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. 

Sober up as you should, and stop sinning! For some have no knowledge of God – I say this to your shame!” 1 Corinthians 15:34 NET https://bible.com/bible/107/1co.15.34.NET 

Sobriety is having our senses fully alert, not skewed by anything that would keep us from sound thinking and action. Not too many Christians are drunks or drug addicts, yet not many are engaged in praying for, serving, and sharing with those who don’t know Jesus as Savior to win people to Jesus as Savior. Not working to win people to Jesus is living like a drunkard, disengaged from reality, and unproductive to society. 

The Christian worldview is believing and living with the knowledge that apart from Christ, people spend eternity in suffering and torment. All people live forever. It’s just a matter of location. Those who know Christ, who love Him and obey His commands, will live forever with Him, ultimately on the new earth where they will enjoy love and life and peace with God and all those people from all time who have also loved God and obeyed His commands. Those who rejected Jesus, who did not orient their lives toward obedience to God, will suffer excruciating pain every day forever. 

Knowing this, Christians should be sober about their relationships, particularly with the unsaved, for their end is destruction and misery. If we genuinely love people, we will work to see people love God. It is our shame if we have not done all we can to see everyone reconciled to God in Jesus. Our means for this end is to pray daily for people we love, serve them consistently to show that love, and share with them as often as possible the love of God demonstrated to all of us in Jesus the Savior.  It is a sin to us if we don’t do everything we can for all that we can to bring people to Jesus. 

Our Opportunities 

1. The first outreach of the year is scheduled NOW for March 21. 2023. Check out this link recently aired on Channel 10 TV describing part of what we will hear at this luncheon. Register here to reserve your spot. Buy a table and bring as many unchurched men as possible to hear why they need Jesus to enter eternal life.
   
   
2. Join us for prayer and Bible study every Friday morning 8-9am at Panera Frandor

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

March 13, 2023 

Lessons Learned Through Failure

by Ken Korkow 

We had a major construction job at my family’s ranch where we have established facilities for serving military veterans who have suffered serious injury – physical, mental, and emotional – in combat. The building required considerable repairs and we needed the work completed as soon as possible. 

An individual came to discuss the project and said he would do it, so we awarded him the contract. Then he did not show when he had promised. I called him, and he gave me another date, assuring me he would be there as promised. But again, he did not show up. So, trying to be as patient and understanding as I could be, I called him again. He gave me another date for starting the work, assuring me that he would be there as promised. Amazingly, he failed to show up a third time. Strike three, you’re out! I fired him and hired another company. Thankfully, the job is now completed. 

Recently, to my great surprise, the guy I fired called me. He said he was going to make a significant donation to our work with combat veterans. I asked why. He said good work deserves support. What he said was nice to hear, but I decided to probe deeper with this contractor – I have learned time and again that God is always at work, even when we cannot understand what He is doing. 

I would describe this fellow as tough as nails. However, he started to cry as he told me about his extremely serious, to-the-point-of-death health issues, as well as critical issues he was facing in his company. So, I decided to drive more than 50 miles to have a one-on-one, face-to-face meeting with him. I asked questions. Then I listened. I asked more questions. Then listened some more. 

What this man told me was amazing. If anyone could get to heaven by doing good deeds, this guy would be it, because he has hired and developed many men through his construction business. For more than 50 years he has made significant and successful contributions to his community. 

The truth is, however, that if “good” could get anyone to heaven, then Jesus Christ was a fool to willingly go to the cross and die for our sins. Romans 3:10 tells us, “There is no one righteous, not even one, there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God…there is no one who does good, not even one.” But the good news is, “God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). 

As I reviewed this encounter, which I considered a divine appointment, it occurred to me that it taught valuable lessons that could benefit every one of us:

1) In life and work, under-promise and over-perform.
2) If problems come up, be willing to deliver the bad news rather than to give no news at all.
3) Do not get over-committed.
4) Begin with the end in mind and follow through.
5) Perhaps most important: As followers of Jesus Christ, we represent Him, even to people who have disappointed us and even failed to keep their commitments. We may be the only ‘Bible’ others are reading. We should always be ready to live out and share God’s Truth. 

It was Jesus who said, “Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil” (Matthew 5:37). It is difficult to get in trouble by following through on what we have promised to do. 

© 2023. Ken Korkow lives in Omaha, Nebraska, U.S.A., where he serves as an area director for CBMC. This is adapted from his “Fax of Life” column. Used with permission. 

.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

March 13, 2023

Reflection/Discussion Questions 

1. How do you typically react when people fail to keep their promises or follow through on their commitments? 

1. Has there ever been a time when you did not fulfill an important commitment you had made? How did you deal with that? How did the person or people you failed react? 

1. The Bible teaches about mercy (not receiving what we deserve) and grace (receiving what we do not deserve). In living out our faith in the workplace, do mercy and grace have any place in our business dealings? If so, in what ways? How would they relate to a circumstance such as that described above, when a person fails to follow through on promises? 

1. Which of the lessons learned cited at the end of this Monday Manna seem most significant or most important for you? Explain your answer. 

NOTE: If you have a Bible and would like to read more, consider the following passages: Proverbs 10:9, 11:3, 12:19, 20:25, 24:26; Matthew 5:36; James 5:12 

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