I signaled this was the direction they would head in once the accusations against Mike Bickle included minors. Realizing at that point there was no saving Bickle, the focus of the Purpose Driven Industrial Complex would be to save the brand, specifically IHOPKC and the false 24-7 prayer movement. We started seeing it in the writings of people like Dr. Michael Brown and the parting interview with the PR flack consultant they used for a time. It is a scam bathed in faux piety so be careful. It pulls at our heartstrings and faith. We wouldn't want people to think they were praying in vain! Their effort and sincerity mattered! Except it didn't. Now bear with me. All prayer matters and sincere prayers are indeed heard by God and answered by God. The vehicle of that prayer however was irrelevant. The prayer room had nothing to do with it. The 24-7 model had nothing to do with it. IHOPKC had nothing to do with it.
How can we be sure of these things? Because now we know they were founded on lies and false prophecies from three sexual predators in Bickle, Bob Jones, and Paul Cain. They lied about God telling them to start this movement. It was not of God. He never asked for it. He does not require it of us. Some Charismaniacal leaders pointed to the recent mobilization of over a million people praying for Israel through the efforts of IHOPKC and the prayer room and asked if that mattered and the answer is no. Would it have mattered if Mormons had organized such? Jehovah Witnesses? IHOPKC was just as much a cult as those false religions. God is not impressed with what impresses us. The means matter more to God than the ends. With this as the backdrop, let us review the recent statement from IHOPKC leadership. Let us reason once more together.
"Our Commitment to Prayer Amidst Change - After much prayer and deliberation with the Board, we have come to the conclusion that we will wind down many of the ministry and training expressions of IHOPKC, including IHOPU, Forerunner Church, CEC, and Internships. Our ongoing focus as a ministry will remain on the 24/7 prayer room and intercession for Israel." - IHOPKC
This sounds so pious but is not. The 24-7 prayer room was at the heart of the false theology at IHOPKC. It became a cesspool of bad teaching, eastern mysticism and fertile ground for other predators like Bob Hartley. Read the accounts of those that escaped IHOPKC, and they all tell horror stories of the prayer room. Shifts in the room were used as punishment by staff. I suppose the elimination of schools and internships will help but the overall concept from the leadership is that while Mike Bickle was clearly a problem, everything else was hunky-dory, except it wasn't. God has never asked us for 24-7 prayer. That is not what "praying without ceasing" means. IHOPKC was built upon the lies and false prophecies of three sexual predators. There is no level of "sincerity" that will change that. There is nothing righteous coming from it. The bible says to not even offer a sacrifice, which is what praise is, without reconciliation with a brother. How much more should we realize the dead bones of destroyed faith that this prayer room was built upon? I watched a local church get destroyed by Satan once. I watched then as the very men responsible for destroying that work of God rebuilt it upon the bones of those they had betrayed. Today they have a new hireling and once they removed all associations with the previous regime, they rebuilt the congregation. From a carnal perspective, they have even achieved some success, but I look at the people who now receive praise knowing full well what they built this faux ministry upon. God will not be mocked. The lives destroyed at IHOPKC matter more than some paltry offering of prayer in a room.
"Some might ask how we got to this point. To be clear, this is more than a response to the crisis of the last six months. After thorough examination of all aspects of IHOPKC, we have determined that the need for reform and change is vast. Therefore, we are taking a course that is deliberate and intentional, though not easy. The financial and personnel losses have not been without consequence, yet they are only a part of the deeper issues we must address in order to continue night and day prayer for future generations. The governance and structure of a Mission Base with a church, ministry school, ministries, and hundreds of staff have been strained for several years and need reform. We believe now is the opportune time to address those challenges through a transition and reorganization process." - IHOPKC
That is a lot of carnal-speak for an entity pretending to be a church. Look at the goal here though - to save the brand. They want to continue night and day prayer for future generations. Why? The answer is cleverly hidden a few sentences mater. They are using this time to engage in a "transition" and "reorganization" process. They have no intention of allowing God to raze IHOPKC to the ground. Instead, they think they can "reform" it. If you try and take an objective view you must conclude that God is destroying this ungodly work. Every time the leadership lied, deflected or delayed, God exposed, exposed and exposed. It is only the sinful arrogance of man that thinks they can reorganize their way out of a forty-year abusive history. Fourteen-year-olds, fifteen-year-olds, nineteen-year-olds? Doesn't matter - just a little reform here and a little reorg there and we should be good to go, right? They are deliberately and intentionally continuing to disobey God.
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