a blog by Keelan Cook
I recently wrote about why it is important for believers to be in community with believers of different generations and life stages. The article, because it was for a pastors' blog, was geared towards how church leaders can facilitate multi-life-stage discipleship among church members. But that is only half of the conversation. Though pastors should…
Love your enemies. That's a tall order, but it is exactly what Jesus expects of his followers. In his most famous of sermon's Jesus lays out a kingdom ethic for his followers. In Matthew 5, he underscores a clear expectation of his disciples: Christians love their enemies. It's counter intuitive, counter cultural, and seems down…
"We need more planters." I hear it more than in the past. I can remember, only a few years ago, speaking with representatives at some of our national church planting agencies (and even some of the smaller church planting networks) and hearing they were at capacity. At the time, the conversation was centered on increased…
Continue reading ➞ Moving Past the Rhetoric of Multiplication
I like to keep everyone that frequents this website as up-to-date as possible on research pertaining to immigration in the United States. In my estimation, the startling rise of immigration over the last several decades presents one of the most significant occasions for missions in North America. This past week, Pew Research released a very…
If there was any question about whether or not Jesus' kingdom ethic is counter-cultural, the Sermon on the Mount should remove those doubts. Jesus is speaking to his disciples about what it means to live as a citizen of a different kingdom. He repeatedly reminds his listeners of the conventional wisdom of their day. He…
When it is your job to spend a lot of time on the internet, you inevitably step on a few landmines. Every now and then, I will be reading an article about some social or cultural issue and get to the bottom of the article, and there it is... the comment section. I know better…
Continue reading ➞ Living Like a Christian in an Outrage Culture
Is it just me, or does it seem like church leaders are always trying to get their congregation excited about something? Sometimes it is a new sermon series, or a new initiative. Often, it is a building project or a new ministry the church plans to start or support. Regardless, I'm willing to wager, there…
Continue reading ➞ Does your church still have an apostolic passion?
Recently, I wrote about why I think it's important to confess our sins to fellow believers. In that piece, I only considered one side of that paradigm: that of the confessor. But there is a second piece that is equally important: What is an appropriate response when someone confesses their sin to us? We have…
Continue reading ➞ How to react when someone confesses their sin to you
I recently finished reading If You Only Knew: My Unlikely, Unavoidable Story of Becoming Free. You can read my review of it here but suffice it to say that it's a good book and you should read it. One thing about the book that has stayed with me is the idea of confessing sin to…
Continue reading ➞ Why do we need to confess our sin to others?
This week, I received an email I wanted to share concerning ESL ministries in local churches. The email was in response to an article I wrote a while back entitled Turn Your ESL Ministry into a Church Planting Machine. For their part, a local church here in Texas is working hard to come up with…
Continue reading ➞ Common Questions about ESL and Church Planting
