Statement
by Mike Warnke
press release
July 9, 1992
NOTE: Typescript is reproduced exactly, except for page breaks, indicated in brackets.

                            Statement



                          July 9, 1992



    Due to recent allegations by Cornerstone Magazine, I would

like to make this statement in order to clarify my position.



    The story of my conversion to Christ, as told in the book

"The Satan Seller" is true.  To the best of my recollection, it

was true at the time of the writing and I stand by those

memories today, twenty years later.



    The reason I wrote "The Satan Seller" was not to start a new

Christian "industry" but simply to say that no matter how bad

you have been, no matter how far down you go, there is mercy and

forgiveness in Jesus.  The book was intended to show how good

God is, not how bad Mike Warnke was.



    When the book was written, many changes in the story were

made.  It was felt that too much detailed information could be

dangerous.  We tried to protect innocent people from harm or

embarrassment.  It was also a concern of ours that usable occult

information not be presented.  As a result, names, dates,

locations and specific events were altered at the request of my

publishers.  The names of many people I knew at the time were

also omitted because they had nothing to do with the story.  It

is no surprise to me that memories vary twenty-six years after

my conversion.



    As the Lord began to use my story, I discovered that my use

of comedy was a talent He had given me.  In the past twenty

years, making people laugh has been the most consistent part of

my public ministry.



    I have made MANY mistakes since my conversion in 1966.  I

have almost never been the Christian I should be.  I have failed

as a husband, a father and a friend.  The low point of my

Christian life was my association and marriage to Carolyn

Alberty and my time in Nashville, Tenn.  I have repented a

thousand times and in a thousand ways that I did not heed the

wise counsel of concerned friends and thus avoid one of the

biggest mistakes of my life.  It was a bitter marriage, a bitter

separation and a very bitter divorce.  If it had not been for

the friendship of people like Wes Yoder, Dan Brock, Reba Rambo

McGuire, Randy and Barb Matthews, Nancy Honeytree Miller (just

to name a few) I'm not sure I would have escaped with my life.

I put that time behind me thirteen years ago.  I left Nashville

and tried to make a new life.



    I have, over the years, been very vocal about my lack of

perfection.  Most recently coauthoring a book about failed

marriages and dysfunctional behavior (Recovering From Divorce,

Victory House) with Rose Hall Warnke.  I have never been accused

of being too closed mouth but rather, in many cases of talking





[end of page 1; begin page 2]





 too much.



    I have been accused of being a deliberate liar.  I resent

this accusation most of all.  I have always tried to be

truthful.  Whenever I have been shown to be in error about

things I was saying, I stopped saying those things and began to

recount accurate information.  One example:  My degrees.  At

different times in my life I have tried to do different things

with different schools.  At one point,  I was even told that I

had been awarded degrees the never materialized.  I have, since

that time, only stated what I have in my hand. One B.A., One

M.A. and One DDiv. (Honorary).



    Over the years I have tried to seek advice and to make

myself accountable in both my spiritual and professional life.

I have taken myself out of the daily operational process and

financial control of the ministry by placing these functions

into the hands of a board of directors and the hands of capable

operations officers.  I have an employment contract which in

essence makes me and employee of the ministry rather than the

sole arbitrator of policy.  I am Chairman of the Board, but my

vote carries no more weight than any other member.



    I have sought the spiritual counsel of many over the years.

Most recently Pastor Jim Kraft, Michael Conover, but most of

all, and for the past three years, my Christian psychologist Dr.

John Joy of Lexington Kentucky.  The other people that I answer

to with regards to my professional life are Roland Lundy, Lynn

Keesecker and Tom Ramsey (Word Inc.) Loyd Hildebrandt and Clift

Richards (Victory House).



     When asked about accountability, within the Christian

community, the problem has always been the feeling I get that if

I am not "submitted" to the people others think I should be

(usually them) then I am not submitted at all. I have not always

taken the advice I have been given, often to my later

misfortune.  I have learned the hard way how important it is to

listen and feel that I have taken giant strides in the last few

years to make myself and the ministry accountable.  I intend to

continue this difficult process.



    The point is this.  I have never been the Christian I should

have been.  I have made many mistakes in my life.  I will state,

however, that I have NEVER set out to hurt anyone.  I have not

intentionally mislead the body of Christ for the past twenty

years.  I have not perpetrated violence against anyone since I

came home from Viet Nam.  I have NEVER struck a woman.  Most

importantly,  I have NEVER pointed anyone toward anything but

Jesus for their salvation.  In other words, even though I have

never been the Christian I should be, Jesus has always been the

Jesus He promised to be.



    For the mistakes of the past, I have repented.  For the

mistakes of the future, I look to the Grace of God and the





[end of page 2; begin page 3]





lessons I have learned.  I am not the person I was twenty-five,

thirteen or even two years ago.  I intend to go on serving God

until HE tells me otherwise.



Philippians 3:12 and 13



"Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been

made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which

Christ Jesus took hold of me.



    Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of

it.  But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining

toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the

prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."



    Blessings to us all in the Name of Him who died to save us.



                                       Respectfully,







                                       Mike Warnke

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original filename: CSR0008A.TXT
"Statement"
Release A, 2 June 1998

This file was previously released as WARNK_R1.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.

[end-of-file]