Letter

1. the Word
AYearin
Continued on backwww.insight.org
COMMITTED TO EXCELLENCE IN COMMUNICATING BIBLICAL TRUTH AND ITS APPLICATION
Ingest God’s
Word and absorb
it into every fiber
of your being.
What a healthy
and wholesome
year it will be!
— Charles R. Swindoll
by CHUCK SWINDOLL
COMMITTED TO EXCELLENCE IN COMMUNICATING BIBLICAL TRUTH AND ITS APPLICATION
Insight for Living Ministries USA • Post Office Box 5000 • Frisco, Texas • 75034-0055 • USA • 1-800-772-8888 • Spanish-language materials, please call 1-800-898-4847 •
Churches and bookstores, please call 1-800-641-5485 • International orders, please call +1-469-535-8436 • CANADA • Insight for Living Canada • PO Box 8 Stn A • Abbotsford BC V2T 6Z4
• CANADA • 1-800-663-7639 • www.insightforliving.ca • AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND, AND SOUTH PACIFIC • Insight for Living Australia • Post Office Box 443 • Boronia, VIC 3155 •
AUSTRALIA • +61 3 9762 6613 • www.ifl.org.au • GUATEMALA • Visión Para Vivir • 6ta Av. 0-60, Gran Centro Comercial Zona 4 • Torre Profesional II, Of. 511 • Guatemala • (502) 2338-0027
• www.visionparavivir.org • UK AND EUROPE • Insight for Living United Kingdom • PO Box 553 • Dorking RH4 9EU • UNITED KINGDOM • 0800 787 9364 •
www.insightforliving.org.uk • Copyright © 2019 Insight for Living Ministries. All rights reserved worldwide. No portion of this newsletter may be translated into any language or repro-
duced in any form without prior written permission from the publisher. Insights is published monthly by Insight for Living Ministries, the Bible-teaching ministry of Charles R. Swindoll.
Insight for Living Ministries is an autonomous ministry. Cover inset of Chuck Swindoll: Edmonson Photography. Printed in the United States of America.
Visit www.insight.org / hidinmyheart to share this article with a friend.
A Year in the Word, continued from front
Verse 99 offers the second: “I have more insight
than my teachers.” The filter of Scripture equips you
to recognize truth. You’ll have more insight than your
professors or supervisors. You won’t be bullied or
intimidated by anyone who wants to attack your faith.
God promises to give us insight for living!
The commandments of the Lord are right,
bringing joy to the heart.
The commands of the Lord are clear,
giving insight for living. (Psalm 19:8)
Verse 100 gives the third promise: “I am even wiser
than my elders.” You don’t have to wait until you’re
old to gain wisdom. The Scriptures give us a leg up
on people decades older than we are when it comes to
understanding.
Simply put, studying God’s Word yields wisdom as
well as insight and understanding. We often use these
words interchangeably, but they’re not the same.
• Wisdom is the ability to look at life as God does.
• Insight is the ability to see through life’s
circumstances—to look beyond the obvious or
the apparent.
• Understanding, the crowning blessing, is the
ability to respond to life correctly.
Your spiritual health depends on your fixing your
own spiritual meals and then savoring God’s truths.
There are at least five ways to get God’s Word into
your system, and an easy way to remember them is to
use your hand as an illustration. So, get out a piece of
paper, trace your hand, and write the following points
on your five fingers.
1. Hear. Your pinkie finger represents hearing
the Scripture through expositional teaching.
Hearing is the simplest way to take in the
Word. “Faith comes from hearing,” wrote the
apostle Paul (Romans 10:17).
2. Read. Your ring finger represents reading
the Bible. You take a giant leap forward when
you move from being merely a hearer of the
Word to a reader. So, find a Bible-reading plan
and stick with it! I’ve included one in this
edition of Insights to guide you through 2019.
3. Study. Your middle finger represents
studying the Scriptures. Studying is reading
with pencil and paper. Studying means
writing down your observations, noting the
text’s meaning, looking up related verses, and
recording how you plan to put God’s Word
into practice. To help you with this, we’ve
created Searching the Scriptures studies to
accompany each Insight for Living broadcast.
They’re free and available at www.insight.org /
broadcasts /sts-studies.
4. Memorize. Your index finger represents
memorizing Scripture. You truly begin to
consume Scripture when you hide it in your
heart.
5. Meditate. Finally, your thumb—which
wraps around the rest—represents meditating
on Scripture. The psalmist wrote, “I will study
your commandments and reflect on your ways”
(Psalm 119:15). That’s meditation: taking time
to reflect on God’s Word and let it soak into
your heart.
Make 2019 the year you don’t get the spiritual jitters!
Feed daily on God’s Word. Fill your mind with what
you’ve heard, read, studied, memorized, and meditated
on. Think about Scripture while doing chores,
commuting to and from work, or taking a walk. Let
truth encourage you as you drift off to sleep at night.
Ingest God’s Word and absorb it into every fiber of your
being. What a healthy and wholesome year it will be!
Recently, I sat down for a coffee with Dan Adams,
a young, enthusiastic assistant pastor who recently
took responsibility for a satellite congregation at
the church my wife, Rosie, and I call home (when
we’re at home, that is). For some time now, I have
been casually involved there as part of a preachers’
study group. The group’s purpose is to encourage and
instruct our people to preach the Word with accuracy,
clarity, and passion. After a hectic summer, I checked
in with Dan to ask how the group was coming along
and how he felt his own preaching was coming along.
“I think we need to put more method or instruction
work into our meetings,” Dan told me. “We need to
find a different way to deal with the reflective aspects
and concentrate more on solid preaching method.”
Dan has had good training, both in theology and
preaching, but he still felt the need for more structure
in the group’s quest for sound preaching. He wasn’t
worried though, because he had several ideas as to
how to get the job done.
That’s because he’s here in the U.K. where ministry
training is quite easy to get and Christian resources
are readily available on the high street.
by TERRY BOYLE
Executive Vice President and
Chief International Instructor for Searching the Scriptures Ministries
FROM INSIGHT FOR LIVING MINISTRIES
ChecktheInsightforLiving
Ministrieswebsiteforthemost
currentbroadcastschedule.
www.insight.org
ONTHEAIR
InsightforLivingMinistries
2019AlaskaCruiseAdventure
June29 – July6,2019
www.insight.org / events
UPCOMING
Terry meets regularly with Dan Adams and other
pastors for training and mentoring in a preachers’
study group in the UK.
VOLUME 40
ISSUE 1
Worlds Apart
But now, transport yourself to somewhere in the
world where there are no Bible colleges, no seminaries,
no Christian bookstores. The pastors’ need for
method and structure is still there, but there’s no help
available.
That’s the place where well over 90 percent of the
world’s new pastors are.
That’s the place where thousands of new believers
are desperately hungry for the Word of God, taught
with accuracy, clarity, and passion.
That’s the place where we want to take our Searching
the Scriptures Pastoral Training Curriculum!
ptimal health requires optimal nutrition.
No one can deny the importance of bodily nutrition. Our energy
levels, ability to cope with life’s challenges, and even mental attitudes
are directly linked to the regular intake of the right foods in the proper
amounts. Eat an unbalanced diet, consume too many sweets, choke down
too much too quickly, or start skipping meals and you’ll invariably endure
the consequences. You might feel sick or light-headed. You may become
irritated or depressed. Sometimes, you’ll get a little shaky; my family calls it
“getting the jitters.” These symptoms are the body’s way of saying it’s lacking
sufficient nourishment.
The same applies to spiritual health. Without sufficient and regular
biblical nutrition, our inner lives suffer. Our souls long to be nourished
and energized by the Scriptures. When we fail to set aside consistent time
to digest healthy spiritual food, the consequences kick in . . . and it’s not a
pretty sight.
We start to operate out of the flesh rather than God’s Spirit. We become
shallow and selfish, more demanding, less gentle. We react impatiently,
rashly, and angrily. All telltale signs of inner malnutrition.
For your soul to be properly nourished, it’s not enough to have a pastor
or a teacher serve your spiritual meals once a week. YOU need to be able to
prepare your own spiritual food on a daily basis.
Psalm 119 reveals three amazing promises that God fulfills in you when
you feed yourself His Word. Verse 98 holds the first: “Your commands make
me wiser than my enemies.” You will have wisdom beyond that of those
who say ugly things against you. God’s Word enables you to live above
intimidation and threat.
A Monthly Companion is someone
who shares our passion for Christ’s
Great Commission and wants to
give an automatic gift every month
through Insight for Living Ministries
to help fulfill His command. We’d
love to welcome you to this cherished
team of supportive friends. January,
the beginning of a new year, is the
perfect month to get started.
To become a Monthly Companion today,
call 1-800-772-8888 or go online to
insight.org /monthlycompanion.
O
BECOME A
MONTHLY
COMPANION

2. overlaid by a sword. That
symbol speaks to Chuck’s
answer when asked how
he feels behind the pulpit.
“I feel invincible,” Chuck
says, “because of the power
of God at work through
His Word. Anyone who declares God’s truth can feel
invincible because it’s the truth, not eloquent words or
style, that breaks through barriers. It’s the truth that
exposes the Enemy’s lies and sets people free.”
As Insight for Living Ministries begins our 40th
year, we want you to know that we’re more committed
than ever to proclaiming God’s powerful truth that sets
people free! Since 1979, we have existed to help you
learn to study and apply the Bible, not only so you can
live abundantly, but so you can use your God-given gifts
What does it feel like to
be Chuck Swindoll behind
the pulpit? More than one
preacher has asked that
question. With decades
of experience behind the
pulpit, on the radio, and
at his writing desk, Chuck Swindoll has become a
household name and a beloved pastor to millions around
the world. But recognition and accolades don’t impact
the way Chuck feels when he steps behind the pulpit.
Only one thing does—the same thing that humbles him
every time he opens it: God’s Word.
A Pulpit, a Bible, and a Sword
Chuck’s wooden pulpit at Stonebriar Community
Church in Frisco, Texas, bears a hand-carved Bible
principles of STS and
focus on teaching pastors
to forge out messages
that have integrity and
honesty, messages that
are applicable, relevant,
vibrant, encouraging,
insightful, and will inspire
their congregations.”
A Legacy to Share
The mentoring and training model that Chuck and
Terry are developing for Vision 195 will break through
the Enemy’s lie that the Bible is a book understood
only by clergy with advanced education. Not so!
This model will equip untrained pastors worldwide
to open the Word, study it, apply it, and teach it with
the same insight and excitement Chuck does every
week!
How in the world will we translate materials and
mentor pastors in every nation and every language?
One at a time . . . with you! That’s the key to Vision 195.
As the Lord opens doors and moves the hearts of His
people to partner with us, we will train pastors in
other nations . . . who will train indigenous pastors
in their languages . . . who will then, in turn, train
more.
The first formal use of the STS curriculum is
planned to happen this fall with pastors in the
to be actively engaged in
the commission of Christ.
You’ve already heard about
Vision 195—our strategy
to make disciples in all
195 nations and their
6,875 heart languages—
and you’re going to hear a lot more about it in our fifth
decade!
A Strategic Plan
Vision 195 isn’t a separate entity or side mission.
Though only named in recent years, Vision 195 has
been on our hearts all along. By naming it, we’ve given
ourselves a clear path to align our mission of excellence
in teaching the study and application of God’s Word
with Christ’s mission for each of His followers—the
Great Commission. Vision 195 is our strategic plan to
join hands with you for the sake of Jesus’ marvelous
vision to make disciples in all nations. Imagine it:
People in every nation, forever changed by God’s
grace and trained to study and apply His Word,
working together to build His kingdom!
If you’ve been thinking the Great Commission is
too big to accomplish or just the calling of missionaries
and pastors, it’s time to rethink your understanding!
Vision 195 divides the Great
Commission into realistic steps
we CAN accomplish together.
We’re kicking off our 40th year
with one of the largest steps:
mentoring and training pastors
worldwide to use Chuck’s Bible-
study methods as described in his book Searching the
Scriptures (STS).
A Bible-Study Course
Chuck first learned those methods from Professor
Howard Hendricks while he was a student at Dallas
Theological Seminary. He has since made them his own
over the last six decades. “I remember,” Chuck recalls,
“the moment in Dr. Howie Hendricks’ class that I
realized, ‘I can do this!’ I wanted to jump up from my
desk and shout.” STS gives people the same information,
with steps to follow like a recipe. As with cooking, if you
follow the steps, it’ll turn out well . . . and the more you
do it, the better you’ll get at it.
As Chuck says, you don’t have to go to seminary to
study the Bible or even to teach it. You just need to know
how. And pastors around the world, many who will never
get to go to seminary, are hungry to know how! That’s
the heart behind the STS training curriculum that Chuck
and Terry Boyle, our executive vice president and chief
international instructor for STS Ministries, are currently
writing. “It’s a great privilege,” says Terry, “to take the
Chinese province of Jiangsu, where
an average of 300 people come to
faith every day, but they only have
approximately 400 trained pastors
to disciple these thousands of new
believers. As these pastors learn
to wield the sword of God’s Word,
they will experience that feeling of
invincibility that comes from studying, then proclaiming
God’s truth with accuracy and confidence!
But make no mistake. The Enemy wants new believers
to remain spiritual infants. He wants pastors to feel
helpless. In fact, he wants YOU to feel helpless. But your
hands aren’t tied . . . and neither are ours.
Each of us can play a part in the Great Commission.
The Lord has called us to go. Has He called you to help send
us? If people like you join your hearts with ours through
financial gifts and prayers, Vision 195 will become more
than a strategic plan. As we work hand in hand, generation
to generation, it will become an ongoing legacy of faith,
a mission pursued and fulfilled through the invincible
power of God. What an exciting future awaits us!
People in every nation, forever
changed by God’s grace . . .
— Chuck Swindoll
Breaking through Lies: The Power of God at Work through His Word
Chuck Swindoll welcomes worshipers at Stonebriar Community Church in Frisco, Texas. Now, people from all
over the world can view Chuck on Sunday mornings through live streaming.
Chuck’s pulpit displays a Bible and a sword,
illustrating the power of God’s Word to change hearts.
“For the word of God is living and active and sharper
than any two-edged sword” (Hebrews 4:12 NASB).
Chuck’s book Searching the Scriptures: Find the
Nourishment Your Soul Needs teaches people how to
study the Bible and is the basis of Insight for Living
Ministries’ Searching the Scriptures studies available
online.
Terry Boyle, executive vice president and chief
international instructor for STS ministries, joins
Chuck in Vision 195 to train pastors to study and
preach the Word.
As Terry preaches God’s Word, he models the
principles of Bible study from Chuck’s Searching the
Scriptures book.
. . . trained to study and apply
His word . . .
— Chuck Swindoll
. . . working together to build
His kingdom!
— Chuck Swindoll