So along with reading the Boundaries book, I have been reading other things (because I really just can't read one thing at a time...that would be boring!).
The Cross and the Switchblade is one of those books. I had heard of this book before but had never actually had an opportunity to read it. Then, a few months ago, my boss brought me a copy back from a meeting he was at, and so, as it is an autobiography, I settled down to read The Cross and the Switchblade during my Lenten fiction-fast.
The Cross and the Switchblade is the story of David Wilkerson and how he came to start the ministry of Teen Challenge. This book really made me stop and think. While the picture painted of the gangs in New York (the original purpose and focus of Wilkerson's ministry) is heartbreaking and gruesome at times, the part that really stood out to me the most is the total dependence upon the Holy Spirit that Wilkerson and his team had to have throughout this experience.
During the first few years of the ministry, Wilkerson literally went day to day without often knowing where he was going to sleep, how to get food, or where even to find the people he needed to find to fulfill the call of God that he felt. And yet he simply prayed. And prayed. And prayed. And somehow, God always came through.
In true confession, there is part of me that feels I don't have that kind of faith, and never wants to be tested to see. But then there's another side of me that yearns to have that kind of faith. But what would I have to go through to get there?
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