David CM Bell Leadership Blog

 Hebrews 4 - Get Some Rest We need a good rest.  We need to recharge on the weekend from the toil, stress, and work of the week.  That is how God designed it.  We have a system where the seventh day is for our recuperation.  Rest. It is a gift of God to be able to enter His rest.  We follow God’s example and command when we rest on the seventh day (4:3-7).  As you know from a great night’s sleep and good food, rest is physical.  It impacts our ability to recover from sickness and recharge our mind and body.  But rest is also spiritual.  We need spiritual recharging, refocusing, and rest.  Spiritual battles are exhausting. This passage tells us that spiritual rest is not available if a person does not know Jesus (4:3).  It also tells us that the time to trust Jesus and enter His rest is today (4:7).  There’s no time like the present.  Jesus gives us a day of rest, but He also walks alongside us and lifts our spir...

 Hebrews 3 - Courageously Growing and Thriving Ben and his buddies, Sebatian and Lucas - about fifteen years ago at Camp Evergreen. I'm more and more convinced that North America (maybe elsewhere as well, I don't know) is poised for revival.  The Good News of God - that God has promised a new earth and new heaven - eternity with God - for His people who listen to him still stands today.  Millions more will hear God's voice and listen to Him.  They will not hear and rebel in disobedience.  Rather they will respond and trade the old for the new, the bad for the good.          An old praise song keeps coming to mind this week.  It is about making trades.  It talks about trading sorrows, shame, sickness, and pain for new life in Christ - "joy in the Lord."  We used to sing "Trading My Sorrows" with the kids when they were little.  I distinctly remember singing it at Greenbay Church Camp in Kelowna, BC.  I pray many...

 Hebrews 2 - The Cross of Our High Priest           It’s easy to want Chapter Two's second half and ignore the first half.  We want the helper, the merciful, forgiving High Priest.  But God says we will not be immune from consequences if we ignore the Great Cross of Christ (2:3).           Let’s talk about it for a second, for I believe it is a critical issue for the church's health and growth, and revival.           Jesus is our perfect leader.  By God’s grace, he tasted death for everyone.  And what a poisonous taste.  Thank God for His grace.  Thank God that everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has become a child of God.  Every child of God defeats this evil world.  We achieve this victory through faith in Jesus (1 John 5:4).  Jesus makes us holy.  The Son of God (fully man, fully God) brings us salvation.      ...

 Hebrews 2:1-5 - Signs and Wonders - Miracles and Gifts I can shock myself at my inability to learn simple lessons.  They say just showing up is 90% of success.  Well, I’m confident inattentiveness, waffling, and ambivalence are keys to failure. In this passage, we hear yet again a warning to “listen very carefully” to God’s message or we run a real risk of total failure - drifting away from God (2:1).  With responsibility comes consequences.  Just ask any sentry, goaltender, place-kicker, or pilot.  You have a job to do - if you don’t do it well the results are clear.  So, let’s do it well. It’s the same as we develop and grow as Christians.  We have to make a decision to grow.  I've been reading about growthmindset lately and I think God is finally getting through to me.           It will not come as a shocker to any dad hooked on porn, a mom who has dabbled in an office romance, or the pastor who’s craft...

  Hebrews 1 - The King It's a good day for  trading.  I’ve made a lot of bad trades over the years.  But there are good trades, nay, great trades available today.  A lot of us wait decades, clinging to our old ways - doubling down on what we know is unfulfilling.  I’m tired of my way; I want God’s way.  Give up sickness, so-called freedom (stubbornness really), selfishness, and pride - in return receive God’s way, the real good life, with wisdom, freedom in Christ, and joy.  I’m ready for that trade.  I’m ready to grow in Christ.  Please pour out your oil of joy in us Lord Jesus.  Please refresh our souls with goodness, kindness, and godly confidence. These final days - the church age if you will - spans from when Jesus finished His rescue mission on earth, and sat down in heaven (1:3), until His return to earth.  Some think that Jesus does not yet reign and that the final days are some far-off future time.  I have no...

 Hebrews 1 - The Son - Jesus Christ It is a blessing that God has revealed to us the relationship between the Father and the Son.  We understand family relationships - at least somewhat.  We understand how much we love our kids.   God wants us to understand who Jesus is because God wants us to understand how much he loves us.  God didn’t send His Son to die on the Cross for angels, He sent His Son to die for you.  And for me.           It is good for us to think deeply about the character of Almighty God.  Indeed, if we get God’s character wrong we are lost.  I believe God wants us to know Him more by using all of our faculties and abilities to do so.             There is a deep mystery in the relationship between God the Father and God the Son.  We hear God’s truth of that relationship in this passage (completely consistent with all of Scripture including Colos...

 Hebrews 1 - Waiting on God's Timing God is not silent.  He speaks through Scripture; He displays His solemn majesty through creation.  I’m reminded of that this morning as I watched the purples and pinks of the sunrise.  Any mom can tell you the same thing.  They’ve seen God’s hand in the breath of their newborn - in the perfect eyelashes of their little one. We’re reminded in this passage to pause and reflect on the power and majesty of Jesus Christ.  Today, as we approach the celebration of the resurrection of our King, we patiently wait for God’s timing and we listen for what He is saying to us. Jesus is to be worshiped - by God’s angels (1:6) and by His followers (Matthew 16:16).  Jesus, our God and our Saviour, laid the foundation of this earth.  With his powerful and gentle hands, He made everything.  And with those same hands pierced by nails, he suffered to cleanse us from our sins.  And today, He reigns in Heaven and powe...

 Philemon - Keep Learning, Keep Growing How much can we learn from Scripture?  How much can we learn from an old man writing from an ancient Roman prison?  Is there any ceiling on our growth in Christ?  Do we ever reach a point where we stop needing the encouragement to grow and learn in Christ?  What’s the power of an ancient message, a letter from a prisoner, a preacher, a co-worker, a partner in the Gospel, a brother, and a fellow soldier in Christ?  We get the answer in Philemon. Honesty.   Paul tells the truth.  Philemon knows it because he’s worked with Paul.  He knows Paul’s character.  And he knows very well the power of the Holy Spirit.  Without truth, there is no love, no God-fearing relationship.  Truth can be hard to hear (you may want to burn the message like King Jehoiakim in Jeremiah 36 rather than letting the message transform you and bring you to a place of repentance and forgiveness).  With honesty, w...

  Philemon - The Kindness Policy God sets a “tone from the top.”  God is patient.  But He does not suffer fools lightly; jerks have a very short tenure on His team.           As Jesus' followers, He expects us to do the same.  Christian organizations should be known for their cultures of kindness and godly behavior.  Sadly, that’s often not the case.  In our “niceness,” we often overlook the ill-treatment of people because we are scared of confrontation.  That is not God’s style.  And it shouldn’t be ours.   Sometimes, as Paul shows in this short letter, we have to ask for what we want and clearly set our expectations.  You'll notice here that Paul's ask is not for himself.  Paul has a big favor to ask in terms of Philemon giving up his rights against Onesimus (Philemon’s former slave).  This is much more than a reference letter for Onesimus.  It is a code of conduct for the Christian...

  Titus 3 - The Power of Good Doctrine - God's Kindness and Love Christians are to be known for what they do (good things).  What we do is based on the truth of God’s word (good doctrine).  The Book of Titus (especially 3:4-8) packs a heavy punch of the doctrine we need to learn to live the newborn Christian life.  In just a few words we hear the Good News of Jesus Christ.           We hear about God’s grace, washing away our sins, and pouring the Holy Spirit into our lives to show us how to turn from godless living to living for our Creator.  We hear of our mission and our purpose.  God’s grace declares us righteous.  God loves us!  God loves every man and every woman. God came to earth in the Son of Man, nay, as the Son of Man.  God’s grace is revealed in the Son.  And God pours out the Spirit generously so that we can worship God and do good - for the benefit of ourselves and the growth of God’s Kingd...

 Titus 2:9-15 - Pray for Revival Nothing is too hard for God.  God made the heavens and the earth (Jeremiah 32:17).  Upon King Jesus’ return God will make new heavens and new earth (2 Peter 3:13).  The newly created earth is one of God’s promises to us (Isaiah 65:17).  But before the destruction and recreation God “wants everyone to repent” (2 Peter 3:9).  I believe that.           Let us pray for many to turn to God today.  Let us pray for revival - in our own homes, first and foremost.  But also across the globe.  Let us thank God for His grace.  Only by God’s grace do we live and breathe. Don’t take my word for it.  But the Bible says that you, as a believer in Jesus Christ, have the Holy Spirit in you.  As such, “you are the temple of the living God” (2 Corinthians 6:16).  What a crazy thought.  The temple!  Of God.  Humbling.  I am certainly not worthy.  None ...

  Titus 2:11-15 - God’s People In Saskatchewan we like to say that this is God's country filled with God's people - only with the Holy Spirit can you get through those winters.  But who are God's people?  And where is God's country?           The Bible (OT and NT) teaches us that Jesus made a new covenant with us, His people (Jeremiah 31:31 and Hebrews 8:8-12).  This may be new to you and if so I gladly share it with you.  Jesus is God.  God’s agreement with us is sealed with what Jesus did for us on the Cross of Calvary.  Jesus gave His life for us - now that is love. Remarkably, there is considerable debate and doubt in the Church and out about who exactly is God’s people.  We entertained a group of well-educated people at our house who tried to convince us that all paths lead to the top of the mountain.  They were nice people I suppose, but truly insufferable in their ignorance and their disdain for the Go...