Soul Talks with PB

Relationships are important in the body of Christ. But they are not more important than truth itself. Although we must promote relationships in the church, we must only do so in obedience to the truth. In other words, truth creates the relationship and not the other way around. We must not compromise the truth for the sake of our relationships. Our unity must come from our faithfulness to the Gosp...

Traveling the Road to Forever is not a solo sport. You do it together with the person or persons who you want to experience lasting relationships with. All parties must do their part, otherwise, the journey will fail. As we have learned, it takes a Spirit-filled person to navigate the Road to Forever. But, we must add, that it takes two or more Spirit-filled companions to make that journey possibl...

There is a crisis of leadership in the church today. Because of the nature of the church, we need better leaders. Unfortunately, not everyone is willing to step forward to become better leaders. Without better leadership, churches suffer. Ministries are not done well. Small groups do not function as they should. People's needs are not met. The lost are not found. --- Send in a voice message: https...

Often prayer is left out in the church because we have come to the conclusion that we only need strategic planning, execution, and hard work to succeed in ministry. This is a tragic mistake. Although there is a place for such activities, they are not the main means to fulfill God's purpose in and through the church. Prayer is still the main and vital means of grace for accomplishing the will of Go...

Many Christians today find themselves in the wrong situations because they do not listen to the Lord when they make plans. They just make plans and then they ask the Lord to bless their plans. Consequently, God gives them over to their plans, which they are already determined to do regardless of what God says. They do not receive God's guidance because they do not ask for it and they are not willi...

Every Christian is called to some kind of ministry. Each of us is to serve the Lord according to the gifts that God has entrusted to us. Not serving in ministry is tantamount to rejecting God's will for us. It may take a while before we can find the right ministry for us, but we must begin where we are. More importantly, we must have the right perspectives in ministry. Serving the Lord is not as i...

The church must not be a place of rejection or segregation but of acceptance and love. Unfortunately, this does not happen automatically. People who become followers of Christ through faith in Him must be reminded that they are not simply saved individually for their own individual comfort. They are saved to form a community of faith that is inclusive for all kinds of people. Forming such communit...

The solution to every problem depends on the nature of that problem. If a problem is medical in nature, we will seek a medical solution. If the problem is financial, we will find ways to come up with financial solutions. When it comes to relationships, we often assume it's a natural problem. So, we look for natural solutions. But this is wrong. The problem, as we have seen, is that relationships i...

In this world, people are divided about so many things. Is it possible to be united even though we still have our differences? Only in Christ could this be possible. Apart from Christ, people will destroy one another because of their differences. The song of John Lennon entitled "Imagine" is just that, an imagination that cannot be real. But in Christ, we can experience true unity in the midst of...

We live in a self-centered world. People are more interested in their own rights and freedom to do what they want to do regardless of its effects upon others. They don't care if others might be hurt or offended for as long as they can get what they want. This is the kind of thinking that the Lord wants to change in people. Our minds need to be renewed when it comes to the exercise of our freedom....

We all have our differences. Unfortunately, we tend to judge one another because of those differences. We do this in various ways. Sometimes we distance ourselves in subtle ways from those who are different from us. At other times, we reject people outright. In some situations, we may even attack or insult people who are different from us. Cyberbullying, for example, is very common today. This is...

Aside from our relationships with one another in the body of Christ and our relationships with governing authorities, the Gospel also affects our relationships with people in the world. We cannot live isolated lives. We interact with people of various kinds all throughout the day. We must relate with them based on who we are, i.e., as the people of God redeemed through faith in Christ. We cannot s...

As a people who now live under a new realm, the realm of the Holy Spirit, our thinking must no longer conform to our old ways of living, which is living in the flesh. Therefore, we cannot continue to live our lives like those who do not know God. Instead, we must be representatives of God. The Gospel affects everything in our lives, especially our relationships. It starts with our relationships wi...

The failure of relationships is mainly because of the nature of those who are in those relationships. In other words, the problem is you and me. The road to forever is froth with all kinds of dangers because it involves people. Without God's help, relationships will fail eventually. Whenever relationships do succeed, it is simply because of God's grace and mercy. But, even if we are good people (i...

The first sign of true worship is communityship. When we begin to identify ourselves as part of a Christian community and we begin to use our gifts to strengthen the community, true worship is manifested. However, once we are part of a Christian community, we need to pursue the dynamics necessary to continue being part of it. We cannot leave it to chance. We need to practice communityship. --- Sen...

We have learned that true worship is an informed physical response to God's mercies. It is a transforming process of renewing our minds. It's also the formation of our lives based on God's will. But what does it look like practically speaking? What is the first sign of true worship? Is it all just abstract (i.e., all in the mind) or can we actually see real change in the way we live our lives? ---...

Christians are normally eager to worship. Each one has his or her own preference. Younger ones love contemporary worship styles using modern instruments. Older people love hymns usually with organ or piano only. Sometimes the reverse is true. But most people judge the quality of worship based on its effects on their feelings. Churches can either attract or repel people based on their worship servi...

Sometimes we think that we have figured out God's way of saving people. We feel confident in our belief systems and we judge others based on their belief systems which we think are inferior to ours. But, in the end, when we consider God's ways and means of saving people, we must become humble. His wisdom and power are wiser and greater than ours. We must learn to give God all the glory when it com...

It's easy to get frustrated when we are trying to reach people for Christ. We are doing everything we can to win them but it seems like they continue to refuse the Gospel. This can easily lead to carnal attitudes on our part. We need to understand God's mysterious work in people's lives so that we will not give up. The Lord is working in ways that may not seem obvious to us. But He is still at wor...

We all want lasting relationships. But very few actually experience it. Why? Sometimes people imagine that their good intentions are sufficient to create the kind of life that they want for themselves and for those they care about. They also assume that good Bible-believing Christians will never fail in fulfilling their good intentions as far as relationships are concerned. If they will just work...

We are saved by grace through faith and this is a gift from God. We cannot boast about it. Neither should we treat unbelievers as if we are superior to them. This is the danger that we must always guard against. Some Christians become arrogant because of their status as saved people and they look down on others who are not yet saved. They assume that since unbelievers are under God's judgment now,...

Salvation is by grace through faith. No one should presume upon it. Instead, we should always be thankful for it. But sometimes we forget this. Consequently, we neglect the Gospel in our lives. Instead of living our lives according to the truth of the Gospel, we become worldly and disobedient. As a result, many people stumble. Instead of being salt and light, we become the very reason why people r...

So many people today have yet to experience true salvation. They remain separated from God and in danger of eternal damnation. But sometimes they are not to be blamed since no one has yet told them the Gospel or has helped them to understand it. This is our responsibility as believers in Christ or as the church. We are called to proclaim the Gospel and help people understand it. Once we have done...

Salvation is not an impossible task because with God nothing is impossible. Often, people will make it so difficult because they do not understand the simplicity of the Gospel. They want to make it complicated because they don't want to receive something that they have not worked hard for. This is no other than pride or self-righteousness. All we really have to do is make the right choices. God ha...

Salvation is available for everyone. But not everyone would like to avail of it. Why? It's difficult to understand why some people refuse God's free gift of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. But we must try to understand so that we can really pray for God's intervention. This is a spiritual battle and only the Spirit of God can open the eyes of an unbeliever. Often the problem is wrong assu...