Article Library

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By Pastor Chuck Swindoll

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Don’t Lose Enthusiasm for Spiritual Things

“And since we are all creatures of habit, even ministry can become habitual, and you lose the enthusiasm, the passion for the lost, the excitement of discovery of truth in the Scriptures, and the expectation of how God is going to speak from one Sunday to the next and one Bible study to the next, and one event to the next.”

A Warning on Overexposure

“What is this danger and who is this stalker? It is overexposure. It’s the ultra-familiarity with the things of God. It’s becoming, in the words of Scripture, ‘weary in well-doing,’ losing heart, weakening passion. Ultimately, it is losing your awe of God. I fear that for you, men and women, more than I fear anything else. I fear that for my own life and for my own family and for our church. When you lose your awe of God, you’re sunk. You’re sunk because it is the last thing you want anybody to know about, and as a result you will find yourself covering up for it and you’ll try to fake your enthusiasm when in fact it is gone.”

The Stalker is Relentless

“See how it happens? You’ve been stalked and he’s relentless. He won’t give up when you graduate. He won’t. Take it from me. You go from one church to another; you can stay long or briefly. You still got people, and they still get tired of you and you get tired of them. And if you’re not walking in the Spirit, it’s, what is it, sermon 893, 894.”

When Ministry Becomes Perfunctory

“Ministry can become so perfunctory, just sort of businesslike. You got your advanced degree; you’ve reached that pinnacle which we all admire. If you’re not careful that becomes like your calling card to go from one faculty position to another or from one level in the faculty to another level to another level and before long, it’s just more of the same, same. One student runs into another student. Before long it’s one class after another and you no longer bother to learn their names and before long it’s just get the course taught. Or, man I’ll be glad when this course is over. Glad it’s over? Wasn’t this what you stood on tiptoe in April of 2013 thinking was your future?”

God Wasn’t Well Pleased with Them

“I just preached my fiftieth Easter sermon. I was so excited I could hardly sleep the night before. I couldn’t wait to talk about He arose, He arose, and I have a chance to declare it to some who’ve never heard it in their life. Not 50 times to them, but the stalker says to me, ‘You’ve done this before. You can knock his baby out. Don’t worry about even taking those 19 steps. You can do this on the back of a postcard sitting there at your chair watching a ball game.’ Or you can get it off the Internet. There’s a lot of sermons right there. Who knows if you’re guilty of plagiarism. You do. God does and the stalker loves it when you don’t care. ‘He wasn’t well pleased with them.’”

Additional Resources

First, sign up for our Chuck’s Insights on Ministry email where we bring you his best thoughts on preaching, leadership, and ministry each week. By signing up, you’ll instantly receive a one-page checklist with 20 preaching insights from Chuck. See this page’s sidebar.

Second, check out our new Preach The Word articles and video series on YouTube where we’re teaching Chuck’s best insights on this important calling.

Third, listen to Chuck’s messages to those in ministry through our Seminary Chapels page. For decades, he offered students at Dallas Theological Seminary his best thoughts on church leadership and ministry. Now, we have put them at your finger tips. Also, you can find them through this YouTube playlist we created for you.

Fourth, if you don’t own a copy of Chuck’s book on preaching, Saying It Well, we highly recommend you add it to your library. It’s his preaching memoir that is also like a practical preaching manual. You won’t be able to put it down.

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