You Can Go Deeper and Still Be Creative!

As many of my readers know, I write the Kid’s Church curriculum for DiscipleLand and it is called DiscipleTown. It’s focus is on “Disciple Skills” – 24 units that cover twenty-four skills every fully developed disciple of Jesus needs to master. I am currently writing the 22nd unit. The series is designed for larger group with small group option and to be teacher led with many creative options (more than you can fit in a single week!) with several multimedia options. I was very encouraged to get the following note this week from Marion Tims, a volunteer minister who describes herself as a 10 year veteran professional educator and home school mom and “to be honest, hard to impress.” She writes about DiscipleTown… Karl, I just want you to know how much I have enjoyed finding the DiscipleTown curriculum. As the Children’s Director of a 300+ church, we started a Children’s Church in 2011. With my background in education, I knew I wanted a curriculum that would teach clearly and concisely Biblical principles in a creative, multi-media format. Having  attended a mega church in the Atlanta area where they had a vibrant, active children’s ministry, I knew I wanted to duplicate…

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YOU Are a Bible Character!

Did you know that YOU are a Bible character? It’s true! Consider this. An upcoming lesson in DiscipleTown has the theme “Pray and Obey,” and this is the “Connect with Your Kids” element. I wanted to share it with you early, because I think it is relevant to your lesson every week, no matter what you may be teaching this Sunday. It’s all about sharing when you have done what you are asking your students to do. It’s all about BEING what you are TEACHING. That makes YOU a “Bible Character.” It is one thing to tell kids they need to pray and obey. It is entirely another to give them a real world example from someone they know who has done it. Prayerfully reflect on a time in your life when you have needed to “pray and obey,” and then God gave you the power to do the right thing. Share your story. It can have a powerful impact on your students. Don’t underestimate the power of your story on your students. We often tell Bible stories and forget that these Bible “characters” were just ordinary people like us. They didn’t know their stories would end up in the…

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Send Your Kids on a Resurrection HUNT!

Tweet, Facebook and E-mail this URL to all your friends and family: www.kidology.org/hunt Easter is a pretty big holiday, and while it doesn’t get the attention that Christmas gets, it’s a pretty important event! In fact, all of Christianity rests on this historic event! And yet, often kids don’t know all the important details of this story as well as they do Christmas. So I sat down with my wife a few months ago and we brain-stormed, “What would be a fun game to help kids learn the details of the Resurrection Story in an exciting way?” We came up with a game based on the classic CLUE game and we think you and your kids are going to LOVE IT! We hired the top artist in children’s ministry, Todd Hampson, who has worked on What’s in the Bible, JellyTelly, Order of the Ancient, Yancy (not Nancy) videos and more – and then got our very own webmaster Steve Tanner, who is a CLUE game connoisseur – and came up with a game that is both fun and educational. Next, I asked a new friend I met at CPC in Orlando, Stanley Mearse, to team up with me on writing…

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Have You Made a Huge Mess Lately?

At middle school tonight, Pastor Michael, our middle school pastor made a HUGE MESS at church! In case you are wondering… those are feathers! Hundreds… no. Make that, thousands of feathers! HOW did these feathers get everywhere, you ask? WATCH THIS VIDEO TO FIND OUT: As you heard in the video, the lesson was on Gossip, and Pastor Michael told an old story about a student of a rabbi who was confronted about gossiping about the teacher and he broke open a pillow and asked the student to collect all the feathers. When the student said the request was impossible, the teacher replied that is what gossip is like. You can apologize and be forgiven, but the consequences still blow around and can’t be recovered. That “spreading of the gossip” was certainly true with the feathers as they spread all over the church building! The kids tracked the mess all the way out to the lobby! LOL Oh, the stories I could add of lessons I’ve done that made huge messes, but I’ll save those for another time. What a GREAT WAY to make lesson’s memorable for kids! These students will long remember that when you gossip, you make a…

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Join Me at the Colorado Kidmin Ministry Conferences

EVEN IF YOU AREN’T IN AWANA! If you are in kids ministry, and if you are in Colorado, let me encourage you to JOIN ME at one of the Colorado Awana Ministry Conferences that I’ll be ministering at this fall! While there are some workshops specifically for Awana Clubs, most of the training (and all the classes I am teaching) are general Kidmin Training that will apply to ANYONE in children’s ministry! I am speaking and doing workshops of two of the Awana Ministry Conferences coming up in the Colorado/Utah Region: AUGUST 17-18, 2012 in Colorado Springs and SEPTEMBER 21-22, 2012 in Denver (Wheat Ridge) MY WORKSHOPS: Friday Evening: Making Your Class Rock (extended session training) Saturday: Workshop 1 – Teaching Lessons That Last What makes a lesson memorable? Learn how kids minds and memories work – and how you can teach lessons that last not only through the week, but into their adult life and genuinely impact eternity! Kids love to learn – but they learn best through experience! Create lessons that impact kids beyond just the brain. Get them excited about their faith and walk with God. Workshop 2 – Object Lesson Explosion! This is a fun, interactive,…

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