I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. - Romans 16:17-18 (ESV)
Charisma News has long been a cesspool of false theology and a haven for false prophets to hock their satanic wares. Whether it be Jennifer LeClaire declaring she has the power to release the angels of abundant harvest or the promotion just this past year of Benny Hinn and maniac Greg Locke, you could always count on Charisma as an oasis for false teaching. Beyond that however, it has been a way station for NAR dominionism, fueled by the founder and CEO Steven Strang. Mr. Strang is a Republican Party political operative thinly disguised as a Christian leader. For the past few months however, Strang has left the idolization of this country to his cohorts as he has set about the business of trying to save his good buddy, Mike Bickle. He has abused the media platform that Charisma is to smear the victims of Mike Bickle, falsely declare Bickle was exonerated, and espouse lies and media plant stories to pretend that this is all just a spiritual attack on IHOP, Bickle and the unbiblical 24-7 prayer movement. God, however, will not be mocked beloved. God is exposing all of this falseness through Bicklegate because IHOP was not founded based on any prophecy or any desire from God. Mike Bickle lied back then, and for years prior. Every time he opened his mouth about prophecy, he was lying. Every time he opened his mouth about holiness, he was lying. Every time Strang thinks he has gotten ahead of this story another victim emerges. The newest one, was only 15 when Bickle started abusing her and grooming her.
So let us recap, because this debauchery and evil can get confusing sometimes. The original Jane Doe has told her story and no one in KC has refuted it. In fact, many have confirmed it. When Bickle was forming IHOP he started sexually abusing a 19-year-old sheep, who was the daughter of a friend of his. He lied to her and told her God said his wife Diane was going to die so they could one day be together. He eventually would hire her as a research assistant and provide her with an apartment in KC. He had an inappropriate affair with this woman for four years, while he was founding IHOPKC and the false 24-7 prayer paradigm, based on the false prophecies of two other sexual abusers, Bob Jones and Paul Cain. Thankfully the woman got out and got married but even after that Bickle would still be inappropriate with her as a married woman. While this woman has been found truthful, most on the IHOPKC leadership side have done nothing but smear her and try to marginalize her story. Early on, someone on the IHOP side "leaked" that there were several women identified as victims, including IHOP worship leader Misty Edwards, who denied the allegations. Edwards did a long social media posting denying it and then recently doubled down as if she was the victim. The problem? She was never identified by the advocate group as a victim. It was a plant story to allow people like Strang and Charisma News to doubt the veracity of all the victims. It is a technique called poisoning the well. Nonetheless, IHOPKC refused to bring in an outside investigative source, hired a congregant to do a sham investigation and then hunkered down to try and ride out the storm. They even had the hired PR flack Eric Volz step down declaring that IHOPKC was no longer in crisis.
Then a second victim came forward, not part of the original advocate group. Do not lose sight of the fact that originally there were 8-10 victims in that group. This second victim had no issue revealing her name, Tammy Woods. She also agreed to interview with the compromised IHOP investigator. Thirdly, she also brought receipts including eyewitnesses at the time of the abuse. This includes her father, who had to drive to Kansas City to tell Bickle to stay away from his daughter. These three facets are what the IHOP leadership has been complaining about Jane Doe. That she would not identify herself, meet with their investigator and had no "evidence." These were all bogus deflections as there were plenty of people who know who Jane Doe is and all have said she is completely credible and believable. She refused to speak to McNamara because she was an IHOP congregant and her group's webpage bragged about getting three religious groups accused of sexual abuse off of the charges! The evidence red herring neglects that her own testimony is not second hand or hearsay. Either way, Tammy Woods checked all of these boxes for IHOP and left them with nothing to complain about. Oh, and Tammy's story starts when she was just 14 years old. Bickle preyed on her throughout high school and would even show up at her school. Bickle was a pastor in his 20's then. This second revelation led IHOPKC to put out an apology on their website. In it, they stated the following:
"Words cannot express the anger, shock, heartbreak, and sadness we have experienced as we have learned of allegations and testimonies of sexual abuse and manipulation concerning Mike Bickle, founder of IHOPKC. We believe that Mike Bickle sexually abused and manipulated Jane Doe and Tammy Woods, who was a minor at the time. His predatory and abusive actions are sick and violate the Word of God, the marriage covenant, and holiness; we condemn them in their entirety. In hindsight, we realize that Mike's two Friday night messages on October 13th and 20th were manipulative attempts to construct a narrative of innocence concerning himself. We deeply regret allowing him on the platform, and we acknowledge and apologize for the pain and confusion this caused. Additionally, our staff meeting on October 27th lacked the necessary disclosure and candor to meet the gravity of the situation. For this, we also apologize. Many in our community have been pained by our communications regarding these allegations. We are sorry we fell short in this area and left you feeling unseen, unheard and unappreciated. We thank you for your patience and perseverance in spite of our shortcomings. As a leadership team, we are committed to do better. Words are insufficient to communicate the pain and anguish many have born in this and prior seasons as a result of Mike Bickle's wrongdoings. Our hope and prayer is that victims in our community, and in any community, find solace and healing through the mercy of Christ." - IHOPKC Leadership Team
To say this is insufficient is a vast understatement. They have learned of these allegations for months and for months they have denied, obfuscated, and deflected. It is nice they acknowledge they were not forthcoming during their October 27th meeting, but it seems a little too late. Because leadership, like Charisma, keeps trying to save IHOP, this apology seems to be geared towards saying "my bad", we promise to be better in the future. Except there should be no future now that we know the entire IHOP vision was not from God. The individual people in leadership need to repent not only for their behavior throughout this scandal but for whatever they may have done to enable the Bickle abuse, if any. They need to admit the McNamara investigation was a sham and agree to whatever investigative team the advocate group wants. That investigation needs to include the culpability of IHOP in general and anyone in leadership. The original 8-10 victims need their cases vetted and their causes heard. We are talking about an outside group, not a clown car of Charismaniacal leaders as Dr. Michael Brown had recently suggested. This is all even clearer now that there is a third victim coming forward, with tales of abuse from the age of 15, when Bickle was a 20-year-old intern at a Presbyterian church in Kansas City.
The woman wants to be referred to as TH and is the ex-wife of the disgraced false prophet Bob Hartley. It was just last month that Hartley was banned from IHOPKC due to allegations of sexual misconduct. TH states the divorce was partly due to her ex-husband falsely using prophecy in their marriage. Seems this is an epidemic at IHOPKC. So, TH states that in the mid 1970's, the 20-year-old Bickle kissed and fondled her breasts when they were dating in secret because her parents did not approve of him. TH also states that Bickle's sister, who recently was allowed to preach at IHOP, knew the entire time. The "dating" ended in 1976 but Bickle reconnected to her in the 19080's for an inappropriate emotional relationship, when Bickle was already married. Of note, TH also states that the McNamara reports was "insufficient and woefully misleading." Imagine my surprise. It now seems that McNamara used Bob Hartley, recently disgraced and banned from IHOP, as a source for inaccurately reflecting TH's experience. Additionally, the conclusion McNamara reached that Bickle had not told anyone his wife was going to die is also rebuffed by TH who says she told the advocate group in October that in 1983, Bickle had told her the same prophecy regarding his wife's death and how that would lead the way for them to have a romantic relationship. TH now reflects on this time and sees how Bickle groomed her and was a master manipulator. The stories between her, Woods, and Jane Doe number one have eerie similarities. They reveal a pattern and history of a predator, using the church as his cover. Listen, we all sin and fall short but we all do not make up stories about things God has said to us. We all do not pretend our wife is going to die in order to lure young women into bed. We all do not bring in two other sexual predators and false prophets to pretend God has instructed us to build this religious empire. God had nothing to do with IHOP's creation or its success. It has been entirely carnal since its inception, and it needs to go.
