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| Exhibit 1: IHOP's One Thing Conference 2013* |
I went to a John Wimber workshop…. He said he sees the next 20 to 30 years as the time when more signs and wonders will be done than ever in history and when the secular media will be overwhelmed and have to report it every day as great revival spreads.
– John Piper[1]
– John Piper[1]
"I go, man, there’s a lot of great things going on [at IHOP].
And today was the first time I ever met Mike Bickle.
And, I love that guy. I do.
...there’s people who told me not to hang out with him.
And today was the first time I ever met Mike Bickle.
And, I love that guy. I do.
...there’s people who told me not to hang out with him.
"Like, you know, words like “creepy” came up.
And yet, I get to know this guy and I’m going,
“Man, I love his heart.
And I just want to publicly say I love Mike Bickle.
(0:18-0:50)[2]
And yet, I get to know this guy and I’m going,
“Man, I love his heart.
And I just want to publicly say I love Mike Bickle.
(0:18-0:50)[2]
The children are the best of all the generations that have ever been upon the face of the earth.... those ELECTED SEEDS that will glorify Christ in the last days... they will move into things of the supernatural that no one has ever been in the Bible - They'll move in it consistently… they themselves will be that generation that's raised up to put death itself underneath their feet… a church that has reached the full maturity of the god-man!
– Mike Bickle & Bob Jones[3]
– Mike Bickle & Bob Jones[3]
IHOP In An Era of Celebrity-Driven Christianity
Evangelical leaders are currently rushing to associate themselves with major youth events that are becoming increasingly popular in the Christian world. These mass youth rallies were developed over the course of several decades by Mike Bickle’s IHOP (International House of Prayer) movement, which is interconnected to the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR). IHOP and the NAR share both personnel and doctrine, with roots that go back into the Latter Rain/Manifest Sons of God cult.[4] Previously we have extensively documented the history of the camaraderie of IHOP and NAR.[5]
This rapidly rising youth movement in evangelicaldom is characterized by its emphasis on generating fervent passion. Why are evangelical leaders rushing onto this bandwagon? Why are Francis Chan, John Piper, Matt Chandler and other prominent teachers placing themselves on center stage (literally) of these IHOP-orchestrated mass rallies?[6] Superficially, one might assume that it is merely for the immediate stardom and pizzazz that comes with such celebrity status in a youth event rocking with fervor, bright lighting, and loud acclamations.[7] What an ego trip! But is it conceivable that these leaders also happen to agree with some of the IHOP doctrine? After all, it is impossible to separate the activities at these youth events without encountering the foundational beliefs that give rise to them.
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| Exhibit 2: Francis Chan with Mike Bickle at One Thing 2013 |
Of course, it can be argued that just because an esteemed evangelical leader shares the stage with adherents and promoters of these IHOP/NAR doctrines doesn’t mean he/she agrees with their teaching. However, it is important to note that an evangelical leader’s very appearance at these events lends legitimacy and credibility to this movement – a movement that has been aggressively attempting to distance itself from its former cult status, remake its image and become respectable.
The doctrine of the IHOP believes that these mass youth stadium rallies are for the “purpose” of invoking the “presence” of God through generated “passion.” These three terms – passion, presence and purpose – are derived from some very strange esoteric doctrines that originated in the Latter Rain/Manifest Sons of God cult.
“Presence” is popular. Recently Warren Smith published a book in which he made us aware of an increasingly popular belief that Christians can invoke the “presence” of “God” (or “Jesus”) by their contemplative activities.[8] But there is another practice of “presence” that is taking the evangelical world by storm. In the IHOP/NAR the passionate invocation of the “presence” (which they call the “Spirit”) isn’t just done via contemplative meditation. They believe that the “presence” is achieved via the elaborate staging of flashy lighting, noisy music and hypnotic manipulations in the context of what they call “worship.” The clear intent is to create an altered state of consciousness – a spiritual/emotive state in which the participant is susceptible to heretical suggestions, “feels” closer to God, and learns that he/she may even become a god.[9] Thus their “passion” is believed to invoke the “presence” of God.
[Ed. Note: Pastor Larry DeBruyn has written a solid theological apologetic for the biblical concept of “presence” which refutes all of these heresies.[10] His article is of great assistance to those who are confused by these popular “presence” teachings.]
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| Exhibit 3: A TOD event advertised on TheElijahList |
Invoking God’s “Presence” via “David’s Tabernacle”
A recently published article, “Love and Death In the House of Prayer,” explains IHOP’s history and beliefs, and describes their “passionate” form of worship:
At IHOP's frequent, frenetic conferences, attendees learn that they are "in the early days of the generation in which Jesus returns," as IHOP founder Mike Bickle puts it….
In 1983, Bickle says, God instructed him to "establish 24-hour prayer in the spirit of the tabernacle of David." The tabernacle was the tent erected by King David to house the Ark of the Covenant after the conquest of Jerusalem; it became a dwelling place of God and a site of ecstatic worship….
Bickle believes that unceasing, euphoric worship and song at IHOP and in prayer rooms across the globe, which should never close or be empty, will promote passionate intimacy with the Lord, revive the church and demolish demonic strongholds. And so IHOPers pray all day and night, through blizzards and blackouts, in hours-long sessions of mesmeric, musical worship, repeating the same phrases over and over, expecting to precipitate the Great Tribulation and the final battle between good and evil that precedes the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
This is IHOP's most alluring tenet: God needs IHOPers to effect the Tribulation and bring Christ back to Earth. "The church causes the Great Tribulation," Bickle has preached. Before founding IHOP, he argued that "God intends us to be like gods. God has conceived in his heart of a plan to make a race of men that would live like gods on Earth." …At IHOP, where prophetic experiences are endemic, the mortal and divine commingle liberally.
The vanguard of God's End Times army, according to Bickle, will be made up of young people, or "forerunners," seers specially attuned to the will of the Lord, "the best of all the generations that have ever been seen on the face of the Earth."[11] For seven years of Tribulation, they will battle the Antichrist….
IHOP is not the only charismatic movement in America to adopt this theology of aggressive prayer. A constellation of ministries shares its vision. Together, they make up what has been called the New Apostolic Reformation, a decades-old rebellion against traditional Christianity that counts millions of adherents worldwide; it has become such a force in evangelical America that Texas Gov. Rick Perry hosted an NAR prayer rally in Houston for his 2012 presidential campaign. As prayer rooms are established in ever more locations, according to NAR, the "seven mountains of culture" – government, business, family, educational systems, the media, arts and religion – will fall under its influence. [12] [emphases added]
This allegorical “Tabernacle of David” (TOD), said to be the “dwelling place of God” by Bickle, is the key to understanding the rationale for these frenzied mass youth rallies.
30 years ago (in 1983) God spoke to [Bickle] to do 24 hour prayer with worship in the Spirit of the Tabernacle of David. For 16 years this word hung on their wall until they actually began to do it in 1999.[13][emphasis added]
In 2002 Dr. Orrel Steinkamp authored a key paper on “The Restoration of Davidic Warfare/Worship,” which exposed Bickle’s beliefs.[11] Dr. Steinkamp explained how Bickle’s TOD teaching had its roots in the old Latter Rain cult:
The Tabernacle of David (TOD) teaching is not new at all but was clearly a part of the restoration scheme of Latter Rain teachers. George Warnock, writing during the hey day of the Latter Rain (early 50's), often referred to the Tabernacle of David. It was in the mid 60's however, that Latter-Rain restoration teachers… began to flesh out TOD teaching. [15][emphasis added]
The TOD teaching is based, in part, on a faulty hermeneutic of Acts 15:16 and Amos 9:11. According to Dr. Steinkamp, “Those promoting the restoration of Davidic Worship/Warfare base everything on the assertion that this refers to the form of worship that was employed in David's tabernacle.”[16] In this Latter Rain cult teaching they believe that their TOD worship can manipulate power in the heavenlies:
Worship is taught as something which actually accomplishes something in the spirit world and is linked to prophetic revelation and spiritual warfare…. [They] are proclaiming that God is restoring to the overcoming end time church forms of worship that purportedly occurred in David's tabernacle.[17][emphasis added]
Music is an essential component of this Tabernacle of David worship system. Mike Bickle of IHOP has written that “one key aspect of God’s kingdom being expressed on earth as it is in heaven will be in the realm of anointed music and singing.”[18] Another writer explains more of the theological construct:
“...Bible teachers of our day… have discovered God's anointed plan to restore the Tabernacle of David, which is the perfect pattern of praise and worship all New Testament believers are to follow. The restoration of the pattern of praise and worship that once prevailed in King David's day will release a prophetic stream of praise in our day that will energize the church with new power and demolish the works of Satan. Believers will approach God in new ways such as singing in tongues to activate revelations, prophesying in song, dancing rhythmically in the Spirit and all the traditional charismatic methods (hand clapping, raising of hands etc.). Those who resist this restoration of worship will fall short of God's standard and will continue to operate in a faulty form of worship and will be in danger of the glory of God departing from their churches.” [19][emphasis added]
The above reference to the “glory of God” means God’s “presence.” They believe their frenzied worship activities will bring down “the glory of God.” In the 1990s, IHOP leaders took these Latter Rain cult teachings on the Tabernacle of David and put them into practice by launching a global prayer initiative (sometimes referred to as “Harp & Bowl” worship):
“The International House of Prayer [IHOP] is a 24-hours a day, citywide, worship and warfare, inter-denominational prayer ministry serving the body of Christ. This ministry is modeled after the tabernacle of David with singers and musicians being released to lead corporate intercession and worship 24-hours a day. This is an effective method for the churches in the county to come together and DWELL in unity so that God can unlock His commanded blessing…. This House of Prayer for All Nations ministry includes continuous praise and prayer dethroning the principalities and power over a region declaring Gods sovereignty. This… “Harp & Bowl” worship and warfare prayer gatherings… is at the heart of David’s Tabernacle.”
“On May 7 1999, Mike Bickle and the IHOP ministry team dedicated a building to facilitate this ministry that began with 13 hours a day of intercession and spiritual warfare led by trained worship teams. In Sept. 1999,… they completed the full 24-hour a day schedule with singers and musicians leading each session. They believe that this model is the most effective context…. Their prayer goal is to see a 24 hour a day, citywide, House of Prayer (in the spirit of the Tabernacle of David) established in every major city of the earth before the Lord's return….”
“We along with all of creation are longing for the unveiling of Gods power as God waits in heaven for the bowl of the prayers of the saints to be filled up so He can show His power.” [20] [emphases added]
This last phrase in the quotation above is a direct reference to the Manifest Sons of God (MSOG) cult belief that they themselves will manifest and become “the glory.” This teaches that there will be a
powerful endtimes revelation of believers as glorified, transformed and perfected, and possessed by Christ to such a degree that they become One with him and become a living corporate Son of God on the earth, ruling with him. This will be accomplished by the descent of "the glory" in a final overwhelming event that will transfigure all those who receive it.[21] [all emphasis added]
Latter Rain/Manifest Sons of God doctrine teaches that the “glory” of God (His “presence”) must descend upon the church, and that this “glory” will transform and perfect them so that they can become the “literal corporate Son of God on earth.” This core doctrine forms the basis of what is being taught by Mike Bickle and the other leaders in the IHOP/NAR.[22] There is an essential eschatological component to it – specifically that of dominion and rule over the earth. This Dominion is the “purpose” behind generating all of the “passion” about God’s “presence.” Adherents of this worship system explain how their militant prayer and aggressive praise will cause God’s “glory” (His “presence”) to manifest “in the church”:
- There is even a dimension of spiritual warfare and Kingdom authority released during times of high praises to God....
- Praise is a weapon of war, because praise arouses the Lord to a place of zeal. Praise releases judgment against our enemies.
- Wherever there is true worship, we also see a release of a dimension of authority that is characteristic of the apostolic. Heaven's authority visits earth.... Restored dimensions of worship release restored dimensions of authority, out of which apostolic order is released on the earth.
- Prayer is essential for the release of heaven's rule on the earth.... Prayer fuels the fire of God's manifested Glory in the church. [23][emphases added]
This “manifested” Glory is God's manifested “presence” said to be operating in and through the church. The IHOP/NAR eschatology also teaches that there will be a “restoration” of Old Testament style “apostles” and “prophets” in the endtimes. The purpose of this “restoration” of this apostolic “authority” is so the church can become properly “aligned” to rule the earth[24]. This strategic apostolic alignment for dominion (networking hierarchical structures)[25] is embedded in their teaching about the Tabernacle of David:
David's rule on earth represented God's rule through man.... A restoration of David's fallen tabernacle is not only a return to worship, but a return to God's rule among men. [26] [emphasis added]
There is an “element of judgment upon sinners and the rebellious who fail to conform to this Davidic Rule.”[27] This judgment is ominous – they believe that their extreme worship will jumpstart things in the heavenly realm to come down to earth. They look forward to an endtime scenario where they will act both “in and through” a “warrior” Jesus, implementing His will and “purpose,” so that they can become rulers and judges over the earth. For example:
When we are releasing the ministry of the harp… [and] of the bowls… we then see His rule as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah begin to happen in and through his people. We have known Jesus as the Lamb of God, our Savior, but soon we will see Him manifested as a Lion, a ferocious Warrior and the King and Judge of all the earth. ... He is about to be revealed as Ruler and Judge. With that revelation will also come the realization that the last-days church is being called with Him and through Him into that same role of ruler and judge.... [28][emphasis added]
Note the eschatology: “They believe that Christ must come TO His Church before He comes FOR His Church.”[29] They believe that through their “passion” they will embody Christ (the “presence”) and thus become the instruments for His dreadful judgment (the “purpose”).[30] This faulty theology puts the church in the place of Christ, reading into the book of Revelation as if it were an instruction manual for how the church can wreak judgment upon the face of the earth. Keep in mind that even though in recent years Bickle has tried to distance himself from the more aggressive military aspects of this judgment, his Latter Rain associates have continued with their violent prophecies and rhetoric.[31]
A related IHOP heresy involves a corruption of a familiar Bible verse, Ps. 22:3 which states: “But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.” They teach that God’s “presence” actually “inhabits” their worship. The more fervent, frenzied and feverish their worship, the more God’s “presence” will come down and “inhabit” them:
the idea of God enthroned upon praise actually mean that when we praise and worship God long enough and strong enough he actually comes down in his manifest presence to "inhabit" the Church - sometimes as a visible glory cloud of blue smoke or an overwhelming sensation of heaviness, or whatever….[32][emphasis added]
Dr. Steinkamp summarizes the concerns about these IHOP Tabernacle of David worship beliefs and practices:
Beyond the fact that “Tabernacle of David” teaching is simply wrong and an example of illegitimate restoration teaching, there are pastoral and practical concerns. Rather than worship directed to God, simply to express praise, Davidic worship/warfare is practiced in order to produce a so-called spiritual effect. It hints at a kind of spiritual formula or recipe. The teaching that restored Davidic worship somehow allows or even attracts the physical manifestations of God's presence seems to border on spiritual magic.[33] [emphasis added]
Next, we will examine this specific “spiritual formula or recipe” that is employed in order to invoke the “presence.” This formula involves generating a lot of “passion.”
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| Exhibit 4: IHOP Prayer |
Becoming Passionate about Passion
Are you “passionate” about in your faith? The words “passion” or “passionate” have now become part of the “hip” language of evangelicaldom. The implication is that if you don’t have “passion” (however that is defined) that you don’t have “purpose” – that you are lacking in something substantive in your faith.
“Passion” can be defined as “any powerful or compelling emotion or feeling,” including a “strong amorous feeling or desire,” “ardor,” “fervor,” or even “strong love or sexual desire.”[34] Thus the word, by definition, is about a soulish emotion, feeling or attitude of the heart. However, the Greek paschō is usually translated “suffer” or “suffering” in the Bible (see Heb. 9:26; 1 Peter 4:1, e.g.). Note: “suffering” is not even close to the current usage of this term. “Passion” now means “euphoria,” and an experience of high exultation, even sexual excitement or “intimacy.” It can manifest as an altered state of consciousness in which the brain is not fully engaged. Thus “passion” can be the exact opposite of what the Bible calls “sober-minded.”[35] And, as shall be seen, this invoked “passion” can also imply violence.
“Passion” has an integral component of the well-choreographed “worship” service in evangelicaldom. This passion-filled worship involves more than simple singing of hymns or humble prayers and petitions. It incorporates various psychological and sociological techniques to affect the emotions. Key variables are stage-managed in order to create an “atmosphere” of heightened experiences, all said to be of God. Thereby this engineered “passion” claims that it can invoke the “presence” of God.[36] Below is a bit of history that will explain the agenda of the modern “passion” youth conferences.
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| Exhibit 5: Bill Johnson & Lance Wallnau practicing "passion" |
The Formula for “Passion”
John Wimber, founder of the Vineyard movement, and later a key force in launching the obscure “Kansas City Prophets” (now IHOP) into the mainstream, is the original architect of a formulaic worship method. Wimber’s method has gone on to become mainstream throughout all Christendom, and is even utilized widely in Catholic and Protestant denominations. His formula relied on five phases of passionate worship to “invoke” the Holy Spirit’s “presence.” In a 1995 article Wimber described his worship method as “Phases in the heart.” He described these phases as an “experience of God”:
To understand how we worship God, it is helpful to learn about our fellowship’s history, which goes back to 1977. At that time my wife, Carol, was leading a small group of people in a home meeting that evolved into the Anaheim Vineyard….
In the Vineyard we see five basic phases of worship, phases through which leaders attempt to lead the congregation. Understanding these phases is helpful in our experience of God. Keep in mind that as we pass through these phases we are headed toward one goal: intimacy with God.[37][emphases added]
Readers will most likely recognize these 5 phases from their own experience in churches:
The first phase is the call to worship… through a song like, ‘Come let us Worship and Bow Down’….
The second phase is the engagement, which is the electrifying dynamic of connection to God and to each other. Expressions of love, adoration, praise, jubilation, intercession, petition – all the dynamics of prayer are interlocked with worship – come forth from one’s heart. In the engagement phase we praise God for who he is through music as well as prayer. An individual may have moments like these in his or her private worship at home, but when the church comes together the manifest presence of God is magnified and multiplied.[38] [emphasis added]
Notice the second phase claims that “through music as well as prayer” that the “manifest presence of God is magnified and multiplied.” There are doctrinal problems with this statement, as Pastor Larry DeBruyn has explained in his recent article “The Present of ‘His Presence.’”[40] Employing the language of “passion,” Wimber stated that as “we move further in the engagement phase, we move more and more into loving and intimate language.” And this passionate intimacy, Wimber asserted, results in “[b]eing in God’s presence.” [39][emphasis added]
Wimber also claimed that there would be “a powerful corporate dynamic” at this point. This belief has now become a central tenet of much of the evangelical prayer movement. It teaches there is more power in numbers: that by collectively joining together a group has more potential to invoke the presence of God than a mere individual.[41] It also implies that God will only hear us when we reach critical mass in our shoutings, demands and decrees, and exhibitions of extravagant hoopla (contra Matthew 6:6 and James 5:16; see also 1 Kings 18:28).[42] There are a multitude of doctrinal errors with this teaching, but we note that it is a central tenet of many mystical religions and the New Age.[43]
Phase 3 is called “expression” and here Wimber does make mention of “confession of sin.” But he defines this phase as having “been wakened to his presence,” meaning that the “expression” of worship will further invoke God’s “presence.” Wimber even suggests “physical and emotional expression” such as “dance and body movement.”
Phase 4 is “a zenith, a climatic point, not unlike physical lovemaking” – in other words, pure “passion.” This whipped-up sensual passion culminates in a “visitation” from God (i.e., His “presence”):
We have expressed what is in our hearts and minds and bodies, and now it is time to wait for God to respond. Stop talking and wait for him to speak, to move. I call this, the fourth phase, visitation: The almighty God visits his people.[44] [emphasis added]
Wimber does offer this mild disclaimer: “This visitation is a by product of worship. We don’t worship in order to gain his presence. He is worthy to be worshipped whether or not he visits us.”[45] Of course, he gives no criteria for discerning whether some other spiritual “presence” might have been invoked through this frenzy (e.g., 2 Cor. 11:14). The 5th phase of worship is giving money.[46]
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| Exhibit 6: Other student movements join with IHOP's One Thing |
“Manifestations of the Spirit’s presence”
Why is all this significant? Wimber played a foundational role, along with C. Peter Wagner in the “Third Wave” charismatic movement, and Wimber’s “Power Evangelism” emphasized signs and wonders as a normative part of a visitation of God’s “presence.” Wimber even practiced a form of “psychic healing” in which he believed that sensations of “warmth” and “tingling feelings” and “trembling of hands in healing” were “spiritual phenomena” that were “manifestations of the Spirit’s presence on the person. By observing them you can begin to see what the Spirit is doing in and through the person.”[48] [emphasis added]
Pastor Bill Randles reviewed Wimber’s teachings and explained how Wimber believed that the church should adopt an eastern mystical mindset:
This is the new paradigm, a down playing of doctrine or "head knowledge" in favor of mystical experience. Another variation of this is, "God is bigger than His written word," translated, God wants to bring you into experiences that aren't in the limits of scripture. Just knowing God "doctrinally" is not sufficient, you now must have self authenticating experiences. All of these attitudes are the end result of the New Paradigm. This is the shift from primarily objective, to subjective thinking in our approach to truth!...
Another Wimber contribution,… is mysticism. What is mysticism? Mysticism is the sensualization of our relationship with God and dealings with the spirit realm. By sensualizing, I am not referring to sexuality, but with the feeling realm. A mystic is someone who wants to know God intimately, but is not patiently waiting for the "beatific vision." He wants to see, touch, feel, and be one with God NOW. The mystic asks Why can't we feel God? See Him? Go deeper and deeper with Him, into deeper levels of intimacy? We can, but in His time and on His terms.[49] [emphasis added]
Thus, via Wimber’s teachings, a feelings-based religion gradually began to encroach upon the evangelical church, replacing Bible doctrine with emotions as the new standard upon which to judge spiritual experiences. “If it feels good and looks spiritual it must be from God,” became the popular but undiscerning belief. Al Dager, who has written extensively about the history of this movement, summarized the multitude of problems associated with Wimber’s “Method Ministry” approach to worship:
The problem with Wimber's ministry was not only that he insisted that the [sign] gifts of the Spirit are still operable today, it was also the assumption that the gifts of the Spirit can be manifested through a particular methodology – also, that every supernatural gift of the Holy Spirit should be manifested in every believer on a regular basis. This, most often, leads to the abuses and excesses of human flesh masquerading as the work of the Holy Spirit….
There were many ways in which Wimber's attempts at signs and wonders differed from the simple, direct, and unfailing ministry of the Holy Spirit…. Their methods include inner healing techniques, visualization, meditation, and psychological integration.[50][emphases added]
The evangelical world, desensitized by the allurements and attractions of this style of worship to their senses, was then ready to make adjustments to their doctrinal beliefs as well.
John Wimber believed that conjured up “passion” could invoke God’s “presence.” This belief then merged with the heresies of the “Kansas City Prophets.”
Toward the mid to late 1980s, Wimber became enamored by the ministry team of the Kansas City Fellowship, or as they became known as, "The Kansas City Prophets."[51]
Mike Oppenheimer of Let Us Reason Ministries describes how IHOP was then formed:
Mike Bickle was part of the Kansas City prophets that influenced John Wimber and Vineyard into numerous new ways to do church. We are told God called him to turn over his church in Kansas City to Floyd McClung Jr. who was formerly YWAM International Executive Director. Because he felt God calling him to start a prayer unit, a prayer house for the whole city of Kansas City, called The International House of Prayer (IHOP), modeled after the World Prayer Center. Mike Bickle is now part of Wagner's prophet and apostle movement (New apostolic Reformation) speaking in various churches to incorporate themselves into these new apostolic movement under their leadership.[52]
Wimber’s simple 5-phase formula for worship combined with the doctrines of the Latter Rain cult, resulting in a powerful new synthesis of error. By the early 1990s the IHOP leaders were anxious to put a global prayer movement in operation. “Some of the main prophets and/or leaders in the movement included Paul Cain, Mike Bickle, Bob Jones, Rick Joyner, John Paul Jackson, Francis Frangipane, and others.”[53] As we have summarized previously:
There is a fascinating history of how these leaders have managed to mainstream their most controversial doctrines into evangelicaldom. The IHOP movement… is part and parcel of C. Peter Wagner's New Apostolic Reformation and, in fact, helped to spawn the NAR and its foundational doctrines for Dominionism. Here is a brief synopsis of the IHOP/NAR history:
- IHOP is just one arm of a multi-faceted group (with many names, entities and offshoots) known as the "Kansas City Prophets" that has been around since the mid-1980s.
- These Kansas City "prophets" are leaders who track a direct lineage back to the old Latter Rain cult.
- John Wimber became an overseer of the KC group in the late 1980s when their cult excesses became public and controversial, and set them up under his Vineyard denomination.
- John Wimber was a mentor to C. Peter Wagner and vice versa, and the two of them have a history that tracks back into the mid 1970s at Fuller Theological Seminary where they concocted doctrines together.
- C. Peter Wagner's "Third Wave" movement, the predecessor to the NAR, was founded on Wimber's signs and wonders mysticism.
- C. Peter Wagner's "New Apostolic Reformation" was founded on the convergence of the mystical streams of John Wimber, the Kansas City group, and Fuller Theological Seminary.[54]
The above synopsis was written in the context of the IHOP movement (along with C. Peter Wagner’s NAR) taking a very public and political profile during the last presidential election,[55] particularly at Texas Republican Governor Rick Perry’s “The Response” prayer event.[56] This event gave great credibility to both IHOP and the NAR. They were attempting to mainstream themselves[57] as active players on the national political scene. Their “purpose” was Dominionism.[58]
As events in the evangelical world gave birth to the emerging popular youth rally culture we again sounded the alarm about the mainstreaming of IHOP and NAR with evangelicals, writing:
We have been warning for a long time about the desire of the false apostles and prophets of the NAR and IHOP to mainstream themselves both into the church and American politics. The leadership hopes to gain legitimacy and credibility by piggybacking themselves onto credible-sounding causes and naive, gullible and/or like-minded evangelical mainstream leaders and groups.[59]
This history of John Wimber’s association with IHOP becomes important because Bickle held a very specific view about the necessary “purpose” for generating extreme “passion” in an “army” of impressionable youth. This youthful army was destined, according to their Latter Rain prophets, to become the foot-soldiers for Dominionism on earth:
The Latter Rain prophecies about the necessity of a NEW BREED of youth for an endtime revival were given by Kansas City Prophets Bob Jones, Mike Bickle and Paul Cain in the late 1980s. Bob Jones, in a conversation with Mike Bickle, described a vision in which he saw “elected seeds” that would be an “end generation” that would be predestined to inherit all things." He claimed they would "set the church on the proper foundations.... They’ll birth the church.... be the leaders of the last day church.... [and be] the best of all the generations." He claimed they would "move into things of the supernatural" to the point where they would actually "put death itself underneath their feet."…
This New Breed would be a "warfare" generation that would "take the promised land" and "possess it." In a sense of pure Gnostic heresy, Bob Jones claimed that this New Breed generation would reach the "full maturity of the God-Man!" He reiterated that this generation would be "coming into that divine nature of Jesus Christ."
Mike Bickle replied that this "end-time army" would have "300,000 enlistment notices" for the "next generation." This "300,000... would be the main leadership over one billion converts in the earth" and they would "bear a distinct anointing." This army generation was referred to in racial terms as "the best of every blood line in the earth" and "superior" to every other "seed" on earth. Bickle explained that there would be a "time of war and transitioning of whole new orders in the body." These Latter Rain leaders teach that their New Breed of Elect Seeds will be an endtime Joel's Army.[60]
Thus, in one ominous sense, IHOP’s revved-up “passion” is necessary to create a heightened warfare mentality in the troops. This is the Latter Rain teaching that a generation of youth is arising that would become an elite, special army on earth who could achieve superior supernatural feats that no prior generation had yet done. One IHOPer has just publicly confirmed that this was the recent teaching that he and others received:
…over the next five years I saw a whole group of friends get pulled into a whirlpool of self-heroic narcissism. I witnessed at close quarters the devastating consequences of thinking that we can defy the natural laws of age and death. We were going to do what so many Christians before us had failed to do, because we were truly special. Bullets would bounce off of us; the devil would flee at our approach. A new world was about to begin, bathed in the glorious light of a cosmic revolution.[61] [original in italics]
This profound sense of spiritual elitism, of unique purpose and special destiny then becomes a central facet of the esprit de corps of the IHOP movement.[62]
 |
| Exhibit 7: The "New Breed" birthed |
 |
| Exhibit 8: "Joel's Army" birthed |
Becoming the “Presence”
Mike Bickle developed an endtime scenario, called “Forerunner Eschatology,”[63] which teaches the Latter Rain belief that
“Prior to Jesus Christ’s physical return, His living presence will companion the church in ever increasing power. During this time the visible glory of the Lord will rise and appear upon God’s people.” [64][emphasis added]
The “presence” according to Latter Rain eschatology, is when Christ will come to indwell the church, thus there “will be a special “glory” or “presence” anointing released for mobilizing the army of the Lord”[65] to take Dominion over the earth. This is not talking about the literal physical return of Christ Jesus:
The Glory, in the Latter Rain understanding, is the visible manifestation of the Spirit… [D]eceived Christians are being led to expect a manifested spirit and not the visible return of the Lord Jesus. I believe the way we are headed is into teaching about the return of the `lord` to his church, in glory, before (or perhaps even instead of?) the physical return of Jesus. [66] [emphasis added]
Dr. Orrel Steinkamp explains the theology of this indwelling “glory” or “presence”:
…some Dominion teachers assert that Jesus can be an ongoing incarnation of God in His body (church) upon the earth. Consequently scriptures pertaining to Christ's ruling on earth are often seen as referring to the church rather than to Jesus. The church is viewed as a kind of Virgin Mary who must give birth to Jesus the indwelling spirit. Francis Frangipane teaches a similar message:
"When the Spirit of Christ comes into the physical world, He must enter through a physical body. When Christ first entered our world as a child, it was Mary whom God chose to give Christ birth. Mary's life symbolized the qualities the church must possess to walk in the fullness of Christ. God is preparing us as He did Mary to give birth to the ministry of His Son. Even now, in the spiritual womb of the virgin church, the Holy purpose of Christ is growing, awaiting maturity, ready to be born in the power and timing of God. The virgin church is in labor and in pain to give birth….”[67][emphases added]
Francis Frangipane, a longtime associate of Bickle, has written extensively about this “presence.” In a recent ElijahList article, Frangipane explained his view of “presence” by mentioning a dream he had in 1973 where he was “overwhelmed by the intense fire of His presence.”[68] Frangipane stated that that this “presence” had to do with heaven coming to earth, an eschatological scenario:
…the emanation of Christ's presence was like a burning fire upon my consciousness. A great procession of heavenly beings was descending through a night sky; I knew that this was a glimpse of Heaven coming to Earth….
…the radiance of His presence was a living fire upon my consciousness. The energy was almost painful...
Instantly I was utterly overwhelmed by the intensity of the Lord's presence. I felt that I could not... bear the increase of His glory. It was as though my very existence would be consumed by the blast furnace of His radiance….
The radiance of His presence will increasingly pour into the spiritual realms surrounding our world….
Simultaneously two events will manifest on earth, they will be the result of one, eternal source. The same increasing presence that causes wrath to descend upon the wicked will cause God's glory to be seen upon the righteous.[69] [some emphasis added]
Notice the last sentence. That this “same increasing presence” will cause “wrath to descend upon the wicked.” This sort of “presence” is the dark side of the “Forerunner Eschatology” taught by Bickle. Joel's Army, a booklet published by Discernment Ministries online, which discusses the eschatology of the "Kansas City Prophets" in detail, explains that “The 'Day of the Lord' is re-interpreted by [these] false prophets to mean that Christ will come to His Church and incarnate (become God in flesh) an army of believers – thus giving them supernatural qualities to execute judgment on the Church.”[70] Obviously this sort of “passion” can be very violent. In fact, this teaching about a destructive endtime army is still current:
At the end of December 2008, Bickle ratcheted up his end-time enthusiasm by passionately announcing that IHOP’s OneThing Conference would mark a major defining moment within the IHOP prayer movement, and would primarily center around his interpretation and implementation of the Book of Revelation. Bickle declared that it was time for the prayer movement to realize that it will be the primary agent to transition human history to the age to come through “prayers of faith that not only heal, but also kill,” releasing the heavenly arsenals through intercession that will strike the Antichrist’s political, military, and economic power bases across the earth. The end times will reveal a “killing Jesus” who is covered with blood as He marches through Jordan to free Jerusalem while engaging the Antichrist’s army in physical combat.
Based on Bickle’s end-time teaching, Jesus’ second coming has preconditions. He teaches that Jesus will not return until the global church is crying out “Come, Lord Jesus” with a full understanding of her identity as the Bride of Christ. Jesus will only return when the church is functioning in the unity of the Spirit and is anointed in prayer to release the destructive end-time tribulation judgments.[71] [emphases added]
Notice how this “passionate” Bride of Christ is wearing combat boots.[72]
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| Exhibit 9: The Warrior Bride |
If one grasps that “Jesus” in Latter Rain eschatology means the church acting as His agent (or actually incarnating Christ), then this becomes a particularly disturbing scenario. Although most often couched in the language of prayer and worship, there is a continual reference to physical violence.[73] Most of the Latter Rain teachers have talked about engaging in a literal, physical violence, not just prayer warfare or hyper-spiritual passionate worship. Note Bickle’s endtime teaching:
Bickle envisions that the end-time forerunner church will be an advanced “apostolic” movement. They will experience “greater things” than the apostles themselves. They will function as the last day Moses who through prayer releases God’s plagues on the Antichrist, the end-time Pharaoh. Bickle emphasizes that during the end times, Moses’ miracles and the miracles of the Book of Acts will be combined and multiplied on a global level as the praying church looses God’s judgments on the earth. This is why Bickle calls the Book of Revelation the “End-Times Book of Acts,” meaning that the Book of Revelation reveals the acts of the Holy Spirit that will be demonstrated through the end-time praying church.[74]
Bickle imagines that millions of praying Christians will one day be unified in prayer by knowing exactly how and when to pray next because the judgments and events in the Book of Revelation are numbered and in sequential chronological order…. [T]he end-time church will be able to loose or bind God’s judgments exactly as they unfold in history….
By praying Revelation’s Great Tribulation events into existence, this will result in billions of men, women and children being killed.[75][emphasis added]
 |
| Exhibit 10: Invoking heaven to earth |
Previously we have written about a high-profile NAR leader, Johnny Enlow, and his similarly radical endtime eschatology. Enlow is a bit more explicit than Bickle about exactly how the church is to implement its heavenly directives.
…Enlow claims that “Jesus is retained in heaven until Elijah’s Revolution…[which] will prepare for His final return.” This “revolution,” says Enlow “clearly entails the crushing of Satan here on Earth before He returns for His bride.” Enlow’s militant church is supposedly told by God that
“Your body on Earth will crush Your enemies. The last generation will be the ‘foot generation and will rule over Your enemies. Until they do so, You are not going back to rescue, rapture, save, or anything else. Your body, in fact, will not be a beautiful bride until she has accomplished this crushing of Satan.” [76] [emphasis added]
Mike Oppenheimer, in a report on the Manifest Sons of God doctrine, has observed the inherent Dominionism in their violent eschatology:
Some believe that the second coming of Jesus is to be “in the Church,” before he comes for the Church. That the Church, his body will actually become Christ on earth, glorious and triumphant. They will go Conquer the land and then rule the nations with a rod of iron. Some believe that after the Church has taken dominion over the nations, she will hasten the day that will call Jesus back to earth and hand the nations over to Him.[76][emphasis added]
Likewise, Lance Wallnau, who has served as the chief marketing change agent for the 7 mountains of Dominionism in the NAR, has written:
God promised new clarity, decisiveness, and success to those who drew near to serve His purposes. He assured them, saying, “I am with you…. Behold, I will make you into a new threshing sledge with sharp teeth; you shall thresh the mountains and beat them small, and make the hills like chaff.” I believe God is extending that promise to you and me as we join Him in what He is doing in the earth.[78] [emphasis added]
Thus, observing how Wallnau takes an old Testament verse like this out of context, it becomes clear that the horrifying “purpose” of the frenetic worship and conjured up “passion” may be to desensitize an army of young people to take over the earth, wielding threshing instruments for a global harvest of violent judgment that they are deluded into thinking is their elite divine mission.
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| Exhibit 11: NAR leader Chuck Pierce conference promo |
Passion and Intimacy
In order to activate passion, there are no holds barred. Lust is considered a viable method of inducing an altered state of consciousness; and it should be noted that sexual lust is part of many occult worship systems.[79] There is considerable evidence that IHOP generated this sort of “passion” purposefully to excess:
One July day in 1988, Mike Bickle was sitting in his office, reading a wedding card inscribed with a verse from the Song of Solomon. "Jesus, seal my heart with your seal of love," Bickle spontaneously prayed. Unaccountably, he began to weep. The phone rang. A prophet had heard the "audible voice of the Lord" for Bickle: The Song of Solomon, a dialogue between King Solomon and his beloved, should become a focus of Bickle's ministry. It eventually came to Bickle that true believers must see Jesus "through the eyes of a bride with loyal, devoted love" – they must "feel loved and in love" with Christ. Without this intimacy in worship, Christ would not return to Earth.
But the Song of Solomon is a paean to sexual desire. "Let the king bring me into his chambers" and "kiss me with the kisses of his mouth," the beloved says. "His fruit" is "sweet to my taste." IHOP's website states that one of its prayer guides, Bridal Intercession, "presents prayer as the joyful and romantic communion between the lover and his beloved. . . . Readers will find themselves . . . eager to encounter this lovely Lord who is their bridegroom."
Many critics, observing that IHOP recruits post-pubescent youth, have wondered where, if they are to approach their Lord as Solomon's beloved approaches Solomon, their imaginations are supposed to go. "[Jesus] is not coming until the people of God are crying out globally in intercession with a bridal identity," Bickle has preached. If the Second Coming depends upon "romantic communion" with Christ, and the alternative is satanic hegemony, then any error in worship should be made on the side of erotic intimacy – to lust and repent is surely better than abandoning Jesus in his hour of need.
Bickle makes a point of warning his followers that bridal theology is not sexual. To IHOP's detractors, though, the introduction of any suggestion of sensuality into worship invites transgression. Aggravating the libidinal diciness, they argue, is the nature of that worship. IHOPers spend 20, 30 or more hours every week in the prayer room, often for three or four hours at a time.
Across the IHOP complex, in cafeterias, hallways and the prayer room, music composed to enhance the ecstatic experience is "omnipresent," according to an ex-member. Among the lyrics to two popular songs: "God is a lover looking for a lover/So he fashioned me" and "Do you understand what you do to me? . . . How you ravish my heart with just one glance?" Some former IHOPers have talked of being addicted to it – they become nervous and irritable when they turn it off. Another IHOPer has written about addiction to the sedative atmosphere of the prayer room itself: "A common refrain around anxious, discouraged IHOPers is, 'I just gotta get to the prayer room.'"
"Very quickly, there were sensual escapades with God," a former intern says, meaning that some people's private imaginings turned explicit after exposure to IHOP's "bridegroom" Christ. She says that an instructor told her, "God is using his word to kiss you." The intern heard stories of IHOPers fantasizing about having "orgies with Jesus" and "sex with God." [80][italics in original, bold added]
According to a previous report on Herescope pertaining to the “Bridal Paradigm”[81] of IHOP teachers, there are definitions of terms regarding this intense sort of intimate passion:
Spirit of burning — [IHOP–KC phrase] This is a cycle of maintaining a passionate desire for Jesus so that you are in a place of emotional pain whenever He is absent; hope and excited expectancy because of the knowledge that He loves to come to the hungry and thirsty heart; real experiential encounters with His beauty and presence causing you to have an even greater intense desire to be close to Jesus.
Captivated/fascinated/ravished heart — [literal phrase] In the context of the Bridal Paradigm, this refers to someone who is wholeheartedly in love with God. In the natural, this refers to a heart moved with deep emotion and love due to the actions of their lover [82]
This type of teaching is rampant throughout the IHOP model of worship. Clearly the leaders are
creating lustful appetites for a sensual Jesus. Their Jesus is an imposter and the spiritual experiences they enjoy are not “intimacy with God” but spiritual fornication. Let us be clear; passions, desires, emotions, and feelings are sensual and creating an appetite for sensual spiritual experiences is the goal of IHOP’s Passion for Jesus Conference.[83]
Yet in the context of generating this lust, there is another equally efficient force at work: deprivation.
Contemplative Ascetic “Passion”
One way in which to exacerbate the lustful intimacy of hormone-challenged youth is to advocate an ascetic lifestyle that deprives the flesh of even basic needs such as nutrition and sleep. Under this highly charged environment, emotions and passions become vulnerable to diverse intense stimuli, especially including the spiritual temptation to sin. Indeed, there is a “Wilderness Lifestyle,” a monastic-like component to the IHOP experience, which resembles much of today’s contemplative activities:
Bickle claims that “on May 7, 1997, the Lord spoke to me about believing Him to raise up 10,000 forerunners who live in the spirit of John the Baptist as friends of the Bridegroom….
…IHOP leader Lou Engle encourages young Christians to take Old Testament Nazarite vows based on Numbers 6:1–21, a practice not taught in the New Testament.
To undergird his forerunner eschatology, Bickle exhorts Christians to follow the “wilderness lifestyle” of an Old Testament prophet, instead of modeling their lives completely on Jesus’ servant lifestyle as lived out by the New Testament apostles (Phil. 2:1–11), none of whom mention John the Baptist as a life example for Christians to follow.[84][emphasis added]
In fact, this most basic deprivations of 1) natural human affection and 2) common everyday affairs of life can be a mark of a cult. And the most recent revelation about IHOP is that this organization clearly has troubles with cult-like atrocities, including the recent murder of one of its members. According to news accounts, Bethany Deaton was allegedly murdered by Micah Moore, who was having a sexual relationship with her husband Tyler and others in their house.
Tyler had "groomed" him [Moore] to be part of their sexual group. The men said that Tyler was their "spiritual leader." He was "manipulative" and exercised "control over the members of the household." He characterized the sexual activity as a "religious experience." [85][emphasis added]
Tyler Deaton, who reportedly battled homosexuality, seemed to have been taken in by Rick Joyner’s strange eschatological vision (written in a book), The Final Quest. Very quickly a cult-like oppressiveness settled over this group of IHOP young adults, some of whom self-professed to be “apostles” and were apparently not rebuked or discouraged by Bickle. It is reported that
Deaton often played IHOP music when he presided over worship, and the members referred to Christ as "the bridegroom" and to themselves as his "brides." For most, the worship experience was spiritual, not sensual, but Deaton and at least one other person were "really into the bridegroom stuff," according to an ex-member. Deaton pressed people to enter a prayerful state and "cuddle with Jesus," says an ex-member.
But anything beyond holding hands was judged to be iniquitous. "Marriage prophecies" determined dating partners. According to members, such prophecies were explicitly discouraged by IHOP, but they cropped up in the group not long after IHOP theology sank in. Suddenly, everyone had a prophecy or was the object of one.[86][emphasis added]
The story of this cult-within-a-cult tells of “passion” becoming unbridled in a climate of religious extremism. It ended up precipitating the “drugging and sexual assaults” and violent death of Bethany Deaton. Note this disturbing revelation:
Certain details in the confession suggest that the men may have understood the assaults described to be religious acts.[87] [emphasis added]
Notice the unbridled spiritualizing that justified these violent acts described above. In this tragic story the “passion” of the “presence” culminated in a horrifying deadly “purpose.” This is the same script used by Bickle and the other IHOP leaders in describing their endtime eschatological scenario. It is any wonder that their followers used this script for their own personal passionate vendettas?
The Truth:
It is time for a hefty dose of sanity and sobriety in the evangelical world. One must wonder if those seemingly naïve evangelical leaders (e.g., Piper, Chan) are associating with a well-known cult (which has an historical record of teaching Gnostic mysticism and advocating endtime punitive violence) merely for fame and fortune, or are they perhaps also drawn to the mystical experiences of the IHOP/NAR leaders in these youth movements. Either way, they are playing with fire – strange fire.
In their 1995 book Strange Fire: The Rise of Gnosticism in the Church, which exposed the esoteric roots and fruits of the modern-day IHOP and NAR movements, Travers and Jewel van der Merwe warned about their faulty teachings about God’s “presence”:
When a high value is placed on personal experiences or revelations, Scriptures are then unscrupulously twisted and misquoted. We find those who believe the feelings of a congregation must be hyped up in order to "feel" the Presence of the Lord or else the church is thought to be "dead". Instead of music being used to worship and glorify God, it is used as a means of "connecting" or "feeling" the Presence of God. If the "location" (or a feeling within) of God is not aroused and sensed, the Spirit is said to be either absent or bound. To counter this passive situation, worship is intensified, the devil is "bound" and certain forms of excitement are encouraged until "God's Presence" is "felt". Many times music is used as the conduit for the "feeling". A popular slogan to advertise a certain music company is: "Feel the Presence of the Lord". The church has been taken down this primrose path for so long that they equate the Presence of God with a certain feeling that they obtain by doing certain things. The "goose bumps" or the "warm fuzzies" or tears of comfort, is their way of "knowing" that God is present. So what this thinking boils down to is simply: "To know God's Presence you must feel Him." In actuality this is pure Gnosticism….
The Gnostic god is localised in a subjective experience, a soulish feeling of being in union with creation and God. It rejects the relationship with the Creator based on faith in His written Word….
[W]hen emotional feelings become the doctrine of God's Presence, then God has been reduced to a "gnosis" form of Presence. For many, the doctrine of "knowing the Presence of God" is sought in a subjective experience. An emotional experience, especially a repetitive one during a worship service, if not kept in proper perspective or check, can lead to an altered state of consciousness in which the capacity for rational reasoning is greatly reduced. At this point the congregation is open to delusion and can be easily led astray. In many charismatic groups an altered state of mind is explained as "getting into the Spirit" or as a manifestation of the presence of God. Uncontrolled spiritual feelings transcend sound scriptural rationalism and give rise to the doctrine of "the Presence of God" built on an experience.[88] [emphasis added]
If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled,
and be not moved away from the hope of the Gospel,
which ye have heard….
(Colossians 1:23a)
and be not moved away from the hope of the Gospel,
which ye have heard….
(Colossians 1:23a)
Endnotes:
1. John Piper, “Thoughts from Lausanne II in Manila,” July 21, 1989, http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/articles/thoughts-from-lausanne-ii-in-manila. Note that John Piper was at Fuller Seminary during the heyday of John Wimber and C. Peter Wagner and their Third Wave.
2. Pastor Ken Silva, “FRANCIS CHAN DECLARES “I LOVE MIKE BICKLE” OF IHOP,” http://apprising.org/2014/01/02/francis-chan-declares-i-love-mike-bickle-of-ihop/. For more information see: http://apprising.org/2014/01/25/mike-bickle-and-his-international-house-of-prayer/
3. Transcripts, Kansas City Fellowship, 1988 Interview Bob Jones with Mike Bickle). See: http://herescope.blogspot.com/2011/07/ihops-new-breed-leaders.html. This quote was excerpted from the June 1990 Discernment Newsletter and also posted in its complete context on Herescope here: http://herescope.blogspot.com/2006/02/new-breed-defined.html
4. The following articles document the history of doctrines and personnel of this movement: http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/thirdwaveteachings.html and http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/geneology.html and http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/kcp.html and http://banner.org.uk/kcp/kcp-roots.html and HTTP://HERESCOPE.BLOGSPOT.COM/2008/09/IHOP-LATTER-RAIN.HTML
5. See: IHOP Enters Dominion/Christian Right Politics: IHOP is starting to feel its Dominion oats, IHOP: International House of Political Action: IHOP Enters Dominion/Christian Right Politics, IHOP & the NAR: The Formation of a Revolution, IHOP's New Breed Leaders, Prayer Warfare Evangelism: The New Order Prayer Cover
6. See articles: http://herescope.blogspot.com/2012/09/be-still.html and http://apprising.org/2014/01/02/francis-chan-declares-i-love-mike-bickle-of-ihop/ and http://apprising.org/2014/01/16/john-piper-and-stephen-venable-of-ihop-together-at-linger-conference/ and http://mywordlikefire.com/2014/01/21/ihop-kc-contemplative-at-linger-conference-reformed-contemplative-at-liberate2014one-way-love-conference/ and http://apprising.org/2014/01/24/matt-chandler-shares-a-prophecy-with-james-robison/ and http://apprising.org/2012/09/21/beth-moore-and-john-piper-set-for-passion-2013-with-louis-giglio/ and http://apprising.org/2014/01/23/stephen-venable-out-of-linger-conference/ and http://herescope.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-significance-of-youth-filled.html
7. See this article and follow the links: http://herescope.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-significance-of-youth-filled.html
8. See: http://herescope.blogspot.com/2013/11/another-jesus-calling.html
9. See: http://herescope.blogspot.com/2011/04/altered-states-different-gate.html
10. See: http://herescope.blogspot.com/2013/12/the-present-of-his-presence.html
11. This phrase is a reference to the belief of the Kansas City Prophets that there would be an endtime “Joel’s Army” made up of a youthful “New Breed” that would represent a “elect seed” to take over the earth. See: http://herescope.blogspot.com/2011/07/ihops-new-breed-leaders.html
12. Jeff Tietz, “Love and Death In the House of Prayer,” http://m.rollingstone.com/culture/news/love-and-death-in-the-house-of-prayer-20140121 Ed Note: This 7 mountains teaching is Dominionism. Dominion is part of the “purpose” of all of this “passion,” as shall be seen.
13. John Lambert, “The Growing Impact of The International House of Prayer (IHOP),” http://spreadtheflame.com/2013/12/international-house-of-prayer-ihopkc/
14. Dr. Orrel Steinkamp, “The Restoration of Davidic Warfare/Worship,” The Plumbline, Volume 7, No. 4, September/October 2002, http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/orrel11.html
15. Dr. Steinkamp, Ibid.
16. Dr. Steinkamp, Ibid.
17. Dr. Steinkamp, Ibid.
18. Mike Bickle, “Seven characteristics of the end-time prayer and worship movement,” http://ministrytodaymag.com/index.php/features/19192-vital-signs
19. Dr. Steinkamp, Ibid. This is a quote from Michael Moriarity, The New Charismatics (Zondervan, 1992), p. 280.
20. Dr. Steinkamp, citing a report by Tricia Tillin, http://www.banner.org.uk/apostasy/harp-bowl.htm. This appears as a quotation on the Banner Ministries website, attributed to: http://www.revivaltimes.faithweb.com/tabernacle.htm
21. Tricia Tillen’s report on the “Tabernacle of David,” http://www.banner.org.uk/apostasy/harp-bowl.htm
22. Tricia Tillen, Ibid. She notes that there are others who teach a variation on this theme of manifesting as a son of God—that there will be a “progression into spiritual perfection and holiness in the endtimes.”
23. Tricia Tillen, Ibid, citing a report titled “The Ministry of the Harp, the Bowl and the Scepter : The Harp of Praise, the Bowl of Incense and the Scepter of Righteousness - releasing apostolic power in the earth,” http://www.fni.com/worship/199904/msg00317.html
24. See: http://herescope.blogspot.com/2011/09/apostolic-dominionism.html
25. See: http://herescope.blogspot.com/2007/03/return-of-warrior-prophets.html
26. Tricia Tillen, Ibid, quoting from http://www.fni.com/worship/199904/msg00317.html See Exhibit 11 and the text for Exhibit 11 below.
27. Tricia Tillen, Ibid.
28. Tricia Tillen, Ibid, citing http://www.fni.com/worship/199904/msg00317.html
29. Travers and Jewel van der Merwe, Strange Fire: The Rise of Gnosticism in the Church (Conscience Press, 2005), posted online at: http://www.discernment-ministries.org/StrangeFire.pdf Also quoted in this key Herescope post that explains the endtime eschatology of this movement: http://herescope.blogspot.com/2007/03/post-apostolic.html
30. For more details on this belief, see Joel’s Army booklet by Jewel Grewe, posted at: http://www.discernment-ministries.org/JoelsArmy.pdf
31. See Herescope posts that document this key point: http://herescope.blogspot.com/2005/12/dominionist-rhetoric.html and http://herescope.blogspot.com/2006/07/more-militant-rhetoric.html and http://herescope.blogspot.com/2006/07/more-than-reformation-purification-of.html and http://herescope.blogspot.com/2008/02/dread-champion-army.html
32. Tricia Tillen, Ibid. She explains: “The word ‘inhabit’ means to sit down (as to judge) but is translated elsewhere in the bible as ‘enthroned’ - but does this verse say in Hebrew that God is enthroned on our praise? NO. The verse literally reads: But Thou/ Holy/ enthroned/ the praise of/ Israel.”
33. Dr. Steinkamp, Ibid.
34. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/passion?s=t
35. See “Altered States: A Different Gate,” http://herescope.blogspot.com/2011/04/altered-states-different-gate.html
36. See: http://herescope.blogspot.com/2014/01/sensa-scriptura.html and follow the links.
37. Wimber, Ibid.
38. Wimber, Ibid.
39. Wimber, Ibid.
40. See: http://herescope.blogspot.com/2013/12/the-present-of-his-presence.html
41. See: http://herescope.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-significance-of-youth-filled.html
42. C. Peter Wagner, who founded of the NAR, also teaches this doctrine. See: http://herescope.blogspot.com/2011/10/c-peter-wagner.html
43. For example, the New Age Harmonic Convergence was based on the belief that if enough people simultaneously meditated across the globe that it could invoke the spirit of a New Age, of an age of harmony and peace and global cooperation. See: http://herescope.blogspot.com/2011/06/new-age-date-setting.html and http://herescope.blogspot.com/2012/12/2012-new-agers-mayan-prophecies.html
44. Wimber, Ibid.
45. Wimber, Ibid.
46. It is this fifth stage, giving money, where many of the Word-Faith teachers brought in their heretical doctrines, teaching that believers would become rich and prosperous if they sent more money in to their ministries.
47. Subheading in Albert James Dager’s report “John Wimber & The Vineyard,” http://www.inplainsite.org/html/vineyard_john_wimber.html#Dager
48. Wimber’s “Healing Seminar Syllabus,” referenced by Pastor Bill Randles in his report, “The Roots: John Wimber and the Vineyard,” http://www.inplainsite.org/html/vineyard_john_wimber.html#Randles
49. Pastor Bill Randles, Ibid.
50. Al Dager, Ibid. For important history, wee also Al Dager’s two books Vengeance Is Ours: The Church in Dominion (Sword, 1990) and The World Christian Movement (Sword 2001).
51. Dager, Ibid.
52. Mike Oppenheimer, http://www.letusreason.org/curren29.htm. For more history see the following posts: http://herescope.blogspot.com/2011/07/prayer-warfare-evangelism.html and http://herescope.blogspot.com/2011/08/c-peter-wagner-spins-nar.html. Also see the articles referenced in earlier footnotes.
53. Bill Alnor, “The Kansas City Prophets,” 1996. http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/kcp.html
54. See http://herescope.blogspot.com/2011/07/ihop-nar.html
55. See Dr. Orrel Steinkamp’s articles about IHOP’s foray into center-stage American politics: http://herescope.blogspot.com/2010/04/coalescing-of-christian-right-with.html and http://herescope.blogspot.com/2011/07/ihop-enters-dominionchristian-right.html and http://herescope.blogspot.com/2011/07/ihop-international-house-of-political.html
56. See: http://herescope.blogspot.com/2011/08/c-peter-wagner-spins-nar.html
57. See: http://herescope.blogspot.com/2010/05/mainstreaming-dominionism.html and http://herescope.blogspot.com/2010/04/coalescing-of-christian-right-with.html
58. See the many articles published on Herescope at that time: http://herescope.blogspot.com/2011/10/c-peter-wagner.html and http://herescope.blogspot.com/2011/09/apostolic-dominionism.html and http://herescope.blogspot.com/2011/09/who-invented-dominionism.html and http://herescope.blogspot.com/2011/09/documenting-dominionism.html and http://herescope.blogspot.com/2011/08/denying-dominionism.html and http://herescope.blogspot.com/2011/08/c-peter-wagner-spins-nar.html
59. See: http://herescope.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-significance-of-youth-filled.html
60. Ibid.
61. Boze Herrington, posting a response to the Rolling Stone expose, “Love & Death in the House of Prayer,” in which he is mentioned. Posted at: http://thetalkingllama.wordpress.com/2014/01/22/love-death-in-the-house-of-prayer-a-rolling-stone-expose/
62. The author of this post, Sarah Leslie, was exposed to the doctrines of the “Kansas City Prophets” in the late 1980s and can attest to this being a central teaching. It was embedded in a revised eschatological scenario with an intoxicating promise of a huge outpouring of spiritual power before the end days, which would supernaturally equip believers with elite spiritual gifts.
63. Andrew Jackson, "Forerunner Eschatology," Christian Research Journal, Issue 32-04, http://journal.equip.org/articles/forerunner-eschatology or http://www.equip.org/articles/forerunner-eschatology See Herescope: http://herescope.blogspot.com/2011/07/ihop-international-house-of-political.html
64. This is actually a quote from Francis Frangipane, one of Bickle’s cohorts, in his book The Days of His Presence. It is quoted, along with other Kansas City Prophets’ materials, in the synopsis by Ed Tarkowski that appears at the bottom of a Herescope post: http://herescope.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-significance-of-youth-filled.html
65. http://herescope.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-significance-of-youth-filled.html citing Rick Joyner. Footnote 11 reads: See the Herescope post, "IHOP's New Breed Leaders," 7/16/11, and read the list of quotations there: http://herescope.blogspot.com/2011/07/ihops-new-breed-leaders.html. This particular quote comes from Rick Joyner, The Morning Star Prophetic Bulletin, August 1994, footnote 20 in the Oct/Nov/Dec 1994 Discernment Newsletter, http://www.discernment-ministries.org/Newsletters/NL1994OctNovDec.pdf.
66. Ibid, Dr. Steinkamp. This quote is attributed to Tricia Tillen of Banner Ministries.
67. Dr. Orrel Steinkamp, “New Apostolic Reformation: A Warning About Latter Day Apostles,” http://so4j.com/new-apostolic-reformation-latter-rain. The quote is attributed to Francis Frangipane, In The Presence Of God (New Wine Press 1994), pp. 153-157.
68. Francis Frangipane, “The Intensifying Presence,” TheElijahList, Jan. 30, 2013. Note that Frangipane, who is most noted for his mystical Gnostic beliefs, has authored a number of books about “presence.” This excerpt was attributed to his book The Days of His Presence.
69. Frangipane, Ibid. See also his writings: http://elijahlist.com/words/display_word.html?ID=12298 and http://elijahlist.com/words/display_word.html?ID=12182. Frangipane disparages doctrine in favor of the experiences of God, saying: “When we accept Christ into our hearts, He does not enter simply as a doctrine. No, He enters us as a living voice. His Spirit brings conviction and direction; He speaks through dreams, visions, revelation, and understanding of the Scriptures.”
70. See: http://herescope.blogspot.com/2006/02/joels-army-day-of-lord.html and http://www.discernment-ministries.org/JoelsArmy.pdf
71. “Forerunner Eschatology,” Ibid.
72. See: http://herescope.blogspot.com/2011/09/dominique.html and http://herescope.blogspot.com/2007/04/warrior-bride.html
73. See Herescope posts: http://herescope.blogspot.com/2006/05/military-new-breed.html and http://herescope.blogspot.com/2006/04/joels-army-is-recruiting.html. Especially see: http://herescope.blogspot.com/2006/02/new-breed-and-incarnating-christ.html
74. “Forerunner Eschatology,” Ibid.
75. “Forerunner Eschatology,” Ibid..
76. See: http://herescope.blogspot.com/2011/10/renaming-dominon.html. This is quoting Johnny Enlow’s book The Seven Mountain Prophecy: Unveiling the Coming Elijah Revolution (Creation House, 2008) which is about Dominionism and apostolic structures.
77. Mike Oppenheimer, “The Manifest Sons of God teaching,” http://www.letusreason.org/Latrain1.htm
78. See: http://herescope.blogspot.com/2011/10/renaming-dominon.html. Quoting Lance Wallnau, who wrote the Foreword to Os Hillman’s book Change Agent: Engaging Your Passion to be the One Who Makes A Difference (Charisma House, 2011). See footnote 8 for a rebuttal to this mis-use of Scripture.
79. See” http://herescope.blogspot.com/2010/03/emerging-evangelical-idolatry.html and follow the links, especially to: http://guardinghisflock.com/2010/03/04/eroticizing-the-eucharist-1/
80.“Love and Death In the House of Prayer,” Ibid.
81. See Dr. Orrel Steinkamp’s report on the IHOP “Bridal Paradigm” at: http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/orrel34.pdf
82. “Mike Bickle’s Gigolo Jesus,” http://herescope.blogspot.com/2008/05/mike-bickles-gigolo-jesus.html
83. “Gigolo Jesus,” Ibid.
84. “Forerunner Eschatology,” Ibid. See also: http://herescope.blogspot.com/2008/07/gods-dream.html
85. “Love and Death In the House of Prayer,” Ibid.
86. “Love and Death In the House of Prayer,” Ibid.
87. “Love and Death In the House of Prayer,” Ibid.
88. Read: http://www.discernment-ministries.org/StrangeFire.pdf
*Exhibits:
1. Charisma, "Over 30K People Gather in Kansas City for Prayer Conference." Under the photo it reads: Over 30,000 people from 100 countries met in Kansas City for the International House of Prayer Conference. (K.M. Photography). http://www.charismamag.com/spirit/prayer/19477-over-30k-people-gather-in-kansas-city-for-prayer-conference
2. Posted by Christine Pack, "Francis Chan: "I love Mike Bickle," http://www.solasisters.com/2014/01/francis-chan-i-love-mike-bickle.html?m=1. See also: http://apprising.org/2014/01/02/francis-chan-declares-i-love-mike-bickle-of-ihop/
3. Advertised by the NAR's chief media outlet, TheElijahList on July 6, 2011. The text below this graphic explains the stated "purpose" of this event: "This gathering is dedicated to those who cannot and will not settle for anything but His Glory and Presence. They will risk and forsake all for the prize of the High calling. An invitation to enter through the veil into His Presence as we join with all our heart and all of our mind and all of our strength to praise and worship the King of Glory, to hear His voice and receive commissioning for this new season." [emphasis added]
4. Graphic from article by Erik Eckholm, "Where Worship Never Pauses, New York Times, July 9, 2011. Caption beneath photo states: "Beau Million of Fort Smith, Ark., travels a few times a year to Kansas City, Mo., to worship for several weeks at a time at the International House of Prayer." The article states that Bickle "been criticized by some pastors for what they describe as unorthodox theology and a cultish atmosphere, charges that Mr. Bickle rejects. Some former students said they had been expelled for questioning the fascination with mystical healings, prophesies, angels and demons." He also wrote that "Some former students have complained that the sensory overload and isolation had left them unable to think for themselves, and that some leaders had urged them to avoid contact with skeptical parents."
5. Event advertised by TheElijahList, August 20, 2013. The text of the ad says, in part, "Get ready to awaken the gifts and dreams that God has placed inside of you and learn how to walk them out in the power of the Spirit.... Every session has been designed to equip you to step into deeper dimensions of healing, faith and Holy Spirit-empowered ministry. " [bold in original]
6. Graphic appearing in an article by Bill Bray, "The New Student Missions Revival and Indigenous Missions," January 9, 2013. http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/2013/s13010043.htm. He wrote: "At the One Thing 12 conference in Kansas City, prayer went on day and night for Urbana 12 and observers agree with director Mike Bickle said that the prayer movement and the mission’s movement are merging into one."
7. A poster that was for sale from Kansas City Fellowship two decades ago which depicts the "manchild" -- a fair-skinned baby who represents the "New Breed" becoming "god-man." We also posted this image here: http://herescope.blogspot.com/2011/07/ihops-new-breed-leaders.html
8. Another item from the Kansas City Fellowship two decades ago. The military knight in armor holding a blonde-haired, blue-eyed baby, represents the "New Breed" that is born to become "Joel's Army." Note: Jewel (van der Merwe) Grewe shown these two graphic images (Exhibit 7 & 8) of the New Breed babies as exhibits in her many speeches over the years about the original KC Prophets. Discernment Ministries has on file the original documentation on this matter. We also posted this exhibit here: http://herescope.blogspot.com/2011/07/ihops-new-breed-leaders.html
9. This exhibit is an incredibly graphic depiction of the doctrine of the Latter Rain, NAR and IHOP movements concerning a militant bride that conquers the earth before the return of Christ. This image of "The Warrior Bride" was contained in an e-mail advertisement from TheElijahList which was e-mailed on March 30, 2007, entitled "Warrior Bride Awaken." It advertised the conference, which included "JOANNE MECKSTROTH, RENEE DUNCAN, VICKI STRICKLAND, HEIDI THOMASON, and WORSHIP by GODSONG: April 12-14, 2007; Lakeside, AZ ." Herescope published a post on this at the time at http://herescope.blogspot.com/2007/04/warrior-bride.html, but shortly after this, the image was removed from TheElijahList website. The original url was http://www.elijahlist.com/words/display_word_pf.html?ID=5134. It is still on the "wayback machine" at: http://web.archive.org/web/20070430173406/http://www.elijahlist.com/words/display_word_pf.html?ID=5134 and we posted it here: http://herescope.blogspot.com/2011/09/dominique.html
10. TheElijahList conference promo, July 27, 2010, "The Spirit and the Bride." Its "purpose" is described: "This conference will release revelation, insights and keys to walk in greater intimacy with the Lord. You will receive knowledge and prophetic understanding of the times we are in and the days of explosive acceleration that are just ahead. You will be equipped to walk with God in power for victorious exploits and harvest." [emphasis added]
11. Chuck D. Pierce mailing, "Join us for THE ARK IS MOVING! (Sept 30 - Oct 2, Jacksonville, FL)," August 20, 2010. The text reads: "How will His Presence move in the earth in this hour in history? How will we move with His Presence? How will leaders lead? King David earnestly desired for the Ark of the Lord to be positioned in Jerusalem but his first attempt ended in failure! When He inquired of the Lord, he found heaven's blueprint and safely moved it to Jerusalem and a location where a new form of worship was developed." [emphasis added]