Dr. Harold Shank

When I was a teenager, I started attending church for the first time in my life. When I got to church, the first Scripture I remember hearing was John 10:10-11. “I have come that they might have life and have it abundantly. I am the Good Shepherd.”

Although I have now forgotten who introduced me to that text or where I first heard it, or when I committed it to memory, I have not forgotten the importance of that message to me as a youth.

Jesus is my Good Shepherd. He wants the best for me. He knows my name. I believe that God wants every child in America to know the Good Shepherd. Even children who have been deserted by their mothers or abused by their parents or forgotten by our society must know that they have a Good Shepherd and that He knows their name.

Every child. Every single child must know the Good Shepherd. Across America, Christians who care about children are letting them know about the Good Shepherd. Nothing could be more important to all of us. Nothing should be higher on the agenda in any church.

Ask God to show you how you can be involved in telling a child about the Good Shepherd. I’m glad somebody did it for me.

— Harold Shank

For additional resources for how to help the vulnerable. Click here.

Books by Dr. Shank

Loosening Your Grip, 1st ed. Fort Worth: Sweet, 1994. 2nd ed. Nashville: Welverst, 2000. To order: http://www.amazon.com

Up Close and Personal: Embracing the Poor, with Ron Bergeron and Anthony Wood. Joplin, MO: College Press, 2000. To order: http://www.21stcc.com

Children Mean the World to God. Nashville: 21st Century Christian, 2001. To order: www.21stcc.com

The Minor Prophets, Vol. 1, The College Press NIV Commentary, Joplin, MO: College Press, 2001. To order: www.collegepress.com

The national spokesperson for the Christian Child and Family Services Association is Dr. Harold Shank. He has served in this role of speaking on behalf of Christian child care since 1996.

Harold is now Professor of Old Testament at Oklahoma Christian University. He has served as a preacher, an author of several highly respected books and as an evangelist who has devoted much of his life’s work to developing ministries among the poor. For 32 years he was associated with the Highland Street Church of Christ in Memphis, TN.

Harold is a 1972 graduate of Oklahoma Christian with a B.A. in Bible. He received his M.A. and M.A.R. from Harding University Graduate School of Religion. His Ph.D. in Theology is from Marquette University.

He is the author of Children Mean The World To God and he recently completed a commentary on the Minor Prophets in the College Press series. His most recent book is It’s All About God. He and his wife Sally have two sons, Daniel and Nathan.