In this video, Brother KP Johannen speaks at a revival conference in Texas. He emphasizes the importance of leaving everything behind in order to follow Jesus. He shares a personal experience of feeling convicted while preparing to preach and realizing the need to simply talk to people instead of preaching at them. Brother KP highlights the example of living like Christ and for Christ, and encourages viewers to follow Jesus in his way.

Would you like to experience real revival? We're about to see how, today, on the road to reality, and you just might be surprised by what will unfold. That God-given impact was stupendous through Christ's disciples in the first century, and He can do the same through us. The secret? They were willing to leave everything behind in their following of Jesus. Brother K.P. Yohannan says that's the road to reality. It's ever so good, by the way, for me, Richard Buse, to join you today on the road to reality, brought to you by Gospel for Asia. Just recently, Brother K.P. spoke in Texas at a revival conference, and we're about to share that message with you now. It's based on the first letter of John, chapter 2, and verse 6. I began a radio broadcast called Spiritual Journey 27 years ago. Not in the United States, although I do have now a radio broadcast which is half-hour long, heard on 800 radio stations throughout the United States and Europe and Australia. But I never intended for my time to be spent preaching to Americans or Europeans, because we've got enough preaching going on here. But the radio broadcast I'm talking about is that which started called Spiritual Journey in India some 28 years ago, and it started with one native language, my own native language. Now, of course, by hearing my accent, you know English is not my native language. Although, when I first came to America, here in Dallas, Texas, no matter what I said, people didn't understand what I was saying. They were very gracious, and they said, what did you say? Can you repeat that again? Until a friend of mine, Richard Schaefer, who was in seminary with me said, KP, don't get discouraged. You speak English, and they speak Texan. That kind of settled the issue for me. When I started the radio broadcast in my native language, I never imagined what that will do in terms of the impact. The one who trained me to do that happened to be, strange enough, an American, Dr. David Maynes from Chicago, and his wife Karen. I heard Chapel of the Air, and I was intrigued by the way they do this broadcast. That is very colloquial, very real, face-to-face. David said, yeah, I can train you. I had him come to India. I was sitting in the studio with a microphone, and on the other side of the glass is the engineer. He said, well, just imagine you're talking to one individual in a room in a hospital or somewhere. You know what, I did everything in the world, but I couldn't imagine, because I knew you have a 400,000 watt medium wave, and you have multiple millions of people listening to this thing. It took me some time. So what I did, I devised a new idea. I took a sheet of paper and wrote on it these words, please don't preach at me. I'm just one little human being sitting in a room. Would you just talk to me? So I taped that sheet of paper on the microphone. So when I'm sitting in the studio, I mean, the big letters, they're just glaring at me. And it took me a few months, and I got into it. As a matter of fact, that radio broadcast that began some 28 years ago, 27 years ago now, to be accurate, now it is in 110 languages. We get over a million people write letters every year asking for more information. We have hundreds of churches planted as a result of this broadcast. Of course, I don't do all the 110 languages. Our missionaries who are well trained in other languages take the script and do that. The thing I was going to say to you is that as I learn to talk to people about the things of God, two things I learned. One, there's a hard language. There's a preacher's language, Greek and Hebrew and philosophy, and high-powered language, which I learned in my seminary also. But there is a colloquialism. There is a hard language that God deals with. And then I found out that God is not terribly concerned about the 99, but He's concerned about the one. And so during those early days of learning to communicate the truth, representing my Lord, I found myself sometimes sitting in the studio, looking at the microphone. I would break down weeping right in the middle of the way. And I had to pause, and the engineer stops and says, we have to go back and redo it again, because you don't want to be weeping over the microphone and they don't know what's going on. The reason was, I would be talking about a man who's abused his wife. I read a letter, you know, the wife saying that he'd been abusing me. He'd been beating me up. My kids are scared. I just don't know what to do. Would he pray for me? And I said, look, this is what I just read. Then I, all of a sudden, it's like a drama or movie. My emotions, my mind, my eyes turn to the man. And I say, how can you do this? Don't you understand what you're doing? If you are a woman, how would you handle this? You see, all of a sudden, I forget the microphone. I forget the engineer. I forget everything else. It is very, very deep, intensely personal. And this has been a journey of my life of 44 years of serving Christ. I found out that in the early days, people said Matthew 5, 6 and 7 are the so-called Sermon on the Mount. But if you read, you'll find it is not a sermon. See, in the multitude, he called his disciples. And in my language, I would say he just sat on a stone that was higher than the normal ground there. And he sat there and they just came and sat there and he just talked to them. That's what it says in the Bible. So what you read in Matthew 5, 6 and 7 is not sermon. It was conversation. So in my attempt to share with you today, my first choice would be if you and I could meet in some coffee shop, Starbucks or whatever coffee shop. And just have a conversation and talk about things of God. And often in our world, it is not also practical. And so here we are, a bunch of people that, I mean, all of you are deeply concerned about the church, about revival, about the nation, about what God is doing in the church and your part in the kingdom's work. So I don't have any question about why you are here. And so I stand here, although it is not a big crowd here, I understand each one of you represent tens of thousands of people in terms of influence and the possibilities. So the question often comes to us, are we crusaders of some big ideals and ideas and vision? Or are we the people that God is invading and making our lives become the means for transformation and change in our generation? Strange enough, one of the things that broke me down emotionally and I wept and wept when I heard a particular individual, known internationally, a mega Christian leader, who people like me had high respect for and looked up to him. He wrote books on holiness and living for God and conservative doctrines and all these different things. And all of a sudden an email comes to me from a responsible Christian leader saying that just wanted to know, is life entirely collapsed? Morally, family wise and every way. I'm not one of those spooky people looking for signs and wonders and miracles and all these things. Also, I have seen thousands of people get healed and set free and all these different things. So I'm not looking at these television preachers who make big names. I'm always looking for people who are conservative and radical and sober minded in their walk with God. And this individual happened to be one of those people that I respected greatly. But then to find out this whole world fell apart. And it really broke my heart and hurt me deeply. And that's when I realized once again, the Lord speaking to me, you know, you can be the greatest preacher of doctrines and holiness, yet be lost. And God is not going to change the world through doctrines. He is going to change the world through humble, simple lives that walk with him. Now, I'm not a Catholic. I guess you figured that out, maybe. Although in my readings and studies of the first, you know, nine centuries of the church, I'm more prone to abide with the orthodox saints and the faith and the lonely journey they made and the desert fathers and seek God for God alone and not for healing and money and miracles and prosperity and all those things. But Mother Teresa of Calcutta, if you know her name or not, is a classic example of an individual who was not all right in her head with some doctrines. But I think she was one that walked with the Lord so close, her heart was so pure. I read a huge amount of writings about her interviews and what she said and all those things. Again, that tells us that one lonely life that had huge impact upon the nation of India with over one billion people, that when she died, the government of India at that time, fighting against Christians, going against everything we believe in, decided they will take the carriage they used to carry the body of Mahatma Gandhiji, the father of the nation. That was the, what do you call in English, the hearst? Yeah, exactly. The only time that was used for Mahatma Gandhiji, the father of the nation. The next time in history ever it was used for Mother Teresa when she died. And just to realize that it was, you know, the kind of life when this English, you know, guardian newspaper reporter came to Kolkata and asked Mother Teresa, you know, watching her bending down, washing and cleaning the wounds of a leper, pus and blood oozing out of his leg. And she was cleaning it and bandaging it. And then he said, I cannot do something like this for hundred thousand dollars or pounds or something like he said. And this little old woman looked up and said, I can do it for a million. Then he paused, waiting what she was going to say next. She said, but you don't understand. This is Christ. It is his wounds. It is his pus and blood oozing out. This is what I'm doing for my Christ. Hey, what an example, living like Christ and for Christ. And if following Jesus is what true living is, today's road to reality is reinforcing this truth. We'll get back to K.P. Johannan in a minute. Before we do, we would like to recommend a book that will help anyone to follow Jesus in his way. The Jesus Style, it's called. It's a powerful book that brings the reader face to face with Christ. What is Jesus really like? The Jesus Style answers that question clearly and unforgettably. We're offering it for only five pounds from our office, plus postage and packaging. You can order Jesus Style from roadtoreality.org.uk or call 01904 643 233. Again, roadtoreality.org.uk or call 01904 643 233. Well, here's K.P. with the rest of his message. You see, we in evangelical world, conservative and radical, I told somebody yesterday, you know, I even don't like the word revival. You know, there was a time I was in Dallas while I was going to seminary. I was pastoring a Baptist church, an ordained clergy here. And every year we had the so-called revival meeting. And I got confused, you know, why we call it revival meeting? And it was something we were creating as a cultural reality of what we were living with. But I don't know how much reality there is when you talk about revival in terms of the biblical things we talk about. So going back to the initial conversation I had with you when we started talking to you. You know, my brothers and sisters, maybe the more important thing about this whole meeting is that, you know, Jesus didn't need 12 million people to change the world. He only needed 11 people. And out of 12, Judas happened to be one of those people who didn't make it. But he just had 11 people and they were not perfect people. I mean, you got Judas there, you got Peter here. They both denied Christ, if you know it or not. But one committed suicide and one became the greatest leader of the church. Apostle Peter, who opened the door for the whole world and Gentiles for the kingdom and the church. What was the difference? Judas had the privileges that Peter had. He was one of the people that went out to heal the sick, cast out demons and preach the gospel because he sent all of them out two by two. But all through this learning and getting his degrees and his information and being tutored by God himself. He was not honest. There was deception, the duplicity, the dichotomy, a pretense to be one of the saints. But deep inside, he was not that. But Peter, no matter how you look at him, he was blasting off and making all kind of blunders and, you know, crazy stuff he did, you would say. But his faith was sincere. There was no deception in him. I mean, here we are, a bunch of people. And I think God is always looking for people who are not necessarily perfect people who know all the answers. But honest, simple people that he can show himself mighty on their behalf in the generation they live in. And Judas didn't make it, not because any other reason than his faith was insincere. And Peter made it simply because his faith was weak and God could make it strong. He was not insincere. And this is where the Western Christianity, that no matter what you talk about revival and all this fancy stuff you talk about, I think there need to be individuals like you and even a minority need to come to the place. We are not following denominations and doctrines and agendas. We just want to follow the humble, simple Jesus of the New Testament. And for me, in my brief journey with the Lord, I found out that the safest thing in the whole world is just to follow him and learn more of him. Gail Irwin, who is the author of Jesus Style, a book that I almost insist everyone must read. That book called Jesus Style talks about the real Jesus of the New Testament and is called an invitation for us to follow him. And he has this illustration. He says, you know, if I tell you to come to my house for dinner and I give you the direction. Now, this is where you go, this is a street, that's all these different things. And you get in the car and you drive along and you just don't know what to do. Especially a place like Dallas, Texas. And then you get lost and then you call and say, hey, I don't know what to do. I'm running late. I don't know how to get to your place. And then the host says, where are you? Oh, OK, this is a street. Is there any building? Yeah, there is one. OK, you wait there. You just wait there. And I'm going to come and this is my car. This is the color of my car. This is a license plate and I will come there. Then you just follow me. So for me, it would be a very easy thing to say. You will say, hello 1962 bug. He cannot make a mistake. And so I come and you are waiting there saying, oh man, I'm half an hour late. Then he said, don't worry, you just follow me. And then I go off and I take off with my bug. There's no other car like my car anyway. And you follow me and you are not looking at the street. You are not looking for the signs. You're looking for any particular landmark. You are simply just following me. And finally we get to my house and say, I would have never made it. I just followed you. And I think during my radio interviews, which I do quite a lot, people call me up and I talk to them from different parts of the country. And I keep insisting on one issue. That is, we have lost Christ of the New Testament. And we have followed politics, agendas and doctrines and denominations. Roy Herson, who wrote Calvary Road. I never had the privilege to meet him in person, but my wife had. And when I was barely 17 years of age, I was given two books from Operation Mobilization Leadership. One is Calvary Road by Roy Herson. The next one is True Discipleship by William MacDonald. Then, of course, you know, I was given a huge amount of writings by Watchman Lee and A.W. Chaucer and Alan Redpath and all those things and Puritan writers. All these people became my mentors. But Calvary Road is a classic. By the way, it is in 85 languages today. It's an 80-page booklet. If you never got it, you must get it. Next to the Bible, I say Calvary Road and True Discipleship by William MacDonald are two important books you should have. Now Calvary Road talks about revival. What is revival? It is nothing other than, less than, more than simply the life of Christ in these earthen vessels and flowing through it. It is not putting a new party in the government. It is not people picketing 100,000 people for this right, that right, any of those things. And God, unlike most Americans think, is not terribly worried about majority. No. He would destroy the whole world to save one family, Noah and his family. And God, in the words of George Worwer, is looking for a mighty minority that he can show himself strong. Will you be a part of that mighty minority? That's really how we can make a difference in this world. You've been listening to K.P. Yohanan on the Road to Reality and a message he recently gave at a revival conference. Once again, our suggested book for you is The Jesus Style by Gail Irwin. That's E-R-W-I-N. This inspiring look at the man of Galilee and walking through this life as he walked. To order your copy for a suggested donation of £5 plus postage and packaging, go to roadtoreality.org.uk That's roadtoreality.org.uk Or we can post you one if you'd call us on 01904 643 233 Now may God richly bless you and me as together we follow the Lord Jesus Christ along the road to reality. This is Richard Bews with Gospel for Asia in which you are invited to share in this kingdom commitment to Christ in reaching the utterly unreached.