Author: Phil Rehberg

spiritual friend

Spiritual Friendship And Spiritual Advisers – Should We Admonish?

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Bruce and Tom (or Linda and Rachel) are spiritual friends and have edifying conversations on a regular basis. They encourage one another and each one feels stronger because of the friendship. Bruce starts to notice that Tom makes little joking putdowns of others in his conversations with people. Of course, this isn’t a cardinal sin but it is definitely not godly speech. What should Bruce do? Being a spiritual friend to someone is a huge blessing, for you as well as them. Believers are recognizing they need spiritual help and so life coaching and spiritual direction are more popular now than in the past. But how can we be a spiritual friend who actually makes a difference in someone’s life? How can we be God’s channel for transformation? One of the keys to being a good spiritual friend is saying the hard things that you don’t want to say. In Continue Reading →

Weekly words of encouragement

God Can Do More Than We Imagine – Weekly Words Of Encouragement

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“[He] is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.” Eph. 3:20 (NIV) Remember that God can do even more than we ask. He can do more than we can imagine – and I can imagine a lot! Sometimes He does more and sometimes He doesn’t but the point is that there is no limit to what He can do and we can rely on that. And we don’t have to worry that we have prayed about every possible thing He might give us because sometimes He will do more than we ask. He is not limited by our prayers; He is only limited by His love and His love has no limits. God Will Reward The Pure – Weekly Words Of EncouragementNovember 17, 2025Our Future Perfect CommunityNovember 14, 2025God Will Show Us Mercy – Weekly Words Continue Reading →

rejected by society

It’s OK To Be Rejected By Society – Part 2

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Last week we saw that it is normal for society to consider Christians intolerant or antisocial and that historically people turn to Jesus when Christians are outcasts and lights for Jesus. So isn’t it best to let go of our need to be viewed as tolerant and progressive and inclusive? Is it possible that our unwillingness to be considered irrelevant and morally narrow is really a desire for worldly approval, even though we say it is for Jesus’ sake? Are some of us avoiding the idea of Christians being separate from the mainstream of society? If we let go of these things we will find peace as well as greater effectiveness for Jesus. Instead, we should remember that we do not need to think of ourselves as being on the defensive. Rather, we are always on the offensive because we are bringing “goodness and light” to the world. Thus, we Continue Reading →

rejected by society

It’s OK To Be Rejected By Society – Part 1

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Many of us feel like large portions of our society are hostile to Christians and not willing to respect our beliefs. Christians are vilified in some media just for expressing moral standards. We are considered intolerant towards people, and irrelevant to society. We are misrepresented in order to make it easier to reject us. The good news is that these are all attitudes that the citizens of the Roman Empire held towards Christians for over 250 years. But Christianity still steadily grew and by the end of the 4th century it was the dominant religion in the Empire. Christians in the Roman Empire were considered antisocial because they did not join in the immoral pagan worship or in the violent and bloody spectacles that were popular at the time. Christians were considered atheists because they would not worship any of the Roman gods or worship the Emperor as a god. Continue Reading →

Weekly words of encouragement

Jesus Values Our Everyday Work – Weekly Words Of Encouragement

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“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.” Col. 3:23-24 (ESV) This is one of the most practical words of encouragement in scripture. Many of us spend much of our time on tasks that are not enjoyable or in environments that are unpleasant. For example, think of all the time we spend on house chores, paying bills, grooming and other types of maintenance. This passage explains that whatever task we are doing we are actually serving Jesus. The Lord values the work we do. Whether we are landscaping a yard, teaching a class, answering phones, or keeping house – Jesus values our work. If we reprogram our thinking so that we remind ourselves that while we work that we are working for Jesus then we will Continue Reading →