Jesus, Justice + Mercy: Bold faith, radical love and justice for the church

We're launching this season in a week when the gap between what Christians claim to believe and what we're willing to rationalize has never felt clearer. This week alone, we've watched violence unfold, lies amplified, and harm defended, often by Christians claiming Jesus' name. If you've ever wondered what you would have done as authoritarianism took hold, as violence was...

Discipleship on Fire is Season 3 of the Jesus, Justice + Mercy podcast, exploring Christian discipleship, justice, and faith in a complex world.  New episodes begin January 15th For women who stayed small and called it faithfulness : a reading list to start finding your way back. Get it here! If this episode was meaningful for you, the best way to help others find the show is to: Text this episode...

Christian discipleship and spiritual formation are not about resolutions, self-improvement, or fixing yourself at the start of a new year. In this New Year mini-episode of Jesus, Justice & Mercy , Kristen offers a different invitation, one rooted in humility, formation, and becoming more like Christ. This is not a resolution episode. Instead, we reflect on Christian discipleship and spiritual...

Advent of Justice God With Us invites us into the heart of Advent’s final theme: love, not romantic or Hallmark movie love, but the justice-rooted, presence-filled love Isaiah proclaimed, and Jesus lived. In this Christmas Eve episode of Jesus, Justice & Mercy , Kristen explores Isaiah 7 and Isaiah 11, tracing how Emmanuel, God with us, was first a sign of real hope for people in crisis, and l...

In the third week of Advent, we turn toward joy, but not the surface-level version we’re often handed. Isaiah 61 and Jesus’ first public declaration in Nazareth reveal a different kind of joy: joy rooted in liberation, healing, and God’s restoring presence among those who carry the heaviest burdens. Kristen explores: Isaiah’s vision of joy as God lifting what crushes the poor and the brokenhearted...

Advent Week Two centers on Peace, but not the thin, polite version we often settle for. Kristen guides listeners through Isaiah 2:1–4, where peace is not the absence of conflict but the reshaping of violence into nourishment. Isaiah imagines a world where people choose formation over fear, learning new instincts that unmake the cycles of harm. From there, we turn to Joseph in Matthew 1, often over...

In this episode of Jesus, Justice & Mercy , Kristen opens the season with “ The Advent of Justice: Hope in the Dark ,” an invitation to the kind of hope Isaiah and Mary proclaim, honest, grounded hope that rises in the very places where injustice tries to suffocate us. Kristen explores the surprising history of Advent and Epiphany, then walks through Isaiah 9:1–7 , including the beloved lines,...

In this Thanksgiving Bonus Episode, “Truth with a Side of Potatoes,” Kristen tells the more truthful story of Thanksgiving, one that honors Indigenous history, names the myth of the Pilgrims, and makes room for complicated families, shifting faith, and gratitude that doesn’t require pretending. We’ll explore: • The real history behind Thanksgiving and why the myth persists • Why telling the truth...

What do you do when the ground shifts beneath your faith? When the system that taught you about God starts to crack? When the people meant to protect the vulnerable instead protect their own power? This week, we turn to Jeremiah, the prophet who didn’t command attention or seek power. He wept. Jeremiah steps into a collapsing world: corrupt leaders, religious rituals masking injustice, a nation co...

When faith fights for power instead of people, it stops looking like Jesus. In this episode of Jesus, Justice + Mercy , Kristen unpacks Micah’s call to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly alongside Isaiah’s daring vision to beat swords into plowshares. Set against the backdrop of empire, fear, and misplaced trust, these prophets reveal what God requires in a faith that’s forgotten its purpose....

In a time of booming worship and deep injustice, Amos steps into the crowd and says, “God isn’t impressed.” This episode explores the book of  Amos and the prophet’s critique of a nation that sings songs while silencing the poor. Kristen unpacks what God’s justice ( mishpat ) and righteousness ( tzedakah ) really mean, why systems matter as much as hearts, and how faith that never leaves the sanct...

Many Christians say, “The church shouldn’t be political.” But Jesus and politics were never separate. His ministry directly confronted empire, exposing how faith rooted in love and justice will always challenge systems built on power and fear. In this episode, Kristen confronts the myth of a neutral, apolitical faith and exposes how empire-shaped Christianity has confused control for holiness. Dra...

The word prophet can make us squirm. For many of us, it’s loaded with baggage, misuse, mystery, or even manipulation. In this episode, Kristen names that tension and reclaims the word from fear and hype. What if being prophetic isn’t about predicting the future but echoing God’s heart in the present? Drawing from Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Bonhoeffer’s After Ten Years , Kristen explores how faithful d...

How we read Scripture shapes how we live it. In this episode, Kristen walks through exegesis, learning how to think with the Bible, not just what to think . We start with why names and narratives matter (think Columbus Day → Indigenous Peoples’ Day ), then watch Jesus reframe a weaponized text in John 8. From there, Kristen equips you with the 6 C’s (Context, Characters, Canon, Christ, Community,...

How did a young theologian in 1930s Germany see what so many others missed? In this episode, Kristen revisits Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s question, “Who is Jesus Christ for us today?” and boldly traces the unsettling parallels between Hitler’s “playbook” and the ways Christian nationalism shows up now. She talks about fear-driven policy, silence disguised as unity, cheap grace versus costly grace, and w...

When faith begins to stretch toward the justice of Jesus, it can cost you belonging. Suddenly, the people who once prayed beside you pull away, and the table that once felt full grows quiet.  In this episode, Kristen traces that ache through Jesus’ own story in Luke 4, naming the pain of being ghosted for the gospel and the courage it takes to keep walking awake. Along the way, she explores how la...

What if Jesus was a carpenter not just by trade, but by intention? What if his workshop was meant to show us how to build a kingdom table, one wide enough, strong enough, and welcoming enough for everyone? In this episode, Kristen explores what it means to stop guarding the table and start building it bigger. She unpacks the difference between inclusion and belonging, why DEI/DEIB exists, and how...

Episode 12: Jesus Made Me Do It: The Spiritual Work of Unlearning In a week marked by another school shooting, Christians lionizing a man who built his platform on hate, and the devastating news of two Black men found hanging from trees in Mississippi, deaths that many fear echo the terror of lynching, even as officials rush to call them suicides, Kristen reflects on why silence is not an option....

Half a Gospel Is No Gospel at All: Liberation for the poor, resisted by the powerful Why do churches resist justice? In this episode, Kristen digs into the roots of resistance in our faith communities, beginning with James Cone and the birth of Black Liberation Theology. Cone’s bold claim that the gospel must be interpreted from the perspective of the oppressed still unsettles churches today. Thro...

What does it really cost to follow Jesus? In this episode of Jesus, Justice + Mercy, Kristen explores the Tariffs of Faith , the price we pay when discipleship is rooted in justice, not cheap grace. From Moses’ mother and Esther to Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Rosa Parks, we trace the stories of ordinary people whose faith demanded risk, courage, and sacrifice. Along the way, Kristen challenges us to c...

In my very first interview on Jesus, Justice + Mercy , I sit down with my dear friend Candice Zakariya , a disciple-maker, Bible teacher, and business coach whose story is deeply rooted in faith and justice. Candice shares her journey growing up in the Black church, where justice was woven into discipleship, and reflects on the challenges and beauty of navigating predominantly white church spaces...

From Constantine to Christian nationalism, the church has faced a choice: align with empire or follow Jesus. This episode traces moments when faith bent toward power—and the courageous voices that refused to bow. Episode Summary From the Roman Empire to modern politics, the church has faced a constant tension: Will we align with the power of the world, or with the way of Jesus? In this episode, we...

In this episode of Jesus, Justice + Mercy , Kristen dives into the hidden systems shaping our everyday lives from schools and healthcare to voting rights and clean water. She unpacks how privilege and intersectionality determine who gets a head start and who carries the heaviest burdens. Through Scripture, personal story, and powerful examples, Kristen reveals why naming systemic injustice is part...

Episode 6: The Part We Skipped in Sunday School,  What History Forgot, and Faith Can’t Ignore We can’t tell the story of justice without naming the stories the Church forgot, or chose not to tell. In this episode of Jesus, Justice + Mercy , Kristen kicks off a 3-part arc by unearthing the roots of racial inequality in the U.S., tracing how race was constructed to uphold power, and how theology was...

Episode 5: “Not Just Pie and Playlists: Bias, Privilege, and the Bible” Bias isn’t just about politics. Privilege isn’t just about power. And interpreting Scripture isn’t as neutral as we’ve been taught. In this deeply personal episode, I share why I almost didn’t hit record, and why I knew I had to. We’re talking about the invisible lenses we all carry, the unearned advantages we may not notice,...