Dr. Randy Stinson and Dr. Timothy Paul Jones have been the primary architects of the theological foundations for what has become known as “family-equipping ministry”—a recognition that the generations need one another and that parents have an inherent responsibility for the discipleship of their children.
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About the Author
Randy Stinson (PhD, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) is dean of the School of Church Ministries at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville and serves as president of the Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood.
Timothy Paul Jones (PhD, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) is professor of leadership and church ministry at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He has written a number of books, including Misquoting Truth and Perspectives on Family Ministry.
Timothy Paul Jones (PhD, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) is professor of leadership and church ministry at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He has written a number of books, including Misquoting Truth and Perspectives on Family Ministry.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I have not read this whole book, but it's definitely not because I don't want to, this is a hefty book and it's not one to just read through in a day or two. I'm about half way through and everything has been so good about this book - if you're wanting more information on family ministry whether it's family equipping or family integrated churches, this book will help in understanding how to implement and why parents, and especially dads should be equipped in how to train their children up in God's Word. This book really hits home for me since we're looking for a church that doesn't segregate according to age - I've yet to see in the Bible how age segregation is Biblical and with my children being homeschooled most of the Sunday school curricula are written at a level below that of my children since we integrate God's Word into our school day.
The book is divided into three parts:
The Character of God and the Created Order: A Biblical and Theological Framework for Considering Family Relationships
Covenants and Community: Family Discipleship in Christian History
Growing the Family of God: Guiding a Congregation toward Theologically Grounded Family Ministry
Within each part there are chapters that cover the following, although this is not an exhaustive list by any means:
The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit: The Trinity as Theological Foundation for Family Ministry, Bruce A. Ware
Male and Female, He Created Them: Gender Roles and Relationships in Biblical Perspective, Randy Stinson
Among Your Company at Home: Family Discipleship in the Late Ancient and Medieval Churches, C. Michael Wren Jr
The Pastor's Home as Paradigm for the Church's Family Ministry, David Prince
Family Ministry, the Priority or a Priority? Lilly Park
If your church is segregated by ages and you or you Pastor is looking for a new direction to make sure that youth are being taught by those who God ordained should be teaching them then this book is a great place to start. By understanding the past and the present as well as each model of a family ministry church, we can begin to have parents taking their God given responsibility and training up children in the home, where ultimately it's supposed to be happening all day, every day and all the time.
**I was provided a copy of this book from Kregel Publications in exchange for my honest review, no other compensation was given.
The book is divided into three parts:
The Character of God and the Created Order: A Biblical and Theological Framework for Considering Family Relationships
Covenants and Community: Family Discipleship in Christian History
Growing the Family of God: Guiding a Congregation toward Theologically Grounded Family Ministry
Within each part there are chapters that cover the following, although this is not an exhaustive list by any means:
The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit: The Trinity as Theological Foundation for Family Ministry, Bruce A. Ware
Male and Female, He Created Them: Gender Roles and Relationships in Biblical Perspective, Randy Stinson
Among Your Company at Home: Family Discipleship in the Late Ancient and Medieval Churches, C. Michael Wren Jr
The Pastor's Home as Paradigm for the Church's Family Ministry, David Prince
Family Ministry, the Priority or a Priority? Lilly Park
If your church is segregated by ages and you or you Pastor is looking for a new direction to make sure that youth are being taught by those who God ordained should be teaching them then this book is a great place to start. By understanding the past and the present as well as each model of a family ministry church, we can begin to have parents taking their God given responsibility and training up children in the home, where ultimately it's supposed to be happening all day, every day and all the time.
**I was provided a copy of this book from Kregel Publications in exchange for my honest review, no other compensation was given.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
There is a classic story (that probably has Jewish roots) about a new bride that is cooking her first big dinner for her husband. She decides to go with a recipe that has stood the test of time; a roast that was passed down to her by her mother, who in turn had learned it from her mother. Part of the recipe called for cutting off the ends of the roast. The husband, is astonished by this. He asks, "why in the world do you cut off the ends of the roast? That is the best part!". Her reply is simple, "That's the way my mom always made it".
Later on in the week the new bride decides to question her mom about this practice of lopping off the ends of the roast. The mother's reply is the same as the daughter's, "that was always the way my mom made it". The two curious ladies decide to ask grandma why she cut off the ends of the roast. She says, "I always cut off the ends of the roast because that is the only way that I could get it to fit in the pan".
The point of the story is that generations upon generations can dutifully follow a tradition without even understanding it. What is worse when ripped from its original intention the new generation's following of a practice is not only stupid it is also quite unhelpful and maybe even harmful. What happened with the grandmother and her roast is that she taught the daughter the practice but never explained why she did it. The daughter then was not able to contextualize the recipe for her own setting and so she slavishly followed a tradition and handed an unnecessary "must" down to her own daughter.
What is true of a three generations of ladies cooking a roast is just as true of many churches. There are various practices and strategies that have become a "must" to churches but the historical, theological, and even practical reasons for doing them have not been handed down. As a result of this oversight churches either neglect to key biblical practices (such as parents discipling their children) or they slavishly follow extrabiblical traditions without really knowing the reason why.
Summary
Trained in the Fear of God is a book compiled by Timothy Paul Jones and Randy Stinson that aims at providing these historical, theological, and practical reasons for engaging in family-equipping ministry. Family-equipping ministry is "the process of intentionally and persistently coordinating a congregation's proclamation and practices so that parents are acknowledged, trained, and held accountable as primary disciple-makers in their children's lives". It's not a program to be added to your church but a philosophy of doing family ministry that attaches itself to everything the church does.
This philosophy of ministry is catching on in many churches. It is the philosophy of youth, student, and family ministry at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and is quickly spreading to many other institutions. It is filling a void that is left in many other approaches to family ministry. As such many churches are adopting it. With such a spreading one of the dangers is that family-equipping ministry will just become the latest program and two generations from now it will become the next "lopping off the end of the roast" and its theological, historical, and practical foundations will be neglected.
Trained in the Fear of God is divided into three sections: Biblical and Theological Framework, Historical Foundations, and Practice. They are not titled that, but that is essentially the way the book is broken up. There are seventeen different chapters from different contributors (many of them are professors at SBTS). The reader is encouraged to check out the Table of Contents.
The book not only makes a compelling case for the necessity of family ministry it also paints a picture of what family ministry looks like in practice. There are helpful chapters that engage cultural misrepresentations (Al Mohler's chapter on Homosexuality as an example). There are chapters that deal with family ministry in various contexts (Kevin Smiths' chapter on Family Discipleship and the African American Experience). There is even a chapter on the child's brain and how family ministry helps to shape the child's brain. There is much to offer in these pages.
Should You Buy It?
If you are a church leader you should really consider buying this book. I am convinced that Family-Equipping Ministry (whatever it looks like in your particular context) is the way that churches need to minister to families. Every church that buys "how-to" books for moving towards family ministry needs to be certain to also purchase this book. It will build a foundation that will answer the question of "why" for generations to come.
If you are a mom or dad you should also buy this book. It will not only help you to see your valuable role in discipling your children but it will provide helps in doing so. In places where the book itself does not answer the "how-to" questions it will point you to other resources that will.
I highly recommend this book. Also as a little tip I would suggest looking up the Table of Contents and then doing a Google Search for the articles. You might be surprised what you find while you are waiting to purchase the book.
It's a little pricy but worth every penny. Churches need this book as a resource, so do schools, and so do parents.
Later on in the week the new bride decides to question her mom about this practice of lopping off the ends of the roast. The mother's reply is the same as the daughter's, "that was always the way my mom made it". The two curious ladies decide to ask grandma why she cut off the ends of the roast. She says, "I always cut off the ends of the roast because that is the only way that I could get it to fit in the pan".
The point of the story is that generations upon generations can dutifully follow a tradition without even understanding it. What is worse when ripped from its original intention the new generation's following of a practice is not only stupid it is also quite unhelpful and maybe even harmful. What happened with the grandmother and her roast is that she taught the daughter the practice but never explained why she did it. The daughter then was not able to contextualize the recipe for her own setting and so she slavishly followed a tradition and handed an unnecessary "must" down to her own daughter.
What is true of a three generations of ladies cooking a roast is just as true of many churches. There are various practices and strategies that have become a "must" to churches but the historical, theological, and even practical reasons for doing them have not been handed down. As a result of this oversight churches either neglect to key biblical practices (such as parents discipling their children) or they slavishly follow extrabiblical traditions without really knowing the reason why.
Summary
Trained in the Fear of God is a book compiled by Timothy Paul Jones and Randy Stinson that aims at providing these historical, theological, and practical reasons for engaging in family-equipping ministry. Family-equipping ministry is "the process of intentionally and persistently coordinating a congregation's proclamation and practices so that parents are acknowledged, trained, and held accountable as primary disciple-makers in their children's lives". It's not a program to be added to your church but a philosophy of doing family ministry that attaches itself to everything the church does.
This philosophy of ministry is catching on in many churches. It is the philosophy of youth, student, and family ministry at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and is quickly spreading to many other institutions. It is filling a void that is left in many other approaches to family ministry. As such many churches are adopting it. With such a spreading one of the dangers is that family-equipping ministry will just become the latest program and two generations from now it will become the next "lopping off the end of the roast" and its theological, historical, and practical foundations will be neglected.
Trained in the Fear of God is divided into three sections: Biblical and Theological Framework, Historical Foundations, and Practice. They are not titled that, but that is essentially the way the book is broken up. There are seventeen different chapters from different contributors (many of them are professors at SBTS). The reader is encouraged to check out the Table of Contents.
The book not only makes a compelling case for the necessity of family ministry it also paints a picture of what family ministry looks like in practice. There are helpful chapters that engage cultural misrepresentations (Al Mohler's chapter on Homosexuality as an example). There are chapters that deal with family ministry in various contexts (Kevin Smiths' chapter on Family Discipleship and the African American Experience). There is even a chapter on the child's brain and how family ministry helps to shape the child's brain. There is much to offer in these pages.
Should You Buy It?
If you are a church leader you should really consider buying this book. I am convinced that Family-Equipping Ministry (whatever it looks like in your particular context) is the way that churches need to minister to families. Every church that buys "how-to" books for moving towards family ministry needs to be certain to also purchase this book. It will build a foundation that will answer the question of "why" for generations to come.
If you are a mom or dad you should also buy this book. It will not only help you to see your valuable role in discipling your children but it will provide helps in doing so. In places where the book itself does not answer the "how-to" questions it will point you to other resources that will.
I highly recommend this book. Also as a little tip I would suggest looking up the Table of Contents and then doing a Google Search for the articles. You might be surprised what you find while you are waiting to purchase the book.
It's a little pricy but worth every penny. Churches need this book as a resource, so do schools, and so do parents.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By Gkeen1
Format:Paperback
This is an excellent resource to help those in ministry consider what a true gospel saturated church should look like. It has encourage me even as a lay member of my church to consider my relationships within the church and my home as a place of ministry and gospel witness. Thank you to these authors for the work you have done on behalf of the church to assemble this fantastic resource!
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic Resource, I Encourage Everyone to Read it
Trained in the Fear of God is a wonderful resource that makes the connection to help shift the ideology from the "programatic-segmented" culture of the church towards the... Read more
Published 13 months ago by TylerRSmith
5.0 out of 5 stars
Foundation Setting...
"Trained in the Fear of God" provides deep theological, historical, and practical reflection for the growing family-equipping movement within evangelical churches. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Casey McCall
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very Educational & Informative
I was delighted to have the chance to read "Trained In the Fear of God", as I am always intersted in books on theology and biblical perpective and History. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Godspoetic1
3.0 out of 5 stars
Timely, weighty, helpful for leaders
This book comes at a timely moment for me, as pastor of a church that is concerned about continuing a pattern of godly, biblical training for all ages. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Kevin Sorensen
2.0 out of 5 stars
Not Worthwhile
Trained in the Fear of God began so well I was reading it with a highlighter. I was excited by statements like: "Christian households and churches are not shelters from the... Read more
Published 14 months ago by theresa
4.0 out of 5 stars
Helpful Equipping Resource
In nearly ever church I've attended, I have noticed the alarming problem of faith being lost from one generation to the next. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Ann B. Hibbard
3.0 out of 5 stars
Family Ministry
There are so many books to be read . . . some cover to cover and some browsed as a reference. I found this book difficult to get into initially but when I got over my need to read... Read more
Published 14 months ago by Karla
4.0 out of 5 stars
Building a Family Equipping Ministry
More than a "how to book" on family ministry, Trained in the Fear of God lays a theological foundation for equipping families to do ministry. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Richard Burkey "Lifelong Learner"
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