Celebrating a Mentoring Legacy

Great lives that are lived in such a way as to leave both a legacy and a series of lesson that can be learned and applied is worth celebrating. Dr. Howard Hendricks, long time Dallas Theological Seminary Professor lived such a life. In THE INFLUENCIAL MENTOR: How The Life And Legacy of Howard Hendricks Equipped and Inspired a Generation of Leaders by Maina Mwaura (Forward by Tony Evans) (Moody Press, 2023) chronicles this impact in a short very easy to read and utilize work of 153 pages.

The formatting is intriguing. The author intentionally does not write a biography but generally organizes life principles of “The Prof” in to chapters and then records interviews with, friends, family, collogues, and students. These interviews include some very well known names in Christian leadership including Max Lucado, Tony Evans, Gary Chapman, Kurt Johnson, and E. Andrew McQuitty, my former youth director who took me to visit Dr. Hendricks office “to breath the rarified air” on a visit to Dallas Seminary which sent me on a course of life time interest in Dr. Hendricks and his writing. The book is written to interactive and applicational with “Reflection Side bars” liberally sprinkled through out every chapter. The chapter titles demonstrate the breath of Howards life: Connections, Everyone, Who’s follow You?, Envisioning, Self-Care, The Crooked Straight, Listening, Teachability and Humility, Discouragement and Fruit and Forward. The book appropriately concludes with a great quotation, “For the past year I have asked a group of people to pray with me concerning this project and recently one came to me and asked a question, ‘ If you could sum up Howard Hendricks in one verse what would it be?’ While I did not have a verse in mind I responded that a passage summing up Hendricks is the Great Commission. Making disciples is what Howard dedicated his life to do, plain and simple” (p.154)

I enjoyed this book very much! I utilize material from Dr. Hendricks every semester in classes I teach at CCU and I re-read Teaching to Change Lives every year so it was like interacting with an old friend. So if you are a life time fan of “The Prof” or not yet aware with his work this book is worth your time and effort.