Soul Talks with PB

Not everyone today considers being a committed member of a local church as something essential in their Christian faith. Many simply view it as something practical, useful, or convenient. They attend a local church because it's near, because the worship is good, because there's adequate parking, because the preaching is relevant and short, because their families or friends are there, etc. In other...

The Lord wants us to grow in our faith. He wants us to become mature. This is the reason why He allows trials and tests in our lives. Becoming mature is, of course, a difficult process. He is teaching us how to be humble and teachable over time. Often, we resist because of our pride and self-centeredness. But over time, if we learn obedience through our suffering, we become more like Christ. Only...

Most people want to experience financial freedom. Financial freedom usually means we have enough savings, we have financial investments, and we have cash on hand to afford the kind of life we desire for ourselves and our families. But God has a different version of financial freedom. It is being free from the tyranny of wanting more and just being content with God's provisions. It also means being...

Worship is very important in the Christian life. But what is even more important are the reasons why we are doing it. Some Christians love to worship because of the feelings they get out of it. They love the music and the ambiance of a "worship event". But true worship must have its reasons and those reasons must be valid both biblically and personally. Only when we know why we are worshiping the...

Anyone who truly wants to follow the Lord will be persecuted. Persecution comes in many forms. It may come as a subtle form of rejection from those who do not understand our faith, even from our family members or close friends. In some cases, it may come in the form of violent attacks against us because we are followers of our Lord Jesus Christ. Knowing this, we may become afraid and lose heart. W...

We all sin. There is no doubt about that. But often we do not experience a sense of true forgiveness from the Lord because we do not understand the slow process of forgiveness. It is true that the Lord wants to forgive us readily and without difficulty. The blood of Christ is sufficient for the forgiveness of all our sins immediately. But rushing toward forgiveness may not help us truly experience...

Being a spiritual leader is a great opportunity to do something good. But it is also both a duty and a danger. The duty of taking care of God's people is of course very important. The Lord wants us to shepherd His people according to His will and purpose. But doing so can also be dangerous, especially when we do not pay attention to our own hearts. We can end up hindering God's work rather than pr...

There comes a time when we experience anguish in our souls. Something happens that creates deep sorrow and we cannot seem to shake it off. It lingers on and we cry to God for help. Sometimes help doesn't come easily. So the sorrow remains. We wonder whether the Lord hears us or whether He will come and deliver us. What do we do during such difficult times? Questions, Comments, Feedback --- Send in...

God chooses various means to pour His grace upon our lives. It is grace alone that can enable us to be the kind of person He wants us to be and to do His will. Without grace, we cannot accomplish anything. This is the reason why we should be intentional in making abundant use of the various means of grace like prayer, bible meditation, and participation in sacred activities. But there is one means...

Sickness is difficult. No one wants to experience it. But sometimes God may use it to turn our lives around. Of course, this is not true all the time. There are sicknesses that eventually lead to death. We must trust in God's sovereignty in those cases. But if ever the Lord will use sickness to turn our lives around, there is usually a pattern that results in the glory of God. In other words, ther...

Disciples have the responsibility to proclaim the Good News about Jesus. But people are accountable for how they respond. We cannot force people to believe. They are responsible to decide how they will respond to the word of God that is shared with them. We must do our best to make it clear. But we cannot blame ourselves if they refuse to believe. In the end, they have no valid excuse to reject Je...

Sometimes we approach God too lightly as if He is just our buddy or friend. Although God doesn't want us to be afraid of Him, He still wants us to acknowledge Him as Lord of all. He doesn't want us to treat Him lightly but to approach Him with reverence and awe. This is more than just showing Him some respect; we must acknowledge that He is God and that we are simply His creatures. Questions, Comm...

It's easy to rely on human wisdom or skill to do ministry. But this is not the will of God for us. We may see some results, but they do not glorify God. Our desire should be to see the kingdom of God at work in people's lives. Questions, Comments, Feedback #churchonline #digical #rlccphil --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/soultalkswithpb/message Hosted on Acast....

There is always something evil or wrong that is going on all around us. But sometimes it affects us directly or personally. How do we respond? Some people will just get mad and retaliate. Others will just keep quiet and not do anything. But as believers, we need to understand how to respond in a way that is pleasing to God. Questions, Comments, Feedback #churchonline #digical #rlccphil --- Send in...

Prayer is the central spiritual discipline in the Christian life. Without it, we don't have any authentic relationship with God. However, prayer is also the key to deepening that relationship. We just don't pray. We learn how to pray in ever-deepening intimacy with God. In other words, we need to grow in our prayer lives as the fruit of our growing relationship with God. Questions, Comments, Feedb...

There are many things that can make us afraid in this life. Aside from the uncertainties, there are also challenges that come our way. How we wish we can be confident! But often we are anxious and afraid because these things are bigger than us. We cannot control them. So we try our best to be self-confident, but in the end, such confidence is not enough. Questions, Comments, Feedback --- Send in a...

As disciples of Jesus Christ, we must learn to strike the balance between action and contemplation. We must be active contemplatives or contemplatives in action. We cannot focus on one at the expense of the other. We must be active in ministry, but at the same time, we must not neglect our relationship with God. Also, we cannot spend all our time in contemplation without doing anything to serve th...

When you've been a believer for a long time, there is a tendency to take for granted God's presence. You no longer regard it as holy or sacred. You enter into God's presence without any preparation, assuming that all is well. In a sense, it is true that we should draw near to God with confidence because of Jesus Christ (Heb 10:19-25). But we must also remember that God is holy. Therefore, we must...

Being a disciple of Jesus is God's calling for all of us. But it is also a calling that has a definite purpose. We are to become faithful and fruitful over time through our cooperation with the Holy Spirit who is at work in us to make us willing and able to do his will. It is not simply about going through the routines and rituals of the Christian life. It's about a life of adventure and discovery...

The Christian faith is personal, but it is never individualistic. We are not meant to just follow the Lord on our own, praying and reading the Scriptures, without being connected with others in the body of Christ. God's grace is poured out not just on us individually but also when we gather together as God's people through various sacred activities. In fact, there are four sacred activities where...

Once you surrender your life to God, you want to live according to His ways. You want to pursue righteousness. You don't want to sin anymore. But try as hard as we can, we still sin. When that happens, we feel ashamed of ourselves. Our enemy, Satan, who is the accuser of God's people, will try to convince us to hide or to withdraw. He will remind us that we are not worthy to be part of God's peopl...

When one is serving the Lord, he or she can experience a lot of blessings. But, over time, those who serve God lose their focus. Without being aware of it, they become engrossed with what they are doing for the Lord that they forget the Lord Himself. The ministry becomes an idol. Eventually, they burn out because the Lord is no longer the center of what they are doing. --- Send in a voice message:...

At the start of our relationship with God, it is natural to think that we really have to exert a lot of effort in order to become the kind of persons God wants us to be. We struggle, of course, because we are not able to produce the kind of transformation that we desire. But, over time, we must learn to surrender and trust God more and more as He transforms us by His power and grace. --- Send in a...

Serving in the ministry is not just about tasks. It's also about having the right kinds of attitudes. Challenges will undoubtedly arise, but the servant of God with the right attitude can easily overcome these things. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/soultalkswithpb/message Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Because the Lord loves us so much and He has chosen us by His grace to be with Him forever, it is only right that we should glorify Him by fully cooperating with His grace in saving us. This requires that we fully trust Him in all areas of our lives. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/soultalkswithpb/message Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more informat...