Kansas City Awakens to Revival at IHOP – RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!
FAKE HOLY SPIRIT ATTEMPTS TO MISLEAD MILLIONS AND WILL PROBABLY GET AWAY WITH IT TOO.
Awakening Sweeps over Int’l House of Prayer
Paul Strand – Tuesday, December 22, 2009
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Over the last decade the International House of Prayer, or IHOP as it’s usually called, has become a destination where worshippers lift non-stop praise and prayer up to God 24-hours a day. Now, there’s a new level of worship taking place at the ministry.
A series of miracle-filled meetings has been going on at the IHOP almost nightly since early November. As CBN News arrived to check out this move of the Holy Spirit, two young men were testifying about healings they had just experienced.
Jay Fridenmaker plays bass guitar in one of IHOP’s worship teams. He was so nearsighted that from the stage where he plays and these meetings take place, he’d never been able to see the big green digital clock on the other side of the auditorium.
“I’ve been asking the Lord for the last few days to heal my eyes,” Jay said. “A couple of people came over and prayed for me and my eyes…and now I can read things that are far away.” And he said the clock is now crystal clear.
Steve Moduno works with one of the other worship teams. Suffering with asthma since he was born, Steve has never been able to take deep breaths.
But he’d just been prayed for when CBN News showed up.
“Immediately I could breathe deeply.” We asked him to take a deep breath. He sucked in huge gulps of air. We said, “You were never able to do that before?” “No,” he replied, with a big, happy grin.
The ‘I Got Healed’ Gal
Rachel Beauchamp’s knee was so torn up she couldn’t run or dance for seven years. The Kansas City, Mo. resident confessed, “I’ve probably got prayed for – my knee – literally I’d say 900 times.”
At a recent renewal meeting, she wasn’t even praying for healing when it suddenly came for her damaged knee. She ran up on the stage, charging back and forth yelling, “I got healed! I got healed!” It was such a joyous, memorable moment, it earned Rachel a new title among people at IHOP: the ‘I got healed’ gal.
This move of the Lord in Kansas City began November 11 when Wes Hall’s 9 a.m. class at IHOP’s Bible school began to fill with a palpable presence of the Spirit.
15-Hour Holy Ghost Encounter
All other classes quickly moved in with Hall’s. Hundreds of Christians from across Kansas City – alerted by e-mails, texts and cell calls – started showing up for a Holy Ghost encounter that lasted 15 hours.
IHOP immediately began nightly six-hour renewal meetings and was soon sending it all out on a free, live webcast reaching 180 nations. Allen Hood, president of IHOP-University, described what God’s doing to His people in these meetings: “We’re getting healed. We’re experiencing His joy. We’re finding out He not only loves us, He likes us. He wants to use us. He wants to partner with us.”
For every physical healing, there appear to be dozens of spiritual ones – often leading to a total renewal of the recipient’s faith. It’s especially happening among the young people. “This generation is so broken,” said Hall, not just an IHOP-U instructor, but provost as well. “And the Lord is setting this young adult generation free of all kinds of brokenness and shame and addiction.”
‘Religion’ Knocked Right Out of Them
What’s interesting is how many long-time Christians here have had God knock the religion right out of them, but then replace it with a loving, intimate relationship with Him.
Anna Tullis, an IHOP student and almost lifelong Christian, felt tied up in knots over her religious spirit of perfectionism and performance: “I’ve grown up in a Christian home so I really knew how to perform and do what leadership wanted you to do…just knowing the system. And it had been so much bondage.”
She received prayer and deliverance at the renewal. “Afterwards I felt so light and so free. And like the freedom to be who the Lord called me to be instead of what everyone else was expecting of me. And it’s awesome!” Tullis exclaimed. “I’m just free from religion and like, my concept of God, which was totally messed up.”
IHOP-U president Hood explained, “A lot of our kids have grown up in religious contexts. They know what it means to look religious. But they’re finding out that God loves them, accepts them and is delivering them from performance.”
Twenty-seven-year-old Brent Steeno is another IHOP-U teacher. He was praying for students during the first day the renewal began, when he realized he himself had issues blocking his relationship with God.
Steeno asked for prayer and had a heavenly encounter: “I felt like Jesus was standing next to me and He just began to do surgery on my heart and removed self-hatred and insecurities and listening to the lies of the enemy.”
Igniter for the Nation?
Many local Christians who have been paying attention for years to prophetic words spoken over Kansas City are excited for what this move might mean not just for their area, but the nation.
Pastor Alan Koch of Christ Triumphant Church in nearby Lee’s Summit, Mo., recalled one prophecy he’d heard: “There would be an outpouring of God on the coasts, but it would come to the center. And when it would come to the center, it would ignite. And we’re hoping that this is that ignition.”
IHOP invited leaders of two longtime streams of revival to come to Kansas City to wed their efforts and also examine what this move of God might mean.
John and Carol Arnott have watched over a powerful renewal at the Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship for 15 years now. They like what they saw at the IHOP renewal.
Carol said, “They’re healing the sick and they’re preaching the gospel. And I believe as people start to come, it will be so contagious.”
John added, “This is going to go all over the world. And the earth is going to be a different place because of what God does here.”
Bill Johnson’s Bethel Church in Redding, Calif. has been seeing its own miracle-filled renewal for years. He advised IHOP to drink it up: “What these pools of refreshing are is they’re wave after wave of God’s goodness that we get to taste.”
Healings Every Night
IHOP founder Mike Bickle described what he’s seeing happen night after night: “The Lord is releasing His Spirit, mostly on young people, although it’s for all ages. And a lot of people are getting healed physically, just sovereignly. Healings every night.”
IHOP staffer Rachel Wagner received one of those healings recently. For about a year she and her doctor had been worried about a suspicious lump in her breast, but she couldn’t afford the tests that could tell if it was cancerous.
Wagner told CBN News, “I’d been praying ‘Lord, if you want to heal this, announce it from the platform,’ because it’s not something that you would normally hear on a microphone. And then Wes Hall said ‘God is removing a lump from someone’s breast, someone who’s been worrying about a lump in their breast, He’s dissolving it right now.’ And I was like ‘That’s me!’ So I ran to the bathroom and I checked and it was gone completely.”
The same day Wagner talked to CBN News, her doctor confirmed the lump has totally disappeared.
A Whole New Set of Teeth
The anointing for healing isn’t just happening here at these IHOP meetings. As they go out over the live webcast, individuals and groups elsewhere are watching, joining in and reporting their own wave of healings.
Pastor Dane Joneshill was visiting IHOP while others in his Searcy, Ark. church, including his co-pastor Taylor, were watching the webcast. One began to feel a strange sensation under her dentures – a whole new set of teeth growing in.
“She could just tangibly feel them with her fingers under her gums,” Pastor Joneshill said. “So she had Taylor put his finger in her mouth and feel all these bumps under the gums where these teeth were beginning to grow and push through the skin.”
Back at IHOP, the miracles just keep coming on. Kansas City resident Stephanie London fell seven stories five years ago.
“I broke my pelvis and ever since then, my right hip has been lower than my left,” Stephanie said. “During a prayer time I felt some really intense pain and some popping, and went and checked and my hips were even.”
The next week her chiropractor confirmed her total healing: “He said ‘I can tell you right now your hips are even, you have equal flexion in both sides, you’re balanced and I have never seen you like this.'”
Now those in Kansas City experiencing this rich move of God pray that it will spread from here in the core of the country out to the campuses and the coasts and everywhere people call upon Christ, wanting more of Him.
*Originally published December 18, 2009
SEE VIDEO HERE: http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2009/December/Awakening-Sweeps-over-Intl-House-of-Prayer-/
You can talk people out of an idea or a thought or head knowledge, but NOT an experience. Nitely people are lead in prayers of repentance, receiving prophetic words and receiving healings. All these are creating a deeper hunger in the individuals lives. AWAKENING a passion for “more” of the Holy Spirit in their lives. I fail to see how this leads people away from Jehovah-God. I fail to see how Satan gets glory when people are healed. Many are coming broken and wounded and being awaken to Gods deep love for them. Lets pray for those whom God is pouring through in this awakening, they have made many saccrifices for our benefit. Lets be quick to pray and slow to speak.
Dr Reilly
>> You can talk people out of an idea or a thought or head knowledge, but NOT an experience.
Yes, experience is most definitely how we tell that something is TRUE and Biblical. Oh wait, no, no. The Bible says (sorry I am actually going to quote from the bible now) The Bible says:
1 John 4:1-6 1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God;
3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world.
4 You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.
5 They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them.
6 We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
Jeremiah 29:8 8 “For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Do not let your prophets who are in your midst and your diviners deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams which they dream.
3 John 1:11 11 Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God.
1 Corinthians 14:36-37 36 Was it from you that the word of God first went forth? Or has it come to you only?
37 If anyone thinks he is a prophet or spiritual, let him recognize that the things which I write to you are the Lord’s commandment.
Matthew 16 1 The Pharisees and Sadducees came up, and testing Jesus, they asked Him to show them a sign from heaven.
2 But He replied to them, “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’
3 “And in the morning, ‘There will be a storm today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Do you know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but cannot discern the signs of the times?
4 “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; and a sign will not be given it, except the sign of Jonah.” And He left them and went away.
2Th 2:9 2Th 2:9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders.
Matthew 24:24 24 “For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect.
Deuteronomy 13 1 “If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder,
2 and the sign or the wonder COMES TRUE, concerning which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods (whom you have not known) and let us serve them,’
3 you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams; for the LORD your God is testing you to find out if you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
4 “You shall follow the LORD your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him.
So Dr Reilly. If you are indeed a Dr. Please examine these verses carefully and start testing what is TRUE and what is NOT true, because there are LYING signs and wonders and a wicked generation seeks after experiences.
Dr. R,
Please don’t take this the wrong way; I need to point out that you have used a logical fallacy in your point…which can lead to circular reasoning. Let me explain.
Signs and wonders don’t necessarily draw people ‘closer’ to God – the foolishness of preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ does. But hang on …
Most of these movements love to use language such as ‘a deeper hunger’ and ‘passion’. If you ask them to define words like ‘holy’ you will find that it is not the same as the biblical meaning. The ultimate test is to see lives that are growing in Godliness, Sanctification, biblical purity and understanding/Godly Wisdom. The problem is that false teachers are one step ahead of the game; they also use biblical terms such has ‘repentance’ and ‘faith’ but if you analyse what that really means you may get a surprise. Faith in faith as opposed to faith in God being one example. Another instance; ‘repentance’ to them means ‘changing you mind or view of god’ when in fact the biblical definition is being broken, contrite and sorrowful over our sinful condition. You can catch out many dominiionist movement’s beliefs over their definition of sin, a lot of them don’t believe they have sin (because they are growing in godhood etc).
I see ‘prophetic words’ as a clever tactic of misleading people. People have their egos massaged with these prophetic words by self appointed prophets. Yet the reformers fought for the sufficiency of scripture, the word of God alone exposes us, leads us, guides us, teaches us. By the working and power of the Holy Spirit, goes without saying. The ‘prophetic’ can easily become a substitute for the teaching of Holy Scripture and sound biblical doctrines. I can guarantee you that you will also find a huge amount of biblical illiteracy in these movements.
I personally have zero, nothing against healings etc. This is biblical. The problem is that it becomes a hook. The real awakening is when people realize their sinful condition and a need for God’s Gracious Salvation wrought in Jesus Christ. Even a mature Christian never tires of hearing of this wonderful work.
But here is the crunch: EXPERIENCE is SUBJECTIVE & PERSONAL. The Word of God is OBJECTIVE and PUBLIC – open to public scrutiny. Experiences cannot be because they are personal.
The god of experience is very alluring, it does not cause you to deny yourself and pick up your cross. This god is all about you.
Implying that satan does not get glory because of these types of works is a logical fallacy to begin with. The generation that saw the most signs & wonders in history all perished in the desert. Jesus did say that a wicked generation seeks after a sign (the context of that passage is that the Pharisses had just witnessed a clear sign – Jesus cast out a deaf & dumb spirit of a young man in front of them and yet the Rabbinical law stated that a rabbi had to ask the demon ‘what is your name’ before casting the demon out. See a problem? It was a DEAF and DUMB spirit, it could not talk back. Only the Messiah could have done this. They missed the real sign for wanting to see the spectacular. That is man’s wickedness…and fallen state)
What I have heard of youngsters coming out of movements such as IHOP is that they have this arrogance that they think they are more ‘holy’ because they spent the last few hours shaking and vibrating under the ‘spirit’. (The fruit of the Holy Spirit is self control…see a problem? Everything according to scripture must be done in order, with soberness) They have this view that Christians that place utmost importance in the Word of God and have an extremely high view of scripture are a bunch of stuffy-religious- fuddy duddy-hypocrites… but they are privileged. No, they are deceived. Their ‘deeper hunger’ is for another fix of experiences. That is not God, that is not the Holy Spirit and that is certainly not the Gospel.
I will give you another one – ‘the fear of god’. Man, that sounds so godly does it not? The problem is that I have come across false teachers that use this as ‘submission’ to them because they are god’s chosen as opposed to a Holy, Reverent, trembling fear of God.
This does not lead people to ‘Jehovah God’, it leads people closer to what they think is ‘Jehovah God’ but could be a good counterfeit. What you call ‘deep love’ is normally mistaken for the affirmation of belonging to a group and having an identity. God’s love is deeper and greater than any experience.
Yes, there are probably many real born again Christians in these movements. Many of these probably very sincere. Most of them actually believe they are doing what is scriptural, but that is not the point…
How do you keep a church full of possibly false converts from knowing the truth? You keep them entertained – tickle their ears. Satan has just the right euphoria driven church program – full of pseudo spiritual hype, pseudo spiritual healings…that’s entertainment!
Maybe we are all wrong about this and have just misread the situation, over analyzed everything and have some explaining to do before God Almighty. Yep, have thought about that…but these alarm bells just keep going off.
If you knew a tornado was about to hit the city would you warn people? Or would you withhold the warning in case you upset people?
You make your own mind up.
WOW! I’m not sure what the motives of this article are. Have you all ever taken part in a prayer meeting there at IHOP? Do you have any idea how much time they spend in the Word? They live a life of worship and prayer 24-7! They are very sound and hold the scripture high above “experiences.” My heart is so sad. We constantly are ripping one another apart. I know someday Jesus’ heartfelt prayer will be answered that we would be one just as He and the Father are one. May we know the pain that we cause Holy Spirit and how we grieve Him. No wonder the Body of Christ isn’t nearly as effective in our nation, sin dominates, because the Body of Christ abuses parts of it’s body. Can you imagine if we all looked past our “differences” and joined in and asked the Lord to show us what’s on His heart and we prayed together and actually “loved” one another? Our world would be such a different place, but instead of fixing our eyes upon Him and paying so much attention to speck in our brother’s eye and not asking God to search our hearts and show us what’s displeasing to Him, our idols and such, we like to spend our time on who we can reveal to all is a “false prophet.” Father, in the name of Jesus I break off every curse that has been spoken over the Body of Christ by the Body of Christ and ask for Your great mercy and Love that covers a multitude of sins. Father, I pray for a greater revelation for each one of Your children about the power of our Words and what it is we’re doing to You and one another when we eat each other up with our Words. Lord, I thank You that You are so rich in mercy and Your love in never failing. Father, I pray for each one of Your children who has never really truly encountered the Father’s love and only has head knowledge that You would break through with a mighty rushing wave of Your love, take them in Your lap, with Your arms cradled around them and captivate their hearts and minds with the length, depth, breadth, and width of Your love. In Jesus’ most worthy and matchless name! Hallelujah and amen! God’s abundant blessings on you all!
I agree with Jesus heart, we need deep repentance for speaking against what His Spirit is doing in the lives of countless people in the nations, especially right now @ IHOP-KC. This is a move of God bringing holiness through the first commandment and the second. It seems many on this page have not been moved by the living word of God into LOVE. Jessica, Jesus will have His way at the end of the day, do not be sad : ) pray for the lost who think they are found. Pride is the very thing that keeps them from the God they claim to know. Humility is the manifestation of the nature of our Lord and He will judge my heart for writing this. I pray we all come before the Lord and ask Him to search us and bring us into His heart according the Word of God. Grace and Peace
love these testimonies, God is so good
as far as ihop goes, that whole community is madly in love with Jesus, it’s refreshing
i think this website mistakes criticism for discernment
Christ in you the hope of glory wow
mike
mistakes criticism for discernment?
Ok, let’s imagine that is true? How would you do it if you had to ‘discern’ that what is happening there is false?
deborah
i’m saying that what you may think is discernment is actually just a critical spirit…not from the Holy Spirit.
sometimes, when something we hear or see offends us – we can just automatically reject whatever it is…even when it’s totally God inspired. like in matthew 13:53-58 – Jesus starts teaching and doing miracles, and the people were ‘astonished,’ but then they quickly turned critical or ‘took offense’ and quickly closed their hearts off to what God was doing and saying because it was coming from someone they grew up with. they went from astonished to offended because in their unbelief, they subjected God to their own logic (Is not this the carpenter’s son?) and became critical instead of receptive.
it seems like that’s a lot of what happens with this site, there’s a lot of critical stuff being said — things aren’t said from a place of redemption or love, but just very critical and aggressive. you don’t have to agree with everything Mike Bickle or ihop says and does, but if you just throw everything out as false then you may miss something God is doing because you were offended at one or two things that you didn’t understand or prefer. even worse, you may cause others to stumble by leading them astray as well. i’m saying this from a place of caring, not wanting to be argumentative or anything.
maybe this site could keep alerting ppl of heresies and false teaching without adding the critical spirit and without condemning or accusing God’s children.
just a few thoughts
mike
>> i’m saying that what you may think is discernment is actually just a critical spirit…not from the Holy Spirit.
Oh that darn ‘religious’ spirit is what I have eh. No, it’s the Holy Spirit.
Do you have the Holy Spirit in your life Mike? Do you know what His gentle whisper sounds like? Would you like to have Holy Spirit discernment Mike? The most wonderful moment besides being born again is when you hear the Holy Spirits voice loud and clear, his conviction in your life and his warnings to protect your from evil lurking at IHOP for instance.
Tell me something. If the Holy Spirit lives inside a born again Christian why then does He have to go outside to perform circus tricks; kids convulsing on the floor, falling over like they are possessed, speaking in UNKNOWN tongues that no one knows what they are saying. Does the Holy Spirit leave these kids and then come back in again to give then ‘a new anointing’ and then leave them and come back in again to give them another ‘anointing’. NO.
Can you find me one instance in the bible where convulsing, slain in the spirit and other manifestations took place where Jesus walked. And by the way when Jesus Christ healed, He healed 1ST time, the healing was instant, the healing was not partial – one leg healed the other one will improve over 6 months, there was no hypnotism involved, no psychosomatic funny stuff. Jesus Christ the SON OF GOD HEALED.
Why don’t these kids go directly to Jesus Christ the Son of God Himself and ask to be saved and ask for healing in their lives. Why do they need a middleman?? In church today we are expected to go to the healer, who mediates with Jesus Christ and then the power of Jesus comes down the middleman onto the kids. Where is this is in the bible?? NOW WHERE.
So mike. I rebuke your little religious spirit and I pray that your eyes are opened by the Holy Spirit to see that what is taking place before you is demonic.
I know you are but what am I? Nanny nanny boo boo. Really? Very mature Deborah. Very mature. I suppose that your pride is also inspired by the Holy Spirit as well?
As a third party observation, I would have to say that between critical and discerning, you definitely fall into the category of critical and self-righteous. I would counsel you to consider these things prayerfully before the Holy Spirit. Between the subtlty of the creeping NWO or the subtlty of pride, one is far harder to notice… for those who are in bondage to it…
Joel
>> I know you are but what am I?
Jesus Christ knows exactly who you are in your heart.
Deborah, I have been testing this spirit and have found as you have, that it’s not the Holy Spirit. But WOW, the opposition I’ve been getting…just like on this site. It’s crazy. I’ve been accused of blaspheming the spirit and quenching the spirit. It’s crazy. One thing for sure is that I am praying for IHOP and Bethel (Jesus culture) and all the leaders…I am even praying for Todd Bentley…he’s back, you know.
Have you felt the aggressive opposition.
jorge
jorge
>> Have you felt the aggressive opposition.
Yes I have. The anti-Christ Spirit that has taken over people by the millions this hectic. Yeah Todd is back, well trying at least with the help of Rick ‘Freemason’ Joyner. It’s all such a lie. These people have lied and deceived so many people. So many lives have been ruined and that is exactly what they wanted to happen. Many people caught up in this lot are deceived and if they are listening to the Holy Spirit’s warning in their lives they will break free otherwise there is no hope for the others.
Watch the leaders – they will get worse and worse in their teaching. They have been warned so many times about what they are doing, they can never say no one told them. And they carry bibles around – they hold the truth in their hands yet refuse it – how ironic.
Pray for the people deceived by these leaders and don’t stop warning. No matter what happens, don’t stop warning and you yourself, please keep safe and obey the Word of God and listen to the Holy Spirit at all times. I have been deceived. No one is immune. But when we hear the truth we listen and we ask our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ the only begotten Son of God for forgiveness and then we genuinely change our ways. We don’t pull a fake one like these people do were they say are changing their ways when all they are doing is changing their plans.
i appreciate prophets who discern the word and spirits. but i do agree with whoever said it earlier that i beleive this website mistakes criticism for discernment. discernment is noticing a wrong spirit and acting to stop it. example, the apostles cast the demon spirit out of the demon-possessed girl, peter commanded the lame man to “rise up and walk” and even looking to the old testament, people were slaughtered for following the wrong spirit.
coming from a purely innocent unbiased opinion, this website does not constitute action. biblically, it looks more like what paul spoke of, which is a world “ever searching for knowledge, but never finding the truth of god.” i do admire your “concern,” but it is a concern wrongly placed. looking in your sidebar at all the “false prophets”, it seems like no one but you guys are true prophets. thats like pharisees condemning people for being unclean. jesus labeled them a “brood of vipers.”
there is definitely not a spirit of humility on this site, which is the tell-tale sign of a misguided ministry. god resists the proud. every fall of every prophet of god has found its root in pride. be careful. cutting into your fellow members of the body of christ is not helping, but hurting.
as far as IHOP specifically, i do think sometimes they miss it. sometimes they dont hear God fully. but their spirits are pure. and they do hear god fully, correctly, and biblically the overwhelming majority of the time. and they produce much fruit. once again, the bible says we will be judged by the fruit we bear.
i do commend you for acting as far as making this website, but i do believe the enemy is masquerading as the light and misguiding your focus. oh, but god has potential for you. he did put this desire for discernment inside of you. let me be clear, i am not calling it FALSE. i am calling it MISGUIDED. but there is an abundance of grace friend.
well, i have tried my best to exhibit a spirit of humility in this post. i hope i communicated that. i know some words were harsh, but i backed everything up with scripture, so it was biblical nonetheless. and my words were honestly drenched in love. i hope that is communicated as well. i fear i will probably be ripped into regardless, but i pray that god will open your eyes. so much potential lies in you, i pray that pride will not bind you to the misguided path.
earnestly praying for you.
Dan, I am new to this discussion, but in reading your last post a response seems in order. First of all, I think you mistake courage for arrogance from Deborah and others who post here. This is a place that is exposing false doctrine and fearless in whose toes get trounched upon.
The people you speak of are false prophets plain and simple. There are not half-truths in God’s economy. People need to be warned about them.
Sadly, due to the lack of responsible discernment the list of false teachers is long and teachers true to the Word are as scarce of hen’s teeth. The Bible predicts this for the last days. It is not Deb’s fault that the list is so long.
It is appreciated that you tried to extend grace, but dear friend, I fear you are the one who is misguided.
burning lamp! appreciate your banter friend. you were very civil. i appreciate that.
i would like to address your “half-truths” remark. i think you may have been referring to my claims that ihop “misses it” sometimes. i still think that. but let me be clear – this is not often. if i had to put it to percentage, its probably about 10% of the time. and i wouldnt consider that a “half-truth” – we are all human and guilty of getting caught up in the rush of emotions from time to time.
i havent always supported ihop. there was a point even earlier this year where i probably would have agreed with you. but i researched them extensively, even going so far as to attend an awakening service. i think they are just a people zealous for god’s love. a passion, a “burning” such as theirs is refreshing, and i think the american church is quick to label it “false” simply because that passion is strange to us. and we fear that which we do not understand. the truth is, “ihop” – type services are commonplace among believers in the underground church. it is not false – just different. and sometimes strange, i’ll admit that. it is true that the bible says that in the lasst days false prophets will abound…but i ask you, flip your perspective. IHOP-type houses do not abound. However, comfortable, westernized churches driven by consumerism DO abound. perhaps those churches are the false ones?
also burning lamp, i would appreciate if you backed up some of your claims with scripture. i tried to do that in my post. not discrediting you, please understand that. i feel like i could understand you better if you backed your claims up with the Word.
oh, i can’t extend any sort of grace, that’s way above my paygrade friend. that is our Dad’s territory. 🙂
for reals, thanks for responding burning lamp. and thanks for being civil and humble. that is so refreshing. i get so tired of us bashing one another all the time.
Dan
Oh boy. So you went to experience their occult church gatherings, had an experience or awakening and now everything you KNEW to be unbiblical before is now ok, even though I bet you can’t find scripture to back up what you experienced. You in your own words say it was “just different. and sometimes strange”.
Please explain to me in detail what is a ‘half-truth’? Is it not a lie? Jesus is the way, the TRUTH and the Life… not half the way, half the truth, different and sometimes strange.
Dan, thank you for your gracious response. As for dispensing grace, the Apostle Paul set the example that we have the God-given capacity to extend grace and show love and respect even when in disagreement.
The aim of this blog is to dialog and reason with one another. Some are willing to do so and some are not. It is my hope that you can be convinced of just how sinister and unbiblical IHOP really is and I don’t mean the pancake house. 🙂
Firstly, you say you have done much research. Have you researched Mike Bickle and his involvement with the false Kansas City Prophets, Paul Cain and others who have been exposed? This is the foundation of IHOP.
Dear brother, please check out this link: http://slaughteringthesheep.wordpress.com/2009/12/26/mike-bickle-and-the-kansas-city-cult-called-ihop/
The criteria you are using to evaluate IHOP is faulty and is based on emotions and feelings. Step aside from that take a good hard look at both sides of the issue. Please listen to the discerners who are contending earnest for the faith as in Jude 1:3. We are only interested in protecting the sheep from the multitude of deceptions that are appearing as angels of light. 2 Corinthians 11:14
arrrgh, i hate arguing more than anything in the world…
burning lamp. thanks for that link bro. i have actually read that before. that is largely based on hear-say, one of those “i had a friend who had a friend who had a son who went to IHOP” things…i would encourage you to at least get in contact with someone who went/goes to IHOP, or go to an awakening service, even if it’s just one… even if you think it’s false. I trust that you will discern correctly. Often, I think you can’t really say you know something unless you personally experience it in some way. burning lamp, even if you continue to believe that IHOP is false, it is dangerous to hurl accusations at something you don’t really know. I would encourage you to at least find an unbiased source on the IHOP awakening, so YOU can form an opinion, and not have some slanted opinion fed to you. also, that is just one case out of thousands of interns/students who have been associated with IHOP. I have a friend who attends there now, who keeps in regular contact with me, his parents, our pastor, and even maintains accountability with me. don’t base your opinion on just a few cases.
i do know of mike bickle’s FORMER association with Paul Cain and the KC Prophets. But he has LONG SINCE disassociated himself from them. he founded the ministry, but disassociated with it as soon as they started to adopt LAtter Rain-type theology. he never even endorsed Paul Cain’s “restoration,” because he blatantly stated there wasn’t enough solid evidence or open accountability for him to be sure.
I would really encourage you to wikipedia Mike Bickle. it presents a pretty balanced opinion on Bickle and IHOP.
Also, check out this link: http://ihop.org/Publisher/Article.aspx?ID=1000050149
It adresses the rumors and faulty information that people commonly use to call IHOP false.
Deborah. I am saying that things that happen at IHOP are NOT “half-truths.” I am saying they are human, and they err. As much as I would like them to be perfect so that people like you don’t have to pick apart their every utterance, they are HUMAN. and i do agree that leaders are held to a high standard, and i am not making excuses for their missteps. it is very important that the leaders at IHOP get it right.
as far as what I experienced when I went to an awakening service, there is plenty biblical evidence to back up what happened. The instance in which the Ethiopians were “all filled with the spirit, and spoke in tongues and prophesied” would be one such evidence. also, the entire second chapter of acts. Romans 8:26 speaks of “groanings” which connect with the Spirit. I’m only a freshman theology major at bible college. I’m sure there are many more.
you also put words in my mouth. i never claimed to KNOW that IHOP was unbiblical. i said i “probably would have” agreed with burning lamp. then i did my research. those opinions were based on hear-say and biased sites like this one. IHOP is entirely biblically-based. They present more Scripture in an awakwning service than I have EVER experienced at a “regular” church.
Deborah, I fail to understand you. what you are doing here is not, in any way, healthy for the body of christ. I can understand, respect, and love my brothers like burning lamp who, though they disagree, never attack or delegitimize me. you repeatedly ridicule numerous people on this site. there is no love in that. go back and read about the early church. go read the epistles. paul was regularly harsh with those chruches, but he also bathed those letters in blessing and love. i fail to find that here.
and i’m probably not going to continue this discussion anymore. i am taking this too personally, and i can feel my flesh getting stronger. burning lamp, i SO appreciate you. i like to think we would be good friends if i knew you in real life. look me up in heaven one day. 😛
Dan
I cannot agree with you Dan as there are many other websites exposing the false teachings. As with the excerpt I will post below. Just google IHOP false teaching and see what pops up. Yikes. About 154,000 results
I found this article and just posting an excerpt:
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.
YWAM, along with A.D. 2000 & Beyond (P. Wagner) organized “A Walk of Reconciliation” to “promote better understanding between Christians, Muslims, and Jews. … A walking tour that is building bridges with Muslims and Jews.” The Reconciliation Walk was launched in 1996 to apologize for the harm that the Crusades brought to the people of the Middle East during the Middle Ages.” Though their intentions may be good the concept of Identificational repentance is to purge the corporate sin caused by two groups of people that were at odds with each other. This is something Dutch Sheets under Peter Wagner is involved with now. The Bible teaches there is no reconciliation without the cross of Christ. Ephesians 2:14-16 explains how the two major groups, Jews and gentiles were reconciled through the cross to be in one body. It is not achieved by reconciliation walks, prayer walks or any other walk.
http://www.letusreason.org/Curren29.htm
Please read complete article at website.
Dan
Here is another article about IHOP being a false teaching. My prayer for you is to find the truth soon.
Please link here :
Hey Brother Dan,
Just in case you come back for a peek – sorry you felt that Debs and company were a bit harsh. I think you mistake their spunk and courage for brashness. They/we are passionate about contending for the faith. We would not call it arguing, but rather dialoging, reasoning together and trying to help one another – watch each other’s backs.
I am not a new kid on the block and I have been familiar w/Bickle and others in the Apostolic movement for years. Discerners have been warning about them for a long time.
I understand what it is like to be involved in a group and then in hindsight look back in horror. At the time it seemed right. But God removed the blinders and eased me out and back into the light. Many dear brethren are being sidetracked in one way or another because there are so many wrong ways to go.
I sincerely hope that you will at least heed the warnings and consider the possiblity that this is not a good route to go. Truly we all do care about you and mean only good for you in your walk. May the Lord richly bless you and yes, dear bro’ won’t it be great to have all knowledge and perfect fellowship at the Marriage Supper? No more deception or false teaching – all will be revealed. Until then we will cling to the Blessed Hope and earnestly contend for the faith.
Grace and Peace
I understand where people come from. But there are times when you need to be careful about what is going on and watch your heart. I see people there sometimes wanting to receive prayer from Wes and Allen. I mean I can understand, I can’t judge.
I truely love IHOP and the idea of 24/7 prayer and worship. My relationship with Christ and God has never been better. They have taught me to forgive my family and friends. At first I thought they were faking, but then I trusted in God and knew I had no right to judge and that He will go to people in different ways.
You can judge IHOP all you want. The idea of 24/7 prayer and worship is amazing. Times when I can’t go to church because of work or school, I know that I can go to IHOP afterwards and still continue to learn more and worship this amazing GOD. But I say don’t judge until you have gone there more than once. And don’t just go to the awakening services, go to the Global Prayer Room as well. It’s a completely different atmosphere.
laura
No one has judged any one here as it is only God who Judges. Isaiah 33:22 The article above speak for itself. We are told clearly in the Word to also test all things to see whether they proceed from God.
We should expect that in the last days people will turn to apostasy. We are told that people will perish because they refused the love and truth that would save them.
Psalm 125:3
For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest upon the land of the [uncompromisingly] righteous, lest the righteous (God’s people) stretch forth their hands to iniquity and apostasy.
Psalm 125:2-4
2 Thessalonians 2:3
Let no one deceive or beguile you in any way, for that day will not come except the apostasy comes first [unless the predicted great falling away of those who have professed to be Christians has come], and the man of lawlessness (sin) is revealed, who is the son of doom (of perdition),
2 Thessalonians 2:2-4
We as Christians should not base our faith on “man made experiences” it could be very dangerous. Churches today will much rather have people experience something than actually preach the gospel and repentance and that is very sad. I always go back to the Gospels and then I clearly see that Jesus and his Disciples never put “experiences” forward as a means of salvation. Jesus and his Disciples preached the Gospel and by hearing the Gospel people found salvation not by going to an IHOP.
Laura, it seems you are basing your acceptance of IHOP on experiences you consider positive and not so much on the Word of God. Yes, prayer is an important part of the believer’s life, but when it is based on faulty Dominionist theology, it is not pleasing to God.
Emotions and experience are deceiving and cannot be trusted. Things can appear to be okay on the surface, but I hope you will take a deeper look at the movement and the fallacy of the doctrine that drives it. There is plenty of info available on Dominionism and Kingdom Now theology on the web and on this site.
As El Marie said, no one is judging unrighteously here, but merely trying to point out concerns that can hurt God’s precious people. There are no doubt sincere believers caught up in this and it is the loving thing to do issue warnings.
I have not read everything on this page, as there are so many other good pages to read! Bur this struck me as SO TRUE:
“Oh boy. So you went to experience their occult church gatherings, had an experience or awakening and now everything you KNEW to be unbiblical before is now ok, even though I bet you can’t find scripture to back up what you experienced. You in your own words say it was “just different. and sometimes strange”.
Please explain to me in detail what is a ‘half-truth’? Is it not a lie? Jesus is the way, the TRUTH and the Life… not half the way, half the truth, different and sometimes strange.”
These poor souls always have to attend an experience centre but can’t teach/share with you anything worthwhile of God. We call them the Charismatics… Yea some of these (in)famous preachers have very evil powers and spirits. I’m sooo tired of everything fake and I’m sure God is too. I’m so glad they won’t get away with it.
BTW: The just shall live by faith [not experience] (Hab 2:4, Rom 1:17, Gal 3:11 and Heb 10:38 – wow I just found it in 4 places!)
Very important: Heb 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
You go there and spend a week! I have been there and I was delivered and encountered God big-time! It is people like you that sit on the sidelines and be a critic with a critical spirit! But then again! Jesus got persecuted for the things He did and the people he ministered to. You would have probably called him a fake too. Just like the Pharasee did! Love is kind! Not back biteing, slandering, and murmuring against ministries. Woe to you!!!!!
Chris
Yes Chris and the site your name links to does not feel safe. I had a look and feel very unsafe there. And you know, no wonder you are insulting, I once had some one tell me people like you think they have the right to insult because it is their right??? but its is ok insult away as you like.
oh I see your site links to the following sites none of which I would advise any true christian to go to and if they do they must use very Strong DISCERNMENT please!!!
links
Here are sites that The JESUSFREAK.NETwork has traded links with. While I have perused each of these sites at some point, I cannot offer any guarantees on the content of pages outside this site. If you see any dead links or sites with questionable content, please e-mail me and I’ll check it out.
[Edited: Names of sites removed.]
Please Use caution on going to this link!!!
[Edited: Link removed. Toxic. Thank you for the heads up, Elmarie. Admin.]
Admin
Thank you yes good point on the toxic part !!!:-)