Revolution in World Missions

So I've been reading K.P. Yohannan's book and let me just say that I am convicted, seriously. Here are some excerpts from the chapters I've read so far:

I Walked in a Daze

From the moment I touched foot on American soil, I walked in an unbelieving daze. How can two so different economies coexist simultaneously on the earth?... As the days passed into weeks, I began with alarm to understand how misplaced are the spiritual values of most Western believers. Sad to say, it appeared to me that for the most part they had absorbed the same humanistic and materialistic values that dominated the secular culture. Almost immediately I sensed an awesome judgment was hanging over the United States... (...)
What impresses visitors from the Two-Third World are the simple things Americans take for granted: fresh water available 24 hours a day, unlimited electrical power, telephones that work and a most remarkable network of paved roads." (P.41)

"At the time, we still had no television in India, but my American hosts seemed to have TV sets in every room--and they operated day and night. This ever-present blast of media disturbed me. For some reason, Americans seemed to have a need to surround themselves with noise all the time. Even in their cars, I noticed the radios were on even when no one was listening.
Why do they always have to be entertained or entertaining? I wondered. It was as if they were trying to escape from a guilt they had not yet defined or even identified." (pp. 41-42)

"There is such an emphasis on church buildings in the United States that we sometimes forget that the Church is the people no the place where the people meet." (P.46)

"A Nation Asleep in Bondage"

"Religion, I discovered, is a multi-billion dollar business in the United States. Entering churches, I was astonished at the carpeting, furnishings, air-conditioning and ornamentation. Many churches have gymnasiums and fellowships that cater to a busy schedule of activities having little or nothing to do with Christ. The orchestras, choirs, 'special' music--and sometimes even the preaching--seemed to me more like entertainment than worship." (p. 47)

"I found that believers are ready to get involved in almost any activity that looks spiritual but allows them to escape their responsibility to the Gospel" (p.47)

"The saddest observation I can make about most of the religious communication activity of the Western world is this: Little, if any, of this media is designed to reach unbelievers Almost all is entertainment for the saints." (P.47)

"What are you doing here"

Holding evangelistic crusades and bringing people to Christ are not enough: Someone has to stay behind and nurture the new believers into maturity. For the first time I began to understand the goal of all mission work: the "perfecting" of the saints into sanctified, committed disciples of Christ." (P.55)

"I remembered how one of my seminary professors solemnly instructed his class of young "preacher boys" to lay aside money every month for emergencies, purchase life insurance and build equity in home. But I could not find any of this in the New Testament commands of Christ. Why was it necessary to save our money in bank accounts when Jesus commanded us not to lay up treasures on this earth?" (P. 58)

"A New Day in Missions"

"Two reasons, it appeared to me, were the cause for the current malaise that has fastened like cancer on American Believers. The first is historical. The second is the unconfessed sins related to three basic iniquities: pride, unbelief and worldliness." (P.76)

"Most Christians in North America still conceive of missions in terms of blond-haired, blue-eyed white people going to the dark-skinned Two-Thirds World nations" (P.78)

"In India, which no longer permits Western missionary evangelists, more church growth and outreach are happening now than at any point in our history. China is another good example of the new realities." (P. 79)

"(...) over 500,000 underground churches reportedly have sprung up during the communist persecution. (...) all this happened under the spiritual direction of the indigenous church movement." (P 79)

Is Missions an Option?

"(...) the United States is the only nation in the world founded by believers in Christ who made a covenant with God-dedicating a new nation to God.
Born into affluence, freedom and divine blessings, Americans should be the most thankful people on earth." (P.85)

"(...) the single most important hindrance to world evangelization right now is the lack of total involvement by the Body of Christ" (emphasis mine) (P. 87)

"(...)Only when we are emptied of our own self-sufficiency ca God use us. When a church or a mission board spends more time in consultation,planning and committee meetings than in prayer, it is a clear indication the members have lost touch with the supernatural and have ended up, in Watchman Nee's words, "serving the house of God and forgot the Lord Himself."" (P.90)

God is Withholding Judgment

"(...)many evangelical Christians do not really believe the Word of God, especially when it talks about hell and judgment. Instead, they selectively accept only the portions that allow them to continue living in their current lifestyles." (P. 93)

"(...)The grace and love of God are pleasant subjects, and no one more beautifully demonstrated them than our Lord Jesus. Yet in His earthly ministry, He made more references to hell and judgment than He did to heaven. Jesus lived with the reality of hell, and He died on Calvary because He knew it was real and coming to everyone who doesn't turn to God in this life." (P. 93)

"Very few seem to believe that those who die without Christ are going to a place where they will be tormented forever and ever in a bottomless pit where the fire is not quenched and they are separated from God and His love for all eternity without any chance of return.(...)Why aren't Christians living in obedience to God? Because of their unbelief." (P.94)

There is so much more to read and take in from this book, please get it! Better yet don't get it for free, buy it its only 5.95 I believe, don't eat that Wendy's or Burger King or King Lobster this weekend, it'll be worth the meal and more.