Him We Proclaim

The online home for the writings of Keelan Cook. A website for those who love the church and its mission.

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Spiritual Readiness in Wartime

Paul was clearly very familiar with armor. Even a quick read of his letters reveals a familiarity with warfare, based on his use of imagery to explain aspects of the Christian life. But his understanding of the military is perhaps most clear in hi...

Go Deep: Moving Beyond the Surface in Evangelism

I recently spoke to several hundred students at a conference on the importance of evangelism. During my time with those students, I asked them all a simple question: Has there ever been a time when you felt like you should tell someone about Jesus...

The Invisible Battle: Living as Citizens in a Kingdom at War

Our world is not as it seems. We go through our days, worrying about the present circumstances, one eye on our social feed and the day’s news cycle. Inevitably, there is another political controversy. Someone of notoriety that you’ve vaguely heard...

The End of Church in America?

“Is this the end of the church in America?” You have heard the question. Perhaps you have wondered yourself. I am sure you have read the articles like I have. It seems every few months something in the news cycle (or on the news cycle’s demented ...

Next Gen Goes to Church

It’s been called a “quiet revival,” or the “revival generation.”1 Perhaps we now have numerical evidence to back up that experience. It appears Next Gen is showing up for church. More than that, they’re now showing up more than their older counte...

Are we Planting Churches or Worship Services?

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...

Lessons from Lull: How to be a missionary in 1285 (and today)

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...

Encourage the Anonymous Witness

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...

Global Cities: The Roman Roads of the 21st Century

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...

Church, This is Your Time... and Place

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 ...

Infographic: The Gospel and Its Three-fold Message

Back in February, I wrote about the multi-faceted message of the gospel and its translatability into any culture. Cultures tend to focus on one of three paradigms: guilt (that’s ours), fear, or shame. Right in the pages of the Bible, the gospel sp...

Hello, I’m Keelan.

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.

More about me