Soul Talks with PB

The key to unity is humility. But what does humility look like in real life? We often think of humility as something opposite of pride, arrogance, and an inflated sense of our importance and talents. Typical dictionaries will define humility as simply the quality of being humble. So, if I don't brag about my accomplishments or titles, am I being humble already? Unfortunately, most people thnk of h...

Everyone desires unity. But unity remains an elusive dream. All attempts to unity often end in failure. We try to unite the nations of the world, but it only ends in war. We try to unite a nation, but the nation breaks apart into factions. We try to unite communities, but neighbors cannot get along with each other. We try to unite our families, but we often end up with broken families. Even church...

There are many things that can intimidate us. Some of us may not want to admit it but our actions often come from fear. Being too busy can be a sign of fear. We are afraid that if we stop, we might lose an opportunity. Others are afraid of rejection so we don't talk about our faith anymore. Also, we are afraid of being known or being judged, so we refuse to join a Christian community. There are ma...

It's often hard to wait, especially when we are waiting for God's promises to be fulfilled. We experience disappointment, confusion, and discouragement when we are doing our best to trust and obey God but nothing seems to be happening for a long time. Waiting is difficult because we are not in control of our desired results or expectations. Unless we understand that God is doing "behind the scenes...

You would know what truly matters to a person based on what gives him or her joy. Succcess will give a lot of people joy. Accomplishments also. Money for sure. Popularity, maybe. For some it's finding love. Or maybe having your own children. Life has a lot to offer us and experiencing all of its blessings can give us great joy. Who wouldn't want that? But what if someone or something threatens all...

There are many things that can distract us from fulfilling God's will and purpose for our lives. Instead of being concerned with what matters most in the kingdom of God, we tend to focus our time and energies on things that are not really that important. That is human nature, of course. But God desires that we grow toward maturity in Christ, where our concerns would become less about ourselves and...

It's easy for us to be discouraged by negative situations. Especially with regard to sharing the Gospel, we imagine that some situations would make it difficult for us to do so. But God is more than able to overcome such negative situations, if we will continue to trust in Him, and not be discouraged. We must carry on because the Lord can still accomplish His purposes in spite of the difficult sit...

The goal of our ministry is not mere attendance during Sunday worship. Some people think this is the most important, i.e to have a large number of people attending on Sundays. Of course, attendance is important. We do want people to attend on Sunday. But we also want them to engage, participate, and partner with us in the ministry. In other words, we want them to become spiritually mature. But wha...

Being in the ministry is challenging. There are a lot of difficulties. At the same time, doing it effectively requires a lot of skill, effort, and concentration. Not a lot of people are willing to do it. If ever, they might do it only for a little while. Very few people are willing to do it with long-term patience and endurance. How can we serve the Lord and God's people in this way? --- Send in a...

We all have weaknesses. Some of them we can easily accept because they are part of our nature or we consider them normal. But some weaknesses are difficult to accept. We hate ourselves for having them. We feel that we are disadvantaged or disabled. We try so hard to overcome them, and when they persist, we become disillusioned with ourselves. We feel there is no future for us. But how can we stand...

What gives you true joy? What makes you really happy in life? For many of us, our source of joy or happiness are things that we call "blessings". When such "blessings" come, we rejoice. When the "blessings" do not come, we complain or feel depressed. How would you know that your life is being transformed by the grace of God? When your source of joy is no longer about "blessings". Sure, you would b...

Your self-identity, or the way you know and understand who you are, affects how you live in the world and relate with others. If your self-identity is wrong, then you will live contrary to God's will and you will not be able to relate well with others. In contrast, if you have the right self-identity, you will be able to live according to God's will and relate well with others. --- Send in a voice...

Our salvation in Christ should affect all of our lives. It should be, at least over time, and if we walk by faith each day. This is true especially in the area of our relationships. However, it doesn't happen to every follower of Christ. Some remain unchanged in spite of the availability of the abundant grace of God. This is contrary to the truth of the Gospel. Properly understood and embraced, th...

To be effective in our Christian lives, we cannot just be on the defensive. We must also learn how to attack and counterattack against our spiritual enemy. This means we must not hide in fear. We must be proactive in our advance against the spiritual forces of evil in this world. Jesus said that the gates of hell cannot stop us. In other words, our best defense is actually a good offense. How do w...

As we have learned in our previous lesson, we are in a spiritual battle. We cannot overcome our enemy Satan unless we are aware and ready for this kind of battle. More importantly, we must be aware of how to defend ourselves as well as how to attack or counterattack the enemy. So, the first thing we need to learn is how to defend ourselves against an unseen enemy who is always trying to defeat us....

Some people get discouraged with the Christian life because it seems so hard. There so many hurdles and challenges to overcomne, including temptations and trials of all kinds. But who said the Christian life is easy? Even though we are called to integrate our faith in the realities of our everyday lives, especially in all our relationships, the word of God tells us that it's not going to be easy....

For many of us, work occupies much of our time. Even for those who may no longer be employed, work is still very much a part of our everyday experience. We constantly relate with people who are working. Life will not exist if people do not work. Therefore, proclaiming Christ in the workplace is an important aspect of what it means to follow Christ. We must integrate our faith in the arena of work,...

Western culture has influenced us in many ways. One area that has been influenced greatly is our family situation. Many families are divided or broken because of individualism and self-centeredness. Instead of becoming a place of nurture and spiritual development, many homes nowadays are filled with constant conflict. Because the home is no longer a safe place, few people experience unconditional...

Most husbands are known for their willingness to sacrifice. Usually, this is their way of loving their wives. However, their sacrifice involves working hard only. Other than that, they have no other way of showing their love for their wives. In contrast, the word of God teaches husbands to love their wives as Christ loves the church. This involves far more than working hard. --- Send in a voice me...

To live with integrity as followers of Christ, we must learn how to proclaim Christ in all our relationships. Let us begin with marriage, especially in the role of a wife. Unfortunately, this is where we often fail to apply the Gospel. Marriage can be a place of great blessing. or it can be a place of great sorrow. Your faith in Christ as a wife must be central in your marriage or else the world w...

No one really knows what the future holds. That can easily create insecurity in our hearts. But insecurity is not just about the future. Sometimes we can be paralyzed by so many uncertainties in life that we fail to move forward according to God's will. We often say "No" when we can in fact say "Yes" because we are so insecure about ourselves. Only by standing on the promises of God can we overcom...

A lot of people waste their lives, including Christians. This should not be. To live with integrity, we need to plan our lifestyle wisely. We cannot live haphazardly, letting things happen to us rather than choosing what needs to happen in our lives in order to please God. Our choices each day must reflect how we see ourselves. In other words, our true identity in Christ should determine our prior...

We learned that integrity is knowing who you are in Christ and living accordingly. Consequently, we are to pursue holiness, practice thanksgiving, and purify our hearts from idolatry because of who we are already in Christ. This is discipleship, integrating the Gospel in our lives through the power of the Holy Spirit together with others. In addition, we are to please God alone, not people. This i...

Integrity is knowing who you are in Christ and living accordingly. This is the most important aspect of discipleship. It's also the ongoing process of discernment that a Christian engages in each and every day of his or her life. To live with integrity is to practice discernment together with others. If we do not discern what is in accord with our true Christian identity, we will always be shaped...

Previously, we saw the importance of our participation in a community of faith (Eph 4:25-28), which is the context of our discipleship. Today, we want to talk about imitation (Eph 4:29-5:2), which is the process itself of being transformed into Christlikeness. The Holy Spirit wants to work in our lives to transform us from the inside out in the context of a community of faith. This requires our co...