“The Cross and the Switchblade” author, David Wilkerson, R.I.P.

The Protestant minister, perhaps most famous for his best-selling book, The Cross and the Switchblade, died in a head-on car crash on Wednesday. May he rest in peace. One news report says,

Wilkerson was driving east on U.S. 175 in Texas Wednesday afternoon, and moved into the opposite lane where a tractor trailer was driving westbound. The truck driver saw the car and tried to move out of the way, but still collided with the pastor’s car head on, according to Public Safety Trooper Eric Long. It’s unclear what caused Wilkerson to veer into the other lane. His wife Gwen was also involved in the crash and rushed to the hospital, along with the truck driver.

I read his book in the early 70s and enjoyed its dramatic depiction of how a committed Christian confronted violent gang members with the message of Christ. I didn’t hear much about Wilkerson over the years until just recently, when I read a “prophecy” he gave regarding the destruction of New York City which, thus far, as not come to pass.