{"id":6878,"date":"2016-03-29T06:27:16","date_gmt":"2016-03-29T06:27:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/?p=6878"},"modified":"2016-03-01T14:40:20","modified_gmt":"2016-03-01T14:40:20","slug":"making-the-man-iii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/thoughts-from-the-cvm-team\/making-the-man-iii\/","title":{"rendered":"Making the Man (Part III)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter\" style=\"border: none;\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/making-the-man.png?resize=560%2C315\" alt=\"making-the-man\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<h1><strong>#3 Decline of imagination<\/strong><\/h1>\n<p>So I am 36 (and a half) and would still argue that I fit into a generation that operated a \u2018free roaming\u2019 adventure and imagination. We went out on a Saturday afternoons and explored the woods with catapults and Swiss Army knives creating imaginary enemies and setting traps and dens to build on the game. Imagination was alive and really fuelled afternoons of action and danger (some accidents too.)<\/p>\n<p>We can often hear and even say that \u2018the youth of today just have lost all that imagination we had!\u2019 Now this spark of creativity and imagination, which some research does show a decline in certain areas of childhood today, is argued to actually be innate by the experts and it just needs to be nurtured for it to thrive. I personally don\u2019t think technology is the beast that is suppressing this creativity in youth either, as lots of young people are incredibly creative, perhaps it\u2019s just the way this is expressed has changed.<\/p>\n<p>The call into the wild where I would find and shape the best and strongest stick to be my imaginary sword has maybe now become things like creative mode in Minecraft!<\/p>\n<p>So what? What\u2019s this got to do with you and me? Well if there is a creative vacuum in our younger men today I want to take some responsibility for it and action to counter it. I believe we can model a wide range of imagination right in the heart of our churches to young men. (Of course this doesn\u2019t exclude the young girls, my daughters would ensure that, but this is about boys becoming men!)<\/p>\n<p>Remember we are looking at men disengaged with the church, faith and discipleship. We are seeing men falling away from church and statistics that show young working class men being the most unreached in the UK<\/p>\n<p>Can we enable environments to create imagination? Can we be Christian men who don\u2019t complain about the youth of today not being as imaginative as us, but be ready to explore and nurture their own avenues for imagination?<\/p>\n<p>What\u2019s this got to do with Christianity and evangelism to men? Lots! If we miss this and fail to invest in these ways in the young men in our pews we will be missing a generation of men in church. When these young men get to 15, 16 the social call on their time and lives will continue to rob churches of their influence, creativity and voice and that will be a travesty of our doing.<\/p>\n<p>We can inspire, we can help these young men create, build, explore, grow and know Jesus and who he says they are in incredible ways. That\u2019s worth investing in! What have you got to lose\u2026.? Only the leaders, evangelists, preachers, Christian husbands and dads of tomorrow.<\/p>\n<div class=\"linkwithin_hook\" id=\"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/thoughts-from-the-cvm-team\/making-the-man-iii\/\"><\/div><script>\n<!-- \/\/LinkWithinCodeStart\nvar linkwithin_site_id = 897245;\nvar linkwithin_div_class = \"linkwithin_hook\";\n\/\/LinkWithinCodeEnd -->\n<\/script>\n<script src=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/widget.js\"><\/script>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/\"><img src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.linkwithin.com\/pixel.png?w=750\" alt=\"Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...\" style=\"border: 0\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>#3 Decline of imagination So I am 36 (and a half) and would still argue that I fit into a generation that operated a \u2018free roaming\u2019 adventure and imagination. We went out on a Saturday afternoons and explored the woods with catapults and Swiss Army knives creating imaginary enemies and setting traps and dens to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n<script>\n<!-- \/\/LinkWithinCodeStart\nvar linkwithin_site_id = 897245;\nvar linkwithin_div_class = \"linkwithin_hook\";\n\/\/LinkWithinCodeEnd -->\n<\/script>\n<script src=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/widget.js\"><\/script>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/\"><img src=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/pixel.png\" alt=\"Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...\" style=\"border: 0\" \/><\/a>","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":6870,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[572,1227,1223,1226,1225,1222,1221,257,1224,1228],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/making-the-man.png?fit=560%2C315&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7PoLK-1MW","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6869,"url":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/thoughts-from-the-cvm-team\/making-the-man-intro\/","url_meta":{"origin":6878,"position":0},"title":"Making the Man: Intro","date":"8 March 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"So you may have seen recently a news item about a man called Kurt Hahn. Hahn was reported to have been pivotal in the education of Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh. In addition to this Hahn has also been indicated as an instrumental influence in the formation of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Team CVM&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/making-the-man.png?fit=560%2C315&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9413,"url":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/thoughts-from-the-cvm-team\/astronomy-sparks-the-imagination\/","url_meta":{"origin":6878,"position":1},"title":"Astronomy sparks the imagination","date":"26 May 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Brian Cox\u2019s programmes about planets and galaxies, are mind-boggling stuff, provoking a sense of wonder. As he once said \u2018 Astronomy sparks the imagination\u2019. I have a friend who is into Astro Photography. He will regularly post photos he\u2019s taken with a massive tele-photo lens strapped to his camera, showing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Team CVM&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Astronomy-BLOG.jpg?fit=610%2C291&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6879,"url":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/thoughts-from-the-cvm-team\/making-the-man-iv\/","url_meta":{"origin":6878,"position":2},"title":"Making the Man (Part IV)","date":"5 April 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0#4 Decline of craftsmanship In 2014 the National Audit office suggested that for every \u00a31 spent of public money towards apprenticeships the economy gained \u00a318. My guess would be that equipping, training and developing people with a skill\/trade is a good way to secure them work. When I worked in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Team CVM&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/making-the-man.png?fit=560%2C315&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6880,"url":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/thoughts-from-the-cvm-team\/making-the-man-v\/","url_meta":{"origin":6878,"position":3},"title":"Making the Man  (Part V)","date":"12 April 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"#5 Decline of self-discipline As you might expect from Proverbs in the Bible, is this wisdom about self-control and discipline: \u2018A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls.\u2019 Proverbs 25:28 Cities of that day had just about all their defense in the walls, you\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Team CVM&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/making-the-man.png?fit=560%2C315&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8582,"url":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/friends-of-cvm\/bomb-disposal-pt4\/","url_meta":{"origin":6878,"position":4},"title":"Bomb Disposal (Pt 4)","date":"7 August 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"From lust to love When an unexploded bomb is discovered in one of the many harbour and dockyard areas which operate around the English Channel, such as an old WW2 mine or a payload from a bomber, the Royal Navy will often tow the device out into the Channel before\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Friends of CVM&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/bp-book.jpeg?fit=1000%2C697&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6881,"url":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/thoughts-from-the-cvm-team\/making-the-man-vi\/","url_meta":{"origin":6878,"position":5},"title":"Making the Man (Part VI)","date":"19 April 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"#6 Decline of compassion I remember being in Brazil and chatting to a wealthy Christian friend of mine and asked him about the poverty all around us. In the region of Brazil where I was living you couldn\u2019t go out without being pressed right up against abject poverty and misery\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Team CVM&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/making-the-man.png?fit=560%2C315&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6878"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/64"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6878"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6878\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6894,"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6878\/revisions\/6894"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6870"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6878"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6878"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6878"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}