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 Peter 2.5, describes, you yourselves, as living stones, a spiritual house, are being built to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

We, the people of God, surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, the faithful and true High Priest, Who offered the only sacrifice worthy of covering the sins of all humanity for all time, are being made into a kingdom of priests. Those who claim to be Christian are claiming to be in the process of acting and serving as a priest of God in this world to this generation. 

What does this priest do? The priest of Jesus Christ offers spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. What does this mean? It means we give our lives, some at the cost of their lives, to seeing Jesus Christ known, followed and obeyed by all men everywhere. Regardless of vocation the occupation of the Christian is the proclamation of Jesus Christ as Lord of our lives.

The Great Commission to go and make disciples of all people by teaching obedience to all His commands is the mission of every Christian. Failure to engage in the work of presenting Jesus as Savior and Lord to people then helping those who respond affirmatively to grow in their obedience to Him, is failure to embrace the role of priest assigned by God to all of His people.

What will it mean if we fail to be the priest we are  saved for? What would it mean if Jesus did not embrace His role as High Priest? He lived as High Priest so that all men might be saved. We must live as priests so some men might be saved today through the proclamation of Jesus Christ by us as savior and Lord.

His Opportunities

• CBMC’s next special luncheon is June 19th. Mark your calendars and begin praying for your unchurched contacts to accept your invitation. Our speaker will be MSU head strength and conditioning coach Ken Mannie. Registration and details here.
• Have a potential business student living in your home? The LEAD Business Track, held Jun 16-21 at Clearly University, is the perfect place for them to grow this summer! In addition to a strategic business competition and running a multi-million dollar company, this track includes everything you've always loved about LEAD, from compelling Chapel services to those wild and quirky games found only in Feats of Strength! Normally this advanced track is reserved for returning students, but this year, we are inviting high school entering their junior year through those just graduated to attend the Business Track as first-year students. Learn more about this exciting opponents here: https://ssionline.org/lead/what-is-lead/. The last day to register is June 3rd.  Register here and don’t miss out! 
• Business Owners, are you looking for a private group of fellow business owners for encouragement, support, and advice? CBMC offers such a group.  Contact Mike at mwinter@cbmc.com for more information
• You can 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

May 20, 2019 

The Power of Improving Your Craft

by Jim Mathis 

In our hyper-competitive business and professional world, we would all like to be the one to discover the latest and greatest innovation, the idea no one has thought of before, that would put us on the fast track to success. But here is a better suggestion: Simply work at becoming better at what you do best. 

It has been said that if you are self-employed, or working on your own in some freelance capacity, you need to spend at least half of your time honing your craft, learning new things, or improving your product. We often see products in stores labeled “New and Improved.” Would it not be good to be able to say the same about ourselves and the work we do? 

I have always spent a significant portion of my time reading, experimenting, watching tutorials, taking classes, or attending seminars, workshops, and trade shows.For 23 years my wife and I were in the photography business, developing and printing black-and-white film. Now, of course, that is an obsolete craft. They don’t even make black-and-white film any more. But it did not present a problem for me because I was an early adopter of digital imaging, which revolutionized photography. When I realized 20 years ago that I was not going to spend the rest of my life developing film, I embraced the change and began responding to the new world of digital imaging. I tried to learn everything I could about digital cameras and the use of computer technology for enhancing photos. 

However, this advice about spending half of your time learning should not be limited to self-employed people. Some employers offer ongoing training for their employees, but many do not – and when they do, it is often very limited and specific to the current job.For this reason, I often encounter people left behind by changes in the workplace or new technology. Some simply come to the shocking realization that their professions have become obsolete. 

This brings to mind a verse in the Bible’s Old Testament, describing a group of leaders in ancient Israel. These were the “men of Issachar, men who had understanding of the times, to know what [they] should do” (1 Chronicles 12:32). The passage does not explain specifically what changes or factors these leaders needed to consider, but clearly it indicates they recognized the need to adapt to what was happening. 

One of the many benefits of faith in God is knowing that although we may not know what lies in the future, in His omniscience, He does. So as we strive to do “work as for the Lord, rather than for men” (Colossians 3:23), we can pray and seek wisdom from the Lord for understanding how we too can adapt, how we can improve our craft – honing our skills and adapting to the changing work environment. 

In 1 Corinthians 3:9 it says, “For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.” As such, we should be eager to respond to the world around us that is changing at an ever-increasing pace. Rather than resisting change, we can embrace the fact that technology and better tools do not cost jobs; they allow us to do more and better work. They offer unique opportunities for improving our craft. 

How about setting a goal – for the remainder of this year – to spend more time learning, not only to advance your career, but also to become a more interesting, more highly skilled person? 

© 2019. Jim Mathis is the owner of a photography studio in Overland Park, Kansas, specializing in executive, commercial and theatrical portraits, and operates a school of photography. He formerly was a coffee shop manager and executive director of CBMC in Kansas City, Kansas and Kansas City, Missouri. 

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

May 20, 2019 

Reflection/Discussion Questions 

1. How do you typically respond to the changing work environment around you? Do you resist change, or do you try to find ways for effectively addressing those changes and become better at what you do? 
2. Have you consciously considered ways, as Mr. Mathis suggests, for improving your craft or making significant adjustments in your career in response to changes you see occurring or anticipate coming? If so, how have you been doing that? If not, what impact do you expect the changing environment might have for you vocationally? 
3. In what ways can we seek to be like the biblical “men of Issachar,” being able to understand the times in which we live and know what we should do in response? 
4. The Bible teaches that one of God’s many attributes is His omniscience – being all-knowing. Do you believe this? If you do, how can you draw on that truth for help in becoming a more productive, better adapting worker and leader in the future? 

NOTE: If you have a Bible and would like to read more about this subject, consider the following passages:  Proverbs 14:1,8, 16:21; Isaiah 41:8-10; Jeremiah 29:11-13; and Ephesians 5:15-17 

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