A Tribute to David Wilkerson

David Wilkerson: May 19, 1931-April 27, 2011

28 Apr
by Jeff Dunn

I first read The Cross And The Switchblade in its comic book format. I had been a Christian for less than a year when I picked this up and read it. What struck me was the story of a man who heard the Lord calling him, and he obeyed.

He heard the Lord calling and he obeyed. And that set the course of my life. No, I have not always obeyed when I have heard the Lord calling me. But that is the desire of my heart—to hear and obey. And this desire was planted in me from the story of David Wilkerson:

[Excerpt from the book]

The whole strange adventure got its start one night as I sat in my study reading Life magazine. I merely turned a page, and at first glance it seemed there was nothing to interest me. The page showed a pen drawing of a trial taking place in New York City, 350 miles away from my home in rural Pennsylvania. I’d never been to New York, and I’d never wanted to go, except perhaps to see the Statue of Liberty.

I started to flip the page over. But as I did, something caught my eye. It was the eyes of a figure in the drawing – a boy. He was one of seven boys on trial for murder. I held the magazine closer to get a better look. The artist had captured a look of bewilderment, hatred and despair in the young boy’s features. Suddenly, I began to cry.

“What’s the matter with me?” I wondered, impatiently brushing away a tear. Then I looked at the picture more carefully. The boys were all teenagers. They were members of a gang called the Dragons. Beneath the picture was the story of how they had been in Highbridge Park in New York when they brutally attacked and killed a fifteen-year-old polio victim named Michael Farmer.

The story revolted me. It literally turned my stomach. In our little mountain town, such things seemed mercifully unbelievable. Yet I was dumbfounded by the next thought that sprang into my head. It came to me full-blown, as if from somewhere else: Go to New York and help those boys....

cont.@ http://www.internetmonk.com/archive/...-april-27-2011