United We Stand - The Great Commission
A sermon preached at Neartown Church in Houston during COVID lockdown. The text is Matthew 28:16-20.
Written by
Keelan Cook
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Great Commission
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Islam
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A Warning Concerning Religious Categories
Americans love our categories. We love our boxes and labels. Even today, with the postmodern push away from classification, we Western thinkers still organize information by placing “like items” together in taxonomies. Categories can be helpful to...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Cow training - Part 1
I like Aha moments. Aha moments are those little points in time when the proverbial light bulb goes off and some previously known factoid gains new, deeper meaning. What first existed merely as meaningless trivia sprouts and grows into a three di...
Written by
Keelan Cook
aha moments
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From the edge of the world
They say it doesn’t exist, but I’ve been there. As a matter of fact, I feel like I’m there now. While writing these words, I stare out across a piece of glass the locals call the Marmara Denizi (Sea of Marmara). I watch the sun set in a sky so ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
A Consequence of Ministry: Dealing with Sheep
“A shepherd should smell like his sheep.” If you think about the above statement, it seems like common sense. Of course a shepherd would smell like sheep. After all, it is his job to spend his time around sheep. It is his job to follow sheep, her...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Creatures of Habit
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...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Clutching the robo-baby
I was in high school when I saw my first robo-baby. This probably dates me, but at the time, it was some new attempt at teaching girls in home economics about caring for a baby. (If you are older than me, you probably remember girls carrying an e...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Cow training - Part 2
If you are perhaps thinking, “Wait, didn’t he give us the Aha moment from the cow training thing like two days ago?” then you feel the same way I did. This lesson was a double whammy. Right when I thought this little visual demonstration had pro...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Cow training - Part 1
I like Aha moments. Aha moments are those little points in time when the proverbial light bulb goes off and some previously known factoid gains new, deeper meaning. What first existed merely as meaningless trivia sprouts and grows into a three di...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Down the rabbit hole
Do you ever have those moments where, like a line of dominoes, a series of completely unrelated events cascade into a continually shaping idea? (I would call it an epiphany, but that would be just a bit pretentious I suppose.) One strange thought ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Dwelling on the things that are not
Thanksgiving is a peculiar holiday. As with most special days, it seems to be far less about the event we are supposed to remember than the odd traditions that have grown up around it. The pilgrims survived the harsh conditions of settling in the ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Gifts that differ: What will you be today?
This is the last day of my seminar, and today I wanted to share one final post from the archives before I get back to writing. This one is from 2010, and shares a fundamental shift in my thinking about spiritual gifts. A couple of months ago, I r...
Written by
Keelan Cook
I'll Take the Cheap Seats
This week, I am in seminars all day for my PhD, so I’m revisiting some old posts from my time in Africa. This post was written back in 2010 about a celebration I attended while serving as a missionary. One of the neatest aspects of my time h...
Written by
Keelan Cook
bible study
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Handle with Care: Christian Conflict on Social Media
This article is the second in a two-part series on Christ’s command in Matthew 7:1-5. In this artile, we provide a specific application of this command. This first article provides necessary background and proper interpretation for the passage. Yo...
Written by
Keelan Cook
On Splinters, Beams, and Correcting Others
Do not judge, so that you won’t be judged. Nowadays, few Bible verses are quoted quite so often as this one. Not so surprisingly, few are misquoted quite so often. And yet, I truly believe Jesus’ original intended meaning for these words in h...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Christian, Bear the Family Resemblance
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...
Written by
Keelan Cook
But I tell you, love your enemies...
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...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Do You Read the Bible With Unbelievers?
The title question may have never crossed your mind, but it should. Trust me, there is biblical precedent for it. In Acts 8, the reader is taken on a fascinating journey with Phillip. Phillip was a believer. In fact, he was named as one of the de...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Good Ministry to Internationals in One, Short Video
I am always excited to pass on good resources, and the following video is just that. It is a short testimony of a couple realizing their responsibility to share the gospel with unreached people groups here in the States. The video briefly walks th...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Communicating across cultures is hard, but it is not impossible.
If you have ever preached on a short-term mission trip, then you know the feeling. You are up front, a bunch of unfamiliar faces staring back at you. Next to you stands your interpreter, awaiting your words so he or she can translate them into th...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Christian: Going to Church is Important, Your Understanding of the Bible Depends on It
I recently picked up a book by the late, great missiologist Lesslie Newbigin, entitled Truth and Authority in Modernity. In the work, he tries to untangle the often confusing conversation concerning the issues of authority in worldview. I do not...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Allergic to Authority
While reading a book for one of my classes, I ran across a statement that stuck with me. The book contained a diatribe about things that characterize our modern worldview. In the middle of the rant, the author made that statement that people in ou...
Written by
Keelan Cook
How far is too far?
“How far is too far?” If you have ever worked with a youth group, that question is not new to you. For that matter, if you were ever in a youth group, that question probably crossed your lips, or at least your mind. And that question applies to ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Did Paul Want to be a Missionary?
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...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Creatures of Habit
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...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Guilty until Proven Innocent, but That is Not a Bad Thing
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 ho...
Written by
Keelan Cook
A living Hope
Life sucks sometimes. We all know it is true. You get passed up for a promotion, or perhaps you get fired. Someone in your family becomes terribly sick, or perhaps you do. You find out the girl of your dreams does not feel the same way about you,...
Written by
Keelan Cook
An Orderly Account
When you crack a new book for the first time, as you leaf through the first two or three pages, you will usually notice a page with just a sentence or two nestled right into the center of it. On it, you will find someone’s name. It will not be the...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Cow training - Part 2
If you are perhaps thinking, “Wait, didn’t he give us the Aha moment from the cow training thing like two days ago?” then you feel the same way I did. This lesson was a double whammy. Right when I thought this little visual demonstration had pro...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Cow training - Part 1
I like Aha moments. Aha moments are those little points in time when the proverbial light bulb goes off and some previously known factoid gains new, deeper meaning. What first existed merely as meaningless trivia sprouts and grows into a three di...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Down the rabbit hole
Do you ever have those moments where, like a line of dominoes, a series of completely unrelated events cascade into a continually shaping idea? (I would call it an epiphany, but that would be just a bit pretentious I suppose.) One strange thought ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Gifts that differ: What will you be today?
This is the last day of my seminar, and today I wanted to share one final post from the archives before I get back to writing. This one is from 2010, and shares a fundamental shift in my thinking about spiritual gifts. A couple of months ago, I r...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Ephesus: Causing ripples
Ephesus was kind of a big deal. Think of it as the “New York” of ancient Asia Minor. With a population of 400,000 people during the first century AD, it was the second largest city in the world after Rome. It was the political and economic center,...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Delight in the Law of the Lord: Part 7 – Application
The Romans had chariots, the cowboys in the Wild West had their horses, the modern American has the mid-sized sedan (or oversized SUV for some) and West Africans have the “bush taxi.” Labeled the bush taxi more for where it goes than its appearanc...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Delight in the Law of the Lord: Part 6 - More Technique
If ever there was a strategy that would reach the world for Christ, it must be the church sign. Crowning the curb of church properties across America, these little, often backlit, beacons of truth shine out to a lost world. If am not mistaken (and...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Delight in the Law of the Lord: Part 5 - Technique
I have a confession. Pulling water is not one of my spiritual gifts. For those of you too pampered to have ever experienced this, “pulling water” is the euphemism applied to dragging buckets of water up a rope and out of a 50ft-deep well. Pulling...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Delight in the Law of the Lord: Part 4 - Overcomplicated?
Why do we overcomplicate things? Is it part of human nature, possibly a result of the fall? Take for instance that master of ingenuity, Wile E. Coyote. There are few things in life that bring me as much happiness as laughing at his misery. In his ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Delight in the Law of the Lord: Part 3 - Using the Bible
There are a lot of things in life that we want to make sure we do not misuse. For instance, those little signs that have replaced the words “Men” and “Women” on most public bathrooms are important. Another example is the inappropriate way the refe...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Delight in the Law of the Lord: Part 2 – The Bible
Communication is an interesting process. The transmission of information is a goal that is seldom achieved with the precision that was initially intended. For instance, I imagine most of you have participated in a “chain story” at some point. Bein...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Delight in the Law of the Lord: Part 1 - Revelation
How do you know God? For that matter, how do you know anything about God? Maybe it was your parents that first introduced you to this idea that there was some big something out there in charge of everything. Maybe it was a Sunday School teacher or...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Being Called a Sheep Isn't a Good Thing
I wrote this piece while serving in Africa as a missionary. At the time, I was living in a small village far away from city life. The observations made in my time there profoundly shaped how I understand the Bible. I pray this one does the same fo...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Counting the Cost
I am headed back out to the bush for a while, so I thought I would leave you guys with something that has recently been on my mind. I spent several days this past week working with a short-term team from the States. It was a real blessing, and God...
Written by
Keelan Cook
bible-study
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At the Master's Knees
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...
Written by
Keelan Cook
christ
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Fixing Our Eyes on the End Affects the Way We Live Now
Eschatology weirds a lot of Christians out, nowadays. For the uninitiated, eschatology is the study of last things. In other words, it is the theology about how the world will end, or what happens when Christ comes back. It is a subject that hist...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Four Truths to Ground Your Theology of Mission
As I wrote in my last post, studying missions is an important part of actually doing missions. There is a cognitive aspect to everything we do. Therefore, what we study about missions affects how we actually do missions. The Bible has a lot to say...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Already, but not yet - Part 4
The message of the kingdom is the mission of the church. Over the last three posts, I have discussed the significance of the kingdom of God, pointed out some common misconceptions, and provided a rough description of this kingdom. The kingdom has...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Already, but not yet - Part 3
We were supposed to be stewards. That is why we were created. In the very beginning, back when God made everything out of nothing, the pinnacle of that creation was man. Man was made in his image and was to rule in his stead. In essence we were s...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Already, but not yet - Part 1
Jesus is concerned about his kingdom. It is pretty easy to agree with that statement if you read the gospel account of Matthew. The kingdom of heaven is possibly the most prevalent theme in the book, and is most often recorded off the lips of Jes...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Allergic to Authority
While reading a book for one of my classes, I ran across a statement that stuck with me. The book contained a diatribe about things that characterize our modern worldview. In the middle of the rant, the author made that statement that people in ou...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Chasing rainbows
If you are questioning man’s depravity lately, might I suggest you cut on your television. This weekend, I visited a friend in Richmond and was sitting on his couch before church. The television was on the National Geographic channel, and I notic...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Building Scarecrows
Having just moved to a new place, I am still trying to find my way around. Part of that process, at least for me, is learning all the nooks and crannies. It is discovering the little places, like a park or a trail, that provide moments of escape f...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Baptist Witchcraft
This post is more of a question than an answer. It is curiosity not advice, and I know that even bringing this issue up will bring scrutiny on me from others. My hope is that in raising my questions and my lack of understanding we can dialogue tow...
Written by
Keelan Cook
church
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"Are You Still Watching?" Thinking Rightly About Online Worship Views
Over the last two months, I’ve watched a scene unfold more than once. As the reality set in for pastors and church leaders concerning the ramifications of this pandemic, an initial concern followed. Many churches that were already plateaued or dec...
Written by
Keelan Cook
How to React When Someone Confesses Their Sin to You
Recently, I wrote about why I think it’s important to confess our sins to fellow believers. In that piece, I only considered one side of that paradigm: that of the confessor. But there is a second piece that is equally important: What is an approp...
Written by
Meredith Cook
Free Resource: Assess Your Church from Multiple Perspectives
The following is an excerpt from a free local church resource. The resource is a quick reference for carefully examining your local church in its missions context. You can download the resource at the end of the post. “The gospel never fits prope...
Written by
Keelan Cook
A Thank You to Pastors (And an Encouragement to Their Members)
Life has been full of changes for us in the last year and lately I’ve been reflecting on the Lord’s faithfulness in our lives: helping us feel at home in Houston, giving us a church and friends, and simply helping us to like where we are and what ...
Written by
Meredith Cook
Immigration may beat a century-old record
As of 2015, the United States had set one record in immigration, and it may be on pace to break another one. According to the most recent data from Pew research, the United States is now home to over 43.2 million international immigrants. That is...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Church, This is Your Time... and Place
We have all seen that well-intentioned pastor or speaker on a video in our Facebook jazzed about how this is the biggest moment in the history of the world. The face changes, but the message does not. This is our time, and we must seize it. Carpe ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
How Not to Use Your Spiritual Gifts
Recently I wrote about spiritual gifts and using your gifts to serve the church. Today, I want to discuss a couple of issues with the whole spiritual gifts conversation. Obviously, I do not mean that spiritual gifts are a problem, but if we are n...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Foggy Numbers that can Sidetrack the Mission
Last week, I wrote a piece about the foggy words we use in church that can sidetrack our mission. Sometimes, we say things that sound real nice, even sound important or profound, but have little real-world meaning. At best, these phrases keep us f...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Evangelize out of Joy, not Guilt
“How can we say, ‘let the nations be glad,’ if we’re not?” A few weeks ago, one of our other pastors at church made that statement during a sermon. Tony was preaching on Psalm 138. He made a really good point. The Great Commission is not a burde...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Four Truths to Ground Your Theology of Mission
As I wrote in my last post, studying missions is an important part of actually doing missions. There is a cognitive aspect to everything we do. Therefore, what we study about missions affects how we actually do missions. The Bible has a lot to say...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Christian, Get Out of the Bubble
My church has a lot of seminary students, and I hear a certain refrain every two or three weeks in the small groups I oversee. The conversation turns toward evangelism and missions and some well-meaning seminary student will express frustration th...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Four Factors for Leadership Development in Local Churches
Leaders are like vegetables, the homegrown variety are almost always better. That may sound simplistic, and in a lot of ways it probably is. But this is a point where the Bible is clear. A large part of the church’s mission in fulfilling the Grea...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Biblically Faithful or Culturally Relevant: Why not both?
“The gospel never fits properly within a culture.” That is a quote by Ed Stetzer from a chapter in The Mission of Today’s Church. In the chapter, Stetzer is detailing the plight of Southern Baptist churches in relation to the North American missi...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Church, Stop Measuring Yourself by Past Success
You think back to that time often. Maybe it was a decade ago, maybe a generation ago, or maybe it was just a few years ago. It was an exciting time in the life of your church. The sanctuary was full on a Sunday morning, children were running aroun...
Written by
Keelan Cook
How to Map Your Members in Google for Local Outreach
Last week, I shared a simple method for using Google’s free services for neighborhood discovery. Today, I want to extend that idea to the next level. Many churches never consider mapping out their own membership, but they should. Our homes are st...
Written by
Keelan Cook
How to Use Google Forms, Sheets, & Maps to Survey Your Community (For Free)
Every church needs to know the community around them. Many churches today knew their community at one time, but things change. When it comes to communities here in the US, that transition has happened quickly and everywhere. Many (I would guess m...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Church is Not a Spectator Sport
College football season is once again upon us. This week, I am traveling to do some missionary training and last night, I found myself laying in a hotel bed, listening to my team play their opening game on the radio. The Tennessee Volunteers, a to...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Begin with the End in Mind: The Importance of an Exit Strategy
If you are familiar with international missions strategy, then you have probably heard people talk about entry and exit strategies. Most good international missions has both an entry strategy, a means of starting work in a new area or with a new p...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Church Community Has an Outward Focus Too
The following is a guest post by Marie McDonald. Marie has written here before and does excellent work in her local church leading others to discover and engage people groups. Think for a moment about Christian community. Typically, the term conj...
Covenant Membership is a Contextual Process
Monday, I ran a guest post by Trevor King on the importance of covenant membership, and I highly recommend you read it here. In it, Trevor makes a compelling claim about the biblical nature of a covenant membership process for local churches, and ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
How to Create a Sending Culture in Your Church.
I was recently talking to a student deploying to the field for missionary service, and she informed me she was the only person to ever serve as a missionary from her Baptist association back at home. Now, she’s from the South where there are many ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Embracing the Struggle: How Church Membership Puts the Gospel on Display
The following is a guest post by Trevor King. Trevor is a good friend and provides leadership over the membership process at our church. I have always appreciated the way he articulates the importance of church membership, so I wanted him to share...
Church Small Groups Reimagined: Leaders That Make Leaders Through Bible Stories
Monday, I proposed evangelistic Bible storying as a way to start new small groups at your church through conversion. Bible storying provides the benefit of worldview development as the study progresses from week to week. This, of course, is an exc...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Church Small Groups Reimagined: Use Them for Outreach Through Bible Storying
It has been a few weeks since I posted on the benefits of Bible storying, so it seemed high time to do it again. If you cannot tell, I am a firm believer in using a narrative/ story approach in Bible study. I saw the great benefit of unpacking bib...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Hospitality is Hard, But You Should Do it Anyway
The following is a guest piece by Meredith Cooper on the challenge and necessity of hospitality in gospel ministry. Its practical and I think most of us can relate to the scenarios she discusses below. Hospitality is a word I hear a lot in conjun...
Written by
Keelan Cook
How One Church Prepares Its Missionaries Before They Go
In previous posts, we’ve talked about the need to be proactive instead of reactive concerning missions sending from your church. This means working in advance to cast vision, assess, and equip people from your own church to be international missio...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Anyone Can Learn These Three Phrases in Another Language
It has been five years now, but I still remember how it felt. It happened more than once while I served in West Africa as a missionary, but it always caught me off guard. I would be working out in the bush, a long long way from anyone that could, ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Christian: Going to Church is Important, Your Understanding of the Bible Depends on It
I recently picked up a book by the late, great missiologist Lesslie Newbigin, entitled Truth and Authority in Modernity. In the work, he tries to untangle the often confusing conversation concerning the issues of authority in worldview. I do not...
Written by
Keelan Cook
How to Survive the Church as an Introvert
Periodically, I post articles written by others. The following is a guest post that may serve as a good dose of medicine if you find the church to be a little overwhelming at times. Enjoy! By: Meredith Cook If you register “I” on the spectrum of...
Written by
Keelan Cook
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...
Written by
Keelan Cook
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...
Written by
Keelan Cook
From the archives: A Right to Secrecy
This blog is actually several years older than its most recent launch as The Peoples Next Door. I initially started this blog when I was serving in West Africa, and this week I began digging through the archives. Back in 2012, I wrote a piece t...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Engaging People Groups: Cultural Expertise vs. Cultural Acquisition
I was a missionary in West Africa. By the time I left that continent, I understood (to a decent degree) the culture, worldview, and language of the people I was engaging. I could carry on conversations, share the gospel, even teach Bible studies. ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Already, but not yet - Part 3
We were supposed to be stewards. That is why we were created. In the very beginning, back when God made everything out of nothing, the pinnacle of that creation was man. Man was made in his image and was to rule in his stead. In essence we were s...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Already, but not yet - Part 2
If you do not know what you are fighting for, you are bound to make mistakes. In the last post, I talked about the kingdom of God (or the kingdom of heaven, as the terms are interchangeable in the Bible). The term gets thrown around a lot. We Chr...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Already, but not yet - Part 1
Jesus is concerned about his kingdom. It is pretty easy to agree with that statement if you read the gospel account of Matthew. The kingdom of heaven is possibly the most prevalent theme in the book, and is most often recorded off the lips of Jes...
Written by
Keelan Cook
The Good News of Community: Why do we dislike the church?
People dislike the church. Not everyone, but enough people for me to write this post. And I am not talking about people who do not claim to be a part of a church. I do not expect people who are not Christians to be satisfied with the church....
Written by
Keelan Cook
A Consequence of Ministry: Dealing with Sheep
“A shepherd should smell like his sheep.” If you think about the above statement, it seems like common sense. Of course a shepherd would smell like sheep. After all, it is his job to spend his time around sheep. It is his job to follow sheep, her...
Written by
Keelan Cook
A Right to Secrecy
The basic American right to privacy. It is a thing, right? Most people do not realize a “right to privacy” is not explicitly stated anywhere in the constitution. However, despite the absence of those words from the document, our country (at lea...
Written by
Keelan Cook
A lonely multitude: Loneliness is not a location issue, it is a heart issue
The first six months I lived in Africa was the loneliest point of my life. Before that point, I cannot say I was ever lonely. Perhaps I was momentarily lonely, but it was never a state of existence. Yet, those first months in Africa, I frequently...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Guilty until Proven Innocent, but That is Not a Bad Thing
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 ho...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Baptist Witchcraft
This post is more of a question than an answer. It is curiosity not advice, and I know that even bringing this issue up will bring scrutiny on me from others. My hope is that in raising my questions and my lack of understanding we can dialogue tow...
Written by
Keelan Cook
An Orderly Account
When you crack a new book for the first time, as you leaf through the first two or three pages, you will usually notice a page with just a sentence or two nestled right into the center of it. On it, you will find someone’s name. It will not be the...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Here's to you: 15-passenger church van
Great adventures need great transportation, and you, 15-passenger church van, taught youth groups everywhere what it meant to ride in style. Jason and his team of heroes had the Argo, the X-Men had their Blackbird, the A-Team had Baracus and his ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Clutching the robo-baby
I was in high school when I saw my first robo-baby. This probably dates me, but at the time, it was some new attempt at teaching girls in home economics about caring for a baby. (If you are older than me, you probably remember girls carrying an e...
Written by
Keelan Cook
church membership
Return to top"Are You Still Watching?" Thinking Rightly About Online Worship Views
Over the last two months, I’ve watched a scene unfold more than once. As the reality set in for pastors and church leaders concerning the ramifications of this pandemic, an initial concern followed. Many churches that were already plateaued or dec...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Foggy Numbers that can Sidetrack the Mission
Last week, I wrote a piece about the foggy words we use in church that can sidetrack our mission. Sometimes, we say things that sound real nice, even sound important or profound, but have little real-world meaning. At best, these phrases keep us f...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Covenant Membership is a Contextual Process
Monday, I ran a guest post by Trevor King on the importance of covenant membership, and I highly recommend you read it here. In it, Trevor makes a compelling claim about the biblical nature of a covenant membership process for local churches, and ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Embracing the Struggle: How Church Membership Puts the Gospel on Display
The following is a guest post by Trevor King. Trevor is a good friend and provides leadership over the membership process at our church. I have always appreciated the way he articulates the importance of church membership, so I wanted him to share...
church planting
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The Great Commission Post-Retirement
A couple of months ago, I made the mistake of posting an off-handed comment on Facebook. The next thing I knew, I was in meetings with some folk from our state convention in North Carolina talking missions strategy about that off-handed comment. ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Does your church still have an apostolic passion?
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...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Common Questions about ESL and Church Planting
This week, I received an email I wanted to share concerning ESL ministries in local churches. The email was in response to an article I wrote a while back entitled Turn Your ESL Ministry into a Church Planting Machine. For their part, a local chur...
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Keelan Cook
Church Planter, Don't Lose Your Integrity in Fundraising
I hope I can talk about this without sounding like I have an ax to grind. Fortunately, our organization is in the coaching business, not the funding business, when it comes to church plants. In my previous position, I worked at a seminary. Again, ...
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Keelan Cook
Are we Planting Churches or Worship Services?
Are you planting a church or a worship service? Some of you may be offended that I even asked that question. Odds are, you will see and agree with the dilemma I propose in this article. Others may not understand the distinction I just made, and t...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Global Cities: The Roman Roads of the 21st Century
I recently ran across a quote I would like to share concerning the significance of global cities in the mission of the church. It is from Jared Looney, who wrote Crossroads of the Nations: While it is unlikely that this status will remain stat...
Written by
Keelan Cook
In the News: "Somali Refugee Makes History In U.S. Election"
Last week, a friend made mention of this article in her social media, and I felt it was worth sharing. While the news cycle was inundated with shock at the outcome of the presidential election, this little article slipped through at NPR, and it is...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Bourdain Tastes the Nations... in Houston (VIDEO)
I love shows about strange food. Maybe it is because I love strange food. I like them even more when I can learn something from them, and this upcoming piece by Anthony Bourdain on CNN’s Parts Unknown is all about the radical diversity found in on...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Christian, Get Out of the Bubble
My church has a lot of seminary students, and I hear a certain refrain every two or three weeks in the small groups I oversee. The conversation turns toward evangelism and missions and some well-meaning seminary student will express frustration th...
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Keelan Cook
Does your church have a family tree?
We replicate what we celebrate. Everyone knows, buried deep in our bones, is a desire to be more and do more of what we praise. Truthfully, the idea is at the heart of the gospel and our purpose as people created to worship. We become what we wor...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Church Planting is Not Church Franchising
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...
Written by
Keelan Cook
How to Know if Your Church is Missional
The term missional is overused. It happens a lot with new words that are initially helpful. We see the word as clearly describing some admirable trait and we adopt the word, but the meaning starts to expand. People continue placing it as a label ...
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Keelan Cook
How to Create a Sending Culture in Your Church.
I was recently talking to a student deploying to the field for missionary service, and she informed me she was the only person to ever serve as a missionary from her Baptist association back at home. Now, she’s from the South where there are many ...
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Keelan Cook
Church Planting: Focus on the Forest Instead of the Trees
All analogies break down, so bear with me here. But I want to share this one with you, because I think it does a good job of answering why your area (and mine) needs new churches. A church is, in some ways, like a tree. Churches have a life cycle...
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Keelan Cook
How to know your neighborhood is gentrifying. (They forgot the Chipotle.)
This morning while I was doing some research, I stumbled across a little piece of tongue-and-cheek blog fodder from the Houstonia titled, The Houstonia Step-By-Step Guide to Gentrification. It’s pretty funny and does a great job tracking the devel...
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Keelan Cook
Church Small Groups Reimagined: How to Find Your First Leaders
I initially planned to post this Friday but that was Good Friday, so you’re getting it today. Ok, let’s recap. The last couple of posts have focused on evangelistic Bible storying as a way to start new small groups at your church through convers...
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Keelan Cook
Eric Mason Delivers an Excellent Word on Diversity
[vimeo 157340906 w=800 h=440] Eric Mason - Seeing Through the Lens of the End - Revelation 7:9-14 from Southeastern Seminary on Vimeo. I love our chapel services at Southeastern. Every semester, we have the opportunity to hear from some of the m...
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Keelan Cook
Anyone Can Learn These Three Phrases in Another Language
It has been five years now, but I still remember how it felt. It happened more than once while I served in West Africa as a missionary, but it always caught me off guard. I would be working out in the bush, a long long way from anyone that could, ...
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Keelan Cook
Concerned about refugees? The GC2 Summit may be for you.
Tomorrow, I am flying to the Chicago area for a leadership meeting concerning an upcoming summit on refugees. The GC2 summit, as they are calling it, will hopefully provide equipping to Evangelicals so we can have a proper response to the curren...
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Keelan Cook
In the News: "Demographic Destiny: 2050"
A few days ago, the Wall Street Journal launched a fascinating multimedia piece call Demographic Destiny. The site analyzes demographic research and visualizes the information in stunning project of what life will be like as we approach 2050. Th...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Chiming in: "Learning to Love Foreigners Well"
Over at Urban Mango, Lori McDaniel recently posted a helpful article on loving foreigners. We spend a lot of time talking about that same issue here on this blog, so I thought I would bring her post to your attention and chime in with a few though...
Written by
Keelan Cook
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...
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Keelan Cook
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...
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Keelan Cook
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...
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Keelan Cook
From the archives: A Right to Secrecy
This blog is actually several years older than its most recent launch as The Peoples Next Door. I initially started this blog when I was serving in West Africa, and this week I began digging through the archives. Back in 2012, I wrote a piece t...
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Keelan Cook
Culture in 5 Easy-to-Understand Categories
Let me start by saying this is an oversimplification. Culture and worldview are complicated topics. Are they the same thing? Are they distinct? Search five textbooks and you will get five different answers and five different definitions. In fac...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Engaging People Groups: Cultural Expertise vs. Cultural Acquisition
I was a missionary in West Africa. By the time I left that continent, I understood (to a decent degree) the culture, worldview, and language of the people I was engaging. I could carry on conversations, share the gospel, even teach Bible studies. ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Culture is like an iceberg, and that affects your ministry
Culture runs deep. In fact, culture runs deeper than most ever realize. When we think about culture, we typically think about dress and food, dancing and art, language and festivals. To be certain, these are all cultural activities. Culture is no...
Written by
Keelan Cook
A Multiplication Mindset: The Ministry Paradigm Your Church may be Missing
Sometimes, we do not celebrate the most important things. It is like celebrating the kid who got the congeniality award instead of winning the pageant. Don’t get me wrong. We should give Miss Congeniality a pat on the back, but winning the congen...
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Keelan Cook
Chiming in: "A church is not a random sampling of the place it is in"
Today I wanted to chime in on another good post by Justin Long. As an aside, if you are interested in missions and church planting, you need to follow Justin. You can find his blog here, and his Twitter account here. Justin recently posted a sh...
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Keelan Cook
A Mile in Their Shoes: Peoples Next Door team leader in a local church
[caption id=”attachment_1085” align=”alignright” width=”341”] Marie helps mobilize others inside her church to discover and engage people groups.[/caption] The next interview in our series is a team leader for people group engagement in a local c...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Here's a fun way to understand people group communities
I talk a lot about people group communities or people group pockets forming in cities here in the US. In short, as migration continues around the US, many of these people groups moving to here will find a way to locate in the same areas. They form...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Chiming in: "The Unreached at Home"
Ashley Scarbrough with e3 Partners has a good write up concerning international people group work here in the US. She wrote the piece back in March, but I just stumbled across it recently. Ashley points out several different ways to find and inte...
Written by
Keelan Cook
A Mile in Their Shoes: People Group Catalyst
As a means of helping people see the various roles involved in people group discovery and engagement, I plan to periodically interview practitioners. These people will come from a variety of places (state conventions, sending agencies, research ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Chiming in: "Geography, Ethnography and Missions" by Justin Long
I love finding good, brief articles like this recent post by Justin Long concerning people group work in the US. Justin is actually writing as a response to an article by JD Payne on the topic. Now, I want to highlight Justin’s post. The chain c...
Written by
Keelan Cook
How to be a Missionary Without Being a "Missionary"
A Hindu temple just outside of Raleigh, NC. I don’t know anything about fill-in-the-blank culture! Can I even do this without some level of cultural expertise? This is perhaps the most frequent question when I share about reaching int...
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Keelan Cook
A lonely multitude: Loneliness is not a location issue, it is a heart issue
The first six months I lived in Africa was the loneliest point of my life. Before that point, I cannot say I was ever lonely. Perhaps I was momentarily lonely, but it was never a state of existence. Yet, those first months in Africa, I frequently...
Written by
Keelan Cook
contextualization
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Contextualization Can Be Risky Business
The opening scene of the movie, The African Queen, depicts a white missionary couple leading a worship service for residents of an African village. If you’ve seen the movie, you may or may not have noticed the oddities about this scene. This worsh...
Christianity is a Dual Citizenship
“To be Susu is to be Muslim.” If I heard that once while serving in Africa as a missionary, I heard it a dozen times. Religion, culture, and identity are formative forces in people’s lives. These things wind around each other into a tightly braid...
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Keelan Cook
Church, This is Your Time... and Place
We have all seen that well-intentioned pastor or speaker on a video in our Facebook jazzed about how this is the biggest moment in the history of the world. The face changes, but the message does not. This is our time, and we must seize it. Carpe ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Culture: Palace or Prison?
Ministry happens in the medium of culture. In fact, all of life does. Some have compared culture to the air we walk through and breath every day. For this reason, we love talking about “engaging culture.” Some question whether we should concern ou...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Biblically Faithful or Culturally Relevant: Why not both?
“The gospel never fits properly within a culture.” That is a quote by Ed Stetzer from a chapter in The Mission of Today’s Church. In the chapter, Stetzer is detailing the plight of Southern Baptist churches in relation to the North American missi...
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Keelan Cook
Church, Stop Measuring Yourself by Past Success
You think back to that time often. Maybe it was a decade ago, maybe a generation ago, or maybe it was just a few years ago. It was an exciting time in the life of your church. The sanctuary was full on a Sunday morning, children were running aroun...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Church Planting is Not Church Franchising
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...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Covenant Membership is a Contextual Process
Monday, I ran a guest post by Trevor King on the importance of covenant membership, and I highly recommend you read it here. In it, Trevor makes a compelling claim about the biblical nature of a covenant membership process for local churches, and ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Communicating across cultures is hard, but it is not impossible.
If you have ever preached on a short-term mission trip, then you know the feeling. You are up front, a bunch of unfamiliar faces staring back at you. Next to you stands your interpreter, awaiting your words so he or she can translate them into th...
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Keelan Cook
Chiming in: "Learning to Love Foreigners Well"
Over at Urban Mango, Lori McDaniel recently posted a helpful article on loving foreigners. We spend a lot of time talking about that same issue here on this blog, so I thought I would bring her post to your attention and chime in with a few though...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Chiming in: "Geography, Ethnography and Missions" by Justin Long
I love finding good, brief articles like this recent post by Justin Long concerning people group work in the US. Justin is actually writing as a response to an article by JD Payne on the topic. Now, I want to highlight Justin’s post. The chain c...
Written by
Keelan Cook
cooperation
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An Appeal to Young Southern Baptists
I wrote this post right after the SBC annual meeting in St. Louis, two years ago. I couldn’t help but return to it today. The events of the last couple of days are weighing heavy on my heart, and I feel these words are more true now than ever bef...
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Keelan Cook
culture
Return to topThe Great Commission Post-Retirement
A couple of months ago, I made the mistake of posting an off-handed comment on Facebook. The next thing I knew, I was in meetings with some folk from our state convention in North Carolina talking missions strategy about that off-handed comment. ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
But I tell you, love your enemies...
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...
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Keelan Cook
A Warning Concerning Religious Categories
Americans love our categories. We love our boxes and labels. Even today, with the postmodern push away from classification, we Western thinkers still organize information by placing “like items” together in taxonomies. Categories can be helpful to...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Bourdain Tastes the Nations... in Houston (VIDEO)
I love shows about strange food. Maybe it is because I love strange food. I like them even more when I can learn something from them, and this upcoming piece by Anthony Bourdain on CNN’s Parts Unknown is all about the radical diversity found in on...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Culture: Palace or Prison?
Ministry happens in the medium of culture. In fact, all of life does. Some have compared culture to the air we walk through and breath every day. For this reason, we love talking about “engaging culture.” Some question whether we should concern ou...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Church, Stop Measuring Yourself by Past Success
You think back to that time often. Maybe it was a decade ago, maybe a generation ago, or maybe it was just a few years ago. It was an exciting time in the life of your church. The sanctuary was full on a Sunday morning, children were running aroun...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Culture in 5 Easy-to-Understand Categories
Let me start by saying this is an oversimplification. Culture and worldview are complicated topics. Are they the same thing? Are they distinct? Search five textbooks and you will get five different answers and five different definitions. In fac...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Engaging People Groups: Cultural Expertise vs. Cultural Acquisition
I was a missionary in West Africa. By the time I left that continent, I understood (to a decent degree) the culture, worldview, and language of the people I was engaging. I could carry on conversations, share the gospel, even teach Bible studies. ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Culture is like an iceberg, and that affects your ministry
Culture runs deep. In fact, culture runs deeper than most ever realize. When we think about culture, we typically think about dress and food, dancing and art, language and festivals. To be certain, these are all cultural activities. Culture is no...
Written by
Keelan Cook
A Mile in Their Shoes: People Group Catalyst
As a means of helping people see the various roles involved in people group discovery and engagement, I plan to periodically interview practitioners. These people will come from a variety of places (state conventions, sending agencies, research ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Chasing rainbows
If you are questioning man’s depravity lately, might I suggest you cut on your television. This weekend, I visited a friend in Richmond and was sitting on his couch before church. The television was on the National Geographic channel, and I notic...
Written by
Keelan Cook
A lonely multitude: Loneliness is not a location issue, it is a heart issue
The first six months I lived in Africa was the loneliest point of my life. Before that point, I cannot say I was ever lonely. Perhaps I was momentarily lonely, but it was never a state of existence. Yet, those first months in Africa, I frequently...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Guilty until Proven Innocent, but That is Not a Bad Thing
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 ho...
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Keelan Cook
Baptist Witchcraft
This post is more of a question than an answer. It is curiosity not advice, and I know that even bringing this issue up will bring scrutiny on me from others. My hope is that in raising my questions and my lack of understanding we can dialogue tow...
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Keelan Cook
Here's to you: Christian t-shirts
In war, a soldier must wear his armor. In the throws of battle, one must be able to identify friend from foe. Enter the Christian t-shirt. Blasting out the message of faith in full silk-screen style, you were masterpieces of poly-cotton blend ar...
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Keelan Cook
Cow training - Part 2
If you are perhaps thinking, “Wait, didn’t he give us the Aha moment from the cow training thing like two days ago?” then you feel the same way I did. This lesson was a double whammy. Right when I thought this little visual demonstration had pro...
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Keelan Cook
Cow training - Part 1
I like Aha moments. Aha moments are those little points in time when the proverbial light bulb goes off and some previously known factoid gains new, deeper meaning. What first existed merely as meaningless trivia sprouts and grows into a three di...
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Keelan Cook
Here's to you: Christian ska music
Exploding onto the scene with trombones blazing, you gave youth group members everywhere a new way to stick out. If wallet chains and ringer tees with stupid logos were not enough, you added fuel to the “I am weird” fire. Your sound was reminiscen...
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Keelan Cook
Here's to you!
_If you are too much older than I am, this post will probably seem absurd to you. If you are too much younger than I am, this will not even make sense. _But if you who remember being excited about dc Talk’s first album and upset about their las...
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Keelan Cook
Addressing the State of Our Union
Ever since I can remember being old enough to have the slightest interest in government and politics, the State of the Union address has been one of those moments in the national timeline I felt obligated to watch. It is like election night or the...
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Keelan Cook
Gifts that differ: What will you be today?
This is the last day of my seminar, and today I wanted to share one final post from the archives before I get back to writing. This one is from 2010, and shares a fundamental shift in my thinking about spiritual gifts. A couple of months ago, I r...
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Keelan Cook
Delight in the Law of the Lord: Part 7 – Application
The Romans had chariots, the cowboys in the Wild West had their horses, the modern American has the mid-sized sedan (or oversized SUV for some) and West Africans have the “bush taxi.” Labeled the bush taxi more for where it goes than its appearanc...
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Keelan Cook
I'll Take the Cheap Seats
This week, I am in seminars all day for my PhD, so I’m revisiting some old posts from my time in Africa. This post was written back in 2010 about a celebration I attended while serving as a missionary. One of the neatest aspects of my time h...
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Keelan Cook
Being Called a Sheep Isn't a Good Thing
I wrote this piece while serving in Africa as a missionary. At the time, I was living in a small village far away from city life. The observations made in my time there profoundly shaped how I understand the Bible. I pray this one does the same fo...
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Keelan Cook
demographics
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NC is Booming - How to reach growth with the gospel
A podcast episode with NC Baptist on recent demographic trends in North Carolina and how those impact Great Commission ministry.
Written by
Keelan Cook
The Great Commission Post-Retirement
A couple of months ago, I made the mistake of posting an off-handed comment on Facebook. The next thing I knew, I was in meetings with some folk from our state convention in North Carolina talking missions strategy about that off-handed comment. ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Immigration by the Numbers
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 ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Four Online Resources for Demographics on Your Community
Do you have any good websites I can visit for demographic data on my neighborhood? If I’ve been asked that question once, I’ve received it a dozen times. And for what it is worth, it’s a good question. Nowadays, many pastors and church leaders un...
Written by
Keelan Cook
In the News: "Somali Refugee Makes History In U.S. Election"
Last week, a friend made mention of this article in her social media, and I felt it was worth sharing. While the news cycle was inundated with shock at the outcome of the presidential election, this little article slipped through at NPR, and it is...
Written by
Keelan Cook
In the News: "St. Louis Shows Biggest Gain in Foreign-Born Population of 20 Largest Metros"
The US Census bureau released new data at the end of September, and I thought it would be good to point out a recent article in St. Louis local news about the data. The article is called, “St. Louis Shows Biggest Gain in Foreign-Born Population of...
Written by
Keelan Cook
How to Map Your Members in Google for Local Outreach
Last week, I shared a simple method for using Google’s free services for neighborhood discovery. Today, I want to extend that idea to the next level. Many churches never consider mapping out their own membership, but they should. Our homes are st...
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Keelan Cook
Chiming In: 99% of Immigrants Feel More Welcome After a Dinner
It is an interesting time when the Huffington Post beats many churches to principles of Christian hospitality, but that is precisely what has happened in a recent article they published called, “99% of Immigrants Feel More Welcome After a Dinner.”...
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Keelan Cook
How to Use Google Forms, Sheets, & Maps to Survey Your Community (For Free)
Every church needs to know the community around them. Many churches today knew their community at one time, but things change. When it comes to communities here in the US, that transition has happened quickly and everywhere. Many (I would guess m...
Written by
Keelan Cook
How to know your neighborhood is gentrifying. (They forgot the Chipotle.)
This morning while I was doing some research, I stumbled across a little piece of tongue-and-cheek blog fodder from the Houstonia titled, The Houstonia Step-By-Step Guide to Gentrification. It’s pretty funny and does a great job tracking the devel...
Written by
Keelan Cook
In the News: "Demographic Destiny: 2050"
A few days ago, the Wall Street Journal launched a fascinating multimedia piece call Demographic Destiny. The site analyzes demographic research and visualizes the information in stunning project of what life will be like as we approach 2050. Th...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Chiming in: "How our housing choices make adult friendships more difficult"
David Roberts, a blogger at Vox.com recently wrote an article titled, “How our housing choices make adult friendships more difficult.” For a secular piece, Roberts is rather prophetic in his tone about the shape of society and its relationship wit...
Written by
Keelan Cook
In the News: "The end of suburban white flight"
“In the News” is a series where I highlight research and various articles from around the internet to showcase the shifts of missiological significance. If you read the last article, you saw that the Brookings institute had noted the shift of int...
Written by
Keelan Cook
diaspora
Return to topImmigration by the Numbers
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 ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Common Questions about ESL and Church Planting
This week, I received an email I wanted to share concerning ESL ministries in local churches. The email was in response to an article I wrote a while back entitled Turn Your ESL Ministry into a Church Planting Machine. For their part, a local chur...
Written by
Keelan Cook
In the News: These are the groups most likely to stop participating in the US census
The Brookings Institute recently ran an article titled, “These are the groups most likely to stop participating in the US census,” in which they parse out some of the significant consequences of a recent ruling concerning the upcoming 2020 US cens...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Here's a Big List of Refugee Processing Centers Across the US
I am thankful to see the swelling interest by local churches in caring for refugees. Nowadays, I regularly get asked questions about how to begin this vital ministry at your church. Today, I simply wanted to share a resource with you that may help...
Written by
Keelan Cook
American churches, we have been here before with immigration.
For a number of years now the representatives of our foreign missionary societies have been crying with a loud voice for the best talent of America to go into foreign lands. Their cry has been heard, and each year the choicest best-trained youn...
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Keelan Cook
Immigration may beat a century-old record
As of 2015, the United States had set one record in immigration, and it may be on pace to break another one. According to the most recent data from Pew research, the United States is now home to over 43.2 million international immigrants. That is...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Global Cities: The Roman Roads of the 21st Century
I recently ran across a quote I would like to share concerning the significance of global cities in the mission of the church. It is from Jared Looney, who wrote Crossroads of the Nations: While it is unlikely that this status will remain stat...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Are We Resolved To Love Refugees?
I think back to a day this past summer. It was during the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting. Those few days were good days for us, but one moment sticks out to me today. The main auditorium was crowded. I was standing to one side, packed ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Immigration and the Great Commission Explained (VIDEO)
Yesterday, the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina released an explainer video that is just too good not to share. This is the kind of video you need to show in your church. The video discusses the current state of missions in North Americ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
In the News: "Somali Refugee Makes History In U.S. Election"
Last week, a friend made mention of this article in her social media, and I felt it was worth sharing. While the news cycle was inundated with shock at the outcome of the presidential election, this little article slipped through at NPR, and it is...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Bourdain Tastes the Nations... in Houston (VIDEO)
I love shows about strange food. Maybe it is because I love strange food. I like them even more when I can learn something from them, and this upcoming piece by Anthony Bourdain on CNN’s Parts Unknown is all about the radical diversity found in on...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Here's an Easy Checklist for Getting Started with People Group Ministry
Today I just wanted to drop you all a link to a nifty little tool I developed this past week. I am working with an educational organization to produce a learning project for students that teaches them to discover and engage people groups. In the p...
Written by
Keelan Cook
In the News: "St. Louis Shows Biggest Gain in Foreign-Born Population of 20 Largest Metros"
The US Census bureau released new data at the end of September, and I thought it would be good to point out a recent article in St. Louis local news about the data. The article is called, “St. Louis Shows Biggest Gain in Foreign-Born Population of...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Good Ministry to Internationals in One, Short Video
I am always excited to pass on good resources, and the following video is just that. It is a short testimony of a couple realizing their responsibility to share the gospel with unreached people groups here in the States. The video briefly walks th...
Written by
Keelan Cook
How To Talk To Your Friends About Refugee Care
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...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Download the Free Strategy Guide for Your Local Church
I am excited about today’s post. Over the course of the Peoples Next Door project, we have spent a lot of time thinking through people group discovery and engagement as well as helping equip local churches for that end. Today, I get to announce a ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Missions is Changing
A talk given at Southeastern's GO Conference in 2016 on the rise of diaspora missions.
Written by
Keelan Cook
A Mile in Their Shoes: Peoples Next Door team leader in a local church
[caption id=”attachment_1085” align=”alignright” width=”341”] Marie helps mobilize others inside her church to discover and engage people groups.[/caption] The next interview in our series is a team leader for people group engagement in a local c...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Here's a fun way to understand people group communities
I talk a lot about people group communities or people group pockets forming in cities here in the US. In short, as migration continues around the US, many of these people groups moving to here will find a way to locate in the same areas. They form...
Written by
Keelan Cook
discipleship
Return to topHandle with Care: Christian Conflict on Social Media
This article is the second in a two-part series on Christ’s command in Matthew 7:1-5. In this artile, we provide a specific application of this command. This first article provides necessary background and proper interpretation for the passage. Yo...
Written by
Keelan Cook
On Splinters, Beams, and Correcting Others
Do not judge, so that you won’t be judged. Nowadays, few Bible verses are quoted quite so often as this one. Not so surprisingly, few are misquoted quite so often. And yet, I truly believe Jesus’ original intended meaning for these words in h...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Transformative Discipleship
A sermon preached at Neartown Church in Houston during COVID lockdown. The text is Mark 8:27-38.
Written by
Keelan Cook
Living as Christians in an Outrage Culture
A sermon preached at Neartown Church in Houston during COVID lockdown. The text is Matthew 5:38-48.
Written by
Keelan Cook
Bust the Peer Bubble in Your Church
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...
Written by
Meredith Cook
Christian, Bear the Family Resemblance
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...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Chiming In: The Story of One Texas Church's Road to Evangelism
Every now and then, I have an article on the internet reach out and slap me in the face. Today it was in a good way, and I wanted to share it with you. It is an article at Christianity Today by John Meador, pastor of First Baptist Euless, TX. In ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
How Do You Measure Discipleship?
“We’re not about making decisions, we’re about making disciples!” It is a common refrain in church services nowadays. And that is the right attitude. After all, making disciples includes “teaching them all I have commanded.” We should be concerne...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Can You Love People on Social Media?
February 4, 2004 was a very significant day in the world. It was the day that Facebook was created. Whether you love it or not, Facebook was a catalyst for the online “social media” movement. There are now 1.6 billion active users on Facebook, wh...
Written by
Keelan Cook
How Not to Use Your Spiritual Gifts
Recently I wrote about spiritual gifts and using your gifts to serve the church. Today, I want to discuss a couple of issues with the whole spiritual gifts conversation. Obviously, I do not mean that spiritual gifts are a problem, but if we are n...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Foggy Words that can Sidetrack the Mission
In order for us to engage people in outreach we need to do life with them and be intentional about loving on them. You may have actually heard that statement come off some pastor’s lips in a sermon. But think about it, what does it actually m...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Christian, Get Out of the Bubble
My church has a lot of seminary students, and I hear a certain refrain every two or three weeks in the small groups I oversee. The conversation turns toward evangelism and missions and some well-meaning seminary student will express frustration th...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Church is Not a Spectator Sport
College football season is once again upon us. This week, I am traveling to do some missionary training and last night, I found myself laying in a hotel bed, listening to my team play their opening game on the radio. The Tennessee Volunteers, a to...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Discipleship is Being on Mission and Taking Others With You
Jesus was the master discipler. Such a statement is so self-evident it is almost silly to make it. Nevertheless, it serves as a reminder that our source of direction concerning discipleship is none other than the master himself. Take for instance,...
Written by
Keelan Cook
How to Deal With a World Full of Evil
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 ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Church Small Groups Reimagined: Leaders That Make Leaders Through Bible Stories
Monday, I proposed evangelistic Bible storying as a way to start new small groups at your church through conversion. Bible storying provides the benefit of worldview development as the study progresses from week to week. This, of course, is an exc...
Written by
Keelan Cook
How One Church Prepares Its Missionaries Before They Go
In previous posts, we’ve talked about the need to be proactive instead of reactive concerning missions sending from your church. This means working in advance to cast vision, assess, and equip people from your own church to be international missio...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Already, but not yet - Part 4
The message of the kingdom is the mission of the church. Over the last three posts, I have discussed the significance of the kingdom of God, pointed out some common misconceptions, and provided a rough description of this kingdom. The kingdom has...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Already, but not yet - Part 2
If you do not know what you are fighting for, you are bound to make mistakes. In the last post, I talked about the kingdom of God (or the kingdom of heaven, as the terms are interchangeable in the Bible). The term gets thrown around a lot. We Chr...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Allergic to Authority
While reading a book for one of my classes, I ran across a statement that stuck with me. The book contained a diatribe about things that characterize our modern worldview. In the middle of the rant, the author made that statement that people in ou...
Written by
Keelan Cook
How far is too far?
“How far is too far?” If you have ever worked with a youth group, that question is not new to you. For that matter, if you were ever in a youth group, that question probably crossed your lips, or at least your mind. And that question applies to ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
The Good News of Community: Why do we dislike the church?
People dislike the church. Not everyone, but enough people for me to write this post. And I am not talking about people who do not claim to be a part of a church. I do not expect people who are not Christians to be satisfied with the church....
Written by
Keelan Cook
Absence makes the heart grow fonder
At least, that is what they say. It has been over a month since my last post. As best I can recollect, that is my longest stretch of inactivity in almost two years, and it has been really hard to start back. As a matter of fact, many times I sat ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
A Consequence of Ministry: Dealing with Sheep
“A shepherd should smell like his sheep.” If you think about the above statement, it seems like common sense. Of course a shepherd would smell like sheep. After all, it is his job to spend his time around sheep. It is his job to follow sheep, her...
Written by
Keelan Cook
A tree and its apple
“The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” At least, that is what people say. And for the record, it is probably a true piece of conventional wisdom. This reality has gained new significance to me as of late, as it has deep significance to the ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
A Right to Secrecy
The basic American right to privacy. It is a thing, right? Most people do not realize a “right to privacy” is not explicitly stated anywhere in the constitution. However, despite the absence of those words from the document, our country (at lea...
Written by
Keelan Cook
A lonely multitude: Loneliness is not a location issue, it is a heart issue
The first six months I lived in Africa was the loneliest point of my life. Before that point, I cannot say I was ever lonely. Perhaps I was momentarily lonely, but it was never a state of existence. Yet, those first months in Africa, I frequently...
Written by
Keelan Cook
At the Master's Knees
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...
Written by
Keelan Cook
I am 30
“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...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Did Paul Want to be a Missionary?
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...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Creatures of Habit
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...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Guilty until Proven Innocent, but That is Not a Bad Thing
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 ho...
Written by
Keelan Cook
A living Hope
Life sucks sometimes. We all know it is true. You get passed up for a promotion, or perhaps you get fired. Someone in your family becomes terribly sick, or perhaps you do. You find out the girl of your dreams does not feel the same way about you,...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Building Scarecrows
Having just moved to a new place, I am still trying to find my way around. Part of that process, at least for me, is learning all the nooks and crannies. It is discovering the little places, like a park or a trail, that provide moments of escape f...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Becoming mummies
Last Thursday I saw mummies. Not the little plastic ones that are starting to show up in everyone’s yard because Halloween is around the corner, no, these were real, live mummies. They were life-size, danced around and played brass instruments. ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
An ellipsis in life
An ellipsis, a literary term, is the notation of an omission of superfluous information. It is the set of three dots put between two pieces of significant information to show that the stuff in between was not worth writing. Life can feel like an ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
An Orderly Account
When you crack a new book for the first time, as you leaf through the first two or three pages, you will usually notice a page with just a sentence or two nestled right into the center of it. On it, you will find someone’s name. It will not be the...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Clutching the robo-baby
I was in high school when I saw my first robo-baby. This probably dates me, but at the time, it was some new attempt at teaching girls in home economics about caring for a baby. (If you are older than me, you probably remember girls carrying an e...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Cow training - Part 2
If you are perhaps thinking, “Wait, didn’t he give us the Aha moment from the cow training thing like two days ago?” then you feel the same way I did. This lesson was a double whammy. Right when I thought this little visual demonstration had pro...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Cow training - Part 1
I like Aha moments. Aha moments are those little points in time when the proverbial light bulb goes off and some previously known factoid gains new, deeper meaning. What first existed merely as meaningless trivia sprouts and grows into a three di...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Confessions of a 29-year-old
Keep in mind, I am an only child. As a child, my birthdays were a big deal. I can remember lamenting the fact that birthdays only came once a year. It and Christmas were the two events that marked my year. My parents (being of the over-generous,...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Down the rabbit hole
Do you ever have those moments where, like a line of dominoes, a series of completely unrelated events cascade into a continually shaping idea? (I would call it an epiphany, but that would be just a bit pretentious I suppose.) One strange thought ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Gifts that differ: What will you be today?
This is the last day of my seminar, and today I wanted to share one final post from the archives before I get back to writing. This one is from 2010, and shares a fundamental shift in my thinking about spiritual gifts. A couple of months ago, I r...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Ephesus: Causing ripples
Ephesus was kind of a big deal. Think of it as the “New York” of ancient Asia Minor. With a population of 400,000 people during the first century AD, it was the second largest city in the world after Rome. It was the political and economic center,...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Delight in the Law of the Lord: Part 7 – Application
The Romans had chariots, the cowboys in the Wild West had their horses, the modern American has the mid-sized sedan (or oversized SUV for some) and West Africans have the “bush taxi.” Labeled the bush taxi more for where it goes than its appearanc...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Delight in the Law of the Lord: Part 6 - More Technique
If ever there was a strategy that would reach the world for Christ, it must be the church sign. Crowning the curb of church properties across America, these little, often backlit, beacons of truth shine out to a lost world. If am not mistaken (and...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Delight in the Law of the Lord: Part 5 - Technique
I have a confession. Pulling water is not one of my spiritual gifts. For those of you too pampered to have ever experienced this, “pulling water” is the euphemism applied to dragging buckets of water up a rope and out of a 50ft-deep well. Pulling...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Delight in the Law of the Lord: Part 4 - Overcomplicated?
Why do we overcomplicate things? Is it part of human nature, possibly a result of the fall? Take for instance that master of ingenuity, Wile E. Coyote. There are few things in life that bring me as much happiness as laughing at his misery. In his ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Delight in the Law of the Lord: Part 3 - Using the Bible
There are a lot of things in life that we want to make sure we do not misuse. For instance, those little signs that have replaced the words “Men” and “Women” on most public bathrooms are important. Another example is the inappropriate way the refe...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Delight in the Law of the Lord: Part 2 – The Bible
Communication is an interesting process. The transmission of information is a goal that is seldom achieved with the precision that was initially intended. For instance, I imagine most of you have participated in a “chain story” at some point. Bein...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Delight in the Law of the Lord: Part 1 - Revelation
How do you know God? For that matter, how do you know anything about God? Maybe it was your parents that first introduced you to this idea that there was some big something out there in charge of everything. Maybe it was a Sunday School teacher or...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Being Called a Sheep Isn't a Good Thing
I wrote this piece while serving in Africa as a missionary. At the time, I was living in a small village far away from city life. The observations made in my time there profoundly shaped how I understand the Bible. I pray this one does the same fo...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Counting the Cost
I am headed back out to the bush for a while, so I thought I would leave you guys with something that has recently been on my mind. I spent several days this past week working with a short-term team from the States. It was a real blessing, and God...
Written by
Keelan Cook
eschatology
Return to topFixing Our Eyes on the End Affects the Way We Live Now
Eschatology weirds a lot of Christians out, nowadays. For the uninitiated, eschatology is the study of last things. In other words, it is the theology about how the world will end, or what happens when Christ comes back. It is a subject that hist...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Four Truths to Ground Your Theology of Mission
As I wrote in my last post, studying missions is an important part of actually doing missions. There is a cognitive aspect to everything we do. Therefore, what we study about missions affects how we actually do missions. The Bible has a lot to say...
Written by
Keelan Cook
evangelism
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"Gospel-centered" Must Mean More Than the Preaching
“A gospel-centered church is not one where the preacher preaches the gospel, but where the people share the gospel.” ~John Meador A couple of weeks ago, I commented on an article at Christianity Today by John Meador of First Baptist Euless, T...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Chiming In: The Story of One Texas Church's Road to Evangelism
Every now and then, I have an article on the internet reach out and slap me in the face. Today it was in a good way, and I wanted to share it with you. It is an article at Christianity Today by John Meador, pastor of First Baptist Euless, TX. In ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Having a Bold Witness, Even When It Is Unpopular
For the Christian, the question is not if we will suffer but when. Of course, that statement is contingent upon the kind of lifestyle we choose to live. Perhaps a better way to say that is the Christian who lives as the Bible tells a Christian to...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Foggy Words: Preaching the gospel to yourself
A few weeks back, I called attention to the foggy words we often use as Christians to talk about our gospel work and ministry. Today, I want to point out one such phrase. It is real common, nowadays, to talk of “preaching the gospel to yourself.” ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
How Not to Use Your Spiritual Gifts
Recently I wrote about spiritual gifts and using your gifts to serve the church. Today, I want to discuss a couple of issues with the whole spiritual gifts conversation. Obviously, I do not mean that spiritual gifts are a problem, but if we are n...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Evangelize out of Joy, not Guilt
“How can we say, ‘let the nations be glad,’ if we’re not?” A few weeks ago, one of our other pastors at church made that statement during a sermon. Tony was preaching on Psalm 138. He made a really good point. The Great Commission is not a burde...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Fixing Our Eyes on the End Affects the Way We Live Now
Eschatology weirds a lot of Christians out, nowadays. For the uninitiated, eschatology is the study of last things. In other words, it is the theology about how the world will end, or what happens when Christ comes back. It is a subject that hist...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Christian, Get Out of the Bubble
My church has a lot of seminary students, and I hear a certain refrain every two or three weeks in the small groups I oversee. The conversation turns toward evangelism and missions and some well-meaning seminary student will express frustration th...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Do You Read the Bible With Unbelievers?
The title question may have never crossed your mind, but it should. Trust me, there is biblical precedent for it. In Acts 8, the reader is taken on a fascinating journey with Phillip. Phillip was a believer. In fact, he was named as one of the de...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Christians Need To Get Out More
Adult Americans have a real hard time making friends, at least that is what most recent research claims). There are reasons. Interpersonally speaking, our lifestyle choices have hemmed us in. The shift in America toward single-family housing, the ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Good Ministry to Internationals in One, Short Video
I am always excited to pass on good resources, and the following video is just that. It is a short testimony of a couple realizing their responsibility to share the gospel with unreached people groups here in the States. The video briefly walks th...
Written by
Keelan Cook
How to Share the Gospel: A Quick Word on Narratives and Themes
Every, single believer should know how to share the gospel. That may sound like an obvious claim, but all it takes is asking around and it soon becomes clear. Many believers claim insecurity is one of the mains reasons they do not proclaim the go...
Written by
Keelan Cook
How to Know if Your Church is Missional
The term missional is overused. It happens a lot with new words that are initially helpful. We see the word as clearly describing some admirable trait and we adopt the word, but the meaning starts to expand. People continue placing it as a label ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
How to Ask Someone About Their Religion (And Actually Discover What They Really Believe)
I get this question a lot, so I thought it fitting to address it in a post. With the remarkable diversity we find around ourselves today, we can no longer assume we understand someone’s religious background. This is obvious when we talk about dis...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Church Small Groups Reimagined: How to Find Your First Leaders
I initially planned to post this Friday but that was Good Friday, so you’re getting it today. Ok, let’s recap. The last couple of posts have focused on evangelistic Bible storying as a way to start new small groups at your church through convers...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Church Small Groups Reimagined: Leaders That Make Leaders Through Bible Stories
Monday, I proposed evangelistic Bible storying as a way to start new small groups at your church through conversion. Bible storying provides the benefit of worldview development as the study progresses from week to week. This, of course, is an exc...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Church Small Groups Reimagined: Use Them for Outreach Through Bible Storying
It has been a few weeks since I posted on the benefits of Bible storying, so it seemed high time to do it again. If you cannot tell, I am a firm believer in using a narrative/ story approach in Bible study. I saw the great benefit of unpacking bib...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Hospitality is Hard, But You Should Do it Anyway
The following is a guest piece by Meredith Cooper on the challenge and necessity of hospitality in gospel ministry. Its practical and I think most of us can relate to the scenarios she discusses below. Hospitality is a word I hear a lot in conjun...
Written by
Keelan Cook
How to Survive the Church as an Introvert
Periodically, I post articles written by others. The following is a guest post that may serve as a good dose of medicine if you find the church to be a little overwhelming at times. Enjoy! By: Meredith Cook If you register “I” on the spectrum of...
Written by
Keelan Cook
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,...
Written by
Keelan Cook
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...
Written by
Keelan Cook
A word of caution concerning "Relationship Evangelism"
I can remember Monday night visitation at church. We would all meet up at the church building to pair up and take any visitor cards from the Sunday before and go visit the new families and share the gospel with them. In addition, it was standard ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
funny
Return to topHere's to you: 15-passenger church van
Great adventures need great transportation, and you, 15-passenger church van, taught youth groups everywhere what it meant to ride in style. Jason and his team of heroes had the Argo, the X-Men had their Blackbird, the A-Team had Baracus and his ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Here's to you: Christian t-shirts
In war, a soldier must wear his armor. In the throws of battle, one must be able to identify friend from foe. Enter the Christian t-shirt. Blasting out the message of faith in full silk-screen style, you were masterpieces of poly-cotton blend ar...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Here's to you: Church camp romance
I saw you on Monday. I was in the cafeteria eating spaghetti with corn, and like an angel, you floated into the room, you and your posse of six other girls. It was love at first bite. As you stood in the lunch line, shining with radiant beauty, I ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Here's to you: Christian ska music
Exploding onto the scene with trombones blazing, you gave youth group members everywhere a new way to stick out. If wallet chains and ringer tees with stupid logos were not enough, you added fuel to the “I am weird” fire. Your sound was reminiscen...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Here's to you!
_If you are too much older than I am, this post will probably seem absurd to you. If you are too much younger than I am, this will not even make sense. _But if you who remember being excited about dc Talk’s first album and upset about their las...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Being Called a Sheep Isn't a Good Thing
I wrote this piece while serving in Africa as a missionary. At the time, I was living in a small village far away from city life. The observations made in my time there profoundly shaped how I understand the Bible. I pray this one does the same fo...
Written by
Keelan Cook
gospel
Return to topBut I tell you, love your enemies...
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...
Written by
Keelan Cook
"Gospel-centered" Must Mean More Than the Preaching
“A gospel-centered church is not one where the preacher preaches the gospel, but where the people share the gospel.” ~John Meador A couple of weeks ago, I commented on an article at Christianity Today by John Meador of First Baptist Euless, T...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Chiming In: The Story of One Texas Church's Road to Evangelism
Every now and then, I have an article on the internet reach out and slap me in the face. Today it was in a good way, and I wanted to share it with you. It is an article at Christianity Today by John Meador, pastor of First Baptist Euless, TX. In ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Immigration may beat a century-old record
As of 2015, the United States had set one record in immigration, and it may be on pace to break another one. According to the most recent data from Pew research, the United States is now home to over 43.2 million international immigrants. That is...
Written by
Keelan Cook
A Japanese Perspective on American Christianity from 1926
His name was Kanzo Uchimura. Uchimura was a prominent Christian leader in Japan during the early part of the twentieth century. He was born in Japan during the end of the previous century to a prominent family. He grew up, as many of the Japanese...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Encourage the Anonymous Witness
I love reading the great missions texts, and Stephen Neill’s A History of Christian Missions is no exception. Today, I want to share a few paragraphs with you from his opening chapter. These words were great encouragement to me and I pray they wou...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Foggy Words: Preaching the gospel to yourself
A few weeks back, I called attention to the foggy words we often use as Christians to talk about our gospel work and ministry. Today, I want to point out one such phrase. It is real common, nowadays, to talk of “preaching the gospel to yourself.” ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Are We Resolved To Love Refugees?
I think back to a day this past summer. It was during the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting. Those few days were good days for us, but one moment sticks out to me today. The main auditorium was crowded. I was standing to one side, packed ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Evangelize out of Joy, not Guilt
“How can we say, ‘let the nations be glad,’ if we’re not?” A few weeks ago, one of our other pastors at church made that statement during a sermon. Tony was preaching on Psalm 138. He made a really good point. The Great Commission is not a burde...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Fixing Our Eyes on the End Affects the Way We Live Now
Eschatology weirds a lot of Christians out, nowadays. For the uninitiated, eschatology is the study of last things. In other words, it is the theology about how the world will end, or what happens when Christ comes back. It is a subject that hist...
Written by
Keelan Cook
A Warning Concerning Religious Categories
Americans love our categories. We love our boxes and labels. Even today, with the postmodern push away from classification, we Western thinkers still organize information by placing “like items” together in taxonomies. Categories can be helpful to...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Christians Need To Get Out More
Adult Americans have a real hard time making friends, at least that is what most recent research claims). There are reasons. Interpersonally speaking, our lifestyle choices have hemmed us in. The shift in America toward single-family housing, the ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Communicating across cultures is hard, but it is not impossible.
If you have ever preached on a short-term mission trip, then you know the feeling. You are up front, a bunch of unfamiliar faces staring back at you. Next to you stands your interpreter, awaiting your words so he or she can translate them into th...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Church Planting: Focus on the Forest Instead of the Trees
All analogies break down, so bear with me here. But I want to share this one with you, because I think it does a good job of answering why your area (and mine) needs new churches. A church is, in some ways, like a tree. Churches have a life cycle...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Embracing the Struggle: How Church Membership Puts the Gospel on Display
The following is a guest post by Trevor King. Trevor is a good friend and provides leadership over the membership process at our church. I have always appreciated the way he articulates the importance of church membership, so I wanted him to share...
Church Small Groups Reimagined: Use Them for Outreach Through Bible Storying
It has been a few weeks since I posted on the benefits of Bible storying, so it seemed high time to do it again. If you cannot tell, I am a firm believer in using a narrative/ story approach in Bible study. I saw the great benefit of unpacking bib...
Written by
Keelan Cook
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,...
Written by
Keelan Cook
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...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Chiming in: "The Unreached at Home"
Ashley Scarbrough with e3 Partners has a good write up concerning international people group work here in the US. She wrote the piece back in March, but I just stumbled across it recently. Ashley points out several different ways to find and inte...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Already, but not yet - Part 4
The message of the kingdom is the mission of the church. Over the last three posts, I have discussed the significance of the kingdom of God, pointed out some common misconceptions, and provided a rough description of this kingdom. The kingdom has...
Written by
Keelan Cook
great commission
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Identifying to Send: Examine These Three Areas of a Person’s Life
In our current season of ministry, it would be tempting to remove our focus from the core missionary task of sending laborers into the harvest. It should go without saying, during a time of social distancing the means through which we fulfill the ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Fixing Our Eyes on the End Affects the Way We Live Now
Eschatology weirds a lot of Christians out, nowadays. For the uninitiated, eschatology is the study of last things. In other words, it is the theology about how the world will end, or what happens when Christ comes back. It is a subject that hist...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Immigration and the Great Commission Explained (VIDEO)
Yesterday, the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina released an explainer video that is just too good not to share. This is the kind of video you need to show in your church. The video discusses the current state of missions in North Americ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Are We Really Loving Our Neighbors as We Should?
“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...
Written by
Keelan Cook
A Word of Advice from the Father of Missions
A little over 200 years ago, William Carey wrote an essay that changed Christianity. It was called, An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians to use Means for the Conversion of the Heathens. It had a convoluted title, but it made some rea...
Written by
Keelan Cook
How One Church Prepares Its Missionaries Before They Go
In previous posts, we’ve talked about the need to be proactive instead of reactive concerning missions sending from your church. This means working in advance to cast vision, assess, and equip people from your own church to be international missio...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Anyone Can Learn These Three Phrases in Another Language
It has been five years now, but I still remember how it felt. It happened more than once while I served in West Africa as a missionary, but it always caught me off guard. I would be working out in the bush, a long long way from anyone that could, ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
A word of caution concerning "Relationship Evangelism"
I can remember Monday night visitation at church. We would all meet up at the church building to pair up and take any visitor cards from the Sunday before and go visit the new families and share the gospel with them. In addition, it was standard ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
heres to you
Return to topHere's to you: 15-passenger church van
Great adventures need great transportation, and you, 15-passenger church van, taught youth groups everywhere what it meant to ride in style. Jason and his team of heroes had the Argo, the X-Men had their Blackbird, the A-Team had Baracus and his ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Here's to you: Christian t-shirts
In war, a soldier must wear his armor. In the throws of battle, one must be able to identify friend from foe. Enter the Christian t-shirt. Blasting out the message of faith in full silk-screen style, you were masterpieces of poly-cotton blend ar...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Here's to you: Church camp romance
I saw you on Monday. I was in the cafeteria eating spaghetti with corn, and like an angel, you floated into the room, you and your posse of six other girls. It was love at first bite. As you stood in the lunch line, shining with radiant beauty, I ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Here's to you: Christian ska music
Exploding onto the scene with trombones blazing, you gave youth group members everywhere a new way to stick out. If wallet chains and ringer tees with stupid logos were not enough, you added fuel to the “I am weird” fire. Your sound was reminiscen...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Here's to you!
_If you are too much older than I am, this post will probably seem absurd to you. If you are too much younger than I am, this will not even make sense. _But if you who remember being excited about dc Talk’s first album and upset about their las...
Written by
Keelan Cook
history
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Seven Missionary Biographies and Why You Should Read One Now
Over the last two weeks, I’ve seen all kinds of posts recommending book lists for people to consider during our global shut-in. I even wrote one last week suggesting you use this time to sharpen your Bible study skills. But the one thing I’ve not ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
American churches, we have been here before with immigration.
For a number of years now the representatives of our foreign missionary societies have been crying with a loud voice for the best talent of America to go into foreign lands. Their cry has been heard, and each year the choicest best-trained youn...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Immigration may beat a century-old record
As of 2015, the United States had set one record in immigration, and it may be on pace to break another one. According to the most recent data from Pew research, the United States is now home to over 43.2 million international immigrants. That is...
Written by
Keelan Cook
A Japanese Perspective on American Christianity from 1926
His name was Kanzo Uchimura. Uchimura was a prominent Christian leader in Japan during the early part of the twentieth century. He was born in Japan during the end of the previous century to a prominent family. He grew up, as many of the Japanese...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Encourage the Anonymous Witness
I love reading the great missions texts, and Stephen Neill’s A History of Christian Missions is no exception. Today, I want to share a few paragraphs with you from his opening chapter. These words were great encouragement to me and I pray they wou...
Written by
Keelan Cook
hospitality
Return to topChiming In: 99% of Immigrants Feel More Welcome After a Dinner
It is an interesting time when the Huffington Post beats many churches to principles of Christian hospitality, but that is precisely what has happened in a recent article they published called, “99% of Immigrants Feel More Welcome After a Dinner.”...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Hospitality is Hard, But You Should Do it Anyway
The following is a guest piece by Meredith Cooper on the challenge and necessity of hospitality in gospel ministry. Its practical and I think most of us can relate to the scenarios she discusses below. Hospitality is a word I hear a lot in conjun...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Chiming in: "Learning to Love Foreigners Well"
Over at Urban Mango, Lori McDaniel recently posted a helpful article on loving foreigners. We spend a lot of time talking about that same issue here on this blog, so I thought I would bring her post to your attention and chime in with a few though...
Written by
Keelan Cook
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,...
Written by
Keelan Cook
immigration
Return to topImmigration by the Numbers
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 ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Common Questions about ESL and Church Planting
This week, I received an email I wanted to share concerning ESL ministries in local churches. The email was in response to an article I wrote a while back entitled Turn Your ESL Ministry into a Church Planting Machine. For their part, a local chur...
Written by
Keelan Cook
In the News: These are the groups most likely to stop participating in the US census
The Brookings Institute recently ran an article titled, “These are the groups most likely to stop participating in the US census,” in which they parse out some of the significant consequences of a recent ruling concerning the upcoming 2020 US cens...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Here's a Big List of Refugee Processing Centers Across the US
I am thankful to see the swelling interest by local churches in caring for refugees. Nowadays, I regularly get asked questions about how to begin this vital ministry at your church. Today, I simply wanted to share a resource with you that may help...
Written by
Keelan Cook
American churches, we have been here before with immigration.
For a number of years now the representatives of our foreign missionary societies have been crying with a loud voice for the best talent of America to go into foreign lands. Their cry has been heard, and each year the choicest best-trained youn...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Immigration may beat a century-old record
As of 2015, the United States had set one record in immigration, and it may be on pace to break another one. According to the most recent data from Pew research, the United States is now home to over 43.2 million international immigrants. That is...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Are We Resolved To Love Refugees?
I think back to a day this past summer. It was during the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting. Those few days were good days for us, but one moment sticks out to me today. The main auditorium was crowded. I was standing to one side, packed ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Bourdain Tastes the Nations... in Houston (VIDEO)
I love shows about strange food. Maybe it is because I love strange food. I like them even more when I can learn something from them, and this upcoming piece by Anthony Bourdain on CNN’s Parts Unknown is all about the radical diversity found in on...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Here's an Easy Checklist for Getting Started with People Group Ministry
Today I just wanted to drop you all a link to a nifty little tool I developed this past week. I am working with an educational organization to produce a learning project for students that teaches them to discover and engage people groups. In the p...
Written by
Keelan Cook
In the News: "St. Louis Shows Biggest Gain in Foreign-Born Population of 20 Largest Metros"
The US Census bureau released new data at the end of September, and I thought it would be good to point out a recent article in St. Louis local news about the data. The article is called, “St. Louis Shows Biggest Gain in Foreign-Born Population of...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Chiming In: 99% of Immigrants Feel More Welcome After a Dinner
It is an interesting time when the Huffington Post beats many churches to principles of Christian hospitality, but that is precisely what has happened in a recent article they published called, “99% of Immigrants Feel More Welcome After a Dinner.”...
Written by
Keelan Cook
How To Talk To Your Friends About Refugee Care
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...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Breaking Down the Refugee Crisis
Now that we have rounded the corner on a new year, I thought it good to grab some fresh factoids about the refugee crisis in the Middle East and Europe. Of course, the situation over there will not be back to “normal” for a long time, as mill...
Written by
Keelan Cook
I'll Be Home for Christmas, But Many Will Not
In just a few hours I will be hitting the road for Tennessee. This morning, the local news in Raleigh said the security line at the airport was so long it went outside the building and around the corner. It is Christmastime, and that means it is t...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Concerned about refugees? The GC2 Summit may be for you.
Tomorrow, I am flying to the Chicago area for a leadership meeting concerning an upcoming summit on refugees. The GC2 summit, as they are calling it, will hopefully provide equipping to Evangelicals so we can have a proper response to the curren...
Written by
Keelan Cook
journal entry
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Another Journal Entry - 11/12/09
Here is a journal entry from last November, after I had started living out in the bush to do my language study. I thought this would be a good one to share. Well, boredom set in yesterday. All seemed well as the first two or three days moved by. ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
kingdom
Return to topAlready, but not yet - Part 4
The message of the kingdom is the mission of the church. Over the last three posts, I have discussed the significance of the kingdom of God, pointed out some common misconceptions, and provided a rough description of this kingdom. The kingdom has...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Already, but not yet - Part 3
We were supposed to be stewards. That is why we were created. In the very beginning, back when God made everything out of nothing, the pinnacle of that creation was man. Man was made in his image and was to rule in his stead. In essence we were s...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Already, but not yet - Part 2
If you do not know what you are fighting for, you are bound to make mistakes. In the last post, I talked about the kingdom of God (or the kingdom of heaven, as the terms are interchangeable in the Bible). The term gets thrown around a lot. We Chr...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Already, but not yet - Part 1
Jesus is concerned about his kingdom. It is pretty easy to agree with that statement if you read the gospel account of Matthew. The kingdom of heaven is possibly the most prevalent theme in the book, and is most often recorded off the lips of Jes...
Written by
Keelan Cook
leadership
Return to topHow Do You Measure Discipleship?
“We’re not about making decisions, we’re about making disciples!” It is a common refrain in church services nowadays. And that is the right attitude. After all, making disciples includes “teaching them all I have commanded.” We should be concerne...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Four Factors for Leadership Development in Local Churches
Leaders are like vegetables, the homegrown variety are almost always better. That may sound simplistic, and in a lot of ways it probably is. But this is a point where the Bible is clear. A large part of the church’s mission in fulfilling the Grea...
Written by
Keelan Cook
mission of god
Return to topAlready, but not yet - Part 3
We were supposed to be stewards. That is why we were created. In the very beginning, back when God made everything out of nothing, the pinnacle of that creation was man. Man was made in his image and was to rule in his stead. In essence we were s...
Written by
Keelan Cook
missions
Return to topThe Great Commission Post-Retirement
A couple of months ago, I made the mistake of posting an off-handed comment on Facebook. The next thing I knew, I was in meetings with some folk from our state convention in North Carolina talking missions strategy about that off-handed comment. ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Together We Go: All about Cooperative Missions
One of the joys of my job is serving as cohost for our seminary’s missions podcast, The Sent Life. Scott Hildreth and I talk each week about Christian missions and a whole bundle of topics that relate to it. The following is a series we did which...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Four Questions to Guide Creating a Global Missions Partnership
In my last article, I covered several important benefits for a local church entering into a global missions partnership with a missionary team overseas. Feel free to start there if you’d like. To be honest, when I first arrived in Houston, I quic...
Written by
Keelan Cook
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...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Seven Missionary Biographies and Why You Should Read One Now
Over the last two weeks, I’ve seen all kinds of posts recommending book lists for people to consider during our global shut-in. I even wrote one last week suggesting you use this time to sharpen your Bible study skills. But the one thing I’ve not ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Identifying to Send: Examine These Three Areas of a Person’s Life
In our current season of ministry, it would be tempting to remove our focus from the core missionary task of sending laborers into the harvest. It should go without saying, during a time of social distancing the means through which we fulfill the ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Does your church still have an apostolic passion?
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...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Common Questions about ESL and Church Planting
This week, I received an email I wanted to share concerning ESL ministries in local churches. The email was in response to an article I wrote a while back entitled Turn Your ESL Ministry into a Church Planting Machine. For their part, a local chur...
Written by
Keelan Cook
In the News: These are the groups most likely to stop participating in the US census
The Brookings Institute recently ran an article titled, “These are the groups most likely to stop participating in the US census,” in which they parse out some of the significant consequences of a recent ruling concerning the upcoming 2020 US cens...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Free Resource: Assess Your Church from Multiple Perspectives
The following is an excerpt from a free local church resource. The resource is a quick reference for carefully examining your local church in its missions context. You can download the resource at the end of the post. “The gospel never fits prope...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Four Online Resources for Demographics on Your Community
Do you have any good websites I can visit for demographic data on my neighborhood? If I’ve been asked that question once, I’ve received it a dozen times. And for what it is worth, it’s a good question. Nowadays, many pastors and church leaders un...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Falling into the Gambler's Fallacy in Church Ministry
I fell for it every year. When I was growing up in my small hometown, the biggest week or the year was when the regional fair came to town. Our Rotary park would fill with rides, blinking lights, and the midway. Everyone in the county would make t...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Condescension Poisons the Mission
In the last week, a flurry of articles have chimed in on the situation in Charlottesville or on the current cultural temperature that it lays bare. I wrote on Monday of how this attitude affected our local missions over 100 years ago. Today, thou...
Written by
Keelan Cook
American churches, we have been here before with immigration.
For a number of years now the representatives of our foreign missionary societies have been crying with a loud voice for the best talent of America to go into foreign lands. Their cry has been heard, and each year the choicest best-trained youn...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Having a Bold Witness, Even When It Is Unpopular
For the Christian, the question is not if we will suffer but when. Of course, that statement is contingent upon the kind of lifestyle we choose to live. Perhaps a better way to say that is the Christian who lives as the Bible tells a Christian to...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Christianity is a Dual Citizenship
“To be Susu is to be Muslim.” If I heard that once while serving in Africa as a missionary, I heard it a dozen times. Religion, culture, and identity are formative forces in people’s lives. These things wind around each other into a tightly braid...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Immigration may beat a century-old record
As of 2015, the United States had set one record in immigration, and it may be on pace to break another one. According to the most recent data from Pew research, the United States is now home to over 43.2 million international immigrants. That is...
Written by
Keelan Cook
A Japanese Perspective on American Christianity from 1926
His name was Kanzo Uchimura. Uchimura was a prominent Christian leader in Japan during the early part of the twentieth century. He was born in Japan during the end of the previous century to a prominent family. He grew up, as many of the Japanese...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Church Planter, Don't Lose Your Integrity in Fundraising
I hope I can talk about this without sounding like I have an ax to grind. Fortunately, our organization is in the coaching business, not the funding business, when it comes to church plants. In my previous position, I worked at a seminary. Again, ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Are we Planting Churches or Worship Services?
Are you planting a church or a worship service? Some of you may be offended that I even asked that question. Odds are, you will see and agree with the dilemma I propose in this article. Others may not understand the distinction I just made, and t...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Encourage the Anonymous Witness
I love reading the great missions texts, and Stephen Neill’s A History of Christian Missions is no exception. Today, I want to share a few paragraphs with you from his opening chapter. These words were great encouragement to me and I pray they wou...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Global Cities: The Roman Roads of the 21st Century
I recently ran across a quote I would like to share concerning the significance of global cities in the mission of the church. It is from Jared Looney, who wrote Crossroads of the Nations: While it is unlikely that this status will remain stat...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Church, This is Your Time... and Place
We have all seen that well-intentioned pastor or speaker on a video in our Facebook jazzed about how this is the biggest moment in the history of the world. The face changes, but the message does not. This is our time, and we must seize it. Carpe ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
How Do You Measure Discipleship?
“We’re not about making decisions, we’re about making disciples!” It is a common refrain in church services nowadays. And that is the right attitude. After all, making disciples includes “teaching them all I have commanded.” We should be concerne...
Written by
Keelan Cook
How Not to Use Your Spiritual Gifts
Recently I wrote about spiritual gifts and using your gifts to serve the church. Today, I want to discuss a couple of issues with the whole spiritual gifts conversation. Obviously, I do not mean that spiritual gifts are a problem, but if we are n...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Foggy Numbers that can Sidetrack the Mission
Last week, I wrote a piece about the foggy words we use in church that can sidetrack our mission. Sometimes, we say things that sound real nice, even sound important or profound, but have little real-world meaning. At best, these phrases keep us f...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Foggy Words that can Sidetrack the Mission
In order for us to engage people in outreach we need to do life with them and be intentional about loving on them. You may have actually heard that statement come off some pastor’s lips in a sermon. But think about it, what does it actually m...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Fixing Our Eyes on the End Affects the Way We Live Now
Eschatology weirds a lot of Christians out, nowadays. For the uninitiated, eschatology is the study of last things. In other words, it is the theology about how the world will end, or what happens when Christ comes back. It is a subject that hist...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Immigration and the Great Commission Explained (VIDEO)
Yesterday, the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina released an explainer video that is just too good not to share. This is the kind of video you need to show in your church. The video discusses the current state of missions in North Americ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
In the News: "Somali Refugee Makes History In U.S. Election"
Last week, a friend made mention of this article in her social media, and I felt it was worth sharing. While the news cycle was inundated with shock at the outcome of the presidential election, this little article slipped through at NPR, and it is...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Four Truths to Ground Your Theology of Mission
As I wrote in my last post, studying missions is an important part of actually doing missions. There is a cognitive aspect to everything we do. Therefore, what we study about missions affects how we actually do missions. The Bible has a lot to say...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Bourdain Tastes the Nations... in Houston (VIDEO)
I love shows about strange food. Maybe it is because I love strange food. I like them even more when I can learn something from them, and this upcoming piece by Anthony Bourdain on CNN’s Parts Unknown is all about the radical diversity found in on...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Does your church have a family tree?
We replicate what we celebrate. Everyone knows, buried deep in our bones, is a desire to be more and do more of what we praise. Truthfully, the idea is at the heart of the gospel and our purpose as people created to worship. We become what we wor...
Written by
Keelan Cook
I am Sending You
A sermon preached at Harmony Hills Baptist Church in Lufkin, TX. The text is Matthew 28:18-20.
Written by
Keelan Cook
Here's an Easy Checklist for Getting Started with People Group Ministry
Today I just wanted to drop you all a link to a nifty little tool I developed this past week. I am working with an educational organization to produce a learning project for students that teaches them to discover and engage people groups. In the p...
Written by
Keelan Cook
In the News: "St. Louis Shows Biggest Gain in Foreign-Born Population of 20 Largest Metros"
The US Census bureau released new data at the end of September, and I thought it would be good to point out a recent article in St. Louis local news about the data. The article is called, “St. Louis Shows Biggest Gain in Foreign-Born Population of...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Do You Read the Bible With Unbelievers?
The title question may have never crossed your mind, but it should. Trust me, there is biblical precedent for it. In Acts 8, the reader is taken on a fascinating journey with Phillip. Phillip was a believer. In fact, he was named as one of the de...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Four Factors for Leadership Development in Local Churches
Leaders are like vegetables, the homegrown variety are almost always better. That may sound simplistic, and in a lot of ways it probably is. But this is a point where the Bible is clear. A large part of the church’s mission in fulfilling the Grea...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Culture: Palace or Prison?
Ministry happens in the medium of culture. In fact, all of life does. Some have compared culture to the air we walk through and breath every day. For this reason, we love talking about “engaging culture.” Some question whether we should concern ou...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Biblically Faithful or Culturally Relevant: Why not both?
“The gospel never fits properly within a culture.” That is a quote by Ed Stetzer from a chapter in The Mission of Today’s Church. In the chapter, Stetzer is detailing the plight of Southern Baptist churches in relation to the North American missi...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Christians Need To Get Out More
Adult Americans have a real hard time making friends, at least that is what most recent research claims). There are reasons. Interpersonally speaking, our lifestyle choices have hemmed us in. The shift in America toward single-family housing, the ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Church, Stop Measuring Yourself by Past Success
You think back to that time often. Maybe it was a decade ago, maybe a generation ago, or maybe it was just a few years ago. It was an exciting time in the life of your church. The sanctuary was full on a Sunday morning, children were running aroun...
Written by
Keelan Cook
How to Map Your Members in Google for Local Outreach
Last week, I shared a simple method for using Google’s free services for neighborhood discovery. Today, I want to extend that idea to the next level. Many churches never consider mapping out their own membership, but they should. Our homes are st...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Chiming In: 99% of Immigrants Feel More Welcome After a Dinner
It is an interesting time when the Huffington Post beats many churches to principles of Christian hospitality, but that is precisely what has happened in a recent article they published called, “99% of Immigrants Feel More Welcome After a Dinner.”...
Written by
Keelan Cook
How to Use Google Forms, Sheets, & Maps to Survey Your Community (For Free)
Every church needs to know the community around them. Many churches today knew their community at one time, but things change. When it comes to communities here in the US, that transition has happened quickly and everywhere. Many (I would guess m...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Good Ministry to Internationals in One, Short Video
I am always excited to pass on good resources, and the following video is just that. It is a short testimony of a couple realizing their responsibility to share the gospel with unreached people groups here in the States. The video briefly walks th...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Church is Not a Spectator Sport
College football season is once again upon us. This week, I am traveling to do some missionary training and last night, I found myself laying in a hotel bed, listening to my team play their opening game on the radio. The Tennessee Volunteers, a to...
Written by
Keelan Cook
How to Share the Gospel: A Quick Word on Narratives and Themes
Every, single believer should know how to share the gospel. That may sound like an obvious claim, but all it takes is asking around and it soon becomes clear. Many believers claim insecurity is one of the mains reasons they do not proclaim the go...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Be All There: The Dangers of Hyper-connectivity for the Missionary
I have the unique fortune of training a good number of missionaries in my role at the seminary and through the church I pastor. It is a real blessing to be a part of equipping young families and singles to uproot their lives and move for the sake ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Discipleship is Being on Mission and Taking Others With You
Jesus was the master discipler. Such a statement is so self-evident it is almost silly to make it. Nevertheless, it serves as a reminder that our source of direction concerning discipleship is none other than the master himself. Take for instance,...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Chiming In: "Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves."
When I find helpful resources or articles that speak to the issues of immigration, refugee care, and the local church’s responsibility to the Great Commission among these people, I like to share those. Today, I want to draw your attention to a rec...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Church Planting is Not Church Franchising
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...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Are We Really Loving Our Neighbors as We Should?
“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...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Download the Free Strategy Guide for Your Local Church
I am excited about today’s post. Over the course of the Peoples Next Door project, we have spent a lot of time thinking through people group discovery and engagement as well as helping equip local churches for that end. Today, I get to announce a ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Begin with the End in Mind: The Importance of an Exit Strategy
If you are familiar with international missions strategy, then you have probably heard people talk about entry and exit strategies. Most good international missions has both an entry strategy, a means of starting work in a new area or with a new p...
Written by
Keelan Cook
An Appeal to Young Southern Baptists
I wrote this post right after the SBC annual meeting in St. Louis, two years ago. I couldn’t help but return to it today. The events of the last couple of days are weighing heavy on my heart, and I feel these words are more true now than ever bef...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Church Community Has an Outward Focus Too
The following is a guest post by Marie McDonald. Marie has written here before and does excellent work in her local church leading others to discover and engage people groups. Think for a moment about Christian community. Typically, the term conj...
Communicating across cultures is hard, but it is not impossible.
If you have ever preached on a short-term mission trip, then you know the feeling. You are up front, a bunch of unfamiliar faces staring back at you. Next to you stands your interpreter, awaiting your words so he or she can translate them into th...
Written by
Keelan Cook
How to Know if Your Church is Missional
The term missional is overused. It happens a lot with new words that are initially helpful. We see the word as clearly describing some admirable trait and we adopt the word, but the meaning starts to expand. People continue placing it as a label ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
How to Create a Sending Culture in Your Church.
I was recently talking to a student deploying to the field for missionary service, and she informed me she was the only person to ever serve as a missionary from her Baptist association back at home. Now, she’s from the South where there are many ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
How to know your neighborhood is gentrifying. (They forgot the Chipotle.)
This morning while I was doing some research, I stumbled across a little piece of tongue-and-cheek blog fodder from the Houstonia titled, The Houstonia Step-By-Step Guide to Gentrification. It’s pretty funny and does a great job tracking the devel...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Church Small Groups Reimagined: How to Find Your First Leaders
I initially planned to post this Friday but that was Good Friday, so you’re getting it today. Ok, let’s recap. The last couple of posts have focused on evangelistic Bible storying as a way to start new small groups at your church through convers...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Church Small Groups Reimagined: Leaders That Make Leaders Through Bible Stories
Monday, I proposed evangelistic Bible storying as a way to start new small groups at your church through conversion. Bible storying provides the benefit of worldview development as the study progresses from week to week. This, of course, is an exc...
Written by
Keelan Cook
A Word of Advice from the Father of Missions
A little over 200 years ago, William Carey wrote an essay that changed Christianity. It was called, An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians to use Means for the Conversion of the Heathens. It had a convoluted title, but it made some rea...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Breaking Down the Refugee Crisis
Now that we have rounded the corner on a new year, I thought it good to grab some fresh factoids about the refugee crisis in the Middle East and Europe. Of course, the situation over there will not be back to “normal” for a long time, as mill...
Written by
Keelan Cook
How One Church Prepares Its Missionaries Before They Go
In previous posts, we’ve talked about the need to be proactive instead of reactive concerning missions sending from your church. This means working in advance to cast vision, assess, and equip people from your own church to be international missio...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Anyone Can Learn These Three Phrases in Another Language
It has been five years now, but I still remember how it felt. It happened more than once while I served in West Africa as a missionary, but it always caught me off guard. I would be working out in the bush, a long long way from anyone that could, ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
How to Survive the Church as an Introvert
Periodically, I post articles written by others. The following is a guest post that may serve as a good dose of medicine if you find the church to be a little overwhelming at times. Enjoy! By: Meredith Cook If you register “I” on the spectrum of...
Written by
Keelan Cook
I'll Be Home for Christmas, But Many Will Not
In just a few hours I will be hitting the road for Tennessee. This morning, the local news in Raleigh said the security line at the airport was so long it went outside the building and around the corner. It is Christmastime, and that means it is t...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Concerned about refugees? The GC2 Summit may be for you.
Tomorrow, I am flying to the Chicago area for a leadership meeting concerning an upcoming summit on refugees. The GC2 summit, as they are calling it, will hopefully provide equipping to Evangelicals so we can have a proper response to the curren...
Written by
Keelan Cook
In the News: "Demographic Destiny: 2050"
A few days ago, the Wall Street Journal launched a fascinating multimedia piece call Demographic Destiny. The site analyzes demographic research and visualizes the information in stunning project of what life will be like as we approach 2050. Th...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Chiming in: "Learning to Love Foreigners Well"
Over at Urban Mango, Lori McDaniel recently posted a helpful article on loving foreigners. We spend a lot of time talking about that same issue here on this blog, so I thought I would bring her post to your attention and chime in with a few though...
Written by
Keelan Cook
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...
Written by
Keelan Cook
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...
Written by
Keelan Cook
From the archives: A Right to Secrecy
This blog is actually several years older than its most recent launch as The Peoples Next Door. I initially started this blog when I was serving in West Africa, and this week I began digging through the archives. Back in 2012, I wrote a piece t...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Culture in 5 Easy-to-Understand Categories
Let me start by saying this is an oversimplification. Culture and worldview are complicated topics. Are they the same thing? Are they distinct? Search five textbooks and you will get five different answers and five different definitions. In fac...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Engaging People Groups: Cultural Expertise vs. Cultural Acquisition
I was a missionary in West Africa. By the time I left that continent, I understood (to a decent degree) the culture, worldview, and language of the people I was engaging. I could carry on conversations, share the gospel, even teach Bible studies. ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Culture is like an iceberg, and that affects your ministry
Culture runs deep. In fact, culture runs deeper than most ever realize. When we think about culture, we typically think about dress and food, dancing and art, language and festivals. To be certain, these are all cultural activities. Culture is no...
Written by
Keelan Cook
A Multiplication Mindset: The Ministry Paradigm Your Church may be Missing
Sometimes, we do not celebrate the most important things. It is like celebrating the kid who got the congeniality award instead of winning the pageant. Don’t get me wrong. We should give Miss Congeniality a pat on the back, but winning the congen...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Chiming in: "A church is not a random sampling of the place it is in"
Today I wanted to chime in on another good post by Justin Long. As an aside, if you are interested in missions and church planting, you need to follow Justin. You can find his blog here, and his Twitter account here. Justin recently posted a sh...
Written by
Keelan Cook
A Mile in Their Shoes: Peoples Next Door team leader in a local church
[caption id=”attachment_1085” align=”alignright” width=”341”] Marie helps mobilize others inside her church to discover and engage people groups.[/caption] The next interview in our series is a team leader for people group engagement in a local c...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Here's a fun way to understand people group communities
I talk a lot about people group communities or people group pockets forming in cities here in the US. In short, as migration continues around the US, many of these people groups moving to here will find a way to locate in the same areas. They form...
Written by
Keelan Cook
A word of caution concerning "Relationship Evangelism"
I can remember Monday night visitation at church. We would all meet up at the church building to pair up and take any visitor cards from the Sunday before and go visit the new families and share the gospel with them. In addition, it was standard ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Chiming in: "The Unreached at Home"
Ashley Scarbrough with e3 Partners has a good write up concerning international people group work here in the US. She wrote the piece back in March, but I just stumbled across it recently. Ashley points out several different ways to find and inte...
Written by
Keelan Cook
A Mile in Their Shoes: People Group Catalyst
As a means of helping people see the various roles involved in people group discovery and engagement, I plan to periodically interview practitioners. These people will come from a variety of places (state conventions, sending agencies, research ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
In the News: "The end of suburban white flight"
“In the News” is a series where I highlight research and various articles from around the internet to showcase the shifts of missiological significance. If you read the last article, you saw that the Brookings institute had noted the shift of int...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Chiming in: "Geography, Ethnography and Missions" by Justin Long
I love finding good, brief articles like this recent post by Justin Long concerning people group work in the US. Justin is actually writing as a response to an article by JD Payne on the topic. Now, I want to highlight Justin’s post. The chain c...
Written by
Keelan Cook
How to be a Missionary Without Being a "Missionary"
A Hindu temple just outside of Raleigh, NC. I don’t know anything about fill-in-the-blank culture! Can I even do this without some level of cultural expertise? This is perhaps the most frequent question when I share about reaching int...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Did Paul Want to be a Missionary?
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...
Written by
Keelan Cook
I'll Take the Cheap Seats
This week, I am in seminars all day for my PhD, so I’m revisiting some old posts from my time in Africa. This post was written back in 2010 about a celebration I attended while serving as a missionary. One of the neatest aspects of my time h...
Written by
Keelan Cook
missions strategy
Return to topFalling into the Gambler's Fallacy in Church Ministry
I fell for it every year. When I was growing up in my small hometown, the biggest week or the year was when the regional fair came to town. Our Rotary park would fill with rides, blinking lights, and the midway. Everyone in the county would make t...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Foggy Numbers that can Sidetrack the Mission
Last week, I wrote a piece about the foggy words we use in church that can sidetrack our mission. Sometimes, we say things that sound real nice, even sound important or profound, but have little real-world meaning. At best, these phrases keep us f...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Foggy Words that can Sidetrack the Mission
In order for us to engage people in outreach we need to do life with them and be intentional about loving on them. You may have actually heard that statement come off some pastor’s lips in a sermon. But think about it, what does it actually m...
Written by
Keelan Cook
pastoral ministry
Return to topFour Questions to Guide Creating a Global Missions Partnership
In my last article, I covered several important benefits for a local church entering into a global missions partnership with a missionary team overseas. Feel free to start there if you’d like. To be honest, when I first arrived in Houston, I quic...
Written by
Keelan Cook
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...
Written by
Keelan Cook
"Are You Still Watching?" Thinking Rightly About Online Worship Views
Over the last two months, I’ve watched a scene unfold more than once. As the reality set in for pastors and church leaders concerning the ramifications of this pandemic, an initial concern followed. Many churches that were already plateaued or dec...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Bust the Peer Bubble in Your Church
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...
Written by
Meredith Cook
Does your church still have an apostolic passion?
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...
Written by
Keelan Cook
How to React When Someone Confesses Their Sin to You
Recently, I wrote about why I think it’s important to confess our sins to fellow believers. In that piece, I only considered one side of that paradigm: that of the confessor. But there is a second piece that is equally important: What is an approp...
Written by
Meredith Cook
A Thank You to Pastors (And an Encouragement to Their Members)
Life has been full of changes for us in the last year and lately I’ve been reflecting on the Lord’s faithfulness in our lives: helping us feel at home in Houston, giving us a church and friends, and simply helping us to like where we are and what ...
Written by
Meredith Cook
"Gospel-centered" Must Mean More Than the Preaching
“A gospel-centered church is not one where the preacher preaches the gospel, but where the people share the gospel.” ~John Meador A couple of weeks ago, I commented on an article at Christianity Today by John Meador of First Baptist Euless, T...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Chiming In: The Story of One Texas Church's Road to Evangelism
Every now and then, I have an article on the internet reach out and slap me in the face. Today it was in a good way, and I wanted to share it with you. It is an article at Christianity Today by John Meador, pastor of First Baptist Euless, TX. In ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
In the midst of Hurricane Harvey
9,000,000,000,000 gallons. That’s how much water dumped onto Houston two nights ago. The number is even higher now, as the rains have not ceased. For an idea of just how much water that is, check out the Washington Post article. It gives an illus...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Church Planter, Don't Lose Your Integrity in Fundraising
I hope I can talk about this without sounding like I have an ax to grind. Fortunately, our organization is in the coaching business, not the funding business, when it comes to church plants. In my previous position, I worked at a seminary. Again, ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
How Do You Measure Discipleship?
“We’re not about making decisions, we’re about making disciples!” It is a common refrain in church services nowadays. And that is the right attitude. After all, making disciples includes “teaching them all I have commanded.” We should be concerne...
Written by
Keelan Cook
How Not to Use Your Spiritual Gifts
Recently I wrote about spiritual gifts and using your gifts to serve the church. Today, I want to discuss a couple of issues with the whole spiritual gifts conversation. Obviously, I do not mean that spiritual gifts are a problem, but if we are n...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Covenant Membership is a Contextual Process
Monday, I ran a guest post by Trevor King on the importance of covenant membership, and I highly recommend you read it here. In it, Trevor makes a compelling claim about the biblical nature of a covenant membership process for local churches, and ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Chiming in: "A church is not a random sampling of the place it is in"
Today I wanted to chime in on another good post by Justin Long. As an aside, if you are interested in missions and church planting, you need to follow Justin. You can find his blog here, and his Twitter account here. Justin recently posted a sh...
Written by
Keelan Cook
A Consequence of Ministry: Dealing with Sheep
“A shepherd should smell like his sheep.” If you think about the above statement, it seems like common sense. Of course a shepherd would smell like sheep. After all, it is his job to spend his time around sheep. It is his job to follow sheep, her...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Baptist Witchcraft
This post is more of a question than an answer. It is curiosity not advice, and I know that even bringing this issue up will bring scrutiny on me from others. My hope is that in raising my questions and my lack of understanding we can dialogue tow...
Written by
Keelan Cook
peoples next door
Return to topImmigration by the Numbers
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 ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Common Questions about ESL and Church Planting
This week, I received an email I wanted to share concerning ESL ministries in local churches. The email was in response to an article I wrote a while back entitled Turn Your ESL Ministry into a Church Planting Machine. For their part, a local chur...
Written by
Keelan Cook
In the News: These are the groups most likely to stop participating in the US census
The Brookings Institute recently ran an article titled, “These are the groups most likely to stop participating in the US census,” in which they parse out some of the significant consequences of a recent ruling concerning the upcoming 2020 US cens...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Here's a Big List of Refugee Processing Centers Across the US
I am thankful to see the swelling interest by local churches in caring for refugees. Nowadays, I regularly get asked questions about how to begin this vital ministry at your church. Today, I simply wanted to share a resource with you that may help...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Are We Resolved To Love Refugees?
I think back to a day this past summer. It was during the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting. Those few days were good days for us, but one moment sticks out to me today. The main auditorium was crowded. I was standing to one side, packed ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Immigration and the Great Commission Explained (VIDEO)
Yesterday, the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina released an explainer video that is just too good not to share. This is the kind of video you need to show in your church. The video discusses the current state of missions in North Americ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
In the News: "Somali Refugee Makes History In U.S. Election"
Last week, a friend made mention of this article in her social media, and I felt it was worth sharing. While the news cycle was inundated with shock at the outcome of the presidential election, this little article slipped through at NPR, and it is...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Bourdain Tastes the Nations... in Houston (VIDEO)
I love shows about strange food. Maybe it is because I love strange food. I like them even more when I can learn something from them, and this upcoming piece by Anthony Bourdain on CNN’s Parts Unknown is all about the radical diversity found in on...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Christian, Get Out of the Bubble
My church has a lot of seminary students, and I hear a certain refrain every two or three weeks in the small groups I oversee. The conversation turns toward evangelism and missions and some well-meaning seminary student will express frustration th...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Here's an Easy Checklist for Getting Started with People Group Ministry
Today I just wanted to drop you all a link to a nifty little tool I developed this past week. I am working with an educational organization to produce a learning project for students that teaches them to discover and engage people groups. In the p...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Chiming In: 99% of Immigrants Feel More Welcome After a Dinner
It is an interesting time when the Huffington Post beats many churches to principles of Christian hospitality, but that is precisely what has happened in a recent article they published called, “99% of Immigrants Feel More Welcome After a Dinner.”...
Written by
Keelan Cook
How to Use Google Forms, Sheets, & Maps to Survey Your Community (For Free)
Every church needs to know the community around them. Many churches today knew their community at one time, but things change. When it comes to communities here in the US, that transition has happened quickly and everywhere. Many (I would guess m...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Good Ministry to Internationals in One, Short Video
I am always excited to pass on good resources, and the following video is just that. It is a short testimony of a couple realizing their responsibility to share the gospel with unreached people groups here in the States. The video briefly walks th...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Download the Free Strategy Guide for Your Local Church
I am excited about today’s post. Over the course of the Peoples Next Door project, we have spent a lot of time thinking through people group discovery and engagement as well as helping equip local churches for that end. Today, I get to announce a ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Eric Mason Delivers an Excellent Word on Diversity
[vimeo 157340906 w=800 h=440] Eric Mason - Seeing Through the Lens of the End - Revelation 7:9-14 from Southeastern Seminary on Vimeo. I love our chapel services at Southeastern. Every semester, we have the opportunity to hear from some of the m...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Breaking Down the Refugee Crisis
Now that we have rounded the corner on a new year, I thought it good to grab some fresh factoids about the refugee crisis in the Middle East and Europe. Of course, the situation over there will not be back to “normal” for a long time, as mill...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Anyone Can Learn These Three Phrases in Another Language
It has been five years now, but I still remember how it felt. It happened more than once while I served in West Africa as a missionary, but it always caught me off guard. I would be working out in the bush, a long long way from anyone that could, ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
I'll Be Home for Christmas, But Many Will Not
In just a few hours I will be hitting the road for Tennessee. This morning, the local news in Raleigh said the security line at the airport was so long it went outside the building and around the corner. It is Christmastime, and that means it is t...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Chiming in: "Learning to Love Foreigners Well"
Over at Urban Mango, Lori McDaniel recently posted a helpful article on loving foreigners. We spend a lot of time talking about that same issue here on this blog, so I thought I would bring her post to your attention and chime in with a few though...
Written by
Keelan Cook
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...
Written by
Keelan Cook
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...
Written by
Keelan Cook
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...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Culture in 5 Easy-to-Understand Categories
Let me start by saying this is an oversimplification. Culture and worldview are complicated topics. Are they the same thing? Are they distinct? Search five textbooks and you will get five different answers and five different definitions. In fac...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Engaging People Groups: Cultural Expertise vs. Cultural Acquisition
I was a missionary in West Africa. By the time I left that continent, I understood (to a decent degree) the culture, worldview, and language of the people I was engaging. I could carry on conversations, share the gospel, even teach Bible studies. ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Culture is like an iceberg, and that affects your ministry
Culture runs deep. In fact, culture runs deeper than most ever realize. When we think about culture, we typically think about dress and food, dancing and art, language and festivals. To be certain, these are all cultural activities. Culture is no...
Written by
Keelan Cook
A Multiplication Mindset: The Ministry Paradigm Your Church may be Missing
Sometimes, we do not celebrate the most important things. It is like celebrating the kid who got the congeniality award instead of winning the pageant. Don’t get me wrong. We should give Miss Congeniality a pat on the back, but winning the congen...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Chiming in: "A church is not a random sampling of the place it is in"
Today I wanted to chime in on another good post by Justin Long. As an aside, if you are interested in missions and church planting, you need to follow Justin. You can find his blog here, and his Twitter account here. Justin recently posted a sh...
Written by
Keelan Cook
A Mile in Their Shoes: Peoples Next Door team leader in a local church
[caption id=”attachment_1085” align=”alignright” width=”341”] Marie helps mobilize others inside her church to discover and engage people groups.[/caption] The next interview in our series is a team leader for people group engagement in a local c...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Here's a fun way to understand people group communities
I talk a lot about people group communities or people group pockets forming in cities here in the US. In short, as migration continues around the US, many of these people groups moving to here will find a way to locate in the same areas. They form...
Written by
Keelan Cook
A word of caution concerning "Relationship Evangelism"
I can remember Monday night visitation at church. We would all meet up at the church building to pair up and take any visitor cards from the Sunday before and go visit the new families and share the gospel with them. In addition, it was standard ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Chiming in: "The Unreached at Home"
Ashley Scarbrough with e3 Partners has a good write up concerning international people group work here in the US. She wrote the piece back in March, but I just stumbled across it recently. Ashley points out several different ways to find and inte...
Written by
Keelan Cook
A Mile in Their Shoes: People Group Catalyst
As a means of helping people see the various roles involved in people group discovery and engagement, I plan to periodically interview practitioners. These people will come from a variety of places (state conventions, sending agencies, research ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
In the News: "The end of suburban white flight"
“In the News” is a series where I highlight research and various articles from around the internet to showcase the shifts of missiological significance. If you read the last article, you saw that the Brookings institute had noted the shift of int...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Chiming in: "Geography, Ethnography and Missions" by Justin Long
I love finding good, brief articles like this recent post by Justin Long concerning people group work in the US. Justin is actually writing as a response to an article by JD Payne on the topic. Now, I want to highlight Justin’s post. The chain c...
Written by
Keelan Cook
How to be a Missionary Without Being a "Missionary"
A Hindu temple just outside of Raleigh, NC. I don’t know anything about fill-in-the-blank culture! Can I even do this without some level of cultural expertise? This is perhaps the most frequent question when I share about reaching int...
Written by
Keelan Cook
resources
Return to topFree Resource: Assess Your Church from Multiple Perspectives
The following is an excerpt from a free local church resource. The resource is a quick reference for carefully examining your local church in its missions context. You can download the resource at the end of the post. “The gospel never fits prope...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Four Online Resources for Demographics on Your Community
Do you have any good websites I can visit for demographic data on my neighborhood? If I’ve been asked that question once, I’ve received it a dozen times. And for what it is worth, it’s a good question. Nowadays, many pastors and church leaders un...
Written by
Keelan Cook
How to Map Your Members in Google for Local Outreach
Last week, I shared a simple method for using Google’s free services for neighborhood discovery. Today, I want to extend that idea to the next level. Many churches never consider mapping out their own membership, but they should. Our homes are st...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Chiming In: "Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves."
When I find helpful resources or articles that speak to the issues of immigration, refugee care, and the local church’s responsibility to the Great Commission among these people, I like to share those. Today, I want to draw your attention to a rec...
Written by
Keelan Cook
revitalization
Return to topFree Resource: Assess Your Church from Multiple Perspectives
The following is an excerpt from a free local church resource. The resource is a quick reference for carefully examining your local church in its missions context. You can download the resource at the end of the post. “The gospel never fits prope...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Church, Stop Measuring Yourself by Past Success
You think back to that time often. Maybe it was a decade ago, maybe a generation ago, or maybe it was just a few years ago. It was an exciting time in the life of your church. The sanctuary was full on a Sunday morning, children were running aroun...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Church Planting: Focus on the Forest Instead of the Trees
All analogies break down, so bear with me here. But I want to share this one with you, because I think it does a good job of answering why your area (and mine) needs new churches. A church is, in some ways, like a tree. Churches have a life cycle...
Written by
Keelan Cook
How to know your neighborhood is gentrifying. (They forgot the Chipotle.)
This morning while I was doing some research, I stumbled across a little piece of tongue-and-cheek blog fodder from the Houstonia titled, The Houstonia Step-By-Step Guide to Gentrification. It’s pretty funny and does a great job tracking the devel...
Written by
Keelan Cook
sending church
Return to topIdentifying to Send: Examine These Three Areas of a Person’s Life
In our current season of ministry, it would be tempting to remove our focus from the core missionary task of sending laborers into the harvest. It should go without saying, during a time of social distancing the means through which we fulfill the ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
How to Create a Sending Culture in Your Church.
I was recently talking to a student deploying to the field for missionary service, and she informed me she was the only person to ever serve as a missionary from her Baptist association back at home. Now, she’s from the South where there are many ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
small groups
Return to topChurch Small Groups Reimagined: How to Find Your First Leaders
I initially planned to post this Friday but that was Good Friday, so you’re getting it today. Ok, let’s recap. The last couple of posts have focused on evangelistic Bible storying as a way to start new small groups at your church through convers...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Church Small Groups Reimagined: Leaders That Make Leaders Through Bible Stories
Monday, I proposed evangelistic Bible storying as a way to start new small groups at your church through conversion. Bible storying provides the benefit of worldview development as the study progresses from week to week. This, of course, is an exc...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Church Small Groups Reimagined: Use Them for Outreach Through Bible Storying
It has been a few weeks since I posted on the benefits of Bible storying, so it seemed high time to do it again. If you cannot tell, I am a firm believer in using a narrative/ story approach in Bible study. I saw the great benefit of unpacking bib...
Written by
Keelan Cook
social media
Return to topHandle with Care: Christian Conflict on Social Media
This article is the second in a two-part series on Christ’s command in Matthew 7:1-5. In this artile, we provide a specific application of this command. This first article provides necessary background and proper interpretation for the passage. Yo...
Written by
Keelan Cook
On Splinters, Beams, and Correcting Others
Do not judge, so that you won’t be judged. Nowadays, few Bible verses are quoted quite so often as this one. Not so surprisingly, few are misquoted quite so often. And yet, I truly believe Jesus’ original intended meaning for these words in h...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Can You Love People on Social Media?
February 4, 2004 was a very significant day in the world. It was the day that Facebook was created. Whether you love it or not, Facebook was a catalyst for the online “social media” movement. There are now 1.6 billion active users on Facebook, wh...
Written by
Keelan Cook
Be All There: The Dangers of Hyper-connectivity for the Missionary
I have the unique fortune of training a good number of missionaries in my role at the seminary and through the church I pastor. It is a real blessing to be a part of equipping young families and singles to uproot their lives and move for the sake ...
Written by
Keelan Cook
worldview
Return to topA Warning Concerning Religious Categories
Americans love our categories. We love our boxes and labels. Even today, with the postmodern push away from classification, we Western thinkers still organize information by placing “like items” together in taxonomies. Categories can be helpful to...
Written by
Keelan Cook
How to Ask Someone About Their Religion (And Actually Discover What They Really Believe)
I get this question a lot, so I thought it fitting to address it in a post. With the remarkable diversity we find around ourselves today, we can no longer assume we understand someone’s religious background. This is obvious when we talk about dis...
Written by
Keelan Cook