McKeever, a longtime preacher, missions leader and storyteller, is known for his insightful and witty cartoons and his spot-on caricature portraits.

Amid all his ministry adventures and achievements over the past 60 years, he added, “I’m not a cartoonist who preaches. I’m a preacher who sketches and draws cartoons. The priority is always on God’s call to preach the Word.”

A native of Alabama and the son of a coal miner, Joe McKeever has been saved since 1951, has been preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ since 1961, and has been writing and cartooning for religious publications since the mid-1960s.

He put in 42 years pastoring six Southern Baptist Churches– the last three were the First Baptist Churches of Columbus MS, Charlotte NC, and Kenner LA– followed by 5 years as director of missions for the SBC churches of metro New Orleans where he retired in 2009.

McKeever’s education includes high school at Double Springs, AL, a B.A. from Birmingham-Southern College (history/political science), and a masters & doctorate from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary with an emphasis on evangelism.

For over 15 years, Joe has drawn a daily cartoon for the Baptist Press.

He writes a column on “My Favorite Deacon” for each issue of Lifeway’s Deacon Magazine, blogs almost daily for church leaders and has published numerous books of his cartoons and seven ministry books:

–“Help! I’m a Deacon” (2015);

–“Grief Recovery 101” (2016, with wife Bertha Fagan McKeever);

–“Sixty and Better: Making the Most of Our Golden Years” (2017; written with Bertha);

–And most recently, four books as a set: “Pastoring,” “Pray Anyway,” “Listen: God is Speaking,” and “A Healthy Church.”

McKeever’s life verse is Job 4:4, “Your words have stood men on their feet.”

ALSO READ Houston Baptist University Changes Name To Houston Christian University