Michael Pearl's Wikipedia Page

[debrand]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Pearl

Today, I'm on a roll with Pearl articles. :oops:

His wiki page is interesting because the edit history mentions a Nathan316, who appears to have gotten banned from correcting the page. The Pearls have son named Nathan.

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?tit ... tagfilter=

http://toolserver.org/~snottywong/cgi-b ... ki&max=100

I read one of the links from the above site and reached a lot more information on Michael Pearl than is available on the current Wiki. I don't know a lot about wiki's editing but it appears that Nathan was trying to include more details about his dad(I assume this is Michael's son just by the amount of information)

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?tit ... =467212054

Here is some information about Pearl's back ground that I didn't know. It is interesting to me because I want to know how a person turns into a Michael Pearl. Was he abused as a child? What happened to him?

Early MinistryAt 19 Michael received a prestigious award from the Memphis Academy of Art (now Memphis College of Art) for a full scholarship to study art. After a semester of study, one of Michael’s professors told him that in order to be a successful artist one must think art, eat art and sleep art and that nothing else could take precedence over his art. Michael knew from that moment that he didn’t want to invest his life into being an artist. He wanted to serve God, marry, and pour his life into his bride; he wanted to have children and be a 24/7 dad. Against all counsel Michael quit the Art Academy and signed up as a student at Mid-South Bible College, now Victory University, where he graduated in 1971 with a Bachelor of Science degree.

Michael Pearl - 1967During this time Michael and his brother Steven began to travel as evangelists and musicians to churches throughout the Mid-south. During those years he also began to work with the military men and women who were preparing to go to Vietnam. Every weekend he was either on the road preaching in churches or at the servicemen’s center operated by Memphis Union Mission.

File:ShadWilliams-MikePearl-1968.jpg

Shad Williams and Michael Pearl - 1968While in college in 1967, Southside Baptist Church (now New Hope Baptist Church) called him as interim pastor. After a few months, the church had experienced significant growth and offered him the pastor’s position, which he accepted. Just prior to this, Michael met Shad Williams who had come to know the Lord a few weeks earlier. Shad had been the lead singer and guitarist of a rock band called Shadden and the King Lears. The two young men both had a consuming desire to reach the lost for Christ and use their considerable talents to make it happen. Michael rented an old honky-tonk building and turned it into a night spot for Christ. He called it The Scarlet Thread. Shad established a Christian band while Michael worked out the details, sent buses to the military base to offer free rides to the service men, and then preached after the music. Countless young men and women came to know the Lord during the next three years. Working alongside Michael was a young, vibrant girl who loved the ministry as much as he did. Michael and Deborah (Debi) Kay Smith (born May 15, 1951) began to work as a team. He had the vision and together they carried out the work. Over time he came to NEED her as a help meet.

Personal Life and Later MinistryFile:MichaelDebiPearlWedding1971.jpg

Michael and Debi Pearl Wedding 1971In 1971 Michael and Debi married at Southside Baptist Church. They left Southside to travel, finally settling in Debi’s hometown of Millington to raise their family. They both worked as artists selling their art each year at Raleigh Springs Mall during the Christmas season, leaving the rest of the year free to continue ministering to the military.

File:MikeandDebiFishing.jpg

Michael and Debi Pearl on VacationIn 1978 Michael rented a store front on Navy Road not far from the Millington Naval Base and transformed it into a servicemen’s center called Liberty. Thousands of men date their conversion experience to Michael’s ministry there in Millington. The ministry continued for a number of years until the base school closed.

Michael and Debi decided they would never send their children to public school, so they started homeschooling their first child Rebekah Joy (born 1974). By 1983 their family had grown to 5 children, Gabriel (born 1976), Nathan (born 1978), Shalom (born 1981) and Shoshanna (born 1983). That year the state contacted the Pearls, informing them that their two children (ages 7 and 9) were truant from school and would have to be enrolled immediately. After several visits from the authorities and the Pearl’s appearance before a judge the children were tested as to their academic proficiency, rating well above their grade levels. The media got involved and they received significant attention from local TV stations as well as The Commercial Appeal Newspaper and The Millington Star. Their phone began ringing non-stop as many families wanted to know how to educate their children at home. Within a year organizations were established and homeschooling became an acceptable teaching alternative in Tennessee.

File:MikeTractor.jpg

Michael Pearl on his family farmIn 1987 the Pearls bought 100 acres of timber land in Middle Tennessee. The family carved out a homestead, building their home and barns from lumber they milled on a sawmill Michael built. The five children grew to be adults tending animals, growing and canning vegetables, and hunting and fishing.

File:PearlFamily1990.jpg

Pearl Family on the FarmThe Pearl children grew up playing and working with the Amish who lived nearby. Michael took notice of the parenting methods of his neighbors and realized it was the same traditional parenting as he had practiced and had been passed down to him from his parents. In a large community of several hundred, there was almost no teen rebellion, drugs or alcohol; no misfits; children were valued and grew up to be happy and hard working. Seeing the beauty of functioning families like his own, and knowing it was exceptional, Michael began to observe more closely and ask questions, formulating his child rearing ideas in a way that could be communicated to a wider audience. While Michael was at a speaking engagement in Texas, a lady noticed the Pearl children and wondered why they seemed so confident and excited for ministry. She wrote asking how the children were raised. At fifty years old, in 1994 Michael sat down in front of a computer for the first time and began to write the lady an answer. The letter got longer and longer. To Train Up a Child (published 1994) was the result of his labor. Debi put an advertisement in a homeschool magazine and within a few months, thousands of books had sold. They were then flooded with letters asking many questions. With the funds from the sales of tens of thousands of books, starting in May 1995, Michael was able to send out a free bi-monthly newsletter which he called No Greater Joy (No Greater Joy Magazine since July 2001). Over the next 17 years he and his wife Debi have written many books, produced hundreds of audio and video messages and written hundreds of magazine articles. They cover everything from growing and using herbs, to training children to be happy and obedient, to marriage and how to have a holy sex life.

File:ReadingTTUAC.JPG

Reading To Train Up a ChildIt is estimated that 1 out of every 17 children in the U.S. under the age of thirteen live in a home that contains a copy of To Train Up A Child. Although the book repeatedly gives warnings to not abuse children, it has been linked to the deaths of Sean Paddock (2006, age 4), Lydia Schatz (2010, age 7), and Hana Williams (2011, age 13). Sean died by suffocation after being tightly wrapped in a blanket. Lydia died after being repeatedly and severely beaten over a period of several days. Hana died from hypothermia after allegedly being forced to spend the night outdoors. None of these practices are advocated or even mentioned in To Train Up a Child or any of Michael Pearl’s materials. In NGJ’s Official Statement to Hana Williams’ Death, Michael stated, “It is our desire to redouble our efforts to help families and to prevent future tragedies.â€

File:TCTBSS-cover.jpg

Training Children to be Strong in SpiritIn October of 2011, Michael released his latest child training book, Training Children to Be Strong in Spirit. Michael’s current bestselling title, Good and Evil, is a 330 page award winning (Independent Publishers 2009 Bronze Medal Winner in the Graphic Novel/Drama category and 2009 ForeWord Book Award Finalist) graphic novel, now in over 30 languages including Spanish, Arabic and Chinese.

File:BoysReadingGoodandEvil.jpg

Boys Reading Good and Evil from Central AmericaIt’s a chronologically presented Bible storybook, illustrated by former Marvel Comics artist Danny Bulanadi.

File:PearlFamily.jpg

Pearl Family - 2007The five Pearl children are all happily married and have produced 19 grandchildren so far. At 66 years of age, Michael and his beloved wife Debi continue to preside over an ever expanding ministry and are constantly being entertained by their grandchildren, who affectionately know them as “Big Papa†and “Mama Pearlâ€. Michael says, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.â€

Michael’s latest book, Created to NEED a Help Meet, releasing January 2012, teaches men how to have glorious marriages.

[grovelina]

Does anyone know what type of art these two abusers create?

[lilith]

Does anyone know what type of art these two abusers create?

Michael does watercolors for Debi's books. I'm not aware of their other artistic pursuits.

[debrand]

Michael does watercolors for Debi's books. I'm not aware of their other artistic pursuits.

I'd like to know if there were more reasons for him to quite the art school. Could he not stomach honest criticism?

[Guest Anonymous]

He probably thought of himself as some sort of artistic visionary and was narcissistic enough to translate that to religion.

[Dollypeeps]

I want to know who his parents are and Debi's as I cant find much on them.

Cant stand the man at all and I wrote on his blog thingy and didnt even get it published might have something to do with the fact I was pleased he wasnt allowed to come to the UK spouting his crap.

[Sola]

I may have engaged in a little Wiki editing just now.... Get there quick before someone changes it back.

[divadivine]

I may have engaged in a little Wiki editing just now.... Get there quick before someone changes it back.

Well played, Sola, well played!

:clap:

[bionicmlle]

Nice work, Sola. :)

[Maude]

I pieced together a couple of screenshots:

[Kitty]

I may have engaged in a little Wiki editing just now.... Get there quick before someone changes it back.

Excellent.

[sparkles]

I may have engaged in a little Wiki editing just now.... Get there quick before someone changes it back.

BRILLIANT!

[lilith]

I may have engaged in a little Wiki editing just now.... Get there quick before someone changes it back.

Love it.

[Guest Anonymous]

That book is a how-to of child abuse. It is about beating up children. I have friends who still advocate it.

[hoipolloi]

Michael Pearl has created a large poster from a painting of the Book of Revelation and considers it proof of his incredible talent in art.

I've wondered if the following anecdote from a 2003 article in NGJ (nogreaterjoy.org/articles/where-are-the-men/) was actually Michael Pearl bragging about himself:

A young man of 18 tells how his parents wanted him to be a commercial artist. They sent him to college to prepare. In his first semester, he learned that he would be drawing from nude models in the second semester. The immorality of the school was shocking to him, and being a young man of virtue, he knew that he could not continue in that environment. When he told his father that he was giving up his art career for studies in theology at a nearby Bible Institute of no reputation, his father demanded that he stay in art school. He wanted to honor his father, but not at the cost of his own honor, so when appeal and reason failed, he announced that he was leaving the art school and going to Bible College. His Christian father, a man of high principles and old-fashioned ideals, told his son to leave home if he was going to disobey. The young man packed up his bags and left. When his father saw his success in the ministry, he forgave his son, but the son, then a minister, never doubted that he did the right thing. There was a man going about his Father’s business.

[hoipolloi]

Meant to add, thank you debrand, for getting this stuff out there.

Thank you also, Sola! Love the changes & am glad we have them "archived" here for future reference.

[thoughtful]

It is estimated that 1 out of every 17 children in the U.S. under the age of thirteen live in a home that contains a copy of To Train Up A Child.

I fervently, passionately hope that this was just Pearl bullshitting and isn't true.

:(

[bionicmlle]

Wow! It's still up! The force is not strong w these folks. Awesome.

[debrand]

I found another website that references Michael's time in art school

bannersunfurled.org/about.html

Freida and I, Ken, were both saved as young people under the ministry of a man named Michael Pearl. Mike, who many people now know as the head of No Greater Joy Ministries, and author of the widely read and greatly used book, To Train Up a Child, was a young single man who was pastoring a church in Millington, Tennessee called Southside Baptist Church.

It was the Vietnam war era and there were thousands of young servicemen being trained in Millington, so under Bro. Mike Pearl´s ministry, the church began to sponsor a coffee house type ministry, with a band called the "Scarlet Thread". Shad Williams headed up the band and Mike would preach afterwards. Mike had attended Memphis College of Art, so as an artist, he frequently illustrated his sermons by drawing as he preached. Freida was saved as a result of this church ministry in 1969, although she had heard Mike preach at a servicemen´s center in downtown Memphis and at a Youth for Christ rally when she was seventeen. She had been raised in a strong Christian family and I had no real Christian background.

In 1970, I visited the church, as a drugged out hippie without hope and without God. I looked so bad that a man in the church said that if I messed with any of the girls there he would kill me!! Thankfully, though in November, 1970, I saw myself as a hell-deserving sinner and trusted Jesus Christ to save me. My life has never been the same. I began attending Mid South Bible College (now Victory University) since Mike had graduated from there. However, Freida and I married in April of 1972 and later both graduated from the Pensacola Bible Institute.

Mike influenced my life, not only in my salvation, but also in my believing that I should be an aggressive witness. Early on, he took us outside the church in witnessing endeavors which took place on the street where we preached to those in movie lines, or held meetings from the back of a flatbed truck. In 1971, I started going alone to the Highland Strip, which was a hangout for the Memphis State University students and various other young people. Although I got much more street preaching experience at the Bible institute, in a very real sense, the seed was planted in those early days under Mike's ministry.

[Trynn]

I fervently, passionately hope that this was just Pearl bullshitting and isn't true.

:(

Well, keep in mind that even if that IS true, a significantly less percentage of households that have the book will have actually READ the book. So the actual statistic of who has read the book IS going to be lower.

Also, it's incredibly easy to lie with statistics. I therefore would take this with a grain of salt.

Granted that I know there's a possibility someone in these houses could pick it up and read it at any time, however, it's also possible they won't.

[grovelina]

I am so fascinated by the idea of the Pearl with a deadly price being an artist. Are his watercolors any good? All of the artists I know are free spirited left brained people. This may be a sample issue, as my pool of acquaintances tends to be left-leaning, but it's hard for me to imagine an artsy person as also rigid and controlling with the sort of issues that Pearl has.

[Sola]

Well played, Sola, well played!

:clap:

Well between that and my editing the Doug Phillips (Is A Tool) page a few months ago, my days of wiki editing might not last much longer. They'll put the banhammer on me sooner or later. It's worth it though.

[manekineko]

Nice move! But it's already been reverted :-(

[Sola]

It was up about 12 hours though so not bad going. When I did the Doug Phillips (Is A Tool) page it was changed back within minutes. I swear he has his interns sat in front of a computer constantly refreshing his page to keep an eye on it.

[thoughtful]

Well, keep in mind that even if that IS true, a significantly less percentage of households that have the book will have actually READ the book. So the actual statistic of who has read the book IS going to be lower.

Also, it's incredibly easy to lie with statistics. I therefore would take this with a grain of salt.

Granted that I know there's a possibility someone in these houses could pick it up and read it at any time, however, it's also possible they won't.

Thanks, Trynn -- that does help.

I like to think of each of those books being used as a shim to prop up that ever-so-slightly off (it is a thin book, after all) of a table.