Episode Transcript
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Juantrell Lovette (00:03):
Let's talk
about love.
Let's talk about money.
Let's talk about sex.
Let's talk about drug.
Let's talk about you.
Let's talk about me.
Let's talk about us.
Let's talk about we.
Let's talk about you.
(00:23):
Let's talk about me.
Let's talk about us.
Let's talk about we.
Let's talk about wealth.
Let's talk about greed.
Let's talk being broke, livingin poverty.
Let's talk about black.
Let's talk about white.
Let's talk about how we stillfight for our rights.
Let's talk about sex games anddrugs.
Let's talk about God.
Let's talk about love.
Let's discuss our feelings.
(00:44):
Hey y'all, welcome to Bless ToBe Us.
I'm your cousin in Christ, juanTrole LeVette, and this is Buji
Bible Studies.
If you are new here, i'd liketo welcome you to the number one
Bible study class that you willever come across.
If you are not new, you alreadyknow how we get down as we dive
into the Bible and read achapter a week and get the
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inside story of what took placeback then.
That is so vital for our livestoday where we need to
understand and have arelationship with God in this
life today so that we can enjoyour lives.
I mean, having a relationshipwith God is so essential that it
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be crazy for me, you or anybodyelse to try to survive without
God or try to think that we gotit all figured out, because let
me tell you something, baby, idefinitely don't have it figured
out.
But I know that if I focus onGod, i know that all things will
come together for my good.
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And I know that all things worktogether for my good because I
can just look back at my lifeand I can see how things have
played out and are playing outtoday.
And let's jump into the story.
Today we will be in Acts,chapter eight, and the title of
our episode today is ConversionSpread Outside the Jewish
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Community.
Now, the definition ofconversions mean the process of
changing or causing something tochange from one form to another
.
An example would be theconversion of food into body
tissue.
So today's title, acts eight InSaul approved of their killing,
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the church, persecuted andscattered.
On that day, a great persecutionbroke out against the church in
Jerusalem and all except theapostles were scattered
throughout Judea and Samaria.
Golly men buried Stefan andmourned deeply for him, but Saul
began to destroy the church.
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Going from house to house, hedragged off both men and women
and put them in prison.
Philip in Samaria Verse fourthose who have been scattered
preach the word wherever theywent.
Philip went down to a city inSamaria and proclaimed the
Messiah there.
When the crowds heard Philipand saw the signs he performed,
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they all paid close attention towhat he said, for with shrieks
and pure spirits came out ofmany, and many who were
paralyzed or lame were healed.
So there was great joy in thatcity.
Verse five, chapter eightcrossing racial barriers.
Philip visits to Samaria wasquite remarkable in its day.
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Jewish people had little to dowith the Samaritan's.
Oh Jesus I am butchering thisword Looking down on them for
racial and religious reasons.
Later, philip met with anEthiopian official on a mission
that crossed racial barriers.
The modern Christian church inEthiopia claims an uninterrupted
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descent from the conversiondescribed in chapter eight.
Let's proceed.
Simon the Sorcerer, verse ninenow, for some time, a man named
Simon had practiced sorcery inthe city and amazed all the
people of Samaria.
He boasted that he was someonegreat and all the people, both
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high and low, gave him theirattention and exclaimed this man
is right, called the greatpower of God.
They followed him because hehad amazed them for a long time
with his sorcery.
But when they believed Philip,as he proclaimed the good news
of the kingdom of God and thename of Jesus Christ, they were
baptized, both men and women.
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Simon himself believed and wasbaptized, and he followed Philip
everywhere, astonished by thegreat signs and miracles he saw.
When the apostles in Jerusalemheard that Samaria had accepted
the word of God, they sent Peterand John to Samaria.
When they arrived, they prayedfor the new believers where they
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might receive the Holy Spirit,because the Holy Spirit had not
yet come on any of them.
They had simply been baptizedin the name of the Lord Jesus.
Then Peter and John placedtheir hands on them and they
received the Holy Spirit.
When Simon saw that the Spiritwas given at the lane on the
apostles hands, he offered themmoney and said Give me also this
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ability that everyone on whom Ilay my hands may receive the
Holy Spirit.
Peter answered May your moneyperish with you because you
thought you could buy the giftof God with money.
You have no part or share inthis ministry because your heart
is not right.
Before God, repent of thiswickedness and pray to the Lord
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in the hope that he may forgiveyou for having such a thought in
your heart, for I see that youare full of bitterness and
captive to sin.
Gospel greed, chapter 8, 18through 20.
The tendency to exploitspiritual power for material
profit did not originate withthe digital age.
Simon, a magician in Samaria,saw the gospel as a way to
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increase his own fame.
The disciples had no moretolerance for his attitude than
they had for the lies of Ananiasand Sapphira in Acts 5.
Verse 24,.
Then Simon answered Pray to theLord for me, so that nothing
you have said may happen to me.
After they had furtherproclaimed the word of the Lord
and testified about Jesus.
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Peter and John returned toJerusalem preaching the gospel
in many Samaritan villages.
Philip and the Ethiopian, verse26.
Now an angel of the Lord saidto Philip Go south to the road,
the desert road that goes downfrom Jerusalem to Gaza.
So he started out and on hisway he met an Ethiopian eunuch,
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an important aficion in chargeof all the treasuries of the
Candace, which means Queen ofthe Ethiopians.
This man had gone to Jerusalemto worship and on his way home
was sitting in his chariotreading the book of Isaiah the
prophet.
The spirit told Philip Go tothat chariot and stay near it.
Then Philip ran up to thechariot and heard the man
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reading Isaiah the prophet.
Do you understand what you arereading?
Philip asked How can I?
he said, unless someoneexplains it to me.
So he invited Philip to come upand sit with him.
This is the passage of scripturethat the eunuch was reading.
He was led like a sheep to theslaughter and as a lamb before
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his shears is silent.
So he did not open his mouth.
In his humiliation he wasdeprived of justice.
Who can speak of hisdescendants?
for his life was taken from theearth?
The eunuch asked Philip, tellme please.
Who is the prophet talkingabout?
himself or someone else?
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Then Philip began with that verypassage of scripture and told
him the good news about Jesus.
As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and
the eunuch said Look, here iswater.
What could stand in the way ofmy being baptized?
And he gave orders to stop thechariot.
Then both Philip and the eunuchwent down into the water and
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Philip baptized him.
When they came up out of thewater, the spirit of the Lord
suddenly took Philip away andthe eunuch did not see him again
but went on his way rejoicing.
Philip, however, appeared atazotas and traveled about
preaching the gospel in all thetowns until he reached Caesarea.
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I hope I'm not butchering thatword either.
That's the end of our chapter.
Alright, let's break it down,shall we?
The danger in being a Christian.
It began as a Jewish sect.
The fear.
Persecution only helped.
It spread.
So in Acts, chapter 8, verse 1,on that day a great persecution
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broke out against the church inJerusalem, and all except the
apostles were scatteredthroughout Judea, in Samaria.
In some countries, a person whobecomes a Christian forfeits a
good education and a job.
In a few countries, those whoconvert even risk their lives.
One church historian estimatesthat more Christians were matred
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in the last century than allpreceding centuries put together
.
Yet, strangely, more often thannot, intense persecution of
Christians leads to a spurt ofgrowth in the church.
An ancient saying expressedthis phenomenon the blood of the
marchers is the seed of thechurch.
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The first big events.
For a while the new faithenjoyed popular favor, but very
soon it evolved grave risk.
In the Book of Acts, thepersecution that produced the
first Christian martyr, stephen,ironically brought about the
advance of Christianity beyondits Jewish base.
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Forced out of stormy Jerusalem,the scattering Jewish
Christians fled to other regionsand began preaching to other
races and ethnic groups.
Philip preached first to thedespised Samaria and then
crossed racial barriers byhelping to convert an official
from Ethiopia.
Acts documents a dramaticchange in the church.
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What had been viewed as anoffshoot of the Jewish religion,
a Nazaring sect, in chapter 24,verse 5, began to encompass
people from other religions,races and cultures.
Before long, the center ofchurch activity moved from
Jerusalem to the city of Antioch.
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Their people coined the wordChristian, indicating how
separate the new faith hadbecome.
Never again would it beconsidered just a Jewish thing,
breaking the Jewish mode.
As Luke tells it, taking thegospel to other ethnic groups
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requires some adjustment.
Jewish disciples balked atletting go of their centuries
old tradition and allowing thechurch to be flooded with
non-Jews.
Peter, one of the most loyalJews, explained his dilemma this
way Who was I to think that Icould stand in God's way?
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In chapter 11, verse 17,.
A direct, unmistakable visionfrom God in chapter 10, verse 9
through 23, overcame Peter'sresistance to accepting non-Jews
and later a decisive churchcouncil settled on a policy
towards them in chapter 15,verse 1 through 21.
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As the pages of X turn, wholeprovince and cultures open up to
the gospel.
The faith that had been guardedby a small knot of intimate
all-Jews who knew Jesuspersonally broke out into a
rough world of soldiers,sorcerers, merchants and
antagonists from other religions.
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This is a process was notwithout its bloody and
frightening moment.
Life question If severepersecution were to come to the
church in your region today,what would happen to your faith
As we break down the dangers inbeing a Christian?
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this was the time X, chapter 8,before Paul got, before Saul
became Paul, and this is when hewas actually persecuting the
churches.
But to get an understanding, itlooked like at this time it's.
That's when the churches beganto scatter out.
People began to scatter out andthey began to take the word of
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God with them and preach itwherever they went to.
So just like Philip who went,who went to go preaching Samaria
and all that and was able toconvert an Ethiopian man.
That's how the Christiancommunity came about today.
It's like it was.
It was basically adopted.
It was like adopted like a newworld order, a new order of
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Christians, a new way ofbelievers, and people who were
non-Jews actually believed thestories of the Bible, believed
that Jesus was the Messiah orbelieved.
You know what was taking place.
So it leads up to why we are soconnected to the Christian
community.
Or you know, the Christiancommunity got a chokehold on a
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lot of us and our families andgenerations past, generations
before us.
It's because how it broke outand a believer didn't just have
to be a Jewish.
A believer doesn't have to bejust black, white, brown, yellow
, green, orange.
Or just not too long ago inChina, a baby and their parents
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got put in prison for having aBible.
So persecution is still goingon for people just believing the
stories of the Bible, believingthat Jesus came to do what he
needed to do.
God had a plan And so it's justso funny how persecution is
still going on today.
So, like the question, say ifsevere persecution were to come
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to the church in your regiontoday, what would happen to your
faith?
For me, i guess nothing wouldhappen to my faith.
I think it would kind of likestrengthen, because you will
wonder why is somebody trying topersecute for what you believe?
How are people trying to hurtyou based off of your belief?
Whether it's true or not, who'sto say you know Jesus really
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came or not?
It's just the belief in all ofus that will really piss
somebody off, that you believethat somebody came to save your
life.
Like that really do mess withpeople.
And I would just say for me itprobably would make me believe
even more.
It probably would strengthen myfaith because it would make me
think like, why are you suchagainst the way that?
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I believe It have to be sometruth behind it to make a person
so angry or mad that want topersecute you.
And it's still going on today.
Look what just took place inChina.
They got put in prison a babyand his parents just for having
a Bible, got put in prison justfor believing.
The story is like that's crazyto me.
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So the question goes to youwhat would you do, what would
happen with your faith ifpersecution came today and our
churches today?
Because it's still going on.
Even church people still, even.
Just because they're in churchdon't mean that they make them
like 100% believers, and justbecause the people who don't go
to church don't make themnon-believers.
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You know what I'm saying?
Like belief comes from withinyou.
It's about your focus, what youbelieve in, what you can see,
you know what God is installinginto you, and I think that's why
it's just so important to wakeup with God and walk with God
and talk with God and, you know,have that relationship with God
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.
It's just super, super, supervital for your life, because
persecution is happening everyday.
These bills is persecuting thehell out of me.
I tell you, i tell you, butevery day God is showing up for
me, god is making a way And itjust be surprising me Like I'd
be just surprised, i ain't evengonna hold y'all Like I'd be
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tripping out to see God comethrough for me how he does, like
right on time.
Don't even be my time, it'd beon his time or her time.
However you identify yourspiritual God.
But it's like I'll be trippingoff that because the moment you
are born into this world it'slike you're persecuted.
You're persecuted of youridentity, you're persecuted of
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having responsibilities that youdon't even understand or can
even fathom to understand, tothink.
Like you know, you're gonna behaving so much weight on your
shoulder just by being born inthis world.
So to try to live and survivewithout God is just crazy.
It's crazy to me And every timeI go sometime without Him or
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have not my mind on the highercreator, things always disturb
me, disturb my peace, disturb mygrace and mercy, and it's just
like I'm honored.
I'm honored to have somebodyfight my battles and have not
saying somebody, because God iswithin me a spiritual entity And
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it's just, like you know, justto have this belief, because
it's all about what you believe.
We all live in this same worldbut yet we all have our own
world within our own mind Andit's mind-boggling to me
sometimes when I think about itlike dang, even though I'm in
this world with all these people, it's all based on how I
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believe, what I believe, that'sgoing to dictate my actions and
dictate my next moves and thingslike that.
It's my belief and that isreally really important.
So I'm just grateful and Ithank God that the journey that
I'm on with the creator you know, just spiritually connected to
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Mother Nature and the offeringsthat she brings, and the creator
within me, and just beingsurrounded by the grace and the
mercy of our creators Like, yeah, what more can I ask for?
I'm grateful and I'm thankfulyou guys.
So thank you guys for checkingout today's story.
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I ain't even going to tell y'allwhat I got planned, because my
plans never work out.
I ain't even going to holdy'all no more.
I'm going to just say Iappreciate you guys listening to
the podcast.
Go ahead and check us out onsocial media blessed to be, as
on Instagram, bougie BibleStudies on Facebook And go ahead
and support this podcast.
If you would click the link,it's right here in the
(19:24):
description.
Anything counts, anythingmatters.
I appreciate it all And youjust listening to this podcast.
I appreciate that as well.
I have to be focused.
I have to get on my focusbecause your girl is slipping
and tripping and just trippingout like all week.
All week has been a tough,rough week.
June period hit me really,really hard and it hit me like
(19:52):
unexpectedly right.
So I got thrown off and I gotthrown back.
But what I'm going to do is tryto tackle July Like head on and
stay focused, and I just hopeyou guys are doing the same
thing like staying focused.
Man, it's a grouchy world outhere.
It's crazy and it's weird andit's sometimes it can be ill,
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you know.
But more or less, thank youguys for checking me out and
checking out this podcast Andthank you guys for rocking with
me your cousin in Christ Wontrola bit.
Until next time.
I will talk to you later, bye.