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.

Proverbs 28.9 describes, anyone who turns his ear away from hearing the law — even his prayer is detestable.

Nearly everyone prays, even the atheist in his darkest hour. We all pray because we all have times in our life where we have run out of resources to help us, so we cry out to Him Who is outside of our resources and has the power by His resources to help us in our time of need.

While everyone prays, not everyone has their prayers answered, at least according to their satisfaction. Like a good parent who will often say no to their child’s frequent whims and wants, so too the Father in heaven can and does say no to His children. Yet the biggest reason our prayers seem to be unanswered is because their focus is our pleasure, or our purposes and not God’s purpose.

The prayers God delights most to answer are those that align with His will for us and His world. When we are asking the Father for His kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven we are speaking sweet music to His ears. The knowledge of what God wills for us and His world comes from the Scriptures which He has Himself dictated to men for our ability to know Him and to obey Him.

If we ignore His Word then our prayers will be all about us but if we study His Word then our prayers will be all about Him. Our prayers are the communication link to God for accomplishing His will on earth as it is in heaven, not for accomplishing a heaven on earth for us to live in.

Those who seek God to serve God will speak to God in a way that makes a response from God clear and obvious, but those who ignore God will find their prayers having little effect and will experience the feeling of God ignoring them.

His Opportunities

1. MSU Spartan, Josh Langford will be sharing his testimony Good Friday morning at the YMCA breakfast. CBMC MAY have some room for you if you can’t register here. Bring an unchurched friend.
2. Business Owners, 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

1. You can support CBMC today. https://give.idonate.com/cbmc-inc/lansing

CBMC Central Michigan 4407 W. St. Joe Hwy. Lansing 48917  / 517 481 5996 www.lansing.cbmc.com

MONDAY MANNA

A service to the business community

A Publication of CBMC International

April 15, 2019 

Capitalizing on Monumental Moments

by Jim Langley 

Looking back over your life, what have been the monumental moments – those times when, for better or worse, your life was forever changed? Losing a job, or finding the job of your dreams. Resolving it was time to stop being an “employee” and starting your own business. Getting married, or becoming a parent. 

I use the term “monumental moments” because of numerous instances in the Bible’s Old Testament when God instructed His people to establish monuments to serve as memorials, reminders for future generations of His goodness and love for His people. These prompted the Israelites to “never forget” what the Lord had. 

Over the course of my life and career, God has brought me through a variety of unforgettable, life-changing experiences that deserved monuments, at least in my mind. But especially since they are most recent, my mind quickly goes to specific “monuments” as they relate to my bout with cancer. 

It all started with my physician’s concern over an elevated PSA (prostate-specific antigen) in the spring of 2017. My PSA had risen by 50 percent since my last lab work two years earlier. Even after meeting with a urologist for consultation, I was unprepared to simply accept that I had prostate cancer. 

Before enduring the rigors of a biopsy, I asked what other preliminary steps were available. The urologist advised a test that measures the hypothetical risk of cancer. The score from that extensive blood work showed the biopsy was indeed appropriate. Results showed I needed to address removal of the cancer from my body. 

The urologist suggested surgically removing the prostate to prevent the cancer from spreading to other organs. However, I decided first to explore all alternative methods. One of my insurance clients had gone through an innovative prostate cancer treatment a few years earlier and had been cancer-free for the past five years, so that seemed a promising option. At the time, the procedure was not available in the U.S.A., but by the time of my diagnosis, my client’s urologist had begun performing the HIFU innovative treatment locally. 

After an initial consultation, however, even though I qualified for the procedure, the costs seemed prohibitive. As I prayed, I felt no peace about proceeding. Then I met a golfing acquaintance who had recently dealt with prostate cancer himself. He had been accepted into a government-sponsored health study and had undergone the HIFU treatment successfully. I investigated that possibility, but several tests revealed my condition did not meet parameters for the two-year study that would cover my expenses. 

Then I was referred the urologist who performed the HIFU procedure for the study. After meeting with me, he recommended Cryotherapy instead, another minimally invasive procedure he felt would be best for my condition. Best of all, my health insurance would cover nearly all the costs! 

When I awoke an hour after the procedure, called “cryoablation,” I was elated to learn the procedure had gone very well. Over the past 18 months I had experienced one monumental moment after another. Being a businessman devoted to following Christ, I had continually prayed for wisdom in dealing with the devastating diagnosis, exploring options, and the subsequent treatment. Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your paths.” He truly led me in ways I could not have anticipated. Something I will never forget. 

Businessmen typically analyze alternatives and associated costs before making key decisions. As followers of Christ, we also need supernatural analysis to make certain we are in God’s will and on His appointed path. As we remain faithful to the Lord in our respective journeys, we can give Him the glory for the outcomes.

© 2019, all rights reserved. Jim Langley has been writing for more than 30 years while working as a life and health insurance agent. In recent years, his passion has turned to writing about his relationship with God. His goal is to encourage others to draw near to Him as well. A long-time member of CBMC, he started writing “Fourth Quarter Strategies” in 2014. 

CBMC Central Michigan 4407 W. St. Joe Hwy. Lansing 48917  / 517 481 5996  lansing.cbmc.com 

 MONDAY MANNA

A service to the business community

A Publication of CBMC International

April 15, 2019 

Reflection/Discussion Questions

1.  Do you have any “monumental moments” in your life that immediately come to mind? If so, what has been their impact on how you have proceeded through your life and career?
2. Do you think recognizing these moments – life-changing times and events – is even important? Why or why not? What difference does making “monuments” to these moments make? 
3. Have you ever had an experience similar to what Mr. Langley has gone through, a process that took several unexpected turns? What was that like for you? 
4. In the Bible, God’s people were instructed to build monuments to remind them and future generations of what He had done. What are your thoughts about the need (or importance) of having such remembrances, even if only in our minds? 

NOTE: If you would like to consider other things the Bible says about this topic, read and reflect on the following passages: Genesis 35:13-15; Joshua 4:19-24; 1 Samuel 7:12-13; Jeremiah 29:11; Romans 8:35-39 

CBMC Central Michigan 4407 W. St. Joe Hwy. Lansing 48917  / 517 481 5996  lansing.cbmc.com