Bruce Wilkinson is a Christian teacher and author. He was born (ca. 1940) in New Jersey and graduated from Northeastern Bible College (B.A. and Th. B.), Dallas Theological Seminary (Th. M.) and Western Conservative Baptist Seminary (D.D.). He served as a college professor at Multnomah School of the Bible in Portland, Oregon, until resigning to launch Walk Thru the Bible in June 1976. He is best known for his best-selling (and, in some circles, highly controversial) book The Prayer of Jabez in 2000.
Walk Thru the Bible is a global, non-denominational Christian organization headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. It has become one of North America's most successful Christian ministries, producing 11,000 seminars for 2 million people.
Wilkinson has spoken to more than 400,000 men across America as a Promise Keepers stadium speaker. At the request of Promise Keepers, he developed the widely used video curriculum, Personal Holiness in Times of Temptation, as a part of the "Biblical Manhood" series.
After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, Wilkinson traveled to Russia to teach in conjunction with the presentation of the Jesus film. Wilkinson served five years as chairman of CoMission, an innovative education ministry in Russia.
In 1998, he founded WorldTeachers, a global initiative to develop a Bible teacher for every 50,000 people in every nation of the world. In the first three years, over 6,000 WorldTeachers have joined the WorldTeach vision from 40 nations including India, Brazil, Ukraine, Singapore, South Africa, Nepal, Mozambique, Philippines, Vietnam, Kenya, El Salvador, Mexico, Hungary, Romania, Sri Lanka, Russia, Lesotho, Swaziland, Botswana, Angola, Namibia, Zambia, Myanmar, Jordan, South Korea, and Belarus. This constitutes 5% of the goal.
In 1976, Wilkinson was named Northeastern Bible College Alumnus of the Year and in 1986 he was awarded the Religious Heritage of America Committee's Faith and Freedom Award.
His first book in more than six years - You Were Born for This: Seven Keys to a Life of Predictable Miracles - was released September 15th, 2009. This book is based on the following premise:
Anyone can do a good deed, but some good works can only happen by an act of God. Around the world these acts are called miracles--not that even religious people expect to see one any time soon. But what would happen if millions of ordinary people walked out each morning expecting God to deliver a miracle through them to a person in need? You Were Born for This starts with the dramatic premise that everyone at all times is in need of a miracle, and that God is ready to meet those needs supernaturally through ordinary people who are willing to learn the “protocol of heaven.”
In the straightforward, story-driven, highly motivating style for which Bruce is known, Wilkinson describes how anyone can be a ‘Delivery Guy from heaven in such universally significant arenas of life as finances, practical help, relationships, purpose and spiritual growth.
You Were Born for This was written in order to change how people see the world and show people what they can expect God to do through Christians (and even non-Christians) to meet real needs. Bruce explains that seven simple tools can be mastered so that people can say with confidence, “I want to deliver a supernatural gift from God to someone in need today—and I expect to!”
Believing that Africa should be the next focal point for evangelical efforts, Wilkinson moved to Bryanston, Johannesburg, in 2002, and started an organization called Dream for Africa, which included the launch of the Never Ending Gardens. This organization helps fight against the AIDS epidemic in Africa. It sent American, Bible college students and young, African volunteers to 172 high schools. They showed a week long program of film (Beat the Drum), drama, and music to promote abstinence.
Recently, political conflicts, particularly in Swaziland, forced him to resign from the Dream for Africa project and return to the United States. The details of the events that led to Wilkinson's departure from Africa were provided in an article in the Wall Street Journal. As reported in the article, among the reasons for his pullout were the complications in establishing a planned "African Dream Village" in Swaziland. Wilkinson had plans to build this African Dream Village to house 10,000 orphans. These homes were to form a village and be based on themes ... such as Wild West rodeos or Swazi village life ... to entertain tourists. The orphans would be trained as rodeo stars and serve as safari guides at nearby game reserves. The idea, Wilkinson said, was to "try to bring experiences to the kids they could only get at Walt Disney or a dude ranch."
In the 40-page "Dream for Africa" plan, Wilkinson sought a 99-year lease on the land and control of nearby game parks from the King Mswati of Swaziland. Wilkinson gave Mswati just five days to approve the plan, which was refused. Soon thereafter, Swazi newspapers published details of the "Dream for Africa" draft plan, which turned public opinion against Wilkinson. According to the Wall Street Journal article, when the Swazi king failed to meet with him again in what was perceived as a snub on behalf of the king, Wilkinson decided to depart.
The Wilkinson & Boa Bible Handbook ISBN 0-7852-4864-1, ISBN 0-7852-4903-6
Talk Through The Bible ISBN 0-8407-5286-5
Talk Through the Old Testament
Talk Through the New Testament
Talk Through Bible Personalities ISBN 0-9612142-0-1
7 Laws of the Learner ISBN 0-88070-464-0
Almost Every Answer for Practically Any Teacher (Gold Medallion Winner) ISBN 0-88070-473-X
Personal Holiness in Times of Temptation ISBN 1-56507-943-4
Experiencing Spiritual Breakthroughs (based on his “The Three Chairs” seminar) ISBN 1-57673-536-2
30 Days to Spiritual Breakthroughs ISBN 1-57673-977-5
The Prayer of Jabez (October 2000) ISBN 1-57673-733-0
Living the Jabez Miracle
The Prayer of Jabez for Young Hearts ISBN 0-613-96871-9
The Prayer of Jabez for Little Ones (with Melody Carlson) ISBN 0-8499-7943-9
The Prayer of Jabez for Kids (with Melody Carlson) ISBN 0-8499-7944-7
Secrets of the Vine (October 2001) ISBN 1-57673-975-9
Secrets of the Vine for Little Ones ISBN 1-4003-0052-5
Secrets of the Vine for Kids ISBN 1-4003-0053-3
Secrets of the Vine for Teens (March 2003) ISBN 1-57673-922-8
A Life God Rewards (October 2002) ISBN 1-57673-976-7
A Life God Rewards for Teens (October 2002) ISBN 1-59052-077-7
A Life God Rewards for Kids ISBN 1-59052-095-5
Set Apart ISBN 1-59052-071-8
30 Days to Discovering Personal Victory Through Holiness ISBN 1-59052-070-X
The Dream Giver (October 2003) ISBN 1-59052-201-X
The Dream Giver for Parents (September 2004) ISBN 1-59052-455-1
Beyond Jabez ISBN 1-59052-367-9
You Were Born for This (releasing September 15th, 2009) - ISBN 978-1-60142-182-1
Wilkinson served on the overview committee for the New King James Version of the Bible, authored the Books of the Bible outlines and co-edited the Bible book introductions for The Open Bible. He is the executive editor of four best-selling Bibles including The Daily Walk Bible (NIV, NL, NKV, RSV), The Closer Walk New Testament (NIV), The Youth Walk Bible (NIV), and The Family Walk Bible (NIV).
Wilkinson has been criticized by Christian Fundamentalist missionary and writer David Cloud because of his ecumenical involvements with Roman Catholics and the Russian Orthodox Church.
