The Beauty of Christ through Brokenness

By K.P. Yohannan

THE BEAUTY OF CHRIST . . . Humility, Tenderness, Grace, Love . . . How we long for these same qualities in our lives. But there is only one way this can happen: His beauty can only be seen through brokenness.

In this challenging short read, K.P. Yohannan explains through God’s word and from his own experience and struggles:

* What brokenness means
* Why it is needful
* How the Lord breaks us
* The rewards of a broken life

This is not a self-help or quick-fix book. But as you yield to the hand of God in this personal area of brokenness, your life will begin to change, and you will bring God honor as you reflect Christ’s beauty to the hurting world around you.

• Language: English
• Publisher: GFA Books, a division of GFA World
• Release date: Nov 7, 2014
• ISBN: 9781595890627

K.P. Yohannan

Dr. K.P. Yohannan (or KP Yohannan) has been crisscrossing the globe for the past 40 years, challenging the Body of Christ to discipleship. His call to a radical lifestyle—with an all-out commitment to Jesus—has left its impact on nearly every continent. To the Church caught up by the tidal waves of compromise and self-preservation, Yohannan’s life message is a fresh word to this generation and yet as timeless as the scriptural mandate itself.Yohannan is the founder and director of GFA World (formerly Gospel for Asia aka GFA), a Christian mission organization deeply committed to seeing communities transformed through the love of Christ demonstrated in word and deed. He is also the metropolitan bishop of Believers Church , an indigenous church in South Asia.Born in South India in 1950, Yohannan is the youngest of six sons. His mother dedicated each of her children to the Lord and longed to see one of them commit their lives to ministry. She secretly fasted each Friday for three-and-a-half years, praying, “Oh God, let just one of my boys preach!” Even as she prayed, her children were growing up, seeming destined for secular work. Finally, only the youngest, little “Yohannachan,” was left. Seeing how shy and insecure he was, his mother thought there was little chance that he would preach.However, after Yohannan finished his schooling, he heard stories about North India from a visiting mission team, and his heart was gripped. His mother’s faithful prayers were answered as he immediately decided to join the mission movement and go to faraway North India to help bring the Good News to the multitude of villages that had never heard of Christ. While preparing to go with this radical mission team from Europe, the timid 16-year-old was challenged by a call to radical discipleship from missionary statesman George Verwer. That night, Yohannan couldn’t sleep. What if God asked him to preach publicly in the streets? What if he was stoned and beaten?Suddenly, God’s presence filled the room, and he knew he was not alone. “Lord God,” he prayed in surrender, “I’ll give myself to speak for You—but help me to know that You’re with me.”The next morning, he awoke with a supernatural love and burden for the people around him. The Lord gave him courage to speak to the crowds he saw that day, and he continued to preach for the next seven years in North India. As a field evangelist and regional coordinator, he was responsible for the members of his teams and the planning of each day. His future wife, Gisela, was also serving with the mission movement at the same time, and Yohannan felt through their brief encounters that he had found someone who shared his same vision and calling.In 1971, Yohannan was invited to spend a month in Singapore at a new institute that had been started by John Haggai. Here, he was challenged by Haggai to do something significant with his life for God’s glory. His time at the institute produced a restlessness that eventually led him to leave India to search abroad for God’s ultimate will in his life. In 1974, he came to the United States, where he received his theological training at Criswell College. He and Gisela were married after his first term.As a theology student, Yohannan was ordained and began pastoring a local church in Dallas, where he served for four years. While God blessed his pastoral ministry, Yohannan couldn’t forget the burden God had given him for those who had never once heard the name of Jesus.Remembering the Millions in AsiaAs the Lord reminded Yohannan of the millions in Asia still waiting to learn of His love for them, he resigned his pastorate, and he and Gisela began taking steps to start an organization to support national missionaries, which eventually became known as GFA. They began meeting together each Tuesday night with a small, faithful group of believers to pray over world maps. The Lord soon guided them to start a program through which people could regularly support the work of national missionaries by laying aside one dollar a day. As the Lord opened doors to share this opportunity with churches and individuals, the ministry began to grow.Today, GFA World comes alongside thousands of national workers and supports them through prayer and assistance as they bring hope to the most needy in South Asia. GFA World is engaged in dozens of projects, such as caring for poor children, slum dwellers and widows and orphans; providing clean water by funding wells; supporting medical missions; and meeting the needs of those in leprosy colonies. Through GFA’s Child Sponsorship Program (formerly Bridge of Hope), tens of thousands of children are being rescued from the generational curses of poverty and hopelessness. In honor of Yohannan’s decades of demonstrating the heart of a father to the fatherless, the members of the Christian Men’s Network’s Global Fatherhood Initiative awarded him the Reggie White Fatherhood Award in 2016. In 2003, he was awarded Alumnus of the Year from Criswell College for his influence in the work of God.A Ministry of DiscipleshipOne of Yohannan’s deep desires is to see a new generation catch sight of the Lord’s burden for the hopeless in their generation and to give themselves, no-holds-barred, to His work. GFA World’s School of Discipleship, a one-year program for young adults, is helping fulfill this dream. Through this life-changing year at GFA World’s headquarters in East Texas, dozens of young people have deepened their relationship with Christ and grown in their desire to follow in His footsteps. Many of them are now serving the Lord full-time in different capacities across the globe.Ministering hope and practical help to the people of South Asia, Dr. Yohannan’s radio program, Spiritual Journey, reaches more than 1 billion people in 110 languages. His Road to Reality radio program airs weekly on more than 200 radio stations in the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Additionally, viewers in 100 nations can watch him daily on AYTV. He served on the executive committee of World by Radio from 2004–2012 and as a board member with the National Religious Broadcasters Association (NRB) from 2013–2015. In recognition of his service, NRB presented Yohannan with its Individual Achievement in International Broadcasting award in 2003.Dr. Yohannan is a prolific writer with more than 200 books published in Asia and 11 in the United States. With more than 3.9 million copies in print, Yohannan’s landmark book, Revolution in World Missions, is an international bestseller that has literally changed the course of mission history in our generation. For his faithful service to the Body of Christ, Yohannan was awarded an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from Hindustan Bible College in Chennai, India.

Book preview

The BEAUTY of CHRIST

through BROKENNESS

By K.P. Yohannan

Published by GFA Books at Smashwords

Copyright 2014 K.P. Yohannan

Table of Contents

Introduction

1. Esteemed by God

2. What We Need

3. How He Does It

4. The Way to Fullness

5. The Beauty That Comes

Concluding Remarks

About the Author

Excerpt from Revolution in World Missions

About Gospel for Asia

Notes

Copyright

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"But on this one will I look:

On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit,

and who trembles at My word."

Isaiah 66:2

Introduction

My reason for sharing on this subject, which I believe is close to the heart of God, is for us as the Body of Christ to understand the most crucial, fundamental element in the Christian life—brokenness.

As the Body of Christ, we are called to be a people who live together, strive together, pray together, suffer together, agonize together and—if need be—die together, for the sake of proclaiming His merciful salvation to a lost and dying world.

And what kind of people must we be to fulfill that call? The purpose of God was not to make us into His workers. If He needed workers, He could have produced 10 billion trillion more angels to do the job. He created man not to tend the garden and just do all kinds of work. He created man to manifest His image, in His own likeness.

How do we daily, in each situation and throughout every season of our lives, reflect Him? That is the question at hand.

One of the major works of the Lord in our lives, as we seek to do His will and manifest His image, is the work of brokenness.

CHAPTER ONE

Esteemed by God

In the book of Isaiah, we see a glimpse into God’s heart for the broken. In Isaiah 66:2 (NIV) God says, This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word.

But we have a problem.

By nature, we all are the opposite of the one whom He esteems. We are all unbroken. We are as solid as the hardest substance you can find—unbending, self-centered, self-ambitious and never wanting to give in. We are part of a world in which we are told, either directly or indirectly, Fight for your rights! Be your own person! What matters is success, ability, personality, position, being important and first class in everything. This is ingrained in us.

I remember some years ago a man applied to join GFA’s home staff. He was a computer expert, a brilliant man whose ability and talent would help the ministry in a significant way.

As he was getting ready to soon join us, he called our current office manager to ask a question that was very important to him. He explained how he was leaving an incredibly important position at his current job and went on to say, My friends are asking me what my new position is going to be. I was wondering if you could tell me so that I can put it on my new business cards to let everyone know.

We were taken aback by his request. Not that business cards and titles are a bad