TPJ, Author at Timothy Paul Jones - Page 12 of 25

Apologetics: How Long Was the Canon in Question?

19th September 2016

The Canon of the New Testament and the Categories of Eusebius The suggestion continues to be made by popular skeptics that the New Testament canon was in flux for hundreds of years. One scholar claims that no one came up with “a definitive list of books to be included in the canon that matched our list today” […]

Church History: The Racist Heresy in Southern Baptist History

15th September 2016

The founders of the Southern Baptist Convention and of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary were zealous defenders of biblical orthodoxy. They were also heretics.

Family Ministry: A Better Story for Your Parenting

14th September 2016

Data and arguments aren’t the strategies that do the best job of convincing people to change their lives. What convinces people best is the promise of a better story than the one they’re presently living. That’s why every leader should be—in the words of R. Albert Mohler—a steward-in-chief of [the organization’s] story. … Leadership comes down […]

Theology: How Free Is Humanity?

13th September 2016

How free are your choices? Do human beings possess free will? Does God determine your choices or do you? Part of the answer depends on how you define “freedom” and “free will”! With that in mind, let’s take a closer look at the notions of human freedom and free will. Does God Save People Against Their […]

Writing: Using Evernote to Write Your Book

8th September 2016

Evernote has been an essential tool in the completion of my past two books, and several of my doctoral students have asked me to describe how I use Evernote to move projects from initial ideas and tables of contents to completed book manuscripts.

Family Ministry: How to Minister to Families in Crisis

7th September 2016

While I was participating in the D6 Connect Tour earlier this year, my friend Ron Hunter asked me to share some ideas about how to minister to children and youth whose parents don’t attend church. Bundled with an interview with Leneita Fix about serving families in crisis, D6 turned this conversation into a free resource […]

Theology: Do God’s Plans Ever Fail?

6th September 2016

Broken dreams are woven deeply into the fabric of human existence—so deeply that it’s easy for us to assume God’s plans fail, just like ours. In fact, that’s precisely what some theologians have claimed over the past few decades. According to one best-selling book from a certain Jewish rabbi, God wishes he could make everything right […]

Giveaway: Win a Free Copy of How We Got the Bible

5th September 2016

If you’re interested in winning a free copy of How We Got the Bible, I’m giving away multiple copies this week! To be entered for a chance to win, simply click this link: How We Got the Bible Giveaway You’ll need to have a Twitter account and an Amazon account to enter the contest for […]

Culture: A Quick Guide to the Marvel Cinematic Universe

3rd September 2016

At the center of God’s story stands this singular act: In Jesus Christ, God personally intersected human history and redeemed humanity at a particular time in a particular place. Yet this central marvel of redemption does not stand alone. It is bordered by God’s good creation and humanity’s fall into sin on the one hand […]

Culture: Remembering Emmett Till

2nd September 2016

In September 1955, the bloated and broken corpse of Emmett Till arrived in Chicago. His mother identified his body and made the decision to leave his casket open for the funeral. “Let the people see what I’ve seen,” she told the owner of the funeral home, and the people did. What they saw changed the world.

Family Ministry: The Best Tool to Filter Films for Your Family

31st August 2016

My family and I enjoy movies—a lot. The problem is, there are many movies that, for us at least, are too riddled with unnecessary profanity and sexual innuendo to enjoy together. And, honestly, I know that I myself am unable to deal well with any sexual nudity in a film. Other Christians have different convictions […]

Leadership: A Kingdom-Shaped Vision for Church Discipline

30th August 2016

“To him who … made us a kingdom, be glory and dominion forever,” John declared in the opening paragraphs of the apocalypse he penned on the island of Patmos (Revelation 1:5-6). Living in union with Christ the King, God’s new covenant people have been made into “a kingdom of priests” (Exodus 19:6). But what does […]

Apologetics: Is Inerrancy a Modern Invention?

29th August 2016

“Inerrancy” is the belief that the Bible never errs. It’s another way of saying that the Old and New Testaments—as they were originally written—declare what is true and describe accurately what happened in the past. To say the Bible is inerrant is to say that the Scriptures do not affirm anything that is contrary to […]

Culture: The Gospel and Racial Reconciliation

26th August 2016

Racial reconciliation is not primarily about healing the wounds of racial subjugation that so deeply scar our nation’s history. Racial reconciliation is not primarily about seeking justice for immigrants and refugees. It’s not about reducing conflict between persons with differing concentrations of melanin. It’s not even primarily about a systemic lack of opportunities for certain ethnicities—though all […]

Family Ministry: The Difference Between God’s Adoption and Ours

24th August 2016

Thirteen years ago, my wife and I sat at a table in a cramped office that reeked of scorched coffee and mildewed carpet. By that point in our lives, we had journeyed for nearly two years on a long and difficult road toward adoption. While social workers shuffled around us, we pored over page after […]

Leadership: Learning to Do Less So Parents in Your Church Can Do More

23rd August 2016

Parents in your ministry don’t have time to disciple their children—or, at least, that’s the way many of them feel when they look at their weekly to-do lists. According to comprehensive surveys and interviews with hundreds of parents, half of all church-involved parents have simply resigned themselves to the notion that their families are too busy […]

Apologetics: How the Meaning of “Canon” Changed from a River Reed to a Book We Read

22nd August 2016

Recently, I had a conversation with Jonathan Petersen at Bible Gateway about the origin and meaning of the word “canon.” Here’s an excerpt from our discussion: Jonathan: What is the definition of “canon”? TPJ: The meaning of the word canon as we know it today can be traced back to how the Greeks used a […]

Culture: Iron Man 2 and the Metanarrative of God

19th August 2016

This exploration of Iron Man 2 is the fourth in a series of posts exploring theological themes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. You can find the rest of the series here. I recommend using VidAngel to filter the content of this film for your family. Every part of Tony Stark seems to have been forged in […]

Family Ministry: The Importance of Apologetics Training for Parents

18th August 2016

A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of sitting down with Ron Hunter—founder and director of the D6 Conference—to talk about my passion for training parents to equip their children to defend what they believe. Joel Teague joined in the discussion as well and described his experiences as a missionary in a secularized context. […]

Family Ministry: D6 Conference in Louisville

17th August 2016

Every year, I look forward to attending and speaking at the premier family ministry conference in the United States, coming up September 21-23 this year in Louisville. The conference is known as D6—short for “Deuteronomy 6”—and I’ll be speaking twice at the D6 Conference this year. Here are the two topics that I’ll be addressing: