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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Make it Easy for Your Members to Tell Their Mission Trip Story

“I have no idea how to explain this!” I hear those words frequently from our students. At Southeastern, we take over a dozen short-term mission trips a year all over the world. This results in over a hundred of our students every year traveling t...

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 Art of the Personal Testimony

I recently stumbled across an article at The Gospel Coalition that caught my attention. The article, titled “The Increasing Value of Christian Testimonies”, resonated. In fact, I make similar claims in my Christian missions courses at the seminary...

Five Local Church Benefits from Creating a Global Missions Partnership

Sending global missionaries is one of my favorite topics of conversation with pastors and church leaders. Having been an international missionary myself, it always does my heart good when a pastor or church leader starts asking questions about how...

Seven Missionary Biographies and Why You Should Read One Now

I initially pulled this book list together during the pandemic a few years ago. Back then, all kinds of posts were appearing that recommended book lists for people to consider during our global shut-in. I even wrote one suggesting you use this ...

I Kissed "Dating the Church" Goodbye, and You Should Too

  I was initially going to apologize to Joshua Harris for stealing the title from his previous book, but after I wrote this post I discovered he had written a whole book on this topic as well. Click here to get a copy of his book, Stop Dating the...

Gospel Hospitality: The Sanctifying Effect of Dinner Guests

We both know the feeling. That anxiety you get when you walk through the door right after work and immediately fly into cleaning your house. At some point, you thought it would be a good idea to invite them over for dinner. But now, in the moment,...

Cooperation or Competition? Does Your Church Play Nice with Others?

If you are a pastor or ministry leader, then this post is for you. New churches in your town are not a bad thing… even the one down the street. I imagine you know that feeling. I am a pastor myself, and honestly, I have had it too. You are drivin...

From the Archive: A lonely multitude

Periodically on the blog, I dig back into the archives and resurrect old posts from years gone. Today, I’m recalling a post from 2012 that reflects on a trip to New York City. This post deals with loneliness, and I believe it outlines some helpf...

In the News: Paris, Terrorism, and Christian Response

Today, in the wake of the devastating events over the weekend, I wanted to call three articles to your attention from the news. One is a news story and the other two are opinion pieces, both written by prominent evangelicals. My hope in doing so ...

An Anemic Gospel: Are We Stopping Short in Our Gospel Proclamation?

  I have heard the gospel countless times, thousands of times. I imagine you have too. Most of the people who read this blog already claim to be believers. I typically write to the choir here. More than hear it, I have spoken the gospel countle...

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