The online home for the writings of Keelan Cook. A website for those who love the church and its mission.
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...
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...
If you started reading this post hoping for a quick word about evangelism, you are unfortunately mistaken. Truly, Scripture often uses the imagery of light, and it does so in a positive manner. People are encouraged to be light, to not hide their...
The Gospels are filled with some crazy stories. In today’s skeptical world, many are too “sophisticated” to believe the fantastical events presented in the gospel story. The stories of Christ healing the sick, casting out evil spirits, and raisin...
I like to be lazy. On some level, I think most of us do. If something is hard, most of us would rather have somebody just explain it to us. I do not want to put the effort into figuring out difficult situations or concepts. Just give me the Cliff...
“The only thing good about 29 is the fact that it is not 30.” At least, that is what I said on this day last year. You may want to read that post first. It is called Confessions of a 29-year-old. It is funny. For years, 30 was that age off in the...
Missionaries are taught to be culturally sensitive. We read books about it. We take classes in it. And, before we leave the country, we have to sit through an orientation on some compound out in the middle of the woods learning about it. For, the ...
Has someone ever asked you the question above, or perhaps you asked it yourself? Fifty years ago, this question was practically taboo in America. However, a lot has changed culturally in that time. Secularism is the new religion, even when people...
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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