The online home for the writings of Keelan Cook. A website for those who love the church and its mission.
Few terms have captivated the missional imagination of the church in North America like the Nones. The term None became our shorthand for the nonreligious, or those who would not select any particular relgion on surveys about faith. This was a cha...
I wonder if you think like I do. When I read through the gospels, I often wonder what it would have been like to walk alongside Jesus in the flesh. Even more, what would it have been like to walk alongside Jesus in his resurrected body? What was i...
During my time serving overseas as a missionary, I lived in rural West Africa. Rustic doesn’t quite describe the living conditions. No electricity. No running water. That meant water had to come out of the ground, and it had to do so by hand. I h...
We live in an anxious age. If you don’t believe me, check out this book, or this article, or this article that even discusses a rise in anxiety before the pandemic, or this research. And if you don’t trust any of those sources, here’s Fox News say...
This article has been a long time coming. If you are a long-time follower of my writing (and I mean long time), you may recall an article I wrote back in 2015 titled, “A Word of Caution Concerning ‘Relationship Evangelism’.” In that article, I wr...
I hope I can talk about this without sounding like I have an ax to grind. Fortunately, our organization is in the coaching business, not the funding business, when it comes to church plants. In my previous position, I worked at a seminary. Again, ...
Are you planting a church or a worship service? Some of you may be offended that I even asked that question. Odds are, you will see and agree with the dilemma I propose in this article. Others may not understand the distinction I just made, and t...
I doubt you have ever heard the name Raymond Lull (or Ramon Llull). You may have heard of William Carey, we like to think of him as the first modern missionary. Few people, however, know the name Lull. But Raymond Lull is a big deal. Lull was do...
I love reading the great missions texts, and Stephen Neill’s A History of Christian Missions is no exception. Today, I want to share a few paragraphs with you from his opening chapter. These words were great encouragement to me and I pray they wou...
I recently ran across a quote I would like to share concerning the significance of global cities in the mission of the church. It is from Jared Looney, who wrote Crossroads of the Nations: While it is unlikely that this status will remain stat...
We have all seen that well-intentioned pastor or speaker on a video in our Facebook jazzed about how this is the biggest moment in the history of the world. The face changes, but the message does not. This is our time, and we must seize it. Carpe ...
I serve as the George Liele Director of the Center for Great Commission Studies and as a professor of Christian Missions at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.
I also serve as Assistant Professor of Christian Missions at the seminary. Previously, I served as the Associate Director for the Union Baptist Association in Houston, TX.
My areas of focus cover both North American and International missions. I teach and write on church renewal and replanting as well as developing healthy sending culture in churches. I have a passion for mobilizing the church to the nations, and a love for missions history.
I lead the Peoples Next Door project, which is an initiative to equip local churches in North America to engage in cross-cultural missions among the least-reached peoples that now live in our communities. I’ve been a church planter in West Africa with the IMB and facilitated ethnographic research in Washington, DC with NAMB.
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