Mike Warnke (Scandal and Journey back):

The Scandal:

Here's a quote from an article about this minister who started out in the early 70's:

"On July 29, the Herald-Leader published a series of three articles on Mike Warnke and his ministry. Grelen’s lead story focused on the huge salaries drawn by Warnke Ministry employees, expenditures of ministry money on luxury items such as a grand piano, antiques, and cars, and the fact that such excessive compensation led to the revocation of Warnke Ministries’ tax-exempt status by the IRS last fall. (The Warnkes have appealed the ruling.) The article noted that the ministries’ top three officers—Mike, his ex-wife Rose, and her brother Neale—received a total of $809,680 in salary at a time when the ministry newsletter claimed donations were down and more funds were needed."

this was from, "Warnke Update," by the Cornerstone staff,
Cornerstone, vol. 21, issue 99 (1992), p. 16, 20
ISSN 0275-2743
Was at: http://www.cornerstonemag.com/features/iss099/csm0992a.htm

The Journey Back:

Mike Warnke's main page-- (very long download. Too many flag pictures and graphics)
http://onward.to/MikeWarnke/

Mike Warnke Tribunal Board
http://www.MikeWarnke.org/packetindex.html

Here you will find an open letter written by Mike Warnke himself, which accepts responsibility for ministry scandal and states in writing his submission to a board of elders. Before this board, he waived rights that he could have or could appeal to - he basically willingly opened and exposed himself to whatever anyone wished to say or do to him, for the sake of the Gospel.

All findings and updates can be found at that above URL, with the specific  Findings and Recommendations of the Advisory Council Jan, 1993, being found at http://www.MikeWarnke.org/packet19.html

Update:

Charisma On-Line News Service
February 27, 2002 edition
http://www.charismanews.com/online/articledisplay.pl?ArticleID=5527:

=======================

Disgraced Evangelist Resurfaces With Advice for 'Friendly Fire' Victims

Mike Warnke hopes his experiences can help those hurt by fellow believers  

Comic evangelist Mike Warnke is stepping back into the public spotlight a decade after his notorious fall from grace amid allegations of lying about his past, and lavish lifestyle.

The one-time top-rated speaker and writer whose ministry collapsed after an expose by a Christian magazine has written about his experiences in a book intended to help others who have been hurt by fellow believers. "Friendly Fire: A Recovery Guide for Believers Battered by Religion" is to be published in April by Destiny Image (DI).

Warnke was dropped by his book and record publisher and saw concert bookings dry up after a 1992 report by "Cornerstone" questioned the accuracy of his best-selling autobiography, "The Satan Seller." Drawing from extensive research, the magazine said that Warnke had invented much of his alleged past satanic involvement and used questionable fundraising techniques.

Warnke denied lying about his past, but admitted that his ministry needed reformation and submitted to a council of elders that oversaw a restoration process. He has since resumed his speaking -- to much smaller crowds than before -- but the new book marks the first time he has offered a higher profile.

"We have done the work. I feel we have a solid foundation for saying what we are saying," he told Charisma News Service. "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."   Warnke went from owning his own plane to near- bankruptcy. He says that the pressures of the scandal contributed to the heart problems that required a triple bypass in 1996. He accepts that some people will always view him as "the man who lied." "I'm sorry that's so, but I have to let go," he told Charisma News.

In "Friendly Fire," Warnke, now 55, says that although he did not lie about his testimony or run a fake ministry, he was "out of order." He says: "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."

Warnke writes that Christians are often hardest on other believers because they are disillusioned when their unrealistic expectations fall flat. But while proper accountability is biblical, he says, "nitpicky faultfinding is another [thing]...mean-spirited and destructive." Too many people have been on "the receiving end of a legalistic bludgeoning at the hands of others in the church," he says.

The book urges those who have been wounded to forgive those who hurt them, take responsibility for their own failings, root out pride and develop humility, and let go of anger. Warnke says his peace with a more low-key ministry these days comes from "the rock-solid certainty...that I am walking in the center of God's will for my life."

The wounds of "friendly fire" are not fatal, he concludes. "They hurt terribly and may even cripple you for a while, but healing comes in time, if you allow it. As long as you are alive and breathing, you're never too far gone to come back. I'm living proof of that."

DI publisher Michael Nori said Warnke's story "will give great hope and encouragement to the hundreds of thousands who have fallen in the midst of the battle."