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.

Luke 10.42 observes, there is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.

Remember the movie City Slickers? The main subject was that there was just one thing that was really important. God too states that there is only one thing worth being concerned about. Seriously, if we believed that we should be dialed in like those around E.F. Hutton, because when he spoke, people listened!

While my quotes are revealing my age it is also true that God doesn’t make knowing Him or doing His will a mystery or complicated. Those who seek will find, are you looking for the one thing? What is the one thing God says is most worthy? Him. Above all else, we should seek to be with Him. Not complicated, not difficult but it does require us to be intentional. The problem is Jesus is not attractive.

Despite the best efforts by the television preachers to market God as Santa Claus, Jesus just doesn’t grab our attention the way we think God should. We know what it means to be attracted to someone. We felt that way when we first laid eyes on our spouse. We were in love! All we wanted was their time and attention. However the ‘feeling’ of love quickly evaporates leaving only the decision to be committed or to move on to the next ‘feeling.’

Love grows deeper over time with increasing commitment. I must be with my spouse for my love to grow but I must also increase my demonstration of love through acts of service and commitment for it to grow. Time alone is insufficient to grow love. Love is action, not feeling, at least from the Bible’s perspective, which means it must be demonstrating itself for it to be taking place.

Mary loved Jesus so she spent time with Him in order to know Him better so that she could obey Him more. Martha focused on serving Jesus without knowing Jesus. This is what so many in the Church do. Serving Jesus without knowing Jesus leads to pride on one hand or despair on the other hand.

Jesus said we must be plugged into Him before we can be fruitful for Him. Working apart from knowing is meaningless no matter how good we think our works are. The first thing, the most important thing, we need to do, is spend time with God to know Him.

This requires a concerted effort of our will. But, doing this, will result in our loving Him more and serving Him productively.

His Opportunities

  1. Next Special Luncheon will be on September 13th with 9/11 survivor Patrick Anderson. Buy a table and bring some friends, you wont want to miss this event. More information HERE

CBMC needs your help to continue its ministry to men in the marketplace. Please support CBMC today. DONATE

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
August 22, 2016

Six Words for Greater Thankfulness

by Ed Thompson

A virtue we see too rarely in the business and professional world is thankfulness. We are reminded of it once a year in many countries when we observe Thanksgiving Day, but being thankful should not be limited to an annual holiday. The common act of awakening each morning, feeling healthy and able to work should inspire in us a spirit of thankfulness. Most days we encounter problems and adversity to varying degrees, but we can still find many reasons for feeling thankful.

Some time ago I heard a message from Dr. David Jeremiah in which he listed six words he suggested could equip people to live more thankfully. Not long afterward, in a men’s group we discussed these six words. To stimulate our thinking, I asked simple questions that resulted in some profound encounters with one another. Perhaps you will find these thoughts helpful as well:

Word #1 – Relationships. I asked the men, “Tell the rest of us about a special relationship you have (or have had) that makes you deeply thankful.” In response, we heard some moving stories about marriages, friendships, and acts of love that have emerged out of God-given relationships.

Word #2 – Remembering: Another man asked, “What defining moments do you remember in your life that make you thankful? Tell us about one of them.”

Word #3 – Reflecting: This word has the effect of taking remembering to a deeper level. One man confessed, “I can’t help but reflect on all the times I chose work over my wife and family. Today, I thank God that despite that, they love me and stuck with me.”

Word #4 – Rejoicing: The same man who talked about reflecting began rejoicing about how God had preserved his marriage and family throughout his life. There are some who would say crying is “unmanly,” but his tears stirred the rest of us to also rejoice in God’s goodness in our own lives. We encountered special gratitude simply by being exposed to one another’s stories, and applying their insights to our own lifetime experiences.

Word #5 – Responding: Another man had a very different story. His wife and children had left him due his lack of provision and support for their needs. This man declared that with God’s help, he was going to try to win them back. The rest of us responded to him with support and prayer, hoping for an outcome of restoration for him and his family.

Word #6 – The final term we discussed was actually a phrase: Reaching Out. After hearing a story about visiting homeless people in a wooded area, the men determined to reflect on where they might begin to reach out to the poor and hurting as God leads them. We agreed that serving others gratifies our hearts as much as (or more than) the lives we serve.

As Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35), in part because as we give from our resources – whether it involves our material possessions, our abilities, or our time – we experience the thankfulness of being able to help others.

Can these six words help you in experiencing more thankfulness daily in your life? Have you learned the blessing of the admonition, “give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:18)?

Ed Thompson lives in Jamestown, N.C. and directs Single Purpose Ministries. He writes “Weekly E-Blast,” a workplace meditation. His website is www.singlepurposeministries.net.

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