"The Cross and the Switchblade" Pastor dies

[Dondi]

"The Rev. David Wilkerson, an evangelical minister and author who founded the Times Square Church to minister to the downtrodden in one of Manhattan’s seedier precincts, but whose later writings included apocalyptic predictions for New York City and beyond, died on Wednesday in an automobile accident in Texas. He was 79 and lived near Tyler, Tex....

David Wilkerson was known to a broad readership through his many books. His most famous, “The Cross and the Switchblade” (1963), chronicled his ministry among gang members in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, where he had arrived as a young preacher in the late 1950s.

Written with John and Elizabeth Sherrill, the book has sold tens of millions of copies and has been translated into more than 30 languages, according to its current publisher, Chosen Books.

“The Cross and the Switchblade” was made into a feature film of that name, released in 1970. It starred Pat Boone as Mr. Wilkerson and Erik Estrada, in his first film appearance, as a member of his flock...."

Source: The New York Times


I remember watching that movie as a teen, and later reading the book. Such a powerful story of persistent love. God bless Rev. Wilkerson.

 

[Starman3000m]

article:

Nicky Cruz: David Wilkerson 'Never Lost His Heart'
Gang leader-turned-evangelist misses his spiritual father.

Nicky Cruz remembers the David Wilkerson he met on the streets of New York in the 1950s—the "skinny preacher" who walked a message of Jesus' love into gang-owned neighborhoods that police were afraid to enter and faced, without flinching, people most gangs didn't dare mess with; people like Cruz, who back then led the feared Mau Maus of Brooklyn.

He remembers the forceful pastor who led ministries with worldwide influence like Teen Challenge and Times Square Church, a "straight shooter" who "never danced around anything. He was very straight, and always you said, 'Wow, Dave, he's hard.'"

But over the last 15 years, the man who counted Wilkerson as a close friend and spiritual father for half a century says what he gradually came to understand: "All these years … Dave Wilkerson was a teddy bear."
"Always when I see him and I hug him … I say, 'I love you.' Even on the telephone, 'I love you.' And Dave is not expressive, [but] whenever we were alone, always he told me 'I love you, son,'" Cruz told Christianity Today in an interview Thursday.

The last time Cruz saw Wilkerson, some weeks ago, they spoke for three hours. Cruz told him about Thousand Pieces, a film in the works about Cruz's life, including the encounter with Wilkerson that led to his transformation. Wilkerson related his side of that story in the classic book The Cross and the Switchblade (which later became a film starring Pat Boone as Wilkerson and Erik Estrada as Cruz). The new film's name comes from something that Wilkerson said to Cruz after the gang leader threatened to kill him: "You could cut me in a thousand pieces and lay them out in the street and every piece would love you."

"New York in that time was bombarded by gangs, and we were the prime leaders of the gangs," Cruz said. "Even Frankenstein and Dracula were afraid to walk in that neighborhood. And he's a skinny preacher! Came from nowhere. There's no way that a type of guy like this can be so strong to stand [on] his own and to really really really take it."

"He can take a bullet, he can be killed, but he stood because [he was] obedient to Jesus. Jesus sent him there to bring the message to the gangs. … I almost killed him then because I really was totally full of hate. That was when he told me that Jesus loved me."

Wilkerson "never lost his heart" for the world's needy people, Cruz said. The two of them worked together to run Teen Challenge, a network of rehabilitation centers dedicated to healing drug and alcohol addiction and other "life-controlling problems." Later, Wilkerson moved back to New York to start Times Square Church, and Cruz set out on his own evangelistic ministry.
"I don't think Dave thought I would [become] the evangelist that I became," Cruz said. "I have reached over 45 million people just with the sound of my voice, in this journey. And he was so proud. One time he told me, 'You know, Nicky, being in the ministry's not that easy, being a pastor, sometimes I get discouraged. And sometimes, when I get discouraged, I think about you, about that first confrontation I had with you, and that lifted up my spirit, and I began to forget about all the hardship.'"

"David reminded me of Jesus," Cruz said. "Two precious things that fascinate me about Christ: That he had active eyes, and always was there, looking at the needs of the people. Dave had this heart of compassion just like Jesus."
Also like Jesus, Wilkerson "took a lot of detours," Cruz said. From a small rural church in Pennsylvania, Wilkerson came to New York in the 1950s. In the '70s, he moved to Texas and founded the evangelistic organization World Challenge. In 1986, he returned to New York to start Times Square Church. In the '90s, he started a ministry of preaching to pastors. "That's the only way he could be happy. He moved from one place to the other place to preach the gospel. And I'll tell you honestly, I learned that from him. Because if not, I would be boring with my life. But David Wilkerson never was boring."

Read the rest of the story: Nicky Cruz: David Wilkerson 'Never Lost His Heart' | Christianity Today | A Magazine of Evangelical Conviction

 

[Starman3000m]

Memorial Service

David Wilkerson Memorial Service to be held in New York City on Saturday, May 14th, (2pm ET)

(Current Times Square Church pastor Carter Conlon) has confirmed that a memorial service will be held in New York City on May 14 at 2 p.m. ET to give members of the church and the public the chance to pay their respects.

The service will be streamed live worldwide via the church's website.
A simultaneous translation of the service will be available in 10 different languages via conference call lines, details of which will also be posted on the church's live stream page.
Anticipating a crowd of thousands during the memorial service, Conlon chose to lead his congregation in their own private time of mourning on Sunday.

“It's our time to mourn and to celebrate the life of our beloved founding pastor, David Wilkerson,” the senior pastor said. “By May 14, cameras and the eyes of the world will be on this church. People will be coming from all over the world.”

Paying tribute to “Brother Dave,” as he liked to be called, Conlon spoke of the nearly 17 years he was trained by Wilkerson at Times Square Church. He was taught to be humble and to constantly seek the power of the Holy Spirit.
“Every time we look at the glory of this sanctuary ... we're going to have that constant reminder of our founding pastor and how he let Jesus Christ so use his life and so brought glory to the name of Christ and touched our lives and led us in a way that we should go,” Conlon said.

“One of the hallmarks of Brother Dave's life and ministry is that people were radically transformed by the power of almighty God,” he said to applause. “Many went on into ministry and became great soul winners.”
Reading the official obituary, Conlon described Wilkerson as a man of unlimited faith, a fearless witness of Christ’s saving power, and a spiritual father to generation upon generation. And he wasn’t one for fanfare, he continued, noting that Wilkerson turned down invitations to meet with world leaders. Rather, he was an advocate for the poorest of the poor and a friend to the outcast and hurting.

“He ran his race well. He lived life to the very fullest … with a radical love for Jesus.”

David Wilkerson Laid to Rest, Christian News, The Christian Post