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Heaven is for Real Review

What if your child challenged your beliefs? What if you child told you they had an experience that contradicted what you believed was possible? That was the experience of Colton’s dad, Todd Burpo (played by Greg Kinnear) in the story that has gone from best selling book and is now headed to the big screen this year. When four year old Colton goes through emergency surgery he has an experience that is unexplainable in human terms. He is soon able to describe things that he shouldn’t know – and attributes the things he learned to a visit to heaven. Colton’s dad chooses to believe his son despite the disbelief and even ridicule it brings upon him and his family, even bringing his employment as a pastor to risk. I can relate to the skepticism because I was not even interested in the book when it came out, considering it an attempt to profit off a story I didn’t believe possible due to Scriptures declaration that prophesy was closed. As a rule I don’t give much credence to “visiting heaven and returning” stories. I do believe that God can (and does!) provide supernatural experiences to Christians, as I have had such myself,…

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Making the Most of CPC (Or any Kidmin Conference)

Next week I’ll be attending my 44th consecutive Children’s Pastors Conference. Though I’ve been to more kidmin conferences than can be counted. Sometimes I am privileged to get to do some Equipping and Encouraging as a workshop presenter or speaker – but usually I am just glad to be there to learn, connect, discover new resources and network. Let me share some tips I’ve learned over the years about how to MAKE THE MOST of whatever kidmin conference you are attending – you invest a lot of time and energy and resources to attend a conference, you might as well be sure you get everything you can out of it! #1 – Don’t try to do everything! This sounds contradictory to “getting the most” out of a conference, but conferences, by design are LOADED with opportunities to learn, connect and gather tools. However, if you attempt to DO everything offered, you may actually miss out on some of the best things there, or be moving so fast, you miss the people in the midst of the stuff to do. Keep in the mind: The conference is there to serve you – you are not there to do what the conference…

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Time to UNPLUG and Reconnect

Have you ever wanted to UNPLUG from the hectic busy pace of ministry life? That is the entire point of Yosemite Summit. It is a week where you are unplugged in every sense of the word. No computer, no e-mail, no phone calls, no work, no deadlines, no ’emergencies’, no pressure. Better than a day off spent catching up on personal things – it is a complete break for the sake of complete rest and renewal. I was once told by a very wise mentor, “Karl, you need to stop being a human doing, and learn to become a human being.” That is what Yosemite Summit is all about. It is an annual cessation of activity. Too often we confuse busyness with what God is truly seeking from us. Not that we aren’t busy doing good things! But we get so busy doing these good things, that our relationship with God can grow distant, and soon God is wondering, why or who we are truly busy for? Stopping, completely, once a year is an opportunity to recalibrate. It is a time for reflection and renewal. It is not a time of evaluating ministry goals and seeking a new “ministry vision”…

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Orange Crushed? No, Thankful!

This was an amazingly fun year to be a Bronco fan. I feel bad for those who only joined the season for the Super Bowl, where we got soundly defeated, because they missed an incredible season that was extremely entertaining! I don’t deny the Seahawks fans their gloating just as I would have were it reversed. But in the end, we spectators can take no credit nor share no blame for what happens in a football game. We can only watch and cheer or groan. Only the players are champions or losers, not us. So go be a Champion in life in the arena that is yours – that is worth cheering on, Denver, Seattle or Anywhere! As I listen to all the “experts” whether on TV, radio or sitting in an armchair discuss this Bronco defeat… my thoughts go immediately to the words of Theodore Roosevelt who made the point so clearly that it is easy to criticize – the credit goes to the men on the field, win or lose, for they are the ones who are actually in the arena playing the game! The rest is just words. Read how Teddy said it: “It is not the…

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A Hazzard Birthday Party for my 8 Year Old

We celebrated Luke’s eighth birthday “Hazzard County” style! He’s loved the “Dukes” since he was little, just something about those cars flying through the air and crashing! As is the annual tradition, Mom made an amazing cake to go with the theme: You can enjoy a video tour of the cake here: It was an amazing cake! Luke wanted to decorate his own cake, so Mom gave him a cake he could have some fun with, so here is HIS cake: For our first game, I gave each of the kids a LEGO car chassis and let them get creative with my LEGO in building a car… then we sent them down a ramp to let them crash! They had so much fun: Then Luke got TWO monster trucks that were designed to be able to run at the same time (often remote control vehicles signals conflict!) – so I set up a “Monster Truck Rally” and the kids took turns getting to race the monster trucks, it was a ton of fun. Here is a short YouTube video to show how it worked: Then it was time for the Magic Show: Of course, kids always love magic – but…

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