Cleaning Up by Barry Minkow

Author:Barry Minkow
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ebook, book
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

I graduated from Liberty University in October of 1996; well, at least that’s when I completed my last class. As soon as I had finished the degree program, I had a major decision to make. With a master’s of divinity degree from a fully accredited and well-respected Christian university, the opportunity to apply for a job as a senior pastor was a real possibility. However, full-time ministry would mean I would have to significantly cut back on my out-of-town speaking engagements and maybe even the daily radio show. These were my two primary income generators. I had watched Dr. Miller long enough to know that being a senior pastor was a full-time job.

If I chose to go into full-time ministry I would clearly diminish my earning capacity, which would mean less money to victims. That would certainly not go over well with Frank Gulla or Union Bank. I feared they would think I was hiding behind a church as a pastor so I wouldn’t have to pay my victims. Then there was the proactive fraud prevention work I so desperately wanted to do. I felt as if I was being pulled in two different directions.

First, there was the ministry pull. While in prison, Peanut and I had planned on starting a church that was ethnically diverse. I promised him that I would not abandon our goal of working together in a local church, just like we did in prison. Tragically, Peanut would not live to see that dream fulfilled, but I wanted to honor him and go into ministry full time as we had planned. He had invested so much time and effort into helping me grow. But then there was Union Bank and the victim restitution fund and the fraud prevention pull. There were many invitations to speak at various functions around the country.

Perhaps what appealed to me more than the financial benefit of those invitations to speak was the fact that I was actually wanted. People were willing to pay money to hear Barry Minkow speak. That appealed to my ego. But this same ego had led me to prison in the first place. I prayed that God would give me wisdom and direction so that I could make the right decision. Money and popularity were tempting, but I had worked hard to complete my degree. The only way I could utilize such a highly specified master’s of divinity degree was in the context of being a pastor of a local church.

For a two-week period beginning in mid-October of 1996 I tried to figure out where I could do the most good. I tried to discern where God might be calling me. Don’t get me wrong; I was more than thankful that I had career paths to choose from. God had proven He had His hand on my life countless times.

My biggest obstacle was trying to keep the potential for earning a substantial income from influencing my decision. Right when I was sure I could not figure out what to do, I heard Dr.

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