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.

Acts 14.22 reports, strengthening the disciples by encouraging them to continue in the faith and by telling them, “It is necessary to go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.”

When we preach the gospel we promise people their lives will get better not harder. We want success in our ask not commitment to our offer. We get people to pray with us but few walk with us. We are doing it wrong.

The gospel begins with repent. This means change, turn from the way we are going and go the opposite way. We are to live lives pleasing to God, no longer living for ourselves and the things that pleasure our flesh. We are to deny ourselves, making the will of God and His glory upon earth our first and only priority.

This type of living, doing what God wants and in particular helping others know Jesus as Savior, will cause us conflict with people. People will despise us for no longer engaging in their evil ways. They will malign us for no longer getting drunk, high or whatever. They will argue with us over the fact that Jesus is the only God, that the Bible is the only source of absolute truth and that it is absolutely true.

We will have disagreements from both atheists and those who call themselves Christians but really are not. It is not that we are to be contentious, we are not. It is that living a holy life and sharing with others that Jesus must be submitted to for men to be saved is offensive to people who still want to be god of their own life.

As Jesus suffered so He promised His people will suffer. If we are not suffering in our relationships over Jesus its probably because we are not living as Jesus lived including the sharing of Him as Savior and Lord of all with those around us. If we are not suffering for identifying with Jesus then are we truly Christian?

His Opportunities

1. The next CBMC special luncheon, your best opportunity for obeying the Great Commission, is scheduled for March 21st. Our speaker will be O’Leary Paint CEO John O’Leary. We will be meeting at The View from 11.45am-1:00pm. Register HERE
   
   
2. CBMC Men’s Conference April 4-7. Be encouraged in your faith and in your faith at work with hundreds of Christian business and professional men from all over the eastern United States.  Register and get more information here. Let me know you are going so we can carpool together in CBMC 1!
   

CBMC Central Michigan 6011 W. St. Joseph Ste. 401 Lansing 48917  / 517 481 5996 www.lansing.cbmc.com 

MONDAY MANNA

A service to the business community

A Publication of CBMC International

February 4, 2019 

Importance of Perfect Timing

by Rick Boxx 

A lot of things go into the realization of success in business: Quality workmanship and service. Execution of a novel idea. Effective leadership and direction. Those, for the most part, are factors we can manage. One factor, however, that we often overlook is timing. Especially, perfect timing. 

In his book, When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing, Daniel Pink addresses the importance of timing as it affects productivity and ultimately, our success. A Wall Street Journal article summarized his findings, pointing out ways Pink suggests for better allocating our time at work throughout the day. 

His research discovered that we are “smarter, faster and more creative in some parts of the day than others.” Confirming these conclusions, Russell Foster, a neuroscientist, claims, “The performance change between the daily high point and the daily low point can be equivalent to the effect on performance of drinking the legal limit of alcohol.” That may seem like a startling comparison, but it is probably very accurate for assessing when we can do our best work. 

Personally, I have learned that my best time for writing is early morning. My mind is fresh after a good night’s sleep and ideas seem to flow more quickly and smoothly. Not everyone, of course, is a “morning person.” Some people do their best work in the late morning, in the afternoon, or even late at night. The key is to realize when you are most productive and make certain to safeguard that time from unnecessary distractions. 

In reading the Bible, I have found it interesting to find that it places a high premium on our effective use of time – and timing. For instance, we are told, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity…”(Ecclesiastes 3:1). We can apply this principle in a number of ways, but one of them is that there is a best time for us to pursue our work, meaning we should strive to schedule other important, but non-work activities for other times during the day, week or month. 

Another passage, Ephesians 5:16, emphasizes the urgency for “making the most of your time, because the days are evil.” This does not mean time in itself is inherently evil, but time passes quickly. Not capitalizing on the time we have can result in failure to achieve desired goals and objectives. At the very least, we will have missed out on the opportunity to pursue those projects when our productivity and efficiency levels are at their peak. 

Looking at the example of Jesus Christ, we find that He also designated specific times for doing certain things, including prayer and time alone with God the Father. Jesus was much in demand, and at all hours of the day people were thronging around him, whether as observers or seeking His attention to address specific needs they had. For this reason, He devoted many early mornings to time alone, even from His disciples.  

Mark 1:35 tells us, “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.” Many people I know realize how important it is for them to begin the day by focusing on their relationship with God, knowing they will require His direction, wisdom and strength to carry out the work and deal with challenges they face later on. 

As the adage reminds us, timing is everything. There is a time to work, a time to rest, and time to play. Also, a time to ensure that we sustain a strong, growing relationship with the Lord. 

Copyright 2019, Unconventional Business Network (formerly Integrity Resource Center, Inc.) Adapted with permission from “Integrity Moments with Rick Boxx,” a commentary on issues of integrity in the workplace from a Christian perspective. To learn more or to sign up for Rick’s daily Integrity Moments emails, visitwww.unconventionalbusiness.org. His latest book and inspiration for their new ministry name, Unconventional Business,provides “Five Keys to Growing a Business God’s Way.”

CBMC Central Michigan 6011 W. St. Joseph Ste. 401 Lansing 48917  / 517 481 5996  lansing.cbmc.com

 MONDAY MANNA

A service to the business community

A Publication of CBMC International

February 4, 2019 

Reflection/Discussion Questions 

1. When you think of the importance of timing – perfect timing – as it relates to your work, what comes to your mind? 
2. Most people do have certain times during the day when they feel most productive and creative? Have you found that to be true for yourself? If so, what part of the day is that – and what do you do to ensure you optimize the use of that time? 
3. At the end of the workday, do you ever evaluate whether you have made the most of your time that day? How do you feel if you conclude your time could have been better spent – that you failed to practice “perfect timing”? 
4. If even Jesus made certain to set aside time for prayer and spiritual renewal – what many people would call a “quiet time” – what does that say about us? 

NOTE: If you have a Bible and would like to read more about this subject, consider the following passages:  Ecclesiastes 3:1-8; John 7:1-9; 2 Corinthians 6:1-2; Colossians 4:5-6; 1 Peter 3:15 

CBMC Central Michigan 6011 W. St. Joseph Ste. 401 Lansing 48917  / 517 481 5996  lansing.cbmc.com