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. 

Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you, insult you, and slander your name as evil because of the Son of Man. “Rejoice in that day and leap for joy. Take note — your reward is great in heaven, for this is the way their ancestors used to treat the prophets. But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your comfort.” Luke 6:22-24 CSB https://bible.com/bible/1713/luk.6.22-24.CSB 

The Christian businessman is in a dilemma that is becoming increasingly more serious. The culture is growing in its intolerance and hostility toward Christianity. The leaven that is the Church has failed these past many years to work through the dough of the culture by spreading the gospel and making disciples who are obedient followers of Jesus. This complacency toward the work of Christ has resulted in a culture rejecting Christ to the point of hostility toward those who follow Christ. 

Thus, the Christian businessman must choose between identifying with Christ overtly and possibly suffering for doing so or continuing to hide to maintain a profitable business. The truth is three things happen when we overtly identify with Jesus. First, the Christian consumer is encouraged to do business with the Christian business owner. Second, the true seeker begins dialoguing with the Christian business owner for help understanding God so they might come to faith in Jesus. Third, persecution, which God in Jesus says is a 10x bonus for His disciples, a true win. The alternative for the Christian business owner is to hide their allegiance to supposedly keep their business. 

This might increase their wealth, but the wealthy are repeatedly warned in the Scripture of their difficulty entering heaven. The Christian businessman must identify with Christ because he is an influencer in the market for Christ, which desperately needs Christ. Failure to identify is grounds for removal from the kingdom of God, for God warns us that those who are ashamed of Him in this life He will be ashamed to identify for the life to come. 

Our Opportunities 

1. CBMC National Men's Conference October 3-5 in St. Louis, MO. Plan to join and meet new brothers who love the Lord and serve Him in the marketplace across America. Mark your calendar busy for those dates, and then register here. Also, plan to join the bus from Michigan to attend this event. For an additional $200, we will ride in comfort with the men from Michigan to St. Louis. A great adventure awaits. I hope you will join us.
   
   
2. Join CBMC men 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

August 26, 2024

Too Busy For Time Alone With God? 

By Gary Tenpenny 

Several years ago, a friend suggested a getaway to a retreat center once every quarter to do business planning. He said this was helping him keep on track with his goals personally and in his business. As a goal-driven person, I took his suggestion seriously and started to act upon it. I found a time to be quiet and slow down, collect my thoughts and think more clearly without the noise of my home and workplace.  

As God would have it, over time through my spiritual journey and growth, that quarterly retreat has become less about business and all about my time for getting alone with God. It is now one of the most important spiritual rhythms of my life. Without it, I have found that my spiritual health weakens. 

We find many precedents for this in the Scriptures. Taking time alone, slowing down and breaking free from the noise and chaos of daily life was an important practice for most of the people God used to accomplish His purposes. Even Jesus Christ required these quiet times: “And after he had dismissed the crowds, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. When evening came, He was there alone” (Matthew 14:23). 

Times of quiet and retreat were important to the people of Israel in many ways. For instance, Psalm 46 opens with these words of assurance: “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake in their surging.” Does this sound like what is going on in your life sometimes? 

Toward the end of the psalm, rather than exhorting us to ‘get up and do something!’, we are told just the opposite: “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth” (Psalm 46:10). Amid the turmoil, we can still experience peace and quiet as we focus on God. 

Thinking about my experience during these retreats, I realize how it reflects much of my spiritual journey and growth toward a life of intimacy with Jesus. Here are two key points I have learned: 

1. I need to frequently get away from the noisiness of my daily life and move closer to God to hear what God has to say to me. 

1. Even when life seems to be going just right (as defined by my limited, flawed human mind), God has something in store for me that is better than I can imagine. He loves me, and His plan for my life, though possibly quite different from my current life, will be joyful. 

I often ask successful people, whether they are followers of Jesus or not, how they would rank the quality of their lives on a scale of 1-5. Not in terms of finances, but just in general: How good is life for you? Most say they are “okay” and rank their lives “somewhere in the 4 range.” Now imagine the scale goes to 10. How does it make you feel to know there is a whole other level of joy, peace and fulfillment available to you that you are not even aware of? 

In next week’s Monday Manna, the second half of this series will offer some practical suggestions on how to capitalize on the value of spending time alone, drawing from simple steps that I have found helpful in my own desire to slow down and find some quiet time for thinking, planning and reflection. 

© 2024. Gary Tenpenny is an Executive/Leadership Coach with a biblical perspective, committed to walking with and building up other believers in all aspects of their lives. He is a Senior Area Director for CBMC Central Midwest. 

MONDAY MANNA

A service to the business community

A Publication of CBMC International

August 26, 2024

Reflection/Discussion Questions 

1. Have you ever gone on a planning retreat of any kind? If so, what was that experience like for you? If not, how does that idea strike you?
2. What are some of the obstacles that you think might hinder the effectiveness of a planned “getaway” for getting quiet and removing oneself from the noise of everyday life and work?
3. How, when there is so much to be done, can hitting the “pause button” and intentionally scheduling time away from everything help people in their quest to become more successful?
4. Does it make any difference to you learning that even Jesus Christ and many of the spiritual leaders of the Bible found it necessary to take quiet getaways from their responsibilities and daily activities? Why or why not? 

NOTE: If you have a Bible and would like to read more, consider the following passages: Psalm 37:3-7, 100:3; Proverbs 16:3,9, 20:24, Habakkuk 2:20; Mark 6:30-32 

Challenge for This Week 

Have you considered how time alone with God could enhance your overall quality of life and help you to draw closer to God? Take time this week to pray and ask God to help you to prioritize time in your busy life to get away consistently with Him, just as Jesus always did. Perhaps you might want to discuss this with a trusted friend or member of your CBMC group. They might have some helpful suggestions – they might even decide it sounds like a good idea for them as well! 

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