Article Library

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By Pastor Chuck Swindoll

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Your Ministry

“Without glamourizing it, I can say that the most enriching and fulfilling and meaningful of all careers is the ministry. At the same time, it can be the most exasperating, exhausting, and frustrating of any work on the planet. The demands and the responsibilities are enormous. The dangers and the occupational hazards are numerous. And they can lead to scandals and heartaches and broken homes and personal disasters. At the same time, the accomplishments and the rewards are marvelous. We’re able to touch lives so deeply and so permanently that they are changed forever. I don’t know of another career that could say that.”

Let the Scriptures Burst Alive

“When you exposit the Scriptures, you go to the Word of God. You put your finger on the verse. You develop the verse, you explain the verse, and help those who are listening to the teaching understand what it says. What it means and how it applies. You do it in a way that is interesting and, as much as possible, creative, even at times colorful and illustrative, but so that the truth of the Scriptures will burst alive in the minds of those who are hearing the truth proclaimed.”

Tell People How You Feel About Them

“I’ve learned I should tell people how I feel about them now, not later. Every time I bury somebody, and it seems like they’re younger every year, I wish I would’ve told them while they were alive how I really felt. So, if your mom and dad are still alive, tell them now. If you’ve got a real good friend and you really do love that friend, tell him, tell her. If you’ve got a great mate, let that mate know it. I’ve learned I should tell people how I feel about them now, not later.”

Life’s Lessons Don’t Stop

“I’ve been on a long learning curve and I’m grateful that the lessons don’t stop when you turn 45 or 57 or 74. Or once you’ve had your last grandchild or you’ve preached your fifty-fifth Easter sermon, as I did last Sunday. Lessons keep coming and you keep realizing you didn’t know that before. You wish you would have known that earlier.”

Pay Close Attention to Yourself “Whether we like it or not, being in this calling means that we are someone’s example to follow. We are someone’s model to emulate, and you won’t like to hear this, but you are and/or you will be someone’s hero. They will quote you. They will remember you even above many things about their own parents. Tremendous influence on people’s lives. That explains why Paul would say to Timothy, ‘Pay close attention to yourself.’ First Timothy 4:16, ‘Pay attention to yourself, Timothy.’ The implication is other people do.”

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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