Our Mission

To present Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord to business and professional men and to develop Christian business and professional men to carry out the Great Commission.

1 Thessalonians 1.10 promises, Jesus is the one Who has rescued us from the terrors of the coming judgment. Recently I was listening to a man describe why he rejected his Christian upbringing. He served as a soldier in Vietnam and couldn’t understand how a good God could allow so much suffering. He has since become a Muslim. I didn’t understand how switching ‘gods’ helped him especially to one who doesn’t describe himself as love.

Another man who was born and raised in China shared with me that the government there is reinstating the teachings of Confucius into the schools. Apparently immorality is rampant. He feels Confucius and Jesus are essentially the same: good religious teachers, since Jesus taught similar things to Confucius who lived hundreds of years before Him.

People see the world is broken. People want God to prove His existence by fixing the broken world. Religion is a means for teaching morality but its adherents universally struggle to obey. God’s solution to the world’s problems is His people doing what He commands.

In Vietnam, China or anywhere else in the world, the pain people suffer is nearly always the result of choices other people have made affecting them. People are responsible for the brokenness the world suffers either by the choices we make or the choices others make that impact our lives. Few if any of us want God to eliminate our power to choose but we wouldn’t mind if He took away the power of our neighbor to choose!

The problem with religion and law is that unless there are immediate consequences to our actions we tend to continue taking the same actions. The One True God, Jesus, allows us to continue to make bad decisions in hopes that we and others learn from those poor decisions and repent or turn from them to Him for forgiveness and restoration.

Neither Mohammad nor Confucius are purported to judge the behavior of humanity after we die. Only Jesus is purported to be the Judge of all humanity. Jesus is the Judge because He is the only one Who lived as a human, died as a sacrifice, rose from the dead as a Savior and lives eternally as God who will judge the earthly deeds of humanity.

Every person will be judged but not all people will be condemned for their actions. Those who exchanged their evil deeds with Jesus by repentance and faith will be pardoned because they have become children of God. Those who ignored Jesus to follow some other religion, even if that religion was their own thinking, will be left judged and condemned for they have not lived the perfect life God requires to earn a pardon.

Only Jesus lived perfectly, so only Jesus can pardon disobedience. We know this because only Jesus rose from the dead. Unless we want to be judged in comparison to Jesus we would do well to throw ourselves upon His mercy now and receive His pardon for all the bad things we have already done.

His Opportunities

  1. April 29th, Friday, Conversational Apologetics with Andy Bannister. Andy is the lead apologist for Ravi Zacharias Ministry in Canada. 7.30-8.30am at the Crafty Palate on Washington Sq. Cost is free but you must pre-register HERE
  2. May 18th, Wednesday, Michigan Prayer Breakfast. 7.30am-9am at the Lansing Center. This year’s speaker is Luis Palau. Buy your table and register for this event HERE.

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CBMC Central Michigan 6011 W. St. Joseph Ste. 401 Lansing 48917  / 517 481 5996  www.lansing.cbmc.com

MONDAY MANNA
A service to the business community
A Publication of CBMC International
April 11, 2016

Do Your Homework First

by Rick Boxx

Watching a TV “reality” show called “Shark Tank,” in which five accomplished investors consider funding a number of innovative ventures, a young entrepreneur made a major strategic error. He failed to properly prepare for his presentation to gain their interest and support.

This prospective businessman boldly asked the five investors, who are called “Sharks” because that is a term sometimes used to describe aggressive and very perceptive business leaders, to invest $1 million in his innovative enterprise. This young man, however, had not done his homework. With a little research he would have realized that his request for funding was ridiculously high, especially since he had not yet made any sales and his product, although interesting in theory, was untested.

The aspiring entrepreneur also was clearly unprepared to answer basic questions from the “sharks,” which were typical of the show, not extremely complicated or tricky. In fact, these business people could have provided the resources to launch his business, but he failed to give them the information they asked of him. His lack of understanding of the entire process of developing and presenting a credible business plan caused him to leave the show empty-handed and disappointed.

The Bible offers good advice for how to properly approach such a situation. Proverbs 3:13-14 teaches, “Blessed are those who find wisdom, those who gain understanding, for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold.” A wiser aspiring businessperson would have consulted with someone he or she knew that had experience and insight into the how’s and what’s and why’s of starting a new venture. The person then could have taken that information, formulated a business plan, and asked the “mentor” to review it before making such a critical public presentation.

Perhaps you are not starting a new business. This principle still applies whether you are seeking to persuade a potential customer to buy your products or services; trying to influence a client about a strategy you believe they should employ, or presenting a new concept or procedure to employees who are accustomed to doing things “the old way.” Before pitching your ideas to others, you should do your homework so that you understand what will be expected. Your results will be much better. Here are other biblical principles that relate to this process, regardless of who your audience might be:

Address first things first. Sometimes our enthusiasm for a project causes us to get ahead of ourselves, failing to complete preliminary work that is essential for lasting success. “Finish your outdoor work and get your fields ready; after that build your house” (Proverbs 24:27).

Anchor preparations in prayer. While doing the necessary “homework” and seeking wise counsel on how to proceed, it is also wise to pray, asking God to direct each step along the way. “Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed” (Proverbs 16:3).

Trust in God for the outcome. If we are properly prepared, then we rightfully can trust God for the decision that is ultimately made. “The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases” (Proverbs 21:1).

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