Home BlogPage 52

Kidmin on Steroids!

If you want to see how kids ministry ought to be done, you have GOT to host a Kidz Blitz event at your church! Every time I see Kidz Blitz in action, I am inspired to step up the level of excitement and engagement in my own teaching ministry to kids. When I am asked to describe it, I usually answer, “It’s Kids Church on Steroids!” I have hosted Kidz Blitz several times in the past – but recently they were at a church in my neighborhood so I took my son, and he had a BLAST! They know  how to engage an audience of kids AND parents with a perfect tempo of fun yet educational interaction – plus the Gospel is shared clearly as well. My son keeps asking, “When will that Kidz Blitz thing be back?” So, if you are looking for an AMAZING outreach event or church family event – you need to give Kidz Blitz a look! They’ve been doing this for years and have perfected the fun, family event that everyone will enjoy! Here is a SNEAK PEEK of some video clips I took during the event to give a small taste of what a…

Continue reading

What Re-Creates You?

The 9th annual Summit is now only one month away. It will probably seem like the longest month of the year as I anticipate my annual pilgrimage with God in Yosemite National Park with six other pastors for a time of re-creation, renewal, recharging, refocusing and restarting for the next season of life and ministry. I am often asked, “What’s so special about Yosemite? Why do you go there every year?” While I have answered that countless times and in many ways on the YosemiteSummit.org blog, let me share with you my first entry in the journal I have now taken to Yosemite on every trip. WHY YOSEMITE? This place is beyond description, though of course, I will try. As I often say, it is the closest God ever got to sin… because he sorta showed off His creative abilities! Our language lacks adequate words to do Yosemite justice. Incredible. Amazing. Spectacular. Breath-taking. Beautiful. Magnificent. I suppose the best I can use is awe-inspiring. Awe at the sheer size and height and depth and distance and beauty and splendor that hits your eyes all at once. And no matter how many pictures you take (and I take a lot) you…

Continue reading

Judging Books by Their Covers

You know the old saying, “Don’t judge a book by its cover”? Well, I disagree! I often judge books by their covers. In fact, I not only judge them – I learn from them! One of my favorite things to do when I visit a bookstore is to get some leadership training from the book titles alone. Now, don’t get me wrong, I think the books may be great, and filled with some amazing tips and wisdom, but often, the title alone is food enough for thought. On a recent trip I spent some time in a Barnes and Nobles and couldn’t help thinking how helpful the book titles were… and I didn’t need to spend a dime! Here is a small collection of the book titles I saw, and learned from. And I’m a better leader for it! Sure, you can google any of these book titles and buy them, but here is what I learned or was reminded of, just from the covers! These are in no special order, simply the order in which I took the pictures… Ministry can pull us in many directions – they may all be GOOD directions, but it is critical that we…

Continue reading

Making Lessons Relational with Green Screen

Kids learn best when there is a personal connection with those tho teach them. (So do adults, for that matter. It’s no mystery why the #1 reason people leave a church is that they don’t like the pastor.) If we don’t connect with our kids relationally, we reduce our impact. There are lots of way to be a relational teacher. The Kidology Handbook is the book on the topic, but there are many fun ways to do it as well, by personalizing the little things you do every week. Next week we conclude our Armor of God Series – it’s been a LOT of fun. The kids have really enjoyed our Roman Soldier we’ve been bringing through time to learn. (Watch videos of these lessons here.) The kids really enjoy Micah – he is a nut – and willing to do anything to engage the hearts and minds of our kids. (See Capturing Kids Imagination When You Teach.) So when I needed to create an activity for small groups next week, I decided to incorporate Micah into the activity. During the first week of this series, Micah showed up at church in his pajamas – and we ended up talking about…

Continue reading

Back from my 47th CPC!

I just got back from attending my 47th consecutive Children’s Pastor’s Conference! I never miss one because it is the ideal place for furthering my kidmin training, for networking with other leaders and resource providers, for getting encouragement from and being challenged by the best speakers and worship leaders of the day, and for hanging out with hundreds of others who love reaching and teaching kids for Jesus! CLICK TO WATCH! If you didn’t catch it online already, my faithful puppet pal, Wilbur, provided a LIVE TOUR of the CPC Resource Center featuring KidCheck, Protect My Ministry, JumpStart3, Science VBS, and many of the other great resources that were on display. In just a few weeks, I’ll be in California for CPC 2-Day… perhaps I’ll see you there! Because Jesus Loves Children, Pastor Karl Bastian The Kidologist

Continue reading