April Fools’ Day

I find it ironic that Tim Williams and Malcolm Fraser chose April 1, 2010 as the “sale” date of WinePress Publishing. Of course, calling it a “sale” in the first place is rather absurd since the company did 3.5 million in business in 2009 and they set the “sale price” at $10. I guess in that way the date was fitting.

All in all, it had taken a little over 12 years for Tim Williams to swindle me out of my publishing company. He saw what he wanted when he contracted for WinePress to publish his book in 1998, and he systematically set out to get control of what was, at that time, the most successful and well-respected Christian self-publishing company in the industry.

I decided to look up the origin of April Fools’ Day and found this interesting piece:

Constantine and Kugel

Another explanation of the origins of April Fools’ Day was provided by Joseph Boskin, a professor of history at Boston University. He explained that the practice began during the reign of Constantine, when a group of court jesters and fools told the Roman emperor that they could do a better job of running the empire. Constantine, amused, allowed a jester named Kugel to be king for one day. Kugel passed an edict calling for absurdity on that day, and the custom became an annual event.

“In a way,” explained Prof. Boskin, “it was a very serious day. In those times fools were really wise men. It was the role of jesters to put things in perspective with humor.”

This explanation was brought to the public’s attention in an Associated Press article printed by many newspapers in 1983. There was only one catch: Boskin made the whole thing up. It took a couple of weeks for the AP to realize that they’d been victims of an April Fools’ joke themselves.

http://www.infoplease.com/spot/aprilfools1.html

Tim Williams definitely made a fool of me, just as Boskin made a fool of the Associated Press in the story above, and I’m quite sure the enemy was screeching with glee when the final papers were signed and the transfer of the company was completed. Think about it…no fool in their right mind would sell a multi-million dollar company for $10. And therein lies the truth…I was not in my right mind.

But I guess he didn’t quite expect me to come to my senses and have the courage to finally put a stop to the madness. Kind of like the guy who leaned out the window in the movie Network yelling “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore!”

Now I know what the Bible says…be angry and sin not. And that is exactly what I’ve committed to.

I had to admit I’d been duped and began this blog as a way of telling my story. I have done so out of a deep desire to shine His light on the evil that I allowed to become a part of my life and the lives of many others… an evil that I allowed to grow in credibility in the Christian publishing arena as I used my company and my reputation to give them a voice.

This is the voice that is now proving its true colors for the insanity that it represents. After all, what church do you know of who would leave a pastor in their pastoral position after he has been arrested for child rape, defending him and declaring his innocence? What in the world does that say to the other young girls in the church who may also be victims?

The loss of my company, my marriage, my house, and all my worldly possessions pales in comparison to the loss of a child’s innocence. But the courage it took for this young woman to come forward encourages me to continue telling my story and shining the light on evil…if for nothing else than to warn others of the ways spiritually abusive organizations operate and how to avoid them.

On this two year anniversary of the enemy of our souls stealing WinePress from me, I celebrate the freedom that I now declare and the healing process that I share with all of you.

While they continue to try to make a fool out of me, I choose to allow God to use this tragedy to purify my heart and prepare me for even greater things in the future.