How to Ruin Your Time at Dallas Seminary
By Pastor Chuck Swindoll
Replace Worry with Prayer
“In place of worry, turn it into a prayer. About the time you find yourself churning, stop, quiet the churning, spend just a few moments taking it to the Lord God, trusting Him.”
Abide with Jesus
“I’m going to sound like the old devotional preacher when I say this, but if you miss being with Jesus, you’ve messed up your years at this seminary. If you and He are not on closer speaking terms when you leave, you’ve missed it. One thing is really needful, your knowledge of the Scriptures to know Him better, your better understanding of yourself so that you get out of the way to know Him better.”
Trust Your Heavenly Father
“‘Don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.’ (Matthew 6:34) So stop it! You formed the habit. It’s a wicked habit. It’s sinful. It simply represents not trusting your heavenly Father. If the little birds can eat that French fry laying on the concrete, you can also be fed in amazing ways and clothed and provided for. If I knew how it was going to come, I’d tell you, but I don’t. I just know it will. And I know when it doesn’t, there’s a really great reason, and you may never know why.”
More Valuable Than Little Birds
“Aren’t you more valuable than the little birds? You know you are. You have a soul, you have a voice, you have a history, you have a message. You have words that some will hang on to and they’ll live by. You don’t realize it now, but that will be true for many of you. I want to say most of you. God will use your voice, your message. But if you worry about what you’re going to eat and what you’re going to drink and what you’re going to wear, you’re not going to get all the tools that are available. You’re going to get short changed. So He says, ‘Don’t worry.”
Deepen Your Self-awareness
“Along with cultivating a knowledge of the truth of God’s Word, is to discover and deepen an awareness of yourself. How tragic it would be for you to gain a knowledge of the Word but become less self-aware in the process. Because it will not be your lack of knowledge that will bring about failure in ministry, it’ll be your lack of awareness of who you are.”
It’s All About God
“Some things we’ve asked for and trusted God for we didn’t get, and that still happens. Because it isn’t about us. We really learned that lesson well. It’s not about us. It’s about our God.”
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.
About the author
Pastor Chuck Swindoll
Pastor Charles R. Swindoll has devoted his life to the accurate, practical teaching and application of God’s Word. He is the founding pastor of Stonebriar Community Church in Frisco, Texas, but Chuck’s listening audience extends far beyond a local church body. As a leading program in Christian broadcasting since 1979, Insight for Living airs around the world. Chuck’s leadership as president and now chancellor emeritus at Dallas Theological Seminary has helped prepare and equip a new generation of men and women for ministry.
