For many years I’ve trained youth ministers and leaders about the importance and impact of their ministry.

But now, as a parent of teenagers of my own, the significance of youth ministers on the teenagers has arrived very close to home.

Read my tribute called ‘Thank you, youth leaders’, in today’s sydneyanglicans.net.

Sometimes we seem to have too many new ones. Sometimes there are too many old ones.

So, here’s a guide to choosing the right mix of oldies and newies… using the same formula as the radio stations.

Read the article here at sydneyanglicans.net.

Regardless of what you think about it, you can be assured that our young people know about it and are trying to work out what they should think and do about it.

To help them and to help us grownups, I’ve written two articles.

The first I wrote for sydneyanglicans.net called ‘Talking to kids about Kony’.

In this, I offer seven things that adults should think about as they talk to youth and children about this topic.

The second I wrote for Fervr.net called ‘Should you help make Kony famous?’.

This attempts to apply the advice I’ve given in the earlier piece so that my seven ideas can be modeled to anyone trying to work out just how to put these thoughts into words.

You might also refer the youth in your church, whether believers or unbelievers, to this Fervr.net article.

Let’s pray that our youth are wise in responding to Kony, but far more importantly, wise for salvation.

More than ever before it seemed the message was that first aid was about helping the casualty stay alive so that the ambulance could take over. Nothing more.

Funnily enough, because I need to know less it means I feel more equipped for first aid than before.

This got me thinking about the way we do our evangelistic training.

Perhaps we need to be providing the everyday evangelists in our congregation with a few super-simple things to say that will help keep the enquiry ‘alive’ until they can get ‘professional’ help.

Read all my thoughts and join in the discussion at today’s post on www.sydneyanglicans.net

Since people can download podcasts from great Bible teachers, and since people can access great libraries of theological books and articles at their digital fingertips, it is more important than ever that our small groups enable people to connect with each other as a context for enjoying and understanding their connection with God.

People need people more than ever.

Find out my solution by reading today’s blog here at sydneyanglicans.net

For this reason, I want to TWIST the arm of the congregational leaders in our churches. I want to TWIST the arm of the rectors, assistant ministers, wardens, and anyone who has a key role in our churches.

I want to TWIST your arm to encourage your church musicians to be a part of one of the TWIST (‘The Word in Song Together’) music events this year run by Emu Music and Youthworks.

To read the full sydneyanglicans.net article, click here.

For more details about TWIST, click here!

If we think that it’s easy to be an excellent athlete without pain and struggle, then we’re deluded.

For some of us, we make the choice to take on a challenge. We might decide to train for a marathon, or study a new language, or learn a new musical instrument.

But for many of us at many stages, the challenge to grow is not one that we choose for ourselves.

In the letter to the Hebrews, the readers are reminded about how some of the great and often painful difficulties we face have come from our heavenly Father.

Read the rest of this article at sydneyanglicans.net

Yet, the right thing for us to do in our youth groups right now is to lead our kids through a sober reflection on the global crises facing us, and to show the students how to respond appropriately to these events.

So what is your youth group going to do this weekend in the light of the Japanese disaster?

Read my further thoughts (and contribute your comments) in my latest article at sydneyanglicans.net

Should we run some sort of wilderness experience where we get fathers and sons to learn about manhood and to mark the occasion of a boy turning into a man?

Read the article (and join in the controversial comments) by visiting http://www.sydneyanglicans.net/ministry/modernministry/rites_of_passage/

He shared with me the joys and the challenges of this great ministry, and in turn, I shared with him a few tips that I thought I’d also give to the friendly readers of sydneyanglicans.net

So, click through to my latest article to read my tips, and respond in the comments section if you’d like to add some thoughts.

Here’s the URL: http://www.sydneyanglicans.net/ministry/modernministry/three_high_school_sre_tips/