REGARDING DR. SAMUEL KORANTENG-PIPIM

To the Ann Arbor Seventh-day Adventist Church Board Members (meeting on May 21, 2012) [this was updated on June 1, 2012]:

The following information is only a brief summary of what I learned recently (in April 2012) while I was in Botswana, Africa, after spending hours listening to and talking with church leaders and others involved with this tragic situation – including the Church Elder who assisted; the fourth passenger in the vehicle with the Chaplain, Dr. Pipim and this student, and with the 20-year-old girl with whom Dr. Pipim had immoral sexual relations, twice. I, as well as some of these leaders, also listened to the phone recordings which the young girl made when Dr. Pipim called her - clearly, this young girl was not in agreement with what Dr. Pipim did to her. On the recordings the young girl questions Dr. Pipim about various aspects, and he struggles to explain himself (or to ignore her question.).


So, it was with great sadness that I heard the following account of a clear case of clergy sexual abuse/misconduct that transpired there in Botswana in January 2011. And, since serious misinformation has continued to circulate regarding this matter, and since I am very concerned about the physical, emotional and spiritual welfare of others (especially young people), I am compelled to let you, my fellow Adventists, know the following information (so that appropriate action may be taken for all concerned):

1. JANUARY 2011. In mid-January 2011 Dr. Samuel Koranteng-Pipim was the speaker for a Bible Lecture Series (i.e., like a Week of Prayer) at the University of Botswana, in Gaborone. In addition to speaking/preaching, Dr. Pipim provided counsel for those requesting such. Prior to these meetings, the organizers had arranged for a private meeting room on campus right near the venue, so that Dr. Pipim could counsel students there; and so that they could monitor the counseling. However, Dr. Pipim refused to use this room – claiming that students didn’t always show up; so he demanded that they arrange for a hotel where there was a suite and internet access – this hotel ended up about 15-20 minutes away. So, the organizers arranged for a taxi to be at Dr. Pipim’s disposal.

2. FRIDAY. On January 21, this 20-year-old female student, who was actively involved in organizing and leading out at those meetings by Dr. Pipim, came to Dr. Pipim for help with a deeply personal problem. Before she had become an Adventist less than nine months earlier she had been involved in some sexually inappropriate activities. She was still feeling guilty about this; and in spite of her commitment to Christ, had begun to doubt her conversion experience. So she now came to Dr. Pipim for counsel. They met in his hotel lobby that Friday where he counseled her. She was satisfied that all counseling was complete.

3. Then later Friday evening, Dr. Pipim came to the young lady again and conversed with her, and mentioned a sermon of his from the previous week – which she had missed because of a visiting relative. Dr. Pipim urged her to come back to his hotel to get that CD. ( Obviously Dr. Pipim could have brought her the CD on Sabbath morning - but he did not.)


4. SABBATH. On January 22, after Dr. Pipim ended his Bible Lecture Series on Saturday night, Dr. Pipim asked the young lady to come back to his hotel, accompanied by the Chaplain, to pick up the CD of Dr. Pipim, which he said he wanted her to have. The Chaplain felt that this request seemed rather strange since Dr. Pipim had himself asked to have a meeting the next morning (Sunday) with conference officers and all the organizers (including this young lady) – when Dr. Pipim could have easily given her the CD in person. Nevertheless, trusting the well-known speaker, the Chaplain drove Dr. Pipim and the young lady to the hotel – only to pick up the CD, and not for counseling. [The Chaplain confirms that he took this young girl to Dr. Pipim’s hotel only to pick up the CD, and not for counseling].

5. Fully expecting that Dr. Pipim would give the CD to the young lady, and then immediately send her back to campus with the taxi (which was at Dr. Pipim’s constant disposal) the Chaplain left them and went to drop off another student at home. So Dr. Pipim took this young lady to his hotel suite, where she expected to pick up the CD, and then go home by taxi. However, once there, Dr. Pipim began to engage in some disturbing actions: He delayed giving her the CD, and asked her if she wanted to take a shower. After she refused, he then took a shower. Then, postponing giving her that CD even longer, he told her to rest in his bedroom while he packed his bags for the trip home the following afternoon. Totally exhausted from the meetings and then a long Sabbath, she fell asleep fully clothed, still patiently waiting for that CD.

6. SABBATH/SUNDAY. On January 23, startled, she awoke to find Dr. Pipim touching her inappropriately. He ignored her pleas to stop, and emotionally and psychologically overpowering her, he forced himself on her sexually (intercourse), which was against her wishes. She asked him if it wasn’t a sin against God and against his wife. But it had no effect. She lay there with tear-stained face, in shock for hours, and then drifted off to sleep – only to be awoken early and again Dr. Pipim forced himself on her sexually (intercourse), which again was against her wishes.

7. Before Dr. Pipim had her leave his hotel room, he gave her some of his books and CDs – including the CD which she had gone to pick up in the first place. Then he handed her a US $100 bill, which made her feel like a prostitute. And then, before daylight, he sent her away before people would notice her leaving the hotel.


8. Despite engaging in this shocking behavior, just a few hours later Dr. Pipim showed up to lead out at the organizational meeting which he had arranged, so they could reflect on his Bible Lecture Series. At this Sunday morning meeting were conference officials, the Chaplain, and the young people who helped to organize and lead out – including the victim.

Yet Dr. Pipim acted as though he had done nothing wrong at all, and showed no outward signs of remorse. And the young lady, still in a state of shock (and blaming herself, as many victims do) remained quiet.

9. A church elder soon noticed that the young lady had gone through a radical personality change overnight, literally. This friendly, outgoing, sweet person had become sullen, quiet and withdrawn. This elder kept trying to encourage her, but she refused to talk. In the meantime, Dr. Pipim sent the victim many emails (including photos of himself) in which he now continued to spiritually and emotionally abuse her. He claimed that she was "one of the main reasons the Lord sent me" to the University of Botswana (email of 4 Feb 2011); and that he was her "admirer" (Feb 2011), as well as her "daddy" (as per a transcribed call from Berlin, Germany).

10. Eventually, the victim opened up to the concerned church elder and told him what Dr. Pipim had done. Shocked by this revelation, which explained the radical change in her, he urged her to talk to a pastor; but she immediately "freaked out" replying vehemently that she never wanted to talk to another pastor again (because of what Dr. Pipim had done to her)!


11. Later, after she agreed, the church elder informed the Chaplain, who also listened to her story. The Chaplain then took her to the three officers of the South Botswana Conference. Because her allegations were about Dr. Pipim, the leaders found it difficult to believe what she conveyed to them, and they asked her for substantial evidence. Thus, when Dr. Pipim called her again, she simply recorded their discussion on her mobile phone, and gave the recording to the conference leaders.

12. They had no question that the recordings confirmed that Dr. Pipim had had sex with this young lady against her wishes, as she had told them. The conference officers then referred her to the Botswana Union officers. When they too listened to this young lady’s account, and then heard the recordings – they too realized she was telling the truth. Hence, a leaders in Botswana informed the President of the Southern Africa-Indian Ocean Division, who immediately called Dr. Pipim to inform him about what they knew and had proof of with the recordings. With all of the irrefutable evidence, Dr. Pipim conceded that he did have immoral sexual relations with this 20-year-old student.

13. In Botswana they kept a low profile on this matter, seeking to not drag the good name of the Church through the mud, while at the same time trying to help the victim, whose account of events that dreadful night has remained consistent.

14. In contrast, however, Dr. Pipim has chosen to publicly share his frequently changing and distorted version of his crime. For example, whereas his counseling session with her was on Friday only, he now claims that a "desperate woman" came to him for advice on that Saturday night. Also, Dr. Pipim alleges that there was no other time to help except that Saturday night (even though, if he needed to counsel her more, he could have done so on Sunday morning or later before he flew out in the afternoon). Also, Dr. Pipim now claims that his mistake was in allowing a young lady into his room – yet Dr. Pipim is the one who had orchestrated time alone with her at his hotel, late on Saturday night!

15. There are several other concerns regarding Dr. Pipim, some of which I will briefly note here:

A. On the recording, to the young victim, Dr. Pipim says, "I accept full responsibility," and "would not, in any way, blame you for anything;" yet, Dr. Pipim has publicly (in writing, speaking, etc) blamed and accused her, repeatedly – even though he repeatedly apologizes to her for what he did – but clearly, his main concern was that he got caught.

B. And, Dr. Pipim has repeatedly claimed that it was " a temptation of a moment;" yet, it is clear that his actions prove otherwise. And because he kept her at his hotel that night, at least the second time he violated her, was indeed pre-meditated.

C. He alleges publicly that he came forward on his own with "candor" and "integrity;" yet he kept his crime a secret for about four months, until he was confronted with irrefutable evidence, caught, and then he was able to resign – thus avoiding being fired.

D. He publicly repeated the promise of "cancelling all speaking appointments;" and ye he has preached and spoken dozens of times in various countries, while he was not even a member; and allowing those who introduced him to call him "pastor" or "elder" of "man of God". See his new ministry/website/presentations at http://eaglesonline.org/resources/audio/

E. Whereas previously he preached a high standard of biblical ethics, he is now promoting dangerous anti-biblical views, such as, when one cheats on one's spouse this is a private sin – and only God and the sex partner need to be confessed to (and not the spouse); and that that pastor can then continue in fulltime ministry as though nothing has happened. (This means that a pastor/person could cheat multiple times and just confess to the person involved and God, and then just carry on with the ministry).

F. He claims to have been healed and restored by God (so that he can "minister" again); yet he has failed to really make things right with the victim and her family. He does apologize many times on the recordings for what he did to her – yet, because he still continually and publicly makes false accusations, clearly he has not made things right.

G. He alleges that what happened was "consensual" "adultery" (which resulted in his removal from membership, and his ministerial credentials removed, and his ordination annulled); yet, based on evidence that he forced himself on her sexually (intercourse) against her wishes, the South Botswana Conference/Union chose to retain the victim as a member in full and regular standing – and she still holds a church office as well.

16. In view of concerns such as the above, I would like to urge all those seriously concerned about this matter to prayerfully consider what the proper Christ-like response should be. The concern of the leaders in Botswana (as well as myself) is essentially four-fold: (1) For Dr. Pipim to be honest about what he has done, to confess, and to make things right with the victim and her family, etc.; (2) For healing for Dr. Pipim’s family, friends and former colleagues who have been deeply affected by this; (3) For spiritual discernment for the many followers of Dr. Pipim, who have believed his repeated manipulation of truth, and are now lapping-up his new non-biblical teachings; and (4) For courage and strength for the victim and her non-SDA family, as they continue the long journey back from this abuse inflicted upon them by a professed pastor, youth leader, counselor and global preacher. While in Botswana, this victim’s uncle/guardian told me that Dr. Pipim has never come to him to apologize, for what he did to his 20-year old niece.


As a pastor's/administrator's/professor's wife of nearly 33 years, this is probably one of the most difficult things I have ever had to deal with. A friend of mine forced himself sexually (intercourse) upon a 20-year-old girl, twice! Now what do I do? I want to be supportive and encouraging; yet I do not want to enable and encourage him or his family in an inappropriate or unhealthy way. But, since I am also concerned about other young people, and about the church at large, there is nothing easy about this – either way a friend is caught in the middle. I am sorry it has come to this, regarding a friend of mine for more than 20 years. Many tears have been shed over this matter, and it is with deep sorrow that I present to you now this brief summary.

I trust that the Lord, by His grace, will continue to guide, even through this crisis, for His glory.

Lynda du Preez

You may contact me via email if you have further questions.

lyndaraye@yahoo.com

P.S. The AA Church pastor has the contact information of those involved (in Botswana).

January 5, 2012

Dear Sam,

I have read the letter that you posted recently on Facebook, and have decided I must write to you. Perhaps you find it confusing and discouraging that while you have done your best to show repentance and to follow biblical process regarding your fall, you are met with such resistance from former fellow-soldiers in the Lord’s work. None of us have written comments of encouragement or delight in your plans to re-launch yourself in ministry, and no one is "liking" your letter. You may feel that we are being unreasonable and even graceless in our approach. I know that the silence is hurtful, but it is all that many of us feel we can offer. However, as you declare repeatedly that you want so much to follow the will of God, I am writing to you to attempt to help you understand the resistance and hesitance I and many others feel.

You have written, "Hypocrisy is an unpardonable sin." I have been silent all of these months, but in light of your words, and in light of the fact that you seem determined to launch yourself into ministry again, I cannot hold my peace any longer. Know that I write to you, not for the purpose of wounding, but of healing. I pray for you and your family every day, and I do not take lightly the responsibility of lifting you and your future up before the Lord. But I have come to the conclusion that I cannot just pray for you. I must share with you what is upon my heart. As Jesus spoke to the Pharisees, there were tears in His voice. But He continued to rebuke them, only becoming more direct as time went on in His ministry. This was not because He was becoming angry with them, but because He knew they were advancing in their sin against the Holy Spirit—pushing away the voice of conviction—and He must do something desperate to get their attention. Those who will not be molded must be broken. I pray this is not the case in your situation. So I write to you as a friend, with earnest intention to reach your heart. I hope that you will prayerfully consider my words.

You may know that I did two seminar presentations on sexual addiction at GYC this year, as well as one on healing from sexual abuse. As this is an area in which I deal with many people on an ongoing basis, I have felt more and more compelled to put together a presentation to reach those who I cannot speak with personally. I spoke directly to the issues involving your situation, though I did not use your name. I felt that by your persistent determination to exalt yourself to the position of spiritual advisor to others, when you have completely disqualified yourself for it, you had forced me to do so.

The heart of my presentation on sexual addiction was the allegory of the plant. I used two plants in particular, the dandelion and the bamboo, to illustrate sexual addiction. In my seminar I explained that the power of these plants lies in their root system, and that by the time a sexual addiction is manifested by outward behaviors, it is already deeply rooted in other sins of the soul. This is a fact, and one that you must realize yourself, as you examine your own life. I don’t have to hear a story to know that there was a long process that led to your fall. You have attempted to paint yourself as a mighty spiritual warrior who made a mistake because he was in a "far country" and who did not have enough safeguards in place. This is a boldfaced lie. You and I both know that this is not the first time you have done such a thing. It is only the first time you have been caught, and if you had not been confronted with the undeniable truth about what you had done, you would not have voluntarily come forward. Yet you have artfully worded your confessions to make it appear that you did so voluntarily. When you realized that the facts were coming to light, that this had happened in January and you had not confessed for many months, you adjusted your confessions. I watched the progression of your testimony over the months, and you have evidenced clearly what spirit is behind your efforts. You cannot let go of the spotlight, of your identity as a spiritual advisor and one who can be trusted and admired. So you pretend that there was not deep spiritual decay in your heart leading up to this event. But as a counselor and a Christian, I know what happens first. The hollow, rotten center of the mighty oak is only revealed when it falls, but the decay has been going on for years before the fall. So it is in the area of sexual sin especially. When a man knows just what tremendous issues are at stake and goes forward with his lustful actions anyway, one can know that this was not the beginning. For you to do such a high-risk act, there have been many comparatively low-risk acts already done. Whether that was pornography or a prostitute in Amsterdam, I don’t know. But you know. And you have determinedly pressed forward with your pretense of holiness, giving your followers the illusion that you are still worthy of trust. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

As you probably know, for many months I have been in touch with the young lady with whom you were sinfully involved. Since I do not know if this email will be seen by someone other than yourself, I am going to refer to her as N.M. I have developed a friendship with her, and am deeply moved by her anguish as she has dealt with the consequences of your actions. This is part of the reason I feel so strongly that I must write to you. You seem determined to promote yourself as one "qualified for ministry" by your fall, and I feel very strongly that under the circumstances, nothing can be farther from the truth. If falling into sin is a prerequisite for being able to minister to sinners, Jesus Himself was not qualified.

I know that you have sought to find forgiveness, and perhaps you feel that you have obtained the forgiveness and healing needed from God. One might feel, "What more can I do?" Confession, repentance and bitter time of reflection have all been a part of the last few months for you. Now you may not be able to understand why your fellow leaders and partners in ministry feel that this is not enough. I can understand why you might think that you are now qualified to minister again.

However, there is a sin for which there is no forgiveness. It is not adultery, of course, but as stated in Matthew 12:31, "the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men." I know that I am not explaining something to you that you do not know, so please bear with me and listen to what I am saying about this sin.

The sin against the Holy Spirit is the sin which Satan himself commits. It is the sin the Pharisees committed. What do they have in common? Simply put, they were skilled at denial—lying to themselves. Even now, though Satan knows that Jesus is coming to defeat him, and that he can do nothing to stop God from winning, he lives in continual defiance, determined to win the great controversy though he knows he cannot. Though he stood in the presence of the Father, and knew His character of love as perhaps no other angel did, Ellen White says Satan hates the concept of self-sacrificing love. "Its very existence he denies." Though he knows that God is love, he is spending every moment of his life attempting to disprove it. In a word, he is

lying to himself. This is why he is known as "the father of lies." This is one manifestation of the sin against the Holy Spirit—choosing what we want to believe, and convincing ourselves of it.

When you first submitted your written resignation, accompanied by your explanation of events, I read it and immediately said to Alan, "He’s not telling the truth." As a Biblical counselor, I deal with many people who struggle with addictions, especially sexual ones. I am well aware of the process that leads to an event such as yours. Perhaps a person who is ignorant of this process would believe the explanation, "I took precautions, but I did not take enough," and "it was the sin of a moment." However,

you and I both know better. There was a long process that led to such an event. No one ends up in bed with a person who is not their spouse on an impulse. This is true a hundred times over in this particular situation.

If you were on the tenth floor of a building and you climbed into the elevator and pressed the right button, you could be transported in a matter of seconds to the bottom floor. However, this is not how adultery happens. The process leading to adultery is not an instantaneous event, but a step-by-step descent, a persistent

pushing away of the voice of the Holy Spirit. This is why adultery is sufficient to break even the sacred marriage vow.

Before one engages in such a high-risk sin (risking your own life, your wife’s life, your ministry, reputation, and family), there are a thousand second looks at low necklines or high hemlines, or fantasies, or episodes of viewing pornography, or trips to the hotel desk to pay cash to watch a movie that you do not want to be recorded on your bill. No earnest Christian young man ends up in the back seat of a car with his girlfriend without first pushing away the voice of conscience, rationalizing many times, "It’s okay to go sit in a deserted parking lot alone in the dark, because we would never…"

You and I both know this—there is a process that leads to an adulterous event. When a mighty-looking tree falls in a storm, we are shocked to see the hollow rottenness that has consumed the inside of the tree. It looked fine until it fell. But there was a long process that led to that fall. Adulterous behavior, the fall of the tree, is the RESULT, not the impulsive event, of a long process of spiritual decay. And anyone experienced in marriage and ministry should be well aware of this lengthy process of spiritual rotting.

In your confession and resignation you sought to make it appear that you were a spiritually solid person who had had a momentary fall because of exhaustion, being in a "far country" and not having enough safeguards in place. Then you made it appear that you had voluntarily, immediately come forward with this confession, out of the conviction of your heart and the earnest desire to do right and only right. Because of the way you worded your confession, I knew immediately that you were not being honest about what had happened.

Contrast this, if you will, with what could have happened. Suppose that you had made the mistake of committing adultery, but had immediately sent the girl away, called your wife and called or written to Jay and resigned. What if you had immediately admitted that there had been a long process of spiritual decay going on in your life, which had culminated in an act that you had never dreamed you could be capable of doing? What if you had immediately, in tears of repentance, sent N.M. away and called the chaplain to counsel her and support her? While these actions could not have undone the damage that had been done, they would have altered the situation completely by showing us that while you had allowed a long process of decay to happen, you were listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit and were determined to turn around, to no longer live the life of a hypocrite. For as you state yourself, "Hypocrisy is an unpardonable sin."

You know the difference between this scenario and what actually happened. It is so evident. Contrast your integrity with the integrity of Sebastien in confessing his crime. You knew what he should do—tell the truth—and you told him so. And you also knew what you should do—tell the truth. The argument that you could not tell your wife because of her health is meaningless to me. If you had been thinking of her health you would not have had sex with a girl who you KNOW has been sexually active in the past, and who is in a country where the HIV rate is commonly one in three! If you had not been caught, I strongly doubt you would have ever told your wife. It also begs the question of your history. Is this the first time you have done something like this? As a counselor, I don't even have to ask. I know. No one does what you did to N.M. as a first-time offense.

What you have done is not like the sin of Peter in denying Christ. Rather, it is like the sin of Achan. You covered your sin until there was no further opportunity to cover it. For this reason, you can no longer be trusted. I fear that the rut of self-deception, of living a lie and pretending all is well spiritually when it is not, is so deep in your mind that you will fall into it naturally and not even realize it.

You have felt that you were like Mary Magdalene, who had fallen into great sin, but was deeply repentant and ready to be used by God. However, a deeper look at your actions shows you rather to resemble Simon the leper. You have referred to your adulterous sin as "not even a fall—just a little slip." You have not been the victim, but the predator—the one who persistently pursued a vulnerable girl, and used her body repeatedly to satisfy your lustful desires—despite her protests. Then you have referred to her as a "desperate woman," when the truth was, she only went with you to the hotel because you had organized it with the chaplain and she believed she would stay in his company the entire time. Then you paid her like a prostitute and sent her on her way with your "inspirational materials."

However, perhaps the height of evidence of your sin against the Holy Spirit is your deliberate attempt to become a "father figure" to this girl who you had already deeply wounded. In doing so, you gave evidence that you did not actually feel defiled by your sin, or at best thought you could atone for it by becoming her spiritual guide. The best I can think is that you thought you could perhaps help her through the damage you had done. But the reality is probably that much of what motivated you was the fear that she would tell others what you had done.

If you had told the truth immediately and gone to others to help you to untangle the deep-seated web of self-deception and fake spirituality, perhaps you could have been reinstated in ministry someday. Perhaps there would have been some way we could have trusted you. But as if you have not given us enough reason to doubt your credibility, now you begin to promote ideas such as that a man does not need to confess even to his own wife if he has violated his vows to her. Furthermore, you have been heard to declare that this was not even adultery, because it was not premeditated. (As if one can keep a girl in his room overnight and wake her up at 5 am and have sex with her again, without it being premeditated.)

If Herman Cain had attempted to convince even the non-religious American public of such ludicrous ideas, he would have been laughed off the stage. Do you mean to say that those adulterers who are the best liars can be spared the discomfort that others who are not so good at it must be forced to face? That a wife’s only safety is to ASK her husband every time he comes home from a trip, if he has been faithful to her? What would you have said if your wife had asked you such a question?

I do not even know how to describe to you how profoundly this gives evidence that you cannot be trusted. If you are so deeply self-deceived as to actually be able to persuade yourself of these things, you cannot possibly be trusted to safely guide others in the paths of righteousness. You confessed because you had been caught, and knew there was no way to conceal what you had done any more. This is sufficient by itself to show that you have no right to be respected as a spiritual leader again.

The reason this is so alarming to me is that this is a powerful, compelling evidence that you have been committing the sin against the Holy Spirit. The unpardonable sin is simply this: rationalizing away the voice of your conscience. Had you not already seared your conscience terribly, you would have been instantly overcome with intense grief and horror at what you had done to N.M. Instead, you kept her in your room overnight. The fact that you did this, and that you were then capable of getting up and preaching in following weeks, that you could go home and live a lie before your wife (letting her believe that you are a faithful husband when you are not), that you could have the gall to encourage this girl to look to you as a father figure, to call you Daddy, is inconceivable to me.

Your sin against the Holy Spirit had obviously grown to massive proportions even before this happened. But to continue to live a lie, pretending to be a spiritual giant and cultivating the admiration of your "fans" for months, is the surest evidence to me that you are totally disqualified for spiritual leadership or ministry. To have hardened yourself thus into the sin against the Holy Spirit will take a significant

amount of time, and intense confrontation with the Word of God, to heal. It is not sufficient for you to simply attempt to heal by yourself—you need someone else to assist you in confronting your self-deception. And even if you are ever restored to having a sensitive conscience, to put you into a position of influence again is too great a risk of young people’s lives.

From reading the chapters of your book that you have sent around to various people, it is evident that you have painted this situation as a consensual sexual encounter. You have called it an "affair." I would like to defend you by saying that perhaps you do not understand that in English, this word "affair" is used only to refer to consensual, romantic relationships. However, I think you are aware of this. However, due to the obvious sin against the Holy Spirit that you had committed, you were able to convince yourself that you could repair the damage done to N.M. by becoming a father figure to her. In fact, it seems that you have convinced yourself that she actually wanted you to have sex with her! This was not the case. Can you actually say that you did not see the tears flowing down her cheeks, and did not hear her protests and her asking you if God allowed you to do this?

What you have done is a crime. Others who have done exactly the same thing are sitting in prison. To have then cultivated a close relationship with her as a "daddy" only made it an emotionally incestuous and exponentially more damaging to her. It is also one of the strongest evidences of the advanced state of your sin against the Holy Spirit.

I ask you to prayerfully search your heart and consider what I am saying. You have lied to yourself, convincing yourself that this was not a great fall, only a "little slip." You have lied to yourself by calling yourself an eagle, and declaring yourself to still be an eagle, still a man of excellence, despite this series of unspeakably horrible acts. First, you raped (I know this is a strong word, but I believe it reflects her testimony) a young woman, a brand-new Christian and Adventist. Then when she confronted you about this horrific crime, you manipulated her emotionally, attempting to silence your conscience by repairing the damage you had done and becoming her "daddy"—thus creating a relationship even more damaging because you were even further warping her perspective of the love of God the Father. Finally, you have lied to the world, painting yourself as a mighty spiritual giant who slipped up for a moment with a "desperate woman" but immediately repented and publicly confessed. What would your friends and eager disciples think if you had the moral integrity to admit that you kept her there all night and woke her up to have sex with her again? What about your repeated attempts to get her to undress (either to shower or put on a t-shirt) before you just finally did as you pleased?

You have attempted to silence the voice of conviction, rationalizing and procrastinating about repentance and only confessing when you had no other option. Now you even go so far as to promote the idea that a man who does such a thing does not have to admit or apologize to anyone except God and the person with whom he has had sex. This declaration of yours, all by itself, tells me far more than I ever wanted to know about the steps you already took before that night.

I know this has been a hard letter to read. It would be a very different letter if I knew you were not considering returning to public ministry and promoting your version of how to deal with adultery. I have had to write so strongly because I believe you are in grave danger of pushing away the pleading of the Holy Spirit and convincing not only yourself but others of a deadly lie. I urge you to take time to heal and to deal with the deeper root issues rather than serving up the superficial answers given in your book. I pray that you will not take my words lightly, but will prayerfully allow God to do what He needs to do to rectify this situation so that you may yet be saved, and some good may come from this situation.

I know what I have written is painful. I pray that the knife brings the deep-seated infection to the surface, that you may find healing in Christ.

Your friend,

Nicole

Anyone who has done what Pipim has done, should NEVER be allowed back in the Ministry ever again.

our leaders

Here lies the root of the problem - men and women lifted up as 'leaders' when Christ said "All ye are brethren".
The laity are taught to reverence and worship fallen men.

__________________

I take it you don't believe in forgiveness, mercy, or the power of God to convert and to use us again when we've committed grave errors.

Do you have scriptural support for your position?

Blessings,

Green Cochoa.

I have no real ground of hope for those who have stood as shepherds to the flock, and have for years been borne with by the merciful God, following them with reproof, with warnings, with entreaties, but who have hid their evil ways, and continued in them, thus defying the laws of the God of heaven by practicing fornication. We may leave them to work out their own salvation with fear and trembling, after all has been done to reform them; but in no case entrust to them the guardianship of souls. False shepherds! Oh, can it be that the men who have been engaged in this work for a long time will corrupt their ways before the Lord after great experience and special light? {TM 428.2}

I believe in all of those things, BUT, that doesn't mean there are no consequences....he betrayed his trust, and never should be trusted with the youth again...

Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. (Romans 12:19)

Consequences? You're interested in consequences? Should that be our chief motivation in criticizing a fallen leader seeking to again serve the Lord?



God did not remove David after his heinous crime. With what measure we mete, it shall be meted to us again. Let s/he who is without sin cast the first stone.

Praise God that He is so merciful, or none of us would be preserved.

Blessings,

Green Cochoa.

Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. (Psalm 1:1)

Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins. (James 5:20)

And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins. (1 Peter 4:8)

13:4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
13:5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
13:6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
13:7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

Whatever you say about forgiveness and restoration does not demand of me that I accept Samuel Pipim's many teachings that do not fit into my understanding of Scripture and the teachings of Ellen G. White.

So many of our Bible teachers have studied the same questions thoroughly and come to the conclusion that it is Biblical to ordain women.

Many refer to 1 Tim. 3 without considering how the original Greek of verse 11 is being translated by many scholars, and is shown in a number of Bible translations which show that the same principles that are listed for men, apply to women as well. Just look at your KJV and notice that three words in that verse are rendered in italics which show that they are added to the original text by the translators. Then the word for "women" is rendered as "their wives" by those translators. To me this is a sign that some portions of our Bible have been manipulated by chauvinist males, probably the same who placed the comma in the wrong place in Luke 23:43.

Consider also how some of our pioneers rejected the testimony of the young Ellen Harmon because she was just a girl, and yet she was ordained by God himself, and she had no qualms about receiving the certificate and classification as an ordained minister in our church.

Add to that that Ellen White pronounced in 1895 that certain women in our church should be ordained, and that she never issued one iota against the ordination of female ministers in the church. How could she, when she herself was classified as an ordained minister?

In spite of this we still have these male chauvinists who think they can change and manipulate all of the facts according to their own desires. Then just now it has been revealed that one of the most expressive chauvinist of them all, an expert and scholar classifying the role of women in comparison with that of the male, has shown by his own example that such women are but playthings to gratify the lust of man.

We must not judge his relationship with the Lord, but actions must be taken to prevent his false teachings and actions from making our Church a safer haven for rapists and perverts rather than for our women and daughters.

I give both of these women alot of credit for having the courage to speak out.

Anyone who has done what Pipim has done, should NEVER be allowed back in the Ministry ever again.

For beautiful language I love the old King James version. It was around 1958 I noticed what problems the KJV was causing the Seventh-day Adventist Church on a World scale. The Sabbath School lessons for a quarter were a study of the Psalms. The author of the lessons based the study on the KJV. It was beautiful in the English speaking world as long as you used the KJV. Then I noticed how translators of the lessons in other parts of the world struggled with these lessons in countries where the Bibles had a more correct rendering of the original text. They would insert in the text of the lessons explanations that such and such a verse in English was so different that the questions and references did not fit to the text in their Bibles.

Fortunately there seemed to be no doctrinal differences, but just completely different pictures in the poetic language. I remember thinking then, Why do the authors not realize that we are a world church with a membership even larger who do not speak English? Why give these people the impression that the good Americans are using a different Bible?

Some time after that the Germans took a drastic measure to avoid any more King Jamification of Adventism. Now they write their own Sabbath School lessons, but I understand some confusion still remains as some German speaking countries use our world edition.

It so happens that I functioned as a Director of Sabbath Schools for nine years in two different countries. During that time I attended a number of meetings where we also discussed the lesson material and tried to solve some of the problems.

Already around 1960 the Sabbath School Department of the General Conference came to the realization that we are a world movement,and since then the editors of the lessons have tried to avoid references that are based solely on the wording of the KJV - or any other particular Bible translation. Unfortunately we still have some staunch scholars who have not yet woken up to the fact that we are a world movement.

Personally I am still very old fashioned by wanting to follow the principles outlined by Ellen G White, and I will never accept a teaching that is not fully in agreement with her writings. This includes that we are not to launch a new interpretation of Scripture on our own before we have consulted with others and seen that a number of other Bible students see the same possibility.

A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach; (1 Timothy 3:2)

Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well. (1 Timothy 3:12)

One thing I like about the KJV is that when they have added words, either for grammar, or for clarity, they italicize them so that you know the words were added.

Johann,

Unfortunately, our church has turned a blind eye to the facts in the case because the leadership wanted to believe that being politically correct was best. The same attitudes of political correctness have colored a number of our other doctrines in today's world as well.

Satan will use the downfall of God's servants to advantage. He will use it to discredit their prior teachings, so that the truth is not taken to heart by the people. Such was the case with Jones and Waggoner. The people did not immediately accept their message, and when they later apostatized, the people used it as an excuse to reject it altogether.

The same might be true of Pipim. I'm not saying that everything he taught is to be taken as truth. But what I would caution is that one should not necessarily reject everything he taught just because of his later failure.

Mrs. White informed us that Jones and Waggoner had the right message in 1888. She did not change her view of this even after they had apostatized. This should be a lesson to us.

I don't understand your perspective on how Dr. Pipim's teachings would lower women to object status. Feel free to expound on your line of reasoning behind this.

Blessings,

Green Cochoa.

I take it you don't believe in forgiveness, mercy, or the power of God to convert and to use us again when we've committed grave errors.

Forgiveness does not require reliefe from consequences.

A church treasurer who steals funds can be forgive, but that person should never handle denominational funds again. They have demonstrated a weakness and the chruch should protect them from being placed again in that situation.