Mike Warnke Update (or lack thereof)
Douglas C Pearson
christian concerning the Mike Warnke "controversy" this past summer.
For any newbie to either group who has not heard the full scoop on
Mike, we'll put it like this.
Mike Warnke is/was a prominent Christian comedian who based his entire
ministry on his assertion that he was at one point in time a high
priest in a Satanic cult and he turned his life completely over to the
Lord. He wrote a book over this "experience" called _The_Satan_Seller_
(which became a prominent reference text in many circles on how
Satanic cults operate) and gave his testimony in many locations over
the last 20 or so years, winning many people for the Lord.
It would appear that Mike Warnke's testimony is a lie.
Cornerstone Magazine published a super-huge criticism of Mike Warnke
and Warnke Ministries over the summer, bringing all of this to a head.
The Cornerstone article supplied interviews with Mike's family, high
school and college friends which contradicted his testimony, supplied
dates from _The_Satan_Seller_ and from his tapes which basically
proved there was no way the events that Mike Warnke says happened in
over the course of a year could have actually happened, and called
into question various aspects of Warnke's personal life, most notably
his management of his finances and the finances of his ministry and the
fact that the man's been married four times since his conversion to
Christianity.
Since then, the roof has fallen in on Warnke Ministries. Dayspring/
Word, Mike's label, originally came to the defense of his ministry, and
even released a new comedy album just as the Cornerstone article was
breaking. Word has since ordered the indefinite shelving of all Warnke
product. In addition, the IRS has begun investigating the finances of
Warnke Ministries.
As far as I have heard, Mike's response to all of this has been
outright denial. He and some of his friends have put together
statements defending Warnke Ministries (the statement by the president
of Word, Inc. has, of course, since been retracted) and Mike attempted
to continue touring the nation and continuing his ministry. I have not
heard of a single Mike Warnke date since July that has not been
cancelled, however, for "personal reasons" or something similar.
That's the story as far as Mike Warnke is concerned...as of late
August. Since then, I haven't heard a bit of followup from anybody,
and just additional requests for information, and I know there's more
to this story that this. Therefore, I have one request of anybody who
has RECENT information on this...PLEASE post to rec.music.christian or
e-mail me (pear...@nextwork.rose-hulman.edu, pear...@rosevc.rose-
hulman.edu) with any new information. I would greatly appreciate
anything new anybody has to offer. If you e-mail me, I will be happy
to post your information to rec.music.christian, if you would so
desire.
If you want a copy of the Cornerstone article, Eric Pement is the
senior editor of Cornerstone Magazine. His e-mail address is
(I think/hope) er...@jpusa1.chi.il.us (I do know his UUCP address for
certain: jpusa1.chi.il.us!jpusa2.eric) and he'll take orders for the
magazine containing the Warnke article c/o Cornerstone Magazine, 939
W. Wilson Ave, Chicago, IL 60640. (The mag costs $3.00/issue.)
Any other information you might want I have available via e-mail.
Continuing in prayer for Warnke Ministries...
to the King and to His Kingdom!
"clueless" Chuck Pearson
pear...@rosevc.rose-hulman.edu
pear...@nextwork.rose-hulman.edu
timothy shimeall
issue at hand) for a small (3-page) article on Mike Warnke. The article
pretty much repeats the post here, with two significant exceptions:
a) Rose Warnke (Mike's most recent ex-wife and business partner)
states that there were only 13 people in the coven (not 1500),
but that 1500 was the number of "people who were aware of it"
b) Mike threatens to come out "with guns blazing" against his
accusors. He's already made some pretty rediculous accusations
against the publishers of Cornerstone (Jesus People USA)
Personally, as one who has enjoyed Warnke's humor over the years,
I weep to see the attitude he is displaying.
Tim
--
Tim Shimeall ((408) 646-2509)
The proper response to detecting a bug isn't to fix the bug - it's to make
sure you'll never have to worry about that bug again. --- Richard Hamming