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/2022/03/22/keep-it-simple-2

[{"status":"publish","site_id":"1","date":1647907200000,"title":"Keep It Simple","author":"2400450","bible_in_a_year":"<a href=\"https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Joshua+10%E2%80%9312%3B+Luke+1%3A39%E2%80%9356\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"scripture reference verse\" class=\"scripture-link\" data-category=\"scripture-link\" data-action=\"bible-in-a-year\" data-label=\"Bible in a Year\">Joshua 10–12; Luke 1:39–56</a>","bible_in_a_year_references":"Joshua 10–12; Luke 1:39–56","bible_in_a_year_url":"https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Joshua+10%E2%80%9312%3B+Luke+1%3A39%E2%80%9356","content":"<p>The email was short but urgent. &ldquo;Request salvation. I would like to know Jesus.&rdquo; What an astonishing request. Unlike reluctant friends and family who hadn&rsquo;t yet received Christ, this person didn&rsquo;t need convincing. My task was to quiet my self-doubt about evangelizing and simply share key concepts, Scriptures, and trusted resources that addressed this man&rsquo;s plea. From there, by faith, God would lead his journey.</p>\n<p>Philip demonstrated such simple evangelism when on a desert road he met the treasurer of Ethiopia who was reading aloud from the book of Isaiah. &ldquo;Do you understand what you are reading?&rdquo; Philip asked (Acts 8:30). &ldquo;How can I,&rdquo; the man answered, &ldquo;unless someone explains it to me&rdquo; (v. 31). Invited to clarify, &ldquo;Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus&rdquo; (v. 35). &nbsp;</p>\n<p>Starting where people are and keeping evangelism simple, as Philip showed, can be an effective way to share Christ. In fact, as the two traveled along, the man said, &ldquo;Look, here is water&rdquo; and asked to be baptized (v. 36). Philip complied, and the man &ldquo;went on his way rejoicing&rdquo; (v. 39). I rejoiced when the email writer replied that he had repented of sin, confessed Christ, found a church, and believed he was born again. What a beautiful start! Now, may God take him higher!</p>\n","excerpt":"<p>The email was short but urgent. &ldquo;Request salvation. I would like to know Jesus.&rdquo; What an astonishing request. Unlike reluctant friends and family who hadn&rsquo;t yet received Christ, this person didn&rsquo;t need convincing. My task was to quiet my self-doubt about evangelizing and simply share key concepts, Scriptures, and trusted resources that addressed this man&rsquo;s plea. From there, by faith, God would lead his journey.</p>\r\n<p>Philip demonstrated such simple evangelism when on a desert road he met the treasurer of Ethiopia who was reading aloud from the book of Isaiah. &ldquo;Do you understand what you are reading?&rdquo; Philip asked (Acts 8:30). &ldquo;How can I,&rdquo; the man answered, &ldquo;unless someone explains it to me&rdquo; (v. 31). Invited to clarify, &ldquo;Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus&rdquo; (v. 35). &nbsp;</p>\r\n<p>Starting where people are and keeping evangelism simple, as Philip showed, can be an effective way to share Christ. In fact, as the two traveled along, the man said, &ldquo;Look here is water&rdquo; and asked to be baptized (v. 37). Philip complied, and the man &ldquo;went on his way rejoicing&rdquo; (v. 39). I rejoiced when the email writer replied that he had repented of sin, confessed Christ, found a church, and believed he was born again. What a beautiful start! Now, may God take him higher!</p>","insights":"<p>Eunuchs were men—usually castrated—who served as officials in a royal court. Both Greeks and Jews often looked down on eunuchs; Greeks sometimes mocked them as “half-men,” while Jews might disdain them for their inability to produce heirs and because the law of Moses excluded them from entering “the assembly of the L<span style=\"font-variant: small-caps\">ord</span>” (Deuteronomy 23:1). However, the prophet Isaiah spoke of God’s full acceptance of eunuchs and foreigners who sincerely worshiped and sought Him (Isaiah 56:3–8). In baptizing the eunuch in Acts 8:26–40, Philip affirmed that this man was fully included and embraced in the family of God.</p>","passage":"<a href=\"https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+8%3A26%E2%80%9335\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"scripture reference verse\" class=\"scripture-link\" data-category=\"scripture-link\" data-action=\"passage\" data-label=\"Scripture Passage\">Acts 8:26–35</a>","passage_url":"https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+8%3A26%E2%80%9335","passage_reference":"Acts 8:26–35","response":"<p>How do you respond to opportunities to share your faith? What simple answers could you have on hand for someone who wants to know Jesus?</p>","thought":"<p>I’m not an expert at evangelizing, heavenly Father, so show me simple, effective ways to share the good news about Christ.</p>\r\n<p>Learn more about <a href=\"https://OurDailyBread.org/resources/leading-others-to-christ/\">leading others to Christ</a>.</p>","verse":"<p>Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus. <a href=\"https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+8%3A35\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"scripture reference verse\" class=\"scripture-link\" data-category=\"scripture-link\" data-action=\"verse\" data-label=\"Key Verse\">Acts 8:35</a></p>\r\n","insight_question":"","author_name":"Patricia Raybon","lang_author_name":"","author_link":"https://odb.org/author/patriciaraybon/","slug":"keep-it-simple-2","insights_author":"1668557","insights_author_name":"Monica La Rose","insights_author_id":"1668557","shareable_image":"https://d626yq9e83zk1.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2022/01/31182651/share_odb_2022-03-22.jpg","image_url":"https://d626yq9e83zk1.cloudfront.net/files/2022/03/odb20220322.jpg","email_image_url":"https://d626yq9e83zk1.cloudfront.net/ebread/dailyimages/odbdevo_20220322e.jpg","audio_url":"https://dzxuyknqkmi1e.cloudfront.net/odb/2022/03/odb-03-22-22.mp3","brandName":"Our Daily Bread","preheader_text":"The email was short but urgent. &ldquo;Request salvation. I would like to know Jes...","sku_listname":"EEN100","brand_logo_url":"https://odb.org/wp-content/themes/odbm-base-ourdailybread/images/odb_logo.svg","language":"en_US","date_id":1647907200000}]