David CM Bell Leadership Blog

 1 Corinthians 16 - Serve Well Sometimes it’s hard to refresh others when you don’t feel refreshed yourself.  Life is hard.  May God's word refresh you today so that you may refresh and encourage others.           This is a motivating and encouraging letter from God’s word.  It reminds us that despite the challenges of the human condition, we must press on.  You may be going through a cycle of anger to exhaustion or a feeling of futility - nothing ever changes, and the wicked seem to prosper when the godly are beaten and abused.  That often seems to be the case.  Be honest with God, and let Him how tough the battle is.  He knows already.  But tell Him.           Know this: victory comes from God; Jesus knows how much we can endure, and He will indeed bless His people (Psalm 3).  This chapter reminds us that in Christ Jesus we have every resource we need.  God made you in ...

  1 Corinthians 15 - Be On Guard - Stand Firm           Early morning walk, in downtown Chicago.           I was reminded this week of how much I appreciate small-town living.  I had to go to Chicago for a conference.  It is a big, busy world with millions and billions of people.  God loves each one.  He loves you.  And me.  He loves us so much that he died for our sins.  He was buried.  And he was raised from the dead on the third day.  Jesus was resurrected with a new body and seen by his followers.  All, just as the Scriptures said would happen - it was and is God’s mysterious plan (1 Corinthians 15:4).  That’s the Good News, the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Remind yourself of it today; it is our only hope, our Salvation.           We must stand firm in the Good News (1 Cor. 15:2).  Wherever we go.  Chicago.  Saskat...

 1 Corinthians 15 - Remain in Christ          Today is a day to work enthusiastically for God. Let's remember God's promises today.  He loves you completely.  And gave His life for you and for me.  Everything we do for God is useful for His good purposes.           We all need a good reminder.  We get that in this wonderful summary chapter of the Gospel.  We must be unified in the Good News of Jesus Christ.  We must all preach and believe that same message.           And we must keep believing.  The Bible teaches that you must hear the Good News and continue to believe to be saved (15:2 and John 8:31, 2 Cor. 13:5, 1 John 2:24, 2 John 9, Colossians 1:23, Hebrews 2:1, 1 Timothy 1:19, and Jude 1:12).  Be very leery if you hear prosperity preachers saying all you need is a ticket to ride, once you have that you can do or believe whatever you, please.  It is ...

 1 Corinthians 14 - God Will Bring Revival           I’ve got some great Christian friends.  They are the real deal, genuine Christians.  I’m constantly learning and encouraged by them.  They bring God up in every conversation.  They remind me that we must share with all people God’s goodness and righteousness (Psalm 145:7).  They remind me that Jesus will return when He is good and ready.  In the meantime, we get this amazing life to live - one shot to exercise self-control (Proverbs 25:28) and follow our King.           As men of God, we ignore Scripture and the plain commands of the Spirit of Christ at our peril.  Let’s face it.  Men want praise from people.  I do.  Who doesn’t want to be a bit of a big deal?  We want to be popular.  And non-offensive.  And generally acceptable to the world.  It’s kind of the Canadian way.       ...

 1 Corinthians 14 - Pursue Gifts that Strengthen           With Meghan and Kari (Summer 1993)           This chapter says nothing about women being unable to lead in the home and the business community (as we see in Proverbs 31).  But it does make universal statements about the proper functioning of the public orderly worship gatherings of Christians.  In this passage, Paul states that Jesus commands that we obey these standards (v. 37).  So, he’s got my attention.           Many churches quote the previous chapter’s eloquent Christian distinctive of active love.  They do so at pretty much every wedding.  Yet at how many weddings do we hear preaching and unashamed adherence to 1 Cor. 11 and 1 Cor. 14?  Well, few, but some.           Here are the principles from this chapter.  Let love be your highest goal (v. 1).  Seek speci...

 1 Corinthians 14:1-3 - Help Someone Today           The Bible is clear: men and women of God must be others focused - not focused on themselves.  God gifts us to help others.  Desire today to strengthen, comfort, and encourage others.  That’s our mindset.           God will give us a revelation of special knowledge, prophecy, or teaching that will help other believers.  He’ll keep our mouths shut when needed and give us just the right words to say if we seek Him and seek to be helpful.           You see, God expects us to bear fruit, to be effective, and practical.  The bugler must sound a clear call to bring God’s soldiers to battle (14:8).  Bugle clearly, for we are engaged in a spiritual war.  The gifts and spiritual abilities we seek have spiritual consequences.           Every language has meaning.  Speaking in tongues...

 1 Corinthians 13 - Our Highest Goal is Love           God knows us completely (Psalm 139).  And yet, He still loves us.  That is love!  Jesus prays for us to share with others how much God loves them (John 17:23).  Just as He loves us, He commands us to love one another (John 13:34).           When we are indwelled by the Holy Spirit through faith in the Messiah we become new men and women.  I am not yet a perfect man, but I have the Spirit of Christ in me, a foretaste of my eternal body.  We become God’s people.  We become part of the Church, God’s family.  A people characterized by their Source, the Almighty King.  God is love.  As His people, we too will love others with supernatural love.  We even love our enemies and those hostile to the Good News of Christ.  We love because God loves and commands us to do so.           This cha...

 1 Corinthians 12 - You Are Gifted          Every believer in Jesus Christ is gifted with special abilities and a role for service, directly by God.   I asked my wife this morning what my special spiritual abilities are and she had to think for a minute.  She said I am a “get the gist of it ‘er.”  Whatever that means!  She thinks I can listen to Shakespeare, watch a movie, or read Scripture, get to the heart of the meaning, and explain it to others.  I tend to agree with her.           I think Kari's gifting is thinking ahead of what is needed and knowing what people will need to help them.  She is a planner and an organizer.  A natural logistician.  She has the gift of helping and servant leadership.          This Bible passage tells believers the importance of the diversity of God's giftings.  We need to make an effort to hear and understand this. ...

 1 Corinthians 12 - One Body           I love this chapter.  It’s exciting because it shows God’s character and it motivates us to get down to business.  The next chapter is the famous love chapter, but here in 12, we see love at work - God at work.  God, in unique ways, is working in all of us.  God is working in you today, right now.  The big picture is this, we are all part of the body of Christ.  Paul has this catchy saying that the whole has many parts, and the parts make up the whole (v. 12).  It’s a powerful picture, the truth of God’s people.  We are much more than Team Jesus.  Teams come and go.  Nay, we are one body, the Church of Jesus Christ.  His people.  His prized possession.           There are different kinds of spiritual gifts and kinds of service (v. 4).  They are both from God and for God.  It is God alone who decides which gift each ...

 1 Corinthians 11:17-34 - The Healthy Church My mom - with my grandson, Jack. I’ve never been so spiritually connected as I am to our church here in Lynchburg.  It is not fancy.  The worship is humble, as is the preaching.  It is Bible preaching, verse by verse, God-honoring, Church.  We've only been attending a short time, but I already feel plugged in.  A good friend from our Bible study invited us to attend in November of last year. I started to serve on the greeting/ushering team in January.  Over the years I’ve led Bible study, Sunday school, youth ministry, been on the Deacon’s board, led mission trips, etc at our churches as we've moved from city to city (Calgary, Tampa, Victoria, back to Calgary, and now, Lynchburg).  Right now I’m not doing much at church - just ushering so far.  But I love it.  I’m so thankful for the heart of the messages and the hunger for Jesus.  May God move mightily here in Lynchburg - and everywher...

 1 Corinthians 11:1-16 - Men and Women God's way is different than the world's.  To comment on this chapter, especially in this generation, can be awkward - maybe much more than that - it may get you canceled.  Maybe the stakes were even higher in Paul’s generation.  D eriving God’s standards from Scripture and seeking His blessing as we adhere to them is essential.  This is especially so in the  ever-raging culture wars over gender identity and gender expression, not to mention the church battles over women in preaching and senior pastor positions.           Like a giant magnet, the pull to be liked and accepted by culture is strong.  I’ve heard preachers reference modern reality shows and the latest TikTok fads as they attempt to make themselves relevant, modern, hip, and cool.  You don’t impress because you are like the world.  Our kids don’t need another dose of the world.  Skinny pants are alread...

 1 Corinthians 10 - Of a Warning, Take by Me Meghan and Tyler           In t he famous Irish Song, Peter Street,  the duped and shamed sailor says, “Of a warning take by me.”  Sometimes we have to listen to the warning of our friends.  In this chapter the warning comes from God; so I’m listening. God never changes.  He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.  We are told to remember that Jesus Christ led Moses and the Israelites out of Egypt.  Israel in the wilderness is a warning to us, the present-day people of God, the Church.  Paul says the Israelites were all baptized followers of Moses - I never thought of that baptism before (10:3).  The Israelites all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual water - their source and provider was Christ.  And we, God’s children, are like the Israelites.  We are all baptized followers of Christ and eat and drink from the Spirit of Christ....

 1 Corinthians 9:17-27 - Don’t be Discouraged - Run to Win!           Paul’s motivation was Jesus and the opportunity Jesus gave him to preach to others about Christ.  We see in the next chapter that Paul is giving each of us a grave warning and a command to imitate Christ, not the world.  Paul ran with purpose in every step because he knew the One who awards the prize.  And he knew that the prize is an eternal one, not some earthly trophy or accomplishment that will fade away.  We too have an offer from God to hear Him today and to run to win.           Notice in this chapter that Paul is discouraged.  He’s saddened by those in the church as they claimed he was not qualified and was not a “real” apostle.  He was discouraged by pride, arrogance, corruption, and me-first selfishness.  It’s a sad reality of being a Christian man or woman.  Christians will disappoint us, undermine us, a...

 1 Corinthians 9:1-16 - The Sacred Trust       We are free men and women.  We have no earthly master.  The Holy Spirit lives in us.  We are compelled to obey the law of Christ.      This means we focus not on our rights but on our responsibility.  Yes, we have rights and we have freedom.  But we are not selfish me-first people.  We simply can’t be if Christ lives in us.  We see in this chapter that spreading the Good News is a blessing.  The finish line is heaven; the prize is eternal.           We will not abuse people or take advantage of them.  We overlook wrongs and endure all sorts of offenses, from petty grievances to serious injury.           But why?  Why does the Christian man not take all he can get?  Why stop at so much gain when more is readily available?  Because God gives us one life, one opportunity to bring many t...

 1 Corinthians 8:4-13 - Others First In this and the next few Chapters God reminds us about the proper mindset for the Christian.  It’s a reminder, a caution, and a command.  We are to be others first people.  Not me first.  This is the example of Jesus, Peter, and Paul, and it is the model of leadership that we must instill in our families and our organizations.  Let us serve others well today. Sadly, many of our churches (and governments and institutions) are filled from top to bottom with me first people.  We see leaders and elected officials who are happy to give as long as their needs are covered first.  They put themselves and their rights, freedoms, interests, proclivities, doctrinal distinctives, family interests, bank accounts, and hobbies first.  It’s a me-first world.  That is not the example of the Founders of the USA and it is not the example of the good Christian.  The problem with the me-first attitude is that it ...