Article Library

---

By Pastor Chuck Swindoll

---

Biblical and Relevant

“That’s constantly the challenge of every pastor on the planet. I am not ministering to 1959 people, though some of the people I minister to are that old. I am ministering to millennials, to teenagers, to people who are just now learning who Jesus is. To those who are just discovering what church is about, who have no clue what the songs are that we’ve sung for centuries, or even the new ones that are being composed. To them the life of faith is a little weird, and it is the task of the one who delivers the message to make sure it is solidly biblical and, at the same time, ever relevant. It is the task of the one communicating to make sure that what is being said is right on the sharp edge of where the listener is living.”

Keep Dreaming, Risking, and Reaching Forward

“Highly effective seminaries have dreams that are greater than their memories. They aren’t stuck in some particular era. This school isn’t great because it was great in 1960 to 1963. It was great then, but it’s not great now because of that. It’s great because it’s great now. Schools like this have not stopped risking and reaching. Our dreams are greater than our memories. They pray that their vision will never be hindered by the hurdles and the obstacles. We respect what was, but we do not let that blind us to what might be and a new way of doing it.”

Study the Word to Preach It

“Our goal isn’t to study the Word, it’s to preach the Word. It takes study to preach it well, but the goal is to deliver the goods, not to sit around in groups for the rest of our lives and study deeper, deeper, and deeper. You certainly will want to study, and you want your study to be deep enough so that you do dig into the treasures and I’m going to tell you from years of experience, congregations will love you for your hard work in this study.”

Choosing Effective Board Members

“Great-hearted board members keep the big picture in mind. They are selected because they are visionary. They are in touch and unafraid of change. They make hard decisions, and they are people of prayer. These great-hearted board members hold the leadership accountable in important areas and they have great latitude in nonessential areas. They don’t panic when hard times come. They just pray harder, and they often give in greater measure.”

A Seminary’s Highly Effective Staff

“Highly effective seminaries select and retain an outstanding, enviable faculty. We select, and we retain. Those are important words. An outstanding enviable faculty, men and women of great personal character. True scholarship. Moral purity. Ethical credibility. Yet, at the same time, compassionate.”

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.

---