The online home for the writings of Keelan Cook. A website for those who love the church and its mission.
I wonder if you think like I do. When I read through the gospels, I often wonder what it would have been like to walk alongside Jesus in the flesh. Even more, what would it have been like to walk alongside Jesus in his resurrected body? What was i...
During my time serving overseas as a missionary, I lived in rural West Africa. Rustic doesn’t quite describe the living conditions. No electricity. No running water. That meant water had to come out of the ground, and it had to do so by hand. I h...
We live in an anxious age. If you don’t believe me, check out this book, or this article, or this article that even discusses a rise in anxiety before the pandemic, or this research. And if you don’t trust any of those sources, here’s Fox News say...
This article has been a long time coming. If you are a long-time follower of my writing (and I mean long time), you may recall an article I wrote back in 2015 titled, “A Word of Caution Concerning ‘Relationship Evangelism’.” In that article, I wr...
I’m presently making last-minute travel arrangements to head to Dallas at the end of the week. This year marks my 11th year in a row attending the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting. It’s my 13th meeting in total. Yes, I go because of my...
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...
Have you ever wondered if Paul wanted to be a missionary? Perhaps he came to the conclusion that it would be a fun thing to do, an exciting life to live. If that is the case, the story soon tells us it was not much fun. Paul was jailed and regular...
“It’s damning to drain the lifeblood of Christianity and replace it with Kool-Aid.” That is a line from a recent post by Justin Taylor on his blog, Between Two Worlds. This post, called 8 Non-Negotiables for Mobilizing the Local Church for Accomp...
We are creatures of habit. How do I know? Because I am currently sitting in Starbucks typing a blog post on my iPad. The exact same thing I was doing last Sunday, and the Sunday before that, and the Sunday before that. It appears, this is my rou...
The Bible is not a book of rules, although many treat it as such. It is also not a book of heroes recounting the dashing deeds and heroic adventures of great men. No, truth be told, the prominent figures usually fail. Certainly, the Bible contain...
Today I’m posting another one from the archives. I wrote this one back in 2012. I find it ironically fitting, considering the current state of the presidential race and a lot of the rhetoric floating around in the political arena right now. I hope...
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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