New England businessman Lee Truax has been named president of CBMC, succeeding Patrick O’Neal. The announcement was made late today from the ministry Service Center in Durham, NC. A search that began nine months ago has officially drawn to a close with the Board of Directors voting unanimously to endorse the 45-year-old Truax.

Lee is a product of CBMC, having been introduced to the ministry by his father, longtime member Ernie Truax. Lee said, “I cannot imagine where I would be today without the guidance of my father. As far back as 5 years ago, I had a feeling God was preparing me for something big but never in my wildest dreams did I think THIS is what He had in mind.”

One of the requirements for consideration was that a candidate have a post-graduate degree. Interestingly enough, Lee just finished his MBA from Liberty University back in the spring of this year. His love and appreciation for the ministry is forged from years of exposure to Godly men. He’s a product of Operation Timothy himself and has discipled many Timothy’s of his own over the years. Lee is also bullish about another marquee ministry resource: Living Proof and he has a burning desire to re-engaging men around the country in a very proactive manner.

This wonderful husband and father of seven, is intimately aware of the economic meltdown that is crippling our men and our nation. Coming from the private sector he understands that unemployment is hovering around 10% and he’s anguished at how foundational beliefs that our nation has always held dear are under attack like never before.

In times of critical need, our nation has always pulled together. In the 1930’s when the Great Depression gripped America, 5 influential Chicago area businessmen hit their knees in prayer asking God for direction. Those men became the founders of the Christian Business Men’s Committee (CBMC). Today, this marketplace ministry has a presence in over 250 cities across the nation and in more than 80 foreign countries. From New England to the Mid-Atlantic States, through the Southeast, California, and Alaska, the men of CBMC have been reaching out to lost men.

“I tried for years to do it my way and I lost everything,” admitted Duane Epton of Anchorage, Alaska. “When I finally decided to trust someone and something greater than myself, things changed pretty dramatically,” stated Epton.

Earlier this month, CBMC installed a new president with the hope of assuring men that there is a dependable road map already in place and that like Epton, all we need to do is follow it. “What we are all experiencing today is not all that much different than what men were facing during the Depression,” suggested incoming CBMC president Lee Truax. “We can either continue to hope for something to change or we can believe the claims of Jesus Christ that He is the way, the truth and the light.”

After 21 years, Truax is leaving the IT industry where he worked as a Senior Business Development executive, and he’s confidant that many of the same core principles that he used to transform that industry can be put into play to transform men. Truax offered, “Sometimes faith, technology, and common sense have more in common than we want to admit.”

“If you can help men understand that God and real life are not completely separate concepts you have a chance to truly change that man,” uttered John Mecklenburg, a San Diego member of CBMC. “The problem is HOW do we share that with the lost. Bashing him over the head has not worked so well.”

Truax believes the mission of CBMC is pretty simple, to present Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord to business and professional men and to develop those men to carry out the Great Commission. It’s a mission that he experienced firsthand as a teenager. “My Dad introduced me to CBMC and meeting men of God when I was young really set the stage for me to live my life in a different way than what my friends were doing.”

In his first 24 hours as president of CBMC, Lee Truax met with his Management Resource Team, attended a dinner in his honor at the home of out-going Executive Director Patrick O’Neal, recorded a monthly ministry update to the men of the ministry, and then jumped in his Excursion with his wife Lisa and their children to begin a 12-hour journey home to Massachusetts where they will soon begin preparing for a move to Chattanooga.

Our ministry has been showing men a better way for 78 years. What about you? Are you tired of trying to keep all your plates spinning? Maybe this one simple question will help you: As humans, we plan our course in life, but who is it that determines our steps?