K.P. Yohannan's Blog, page 16

Bob Mayo: Faithfully Did Everything Our Lord Set Before Him

Death is a strange thing. I heard someone say once we cannot comprehend death because we were made for eternity.

This week the staff at Gospel for Asia are mourning the loss of a dear brother, friend and co-laborer, Bob Mayo. After suffering with chest pains off and on, and more severely over last weekend, he went to be with the Lord on Monday evening after efforts to increase the blood flow to his heart. 

Bob first visited our ministry in Asia in the nineties. It was after his trip to the f...

One Star Smiles

It is late
I am alone
In my room
Far away
from my home.

No phone to ring
No one to visit
My door is locked
It is dark.

I get up
Walk to the window
Stand by it
And stare at the sky.

Silent night
Stars shimmer
Then clouds move in
To cover their beauty.

Through the clouds
One star smiles
Whispers to my heart,

“I am the star
That led the shepherds
To the manger
In Bethlehem.”

Emmanuel
Lamb of God
Slain for me
Rose again
He is here
With me now
I am not alone
Never will be.

The post One Star Smi...

God Is Still Looking for a Mighty Minority

If you ask any pastor or evangelist what discourages him the most when he steps behind the pulpit to deliver a sermon, I believe that nine times out of ten, his answer will be “empty chairs.”

From a human perspective, our success in serving God is generally measured by the largeness of the crowd we are able to gather, the income we can generate, the impressiveness and size of our building and the fame we can attach to our name.

However, when we read the Bible, we encounter a God who longs t...

What if Jesus Had Never Been Born?

Suppose you owned an ant farm, and you loved those ants more than anything in the whole world. How would you communicate your love to them? You could shout, “I love you,” in any language you choose, but they couldn’t understand you. You could write them a letter, but they couldn’t read it.

But if you had supernatural powers, there is one thing you could do. You could be born as an ant, live as an ant and communicate as they do. Then you could find a way to say, “I love you.”

This is what God...

God is Looking for Humble, Simple People

Have you ever thought about the fact that both Judas and Peter denied Christ? Yet one committed suicide and the other became one of the greatest leaders of the Church, opening the door for the whole world, including Gentiles, to receive the Good News of His kingdom.

What was the difference?

Judas had all the privileges Peter had. He was one of the people that Jesus sent out two-by-two to heal the sick, cast out demons and preach the Good News. But through all his learning and experiences and...

Our Intimacy With Him is the Force that Propels Us

I have known people who fast and pray and study the Bible and yet are so hard to live with. They are like porcupines—they look wonderful from a distance, but if you get near them, they poke you. They’re arrogant and proud. They can hardly say they’re sorry when they fail.

It’s easy to notice this in other people. But any one of us can end up in this place if we are not actively pursuing the Lord and seeking to know Him. We can find ourselves doing all the right things outwardly while nothing...

Intimacy With God is a Pursuit

We can know all about God, about Christianity and have all the right answers—but never really know Him and walk in deep fellowship and relationship with Him. We don’t want that to be the story of our life here on earth!

It is good to stop, put away all our right answers and experiences, and ask ourselves: Do I know God personally? Do I have an intimate walk with Him? Have I been changed by an encounter with the Lord’s nature?

This intimacy with God is a pursuit.

For us to get the craziness o...

I Like Hearing Children Pray

Have you ever read a child’s prayer or heard a child praying? Every week at Gospel for Asia’s Tuesday prayer meeting, there’s a segment where my wife or one of the other staff members shares prayer requests with the staff children. When these little ones pray, they’re not looking for huge words or trying to impress anybody. They don’t think through complex theology when they’re deciding what to ask God. They just ask Him what’s on their heart. Their prayers are so simple and straightforward;...

A Good Read: The Geography of Thought

I recently read a book called The Geography of Thought. It’s about how Asians and Westerners think differently and why. It was fascinating to read, especially as I have spent so much of my life between these two cultures.

For those of us in the West, we think linearly—there is a straight line from “A” to “B.” Everything is about reason and logic; two plus two is four. But in Asian thinking, it is circular. Anything you think about, you think about the total picture of it. Going from “A” to “...

There is More to Life Than You Ever Thought

There Is More

There is more to life than you ever thought
Thinking “this is the end” is not truly so
You are not alone in this big world
It is full of hurting people who need your help.

There is a rich man, dying alone.
A mother who has lost her child grieves alone.
A wife who has a drunk for a husband weeps alone.
A child who lost his parents walks alone.

It is in giving that our needs are met.
Weep for others and you shall find joy
Touch someone to live again
Your life is too short to sit...