Doyle Jones – Church Planter / Mentor Of Students
Potter & Clay
By the time that the apostle Paul writes the book of 2 Timothy, he is ready for his departure; he has fought the good fight, he has finished the race, and he has kept the faith. Paul instructs Timothy to pass on what he heard from him (2:2), reminds Timothy of his example that he fully knows and that he has followed (3:10), and then gives him the charge to “Preach the Word” (4:2). God uses mentors to encourage us and to stretch us. Or like he stated in 1 Corinthians 11:1 “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” As we develop intentional relationships with other believers we will see progress in our Christian walk.
Doyle Jones is another one of my mentors who has helped to shape me into the man of God that I am today. I met Doyle Jones in 1991, when I attended Southwestern Assemblies of God University. He was the Missions Director at the time. He taught for 14 years at Southwestern while he himself completed his Doctor of Ministry Degree. Doyle Jones is a church planter who travels during the summers to plant new churches around the world. He plants a new church every year and mentors students in the process. Doyle Jones has been a great friend and one of my best friends since 1991. I took short term missions trips every year that I was at Southwestern, and I learned a lot from him in preparation for the trips, ministry during the trips, and ministry and experience after the trips. He asked me to lead a trip to Guadalajara Mexico one year during the week of Spring Break. I also was able to go with him to the country of Russia in 1994 with a group of 18. Just as mentioned above, I too fully know Doyle’s example and follow it, I too share what I have heard from him, and I preach the Word of God like I have seen Doyle preach. God has used Doyle Jones to encourage me, challenge me, and stretch me. During the time that I pastored a church in Texas, I frequently had him come to our church and minister, he guest spoke more than any other guest speaker who came to our church. Doyle would preach the Word for what it said, not his agenda, but the Word. Miracles happened in our church while he ministered and many received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit as he taught about it. I continue to learn from him to this very day. I have learned from the way that he is devoted to his family, his wife and his two sons and their families, the way that he is devoted to conducting a proper exegetical study of the Word of God and preaching it, and the way that he is devoted to God and to serving him through the calling on his life of planting churches, and teaching on the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Doyle is a man of prayer. Wednesday chapels at Southwestern were mission chapels and I would always see him in the chapel an hour before school in prayer, and to this day I know that he gets up early in the morning to walk and pray.
I don’t write these things about Doyle Jones, or anyone else that I have wrote about, to put them on a pedestal to be praised or worshiped, but I write about them so that we can grow in Christ and in the knowledge of Christ through their example and teaching. This generation more than any other needs men and women of integrity and godly character who can disciple, mentor, train and instruct others in the Word and in Christian living. An intentional mentoring relationship is when we grow in our lives through what we hear and share with others, see the example of godly men and godly women of integrity and follow their example, and when we devote ourselves to the Word of God and not false teachings or myths and meaningless talk. I encourage you to grow and help others grow as you develop intentional relationships with other believers.
For more on Doyle Jones’ Ministries, see www.doylejonesministries.org
