Men like Mike Bickle are a case study of what Paul warned about in 2 Timothy 3:6 when he wrote of false teachers saying, “For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses.” Last week, the International House of Prayer released its report on the allegations against Mike Bickle. The report itself is less of a story than it appears. It’s only seven pages long, and there’s more not in the report than actually in it.
Several of Mike Bickle’s accusers refused to participate in IHOP’s investigation, insisting that IHOP hire a law firm like Guidepost Solutions that’s truly “independent.” IHOP announced that Rosalee McNamara would be the lead investigator. She works for Lathrop GPM, a large law firm based in the Kansas City area. IHOP would not budge to the so-called Advocate Group which claimed to speak for the “victims” of Bickle. If they did not want to participate in the investigation, it would continue without them. And so it did.
Based on all the credible evidence, including his own acknowledgements of contact with the two Jane Does over twenty years ago, it is more likely than not that MB engaged in inappropriate behavior including sexual contact and clergy misconduct, in an abuse of power for a person in a position of trust and leadership. As previously stated, after these allegations emerged, in December 2023 IHOPKC announced it was “immediately, formally and permanently” separating from MB.
The “more likely than not” standard is what ultimately finds Mike Bickle guilty in the report even with a scant portion of evidence examined. IHOP already presumed Mike Bickle guilty when they announced his allegations in the first place, so the report functions more as an official redundancy than an exhaustive search for the truth. When allegations of Mike Bickle having a paramour and also using a prophecy of his wife being terminal emerged, IHOP ousted Bickle permanently last month. The former of those allegations is the most salacious in that Mike Bickle allegedly had a 19 year old whore for three years from 1996 to 1999 whereby he paid for her apartment in a sexual relationship.
But Mike Bickle has not been accused of sexually abusing children, rather he is accused of using his position to have sexually immoral relationships with loose women.
IHOP Is Moving On
Unsurprisingly, IHOP does not want to continue operating with this disgrace of Mike Bickle looming over them. The report’s rushed release gives them the out their reputation desperately needs. Eric Volz, their PR spokesperson, resigned his services from IHOP following the report’s release, as he was hired to oversee their crisis. IHOP is closing up shop on Mike Bickle and no longer wants to get bilked by lawyers for his wrongdoings.
Pitfalls of NAR
The International House of Prayer is the embodiment of the New Apostolic Reformation, a hypercharismatic heretical movement that claims to have modern-day apostles. This movement is often marred by the scandals of its famous personalities. Mike Bickle is just the latest example.
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