Gene Cooper, Minister

Gene Cooper is a native of Brooklyn, New York. He joined the Navy in August 1981. In 1992, while stationed in San Diego, California, he was baptized into Christ at Hoitt Street Church of Christ.

In April 1993, the Navy sent him on a 3 year tour to Naples, Italy which afforded him the opportunity to preach at Pinetemare' Church of Christ. In 1994, he became the minister of Pinetemare'. In A pril 1996, the Navy sent him to Ceiba, Puerto Rico. While in Puerto Rico, he served as the minister of Capara Street Church of Christ.

In 1999, Bro. Cooper was transferred to Norfolk, Virginia and placed membership with the Downtown Church of Christ. In July 2001, the Navy sent Gene to the Pentagon to work with the Joint Chiefs of Staff. While in Washington, D.C., Bro. Cooper placed membership at the 13th Street Church of Christ, where he was appointed Assistant Minister in November 2003. When the Georgia Avenue congregation was established in November 2006, Bro. Cooper was installed as its ministering evangelist.

Bro. Cooper is still on active duty in the Navy working with the Chief of Naval Operations. He is married to the former Debra Lynn Walker of San Diego, California. They have one daughter, Cyrenna Lynn Cooper, and two sons, Eugene and Davian.

Melvin L. Otey, Asst. Minister

Bro. Melvin Otey is a native of St. Louis, MO. After earning a Bachelor's degree in Finance at St. Louis University, he attended Howard University School of Law, where he met the former Ms. Jania Richardson, the woman who would introduce him to the Church of Christ and eventually become his wife.

Bro. Otey obeyed the gospel on April 14, 2002. Since his baptism, he has been very active in teaching God's word to those inside and outside of the church. He has been preaching the gospel and training others in evangelism since 2003. Currently, he is enrolled in Bible study programs through the Video Bible Institute and Regions University. He and Jania have one son, Caleb James.

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The Perfect Proven Word
by Gene Cooper

Oftentimes people who visit Georgia Avenue either to worship and study and they make reference to our unwavering focus on the Scriptures for everything we believe, teach, and practice. We hear people say, “The Bible is important, but it's not all there is to a relationship with God.”  It's certainly true that our relationship with God cannot be limited exclusively to book knowledge, even if that book is the Bible. It's imperative that we take what we read in the Scriptures and make those words the foundation and blueprint of an active life in Christ. The Bible itself says that it is the “engrafted word” that is able to save the soul (James 1:21), not merely the “read and understood word.” The doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in the inspired Scriptures are intended to complete us as servants of God, and equip us for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

Discipleship, therefore, is not merely an educational exercise — it is the process of allowing God's word to transform us into the likeness of Christ (Romans 12:2; 2 Corinthians 3:18). It is infinitely more than studying as though for an academic exam — it is being recreated into a “new man who is renewed in knowledge,” by means of the instruction and direction of God's word (Colossians 3:10).

Consider these words of David, recorded in 2 Samuel 22:31 and its parallel passage, Psalm 18:30: “As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the LORD is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him.” Of whom else but God could it be said that “His way is perfect” ?

We have all learned many valuable things from parents, teachers, and other persons of positive influence, but would we say of any of them that everything they taught was perfect? I am continually grateful for the many vital lessons I learned from my parents, but they — though usually right — were not always correct. I have benefited from the study of many learned, sound gospel preachers, through their preaching and teaching and through their writings, but I have never met a gospel preacher who was right about everything — myself included. Many times I've been compelled to go back to the Bible and restudy some issue, once I realized that what I had previously believed and taught on the matter was wrong.

When we follow God's word — unlike the frail, self-serving words of humankind — we can be 100% certain that what He says is so. “God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?” (Numbers 23:19). As Moses said, “He is the Rock, His work is perfect; for all His ways are justice, a God of truth and without injustice; righteous and upright is He” (Deuteronomy 32:4).

Moreover, God's word has been proven: “The words of the LORD are pure words, like silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times” (Psalm 12:6). No one who ever relied on God's word in humble faith and right understanding has ever been disappointed by it. Yes, many have suffered from unreal expectations and false interpretations, but the true word of God has been tested time after time and never been found wanting. The Bible withstands every onslaught of skeptics and infidels who've come and gone, while that which they assail remains steadfast long after they have turned to dust: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away” (Matthew 24:35; Mark 13:31; Luke 21:33).

We can choose to place our confidence in many things: our own feelings, which change from moment to moment; the theories and ideas of other people, who are as prone to error as we are; or God's perfect, proven word, delivered through His Son: “The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63). It shouldn't take us a great deal of thought to determine which way is wisest and best.