Dr. Jones served as pastor of First Baptist Church, Decatur, Georgia from 1979 to 2000. He was also pastor of several churches in Tennessee and Kentucky. Before coming to Georgia, Dr. Jones served on the New Testament faculty of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky from 1968 to 1979. He earned his bachelor's degree at Union University in Jackson, Tennessee; a master of theology in preaching from Princeton Theological Seminary in Princeton, New Jersey; and a master of divinity and doctor of philosophy degrees from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Dr. Jones is the author of Teaching of the Parables and Studying the Parables of Jesus, as well as numerous articles for journals, periodicals and books.