From: pearsodc@nextwork.rose-hulman.edu (D)
Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian
Subject: Mike Warnke Statement - Part 1
Date: 30 Jul 92 07:38:30 GMT
Organization: Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

Brian Devilbiss writes in rec.music.christian
 Due to the numerous requests I received for the statement I wrote about 
 previously, I will post his staement in parts as time allows me. I will
 post first the statement directly from his hand.
 
 ************************************************************************
 Note: It is *very* important that you carefully read the Cornerstone 
 article first. Otherwise, much of want Warnke says may not make sense.
  
*************************************************************************
 
 The letter is exactly as described ;-)...........
 
 				Warnke Ministries
 
 				   Statement
 
 				July 15, 1992
 
 	Recently, _Cornerstone Magazine_, a so-called "avante-garde 
 Christian" publication from Chicago, Illinois, printed a 12-page, 
 highly-critical article which essentially charged that my past life and 
 testimony are total lies and my entire ministry is a fraud. While 
 acknowledging that my work has helped people and that I am "efficient at 
 winning souls," the author commented that "that doesn't negate the fact 
 that he is not telling the truth about himself. And his life is not 
 true."

 	My normal policy is to ignore negative opinions and criticisms and
 simply concentrate on my work and ministry. However, since this 
 malicious article has been picked up and widely reported by the secular 
 media and the story has been handed out with a press release by the 
 co-authors at a major Christian publishing convention in Dallas, Texas, 
 numerous sincere and honest Christians have expressed their alarm at 
 such a shocking attack and asked for my response. Because many of these 
 people have believed in my work and some have even helped support our 
 ministry, I feel I owe them an explanation and a chance to hear the 
 truth.
 
 	First of all, I stand by my testimony of being delivered and set 
 free by the power of Jesus Christ after being a satanic high priest 
 exactly as published in my book, _The Satan Seller_. It is an unusual 
 accusation to be charged with "Not being as bad as you claim." Sadly, I 
 was deeply involved in the occult, including the conducting of grisly, 
 evil, secret rituals, and the recruitment of new members, into satanic 
 practices. My involvement definitely was no limited to dabbling with a 
 Ouija board. My nationally-recoginized expertise on the occult, which 
 has been utilized by police departments and national television shows 
 such as "20/20" is base on my personal, first-hand experiences, my 
 ministry contacts with hundreds of other people who have been involved 
 with satanism, as well as extensive personal study.
 
 	Co-author David Balsiger has issued a statement which recalls that 
 after the first draft of _The Satan Seller_ was completed and he felt it 
 was ready for the publisher, my wife Sue and I rejected the manuscript 
 because of inaccuracies and problems with the details. It took nearly 
 two additional months of working together to re-write the material to 
 get events in proper sequence and every detail as factually correct as 
 possible. Then some information was puposefully changed to protect the 
 privacy of certain individuals and to prevent readers from using the 
 book as a guide for occultic and  satanic purposes. But, as we stated in 
 the front of the book, "The events are absolutely as described."
 
 	Second, I categorically deny that Warnke Ministries is a 
 fraudulent operation in any sense of the word, despit misleading and 
 inaccurate published statements attributed to a few disgruntled former 
 employees of the ministry. In fact, most of their statements date to a 
 time when we were struggling with our finances and attempting to develop 
 good business practices. Practically all of the ministry income is from 
 my ministry concert and related product sales. Warnke Mininstries is 
 controlled and directed by an independent Board of Directors as 
 prescribed by state statutes and U.S. Internal Revenue Service 
 guidelines. Our financial records are maintained in accordance to 
 standard accounting practices and are scrutinized by an independent 
 outside firm of certified public accountants. All ministry operations 
 are also reviewed by a taz attorney to insure that they conform with all 
 applicable rules and regulations. Our claims of ministering to people 
 and helping get them off drugs and out of satanism are documented by 
 numerous public testimonies and correspondence, as well as the 
 confirmation of pastors and clergymen acrossthe nation.
 
 	Although _Cornerstone Magazine_ claims to have conducted a 
 full-blown, two-year investigation of me and my ministry, the writer did 
 not contact me until a few days before the publication deadline. Both 
 personally and through my agent-attorney, I conveyed that I was 
 available for an interview, but was on a tightly-schedules concert tour, 
 and asked for an alternate date about three weeks later, preferably at 
 my headquarters office or at my attorney's office.
 
 	Neither condition was acceptable to _Cornerstone_. They wanted no 
 one but their representatives present at the interview, and they 
 insisted on meeting immediately, in a venue more to their liking -- in 
 their home town of Chicago...at O'Hare Airport.
 
 	We explained to the reporter that because print journalism is so 
 "scandal" oriented these days, we are a bit guarded in our relationship 
 with writers. We asked for the chance to correct factual errors or 
 unintentional mistakes in the article, while providing assurance that we 
 would not attempt to exercise editorial supervision over the content.
 
 	Apparently this was no acceptable to _Cornerstone_ since the 
 magazine went to press with its "expose" without further attempts to 
 interview me or verify any portion of its story with the ministry.
 
 	Neither did the magazine do an in-depth interview with the one 
 person -- my ex-wife Sue Warnke -- who could have confirmed my life  
 story. Sue lived and experienced about 60 percent of the account 
 included in my book, _The Satan Seller_, and has her own independent 
 knowledge of my earlier involvement with satanism. In a newly-released 
 notarized statement [which i'll post later], she says she was contacted 
 by an employee of _Cornerstone_ about a year and a half ago. He told her 
 they were doing research into Mike Warnke in an attempt to disprove me 
 and asked for her statement about _The Satan Seller_, me personally, and 
 the Warnke Ministry.
 
 	Sue states: "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."
 
 	Since Sue apparently did not provide the answers they wanted to 
 hear, the magazine looked elsewhere for its "facts." Much of the 
 information subsequently used seems to have been provided  by Carolyn 
 Alberty, who was instrumental in the break-up of my marriage to Sue, and 
 who used her skill as a cold-hearted and calculated temptress to involve 
 me in an ill-fated second marriage. It was a bitter marriage, a bitter 
 separation, and a very bitter divorce. The experiences left me 
 emotionally shattered and destroyed any effectiveness I might have had 
 as a minister at that time. Only time and the healing power of God could 
 have restored me from this living death.

 	I believe Carolyn's continuing bitterness motivated her to make
 deliberately hurtful and false statements to reporters and possibly to 
 persuade others to join in her campaign of vicious lies. I also believe 
 that honest, professional journalistic efforts would have questioned the 
 veracity of these unfound charges and statements.
 
 	For example, on of the article's co-authors, Jon Trott, is quoted 
 as saying that the "most convincing evidence" he has is a April 1966 
 photograph of me with my fiancee. In the photo I have short hair, at a 
 time when Trott says I claimed to be at my height in satanism. The 
 problem with this "evidence" is that it is totally untrue. The girl in 
 the picture was never my fiancee.  While I may have dated her for a 
 short peroid of time, she was never a serious girlfriend, and we 
 certainly never were engaged. In fact, I have no recollection of the 
 time frame when I might have gone out with her -- certainly it was not 
 during the darkest days of my statnic involvement. I could have 
 cleared up this blatant error had I been given the courtesy of 
 responding to _Cornerstone's_ reporters before they printed their 
 article.
 
 	As to claims that former fellow students who knew me in high 
 school and college deny that I had any sort of satanic involvement, I 
 simply ask, "How would they know?" A veil of secrecy covers the 
 activities of most satanists even now -- and this was especially true 
 during my experiences during the 1960's. Although my penchant for 
 wearing black, wearing my hair longer, and my strung out, dissipated 
 appearance with an unhealthy pallor was apparent to close friends and 
 associates, casual acquaintances well might not have noticed.
 
 	On the other hand, David Balsiger has stated that during the 
 course of working with me on _The Satan Seller_, he met perhaps a half 
 dozen individuals who did have personal knowledge of my stanic 
 activities. He also points out that the activities described in the book 
 which created such a  sensation at the time it was published are "kids 
 play" compared to occult-satanic ritual activities taking place today. 
 Untold numbers of high schoolers, college students, and other 
 individuals are now routinely involved in many of the activites I 
 described -- but they are totally ignored by law enforcement
 unless a criminal act can be proven to have taken place during the 
 course of the satanic activity.
 
 	In addition to the statements provided by Mr. Balsiger and Susan 
 Lee Warnke from which I have quoted, I also have important statements 
 from numerous other respected Christian leaders who know me, my story, 
 and my ministry. In the interest of accuracy and fairness, what they 
 have said deserves to be heard.
 
 	For example, Mr. Patrick Matrisciana, president of Jeremiah Films, 
 Inc., tells of working on a film in 1972 which featured Hal Lindsey and 
 contained interviews and rituals with prominent occultists from the 
 Berkeley/San Francisco area. He said that when Mike Warnke's name was 
 mentioned, on at least two occasions, satanists reacted with verbal 
 abuse, accusing me of being a traitor to the cause of Satan. 
 
 	Matrisciana also tells of meeting the late Walter Martin, who told 
 him that a former satanist had identified the top three people on the 
 satanic hit list -- the targets of their magic spells and death curses. 
 Those three individuals were Mike Warnke, Walter Martin, and Pat 
 Matrisciana.
 
 	Best-selling authoress Johanna Michaelsen has attended at least 
 four of my concert appearances, and we have worked together on various 
 radio and television programs. She writes: "I am grieved and horrified 
 by this latest attack on Mike Warnke. I am not, however, surprised by 
 it. In the last several years we have witnessed a systematic, concerted 
 and well orgainized effory to utterly destroy and discredit the 
 reputation of ministries and individuals who courageously maintain that 
 there is indeed a problem with Satanism in America."
 
 	She goes on to say, "I know of no one who has had a more positive 
 impact in the lives of young people who have been caught up in satanism 
 and the occult than Mike Warnke. He has a profound love and zeal for 
 Jesus Christ, and inexhaustible desire to see young people come to know 
 Him, and a deep-seated loathing of hypocrisy in the Church."
 
 	Mr. Roland Lundy, president of Word, Inc., has stated: In response 
 to recent allegations about the integrity of Mike Warnke's Ministry, 
 Word, Inc. met with Mike and conducted follow-up on the areas in 
 question. Information the company received reinforces our confidence in 
 his ministry. We are pleased to be associated with Mike Warnke, 
 recognizing the strength of his ministry, and that our partnership with 
 him has opened up new avenues of reaching people
 for Christ."
 
 	Bob Larson of Bob Larson Ministries writes: "My knowledge of Mike 
 Warnke and the work of Warnke Ministries dates back approximately a 
 dozen years. In that time, I have found Mike to be a credible 
 spokesperson regarding the occult...one of the foremost leaders in 
 educating the public on satanism. Bob Larson Ministires has worked with 
 Warnke Ministries in outreach to victims of satanism. Mike and his staff 
 have spent numerous hours behind the scenes cooperating with me and my 
 staff to assure that victims received the support they desperately 
 needed. I am grateful for Mike's friendship and his concern for those in 
 bondage to the occult."
 
 	These and several other statements attesting to the truth and 
 integrity of my personal life and my ministry are available in their 
 entirety to anyone who wishes to examine them. I am also quite sure this 
 information would have been provided to any responsible journalist who 
 sought it at any time.

 	Recently, I celebrated 20 years of full time ministry. Reaching 
 this milestone is a testimony to the mercy and grace of God. Certainly I 
 have made many mistakes and have failed numerous times in my personal 
 life and ministry. Any good that comes from my efforts truly is the 
 product of the power of God and not the result of my efforts or talent.
 
 	While I am the first to acknowledge my failures and shortcomings, 
 I can also say with absolute conviction that I have never willfully lied 
 to or deceived anybody, that my life and experiences and Christian 
 testimony are completely true as reported, and that my ministry is 
 operated totally open and honest before God.
 
 	I have sought the spiritual counsel of men of God like Pastor Jim
 Kraft and Christian therapist John Joy of Lexington, KY. In addition to 
 them, I have made myself accountable in my professional life to people 
 like advisor-attorney Mike Conover, the Board of Directors of Warnke 
 Ministries, and to Roland Lundy, Lynn Keesecker, and Tom Ramsey of Word, 
 Inc., and to Lloyd Hildebrandt and Clift Richards of Victory House 
 publishers.
 
 	For the mistakes of the past, I have repented. For the mistakes of 
 the future, I look to the grace of God and the 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 with all my heart and strength and soul. I 
 can say with the apostle Paul, 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. Brother, 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 (Philippians 3:12-14).
 
 					Respectfully,
 
 					Mike Warnke
 
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Pray for Mike and his ministry and remember that there will be a 
 judgement.
 
 In Christ,
 
 BLD
 
 P.S. Stay Tuned.......

This is getting really intersting, sort of a his-word-against-mine fest  
between Warnke Ministries and Cornerstone.  I'm flabbergasted at the whole  
mess.  Pray that somebody comes out soon and realizes that the truth,  
whatever it may be, will come out sooner or later, whether in this world  
or the next.

If you haven't already, and you are interested in this situation, then  
PLEASE order the article from cornerstone or FTP it through  
wuarchive.wustl.edu.  (the article is in the /pub directory).  To say the  
least, this is getting very scary...

clueless chuck
PearsoDC@NeXTWork.Rose-Hulman.Edu