You don’t have to be a jerk to be an apologist. In fact, if you’re being a jerk, you’re not doing apologetics in a biblical way, because biblical apologetics calls Christians to defend the faith in “meekness and fear” (1 Peter 3:15b). So how can you be an apologist without being a jerk? One of […]
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Timothy Paul Jones: We Are All Apologists Now
A faculty address is given only once in a lifetime of academic research, and it becomes part of the institution’s permanent record of a professor’s scholarship. I had the privilege of delivering my faculty address “Brothers and Sisters, We Are All Apologists Now” in Broadus Chapel on Wednesday, February 1, 2023. This address is my […]
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A New Plan for Reading through the Greek New Testament in 2023
A language that you don’t use is a language you’ll lose—which is why so many pastors who labored so hard over Greek vocabulary and verb paradigms in seminary end up losing most of what they learned. The only way to maintain your knowledge of another language is to use that language regularly. And so, my […]
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Garrick Bailey and Timothy Paul Jones: How the Life of the Church Defends the Truth of the Faith
In an act of heroism of a sort that hasn’t been seen since the conclusion of Avengers: Endgame, Garrick and Timothy bravely prevent the end of apologetics. Also, they show how Live Aid would never have happened in 1985 if it hadn’t been for the rise of Christianity nearly two thousand years earlier.
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Urban Ministry Podcast: Sharing the Gospel in London and Beyond
Jacob Boss is Affinity Leader for European Peoples with the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. Prior to his current role in London, he served two years as the Vice President of Global Training for Meridian University. At Meridian, he implemented a series of simple and reproducible tools that have helped to develop […]
[Read More...]Urban Ministry Podcast: Seeking a Sense of Place in Global Cities
Michael Crane serves as a director of Radius Global Cities Network, a think tank for urban missions research. Passionate about church planting, he helped to launch a church planting network in Southeast Asia called Gospel City Network. Michael also serves on the faculty of two graduate schools. He has authored or co-authored several books, including […]
[Read More...]Urban Ministry Podcast: Urban Church Planting in Africa
Stephen Dinkins and his family moved to East Africa in 2013 to serve with the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. Stephen now serves as the Nairobi City Team Leader in Nairobi, Kenya. In this episode, Stephen and Timothy discuss the distinct dynamics of urban church planting in sub-Saharan Africa. For more information […]
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Apologetics: Should Pastors Preach for Conversions?
In the churches where I first came to know Jesus Christ, no service was complete without an invitation—a time for the people in the pews to respond to the message by making their way down the aisle. Especially during weeklong revival services, “Just as I Am” inevitably ran out of verses before the preachers ran […]
[Read More...]Urban Ministry Podcast: Replanting and Revitalizing Urban Congregations
Thousands of churches in urban contexts are ripe for revitalization—but church revitalization isn’t easy! James Fields has spent nearly two years working with a congregation near Churchill Downs in Louisville, seeking to revitalize a once-thriving church. He joins Timothy Paul Jones to discuss what’s worked, what hasn’t, and what he’s learned. For more information about […]
[Read More...]Urban Ministry Podcast: Church Planting in the Inner City
Brian Davis serves as a pastor at Risen Christ Fellowship in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He completed a church planting internship at Imago Dei Church in Raleigh, North Carolina as well as a pastoral internship at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. Brian joins Timothy to discuss the distinct dynamics of planting a church in the […]
[Read More...]Urban Ministry Podcast: The Role of the Pastor’s Wife
What is the role of the pastor’s wife? Amber Williams and Karen Cheong serve faithfully as members of Sojourn Church Midtown in inner-city Louisville, Kentucky, and they join Timothy Paul Jones to discuss the unique role that the pastor’s wife plays in the urban church. For more information about Sojourn Church Midtown, please go to […]
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Garrick Bailey and Timothy Paul Jones: Job, Jesus, and the Existential Problem of Evil + “You Found Me” (The Fray)
If you’re a Christian who’s suffering or if you want to help people who are suffering, this episode of Three Chords and the Truth: The Apologetics Podcast—“Job, Jesus, and the Existential Problem of Evil”—is the most important installment in this entire series about the problem of evil. This time around, the focus is the existential problem […]
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Urban Ministry Podcast: Revitalizing Churches in Urban Contexts
Raymond Johnson serves as senior pastor at Christ Church West Chester in West Chester, Pennsylvania, and he’s also the author of I See Dead People: The Function of the Resurrection of the Saints in Matthew 27:51–54 (P&R). Christ Church in West Chester has experienced a profound revitalization under Raymond’s leadership. In this episode, Raymond Johnson […]
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Family Ministry: What Should We Do with Children in Community Groups?
One question that I frequently receive from churches runs something like this: “There are so many children in our community groups! We want to do something with them, but we can’t figure out what to do. Right now, groups are just hiring babysitters, but there’s got to be a better way. What do we do […]
[Read More...]Podcast: Helping Your Church to Share the Gospel with Refugees, with John Barnett
GUEST: John Barnett More than 68 million individuals are currently displaced due to religious persecution, war, or other violence. Globally, one out of every 110 people is either seeking asylum, displaced within their own country, or a refugee. Many of these individuals seek refuge in cities throughout the United States. But how should Christians respond […]
[Read More...]Urban Ministry Podcast: Developing an Urban Missions Ministry in Your Church
How could your church begin to engage the poor, the suffering, and the marginalized? And what might God do in your church, if this became part of your vision for the future? With us today is Jesse Eubanks, the founder and executive director of Love Thy Neighborhood. If neighborhood outreach is part of your church’s vision, you won’t want to miss this episode of Urban Ministry Podcast.
[Read More...]Podcast: Diversifying the Church’s Discipleship, with Kevin Jones
GUEST: Kevin Jones One of the most beautiful aspects of urban ministry is its diversity. Ethnic diversity! Racial diversity! Socioeconomic diversity! But this diversity can also be a challenge when it comes to evangelism and discipleship. The gospel and the Word of God are the tools that God uses to transform people’s lives, no matter […]
[Read More...]Urban Ministry Podcast: What Stands in the Way of Diversity in the Church?
GUEST: Jamaal Williams Click here to listen to this episode of the Urban Ministry Podcast. There is in the New Testament a trajectory toward diversity. Jesus begins by calling together a group of Jewish males and then his circle of disciples expands to include women and Samaritans and then the risen Christ commissions his disciples […]
[Read More...]Podcast: How Christians Can Become Partners in Public Education, with Kevin Jones
GUEST: Kevin Jones Click here to listen to this episode of the Urban Ministry Podcast. In 2010, for the first time in human history, more than half of the people on this planet lived in urban contexts. In the past, many churches have taken a “rescue mission” approach to lower-income urban areas, providing charity for […]
[Read More...]Urban Ministry Podcast: Loving Your Neighbor in the Inner City
GUEST: Jamaal Williams Click here to listen to this episode of the Urban Ministry Podcast. If you’re the pastor of an inner-city church, should you live in the same neighborhood as your church? And, if so, what are some of the unique challenges and opportunities of living in the inner city? That’s what we will […]
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