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.

Hebrews 10.36 reminds, you need endurance in order to do God’s will and so receive what is promised. Why do we need endurance to do God’s will? Does anyone feel the need for endurance? Most people trying to do God’s will want more resources; money, people, time, strength but rarely endurance.

Endurance has the idea of persevering through difficulty. In a world of, with God all things are possible, what do we need endurance for anyway? We might think that we need God’s endurance for accomplishing some great purpose He has assigned to us. This is not the type of endurance God is describing in this passage.

The type of endurance God is describing in Hebrews is enduring our identity as Christians in a world that was persecuting them for following Jesus. These Christians were suffering abuse, violence, imprisonment, and loss of property as a result of identifying themselves as followers of Jesus.

In North America where most people would identify as Christian, this kind of suffering really doesn’t exist. Some fear if they identify with Jesus they will lose their job and so they largely remain silent in the marketplace. This is about all the suffering we currently experience or fear to experience. So do we need endurance?

Notice what endurance is tied to: doing God’s will. It is God’s will that we identify with Jesus in order to be used by Jesus to bring the disenfranchised to Jesus. It is God’s will that none should perish but that all should receive eternal life. The means of accomplishing God’s will is for everyone identifying with Jesus to communicate with everyone not identifying with Jesus that He alone is God.

We need to endure so that we continue to share with others the life, death and resurrection of Jesus the only Savior of the world. Endurance is necessary for overcoming our own apathy at doing this work. Endurance is necessary for continuing on when so few respond. Endurance is necessary to stay faithful when those closest to us became hostile with us for consistently sharing the need to repent and follow Jesus to receive eternal life.

This is what God says is the reward for endurance: eternal life. To receive what has been promised to us we must remain faithful, steadfast, unswerving to the faith and the proclamation of that faith. Faith in Jesus is not a one time event. Faith in Jesus is a lifelong commitment to knowing Him and making Him known. An eternal lifetime.

His Opportunities

1. Tuesday, November 21st  at the City Rescue Mission from noon until 1pm is your next CBMC Rescue Luncheon. This is your opportunity to serve lunch to the men and women who depend upon the Mission for their meal. Commit Here
2. CEO’s, are you looking for a private group of fellow business owners for encouragement, support, and advice? CBMC offers such a group.  Contact Mike at mwinter@cbmc.com for more information
3. CBMC really needs your help this month to continue its ministry to men in the marketplace. Please DONATE today. 

MONDAY MANNA

A service to the business community

A Publication of CBMC International

November 20, 2017

Are You Minding Your Own Business?

by Robert J. Tamasy

When we use the term “minding your own business,” we typically refer to not getting involved in or interfering with someone else’s business. However, life in the business and professional world can often be a lonely, solitary pursuit. This is especially true for entrepreneurs and top executives, but it also applies to most of us, regardless of our position on the organizational chart.

If we are confident and self-assured, it can be easy to prefer to “mind our own business” and not engage with others in making decisions or seeking to solve problems. “I can do it myself.” “I want to pull myself up by my own bootstraps – I do not need anyone’s help.”

We may feel this way at times, but it is wise to consider the admonition, “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18). In contrast to that, we also read, “Before his downfall a man’s heart is proud, but humility comes before honor” (Proverbs 18:12).

I cannot count how many times I was involved in publishing a newspaper or magazine, when I saw the truth of the adage, “The whole is greater than the sum of the parts.” There are many reasons trying to succeed in the business world by oneself is unwise. Here are some cited in the Bible:

None of us is as smart as all of us combined. Working together toward a common objective provides the opportunity for shared wisdom and experience, different perspectives and insights. “For lack of guidance a nation falls, but many advisers make victory sure”(Proverbs 11:14). “Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed” (Proverbs 15:22). “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another” (Proverbs 27:17).

We need encouragement during good times, correction during times of difficulty and temptation. Even during prosperous times, we need support. And caring encouragers will challenge us whenever it seems we might be drifting off course. “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another…” (Hebrews 10:24-25). “See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily…so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness” (Hebrews 3:12-13).

Each of us has something to offer. With our varied skills and talents, we can all contribute toward achieving the desired goals and mission we have established. “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work; if one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! … Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken”(Ecclesiastes 4:9-12).

Others can provide spiritual redirection when needed. Many in the business and professional world have accountability partners and mentors that they can count on for advice, prayer support, and admonition as well, when necessary. “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

 © 2017. Robert J. Tamasy has written Business at Its Best: Timeless Wisdom from Proverbs for Today’s Workplace; Tufting Legacies; coauthored with David A. Stoddard, The Heart of Mentoring, and edited numerous other books, including Advancing Through Adversity by Mike Landry. Bob’s website is www.bobtamasy-readywriterink.com, and his biweekly blog is: www.bobtamasy.blogspot.com.

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

 MONDAY MANNA

A service to the business community

A Publication of CBMC International

November 20, 2017

Reflection/Discussion Questions

1. When you hear the phrase, “mind your own business,” what comes to your mind – at least before you read this “Monday Manna”?

1. Can you see the pitfalls of insisting upon minding one’s own business, excluding others from providing input or being able to contribute to the work in a significant way? Why or why not?

1. What are some of the challenges or problems of involving others in the process? Put another way, what are the benefits – if any – of working alone, not soliciting the help of others?

1. In the Scriptures, 1 Corinthians 12:12-26 uses the human body as an analogy for the value of working together with a shared commitment and common sense of mission. Do you think this metaphor applies to the workplace? Explain your answer.

  NOTE: If you have a Bible and would like to read more about principles it presents, consider the following passages: Proverbs 12:15, 13:1, 19:20, 25:12; Romans 12:3-8; Ephesians 4:4-16

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