Getting on the Road to Reality
I'm a bit behind on my March Gospel for Asia blog. Seeing as how the day after tomorrow is the first day of April I figured I'd better get busy.
Recently the GFA staff has started sending out a couple different ideas for blog topics. One of the options this month is to write a book review/blog about one of K.P. Yohannan's early books, The Road to Reality. I love telling you about free resources and an electronic version of the book is available for free download by clicking here.
Keeping things honest, I didn't read the book this month but I actually read it two years ago. My copy is marked with several passages underlined and highlighted so it was easy for me to scan back through the book, re-reading the themes and passages that resonated with me.
I'll tell you that I found the book very blunt and striking in its discussion of modern Western Christianity. Yohannan, who was born and raised in India, doesn't pull any punches and he is able to look at Western Christianity with an outsider's perspective. I think it's hard to see the truth of things when you are sitting inside of it. I think it's easy to get defensive about what he writes too but I think that is because of the truth within what he is saying.
One of the main themes he writes about is that Western Christianity has become about comfort, programs, religious resources, social outings and has lost its passion for sharing the Good News of Jesus with a lost and dying world. If you're a Christian and you're reading this...ask yourself when was the last time you shared your faith with an unbeliever?
Yohannan's passion is missions and spreading the Gospel. He believes that Christians living in the United States have been blessed, both spiritually and financially. My addition of this book is from 2001 so I'm not sure how current the numbers are but here are some of the statistics he shares.
"...nearly three billion people who are still unreached by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. ... More than 95 percent of the total church budget in the United States is spent at home to maintain programs rather than to reach out in mission. ... A tiny slice of the world's population, living in the United States and Canada, is getting stuffed with the Gospel over and over again while most of the world is waiting for a first bite. Although only eight percent of the world's population speaks English, more than 90 percent of all Christian ministry is conducted in the English language. There are over 4,300 language groups in the world which still do not have a Bible translated into their own tongue."
The need is great but supporting world missions doesn't have to involve quitting your job, selling all your belongings and moving to another country. That is unless that is what you are being called to do. It can be simple, such as supporting a native missionary through Gospel for Asia for $30 a month. Just a dollar a day can make a difference for eternity.
If you want to get an outsider's view of Western Christianity and an open, soul-searching lesson in what living a Christ-centered life is all about than I would definitely recommend reading The Road to Reality.
Recently the GFA staff has started sending out a couple different ideas for blog topics. One of the options this month is to write a book review/blog about one of K.P. Yohannan's early books, The Road to Reality. I love telling you about free resources and an electronic version of the book is available for free download by clicking here.
Keeping things honest, I didn't read the book this month but I actually read it two years ago. My copy is marked with several passages underlined and highlighted so it was easy for me to scan back through the book, re-reading the themes and passages that resonated with me.
I'll tell you that I found the book very blunt and striking in its discussion of modern Western Christianity. Yohannan, who was born and raised in India, doesn't pull any punches and he is able to look at Western Christianity with an outsider's perspective. I think it's hard to see the truth of things when you are sitting inside of it. I think it's easy to get defensive about what he writes too but I think that is because of the truth within what he is saying.
One of the main themes he writes about is that Western Christianity has become about comfort, programs, religious resources, social outings and has lost its passion for sharing the Good News of Jesus with a lost and dying world. If you're a Christian and you're reading this...ask yourself when was the last time you shared your faith with an unbeliever?
Yohannan's passion is missions and spreading the Gospel. He believes that Christians living in the United States have been blessed, both spiritually and financially. My addition of this book is from 2001 so I'm not sure how current the numbers are but here are some of the statistics he shares.
"...nearly three billion people who are still unreached by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. ... More than 95 percent of the total church budget in the United States is spent at home to maintain programs rather than to reach out in mission. ... A tiny slice of the world's population, living in the United States and Canada, is getting stuffed with the Gospel over and over again while most of the world is waiting for a first bite. Although only eight percent of the world's population speaks English, more than 90 percent of all Christian ministry is conducted in the English language. There are over 4,300 language groups in the world which still do not have a Bible translated into their own tongue."
The need is great but supporting world missions doesn't have to involve quitting your job, selling all your belongings and moving to another country. That is unless that is what you are being called to do. It can be simple, such as supporting a native missionary through Gospel for Asia for $30 a month. Just a dollar a day can make a difference for eternity.
If you want to get an outsider's view of Western Christianity and an open, soul-searching lesson in what living a Christ-centered life is all about than I would definitely recommend reading The Road to Reality.
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