Michael Pearl

Michael Pearl

3 Sermons
Michael Pearl (1945–) is an American preacher, author, and founder of No Greater Joy Ministries, known for his controversial teachings on child discipline and homeschooling within evangelical Christianity. Born in 1945—exact date unavailable—in Memphis, Tennessee, he grew up in a context that led him to serve in the U.S. Army before attending Mid-South Bible College (now Victory University), where he graduated with a ministry degree. Converted in his youth, Pearl worked as a pastor in rural Tennessee and Colorado churches before transitioning to itinerant preaching and writing. In 1971, he married Debi, and they have five children—Nathan, Gabriel, Michael, Shoshanna, and Rebekah—whom they homeschooled, launching their ministry in 1994 from their home in Pleasantville, Tennessee. Pearl’s preaching career centers on No Greater Joy Ministries, through which he and Debi have preached at homeschool conventions and churches, emphasizing strict biblical parenting and gender roles. He authored the bestselling To Train Up a Child (1994), which has sold over 670,000 copies but drew criticism for advocating corporal punishment, linked by some to child abuse cases, though Pearl denies promoting abuse. His ministry includes No Greater Joy magazine, with a circulation of about 70,000, and books like Created to Be His Help Meet, alongside preaching engagements and online content via YouTube and NGJ’s website. Known for his dispensationalist theology and rejection of formal church structures, Pearl’s work has left a polarizing legacy as a preacher focused on family and biblical authority.
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