Chip Ingram

{{Infobox person

| name = Chip Ingram

| birth_name = Ralph Browne Ingram II

| image =

| image_size =

| caption =

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1954|6|21|mf=y}}{{cite web|url=http://www.worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n2002-95779|title=WorldCat Identities: Ingram, Chip 1954–|work=WorldCat|access-date=July 5, 2013}}{{cite web|title=Ralph Browne Ingram II (b. 1954)|url=http://birth-records.mooseroots.com/l/9104334/Ralph-Browne-Ingram-II|publisher=Ohio Birth Records|access-date=October 11, 2015}}{{Dead link|date=November 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

| birth_place = Columbus, Ohio, U.S.

| death_date =

| death_place =

| alma_mater = West Liberty University
Dallas Theological Seminary

| occupation = Pastor, author, orator

| spouse = Theresa Ingram

| children = 4, including Jason Ingram{{cite web|author=Gahanna-Jefferson Public Schools|title=Inductee: Ralph "Chip" R. Ingram II|publisher=Gahanna-Jefferson Public Schools|url=http://www.gahannaschools.org/uploads/documents/district/alumnihalloffame2011_ingram.pdf|access-date=October 11, 2015|archive-date=January 28, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160128093647/http://www.gahannaschools.org/uploads/documents/district/alumnihalloffame2011_ingram.pdf|url-status=dead}}, inter alia

| website = {{url|livingontheedge.org/about-us/chip-ingram}}

}}

Ralph Browne "Chip" Ingram II (born June 21, 1954) is an American Christian pastor, author, and teacher. He is the founder, teaching pastor, and chief executive officer of Living on the Edge, an international teaching and discipleship ministry. A pastor for over 30 years, Chip is the author of many books, including Culture Shock, The Real Heaven, The Real God, The Invisible War, and Love, Sex, and Lasting Relationships.

Early life

Originally from Columbus, Ohio,{{cite web|url=http://chairesumc.org/templates/System/details.asp?id=45852&PG=Events&CID=911266&rDate=2009-09-06|title=Chip Ingram Biography|date=September 6, 2009|work=Chaires United Methodist Church|access-date=July 5, 2013|archive-date=May 18, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518090802/http://chairesumc.org/templates/System/details.asp?id=45852&PG=Events&CID=911266&rDate=2009-09-06|url-status=dead}} Ingram grew up in what he called "a negative religious environment".{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=s-5RAAAAIBAJ&pg=3770,4423405&dq=chip-ingram&hl=en|title=Churches unite voices in sweet sound|last=Moore|first=Waveney Ann|date=October 10, 2007|work=St. Petersburg Times|access-date=July 11, 2013}} In his book Living on the Edge: Dare to Experience True Spirituality, Ingram recounts growing up in a church that did not believe in the Bible or in having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ: "We read our prayers, we said the right things, we fulfilled our religious duty, and then we went home. There was absolutely no expectation that what we did on Sunday would have any impact on how we lived the rest of the week.”[http://www.christianbook.com/living-edge-dare-experience-true-spirituality/chip-ingram/9781439190524/pd/190524?mt={matchtype}&dv={device}&p=1179517&event=PLA Christian Book]}

As a result, by the time Ingram was a teenager, he was disengaged from church and God. He recalls, "I wanted to believe, but the older I got, the less interested I became in going through the religious motions and pretending and saying things that no one lived or believed."{{cite book|last1=Ingram|first1=Chip|title=Living on the Edge|url=https://archive.org/details/livingonedgedare00ingr|url-access=registration|date=2009|publisher=Howard Books|location=New York|isbn=978-1-4391-9052-4|page=xxiv,xxvii–xxix}}

= The intersection of faith and basketball =

Ingram went on to graduate from West Liberty State College in 1976. Afterwards, he received an invitation from Sports Ambassadors to travel overseas with other college basketball players from around the nation using basketball as a vehicle for evangelism. Ingram toured the Caribbean, South America, and Asia with three international basketball teams, a trip that he said to be the turning point of his life.

While he was on tour, he caught a vision that God could use an ordinary person like him to accomplish extraordinary things.{{cite web|url=http://www.westliberty.edu/alumni/2010/10/07/alumni-wall-of-honor-inductions-to-take-place-this-evening/|title=Alumni Wall of Honor Inductions to take place Thursday, October 7th|date=October 7, 2010|publisher=West Liberty University|access-date=July 14, 2013|archive-date=May 18, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518072030/http://www.westliberty.edu/alumni/2010/10/07/alumni-wall-of-honor-inductions-to-take-place-this-evening/|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://www.christianbookpreviews.com/christian-book-author.php?isbn=1414303831|title=Chip Ingram's Bio|work=Christian Book Previews|access-date=July 11, 2013|archive-date=May 12, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120512170443/http://christianbookpreviews.com/christian-book-author.php?isbn=1414303831|url-status=dead}} Ingram started to believe that God was not calling him to coach athletes, but to "coach" people for Jesus Christ and become a pastor.{{cite web|title=Chip Ingram|url=http://livingontheedge.org/about-us/chip-ingram|website=Living on the Edge|access-date=April 24, 2015|ref=About Us Chip Ingram}}

Ministry

In 1982, Ingram began his pastoral ministry at Country Bible Church in Kaufman, Texas, a rural community near Dallas. Under his leadership, the church grew from 30 to 500 people. In 1990, he became the senior pastor for Santa Cruz Bible Church in Santa Cruz, California,{{cite news|url=http://investor.salem.cc/manual-releases/99-5-KKLA-FM-Radio-Host-Chip-Ingram-to-Speak-on-Lo|title=99.5 KKLA-FM Radio Host Chip Ingram to Speak on Love, Sex and Lasting Relationships March 15|date=February 28, 2005|publisher=Salem Communications|access-date=July 5, 2013|location=Los Angeles|archive-date=April 6, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130406010312/http://investor.salem.cc/manual-releases/99-5-KKLA-FM-Radio-Host-Chip-Ingram-to-Speak-on-Lo|url-status=dead}} where he led a church congregation of 1,000 that grew to over 4,000.

In 1995, he founded Living on the Edge as a nationally syndicated radio ministry; it has since grown into an international Christian discipleship ministry. In 2003 Ingram moved to Atlanta, Georgia, to become president and chief executive officer of Walk Thru the Bible Ministries, succeeding Bruce Wilkinson.{{cite journal|title=Ministries Names New President|journal=Lakeland Ledger|date=August 10, 2002|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=u6AsAAAAIBAJ&pg=3531,7536383&dq=chip-ingram&hl=en|access-date=April 25, 2015}}

In 2009, Ingram became the senior pastor for Venture Christian Church in Los Gatos, California, where he was until 2018.{{Cite press release|url=https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/venture-installs-new-senior-pastor-tim-lundy-300721454.html|title = Venture Installs New Senior Pastor Tim Lundy}}

Today, Ingram is chief executive officer and teaching pastor of Living on the Edge.{{cite news|url=http://triblive.com/x/dailycourier/news/s_754726.html?source=rss#axzz2YlDOJ9Ny|title=Marriage program scheduled at Greenwood church|last=Henry|first=Nancy|date=September 2, 2011|publisher=Pittsburgh Tribune-Review|access-date=July 11, 2013}} He is the author of 15 books and several studies for small-group ministry.

Education

Ingram completed his undergraduate work at West Liberty State College, and went on to earn a Master of Education from West Virginia University and a Master of Theology from Dallas Theological Seminary.

Family

Ingram and his wife, Theresa, have four children (including the songwriter Jason Ingram) and 12 grandchildren.

Works

{{cite book|title=Culture Shock: A Biblical Response to Today's Most Divisive Issues|date=2014|publisher=Baker Books|isbn=978-0801016127}}
{{cite book|title=Love, Sex, and Lasting Relationships|date=2015|publisher=Baker Books|isbn=978-0801017070}}
{{cite book|title=Spiritual Simplicity: Doing Less, Loving More|date=2012|publisher=Howard Books|isbn=978-1439138274}}
{{cite book|title=True Spirituality: Becoming a Romans 12 Christian|date=2012|publisher=Howard Books|isbn=978-1476727639}}
{{cite book|title=Living on the Edge: Dare to Experience True Spirituality|date=2011|publisher=Howard Books|isbn=9781439190524}}
{{cite book|title=Good to Great in God's Eyes|date=2012|publisher=Baker Books|isbn=978-0801014277}}
{{cite book|title=Finding God When You Need Him Most|date=2013|publisher=Revel|isbn=978-0800788384}}
{{cite book|title=The Miracle of Life Change: How God Transforms His Children|date=2004|publisher=Moody Publishers|isbn=0802429807|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/miracleoflifecha00chip}}
{{cite book|title=Overcoming Emotions That Destroy|date=2010|publisher=Baker Books|isbn=978-0801072390}}
{{cite book|title=Holy Ambition: What It Takes to Make a Difference for God|date=2010|publisher=Moody Publishers|isbn=978-0802429834}}
{{cite book|title=The Invisible War|date=2007|publisher=Baker Books|isbn=978-0801068256}}
{{cite book|title=Effective Parenting in a Defective World: How to Raise Kids Who Stand Out from the Crowd|date=2007|publisher=Focus on the Family|isbn=978-1414303840|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781414303833}}
{{cite book|title=Sex 180: The Next Revolution|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780801045295|url-access=registration|date=2005|publisher=Baker Books|isbn=0801045290}}
{{cite book|title=God As He Longs for You to See Him|date=2006|publisher=Baker Books|isbn=0801066107|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/god00chip}}
{{cite book|title=Holy Transformation: What It Takes for God to Make a Difference in You|date=2003|publisher=Moody Publishers|isbn=0802429793}}
{{cite book|title=I Am With You Always|date=2004|publisher=Baker Books|isbn=0801064988}}