CHILDREN'S MINISTRY PODCAST
Have you ever listened to a podcast hosted by a puppet?

This summer, Kidology is thrilled to introduce the Children's Ministry Podcast, hosted by myself and my trusted sidekick, Gus. In our first episode, we ask listeners, "What Are Your Red Sneakers?"

What does that even mean? Well, you'll have to tune in to find out! In each episode of this podcast, we'll be talking about children's ministry while providing helpful insights and tips for children's pastors, leaders, and volunteers.

The podcast is free, so why not stop what you are doing and download it now to your computer or iPod? Then tell your friends that you learned everything you know about children's ministry from a talking piece of felt!

Because Jesus Loves Children,
Karl D. Bastian - a.k.a. "The Kidologist"

INTRODUCING... CHILDREN'S MINISTRY PODCAST
Fire up your iPod for the FREE Children's Ministry Podcast, presented by Kidology.org. Karl Bastian and his sidekick Gus discuss children's ministry and provide helpful insights and tips for children's pastors, leaders, and volunteers.

In this very first episode, Karl and Gus ask listeners, "What Are Your Red Sneakers?" Tune in to learn helpful insights and tips to help your children’s ministry become more effective.

» ChildrensMinistryPodcast.com: Download Episode 1
» Discuss this podcast in the Network Forums

VIDEO: WHO'S COMING TO KID U CHICAGO?
Kidology University Chicago is coming this fall (October 1-4). Via this ToyBox Tales-inspired video, meet some of the speakers as Karl Bastian performs some "man on the street" interviews with just a few of the presenters coming to the conference!

» Watch video!

Kid U 2008 is an event not to miss!

• Great trainers like Jim Wideman, Greg Baird, and more!
• Extended leadership workshops where presenters provide personalized coaching and interaction
• Over 30 volunteer workshops on Saturday... bring your team!
• God Rocks! in concert
• Participate in a Children's Pastor Kidz Blitz Live
• Compete in the Sport Stacking Tournament
• Small Dinner Groups with speakers and sponsors
• AND MORE for under $200!

» Register today before it fills up!
» Questions? Ask them in the Kidology Network Forums

MOVIE REVIEW: WALL-E
"The year is 2700 and the planet Earth has not been inhabited for hundreds of years due to said inhabitants' greed and general disregard for the planet," starts Kidology CP Team member Nancy Keith in her review of Pixar's latest film. "Trash is everywhere and there are no signs of life... except for a cockroach and a robot named WALL-E!"

"WALL-E's director, Andrew Stanton, notes, 'The greatest commandment is to love one another, and to me, that's the ultimate purpose of living. So that was the perfect goal for the loneliest robot on Earth, to learn the greatest commandment, to learn to love'."

As with all Kidology movie reviews, we provide children's ministry-oriented teaching tools such as an overview, areas of concern, teachable themes with scripture, and discussion questions.

» Read the Review
» Discuss the Film in the Forums!

CountdownsRED from TIMBUKTOONS
3...2...1...GO! Countdowns are great for building anticipation and jumpstarting your children's ministry time! These high energy, creative animations will let your children and leaders know you are about to kick off a fun and dynamic event!

CountdownsRED from Timbuktoons contains 5 videos with a built-in timer that counts down to zero. These countdowns are ready to play in your DVD player and large MPEG1 files are included in the "Media Mix" folder on the disc, ready for use in your favorite presentation software.

» Kidology members save $1!
» Also don't miss: CountdownsBLUE

SHIFTING TO 1-HOUR SERVICES
From the Kidology Network Forums: "Starting in September, we are stopping Wednesday PM services and going to two 1-hour services on Sunday morning.

Does anyone out there have less than one hour a week with the kids? What do you do? How do you run a service? I guess I'm concerned with what's most important, but also keep our WOW factor."

» Do you have any wisdom to share?

MOVIE REVIEW: KIT KITTREDGE
"Kit Kittredge: An American Girl is a wonderful movie," notes Kidology CP Team member Nancy Keith. "They could have made it sappy sweet to where you would expect Daddy Warbucks to pop out with Annie singing 'Tomorrow', but this is a different movie."

There are many teachable themes, for example: "Don't Give Up When Times Are Tough - We are shown over and over again in this film that you can live and prosper, though maybe not financially, even in the hardest times. There's an obvious tie-in to James 1:2-4 here."

As with all Kidology movie reviews, we provide children's ministry-oriented teaching tools such as an overview, areas of concern, teachable themes with scripture, and discussion questions.

» Read the Review
» Discuss the Film in the Forums!

BECOMING AN EXCELLENT CHILDREN'S MINISTRY TEACHER
Kidology CP Team member Glen Woods has started a multi-part article series under the topic of "Becoming an Excellent Children's Ministry Teacher."

Login to the extensive Kidology Zones to read up on this series...

• Part 1: Be Prayerful
• Part 2: Be Accountable
• Part 3: Be Prepared
• Part 4: Be Biblical
• Part 5: Be Joyful

GOD ROCKS! BibleTunes OBEY GOD'S WORD CURRICULUM
The God Rocks! BibleToons series encourages children to "Sing and Learn the Word" through a scope and sequence of age-appropriate Bible verses for ages 4-10.

The curriculum is perfect for churches looking for relevant, fun, and educationally-sound materials that use video, music, and other interactive methods to present Bible truths and life lessons to young, media-savvy learners.

With God Rocks! Obey God's Word Curriculum, kids learn that God's Word helps them live godly lives.

» Learn more about this 2-disc curriculum

Also of interest:
» God Rocks! Starlight Rescue VBS
» Obey God's Word! DVD

CRAZY MESSY GAMES
From the Kidology Network Forums: "We are getting ready for Kids Camp and we have a messy game night planned. It is inside and we have done messy food games in the past but I need some new ones. What have you seen or done yourselves that I could try? The grosser, the better!"

» Share your ideas for messy games!