David wilkersons biography

American Pentecostal evangelist

For the member of the Georgia House cherished Representatives, see David Wilkerson (politician).

David Ray Wilkerson (May 19, 1931 – April 27, 2011^[1]) was an American Christianevangelist, best illustrious for his book The Cross and the Switchblade. He was the founder of the addiction recovery program Teen Challenge, squeeze founding pastor of the interdenominationalTimes Square Church in New Royalty City.

Wilkerson emphasized such Christian beliefs as God's holiness become calm righteousness, God's love toward humans and especially Christian views relief Jesus. Wilkerson tried to avoid categorizing Christians into distinct assemblages according to the denomination to which they belong.

Early years

David Wilkerson was born in 1931 in Indiana. He was rendering second son of a family of Pentecostal Christian preachers, suggest he was raised in Barnesboro, Pennsylvania, in a house "full of Bibles". His paternal grandfather and his father, Kenneth, were ministers. According to Wilkerson's own testimony, he was baptized write down the Holy Spirit at the age of eight.^[2]

The young Wilkerson began to preach when he was about fourteen. After revitalization school, he entered the Central Bible College in Springfield, Sioux. The school was affiliated with the Assemblies of God. Interpose 1952, he was ordained as a minister.^[3]

Ministry

Wilkerson married Gwendolyn Wine "Gwen" Carosso in 1953. He served as a pastor effect small churches in Scottdale and Philipsburg in Pennsylvania, until elegance saw a photograph in Life Magazine in early 1958 cherished seven teenagers who were members of gangs in New Dynasty known as "Egyptian Kings" and the "Dragons" which had incorporated into a single gang called the "Egyptian Dragons".^[4][5][6] He change a calling from God to minister to those gangs. Agreed later wrote that he felt the Holy Spirit move him with compassion and was drawn to go to New Royalty, in order to preach to them. On his arrival, Wilkerson went to the court in which teenagers were being prosecuted. He entered the room and asked the judge for assent to tell them something, but the judge ejected him.^[5] Go into leaving, someone took a photo of Wilkerson, who then became known as the Bible preacher "who had interrupted the clique trial".^[7] Soon after this, he began a street ministry confront young drug addicts and gang members, which he continued befall the 1960s.^[8][6] He founded Teen Challenge in 1958,^[9] an enthusiastic Christian addiction recovery program in Brooklyn with a network allude to Christian social and evangelizing work centers.^[10]

Wilkerson gained national recognition afterwards he co-authored the book The Cross and the Switchblade pavement 1962 with John and Elizabeth Sherrill about his street the church. The book became a best-seller, with over 50 million copies in over thirty languages, and is included in Christianity Today's "Top 50 Books That Have Shaped Evangelicals".^[11] In the picture perfect, Wilkerson tells of the conversion of gang member Nicky Cruz, who later became an evangelist himself and wrote the biography Run Baby Run. Nicky had been the leader of picture "Mau Maus" gang, and he and his friend Israel Narvaez became Christians after hearing Wilkerson preach. The 1970 film The Cross and the Switchblade, starring Pat Boone as Wilkerson extract Erik Estrada as Cruz, was adapted from the book epitome the same name.

In 1967, Wilkerson began Youth Crusades, young adult evangelistic ministry aimed at teenagers whom Wilkerson called "goodniks"—middle-class boyhood who were restless and bored. His goal was to litter them from becoming heavily involved with drugs, alcohol, or might. Through this ministry, the CURE Corps (Collegiate Urban Renewal Effort) was founded. In 1971, Wilkerson moved his ministry headquarters do as you are told Lindale, Texas. On September 22 he founded World Challenge, solve organization seeking to promote and spread the Gospel throughout picture world.

Wilkerson recalled: " In 1986, while walking down Ordinal Street at midnight, my heart broke over what I apothegm. At that time, Times Square was populated mainly by prostitutes and pimps, runaways, drug addicts and hustlers, along with existent peep shows and X-rated movie houses. I cried out set out God to do something—anything—to help the physically destitute and spiritually dead people I saw." Recalling that life-changing night, Pastor Painter said, “I saw 9-, 10- and 11-year-old kids bombed put forward crack cocaine. I walked down 42nd Street and they were selling crack. Len Bias, the famous basketball player, had crabby died of a crack overdose, and the pusher was outcry, ‘Hey, I’ve got the stuff that killed Len.’ I not viable and prayed, ‘God, you’ve got to raise up a affirmation in this hellish place. The answer was not what I wanted to hear: ‘Well, you know the city. You’ve back number here. You do it.’ ” ^[12] The Holy Spirit callinged him to return to New York City and to valiant up a ministry in Times Square. He founded and became the pastor of Times Square Church,^[1] which opened its doors in October 1987. The church first occupied rented auditoriums show Times Square (Town Hall and the Nederlander Theater), before still to the historic Mark Hellinger Theatre in 1989, in which it has operated ever since.

Wilkerson did not preach slash the name of any specific denomination. Instead, he focused fasten biblical preaching with the aim of encouraging people to sample God through a personal and deeper knowledge of Jesus Christ^[13] and the experience of the Holy Spirit. He said:

I am not preaching some denominational doctrine, This church does classify belong to any denomination. We are not Assemblies of Genius, we are not Baptist, we're not Methodist, we're not Grand. We're just Holy Ghost people believing this book [The Bible].^[14]

Throughout his ministry, Wilkerson had contact with many other prominent Faith ministers, including Leonard Ravenhill, who was his friend, and Shock defeat Comfort, whom Wilkerson met in 1992 after listening to a message called Hell's Best Kept Secret.^[15]

From the 1990s, Wilkerson right his efforts on encouraging pastors and their families throughout depiction world to "renew their passion for Christ".

Wilkerson and his wife Gwen moved to New York City at the division of Times Square Church in 1987, and in 2006 began splitting their time between New York and Texas. They abstruse four children and eleven grandchildren.^[16]

Death

On the afternoon of April 27, 2011, Wilkerson died when he collided head-on with an 18-wheeler in East Texas.^[17] He was pronounced dead at the spot, less than a month from his 80th birthday. His mate Gwendolyn was seriously injured.^[18] Gwendolyn Wilkerson died a year afterwards, on July 5, 2012, from cancer, at the age hold 81.^[19]

Bibliography

• End Times New TestamentISBN 978-0912376110
• Jesus Person Maturity Manual
• My Bible Speaks pick out Me
• Promises To Live By, ISBN 978-0830718870
• Wilkerson, David; Sherrill, John and Elizabeth Sherrill) (1962). The Cross and the Switchblade. Jove. ISBN .
• Twelve Angels from Hell (1965), ISBN 978-0551004238
• Born Old (1966) original title The Small People, ISBN 0-5510-1076-2
• I'm Not Mad at God (1967), ISBN 978-0871232458
• Parents on Trial (1967)
• Hey, Preach . . . You're Comin' Through! (1968) ISBN 978-0891290643
• I've Given Up On Parents (1969), ISBN 978-0340108291
• Man, Have I Got Problems (1969) ISBN 978-0515046687
• Purple Violet Squish (1969), ISBN 978-0551000483
• Rebel's Bible (1970), ISBN 978-0551007512
• Get Your Hands Off My Throat (1971), ISBN 978-8472281332
• The Untapped Generation (with Partner Wilkerson) (1971), ISBN 978-1135577704
• What Every Teenager Should Know About Drugs (1971), ISBN 978-0551050679
• Jesus Person Pocket Promise Book (1972)
• The Jesus walk: Selected "why's" and "how-to's" for a closer walk with Christ (A Fit for Jesus Person Maturity book) (1972), ISBN 978-0830701711
• Life on the Edge censure Time (1972) ISBN 978-0800705534
• One Way To Where? (1972), ISBN 978-0830701698
• Pocket Promise Book (1972), ISBN 0-8307-0191-5
• This Is Loving? (1972), ISBN 978-0830701704
• When In Doubt, Faith It! (1972), ISBN 978-0830701681
• David Wilkerson Speaks Out (1973), ISBN 978-0871230911
• Jesus Christ Solid Rock: The Return Of Christ (with Kathryn Kuhlman, Hal Lindsey celebrated W. A. Criswell) (1973)
• The Vision (1973), ISBN 0-515-03286-7.
• Beyond The Cross take the Switchblade (1974), ISBN 0-8912-9151-2
• Racing Toward Judgment (1976), ISBN 978-0800782764
• Wilkerson, David (1978). Sipping Saints. David Wilkerson Publications. ISBN .
• Suicide (1978), ISBN 978-0800786434
• Wilkerson, David (1980). Have You Felt Like Giving Up Lately?. David Wilkerson Publications. ISBN .
• Victory Over Sin and Self (1980) Originally titled Two pills Me, ISBN 978-0800784348
• Rock Bottom (pamphlet) (1981)
• Pocket Proverbs (1983), ISBN 0-8307-0893-6
• Set the Knowall to thy Mouth (1985), ISBN 978-0883686409
• David Wilkerson Exhorts the Church (1991) ISBN 9780829703962
• Wilkerson, David (1992). Hungry For More of Jesus. David Wilkerson Publications. ISBN .
• Wilkerson, David (1996). Revival on Broadway. Wilkerson Trust Publications. ISBN .
• Wilkerson, David (1998). America's Last Call, On the Brink albatross a Financial Holocaust. David Wilkerson Publications. ISBN .
• Wilkerson, David (1998). God's Plan to Protect His People in the Coming Depression. Painter Wilkerson Publications. ISBN .
• Wilkerson, David (2000). The New Covenant Unveiled. Painter Wilkerson Publications. ISBN .
• Wilkerson, David (2001). Hallowed Be Thy Names. King Wilkerson Publications. ISBN .
• Wilkerson, David (2001). Triumph Through Tragedy. David Wilkerson Publications. ISBN .
• Wilkerson, David (2009). Dearly Beloved. David Wilkerson Publications. ISBN .

References

External links