T O U C H I N G L I V E S W I T H T H E L O V E O F C H R I S T

INTHEWORDministries

S E P T E M B E R N E W S L E T T E R 2 0 1 0

PO Box 601, Sealy, TX 77474 · phone: (979) 865-1777 · website: larrycookeministries.com· email: inthewordministries@gmail.comIn the Word Ministries is a 501(C)3 nonprofit organization. Design and Graphics by Chris Tengler

Greetings in the Name of JesusWe are so excited about God’s plan for the rest of this year. In the Word Ministries is in the process of launching an updated website. We want to be relevant to this and upcoming generations. The website will have downloadable message podcasts, links to read current and past newsletters, ways to order CDs of specific messages, and resource links for ex-offenders and recovering addicts. We also have an ITW Facebook fan page. Make sure you “like” us next time you are on Facebook. We have been given more opportunities to minister at the jails and rehabs and now believe God is in the process of setting in place the person he has chosen to help. Please join us in praying for God’s provision in every area of ministry.We want to continue moving forward, using our time, resources and the technology tools available to bring as many into the Kingdom of God as possible. ...continued on page 2

z From Pastor Larry Cooke z

T E S T I M O N YI received a call recently from a man I had the opportunity to minister to while he was in county jail for one year. After county jail, we kept in touch through letters while he spent another two years at state prison. He called me to tell me that the best day of his 40 years of living was the day he came to jail and met Jesus as his Savior. He expressed his gratitude that we came to share the Good News of hope and freedom. He is out of prison now and has a job as a truck driver with health insurance, benefits and earns $18 per hour. He said he knows his life and circumstances are a miracle from the Lord! He told me that he made a decision to hang out with people that want to talk about the Lord and has no plans to go back to his old ways. Praise God for a changed life!

BECOME A FAN ONFACEBOOK

facebook.com/InTheWordMinistries

P H I L I P P I A N S 4 : 8Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think only such things.

Pastor Larry Cooke

Your Missionary to America,

We are open for suggestions and help to accomplish this goal. In these last days our desire is to see people set free from bondage. One of my closest friends, who has gone home to be with the Lord, used to say: “The only thing that really matters is when we get to heaven and look around and see the souls that are there because we did what the Lord told us to do. It is a wise man that wins souls.” The first six months of 2010 we ministered in 200 services, 1 wedding and 1 funeral. We appreciate deeply having the help of Debi Tengler and Larry Austin, who have ministered at Sally’s House and the Colorado County Jail so that we could take time off and have peace knowing the ministry is being taken care of. Thank you Debi and Larry.

Continued M E S S A G E

We traveled to beautiful Oregon for my wife’s family reunion last month and while driving across the country I prayed that God would reveal a powerful spiritual insight to me. I have to be honest my spirit felt dry like the desert, until the last day of our trip when a simple phrase dropped into my spirit: Love Deeper. I began to meditate on what it means to love deeper and the revelation began to seem less simple and more complex by the minute. Think about it: we say I love you and yet there is little or no commitment or obligation in our relationships. The L-word can be a word that we think sounds nice, but if we are honest most of us have a love that is shallow and surface.When God said he loved us in John 3:16, he meant that he was willing to give something of himself for us so that our lives might be increased. God’s powerful, deep, all-consuming LOVE gives us Hope, Peace and Joy. If we are to love deeper, something of ourselves must die, in order for other’s lives to be increased. Loving Deeper means giving up time, energy, sleep, money, pleasures – all those things we try to keep for ourselves. To love deeper means to give more.

Example:One early morning the phone rang at 1:00 am. No one seemed to be on the line so I hung up, but the phone rang again, so I answered and began to tell the silent person on the other end how much Jesus loved them and how I appreciated them calling and the phone abruptly went dead. The next morning at 1:00 am the phone rang again. I answered by saying, “Thank you for calling back I was not through telling you about Jesus’ love for you.” Even though no one on the other end spoke, I knew they were there, so I continued and finally a tiny voice that sounded like a mouse said, “No one loves me.” I told them that I did or I would not have stayed up talking to them for hours. They asked questions then hung up. Again the next morning at 1:00 am the phone rings, and this time a girl’s voice asked me, “Why are you talking to me?” I proceeded to tell her how much Jesus had done for me and how much he loved her and could bring peace to her life. The next day she met me and my wife at church and received the Lord as her Savior. She eventually married the church sound man, sang in the choir and had three children. Why? Because I gave up something of mine – my time, sleep and energy. Is it worth it? You decide, but I sure think it was!! The world awaits not simply to hear I Love You, but to see you Love Deeper.