Announcement
by Susan Lee Studer Warnke
letter included with response package from Warnke Ministries
July 7, 1992
NOTE: typescript is reproduced exactly (except for bracketed page breaks).
ANNOUNCEMENT I choose to make a public statement regarding informa- tion contained in the article written in the Cornerstone mag- zine, Volume 21, Issue 98 of 1992, entitled "Selling Satan, The Tragic History of Mike Warnke." I was contacted by an employee of Cornerstone about a year and a half ago. He asked me for a statement regarding Mike, the book The Satan Seller and Mike's ministry. He said they were doing research about Mike because they felt he was in error and they wanted to disprove him. I told him that The Satan Seller was true but other than that I had no comment. I told him that he should contact Mike personally. I also told him that I thought he was wrong to throw stones of accusations against a brother in the Lord. So nothing in this article is based on any facts taken from me regarding my mar- riage nor my involvment with Mike. Through these years I have chosen to remain silent about my "Warnke" years. The pain of the divorce, my journey through brokenness, which meant dealing with my dysfunctional childhood in an emotionally abusive alcoholic home and my continued subsequent healing have brought me to the place of health with myself and my relationship with my Lord Jesus Christ. I have sought to "let go of the past, to look forward to what lies ahead, pressing on toward the goal of the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus" (Phillipians 3:13-14). I am accountable to a healthy body of believers led by loving Christian pastors. This family has walked me through many painful processes. I sought their counsel. Through prayer and fasting, I feel it is the Lord's prompting for me to set the record straight regarding false allegations about my life which does involve my marriage to Mike Warnke. I became a friend with Mike in high school. I graduated in June 1964. As a new born-again follower of Jesus Christ, I attended the same college as Mike in 1965. I had contact with him on several occassions. I was involved with Campus Crusade for Christ and Mike did not seem to be very interested in hearing about my new found relationship with God at this time. Although we never had specific conversations about his involvment in occultic activities, I witnessed drastic changes which occured in him at this time. His attitudes and behavior changed along with his physical appearance. He would wear all black at times, grew his hair longer and developed an unhealthy pallor. He looked strung out, dissipated, and seemed to be participating in some unhealthy activities that were affecting him deeply.
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I lost tract of him for a while until the next school year. I ran into him again and he told me he had been in Navy boot-camp and was home on leave. He told me he had also had a born-again Christian experience and was following Jesus Christ. It was at this time, he told me of his past serious involvment in an occultic lifestyle that included being in- volved in a group that practiced Satanic ceremonies, witch- craft, and demonology. As he unfolded these wierd stories to me many details started making sense. A member of this group had been in one of my classes and he told me he knew Mike and the guy made vague references to strange activities of the group. I had seen some of the group members around campus, not knowing at the time what they were into. Campus Crusade staff members had announced that there was a group on my campus that practiced black magic and cere- monies involving Satan. The Campus Crusade staff was praying for ways to break it up. As my friendship with Mike progressed, we fell in love and became engaged. We were experiencing bizarre events that were threatening and full of fear tactics. I had occassion to speak to another member of the group who said he was trying to break from the group also. He said when Mike had left the group it had disbanded. There was a vendetta type of attitude to "get Mike" because his leaving caused the group's activities to fall apart. As stated in the book, The Satan Seller, we were followed, shot at, and were threatened by members of the group. (If these events were not true what possible reason could I have to stand by them now? I don't receive royalties, and never have. It is simple - it's the truth.) We did not fully understand how much of a spiritual battle was really going on around us and over us. We saw the effects of Mike's former involvment with Satanic powers and went through tremendous struggles to make a break from the hold it had on him so that we could start a new life. I left the area to be married to Mike and live where he was stationed in the Navy. We tried to work through these bizarre and frightful experiences as new Christians and as newlyweds. We eventually learned about the resurrection power of Jesus Christ and the power of His blood which defeats the powers of darkness. This was our greatest tool and the only hope we had. The time we spent in the military was beneficial to help us have a regular life. However, the time Mike spent in Vietnam was extremely difficult for us. Mike suffered much emotional 2
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upheaval from the war experiences. I had to have a baby by myself. It took a toll especially on Mike and his faith was shaken. Needless to say, our marriage was never what you could call a white picket fence Ward and June Cleaver type of exper- ience. But we loved each other immensely and desired to become more acquainted with Jesus Christ and tried to follow His leading in our life. When we got out of the Navy, Mike decided to write about his experiences in The Satan Seller. We had no idea the effect it would have on our lives. When it hit the market, Mike became a celebrity and travel and separation became our norm. The overwhelming response by so many people to the gospel through Mike's message was the impetus to make us con- tinue. I can honestly say though that we had too much success, fame, and notoriety at too early of a stage in our walk with Jesus Christ. Too much was expected from us when we ourselves needed more time to become grounded in a stronger, personal relationship with Jesus Christ. We attended church and were living a Christian lifestyle, but we weren't ready for the onslaughts we would encounter. We moved several times, I had another baby, experienced a miscarriage and we spent much time away from each other because of the traveling required for Mike to minister. If I had been smarter and wiser, I would have insisted on more time together and less time for Mike on the road. The ministry always came first and our own personal lives and problems took a back seat and were never addressed in a healthy manner. Our eventual Bible school sojourn was the beginning of the end of our marriage. Not only was Mike traveling, he had to study while he was home. My time was devoted to the small children and our home. We did not heed the danger signs between us. We thought we were serving God and that He would take care of us. We neglected the most precious ministry any Christian has - the one that starts in the home, serving and loving one another first. I speak now of the envolvment of Carolyn Alberty in our lives. It was one of manipulation and personal maneuvering on her part. She succeeded in setting herself up as my friend all the while manipulating an unhealthy relationship with Mike. Some of our friends at Bible school showed concern for the relationship that was developing between Mike and Carolyn. Our thinking was askew making it difficult for us to heed these warnings. If Mike had gone to another woman stating his love for her I'm sure I would have been told because I was 3
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everything else. Carolyn set it up to look like I had dated a man during this time (untrue) and alleged to Mike that I did not want to be involved in his ministry any longer (untrue). She played us against one another. This on top of the constant separations, the weariness of the ministry and the needs of two small children was cause for us to snap. We tried to seek help and counseling but it seemed ineffectual because so many lies had been told and there was too much damage. Mike chose to leave the marriage in an unhealthy emotional state that I can truly say was close to a breakdown. His subsequent marriage to Carolyn was one of the most painful times in my life. Carolyn's schemes and designs in my marriage were executed with the skill of a cold hearted and calculated temptress, for lack of a better word. She has since written a letter of apology to me for the pain she caused myself and my children. That statements from her are reported as truth in this article is so hurtful to me and the statements so full of untruth it is appalling. I have chosen to make no statement regarding Mike's life, his ministry and his walk with the Lord after our divorce. The call of God on his life, his choice to stay in the ministry are between he and the Lord. He, himself, has been very public in regards to his path. I feel the fruit speaks for itself. A friend of mine, who became a Christian through Mike's ministry, said to me, "Mike never asked me to accept Mike as my personal Savior, he always pointed me to Jesus." Our lives change for the good and the worse but the word of God never changes. Sometimes we get more like Jesus in certain areas very quickly and sometimes it's a long painful wearisome process. He always loves us and He never condemns us if we ask for forgiveness and keep listening to His voice. "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit. A broken and contrite heart, O God, thou will not despise." Psalm 51:17. My exception to this article is that the world will look on it and say, "We Christians treat our own with stones and hate. We kill our wounded. " Why would they follow us to the Master when we can't show His love to one another? I have been forgiven. I have forgiven. I have been healed and mended. My children are coming to a place of health. I have never cast stones and I don't expect them to be thrown at me. Maligning half-truths about my life and the life of my brother in the Lord does not show the heart of my 4
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heavenly Father. I pray the damage will be repaired. [signed] Susan Lee Studer Warnke July 1992 [certificate of notary public follows:] INDIVIDUAL ACKNOWLEDGEMENT [seal:] OFFICIAL SEAL Jeanie J. Ware State of California } NOTARY PUBLIC - CALIFORNIA County of Orange } S.S. ORANGE COUNTY My Comm. Expires Oct. 23, 1996 On this the 7th day of July 1992, before me, Jeanie J. Ware the undersigned Notary Public, personally appeared Susan Lee Studer Warnke [ ] personally known to me [x] proved to me on the basis of satisfactory evidence to be the person whose name is subscribed to the within instrument, and acknowledged that she executed it. WITNESS my hand and official seal. [signed, Jeanie J. Ware] Notary's Signature Title or Type of Document: Announcement Number of Pages: 5 pgs Date of Document: 7/7/92 Signer(s) Other Than Named Above: None
original filename: CSR0006A.TXT
"Item: letter included with response package from Warnke Ministries"
Release A, 2 June 1998
This file was previously released as SUEWARNK.TXT in the WARNKE2.ZIP archive on the JPUSA BBS in October 1992. Heading and footing information revised.
This file may be reproduced on electronic media and communications services without charge or permission from the author(s), so long as the wording of the text remains unaltered. For files on related subjects, please visit our website at <http://www.cornerstonemag.com/> or write to: Cornerstone, 939 W. Wilson Ave., Chicago, IL 60640-5706, U.S.A.
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