Category Archives: spiritual warfare

June 8, 2013 · 1:13 pm

Prayer: So Easy To Talk About, Yet So Tough To Do (Part 1)

Almost twenty-five years ago, I read an interview of David Yongi Cho in Charisma Magazine which really bummed me out. It was a long interview which dealt with his life and founding of the Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul, South Korea, which then had 700,000 members.

What particularly bummed me out was when the interviewer asked: “Will America ever have a church as large as Yoido Full Gospel Church?”

“No,” replied Cho, “because Americans aren’t willing to pay the price in prayer that it takes to build a large church like Yoido.”

Slap! His words felt like a glove slap to my face, challenging me to a duel.

I readily admit to being full of myself at the time because I prayed 3 to 4 hours each day which is what Cho and his 400 elders averaged. So, I thought: “All I need to do is find a few believers like me who enjoy praying and voilà! America will have a large church.”

Well, after journeying over hundreds of miles of life’s back roads and through more than enough deep valleys, I have arrived at this conclusion: Cho was right. America will never have a church like Yoido Full Gospel, which now has over 1 million members.

“What?” you proclaim, picking up your gloves, readying to slap my face. “Do you still believe that the Lord’s house is called to be a house of prayer?

“Yes, I do,” I reply, keeping my eyes on your hands.

“Then what’s your problem?” you say through clenched teeth, still ready to slap me.

I shrug. “It’s a long story. Do you really want to hear it?” I whisper.

So, over the next few weeks, I will write on prayer. Some of the articles will deal with my prayer heroes. Some will deal with the mistakes of different prayer movements. Some will deal with my mistakes and lessons I’ve learned about prayer.

But hopefully, we will all end up trusting and loving the Lord more than we do now.

(Continued in Part 2)

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Tagged as Christianity, Gifts of the Spirit, Kingdom of God, Prophecy, Spiritual warfare

May 25, 2013 · 1:05 pm

Buddy, Can You Spare A Dime?

One day the Lord got my attention while I was standing at a busy street corner in India waiting for the light to turn green. There were little children everywhere, a common sight at many busy corners in Bombay. Tourists are cautioned not to give them anything because once you do, the others will all mob you.

While I was at this corner, feeling a bit annoyed by little hands grabbing at me, I heard from behind me the voice of a young girl.

“Sahib, Sir, my father died. My mother is sick. She can’t beg anymore. And I have a little brother, who is very hungry. Would you please give me a few pennies so I can buy some bread and take it to him?”

The light turned green, and everybody hurried on. But I couldn’t move. What she said pierced my heart, I turned around and saw this young girl, not yet 10 years old. I will never forget her face − one of the most beautiful faces I have ever seen on a child. She had big brown eyes, thick black hair almost the length of her body, dirty fingernails, and dust mingled with sweat running down her face. She was barefoot and in rags. She just stood there with her hand extended.

I put my hands in my pocket and took all the money I could find and gave it to her. Then, I walked on.

Like the disciples on the road to Emmaus, I felt an unseen stranger joined me on this emotional walk. “So, what do you think about the little girl you just met? Is her life as valuable and precious as…” and the face of another young girl appeared in my mind’s eye. I didn’t know the name of the girl on the street, but I for certain knew the name of this new face; it was my own little daughter, Sarah.

I certainly don’t want anyone to feel guilty about lovingly caring for our own children and grandchildren. But the question remains: Is there room in our hearts for one or two of the world’s suffering children, and can we also care for them in Jesus’ name? Can we see them as Jesus does, so special to Him, their worth like jewels beyond compare?

When I read No Longer A Slumdog, I saw the face of my daughter, Susan, and became a sponsor in Gospel For Asia’s Bridge of Hope ministry. I pray this happens to thousands and thousands of Americans, maybe even you. (Larry Who)

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May 15, 2013 · 3:00 pm

Do You Really Believe The Gospel?

Charlie Peace was a criminal. Laws of God or man curbed him not. Finally the law caught up with him, and he was condemned to death. On the fatal morning in Armley Jail, Leeds, England, he was taken on the death-walk. Before him went the prison chaplain, routinely and sleepily reading some Bible verses. The criminal touched the preacher and asked what he was reading. “The Consolations of Religion,” was the replay. Charlie Peace was shocked at the way he professionally read about hell. Could a man be so unmoved under the very shadow of the scaffold as to lead a fellow-human there and yet, dry-eyed, read of a pit that has no bottom into which this fellow must fall? Could this preacher believe the words that there is an eternal fire that never consumes its victims, and yet slide over the phrase with a tremor? Is a man human at all who can say with no tears, “You will be eternally dying and yet never know the relief that death brings”? All this was too much for Charlie Peace. So he preached. Listen to his on-the-eve-of-hell sermon:

“Sir,” addressing the preacher, “if I believed what you and the church of God say that you believe, even if England were covered with broken glass from coast to coast, I would walk over it, if need be, on hands and knees and think it worthwhile living, just to save one soul from an eternal hell like that!” (Why Revival Tarries, Leonard Ravenhill, ©1959, 1987, Behtany House, Page 32.)

Do we really believe the Gospel? Do we really believe Jesus is the Way, the Truth, the Life, and that no one comes to the Father except through Jesus?

If so, what are we going to do with our beliefs? Will we continue sleep walking like the prison chaplain, ignoring the people around us who are facing an eternity in Hell? Or are we willing to crawl on our hands and knees over broken glass to save one soul from Hell?

The answers to these questions reveal the depths of our love for Jesus.

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Tagged as Christianity, Gifts of the Spirit, Kingdom of God, Religion, Salvation, Spiritual warfare

May 10, 2013 · 1:31 pm

A Friday Poem

I am nobody,

Worthless my life is.

To Untouchables I was born,

A Dalit child my fate sealed.

I was born in slums.

Rights? We have none.

To upper-caste our lives we owe.

Slaves to serve all their wish.

Poverty and hunger

Is all I ever knew.

If there is hope,

Tell me how?

What is my future?

Do I have any?

It all looks so dark

And I wish I were not born.

At the very bottom of the ungodly caste system in India are the 300,000,000 Untouchables or the Dalits. Their numbers are staggering and their children have lived the words in the above poem for over 3,000 years.

Yet, take a closer look at the above picture, okay?

These are Dalit children who have been brought into Gospel For Asia’s Bridge of Hope program. Their eyes radiate hope because they attend school, are fed one hot nutritious meal each day, receive clothing to wear, have regular medical checkups, and learn about Jesus.

And it only takes someone − like you or me − to sponsor a child for $35 per month.

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May 3, 2013 · 1:04 pm

No Ice Cream Cone For Jagruti

Can you imagine being six years old and never having tasted an ice cream cone? Never once having drops of chocolate dribble down your chin and splatter onto your shirt, causing your mom’s eyes to almost shout aloud. Never once taking a bite out of the bottom of the cone and making a bigger mess on your shirt, causing even more problems.

How can this be?

Jagruti is a beautiful six-year old girl who lives in rural Maharashtra, India’s wealthiest state which borders on the Arabian Sea. The financial capital of India, Mumbai, and other large cities in Maharashtra swirl with activity from IBM, Microsoft, Honeywell, Volkswagen, Audi, GM, Fiat, Mercedes, Skoda, and other large international corporations.

Yet, Jagruti has never tasted an ice cream cone.

You see, Jagruti had the misfortune of being born to parents who are Dalits. And as a Dalit child, Jagruti is considered a subhuman, impure from birth, and worthy of nothing but contempt. She is one of the 300 million “Untouchables,” which means just that – no upper-caste person can touch her and she can not touch them. She is denied access to public wells and may be fined for drinking from a water fountain.

But still, it’s only an ice cream cone, can’t she have one?

Jagruti’s papa is a hard working laborer, but being a Dalit, only certain jobs are open to him. These include harvesting crops by hand or cleaning open-air toilets, latrines, and sewers with his bare hands. This backbreaking work will earn him a few rupees per day, barely enough to support his wife, a baby daughter, two sons, and Jagruti.

So, no money left over for luxuries like ice cream cones.

Jagruti is special child, especially to my wife and me, because we help support her through Gospel For Asia’s Bridge of Hope. The picture above is one she colored and sent to us from her village, nine thousand miles away. A work by Monet or Renoir could never hold a candle to a Jagruti original.

Just so you know: my wife and I have struggled financially. Yet, we support Jagruti, three other children, and plan on supporting more. How? We’ve learned God honors His word.

He who has pity on the poor lends to the Lord, and He will pay back what he has given. (Proverbs 19:17)

And pay backs from God are always more than enough.

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Tagged as Christianity, Dalits, Gifts of the Spirit, India, Kingdom of God, Poverty, Prophecy, Religion, Spiritual warfare, Untouchables

May 1, 2013 · 9:54 am

Struggling as a Christian Writer?

A lifetime ago, I normally preached three times per week. Although I wasn’t a pastor of a church, I preached wherever a door opened.

Once, I taught a series on Christian business practices in a small Iowa town hall. On the second evening, I sat alone, wondering if anyone would show up. At five minutes till seven, a woman walked in and sat down in the middle of fifty chairs. The clock creeped forward, but no one else showed up.

“Sir,” said the woman, “will you be starting on time?”

I nodded my head. “Sure,” I replied, moving toward the stage.

At seven o’clock, I prayed and began teaching to an audience of one. My teaching lasted forty-five minutes and a few others arrived in the last five minutes of it.

I closed the meeting and asked the lady if she needed personal prayer. She did. When I prayed, she received a physical healing for a long term ailment.

Another time, I held breakfast meetings in a restaurant where I gave ten minute teachings. A discussion followed the teachings.

No one showed up on one morning. So there I was in the middle of a restaurant, a preacher with a Bible, a teaching, and no audience. I picked up the menu to check it out when the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart: “I’m here. Start your teaching.”

I opened with prayer and taught my message while all the other customers in the restaurant looked on, probably thinking, “That guy’s a nut!”

Not exactly a successful prototype for others to follow, right?

Yet, I learned a valuable lesson through these efforts. I learned who I needed to please: Jesus. My calling, my ministry, and my life must be focused on pleasing Him. If others are blessed, it will be because I first pleased Him.

So, when the Lord told me to write books and blogs, I did. And of course, I’d love to sell thousands of books, but that is a distant second to pleasing Him.

Now here’s a nugget for us writers: “If an author is willing to go through the various dry seasons of being humbled before God and man, God will eventually reveal mysteries and secrets to the person which may catapult the author onto a gigantic stage.”

Yet, it all begins with just pleasing Him.

Are you willing to pay the price?

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Tagged as Christianity, Fiction, Gifts of the Spirit, Kingdom of God, Literature, Prophecy, Self-publishing, Spiritual warfare, Writing

April 30, 2013 · 6:50 am

SLAP! Thanks, I needed that.

An excerpt from The Road To Reality by K. P. Yohannan:

Jesus said in Mark 16:15 that we are to go to the “whole world” with the Gospel. It would appear some people think this means just to people of their race who live on the right side of town. Others with a really “big vision” seem to think it means the country they live in. But Jesus gave a clear command. We must have a world vision that reaches to our own “Jerusalem” as well as our “Judea, Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth.”

The benchmark of your love of God is your burden and committed action for the whole world—not just for your small corner of it.

What clever, spiritual-sounding excuses I’ve heard in my travels.

One of the most interesting excuses blames God for our problems. It usually begins with, “But, Brother K.P., you don’t know my . . .” and ends with a sob story about some old defeat, hurt, sin or temptation. I call this the “wounded soldier” excuse.

With love in my heart, the only thing I can say to this excuse-maker is, “I understand. But no matter how badly you’ve been hurt, you’re in a million times better shape than any lost sinner walking down the road to hell. If you think you’ve got problems, how would you like to worship a demon god that demanded you sacrifice your newborn baby by cutting her throat before their deity? How would you like to worship a god that demanded you throw yourself alive into the flames of your husband’s funeral pyre? Or how would you like to be enslaved to a religion that forced you to bow down and worship the rats that were eating your grain and causing your children to starve to death?”

All of this is happening in Asia today and around the world— wherever people are enslaved to heathen religions.

(The above excerpt is taken from The Road To Reality by K. P. Yohaannan which can be downloaded as an e-Book free here or purchased for $10 here. It’s a life-changing book…if that’s what you want.)

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April 20, 2013 · 4:46 pm

Where’s The Lone Ranger When We Need Him?

As a child growing up, nothing stirred my heart like hearing the William Tell Overture and the radio announcer saying, “A fiery horse with the speed of light, a cloud of dust, and a hearty Hi-Yo Silver! The Lone Ranger!”

My usual position for the thirty minute program was straddling a painted white oak chair, facing backwards with one of dad’s leather belts looping around the chair’s back for reins. This was my great horse Silver, whose thundering hoofbeats took me back to those days of yesteryear. A pair of six-guns hung from my waist and a black mask covered my face.

Never once, did the Lone Ranger let me down. He always arrived just in time to save Tonto, a widow, a sheriff, or a whole town. Even the despicable Butch Cavendish and his gang were never a match for the masked man. He always saved the day and then rode off with Tonto, searching for new struggles to set right.

Now fast forward sixty years to today’s America where Evangelical Christians hope and pray for a new political champion, a man wearing a white hat. An updated Ronal Reagan clone would fit the part perfectly. The champion would say no to government spending and new taxation, stop abortion, reverse our slide toward same sex marriage, and set our nation’s eyes back to being a light on the hill. If only, huh?

Well, it ain’t happening!

That’s right! It ain’t happening!

Our God is not thinking about how He can bring us Christians back to yesteryear, the days of Reagan or Eisenhower. It’s not even a passing thought on His heart. He is looking forward to seeing the American Church becoming a holy, blameless Bride without spot or blemish. This is His heart’s desire.

For now, we Christians must align our prayers, hopes, and hearts with His desires for His Church. If not, we will be frustrated, finger-pointing whiners, unfit for His kingdom use.

So, don’t worry about the economy or terrorist attacks or politicians or whatever, but seek the King and learn how to dwell in His Kingdom now. What we’re witnessing with all the calamities and sad circumstances are birth pangs which you can expect to continue and accelerate for many years to come.

But out of all this, God will present to Himself a glorious Church.

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April 19, 2013 · 11:23 am

I Started A Business Yesterday, But…

Any of us can start a business. To do so, all we must do is discover a customer need, fill that need at agreeable prices for both customers and us, and bada bing bada boom, we are in business.

Sounds easy enough, right? Why aren’t more people doing it?

The answer is simple: money.

It takes money to buy supplies, equipment, rent a shop, advertise, hire workers, meet state and federal laws, insurances, provide salaries, and dozens of other things.

Yet, no matter how well we plan and budget ahead of time, the amount of money needed to get the business off the ground will always be much more than we figure. Always. This seems to work according to the precepts of Murphy’s Law: “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong, and at the most inopportune time.”

Okay, now that the heavy stuff is out of the way, I started a new business yesterday, but it was not mine.

You see, my wife and I bought a sewing machine for a family in India through Gospel for Asia. This gift will empower a poor family to provide funds for their needs through their very own tailoring business. Maybe a family unit will now stay together and a child won’t have to be sold.

As soon as the family receives the sewing machine, classes are provided so people can start putting their new machines to good use. Can you imagine how hope will be sparked in this family? And maybe, each will love Jesus a little more.

Do you want to know how we could afford to help this family?

I sold an older laptop computer and the boxes from our recent move. The total came to $85, just enough to buy the sewing machine. Since the money had been spent on these items long ago, we didn’t even miss it.

If you want to know more about empowering the poor in India, check out all the gifts Gospel For Asia has here. You can also watch a 26 second video on the sewing machine and how it changed one family’s life.

Who knows? Maybe you have some stuff in your garage or attic which can be converted to cash to help the poor in India. If so, it will be an eternally wise decision on your part.

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April 16, 2013 · 7:32 am

Taco Tuesday Special! Free e-Book on Amazon.

If you have a Kindle, Kindle Fire, iPad, Nexus, Galaxy, a computer, or smart phone with Kindle apps on it, my e-book, Prophecy 101, is FREE April 16 – 17, through Amazon.

Amazon Book Description:

Do you prophesy? If not, why not?These may be questions you have never been asked before, or at least, not very often. But did you know that the Apostle Paul asked questions much like these of early Christians? He wanted all to prophesy.

Why?

Prophecy is a gift meant for each of us so we can help other people. (1 Corinthians 12:7 paraphrased)

The Apostle Paul knew the early Christians needed prophecy because of their perilous times. Famines, persecutions, wars, and even shipwrecks awaited many of them so they needed warnings from God. And one of the best ways to do that was through prophecy.

Okay, but what about today’s Christians?

On May 20, 1985, I was planning on committing suicide, but a businessman spoke prophetic words to me which saved my life.

As you can probably guess, I am fervent for prophecy and like the Apostle Paul, I believe all should prophesy. You see, just one prophetic word might change your life, a family member’s life, a neighbor’s life, or a stranger’s life. And who knows? Lives might be saved because you prophesy.Prophecy 101 contains 58 simple lessons that I have learned over the last twenty-seven years on how to prophesy. The book is filled with scriptural and personal examples in a quick reading style.

So, do you want to prophesy? The decision is yours.

Print Length: 231 pages. File Size: 334 KB Regular Price: $2.99

Free April 16 and April 17, 2013. So, check it out here and while you’re there check out my nine other e-books here.

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