Gospel for Asia

My wife and I missed church last Sunday! Our exceptional pastor was giving his third sermon in a special series about the Holy Spirit. But our middle of nine grandchildren was graduating from high school, and the Sunday-morning 11:00 high school ceremony made it impossible to be in both places at the same time. I remember back when the family questioned whether Elias, who is autistic, would make it through high school. How proud of him we now were that he was graduating in the top 10% of his huge class of some 1,200 students. We all agreed, those of us observing from the inside stadium seats, that orchestrating this many young people to quickly walk across the platform to receive their diplomas was a scene of incredible organizational skills on the part of the school administration. We began right at 11:00 A.M., and ended after various student speeches, choral renditions, an orchestral piece, remarks by various dignitaries, and all those 1,200 students, right on time at 2:00 P...

In the early years of my ministry, I spoke according to my own ability and cleverness. Though people were impressed, inside I was drying up. I struggled without any overcoming life in me. I carried a lot of information in my head, but I was like a chandelier with the switch turned off. It looks nice, the bulbs are brand-new, the electrical cord intact, but the power needed to light it is missing. One evening, before I was to speak in a meeting, I sat alone in my room and cried out in desperation to God. “Lord, I know my outline and I know my stories, but my heart is empty. I have no power. You promised to give me power. Please fill me with Your Holy Spirit and give me power to minister tonight.” The Lord heard my prayers and did a mighty work that night. I don’t even remember the message I spoke, but afterward many people were weeping and crying out to God for Him to work in their lives. Did I do it? No. The Holy Spirit did it! In your life, as you are filled with the...

We all have expectations for ourselves. We all have ways we would like to be different. Perhaps we would like to be more patient or less prone to anger. When we do not measure up to the standards we have set for ourselves we become discouraged. But you  have to realize that God is not discouraged with you . He never gives up on us. He never stops working with us. Balance is needed between knowing our sins and insufficiency and knowing that it is God who works within us, perfecting us for His glory. When you pray, do you oftentimes get weighed down with confessing your own sins and repenting for every wrong thought and failure? Sometimes it seems we can’t get over this, living with constant memories from the past and old sins that caused great pain. Many people live continually with the words, “If only . . . if only . . . I wish,” playing through their minds, unable to move past their failures. Sometimes we feel that we don’t pray enough. We are not spiritual enough . . ...

Vital to the servant of God’s life and ministry is self-discipline. No matter how able, educated or gifted a person is, he will never fulfill the call of God on his life, or reach your goal, without self-discipline. It is interesting that Paul addresses this issue of self-discipline early on in his last words to Timothy, reminding him that God has given us “ a spirit of . . . self-discipline” (2 Timothy 1:7 , NLT ). He knew that in order to be effective in ministry and fulfilling the call of God, one must bring the outer man under control. It is self-discipline—not a person’s wishes or dreams—that empowers him to accomplish great things, and reach your goal. If we are to follow in the footsteps of Christ as His disciples , we must be people of self- discipline. Notice how disciple and discipline come from the same root word, showing us what type of people the Lord’s servants must be. Consider , for example, how an athlete trains for the Olympics. The decision t...

The power of the Holy Spirit is one of those subjects that people in many parachurch or non-denominational organizations tend to avoid, often because of the extremism found in some sections of Christianity and their teaching on the Holy Spirit. Emotional upheaval and radical manifestations have caused many evangelicals to shy away from the balanced teaching of Scripture on this crucial subject. But w e must never forget that even the Lord Jesus Christ —God in flesh and the perfect, sinless Savior—had to be anointed with the Holy Spirit before starting His ministry on earth. His powerful ministry was not just something granted to Him by virtue of the fact that He was the Son of God. It was by the power of the Holy Spirit that Jesus: Healed the sick Gave sight to the blind Made the lame walk Raised the dead Preached the kingdom’s arrival And it was for this same reason that Jesus “commanded [His disciples] . . . to wait for the Promise of the Father, ‘which,’ H e said,...

When you read about Paul, Peter, Philip and others in the book of Acts, you see how their lives were marked by passion. They were full of zeal, enthusiasm and excitement, red-hot in following the Lord. . . . I believe the Lord desires for us to be the same way today. Even Jesus . . . focused on what His Father required of Him. And so must we—but not at the expense of wisdom. As somebody once said, “We can become so heavenly minded that we are of no earthly good.” We need to be wise in our zeal . Sometimes we need to slow down, be sensitive and listen. In all His zeal, Jesus still took time to simply listen to the woman at the well and play with the children. National workers learn to walk in wisdom as they keep their zeal for the Lord high. One time when I came home from the office, Gisela was crying about something going on at the house. I don’t remember exactly what it was that was bothering her. I automatically started quoting Bible verses and preaching to her, thinki...

Dr. KP Yohannan pictured with a Bridge of Hope student who lives in the Mubmai slums. Click image to see how you can sponsor a needy child in Asia, and provide them with hope for a brighter future, from a Bridge of Hope education. A thousand voices screaming at me to meet their demands to move faster than I was able I became a restless soul. A thousand times I was tempted to throw up my hands to give up all hope to lay down and die. A thousand nights of silence engulfed my soul forced me to kneel to pray beside my bed. A thought like sun’s brightness flooded my soul He spoke gently in my ear, “Be still and know I am God.” KP Yohannan. “ Be Still and Know.”   Dance Not for Time.  GFA Books, 2013, p. 23 7 . Have you ever experienced God speaking to you in time of need? Comment below and share how He met you there in the midst of the struggle . Click here to order a copy of Dance Not for Time . Cli...

One night as I was driving home after Gospel for Asia’s weekly prayer meeting, the engine in my 1962 VW Bug simply stopped. I found myself alone in a dark, quiet neighborhood , standing next to a car that refused to run. I felt helpless, frustrated and sorry for myself. I called some of our GFA staff to come help me. As I waited for them to arrive, I began thinking about how Jesus would respond to a situation like mine. As I reflected on His attitude toward inconvenience and suffering, the Lord met me there on that dark street corner. He reminded me once again of the importance of Jesus ’ example—and of His life, not my own, lived through me. Women in Asia have particular challenges. Click the image to learn more. Beyond Obedience Many Christians make the mistake of thinking that obeying the Bible makes them spiritual. Mahatma Gandhi obeyed the Sermon on the Mount quite literally— yet he never became a follower of Christ. The Pharisees knew their Bible well, yet...

Wills Point, Texas - (GFA) Gospel for Asia We live in a culture in which, unless we consciously and deliberately seek to swim against the current, we will hardly make it as followers of Christ—at least, not the Christ of the New Testament, who said, “And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:27). The Church at large has adapted to the trends of the culture. Frequently the Christian message is presented in a way that caters to people’s perceived needs and their desire for an easier, better life. Man and his comfort have become the main focus, and God is obligated to meet these expectations. This has created a generation of Christians who know little or nothing of sacrifice, suffering and self-denial for the sake of Jesus. We have become conditioned so that, if we are asked to sit on a hard bench, we immediately look for a soft cushion, at least a thin one. Even in the work of God, we avoid difficult tasks, and we question anything t...