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.    

Luke 13.23-27 asks, Master, will only a few be saved?” He said, “Whether few or many is none of your business. Put your mind on your life with God. The way to life—to God!—is vigorous and requires your total attention. A lot of you are going to assume that you’ll sit down to God’s salvation banquet just because you’ve been hanging around the neighborhood all your lives. Well, one day you’re going to be banging on the door, wanting to get in, but you’ll find the door locked and the Master saying, ‘Sorry, you’re not on My guest list.’ “You’ll protest, ‘But we’ve known You all our lives!’ only to be interrupted with His abrupt, ‘Your kind of knowing can hardly be called knowing. You don’t know the first thing about Me. MSG

God is given the best possible question for telling us His heart, His future plans for humanity, His purpose for His work on earth. Will only a few be saved? Almost the entire church would answer, NO! Most of the church and the rest of humanity would answer, everyone will be saved because God is love. Yet that is NOT how God answers the question. 

O church, how few of you are truly in the Kingdom. So many believe but so few follow. The way is narrow and difficult the path that leads to life and few are those upon it. The following of Jesus is vigorous and requires our total attention He says. Doesn’t it make sense that God would require our best effort for Him since He is the greatest of all? 

What does it mean to vigorously pursue God? Daily engagement with God through His Word and prayer to start! How can we possibly say we are following Jesus when we are not looking for Him in His Word or listening to His voice speak through His Word? If daily bible reading and prayer are not joyful habits of our lives can we possibly say we are His disciples? But we say we know Him? Really? 

Is that knowledge similar to that of a frequent face you say hello to at church or the office but of whom you truly know nothing? Can you name this person’s children? Favorite hobby or color? Know his passions and pains? Heard his stories and seen his scars from life? This kind of knowledge takes a relationship which takes time talking, doing, and sharing life. 

This is the knowledge Jesus requires of His disciples, wants as our Father, and expects of His family. But it is more. The knowledge God requires is full of faith because it is based on experience. The experience of doing God’s work with Him, seeing Him, trusting Him, to provide, to protect, and to be present as we risk all to serve Him. 

This is the experiential knowledge God requires from those who enter His banquet hall as His guests with whom He celebrates their participation with Him in the building of His kingdom. Faith is developed in an intimate relationship with God where He is trusted and obeyed and found to be true to His Word. 

We do not know Jesus because we know His Name and sing some of His songs, like we know our favorite music group. We know Him when we spend time with Him listening, talking, and working together, participating with Him in this life of seeing His kingdom come and His will being done on earth as it is in heaven.

Our Opportunities

1. Business Owners, are you looking for a private group of fellow business owners for encouragement, support, and advice? CBMC offers such a group. CBMC Business Forums connect Christian business leaders by providing a confidential environment of accountability and mutual support where prayer and godly counsel result in business and personal growth. Contact Mike for more information

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 23, 2021 

‘Why Do I Do What I Do?’ A Question All Should Ask

By William ‘Fritz’ Klumpp 

“You look pretty good,” my high school track coach said to me. “If you just wouldn’t run so long in one place.” This was his way of saying that I was not a very fast runner. My running style was like the man sitting in a rocking chair: there was a whole lot of activity, but not much progress. 

In some ways this might be a metaphor for our personal and professional lives. We might be always on the go, very busy, but what have we accomplished? If we honestly conclude that we have achieved very little, why do we continue doing what we do? We might look good – but show little progress. 

Many of us idealistically start out doing something we feel will give meaning to our lives, but sometimes we become disillusioned. Being a veteran pilot in the U.S. Navy, I observed well-intentioned people who began their careers in the military experienced this. Especially if they spent time on the battlefield. The realities of war can lead to disillusionment, and the resulting loss of purpose can even contribute to what has become known as PTSD – Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. 

This same disillusionment can also be suffered by those who engage in other important pursuits, such as politics and the workplace. We work hard, striving to make a difference in the world around us, but what happens when we look good and then discover we have been running too long in one place? 

Everyone wants his or her life to count for something, and we all desire to live a life of meaning. I often think of what French scientist Blaise Pascal referred to as the “God-shaped vacuum” that exists in the heart of every man – a vacuum that only the Lord can fill. Author and speaker John Maxwell talks about another “vacuum”: the life-sized vacuum inside one’s heart that only a clearly defined life mission can fill. 

During the last few years I have studied the life of King Solomon, who has been known as the wisest man who ever lived. A son of David and Israel’s third king, he reigned during the 10th century BC. Ruling during Israel’s golden age, his achievements were absolutely amazing. Yet, despite all he accomplished, Solomon’s summation, expressed near the end of his life and recorded numerous times in his Book of Ecclesiastes, was “all is vanity.” Another translation states, “everything is meaningless.” 

Examining the life of Solomon and all he accomplished, I cannot help but ask, “How could one who started so well and did so much, come to the end of his life and conclude that all the things that he did were meaningless?” Solomon’s conclusion that “all is vanity and grasping for the wind” (Ecclesiastes 1:14) pertains to works done “under the sun.” Basically, that includes everything. If meaningful purpose in life cannot be found “under the sun,” that suggests we must look elsewhere for meaning. Years ago, after reaching a similar conclusion about my life, I realized that we must look to the heavenlies. If we are to find real meaning and purpose in life, we must look to God Himself. 

My longtime friend and mentor, Joe Coggeshall, challenged me for many years to write a “life purpose statement.” Successful companies have a purpose or mission statement, Joe would say, “so why don’t you?” I finally took his challenge to heart and have found my written life purpose has become a compass allowing me to forsake the good for the sake of seeking the best. 

So, what is your purpose and why do you do what you do? Do you have a purpose or mission statement for your life? If not, why not? 

William “Fritz” Klumpp is a veteran pilot with the U.S. Navy, having served during the Vietnam War; a former Delta Air Lines pilot, real estate executive, and former Executive Director of CBMC.

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 23, 2021 

Reflection/Discussion Questions 

1. Have you ever had any moments in your life – or work – when someone could have described you as “looking pretty good, but running too long in one place”? Perhaps this is how you are feeling right now. How do you respond at times like this? 

1. What do you find meaningful in your life? Are you confident that you are striving for, working toward, the right things? Or do you sometimes feel like the highly accomplished King Solomon, who despite the wondrous projects he had completed and all his material wealth, concluded, “all is meaningless, a chasing after the wind?” Explain your answer. 

1. The well-known paraphrase from Blaise Pascal is cited: “inside the heart of everyone is a God-shaped void that only God can fill”? Do you agree with that? Why or why not? 

1. Mr. Klumpp mentions having a personal purpose or mission statement. Have you ever heard of something like that? What do you think someone’s mission statement for life would look like? How do you think that could be useful? 

NOTE: If you have a Bible and would like to read more, consider the following passages: Ecclesiastes 12:13-14; Acts 17:28; 1 Corinthians 3:9; Philippians 3:10 (Amplified Version) 

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