February 16, 2000
Hispanics urged to be bold, share faith
___By Gilbert Montez
___Texas Baptist Communications
___FORT WORTH--Compassion, passion and faith are three necessary ingredients for believers to boldly step forward and share the gospel in the 21st century, a Fort Worth pastor told Hispanic Texas Baptists.
___Roberto Arrubla Jr. challenged more than 900 attending this year's Hispanic Evangelism Conference at the Tarrant County Convention Center, held Jan. 31 and Feb. 1.
___Arrubla, pastor of Iglesia Bautista El Buen Pastor in Fort Worth, and Leovardo Flores,pastor of Iglesia Bautista Nueva in Vernon, brought the keynote sermons for the conference. The theme was "Following Christ in the 21st Century."
___"If lost people don't see that we care for them, that we're sincerely willing to meet their needs, they won't take the step of coming to know the Lord," Arrubla said in Spanish. "That's the type of compassion Christ showed for people, a compassion that moved him to tears for the lost.
___"People aren't looking for theologians; they're looking for someone who will care and love them," he continued. "Do our communities see our churches as exclusive clubs or as places where they can have their needs met and their souls healed? Hopefully, our churches are places where they can come and feel loved and ministered to for God's glory."
___That the type of compassion begins with prayer, asking God to give a deep love for lost ones, Arrubla said. "When we get down on our knees and pray, God sensitizes our heart to the lost."
___Passion, he said, is what gives believers the energy to do God's will, and God wants Christians to be passionate about the lost. Arrubla asked the audience to hold its breath for 30 seconds and then said, "Just like you are passionate about that next breath of air that you want, so too should we be passionate about reaching the lost."
___Arrubla described this passion as one that "motivates and is contagious. This passion for the lost should be one of love, not for money or stature or personal benefit, but a passion that is driven to obey God. He ignited the crowd by saying that a passion-filled person doesn't say, "it can't be done" but instead focuses on how to get things done and relies on "Christ, because through him, I can do all things."
___Faith, Arrubla said, is the needed element that keeps Christians steadfast in God's will. "It doesn't matter what roadblocks we face, we won't move; we will continue to always have compassion and be passionate about reaching others. Faith gets us through challenging times."
___Flores continued the theme of reaching the lost, making three points, based on Mark 4:14:
___There is no reaping without sowing.
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___"Nothing at all can be reaped until something is sowed," Flores said. "We must first share the gospel and reach out. Lost people won't realize they are lost if we don't share the good news with them."
___He challenged the audience never to tire of doing good, as stated in Galatians 6:9. "To continue to follow Christ in the 21st century, the church must continue to plant the seed of the gospel everywhere and wherever we go," Flores said. "Christ healed the demon-possessed man in his time, and the demons we have today are called alcoholism, drug addiction, homosexuality and on and on."
___Flores admitted to the group that for many years, his own life was bound by alcoholism and that years ago, Christ came and freed him from the addiction.
___"God takes a man's heart and cleanses it, heals it and forgives it and wants to use it for his glory," he said. "Sometimes we think that it is useless to continue to pray for a lost relative or friend when we don't see any results. God is listening to your prayers and does not ever tire of doing good."
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