David CM Bell Leadership Blog

John 18 - A Life Worth Living I’m convinced we can, nay, must, live a holy life.  God makes it possible with the freedom He gives us. But He also commands us to take responsibility for our lives.  That’s the rub.  Will we step up and be the men and women God empowers us to be? I think, yes. Well, we can’t say we don’t have good examples.  Nor can we say we just didn’t understand.  We have examples galore.  There is a good life. It's a way of truth; those with faith and obedience to Jesus will be rewarded by God (Revelation 22:12).    The wages of rebellion and false teaching, however, by those who “deny the Master who bought them” is another matter (2 Peter 2:1).  Sadly, we too have lots of bad examples in the church as Peter and Jesus said we would.  The good news is that it’s a glorious day to live well and to be the example God wants us to be. As we contemplate the betrayal of Jesus in this chapter, ask a few questions that I belie...

  John 17 - Freedom and Responsibility - Aiming for Perfect Unity           All the rage these days (finally!) is governance reform.  We have Elon Musk, who was looking for something to do with his time, tasked with DOGE.  Good.  Let's all do it.  Let's joyfully look to improve and reform if necessary our families, finances, churches, hospitals, businesses, and schools.          It is  time to assess if we’ve drifted off the mission God has given us and to do all we can do to get focused on Him and His ends.  There will be disagreement on how best to get focused.  We may not be in charge of the Pentagon or DOGE, but we are in charge of something.  The Bible says this, “For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body” (2 Corinthians 5:10).  Likewise, God tells us that there will be a day ...

 John 16:3 - Overcoming Through Trials - Luctor et Emergo           At Notre Dame, my Catholic High School, our motto was luctor et emergo , struggle and emerge.  What we find in Scripture and the experience of life is not a question of if trials will come.  They will.  It is a matter of when and how prepared we are for them and how we respond.  But are we willing to fight?  Do we even acknowledge that there is a struggle?           When we let our guard down we get punched in the face.  That’s hockey fighting 101.  The first rule of hockey fighting is that you gotta be willing to fight.  Some guys just aren’t willing.  Others are too willing.  Hands up, get a good grip, and take the initiative.  I’m a goalie and only had a handful of fights.  I had more off the ice than on.  But I’ve been blindsided and sucker punched.  And I can ashamedly say I’ve suck...

 John 16:1 - Leadership Training           At my last company in Canada before moving to the States I was the General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of the MSA of Alberta.  We regulated the electricity market for the Province - like a mini-FTC, but for electricity production and retail sales.  One of the smart things we did as an executive team at that organization was to promote professional development.  We asked each employee to spend at least $5k yearly on professional development.  Many of our younger guys had to be coaxed to take any classes or training.  But some were all too eager.  And when they came to us with ideas for expensive trips to Norway or Australia that far exceeded the budget we quickly said yes, go.          Be an  advocate for continuous education.  As we said coaching young hockey players, ‘you are never too good for the basics.’  It’s true.  Even the pr...

 John 15 - Friends Don’t Lie           One of my favorite lines from the Netflix hit series ‘ Stranger Things ’ is when Eleven emphatically says to Mike, “Friends don’t lie.”  Of course, even El doesn’t live up to her own standard as later she lies to Mike when she writes to him from California claiming she’s happy and popular when she’s lonely and vulnerable and dearly misses her true friends.  El’s only true friends are Mike and the oddball crew in Hawkins, Indiana who become family through the existential mission of saving each other and the world.             Oh, to be a friend.  And to have one.  And to have an existential mission.  Thank God for good friends.  Thank God for the example of the Good Father who loves us despite our rebellion.  We are so prone to drift.  Thank God for the Good Samaritan - a man willing to sacrifice for a person not of his family, tribe, o...

 John 14:15 - Freedom and Responsibility           I went for coffee this week with a friend who made the point that all truth is God’s.  He was rightly arguing that we can be a big tent and get along with Hindus and Muslims and others who come from a different worldview than us.  He wasn’t arguing that we need to agree with everything they are saying, but that there is a lot of common ground.  We can strive for common ground while promoting trading policies only with those who uphold our values.  More on foreign trade policy later.          In this passage, God tells us the w orld is not looking for the Holy Spirit.  The next few chapters are crazy powerful (hearing that we must produce as followers of Christ and actually that people cannot produce good fruit without God).  John says anyone who does not trust in Jesus does not have the Advocate.  However, it is also true that all men are made...

 John 13:18-14:21 - Serve Humbly           Jesus wanted His men to believe.  He told the disciples that He would die after He was betrayed and that He was going away.  They would soon find out that was so cruelly true.  The Romans were as good at executions as the Jewish leaders were at deception.           God speaks to each of us today.  It’s true.  God wants us to use our God-given volition, reason, and will to truly believe Jesus is the Messiah.  He is the Rescuer who takes away our sins and gives us new life.  You may say, ‘Yawn, I don’t care.'  But God persuades for a reason.  He loves us and wants to make His home with us.  He desires to do life with us.  It’s God's way.           Jesus in this famous parting scene with His men deliberately washed their feet.  And He solemnly challenged and encouraged them.  He said, “So n...

  John 13 - At Just the Right Time           Our job is to be humble and to serve Jesus well.  Trust God’s timing.  Your time will come (1 Peter 5:6).  I was wondering about God’s care and love this morning.  It was an odd week, highs and lows.  And God reminded me through this picture of Jesus washing His disciples’ feet that He does indeed love me.  He cares for us beyond measure.  And gives us all we need. We read in this passage Jesus' mindset of being certain of His authority and His confidence in who He was and where He was going (13:3).  We are servants of Jesus, not the other way around.  God is not our Genie or tool to get what we want in this world.  No, He is our Master, and we, His messengers.  We are reminded of God’s love for us in this passage as we, like the Apostles before us, are called to humble obedience. True authority is from the Father.  We see lots of authority in t...

  John 12:20-50 - Walking in the Light           The question is not whether God has a voice.  As we'll see in this passage, He has indeed.  He uses it.  In this passage, both the Father and the Son thunderously shout the truth.  But mostly God speaks through His word, in silent confirmations, powerful and consequential.  The question, rather is will we as His children obey the voice of God.  Are we sharp to hear today or are our senses dulled by worldy influence?  There are ranked sins; that's the truth we'll hear more about on judgment day.  Rebellion to God's voice and stubbornness to follow our idols rather than God is akin to divination (1 Samuel 15:22-23).          Our job today is to walk in the light.  I pray we are up to the challenge, nay, the blessing.  As every sailor knows, w e are prone to drift off course; so, we do need to constantly go back to God and His way....

 John 12:1-11 - Get Back Up!           It’s kind of a good news-bad news story with Lazarus.  The good news is Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead.  Yahoo!  The bad news is the leading priests decided to kill not just Jesus, but Lazarus too!  Lazarus would soon be a man on the run.  He figured out quickly he had to get back up and go.           We too, to a degree, are men on the run.  We are to run from evil and run to God.  I was reminded this week that Christian men must put their big boy pants on and get back up again (Proverbs 24:16).  So you fell down, slipped up, sinned, or faced challenges.  Good for you.  Get back up!  Repent, refocus, stop fretting, stop envying the wicked, and get to work, good work that God has right before us.           We will always have the voice of the sanctimonious among us, “That perfume was worth a year’...