Thai Said Hi ! Streams of Living Water Flowed

I've shared with a number of people since my last post but this one felt special; I felt an overflowing joy that's hard to explain ("streams of living water will flow from within him" -John 7:38).

I went for a quick jog this morning (Sunday) before waking the family for church. I was test driving my upcoming mission trip prayer guide that I organized around Lord's prayer and themed around John 7:37a-38 ("If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him."). I was alternately running and walking and praying.

I had made it down to a time of surrender and just finished praying and offering the Lord my mind and asking for His help that I would take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ (2Cor 10:5), when out of the blue I heard a loud and friendly yell from across the street. It was a tiny old man who was obviously not of our culture. I yelled back a quick greeting and thought immediately that the Lord may want me to share with him. But I had left the house quickly and had no tracts and I was running late for church, so I listened to Satan's lies that it wasn't a good time. I continued on, became convicted, took captive the thoughts from Christ and obediently turned around.

I caught up with the man. He was very friendly. His name is Thai from Vietnam. After a couple of basic questions like "where do you live", it became obvious he only knew a few words and it would be difficult to clearly share the gospel verbally. Knowing that many of these elderly foreign people are here visiting their children who can speak English, I knew that I needed to get a tract in his hand so someone else could translate it for him.

I said goodbye and made a dash for home, picked up a tract, and then ran back across the neighborhood while praying for Thai. I caught up with him again and explained that I had a gift for him, opened the tract, pointed to Jesus' name, made the motion of prayer. He didn't know what I was saying but he really appreciated the enthusiastic gift.

I left for home and left Thai in the Lord's hands. I was so full of joy that the Lord had fulfilled His promise to me, that "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." (John 7:37a-38).

Nothing excites me more than having streams of living water flowing through me!

. . . gotta to run to church now.

Michael

I sent this on to Sumner this evening. As Frank shared of Sumner's soul-witness tool to me in 2003 and I shared with you in 2008, so we can begin storing in our "toolboxes,"
scripture promises and effective winning soul-winning 'tools!'
-----Original Message-----
From: Barbara Johnson [mailto:samanthas.mom@verizon.net]
Sent: Monday, August 11, 2008 8:34 PM
To: 'sumner@sumnerwemp.com'
Subject: FW: KnowAndTell Blog
Hi Sumner,
My friend at church started a small group called,
Becoming Effective Witnesses Together,
at our church, Meadows Baptist Church in Plano last month.
I had shared with him about your effective ministry of soul-winning, as Frank Banfill had shared with me.
Enjoy his blog today affirming WHOSE you are and not just WHO you are!
Heaven surely is setting a huge Banquet table to receive you some day.
We love you and pray for you and Celeste, even though we never got that one-on-one meeting in March 2007.
Blessings and admiration, as you have spurred me on daily to SHARE JESUS!
Mrs. Barbara S. Johnson
Plano, Texas

Make Witnessing a Lifestyle

After church today we had a great family meal at Golden Coral before I had to head to the airport for a one day business trip. We had the new girl as our waitress and so Flora, the kind Asian waitress in next area over from us started picking up the slack for the new girl. At the end of the meal, I took out cash for the tip and divided it in half. I put one of Sumner Wemp's new tract's with each set of cash, left one set on the table for the new girl that didn't do so well, and I stopped Flora as she walked by the table and handed her half of the tip. She wasn't expecting it and I pray she reads the tract. So, the good news went to two waitresses instead of one.

I then headed for the airport, landed in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, settled into my hotel, and went for a late dinner at Red Lobster. The restaurant was almost empty. This time the young waitress' name was Holly. As I nibbled on my last few bites, I reached into my pocket and pulled out my Heaven booklet with page 54 marked, the section entitled "How to know for sure you're going to Heaven." Reading at the table serves two purposes. It's a conversation starter, and it keeps the gospel fresh on my mind. If you read different tracts and see the different ways in which the one gospel message is presented, it helps you learn, and you get exposed to different gospel verses to use. Back to my story . . . Holly comes over to make sure I have everything I need. I have my head buried in my booklet. I replied, "Yes, I'm fine. I'm just reading this great book on Heaven. It has this section that tells you how to know for sure you're going to heaven. Holly, are you a Christian? Do you know you're going to heaven." Holly said "well no, when I was younger I went to church . . .". I said, "Here, please take this and read it". She took the book and thanked me. Later as she came back to the table to help with the check I said to her, "Holly, I've helped show people in several different countries how to have eternal life. I can tell that this information is true. I really hope you'll read the book." Holly replied, "Oh I will, I've already started. Thank you." As I was walking out of the now empty restaurant, I saw Holly sitting at one of the tables reading her book, and she said good night to me." People all along your path every day are in desperate need of the good news in your head. Let's make witnessing a lifestyle. It gets easier with practice. It really really does.

Dan Hobson, I know you have a great story you need to post about a new resident visit.

By the way, you can buy the tracts I used at lunch at http://www.sumnerwemp.com/witnessing/ They are called "Your Ticket to Heaven". My good friend Barbara Johnson put me on to Sumner Wemp's site at our first KnowAndTell meeting. She is already sharpening me as we become more effective witnesses together.

I have also recently added a website called http://knowandtell.org/ (it has a ways to go, but it's a start). I highly recommend listening to the eight MP3 lessons you'll find there.

- Michael Cooper

First thought instead of last

I had taken Alexandria to a book release party on Friday. I took a good book with me and found a nice quiet corner to sit by myself. About 30 minutes later, a lady came and asked if she could sit with me. I immediately said "sure"! My first thought was ... "God is this a divine appointment? And please give me the words that she needs to hear". We talked off and on for several hours. I had a lot of trouble moving the conversation to spiritual topics. I was really disappointed that I wasn't able to do that. After getting home and sharing with Shawn, I decided that the encounter was probably more for me than her. My focus was immediately on Christ. Usually for me, it is the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and sometimes not at all. I was encouraged by Michael to post this. It takes a conscience effort to make it our FIRST THOUGHT!