Chuck Swindoll

Charles R. "Chuck" Swindoll (born October 18, 1934) is an evangelical Christian pastor, educator and radio preacher. He was born in El Campo, Texas, the third of three children born to Earl and Lovell Swindoll. Before a life in Christian ministry, Chuck initially pursued his interest in mechanical engineering, and also served with the United States Marine Corps in Southeast Asia. He married his wife, Cynthia, in 1955 and they have four children. Swindoll entered Dallas Theological Seminary in 1959 where he graduated magna cum laude four years later.

Chuck Swindoll was ordained into the ministry in 1963, and served in Dallas, Texas under J. Dwight Pentecost for two years. He has since held senior pastorates in Waltham, Massachusetts (1965-67), Irving, Texas (1967-71), and Fullerton, California (1971-94. Though Swindoll is widely regarded as an Evangelical Free Church of America preacher, the Stonebriar Community Church in Frisco, Texas, of which he has been senior pastor since 1998, is not a member of the EFCA¹.

Swindoll is the founder of and speaker on a popular radio broadcast, Insight for Living, which airs on Christian and non-Christian radio markets and now has a growing webcast audience. The program is heard on over 2100 stations in about 16 different languages. Its roots go back to the summer of 1977, when Swindoll's sermons from the First Evangelical Free Church in Fullerton began to be broadcast on radio stations. In 1979, the Insight for Living radio ministry began. The offices of Insight for Living are located in Plano, Texas.

In July of 1994, Swindoll became the president of the Dallas Theological Seminary, and now serves as its chancellor. He is the author of over 50 books, most based on broadcasts of Insight for Living.

Despite a wide range of popularity among Protestant Christians, Swindoll's teachings and doctrinal stances are unpopular in certain circles. For example, some fundamentalists consider books such as Are Fundamentalists Legalists and The Grace Awakening as attacks on their teachings of separation and moral purity. He faces criticism from the other end of the spectrum by those who take exception to things such as his advising Christians to destroy any occult-like materials they might have in their possession. The doctrines of Swindoll are generally considered evangelical.

Some books by Swindoll

• A Ministry Anyone Could Trust
• Changing Wanderers to Worshippers
• Christ at the Crossroads
• Contagious Christianity: a Study of I Thessalonians
• James: Hands-on Christianity
• Learning to Walk by Grace
• Living Above the Level of Mediocrity
• Paul: a Man of Grace and Grit
• Steadfast Christianity
• Strengthening Your Grip
• Strike the Original Match
• The Grace Awakening

Honors and Awards

• Harry A. Ironside Award for Expository Preaching - Dallas Theological Seminary, 1963
• Christian Education Award - Dallas Theological Seminary, 1963
• Faculty Award - Dallas Theological Seminary, 1963
• Doctor of Divinity - Talbot School of Theology, 1977
• Doctor of Human Letters - Taylor University, 1986
• Clergyman of the Year - Religious Heritage of America, 1988
• Doctor of Laws - Pepperdine University, 1990
• Doctor of Literature - Dallas Baptist University, 1998

External links

• Dallas Theological Seminary (http://www.dts.edu/) - official Web Site
• Insight for Living (http://www.insight.org/) - official Web Site
• Stonebriar Community Church (http://www.stonebriar.org/) - official Web Site
• Warning (http://www.wayoflife.org/fbns/warningaboutchuckswindoll.html) - one Fundamentalist's view of Chuck Swindoll

1. "Although Stonebriar shares many of the same beliefs and values, the church is not affiliated with the Evangelical Free Church of America." - Heather Hammontree, Insight for Living, e-mail dated 1/07/04