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 Samuel 3.21 observes, the Lord continued to appear in Shiloh, because there He revealed Himself to Samuel by His word.

Most of Christendom struggles in their intimacy with God through Jesus Christ. Most Christians believe in Him but too many do not really know Him. When we share Him as Savior, we seek converts, those who will agree with our doctrine and affirm such with their prayer. However, we are very poor at making disciples. The secret to knowing God, and experiencing God, is the result of reading the bible and putting it into practice. This was Jesus’ life. He came to do God’s will as described in God’s Word. This is why the Bible references all the prophesies He fulfilled. Jesus knew the Scriptures and did them.

As a result of His obedience, His intimacy with the Father was inseparable. Likewise, if we want a greater encounter with God, we have to be always in the Word of God, except when we are obeying His word before men. The Scripture is where we receive our instruction. Our daily life is where we put those instructions into practice.

We too often think God only cares about us not doing evil. Our greatest evil is when we ignore Him and fail to do His will.  This He does care about greatly. What is His will? To love Him with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength and to love our neighbor as our self. The greatest love we can show our neighbor is to bring them to Jesus as their Savior.

We cannot love God without being with God and we cannot be with God apart from reading, studying, meditating and learning the Scriptures. We love our neighbor best when we show our neighbor God’s love and testify to that love by sharing the life, death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus with them.

Our Opportunities

1. Beginning August 21st CBMC will be providing YOU a mission opportunity every third Wednesday of the month at the new Rescue Mission Drop-in center. We are looking for one or two men a month to share their story of God’s work in their lives for about 20 minutes from 10-10.20ish. Interested in encouraging the homeless by sharing what God has done in your life? Next opening, October 16. Email Mike to sign up.
   
   
2. Our final outreach luncheon for the year is Thursday, October 17th at the View from 11.45 -1pm. If you have not shared your relationship with Jesus with anyone this year, or even if you have,  this is your best opportunity to change the eternal destiny of your unchurched friends through the testimony of a man whose destiny has been changed by Jesus Christ. Mark your calendars, start praying for men and watch for more details soon. 
   
   
3. We need rain to overcome our summer drought, 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

August 19, 2019 

Life At The End Of Your Comfort Zone

by Robert J. Tamasy 

Some people are natural risk-takers. They are the first ones to try skydiving or bungee jumping. They study a restaurant menu and search for the unusual selection, the exotic concoction few people ever order. Rather than opt for the security of a job with an established company, they venture out on their own without assurance of success but certain they don’t want the regret of not pursuing their dream. 

I admire people like that. Because I have spent much of my life choosing what I perceived to be the safe and secure course, often the path of least resistance and stress. Making cautious, carefully considered decisions. Electing to stay with what felt comfortable. However, many of my most rewarding experiences have come when I have been willing to venture beyond my comfort zone. 

A speaker reminded me of this recently when he talked about “life at the end of your comfort zone.” This can mean many things: the willingness to consider new ideas, even ones that challenge your accepted views and understanding. Being willing to forgo your standard choice at your favorite restaurant to try something different – or even trying a new, unusual restaurant! 

Over my career, many of my most rewarding accomplishments have come at the end of my personal comfort zone: Attempting to submit a magazine article for the first time, risking rejection; collaborating with someone in writing a book for the first time; leaving the security of a guaranteed income to join a ministry that required me to raise all of my financial support; agreeing to speak publicly despite my natural shyness. 

Spiritually it has been much the same for me. I remember learning about CBMC’s discipling program, “Operation Timothy.” I asked a good friend to take me through it as a mentor, but he recommended, “Why don’t you find someone that you can take through Operation Timothy, instead?” Even though I did not feel very prepared for helping someone else grow spiritually, I discovered that experience among the most fulfilling I have ever had. And in the process, I found the person who grew the most rapidly was…me. 

The greatest example of moving past the end of our comfort zone, spiritually speaking, is committing our life to Jesus Christ, not only for the hope of life after death, but also for life before death – including in the workplace. Operating a business, or carrying out our job responsibilities, according to biblical principles, especially when it runs counter to the practices of our peers, definitely takes us out of our comfort zone. Here are just a couple of things the Bible says about that: 

Clinging to integrity when competitors do not. Living and working in a competitive world, it seems easy to yield to the temptation to act the same as everyone else does. God’s standard, however, is often very different. It requires faith not to do as everyone else is doing. “The man of integrity walks securely, but he who takes crooked paths will be found out” (Proverbs 10:9). 

Trusting God when circumstances do not make sense. Situations arise that take us off guard, ones we cannot comprehend and don’t know how to resolve. Often these are occasions God uses for teaching us to live outside our comfort zones – and instead, find our comfort in Him. “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10). 

© 2019. 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 Adversityby Mike Landry. Bob’s biweekly blog is: www.bobtamasy.blogspot.com. 

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

August 19, 2019 

Reflection/Discussion Questions 

1. Are you a risk-taker, eager to test the new and challenging? Or do you prefer to operate within your personal comfort zone, both in your personal and professional life? Explain your answer.
    
2. Why do you think most of us find the “comfort zone” so attractive?
    
3. Give an example of a time you willingly stepped beyond your comfort zone – or were forced to do so? What were the circumstances, and the results? How has that experience affected you since then?
    
4. Do you think that truly trusting in God, acting according to faith in Jesus Christ, requires us to venture far outside of our comfort zones – maybe even many times? Why or why not? 

NOTE: If you have a Bible and would like to read more about principles it presents, consider the following passages: Psalm 1:1-6; Proverbs 3:5-6, 16:3,9, 23:23; Isaiah 26:3, 40:27:31; Jeremiah 29:11 

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