Successful teaching not only opens the mind but also stirs the emotions, fires the imagination, galvanizes the will.
—Howard Hendricks

While milling around at conferences, I occasionally bump into pastors who say to me, "Prof, you once changed the whole course of my life."

"Fantastic!" I reply. "How did it happen?"

"Years ago in class you made one statement that opened my eyes to a whole new perspective on ministry."

I never cease to marvel how powerful truth is—even one sentence of truth—and how profoundly teachers can motivate others. Successful teaching not only opens the mind but also stirs the emotions, fires the imagination, galvanizes the will. If I didn't embrace that, I would despair, for I live not just to teach truth but to change people.

Of course, motivational teaching isn't necessarily the norm. I've heard some Quaalude teaching in my days that left my mind more in a torpor than a tempest. What is the difference between that and stimulating teaching? How can teachers motivate ...