Howard Hendricks a Teacher who Changes Lives

Abstract

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH "For the next hour," announces the smiling, take-charge professor, "I want 25 observations from Acts 1:8." Dallas Theological Seminary (DTS) alumni and students remember fondly that request from "Prof," as they affectionately call the 5'7", balding teacher of "Bible Study Methods." A network stretching around the globe testifies to life-changing results from their time in the classroom of their beloved mentor. Before his birth on April 5, 1924, his parents separated, so once he arrived, Howard G. Hendricks was placed in the Philadelphia home of his grandparents, Jake and Cora Hendricks. Their loss of a son years earlier had pressured his grandfather into an alcohol problem, but Cora's strong reliance on God supplied much-needed love and acceptance for young Hendricks. Validating her nurture was a man named Walt from a small church nearby who wanted desperately to reach young boys for Christ. "He (Walt) came down my street one day," said Hendricks, "looking for boys for his Sunday school class. Well, anything that had 'school' in it was a bad-news item to me. Then he said, 'Well, howd'ya like to play marbles?' That was different. This tall drink o'water stooped down and whipped me in every game. I lost my marbles early in life," he chuckles. No matter where Walt was going, Howard Hendricks wanted to go. This man with barely a sixth-grade education loved boys in a way that drew them irresistibly to Jesus Christ. From that class of 13 boys, 12 eventually entered Christian ministry. Later, a devout scoutmaster and his vigilant pastor urged the adolescent Hendricks to consider vocational Christian ministry. Believing that God had placed a call on his life, he turned down a full scholarship at Northwestern to pursue a medical career in order to attend Wheaton College. At Wheaton, his classmates Lois and Mary LeBar helped him solidify his decision to explore the field of Christian education. Then department chair Dr. Rebecca Price marked him as a future leader in her chosen field. During his college years,