Doug Cobb

I’m Doug Cobb and I live in Louisville, Kentucky. My career was in startups, angel capital, and private equity, but these days I spend most of my time on ministry. What most people wouldn’t know is that a very long time ago I wrote a book called Using 1-2-3 that helped a lot of people master Lotus 1-2-3. This year I’m publishing a very different book, And Then The End Will Come, about Matthew 24:14 and Jesus’ promise to return when the Great Commission is finished.

Jesus is the ultimate picture of God’s generosity. 2 Corinthians 8:9 says it best, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that through his poverty we might become rich.” Jesus gave up his glory in heaven to come to earth and die for sinners like me. There will never be a greater act of generosity. Romans 8:32 also speaks to this, saying, “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” If God loved us enough to give us his own son, he can be trusted to generously provide whatever else we need.

I became a Christian as a young adult, not long before I got married. Right from the start of our marriage, my wife Gena and I have practiced generosity—although at first in small doses! I enjoy giving and there is really no explanation for that other than generosity being the Holy Spirit’s gift to me. (Romans 12:8)

One huge danger of wealth is the temptation to escalate our lifestyles. A second danger is discontentment, which comes from comparing ourselves to others who have more. When we only hang out with people who have the same or more than we do, we can lose touch with what is real and miss the opportunities to use our wealth to help others with real needs.

As I think about how I treasure Jesus more than wealth and success, for me, there’s really no comparison. Wealth is simply a tool. Jesus is my savior, my friend, and so much more. He has been so good to me, so patient with me, so faithful to me, so generous to me. How could I not love Jesus more than anything else? 

When I was 25, I wish I better understood the promise of Proverbs 11:25: “The generous will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed.” In common language this says, “You can’t out-give God.” I can see this to be true looking back, but it was one of those things I had to learn by experience. 

Perhaps my most powerful habit for the last 20 years has been that I meet with others early in the morning to pray most weekdays. On Mondays with my wife Gena, we pray for our kids and each other. On Tuesdays with the elders at my church. On Wednesdays with the leaders of my Sunday School class. On Fridays, a friend and I pray for God’s work in world. This habit has deepened my prayer life enormously and has built some amazing friendships.

In general, Gena and I assume that God will put in front of us “the good works he has prepared in advance for us to do.” (Eph. 2:10) We try to say yes to new opportunities as they arise. My greatest passion, though, is frontier missions work - the people and places that have never had the chance to hear of Jesus. I love to support men and women who are going to the ends of the earth to take the gospel to all tribes, languages, peoples, and nations. (Revelation 5:9)

I lead a partnership of generous givers who hope to see every remaining unengaged people group engaged with the gospel by the end of 2022. We support ministry projects that take the gospel to the people groups where Jesus’ name has never been heard, where there are no believers and no churches. By God’s grace, we are working to accelerate the completion of the Great Commission and, we hope, “hastening the coming of the day of God” (2 Peter 3:12).

Three words that I hope I’m remembered by are: Generous, Courageous & Faithful.