The subject of suicide amongst men hit the press again last week following the release of a report commissioned by The Samaritans titled: Men and Suicide: Why it’s a social issue

It says:

“Men in their 30s, 40s and 50s are at the highest risk of suicide as job markets change and families breakdown, leaving them in turmoil about their role in life”.

Other reasons cited in the report are:

• Cultural changes like the decline of traditional masculine jobs and breakdown of lifelong marriages have challenged the men’s sense of ‘masculine pride and identity’.
• Working-class men have been affected by recent rises in unemployment and the shift from manufacturing to a service economy which values people skills. They are ten times more likely to kill themselves than affluent men.
• The male role is less well defined than it was 20, 30 years ago and men have great difficulty responding to the challenge of how we define ourselves as men,”
• One of the problems for men is this need to aspire to a kind of gold standard of masculinity which is often very difficult to meet.

As Christian men, we have a gold standard of masculinity. His name is Jesus. How do we meet HIS standard? It’s all clearly laid out for us in that manual for life called The Bible.

Does this mean that life is always going to be plain sailing? No. We are told that the sun shines on the righteous and the non righteous and the opposite stands true. We are not immune to having the wheels fall off our own lives, and when that happens (and it does), what support mechanisms do we have in place? What focuses our attention back onto God’s word and promises during very difficult times?

One way is by cultivating a trusted Band of Brothers within our church that meet regularly ‘to do life together’. More so, it’s doing life with our non Christian mates. Men inherently suffer in silence when something is wrong and are not the best in asking for help, until it can be too late.

However, it’s not too late for us to make a difference to another man’s life.

CVM is all about supporting men from the local church to reach men for Christ. If you are willing to be a positive influence in getting men together, then drop us a line. We can help resource you.

The report can be viewed here: http://www.samaritans.org/media-centre/our-campaigns/were-your-corner/were-your-corner-research

Tweet

Over 50 doesn’t mean ‘over the hill’ or ‘over and out!’ If you are 50 today, you can statistically expect another 20 -25 productive years of active life in which to utilise your God given talents and leave a lasting legacy.

My New Year’s challenge, is that you think in terms of not only success but also significance.

Ken Blanchard, leadership guru and co-author of ‘The One Minute Manager’, said:

“Many people measure their success by wealth, recognition, power and status. There’s nothing wrong with those, but if that’s all you’re focused on, you’re missing the boat … using your time and talent to serve others — that’s when truly meaningful success can come your way.”

The best-selling book ‘Halftime’ by Bob Buford, is a great resource to help change our game plans from success to significance. According to the Halftime organisation’s website, “more than 12,000 people turn 50 each day in America, and a Harvard-Met Life study shows that more than half of these individuals want more meaning and significance in the second half.”

You don’t have to wait until you turn 50 or reach your Halftime to combine the goals of success and significance. They say you can kill two birds with one stone. That is definitely true if you align your life goals and strategies to be as significant as they are successful.

I encourage you – Make 2012 one of your most significant yet!

For more information regarding what Halftime is all about and how this ministry helps individuals move from Success to Significance, contact CVM Area Coordinator, Rob Santer (National Director for Halftime UK) on 0207 193 9062 or rob.santer@halftime.org
 www.halftime.org

 —————-<>—————-

“Go and make disciples … and I am with you.”

This is not an option, this is Jesus’ command. If we find the practicalities of discipling difficult, Halftime could be a catalyst to help us find a buddy to work alongside with in this adventure. - Eddie James

Tweet