David Wilkerson: 19 May 1931 - 27 April 2011

Just two days ago my friend Nick Booth informed me of the tragic car accident that killed Pastor David Wilkerson and critically injured his wife Gwen.

By late Wednesday night, Times Square Church in New York City announced the death of its founding pastor in a statement from Senior Pastor Carter Conlon:

Pastor David Wilkerson’s was a life fully given for the glory of God and souls of men. He was greatly loved and he will be greatly missed. Our prayers are with the family and we as a church body are committed to standing with them at this time of sorrow.

The Wilkerson family issued a statement after midnight on the World Challenge web site:

We appreciate your prayers and our hearts are sorrowful, yet we rejoice at the joy of knowing David Wilkerson spent his life well. More information will be coming soon. Thank you for your prayers, the statement said.

Alongside founding and pastoring Times Square Church in New York City, Wilkerson also founded such influential ministries as Teen Challenge and World Challenge Ministries.

Though I wear different theological stripes to Wilkerson's charismatic heritage, and though I did shudder at some of his apocalyptic prophetic utterances in the past, David Wilkerson remains to this day as a man who I have deep respect and gratitude for. I am very grateful for some of his sermons that have inhabited my MP3 player in recent years and salute Pastor Wilkerson as an uncompromising voice for Gospel clarity in a wider charismatic movement that has begun to spiral into theological freefall. He was unyielding as an "old school bare knuckle pentecostal preacher" who was unrelenting in his scorching criticism of the entertainment circus that had engulfed the movement he was a part of. It was also David Wilkerson who gave Ray Comfort a platform to speak when he was largely unknown.

I am largely ignorant of the deeper machinations of Wilkerson's ministry, but to the best of my knowledge he remained a faithful preacher of the once for all delivered faith to the day of his departure. A stranger in a strange land who is now no longer in search of the city whose builder and maker is God. The death of David Wilkerson also reminds we strangers who remain, of the great blessing that audio recording is . . .

Come Out From Among Them - My Life In Denmark (Part 14)

I was desperately sad and grieved after almost three years in Denmark. We had started an evangelism ministry but I could not find a church where the Gospel was preached. Paul Washer's two ultimatums were still ringing in my ears:

1. If you are in a church where the Gospel is not preached - get out! Come out from among them! Touch not the unclean thing.
2. If you are not in a biblical church then find one or start one.

It was painfully clear that my family either had to leave Denmark or plant a church with some like minded believers. I did have people who agreed on the Gospel but were very hesitant about starting something. I, on the other hand, had an unusual fearlessness about this. Not because I am naturally courageous, far from it in fact, but because I was absolutely convinced that I was incapable of contributing anything that could possibly deteriorate the situation for Christians in Denmark - it's pretty hard to drill into the bottom of the toilet bowl!

When I was at the end of my rope and ready to pack up and leave (much to my wife's disappointment) a man called Henrik Mortensen walked into the picture. Not only was Henrik on the same page with me concerning the Gospel, he knew church planting was the only option and was ready to pay the price. As someone who was cryogenically frozen during the Puritan era (and defrosted in the 80's), Henrik was the perfect man to have on board in this project. Some others joined with us who also knew the stakes were high.

The wheels were turning and things were moving - especially my family. In November of 2009, we were packing up and moving south to the little town of Bjerringbro in Denmark. Did I have a job - no! Did I know anything about church planting - no! Was I assured of a prosperous future for this church (that was only a vision at this time) - no! I am normally a man to err on the side of caution, but I was experiencing tremendous liberty in this pursuit because I knew this was the only option we had within the Danish borders.

I will conclude this series on Friday with a post on our thriving little house church in Bjerringbro by the name of Kristuskirken. The local church is where it is at and I want to culminate this saga by flying the flag of the local church. I have also been surprised about how much less difficult planting a biblical church has been than trying to reform an apostate one. One of the deceptive realities out there stems from the countless number of attempts at starting a new church based on methodological differences rather than theological differences. When it is based on methodology the hard work is continually innovating with newer and more exciting programs. When it is based on theology, the hard work is the joyous labor of faithfully preaching the text, witnessing to the lost, and cultivating a community of loving brethren. So be encouraged and tune in for Friday's post where I will discuss my local church in greater detail.

But in closing todays post I want to refer back to Paul Washer's ultimatums that he gave us (see above). Do you treasure Christ and His beautiful Gospel but never hear about it from the pulpit? Is rampant sin tolerated and never disciplined in your local congregation? Does your pastor handle Scripture as God's authoritative word or does he treat it like a buffet, always staying well away from the parts that don't taste so good? Does your congregation allow women in the pulpit - violating the clear teaching of Scripture? Is it governed by a team of godly men or by someone who thinks he is a pope? Does it have a doctrine statement? Does the doctrine statement ever venture outside the church's filing cabinet? Does doctrine matter - particularly the purity of the once for all delivered Gospel? Are you someone who claims to be born again but is willing to settle for the safety of a gathering of goats that is shepherded by a wolf? Danish brothers, I beg you to contemplate these questions and receive this counsel from Carter Conlan . . .



Go On To Part 15
Go Back To Part 13
Go Back To Part 1

Man Up, Speak Up, And Get Out Of The Fog

Saturday's post looked at the issue of why the prevalence of postmodernism on the "church landscape" demands that preachers be explicit and clear in what they are saying, expose evil as well as proclaiming the truth, and speak sharply about darkness so as to leave the hearer in no confusion as to what to stay away from. This "eat the fish and spit out the bones" approach is causing damage because undiscerning church goers are vulnerable to subtle heresies that lurk around in many books on the bookshelf of your "modern Christian bookstore". We don't teach children how to handle snakes, we tell them to stay right away from them. Likewise shepherds should be telling their sheep to run away at first sight of a false teaching wolf. Carter Conlon doesn't seem to have this problem . . .



There is little room for confusion with preaching like this. Don't get too comfortable in that warm and fuzzy pew. Well may we love the people where we fellowship, and so we should, but woe unto us if that impinges on our love for the precious Savior Whose Name should never be allowed to be dragged through the mud by another gospel or false teaching that's so coated in truth that we're able to swallow it . . . even a broken clock gets it right twice a day!