The Baptist Digest

The Thought Occurred To Me

By Bob Mills

January 2010

I want to dedicate the title of my article to the memory of Owen Cooper. Owen Cooper was the last layman to serve as President of the Southern Baptists Convention (1972). He was a man of incredible vision and passion for missions and evangelism.  He was a man who desired to see the people of God on mission with God. I had brief encounter with Mr. Cooper in the late 70’s and was so impressed with his energy and a mind that never seemed to stop working. He was a person who understood God’s call in his life and served faithfully until his death in 1986.

People who worked with him were accustomed to hearing him say, “The thought occurred to me,” knowing this meant some new idea or project needed to be considered or pondered. Owen Cooper had much to do with the initiation of Mission Service Corps into Southern Baptist life. Since I worked with Mission Service Corps for many years, he has always been a distant mentor of mine.

Dear friends, I am overwhelmed and honored to serve as your Executive Director. My desire is to see God use our two-state convention in ways which are beyond our understanding. The convention is compiled of 400 plus churches scattered all across Nebraska and Kansas. These churches are places of light for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  According to the Great Commission, these churches have as their purpose to make disciples of every people group.

The role of the Convention is to come along side the churches in Kansas and Nebraska to assist them in that divine task.  The desire of the Convention is to add value to the local churches we serve.

My commitment to you is to stay focused on adding value to the life and work of the local church. In future articles, I want to talk with you about the specifics as to how we can assist churches with the task of making disciples.  I am excited about how we can work together to see personal and ecclesiological transformation happen in our Convention. The key to the future is all of us working in partnership to advance the Gospel of Christ, in our communities, our state, our nation, and around the world. These are difficult economic times; I want to thank you for remaining faithful in your giving to your local church. Our God is sufficient.

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I thought you might like this article I read at baptistdigest.com. "The Thought Occurred To Me" I want to dedicate the title of my article to the memory of Owen Cooper. Owen Cooper was the last layman to serve as President of the Southern Baptists Convention (1972). He was a man of incredible vision and passion for missions and evangelism.  He was a man who desired to see the people of God on mission with God. I had brief encounter with Mr. Cooper in the late 70’s and was so impressed with his energy and a mind that never seemed to stop working. He was a person who understood God’s call in his life and served faithfully until his death in 1986. You can read the rest here: http://www.baptistdigest.com/archive/article/the_thought_occurred_to_me/

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I thought you might like this article I read at baptistdigest.com. "The Thought Occurred To Me" I want to dedicate the title of my article to the memory of Owen Cooper. Owen Cooper was the last layman to serve as President of the Southern Baptists Convention (1972). He was a man of incredible vision and passion for missions and evangelism.  He was a man who desired to see the people of God on mission with God. I had brief encounter with Mr. Cooper in the late 70’s and was so impressed with his energy and a mind that never seemed to stop working. He was a person who understood God’s call in his life and served faithfully until his death in 1986. You can read the rest here: http://www.baptistdigest.com/archive/article/the_thought_occurred_to_me/