As my blog readers probably know, I wrote a novel for kids called The Order of the Ancient. You expects kids to love a good novel, but I’m always so extra encouraged when I get notes from parents and adults on how my novel for kids impacted them as adults… which was always an intent in my writing it, and why the language of the books was never ‘dumbed down’ to simply kids vocabulary. Here is an e-mail I got today that not only made my day, but asked some key questions that showed great insight into what is coming in book two:
Hi Pastor Karl- This summer our daughter Breenah attended Timber-lee Christian Camp and loved everything you said and did. We purchased your book and read it as a family. The spiritual growth in our family as we were reading this book was awesome (especially for Mom and Dad). As adults this book spoke to our hearts about the way we take our Bibles for granite and our time with God. God used this to change the heart of our family- Thank you!!
We would like to know when the next book is coming out? If there is no more books in this series please answer a few questions for us. (1) Is Josiah’s father still alive in prison and will Jeremiah find him in there? (2) What about “Brent’s” Guardians, will they become believers? (3) Will Josiah and Amy grow up and get married? (4) Is this book taking place before or after the rapture? As you can see we are hooked and would love to hear from you!!! Love- The Seivert Family
because I answer e-mails like this often, but because they asked both the common quesions but also some rather unique ones, I thought I’d answer their e-mail publicly in case others may have similar curiosities. And if there happens to be anyone out there who would like to fund the printing of Book Two, let me assure you, we have the demand, we lack only the funds for the initial printing!
Dear Brooke,
Without spoiling the next book, which I am writing and lack only the funds to print, there are some VERY cool developments and I am very impressed with your insights into it… so I will tell you: Yes! Jeremiah is reunited with Josiah’s dad in a VERY cool way, but that’s all I can tell you without spoiling it for you. Brent’s Guardians? Hmmmm…. you’ll just have to pray for them (as much as you can pray for fictional characters!) Brent and Amy’s romance? I’ll keep you guessing, but tell you, I do like happy endings. Theologically, the book takes place before the rapture, in fact, in the same theological time period WE are in. The only difference is that the freedom we enjoy as Americans has been removed, so the challenges faced in the book are the same we would face if we didn’t have the freedom we have here in America and are the same many of our brothers and sisters in Christ face around the world today. I wanted kids to understand what it is like to live for God in other areas of the world. What would it be like to be a Christian if it wasn’t “safe?”
The next book is VERY cool, and very different. Rather than taking place during the next year of school, it takes place during the summer break. Less of a ‘Harry Potter’ in school feel, it is more of a Lord of the Rings journey feel, as they learn of other Remnant groups gathering in far away places without the Book of Books and set out to take copies of the Book of Books to them and have to travel on foot through dangers to get there avoiding capture while Jeremiah has an adventure of his own in prison being reunited with David and discovering a grander plot…. but, again, I’d said too much. While the last book emphasized salvation this one will emphasize missions.
Has your family read the Christmas short story I released last year? You’ll enjoy it! You can get it here:
THANKS AGAIN for writing and please keep in touch!!!
It’s been several years since my novel was written and I am continually encouraged by the impact it in having on young readers young and old alike. It’s a unique book. It has a compelling and exciting story – and yet it delves into theological and apologetic issues in a way few children’s books do without every getting boring. If you haven’t read it – regardless of your age, I’d encourage you to check it out! And right now, the new discussion guide if FREE with a case order! Call it shameless promosion, but I’ve seen the impact of this novel on so many kids it’s worth the backlash if a few kids can benefit from it. Over and over I hear kids call it the best book they ever read and all the honor and glory goes to God for the story and the impact is all about Him!
There is just something amazing about these images of water captured with a high speed camera…
Every time I come across them, I star at them…
and study every detail…
every ripple and splash…
every color and reflection…
knowing that if not for the camera’s super fast shutter…
I could never enjoy this captured moment…
stolen out of time for me…
to hold in my hand… or in my mind…
a moment… forever…
how sweet it is!
an accident? hardly!
a planned disaster, actually!
a beautiful mess.
an explosion of motion and energy…
caught in the motion of the moment…
the camera catches what we miss every day.
MAKES ME WONDER… what do we miss? What could we capture with the camera of our eye, if we would just focus throughout the day? A sweet smile? A gorgeous cloud? A curious animal? An enlightened moment? An encouraged person?
What are the moments of our day that God creates that we miss? The splashes of his Grace? The colorful moments that He gives us? The green lights when we are in a hurry? The short line at the store? The empty parking spot near the door in a busy parking lot? The familiar face in a crowd that calls your name? An unsolicited “I love you” from your child? Whatever they are, don’t miss them today. Capture them in your in your minds’ eye, and cherish them.
(did you scrool too fast? look at the pictures again! did you drive too fast? walk too fast today? slow down already!)
August 4, 2009 at 9:04 pm · Filed under Family, Luke
While we are excited about moving to Colorado this fall, we won’t deny we will miss Chicago. (We just won’t miss driving downtown or paying to park downtown!) Today we decided to brave both and visit Millennium Park and our nephew Parker tagged along for the fun. (Click on any image for a larger viewing)
Our reflection in the Giant Silver “Bean” – the main attraction.
Sara and I in a rare moment with few people around, it was VERY crowded!
A fish-eye lens was almost redundant here!
Can you find Sara and Luke? Another fish-eys shot of the Bean.
Luke checkin’ out the Bean!
With the fish-eye lens I could get the whole Bean in the picture, kinda cool.
Luke lays down and just soaks it all in.
Luke underneath holding the whole Bean above him!
Mommy and her little bean in front of the Bean!
Next we headed over to the fountains where the kids can run and play in the water. It was pretty cool. Hundreds of kids, running and splashing, and laughing. It was very relaxing and seemed to hearken back to the days of community pools and parks – something we don’t have much of today. It was nice. Luke was mesmerized by the video displays behind the water walls. It was all pretty high tech and simple at the same time.
I love this picture. Click the image for a bigger viewing.
Look at the JOY in this kids face!
He chased me around for what seemed forever. Click for bigger image.
We had a great time. Other than extortion parking and over priced ice creme, the day was free and sunny and we went down in the convertible which made it even better for viewing buildings in the downtown area. (At least that’s what my passengers tell me, I had to keep my eyes on the pedestrians, cabs, and crazy drivers!)
By pre-ordering the very first DiscipleTown unit, How To Worship, you can be the very first to get this BRAND NEW children’s church curriculum from the creator of Kidology.org and DiscipleLand Bible Curriculum as soon as the final touches are ready… and its close!
This completely downloadable curriculum includes beautiful PowerPoint presentations, video object lessons, puppet scripts, dramas, games, and more all build upon a solidly biblical theme that is focused on teaching kids skills they need to build as Disciples of Jesus.
In addition to the all the incredible ideas provided for the classroom, DiscipleTown equips you for partnering with parents as well. Each week you are provided with an e-mail you can copy and paste to e-mail parents with what their children learned, questions they can ask their kids to get them talking, and a glimpse into what is coming next week. We’ve also introduced a creative tool that will help make it easy for families to gather just three times a week after meals talk about about what you are learning in children’s church in a fun and meaningful way.
ORDER TODAY for only $39.95 and the moment it is ready, you will get an e-mail with your download links. The target date is Aug. 12th, and it is guaranteed by Aug. 17th.
Once it is ready, the price will be $44.95, don’t miss this introductory rate!
Hey! The first person to order, I will announce on my blog, and they will get to see it first, as in RIGHT AWAY in draft PDF form, before it is even finalized… while it still has a few blank boxes on it to fill in with final graphics… oooo… couldn’t say that over on the “big” site! But I can say it here on my blog! ;o)
I am excited and honored to be the first to tell you about a BRAND NEW curriculum for children’s church! It is called DiscipleTown! While it is part of the comprehensive children’s discipleship strategy from DiscipleLand, it is a highly creative and fliexible children’s church curriculum that will work in ANY church setting. More details and a chance to pre-order will released NEXT WEEK.
Here is a SNEAK PEEK VIDEOleaked on YouTube direct from the author, who you just might recognize, even with the shades on!
FORWARD TO YOUR FRIENDS AND HELP SPREAD THE WORD!
If you are still choosing what to teach in September, let me encourage you to plan on DiscipleTown! The first unit will be a four week series on How to Worship, which is a wonderful way to start out the school year – and as a downloadable product, it will be in your hands soon! You can then use whatever else you have planned in October. You are welcome to ask questions in comments, and I will answer the best I can. Complete details will be coming NEXT WEEK!
Because if you do, you will discover the best deal on Kidology.org in years!
We are facing a significant need that just might present YOU with a significant opportunity!
These are tough times. Your family feels it. Your church feels it. And so does Kidology.
Did you know that we give away free memberships every month to missionaries, students, small churches and honestly anyone who expresses an inability to pay our membership fee? Not a very wise business practise, huh? But then, we aren’t a business; we are a ministry supported by generous donors we call Kidology Champions. This year we have seen a sharp decline in donors and an increase in scholarship requests.
SO WE GOT AN IDEA!
In order to start this fall on target with our annual budget, finish our site launch and begin the next phase of enhancements we have planned, we need 150 more Champion Donors in 2009. That’s 150 more generous people who are willing to donate 99 dollars to host Kidology.org for a day.
AND WE’RE GONNA MAKE IT A SWEET DEAL!
Limited only to the next 150 Kidology Champions – as a thank you for your $99 gift you will receive a copy of the Kidology Handbook ($59 value) and ANY single Kidology Download Product of your choice. Yup, you heard that right. ANYTHING. You name it. Kidology Leadership Lab, Kids Church Unit, Whatever. You name it, if Kidology makes it, we will give it to you. For free. The combined value is well over $99!
SO IN TOUGH TIMES, WE BOTH GAIN!
Simply Use This Link to make your Champion Donation of $99 and we will contact you to choose your download product. (Your Kidology Handbook will be mailed immediately.)
My life online is changing. I used to blog a lot more than I do now. I love my blog and I do have people bug me to “blog more” – but the reality I connect in other ways, and I do have this other little site where over 20,000 people come each and every day, so when I am starring at my laptop wondering what to blog about, there is a part of me that says, “why blog? you don’t need a blog.” But my blog gives me an outlet for posts that don’t quite fit on Kidology – either they are CM related or are more personal. So in the spirit of both blogging, and why it is harder to blog lately, I’ll reflect on:
HOW HAS MY LIFE ONLINE CHANGED?
#1 My iPhone has changed online life for me! Dramatically. I do Facebook and Twitter almost exclusively from my iPhone. Seriously, when I’m at my computer, I have WORK to do! I can even do WordPress blogging from my iPhone, but haven’t found the practical need to do som, maybe I should try that more – for personal outings. I really want to blog more – I need to figure out how to do this, whichout it becoming a duty or obligation.
First, some thoughts on FACEBOOK and TWITTER and WHY I BROKE THE LINK BETWEEN THE TWO. I probably just lost half my audience! But the rest, have been asking.
FACEBOOK
Since I started on Facebook, I had my “Tweets” (Twitter status updates) automatically update my Facebook status. Why? Because I was first and foremost a Twitter user and Facebook was an afterthought – it was something for college kids, right? But I had an account because underneath this aging body, I’m still that young Moody student, right? Times are changing, Facebook is now made up of MORE OVER 35 PEOPLE than college kids (much to their frustration!) and becoming the #1 networking site in the world. (could ultimately be a blog killer) I ended up slowing down my Twitter use because I didn’t want to be overwhelming my Facebook status with every little Twitter update – which tend to me more trivial and more links; news feeds, marketing, and twitter conversation. Now, thanks to Selective Twitter Status (a Facebook Ap) by ending my Tweets in #fb I can selectively decide which Tweets end up as my Facebook status and only change my FB status 1-3 times a day, where as I may tweet 10-20 times a day.
I AVOID FACEBOOK on the computer because I rather hate it. Please don’t invite me to groups and causes I ignore them all, and please don’t take it personally. If you invite me to be a Fan of starving children on the moon and I ignore it, it isn’t because I don’t care about starving children on the moon, it is that being a fan of them won’t feed them, it will give me more email and things to click every day. They get fed by people feeding them, and if you are feeding them, GOD BLESS YOU, I too am devoting to giving to and supporting charities and have founded one myself.
Facebook is for networking with people – and I use it exclusively for that – and I LOVE THE iPHONE APP because that is ALL IT DOES. No groups, no causes, no games, no snowballs, no pokes, none of the stupid Facebook stuff, just Friends, Status, and Messages. Ahhhh, the good stuff. I love my friends and family, all of them! (Even the ones I have no idea who they are!)
Now that I have freed my Twitter from the question, “Do I really want this on my Facebook page too?” I feel liberated again! I can tweet anything at any time, and the fun has returned! When I see something that makes me laugh, snap a pic, and tweet it. When I’m irritated, rant to the world. If a company gives bad services, finally there is consequence, with instant feedback to the world, interaction with friends and family, checking in on others, twitter is just fun and fills idle moments. Yes, there are times to just turn off the iPhone and enjoy your family or a quiet moment, and I do, no worries. But when you are fueling the car, or stuck by the train, the only option you had in the past was the radio. Twitter puts my in charge of my loose time. (I don’t like calling it ‘free’ time, because often it isn’t ‘free’ it’s costly, but it I’m not able to spend it the way I’d prefer to!) Follow me at www.twitter.com/kidologist
KIDOLOGY.org
And in case you are the last to finally hear about it, we finally got the ALL NEW Kidology.org launched, and besides the personal excitement over it, I am loving the new dynamically loaded home page so I am CONSTANTLY checking the home page for what is the latest discussions in the forum and jumping to chime in. My personal interaction in the forum has probably soared – which is probably a good thing since I’m the creator of the website!
I also have a new “From the Kidologist” spot on the home page (also posts and archives here on my blog) that I’ve enjoyed updating) that gives me an opportunity to talk directly to the visitors to Kidology.org, granted, IF they scroll down on the home page. I put my spot “below the fold” intentionally as I’m not the most important thing, but I am glad to have a place on the home page so that it’s a little more prominent.
I leave shopping online to my wife! She is the expert there. But I do find Froogle.com to be a huge time saver! When I do need to find something fast and still want to save!
That me online!
So that’s how I spend my time online now – (not counting e-mail) – networking on Facebook and Twitter and contributing to Kidology.org. How do you spend your time online?
Leadership Training has never been so easy, so affordable, and so FUN!
I have been honored to be invited to speak on children’s ministry leadership at conferences all over America (and overseas). I’ve written on it in books and magazines, and been a personal coach for pastors, a consultant for ministry leaders and on factulty teaching at the under graduate level and as a guest instructor at the graduate level, but it has always been a concern of mine that most leaders can not travel to conferences or attend school, but need training!
That is why I created Kidology Online Training! Now you can get QUALITY TRAINING right at your computer!
The Kidology Online Training videos are FREE FOR PREMIUM MEMBERS who also get a discount on the downloadable training materials that go with each course.
Each of the Download Kits are PACKED with bonus content in addition to the training PDF.
Learn in any order, at your own pace, even save by buying the bundle, but make the time to invest in yourself! Become the leader you want to be! YOU CAN DO IT! And Kidology Online Training can help!
As I watched I felt “it”. You know that feeling you get when God is telling you that’s “it?” I knew immediately that this teaching was for me and my kids. Thank you for being so commited and putting this training in the hands of so many. Kidology has been a life line to me. Knowing that I am not alone, is a wonderful feeling. I already feel myself getting on the track, and making the first slow steps to winning the race. Thank you. – Stacey Wilkes
I recently was blessed to spend a week with Pastor Todd McKeever, a true champion of children’s ministry, ministering at a kids crusade at his church in Arkansas.
I appreciate Todd for a variety of reasons, and not just because he has been a member and supporter of Kidology.org nearly since the beginning both as a member and Champion and CP Team Captain, but because he a great leader.
What makes Todd a great leader?
He always pushes for excellence. Nothing Todd does is half-baked and nothing frustrates him more than settling for the minimum. He is always asking how it can be done better, look sharper, and be more effective. After our first Sunday at his church his first questions were, “What was your experience? First impressions? What was difficult? What could we do better?” Next I found a survey in my email. Everything Todd touches can’t help but improve, and that is a mark of a leader.
He has an insatiable appetitive for learning and growing. Todd is the personification of “leaders are readers.” His idea of a family outing is a trip to Barnes and Noble to read together. The latest books are open on his desk with bookmarkers sticking out of the places he doesn’t want to forget and his twitter account flows with quotes he want to remember and share. Twice when I dropped by his office last week training recordings were playing on his computer. Here is a guy with a lot to offer who hasn’t stopped learning, and that is a mark of a leader.
He is humble. For Todd, it’s never about Todd. Eager to serve and sleeves rolled up, Todd is as likely to be the guy who helps clean up afterward as he is to be the guy who came up with the grand idea in the first place. Realizing that he is there to serve and not be served is a mark of a leader.
He pours into the lives of others. When Todd talks about the ministry, he talks about people. I talk to a lot of leaders who are eager to show me this program or this facility or that aspect of the ministry, but once I was coming to his church, Todd had people he was eager for me to meet. Realizing that the ministry is made up of people is a mark of a leader.
He encourages others to go to the next level. And this is probably what I appreciate the most about Todd. He isn’t just trying to build himself or his ministry, he desires to build into his friends and colleagues. He gently but persistently challenges those he knows to improve, to push ahead, to tackle that next thing. Knowing that we all rise best when we rise together is a mark of a leader.
Todd, me and Charley
(They want you to know I’m up on a step!)
Thanks, Todd, for a great week of ministry together, and for your encouragement and investment in me as a friend and brother. The world needs more friends like Todd McKeever!
I’ve led over 1000 children’s church services and all of them have been run by kids. As described in my Kids Church Book (available as a download) I use what I call my K.C. Krew, and they help not only run Kids Church, but plan and prepare as well. In addition to all they do every week, from set up to running sound, acting is skits, doing puppets, taking the offering, leading games, to the take down – at least once a year I would guide them through a process of writing their own lesson.
I’d start with telling them how I come up with topics, how I study the Bible, how I choose the activities and write the various components of the lesson. It is a great opportunity for them to understand what happens even deeper behind the scenes and to be trained to do it themselves.
Well, one year, they BLEW ME AWAY!
After discussion and prayer, we decided to teach on peer pressure. We turned to the Bible to decide how it could help us adddress this need biblically, and while I was rackin’ my brain for a verse on peer pressure, one of the kids (granted, the pastor’s son, Andy) came up with the idea of using the story of Ester, since she had to deal with peer pressure both from her royal family as well as her people and decide to do the right thing.
Then they began to talk about how we could help the children EXPERIENCE the story of Ester, rather than just hear it again. We came up with the most crazy and fun lesson, and the COMPLETE SERVICE is available below as a video download.
In summary: There would be an election, and the kids would actually vote on a Mayor of Kids Town, one who promised to put the “kid back in kids town” and our Puppetume mail man, would be credited as helping him win the election – but then, the mayor would shock everyone by banning all puppets from Kids Town! (The other candidates were Barney the Purple Dinosaur, Darth Vader, and the Kids Town hampster!) The new major didn’t realize that Henry, the mail man, was actually a puppet, and Henry had to choose between his new privileged standing with the mayor, or sticking up for “his people,” the puppets. As you can guess, in the end, he did the right thing and the puppets were saved!
But the ideas my Krew came up with where amazing – a press conference in the back of the room that was projected to the front – a video of all the puppets leaving Kids Town, to a fullly scripted movie of the Story of Ester starring our own main puppets, Gus and Molly. Not to mention, the entire election aspect. It was an amazing Sunday that I am still often talking about and describing in workshops on my K.C. Krew.
So, thanks to some Kidology.org members asking in the forum, here are two items for you:
1) The YouTube video of just the Puppet Eviction video – which was very fun to make, and luckily was done in one take:
2) A download of the entire service in MP4 format, 212MB, so be patient.
Let me encourage you as strongly as I can: DO NOT DO ANYTHING A KID CAN DO! Your job as a teacher is not just to pass on information, it is to make disciples, and kids learn best by DOING. So don’t just let them help you – let them lead! Ask them for input and give them opportunities to serve and lead. We often wonder why many adults don’t have a servant heart and just expect to come to church and watch – maybe its because we trained ‘em that way as children!
As my blog readers probably know, I wrote a novel for kids called The Order of the Ancient. You expects kids to love a good novel, but I’m always so extra encouraged when I get notes from parents and adults on how my novel for kids impacted them as adults… which was always an intent in my writing it, and why the language of the books was never ‘dumbed down’ to simply kids vocabulary. Here is an e-mail I got today that not only made my day, but asked some key questions that showed great insight into what is coming in book two:
Since I started on Facebook, I had my “Tweets” (Twitter status updates) automatically update my Facebook status. Why? Because I was first and foremost a Twitter user and Facebook was an afterthought – it was something for college kids, right? But I had an account because underneath this aging body, I’m still that young 
Now that I have freed my Twitter from the question, “Do I really want this on my Facebook page too?” I feel liberated again! I can tweet anything at any time, and the fun has returned! When I see something that makes me laugh, snap a pic, and tweet it. When I’m irritated, rant to the world. If a company gives bad services, finally there is consequence, with instant feedback to the world, interaction with friends and family, checking in on others, twitter is just fun and fills idle moments. Yes, there are times to just turn off the iPhone and enjoy your family or a quiet moment, and I do, no worries. But when you are fueling the car, or stuck by the train, the only option you had in the past was the radio. Twitter puts my in charge of my loose time. (I don’t like calling it ‘free’ time, because often it isn’t ‘free’ it’s costly, but it I’m not able to spend it the way I’d prefer to!) Follow me at 
And in case you are the last to finally hear about it, we finally got the ALL NEW Kidology.org launched, and besides the personal excitement over it, I am loving the new dynamically loaded home page so I am CONSTANTLY checking the home page for what is the latest discussions in the forum and jumping to chime in. My personal interaction in the forum has probably soared – which is probably a good thing since I’m the creator of the website!
Leadership Training has never been so easy, so affordable, and so FUN!
