"If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. - Matthew 18:15-17 (ESV)
The Bicklegate Report has dropped. After months and months of obfuscation, delay and denial, the truth is even far worse than anyone imagined when the story first broke that this revered "holiness" teacher was nothing but a sexual predator, of minors, and a lying false prophet. One of the problems when things take this long is we lose perspective. We forget the initial push back from Mike Bickle, IHOP leadership and the sycophants like Steven Strang and Charisma News. We forget how Misty Edwards tried to make herself the victim. We forget how IHOPKC assigned Eric Volz to lie on their behalf and stall the investigations. We forget how people smeared the advocacy group, made up of former IHOPKC leaders. We forget how it was characterized as a "hostile church takeover." We forget how the victims were accused of being pawns of the devil. We forget how even after the two victims came forward who were 12 and 13 years old when sexually abused by Bickle, that Steven Strang still was advocating for the restoration of the predatory wolf. We forget how Strang used Dr. Michael Brown to support this. We forget how Dr. Brown went down to IHOPKC to lecture people about discussing the matter. We forget and we move on past the things we really need to address and learn from because IHOPKC was and remains a cult. The 24-7 Prayer movement, which sounds pious, was NEVER of God. We now know that Bickle lied, along with Paul Cain and Bob Jones, two other sexual predators, to establish the false prophetic narrative.
I want to spend this review focused not as much on Mike Bickle. He has been disgraced and exposed and hopefully, no one will dream of "restoring" him to ministry. This report reveals some additional scope, as there were 17 victims of Mike Bickle throughout the decades. The most egregious are the two minors, who he had years long relationships with. One of which, he used to visit her at her high school, while he was a grown man. These two, along with Deborah Perkins, previously Jane Doe, remain the worst of the abuses. Perkins was the daughter of a family friend, who Bickle groomed, and seduced into a four-year sexual relationship, while married. Perkins was 18 when this was started by the then 40-something, married Bickle. We have some more detail about the Bickle initiated informal program called "Friends of the Bridegroom," which consisted of a research team of a carefully selected group of 18-19-year-olds, primarily girls. How he would focus on celibacy and sexual matters with the group, as he was grooming them. How he would come and go as he pleased in the apartment they were staying at, buy them gifts, and provide them money. How he would use fake prophecy to engage and control them. The report also reveals how Bickle would frequently describe his marriage with Diane as "almost celibate" and he would then intimate that he was exempt from the usual expectations of marriage. One particular disturbing image was the revelation that Bickle would create a warped narrative where he cast himself as the Priest, his wife Diane as the Nun, and Deborah Perkins as the Shulamite. As the report concluded, by using religious imagery and roles, Mike Bickle "deepened his control over her, reinforcing the idea that their interactions were special and justified." That really cuts to the core of how devious clergy abuse is. I remember once Tullian Tchividjian said that his affair with a sheep of his flock was just between two consenting adults. As if that mattered. What mattered is Tullian, or in this case Bickle, was in a position of spiritual authority. That is the trust that is manipulated and broken. That all being said, I want to drill down more on the abuse at the cult that was IHOPKC because it will become too easy to scapegoat Bickle to avoid any serious discussion about the culture that allowed it, encouraged it, and covered it up. Let me start with the exhaustive nature of this investigation by FIREFLY
"FIREFLY has received two hundred twenty-four (224) intakes through various channels,
including online survey responses, emails, and phone calls. Only three submissions were made
anonymously through the survey. We have been able to identify and interview thirty-two (32) Interviewed Survivors who were sexually abused or experienced sexually abusive misconduct during their time at IHOPKC. The credibility of this report is founded on the collective and corroborating testimony of the experiences of the victims and witnesses. It is not reliant on any single experience or victim, but rather on the consistent and overlapping accounts that paint a comprehensive picture of the systemic issues and misconduct within IHOPKC. This approach ensures that no single testimony is isolated, but instead, is part of a larger narrative that illustrates the extent and severity of the issues. This collective testimony strengthens the report's validity and highlights the urgent need to address the identified problems and implement changes to create a safer and more supportive environment. Throughout the investigation, FIREFLY meticulously reviewed and analyzed over 6,000 documents directly related to this case." - FIREFLY Report
This is the type of depth that IHOPKC leadership was trying to avoid for months. This is why they pretended to investigate using an in house IHOPKC congregant to do a superficial scrubbing. To give the appearance of taking things seriously, like when they brought in damage control expert, Eric Volz. It was all designed to protect the brand, not the victims. As the report shows, one witness said that in a meeting, IHOPKC Board Chairman Kurt Fuller stated the people in the advocacy group were "liars, and the sex abuse allegations were consensual." How is that quote aging now Kurt? There were some disturbing common threads throughout this report. First is the way that Bickle and IHOPKC used prophecy to shield themselves from criticism:
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