He emphasized the…

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