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Lo obvio… The obvious…

5/10/2017

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"IN SEARCH OF THE OBVIOUS"

"Pero había entre ellos unos varones de Chipre y de Cirene, los cuales, cuando entraron en Antioquía, hablaron también a los griegos, anunciando el evangelio del Señor Jesús." (Hechos 11:20)

Soy un idiota. Si revelo todos mis secretos en un blog, nunca venderé mi libro… ni modo.

¿Tenemos lo que se requiere para ver nacer una iglesia nueva? La verdad, creo que sí…

Necesitamos a varones… bueno, a mujeres, jóvenes, y niños también. Puede que tengamos licenciaturas y doctorados, mercadotecnia, espacios cómodos, un letrero llamativo y una página WEB. Pero si no hay gente, para poco sirve todo eso.

Necesitamos a varones de Chipre y Cirene… bueno, no precisamente, pero sí, necesitamos a personas como estas de Chipre y Cirene. Llegaron a una ciudad nueva, no conocían a nadie y, “cuando entraron”, compartieron el evangelio.

Necesitamos a personas perseguidas… bueno, no sé si es un requisito, pero parece que ayuda. Estos habían salido de Jerusalén luego de la persecución de Estéban. Aquí me siento medio hipócrita: no quiero ser perseguido, pero quiero a más gente perseguida en nuestras iglesias. Los que han pagado un precio por su fe tienden a ser los más valientes y devotos para predicar.

Necesitamos hablar a unos griegos. Oops... yo vivo en Mexico. No conozco a ningún griego. Pero, una de las palabras claves en este versículo es "pero". Otros que habían corrido de Jerusalén compartían el evangelio exclusivamente a judíos. "Pero" estos a los no judíos. Así que, lo que realmente necesitamos es no discriminar. Nos toca hablarle de Jesús a quién Dios ponga en nuestro camino.

Necesitamos anunciar… yo sé que es un concepto moribundo y difícil de comprender. Significa abrir la boca y hacer uso de la voz con volumen suficiente para que las palabras que pronuncias se oigan y se entiendan. No se vale orar y nada más.

Necesitamos anunciar el evangelio del Señor Jesús. Es curioso cómo anunciamos. La gente no va a entender ni apreciar los adjetivos pegados al sustantivo "Iglesia" mientras no abracen el Objeto de esta preposición: las buenas nuevas DE el Señor Jesús. ¿O es que solo buscamos a gente que ya sea como nosotros?

Querer a Jesús viene primero. Luego querrán estar con otros que lo quieran.

"But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists also, preaching the Lord Jesus."  Acts 11:20


I am an idiot. If I reveal all of my secrets in a blog, I will never sell my book. Oh well. 

Do we have what it takes to see the birth of a new church? Actually, I think we do… 

We need men. Well…  women, young people and children, too. We can have college degrees, marketing strategies, comfortable spaces, a pretty sign and a cool website. But without people, none of that is very useful.

We need men from Cyprus and Cyrene… well, not exactly. But we do need people like these from Cyprus and Cyrene. They did not know anyone in Antioch. But, “on coming” to a new town, they immediately began to share the Gospel.

We need persecuted men… ok, I'm not sure that is a requirement but it seems to help. These had left Jerusalem in the wake of Stephen's martyrdom. I feel a little hypocritical here: I don't want to be persecuted, but I would like more persecuted people in our churches. Those who have paid a price for their faith tend to be the braver and more devoted about preaching.

We need to talk to some Hellenists. Oops… I live in Mexico. I don't know any Hellenists. But, one of the key words in this verse is the word "but" at the beginning. Some of those who had fled Jerusalem shared the Gospel exclusively with the Jews. "But" these talked to the non-Jews. So what we really need is to not discriminate, to talk to whomever God puts in our path.

We need to preach… I know it is a dying concept and difficult to comprehend. It means "announce": open your mouth and make use of your voice with sufficient volume so that the words that you are pronouncing are heard and understood. Just praying doesn't cut it.

We need to announce the Gospel of the Lord Jesus. It is curious how we announce. People will seldom understand or appreciate the adjectives stuck to the noun, "church", while they still have not embraced the Object of this preposition: the glad tidings OF the Lord Jesus. Or are we just advertising to attract people who are already like us?

Loving Jesus comes first. Then they will love being with others who love Him too.

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    Greg Smith

    Greg grew up in Menomonee Falls, WI. His ministry began in 1976: 5 years in Central America, 36 in Mexico. His passion is church planting and discipleship.
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    Greg enjoys being married to Carol Ahola-Smith. Both have been missionaries (Japan and Mexico); both watched their first spouses precede them in death.
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    Together, they have a heart for writing, mentoring and teaching.  They enjoy long walks and good coffee.

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