Intro [editorial]
by John W. Styll [editor and publisher]
CCM [Contemporary Christian Music], vol. 15, no. 5, p. 4
November 1992

After we published our September report about recent press allegations that Mike Warnke had fabricated parts of his testimony and had mishandled his ministry's finances, we were not suprised to receive a number of letters from you on the subject. What did surprise us, however, was the fact that so many of you rushed to Warnke's defense and criticised us for publishing the article. Did we, as one letter-writer accused, "sow discord among the brethren" by running the story?

Another writer said, "I'm not going to support a magazine that takes an axe to its other members in the body of Christ." Still another said, "Mike Warnke does not owe the press, the public or anyone any explanations except for Jesus Christ."

It should be pointed out that in both the Mike Warnke piece and in October's story about Jonathan David Brown's federal conviction, CCM made no accusations. We are neither judge nor jury. Our job is to let you know what's going on, and that was our sole objective in covering these stories. Another part of our job is to help put things in perspective for you; that's why we raised certain questions about the Warnke situation.

Should Warnke's alleged sins have been made public? To quote St. Paul's letter to Timothy, "Do not receive an accusation against an elder except from two or three witnesses. Those who sin rebuke in the presence of all, that the rest also may fear" (I Timothy 5:19-20, NKJV). Both of the sources we quoted for our story, Cornerstone and the Lexington-Herald Leader, had more than enough "witnesses" to qualify to make their allegations public.

The Bible itself is our model for this type of reporting. Surely the early church would have looked better if the incident with Ananias and Sapphira had not been reported in the book of Acts. And I'm sure David's PR people would have preferred that his indiscretion with Bathsheba had not been reported in the Bible, of all places! But both incidents happened, and there are lessons to be learned from them. I'm sure there is something to learn from these modern-day incidents as well.

I would like to point out that Mike Warnke's salvation is not in question. It is true that many people have received powerful ministry from him. God's word is true, no matter who preaches it or why.

One final note. Despite his verbal agreement to me personally in late July to respond comprehensively to the allegations against him, as of early October Mike Warnke has not even acknowledged our requests for an interview.

-- John W. Styll

---

original filename: CSR0013A.TXT
"Intro"
Release A, 4 June 1998

This file was previously released as CCM_EDITL.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]