The online home for the writings of Keelan Cook. A website for those who love the church and its mission.
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...
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...
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...
“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 ...
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...
A generation ago, many (most?) churches had a problem with discipleship. In many ways, that became the concern of a generation in evangelical churches across North America. The concept of discipleship had been whittled down to nothing more than co...
Gentrification is a buzz word today. I know I talk about it quite a bit (See: here, here, and here), and if you are paying attention to the conversation it is a regular topic for church planters and ministers in bigger cities across the country ri...
Refugee care is an issue Christians should address. I talk about it a lot here on the website, and with due reason. It is important. So, I like to keep it in front of regular readers. We need to be able to speak clearly and winsomely about the imp...
I am starting to dread that first look at Twitter each morning. After all, Twitter is my morning newspaper. It is where I get my headlines, and frankly this last week I have not wanted them. It is one thing when your headlines are filled with the ...
I see it regularly: young church planters who want to move to some other city and plant an exact copy of their sending church. Both in my role at the seminary and as a pastor of a church that sends a number of planting teams, it is not uncommon fo...
“You cannot do the Great Commission without doing the Great Commandment.” We say that a lot nowadays, and I do believe it is true. The premise is as follows. The Great Commission, or the call to make disciples of all nations stands at the very ce...
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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