Testimony Tuesday: A lifelong journey of obedience and discipleship

By Bella Agnello

(Pictured Above- Aaron Cook and family)

In 1986, 9-year-old Aaron Cook heard the Gospel from a guest preacher at church and went down to the front of the congregation to receive Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. Cook calls it his moment of conversion and his first attempt at evangelism – he brought his grandfather down to the front with him. Though he did not know it yet, God would call him to a life dedicated to surrender, evangelism and discipleship.

Cook grew up in Fort Lupton, Colorado, in a Christian family. Though saved at 9 and baptized at 10, Cook did not experience significant spiritual growth until high school.

“I had a wrong idea of my relationship with God,” Cook said. “Obedience to God and enjoyment seemed like polar opposites.”

In his junior year of high school, Cook met his future wife, Laurie, through a mutual friend. Laurie invited him to her church, where he experienced a radical change in his life.

“Without being able to articulate, ‘This is what discipleship is,’ or, ‘This is what sanctification is,’ I started to experience it,” Cook said.

Through his wife, Cook learned about Cedarville University and followed her there. The couple dated throughout their sophomore year of college and married on August 30, 1997.

While at Cedarville, Cook dove into Scripture, increasing in knowledge and learning to see Jesus throughout the Bible. God then pressed Psalm 37:4 on his heart:

 “Delight yourself also in the Lord and he shall give you the desires of your heart.”

“My relationship with Christ really took off when I collided with Psalm 37:4,” Cook said. “I realized that God’s glory and my greatest joy were actually two sides of the same coin. And then I just started noticing my desires changing.”

Cook bounced to and from several areas of study. In his searching, he realized that his greatest passion was to serve God by serving others. Yet, a career in ministry was a foreign concept to him. He did not grow up in a ministry family – both of Cook’s parents worked in the medical field. Still, God began to stir his heart for discipleship. So, he studied Bible Comprehensive and Christian Education.

In the summer of 1998, Cook interned at Scioto Hills Christian Camp and Retreat Center in Wheelersburg, Ohio. There, God affirmed his heart for discipleship.

“I remember I kept a journal,” Cook said. “I was so drawn to authentic discipleship. I just knew I needed to be a part of it.”

Cook graduated from Cedarville University in 1999. With no plans but a surrendered heart, God led him and his wife back to Scioto Hills where they stayed for 16 years.

Cook’s ministry did not end with campers. During his time at Scioto Hills, God blessed Cook with four children. His faith was rapidly put to the test when health issues began plaguing his family. 

When one of his children was in the hospital, Cook’s pastor gave him Psalm 94:18-19 to meditate on: 

“When I thought, ‘My foot slips,’ your steadfast love, oh Lord, held me up. When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul.”

In the hospital, Cook read the verses over and over and sang them over his child.

“I experienced the verse becoming a reality that didn’t make sense at all,” Cook said. “The consolation of the Lord through immersing myself in his Word actually brought joy. And it didn’t make sense, but I couldn’t deny it.”

Cook sees the health challenges his family continues to go through as a means for God to speak truth loudly over his life. Through countless moments, God worked to rid Cook of fear and self-reliance. From that, he pressed closer to God and learned to surrender his life more wholly to the one who sovereignly oversees his life.

“I see this process of God’s transforming us as a process of God freeing us from self worship,” Cook said. “We’re our own worst enemy, and God in his kindness makes us more like Jesus. And it’s a sweet thing.”

Despite these trials, the Cook’s knew that God was not done growing their family. They prayerfully considered adoption, from which they gained their two youngest children.

“We thought we were going to have a child really soon, but it took a year and a half,” Cook said. “Looking back, it was amazing how the Lord provided, with the specific timing of it and how he provided financially.”

As a father, Cook discovered the rich love God has for his children. As his heart drew toward God, he learned about the gut-wrenching desire God has for his children to repent, come to him and be satisfied.

“What does our Father experience when we go somewhere else for satisfaction?” Cook said. “How would I feel if my children – knowing they can have a seven-course meal at my table whenever they wanted – left to dig for food in the dumpsters? Does that make me angry? No, it crushes my heart if that were to ever happen. And that’s the exact picture of when we choose sin over Christ.”

The imagery fueled Cook to keep praying for opportunities for evangelism and discipleship. In 2014, God called him back to Cedarville University as the Director of Discipleship. He oversees discipleship groups, Fit to Be Tied (a pre-marriage program) and the student chaplains on campus.

In all his years in ministry, Cook never lost his fervor for discipleship. Rather, his passion only continues to grow.

“I loved seeing potential in somebody and dreaming about it,” Cook said. “I’d walk with them to see Christ more clearly and then I’d see them flourish. There just isn’t something more exhilarating than that.”

Cook joys in finding new ways to serve others and create discipleship opportunities. He and his wife bought a home near campus that enables them to invite students over to experience fellowship with other believers and worship God together.

Now, with two kids in college, Cook finds himself in a season where he has a margin to dream.

“I think the Lord has grown me to trust in him,” Cook said. “Fear and anxiety hamstrung my ability to dream.”

Cook does his best dreaming with his wife. So, his biggest desire is to expand their ministry opportunities together – to pursue people with the love of God together.

There are evermore ministry opportunities that God continues to lay on his heart. Whether it is inventing, innovating or expanding ministries, regardless of the challenge, Cook dreams bigger and relies on God to give him the desires of his heart.

“Some of my ‘wondering’ is starting to take form,” Cook said. “I’m excited to see what the Lord does.”

*photos provided by Aaron Cook

Bella Agnello is a junior Broadcasting, Digital Media and Journalism major with a concentration in Journalism. She enjoys thrifting, listening to records and reading classic Russian literature in her spare time.