For the Kingdom - Keas Keasler

Jesus doesn’t do social justice, he is social justice. I mean that in the strongest sense. True social justice is defined by the person of Jesus, and not vice-versa. And I’ve been thinking a lot about social justice since I arrived in Kansas City.

Two weeks ago I packed my bags and headed out West. I’m interning at Jacob’s Well Church in Kansas City, Missouri, for the summer and assisting them with community development and the missional formation of their congregation. My first day here I began working with another staff member on human trafficking. Since the church is a part of a coalition against human trafficking, they were informed by authorities that a citywide raid would soon take place and asked to provide hospitality for the victims once they had been freed. My second day here the raid happened.
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Last Sunday morning I did a teaching in Dallas on how the story of Scripture beckons the church to live into the future. To even make sense of that statement I need to first unpack a few things.

Story is basic to all of life. All humans live within some story they believe is ultimate. The Buddhist, the materialist, the Marxist, and the Christian all believe different stories and frame themselves within those narratives. It’s popular today to speak of different “worldviews,” but this is just a fancy way of saying “different stories.” A person’s worldview is shaped by the comprehensive story they believe is true to reality; worldviews are products of stories.

Christians agree that the Bible is authoritative for our lives, but ask how exactly is it authoritative and you’ll soon hear discord. Many speak of the Bible as the roadmap or blueprint for life. Others say it is a document of propositional truths or an almanac of spiritual wisdom. I contend it is none of the above.
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I’m an American citizen. This means last fall I began hearing that I should “get out there, spend money, and buy more stuff.” I was told this is the part I need to play as an American in helping jumpstart our economy again.

This spending solution seemed to be the one principle our government and all the pundits agreed upon. And apparently it’s what the founding fathers would want me to do.

Each week the adman insisted that there has never been a better time for me to buy a car, house, or iPhone. Here in the United States of Advertising the message is always the same: “now is the time to buy!”

So I decided now was the time for a little economic experiment. I will not be buying anything new for a year.
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1:30 pm - Stations of the Cross

The Stations of the Cross is a way of remembering the suffering and sacrifice of Jesus during his last hours. The tradition dates back to the fifth century and eventually formed into fourteen “stations,” each depicting a different scene of Jesus’ journey to the cross. I’ve experienced the Stations of the Cross a number of times inside churches that have them set up on clean walls. But not this time.
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I’ve spent the last two weekends in Jacksonville and Cleveland (watch the first 3 seconds closely), but prior to that I officiated two weddings in two weekends. The first was in Orlando for my close friend Nathalie, whom I met several years ago while speaking at a youth camp, and her husband Kevin. The second was in Dallas for my own groovy-artsy-hip sister Misty and her groovy-artsy-hip husband Brian, and I co-officiated this with their pastor Danielle Shroyer. (And let me be the first to suggest we find a better term than “officiate”).

While preparing the messages and prayers for these weddings I was reminded how as Christians every area of our lives belongs to God’s mission.

And this includes our marriages.
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This year for Christmas my soon-to-be-brother-in-law, Brian, gave me Stefan’s Sagmeister’s latest work, Things I Have Learned in my Life so Far. The Austrian-American graphic designer is as insightful as he is creative, and it’s easy to see why he’s Brian’s favorite artist.

The book itself is a piece of experimental art; it’s comprised of 15 booklets in a box whose cover is a cut out of Sagmeister’s face. So whatever booklet you place in the front completes his portrait in a different way, and the booklets themselves are based on various art projects he has done over the years. And although I dig the graphics, it’s his short reflection on each project that has captured my imagination.
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Last month we remembered the legacy of our nation’s greatest public prophet, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. King was the moral and spiritual leader of the civil rights movement, the movement that the Catholic monk and writer, Thomas Merton, once described as the greatest example of Christian faith in action in the social history of the United States. Furthermore, Dr. King has had a considerable impact upon me and what I want my ministry to be all about (in fact, a long clip of his “drum major” sermon was played at my ordination).

I thought it would be fitting, then, to cut the ribbon of this journal with King.
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Hello friends and welcome to the site. I offer a few opening remarks to help you navigate your way around. Thanks to Francisco Donoso for this piece of original art to get things kicked off. A good friend of mine in Riga, Latvia, designed and put together this site which has a number of functions.
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