CELEBRATING THE LIFE OF JOHN SIPPLE

Remembering a Friend

In March 2009, Dr. Bruce Wilkinson challenged us to leave the local church and carry the message of forgiveness God had given us to the church worldwide.  We immediately pushed back at the suggestion because pastoring the local church was our calling and the primary reason we had not quit the ministry after all we had gone through. Dr. Wilkinson's response was, "Don't take my word for it; go ask a mentor you trust and see what they think God wants you to do." As many of you know, if you’ve heard the Forgiving Forward story, I met with Tom Rowe on March 19, 2009, who affirmed what Bruce Wilkinson was suggesting to us. Later that day, as we prayed together, Toni and I confirmed in our spirits that we were to launch what has become Forgiving Forward.

Still, at our core we were wrestling with the decision and all the logistics involved. We knew we needed help working through it, so we reached out to John and Kathie Sipple to get their counsel.

We met John and Kathie a few years earlier when they visited the church that I was pastoring at the time. Good friends aren't made; they’re recognized, and we recognized a special connection between the four of us. We were drawn to their deep walk with God together. Over time, we came to trust their wisdom and spiritual insight as they became a safe place for us to share our hearts. In fact, they were among the people God used to confirm that he wanted us to plant the church that became the laboratory for the development of Forgiving Forward.

John Sipple was an extraordinary man. After a successful career as Head of Operations with Procter & Gamble, he transitioned to a fruitful consulting business for both businesses and non-profits. For many years, John worked with the Navigators in helping lead businessmen to Christ and disciple them, as well as helping them redevelop their strategic plan that, to my knowledge, they still follow decades later. John was a man of deep faith with a keen mind for business and ministry development. So, it made sense for us to run the new assignment we were sensing by John and Kathie.

We met for lunch a few days later and shared what we sensed was God’s new assignment for us. John's immediate response was, “Of course that’s what you should do, and here’s why. How can we help?” Kathie quickly agreed, and they began helping us strategize how to move forward. When God miraculously provided us with our 501c3 status, John and Kathie served on our original Board of Directors. John served until his health prohibited him from doing so and Kathie continues on our board to this day. 

John and Kathie were part of the first international trip when we shared the Forgiving Forward message in El Salvador, where I taught the Forgiveness Protocols to pastors and ministry leaders. One ministry opportunity for our team was to speak to a group of high school students about Christ. We provided a pizza party for the students, so our team could connect with them. Fresh off hearing the Forgiving Forward message, John (through a translator and the direction of the Holy Spirit) connected with a young man and led him through the Protocols of Forgiveness. This student forgave his father for the wounds inflicted upon him. John also had an opportunity to team up with Toni to help a young lady find freedom through forgiveness. As Toni led Maria through forgiveness for a number of atrocious acts committed against her by her father, the Holy Spirit impressed upon her to ask John to step in as a man of God and pray a fatherly blessing over her.  As John began to pray for this young lady, he heard the Holy Spirit tell him to stand in the place of her father and ask for her forgiveness. With the impact of John’s words, she was able to forgive her father for all the wrong he had done. John then prayed a blessing over her. Later, when Toni and John were about to leave the high school, Maria came up to them, took the ribbon out of her hair, and handed it to Toni. “This is for you. It is all I have. Please remember me.” Then she reached into her pocket, pulled out a very small picture of herself and handed it to John. She asked, “Can I be your El Salvadorian granddaughter?” That's the kind of man John Sipple was. 

Over the years, John provided incredible leadership to the ministry of Forgiving Forward. He had a unique ability to infuse the business acumen he had honed over many years of successful leadership with deep spiritual insights God had given him over decades of walking intimately with our Lord. It is hard to imagine where Forgiving Forward would be today had God not connected us with John and Kathie Sipple. John was also the catalyst for starting a Men’s group that still meets in the Forgiving Forward Freedom Center. 

On July 8, 2026, five years after being diagnosed with the disease that eventually would take him from us, the Lord called his faithful son John home. John lived his life as all of us should aspire to. He left us a model to follow of worshiping his Lord, adoring his wife, and raising a family who know and love the Lord as well. Anyone impacted and blessed by the ministry of Forgiving Forward owes a debt of gratitude to God for placing John Sipple in Toni and my life. 

Toni and I are humbled and forever grateful that John Sipple was our friend. My prayer is that I finish my race as well as he did. I know without a doubt that on July 8, 2026, John heard his Savior say, “Well done, good and faithful servant!” 

A Celebration of Life Service for John will be held Saturday, September 5, 2026, at 1:00 p.m. at Flat Creek Baptist Church, 161 Flat Creek Trail, Fayetteville, Georgia. You are all welcome to join us in celebrating John’s life and encouraging Kathie and their family. 

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