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...
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-s...
“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 the...
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: Chr...
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 ...
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 rep...
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...
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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