Mike Warnke is back Former Christian comedian Mike Warnke is returning to the spotlight with his second autobiography. His first, readers will recall, was exposed as a hoax by Cornerstone magazine in 1992. Warnke’s popular 1973 book, The Satan Seller, claimed that he spent his college immersed in drugs and alcohol, wore his hair long, and led a Satanist group of 1,500. Cornerstone’s exposÉ effectively ended Warnke’s days as the top Christian comedian. Now, ten years after the piece that brought the Jesus People USA publication national attention, Mike Warnke is responding with Friendly Fire: A Survival Guide for Believers Battered by Religion, published by Destiny Image, a charismatic book publisher. The first chapter of Warnke’s book, available for free at the publisher’s site, talks about his 1992 experience:
At times the stress was so bad that I broke out in hives. I couldn’t sleep, my hair came out by the fistful, and I was unable to eat anything that didn’t upset my stomach. … Within two months, everything I had worked so hard for was gone. From a guy who had his own plane and 50 employees, I was reduced to the point of one day standing in a Kroger grocery store with a coupon for baked beans and a coupon for toilet paper but only enough money for one or the other. … Was I a fake, a charlatan, a deceiver, and a liar? No. I never lied about my testimony and I never ran a fake ministry. That being said, however, let me hasten to add that all was not right in the Warnke world. … My life was out of control. I had no spiritual accountability. Decisions concerning the ministry were based on the bottom line rather than on spiritual priorities. … When the storm of controversy hit, everything I had built for 22 years suddenly collapsed like a house of cards.
In an interview with Charisma News Service, Warnke explains why it’s time for him to come back. “We have done the work. I feel we have a solid foundation for saying what we are saying,” he says. “I feel like I’m coming from a better place now than I ever have in my entire ministry. A lot of what happened was necessary. I got so focused on my career that I forgot about my calling.”
Cornerstone‘s Jon Trott has already issued a response to the book:
One waits in vain for any evidence of true repentance. … Warnke’s response to our article was to set up the form of accountability without the power thereof, a group of pastors near Warnke who (when we asked) had no evidence contradicting our story. He has never admitted the truth about his alleged involvement with the occult, nor the false testimony he sold as a true autobiography in The Satan Seller and various recordings. His new book focuses on being allegedly wounded by fellow Christians, a classic case of bait and switch technique that one hopes won’t work (but fears likely will). There’s not much else we can say.
Christian Solidarity International, other groups say slave redemption is real Days after The Irish Times, The Washington Post, and other newspapers published major exposÉs of fake slave redemptions in Sudan, the main organization that buys and frees slaves in that country has issued press releases in response. A press release from Christian Solidarity International (CSI) contains quotes from several Sudanese church leaders supporting CSI’s work and attacking the articles. Likewise, CSI supporters have issued a statement calling the newspaper reports “grotesquely distorted.” The statement reiteraties that “black slaves in Sudan are subjected routinely to beatings, rape, female genital mutilation, death threats, forced labor and forced conversions.”
Unfortunately, neither the statement nor the CSI press release actually refutes the articles in question. Both Irish Times reporter Declan Walsh and The Washington Post‘s Karl Vick carefully noted that both Sudanese slavery is horrifically real and groups like CSI have legitimately freed countless numbers: However, based on eyewitness testimony (especially that of Roman Catholic priest Mario Riva), the papers reported that some of the redemption transactions were fake. Riva gives very specific details about a redemption conducted by CSI head John Eibner between the towns of Marial Bai and Nyamlell. Saying there are slaves and slave redemptions in Sudan doesn’t answer that allegation.
More articles
Politics:
- Forces of faith enter fray over energy policy | National Religious Partnership for the Environment reminds lawmakers of the “moral obligations” involved in deciding energy policy initiatives (The Christian Science Monitor)
- Official: Churches can help | Clergy urged to be part of faith-based initiatives (The Daily Advertiser, Lafayette, Louisiana)
- Christian group flees Day camp | Shifts its support to rival Harper in attempt to split social conservatives (The Globe and Mail, Toronto)
- Also: Stockwell Day rips into Harper over religion | Canadian Alliance battles over religious groups’ endorsements (Canadian Press)
China:
- Ruins of an old Christian church on Lao-Tzu’s turf | Find of oldest Chinese church, from seventh century, is “rather like the Hari Krishnas being allowed to build a temple on the steps of St. Patrick’s Cathedral” (The New York Times)
- China’s Christians called to prayer by mobile phone | Clandestine Christian worshippers are forced to go to extreme lengths to evade detection and persecution by the communist authorities (The Daily Telegraph)
Life ethics:
- Pro-life centers fight N.Y. state investigation | Two pregnancy centers are fighting subpoenas issued in a state investigation of possible false advertising and illegal medical practice—claims that critics are calling politically motivated (The Washington Times)
- Abortion row threatens UN funds | Population Research Institute has accused the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) of promoting forced abortions and the involuntary sterilisation of women. (BBC)
Sex & marriage:
- Uniting Church’s gay divide | A bitter fight over the acceptance of homosexuals is making the Uniting Church look anything but united. It may also bring down one of the country’s best known religious figures. (The Sydney Morning Herald)
- Gay debate leads to arson, vandalism in Missoula | Graffiti on Baptist church in response to fire is counterproductive, say gay activists (Associated Press)
- Setback fails to silence critics of Presbyterian policy on gays | Conservatives say battle will rage on (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
- Bush welfare plan would increase work requirements | Proposal offers new subsidies to states to encourage marriage, continues ban on immigrant payments (The Washington Post)
Pat Robertson:
- I can’t stand Pat | Robertson had a point. That’s why he should have kept his mouth shut. (Tunku Varadarajan, The Wall Street Journal)
- Robertson’s wrong | He is anxious to create a climate of misunderstanding between America and the Islamic world and for Israel to benefit from that misunderstanding (Editorial, The Gulf News, Dubai, United Arab Emirates)
Missions & ministry:
- Small relief agency takes big risks | Orthodox Christian group now focusing on Palestinian aid (The Baltimore Sun)
- The national crusade, nation’s restoration | The supplications and penitent spirit that characterized the Liberia for Jesus Crusade will have no meaning in the drive for national restoration unless we turn a new page of our national history (Bill K. Jarkloh, The News, Monrovia, Liberia)
- Deadly crusades | Reinhard Bonnke’s crusade in Nigeria are always a harvest of miracle amidst deaths (Kunle Owolabi, The News, Lagos, Nigeria)
- Reinhard Bonnke video documents modern-day Lazarus | Nigerian certified dead, but revived days later at evangelist’s meeting (Charisma News Service)
Church life:
- How the Church failed by reinventing Christianity | What is occurring is not merely the secularisation of the prevalent moral culture, but also the secularisation of the Church’s understanding of its own mission (Edward Norman, The Daily Telegraph, London)
- Church willing to modify plan, a bit | Denver-area church fights to expand (The Denver Post)
Abuse:
- House closes loophole on clergy abuse | Churches back a compromise on reporting (The Boston Globe)
- A loyal flock | Accused priest’s good works, straight talk win support (The Boston Globe)
- Wealthy donors to cover Law’s settlements | Cost will exceed insurance (Boston Herald)
- Boston priests doubting cardinal after sex scandal | Local priests have been demoralized by a daily buffeting by the media, and their trust in Law and his ability to lead the church out of the crisis has been seriously eroded (Reuters)
- Priest emerges as test for church | Spagnolia case will demonstrate for just how much evidence the church needs to remove a priest accused of that crime, and just what kind of power priests have in a hierarchical church (The Boston Globe)
Media:
- Spreading the Word on reality TV | TruthQuest: California is a Christian reality program about 12 teenagers who drive around California in a Winnebago, get to know each other, bicker about what music to play—and spread the word of God (Fox News)
- BBC accused of blasphemy over readings from banned poem | Composition on homosexuality and Jesus was banned in 1977 (The Scotsman)
Roman Catholics:
- Sicily plans Catholic Mount Rushmore | Plans call for the faces of the Pope, Mother Teresa and Padre Pio to be carved into the hills of Segesta in an effort to corner the lucrative pilgrim tourist niche (The Guardian, London)
- Pope announces summer travel plans | Will go to Canada, Mexico, and Guatemala (Associated Press)
Other stories of interest:
- Scholars get religion | More academics are starting to see the ‘religion factor’ as key to understanding forces in economics, politics, and society (The Christian Science Monitor)
- ‘End-time’ talks to draw thousands | 3,000 people gather in Tampa this week for the 19th International Prophecy Conference (Associated Press)
- Scrolls contain some missing pieces of Bible | Scholar hopes lecture series will give people understanding (Corpus Christi [Tex.] Caller-Times)
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