Recent failings include Robert Morris and Mike Bickle. The Rabbi correctly points out the dilemma facing the OSAS crowd. They must either state these men, who they probably believed in and looked up to, were never saved or that they still are despite overwhelming proof to the contrary. Understanding discernment makes this far clearer. Mike Bickle has never shown any fruits of being born again. Period. When he was a single twenty something Christian intern, he engaged in a multiple years sexual relationship with someone who was 15 when it started. Then in his later twenties, now married, he did the same with a different girl who was 14 when he first assaulted her. Then, when that ended and he moved on to begin to plot the IHOPKC empire, he seduced a 19-year-old, daughter of a family friend, by telling her God said his wife was going to die so that they could be together. This coercive, manipulative and controlling relationship lasted for years as he established IHOPKC. We also now know that he lied about the entire prophetic history of IHOPKC. The two other false prophets that conspired to create these lies have also been proven to be sexual predators. I do not know in what world anyone can think that Mike Bickle was a saved man of God. Only OSAS could conclude that maybe before the first victim, Bickle said some nine word prayer and was saved but the life he led after just does not support that. Let me be clear. If someone is saved, especially at a young age and then has some kind of sexually exploitive relationship with someone underage he still could be saved. He could truly repent and be honest about that failing throughout his life. God redeems beloved. He would still face the legal ramifications of such and be disqualified from ministry but he could be redeemed personally to Christ. That is not what we are talking about. We are talking about a man whose entire life was lie with multiple victims spread out across decades. Could Bickle truly repent now? Of course. Even the thief on the cross was saved at the last second. It sure seems however that it would be his first time repenting.
Robert Morris' case only seems less egregious. He too engaged in a sexual relationship with a minor, who was apparently 12-years-old when he started it as a married 20-something pastor. Even though there appears to be only one victim, Morris has lied about it for forty years while pretending he repented. I think the same standard applies to him as explained for Bickle. The other point no one is dealing with is the doctrine of these two men clearly indicated they were never saved. Robert Morris is allegedly worth in excess of 100 million dollars that he has fleeced from the people seeking God. He taught some of the most abusive tithing lies known today. He wrote a book demanding that people give him the first ten percent of their money before bills, food and even medicine or God would curse all of their money. So egregious was Morris, his lies warranted a separate chapter in my book exposing the lies of tithing. Mike Bickle ran a cult with dangerous theological beliefs such as the bridal paradigm, Joel's end time army and Jesus is my lover "worship." That is just scratching the surface. Back to the Rabbi.
"This theological crisis has brought the dilemma to the forefront of the minds of many followers of Yeshua (Jesus) and is causing many to question anew their understanding of the meaning of salvation. It's one thing when Joe Nobody comes in off the street drunk, hears the Good News and repeats the sinner's prayer, only to return to the bottle and the gutter. In that case, it's easy to justify his walking away by saying, "Well, he was never really saved." With those few words, adherents can preserve their doctrine of "once saved, always saved." After all, if he were really and truly saved, he would not have fallen back into his addiction." - Rabbi Eric Tokajer
I do not like the "nobody" reference. He was somebody to God. The real problem of course is he probably did not hear the Good News at all and the sinner's prayer must have been performative. The real problem here is the minimization of the drunk and the exalting of the false preachers. Just because you built a carnal empire and made millions of dollars doesn't make you any less of an obviously unsaved individual than the drunk. The difference is that the drunk is fighting an addiction and never heard the gospel. The false leaders did and obviously used it to their own ends.
"But now we have multiple ministry leaders who have ministered for years and led thousands into a relationship with Yeshua, raised up hundreds of men who also have ministered for years, raising up their own disciples. These men served their churches and gave millions to other ministries and missionaries. They demonstrated the fruit of the Spirit and called Yeshua L-RD.
Yet each of them fell into sin"some years ago, some recently and some for many years. Those who believe in "once saved, always saved" are left with only two choices. Choice one: None of these men were ever saved, regardless of the fruit of their ministries. Or choice two: These men have always been saved, even while they were actively participating in and practicing the very things Paul said in Galatians 5:19-21 would lead people to not inherit G-D's kingdom." - Rabbi Eric Tokajer
So, we come to it. The delusion this Rabbi is under is that he believes those charlatans ran godly churches. Mike Bickle and Robert Morris did not "minister" for years. They lied and grifted for years. The apostate church and the Purpose Driven Industrial Complex has so bastardized Christianity that people think that someone as clearly unsaved as Mike Bickle "led thousands of people into a relationship with Christ." I am sorry but he did no such thing. He lied to thousands of people and convinced them they were saved. That's all. Now, some of them may have genuinely sought the Lord on their own and may very well be saved but it would be in spite of Bickle and Morris, not because of them. I always use the example of what we would tell people who escaped the lies of the Mormon Church. Would we assume they were saved because of their sincerity? Of course not. Well, IHOPKC and Gateway Church were just as false and demonic as the Mormon Church. They are both based upon lies and the twisting of scripture. As my pastor is fond of saying, we can be sincere and sincerely wrong. I do not doubt the intention and genuineness of the victims of IHOPKC or Gateway. I doubt the leaders and doctrine they followed. The disciples they raised up are akin to the converts of the Pharisees who Jesus said would be twice the sons of hell that they were. Once again, not speaking to their motive and spare me the defense that their heart was pure. The heart is the most wickedly deceitful thing according to God specifically because we allow it to lie to us all the time. The amount of money these two snake oil salesmen gave has no relevance. Especially since they still kept the vast majority of the money they scammed from people seeking the Lord.
The most disturbing statement here is that the Rabbi thinks that people like Morris and Bickle demonstrated fruits of the spirit. They absolutely did not. Sexual assault is not a fruit of the spirit. Faking prophecies is not a fruit of the spirit. Demanding people send you ten percent of their money before paying for food and medicine is not a fruit of the spirit. In fact, these things are opposite of the fruits of the spirit. Equally disturbing is the notion that these men "fell into sin." That is absurd and minimizes what was actually criminal behavior from both. When he says more recently, he is referring to Tony Evans and TD Jakes but I am not commenting on them because the Jakes story is not fully revealed yet and Evans has not disclosed what he actually did. As for Morris and Bickle, when you choose to sexually assault a 12-, 14-, or 15-year-old over many years, while married and supposedly a pastor, you did not "fall into sin." The Rabbi finishes on a correct point. The behavior of the individuals in question reveals behaviors that Galatians says will not lead to inheriting the kingdom of God. The leaves choice one as the most obvious. Charlatans lying about God and building carnal empires on the bones of child victims were in all likelihood, not saved to begin with. Being saved should result in viewing sin as God does. It is unrealistic to think we will not sin as long as we are in this flesh but it should mean something more to us now. It should grieve us. It should make us strive to do better next time. Stepping outside of the OSAS debate, we should just endeavor to do as the key verses command and work out our salvation with fear and trembling. I thank God for saving me but never want to become complacent in that salvation.
