Charisma News is now trying to blame the sins of one man and one church on all men...

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I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. - 1Timothy 2:12-14 (ESV)

I have written a few times on the subject of women in leadership over men in God's church. The subject gives me no joy as I personally know women who could preach the paint off the wall. The possession of skill however, does not constitute direction from God. In many cases, God draws us out of where we are comfortable so that we can learn to be more reliant upon Him. Ironically, that was why He called my to preach - because it was the lats thing I wanted to do. Speaking in front of a crowd was one of my biggest fears and preaching is what helped me to overcome it because I was never more reliant upon God, then when I preached. The subject of women in positions of church power however should be an easy one because the key verses clearly state that God has said - I DO NOT PERMIT. Not only that, but God tells us why! No matter how much dancing the women's lib contingency does, they cannot escape these verses. They try to say that Paul somehow hated women without the consideration of divine inspiration. The words above are directly from God - not Paul. They bring up irrelevant examples such as women who prophesied, which is allowed by God. They change names from Junias to Junia and then pretend that he/she was of all things an apostle, which she most assuredly was not. The take Greek words like Diakonos, which meant helper at the time it was written, and pretend that it meant deacon. Granted it eventually would be where the church position of deacon came from but that would not be for another thousand years! I have no dog in this fight. I am just a guy telling you what the bible says. Charisma News on the other hand presents so many things contrary to God that it is of little surprise that they host writers that advocate for disobeying the word of God when it comes to women in leadership. The above linked article however tries to do so subtly, by using the Mike Bickle fiasco to advance the cause and as such it needs to be called out. So, let us reason once more together.

"When I first heard about the sexual scandal involving Mike Bickle and the International House of Prayer in Kansas City, Missouri, in December, my initial reaction was defensive. I didn't want to believe the charges. But I cringed on Dec. 12, 2023, when Bickle released his own confession. And my heart sank when details surfaced about another woman who had been involved with Bickle in his earlier years as a youth pastor. It became obvious that there had been a disturbing pattern of sexual abuse at IHOPKC, and with it, a pattern of hiding that abuse. The IHOP scandal is a harsh reminder that we have a much bigger problem. The worst thing we can do is go back to business as usual when the investigation ends. We need to stop, mourn for the victims, grieve for our own hardness of heart and publicly repent for the sin of sexual abuse." - J Lee Grady

Huh? Let's get this straight. Mike Bickle sexually abused women, not every man in the church. What Grady is engaging in here is elevating a pet issue of his, which is unbiblical concept of women in leadership, on the back of a much more grievous problem. You see the problem in IHOPKC is not that women were not allowed by God to be pastors. It is that the Charismaniacal church as a whole venerates their cult of personality pastors. Just listen to Dr. Michael Brown and Sam storms gush over Bickle before this all came out a year ago in the American Gospel roundtable. People have been ringing the warning bell for decades about the cult in Kansas City and places like Charisma News rebuked any attempt to speak ill of the great prophet Mike Bickle. Oops. The abuse was not hidden because of women not being allowed to lead men. It was because you see what happens if they dare to come forward! Just look at Jane Doe number one, who was VILIFIED by Charisma News. Steven Strang said she was just being used by the devil to bring a good old boy like Bickle down. I cannot speak for J. Lee Grady, who writes for Steven Strang, but my heart is good on this one. I have been calling for the end to the cult in KC for over a decade now.

"For more than two decades I've been confronting the abuse of women and girls in developing countries where gender-based violence is common. I work in communities where rape is widespread, sexual violence is normal, polygamy is legal and the forced marriage of underage girls is considered a man's right. When I start working in a country where men consider women inferior, I always begin with the pastors. I teach them how Jesus elevated women"how He healed bleeding women, defended women who were falsely accused, brought ignored women into the spotlight and empowered women to be vocal witnesses of His Resurrection. Then, I always challenge the men to repent for having hard hearts. It's a beautiful thing to watch when men from countries such as Congo, Tanzania, Bolivia, El Salvador or India kneel in front of women and repent for cruelty, domestic abuse, polygamy, abandonment, harassment and other forms of misguided male dominance. In one case in 2019, the men from a village in Uganda wept as they renounced a saying their forefathers had passed down to their sons for hundreds of years. That saying was: "Our cows are more valuable than our wives." The men repented of promoting that idea, and they broke free from centuries of male domination." - J. Lee Grady

This is just wrong. It is unbiblical as well. What Grady is teaching here is that women are literally raped because men won't let them act in authority over men within the paradigm of God's church. Even though it is what God expressly says in the key verses. God is not unclear here. He even provides the reason for why He will not allow women to lead men within the church. Grady is not comparing apples and oranges. He is comparing apples and orangutans. The fact that women cannot preach or teach with authority over men does not make them inferior. It means they have different giftings and different roles that are just as important in the body of Christ. The biblical examples he gives are being misrepresented here. Healing the woman with the issue of blood was not an example of Jesus elevating her but rather healing her. I am unsure who Grady thinks Jesus defended but the woman at the well was guilty. Jesus did not defend her, He just pointed out the hypocrisy of those wishing to kill her while they themselves were sinful. That woman though was literally caught in the act of adultery. Only sinful men with agendas can read the accounts of the life of Christ and think they somehow elevated anyone other than Christ. It is HIS gospel. Jesus also did not empower women to be vocal witnesses of His resurrection. That is a stretch straight out of unbiblical tales like "The Chosen." The first people to find the empty tomb were the women because their ROLE, was to prepare the body for burial. The fact that Jesus spoke to them first simply means He is no respecter of person, but it does not change what He then wrote in the key verses. We each have roles ordained by God. This "women can do anything men can do" mantra is straight from the carnal women's liberation movement.

"The women listening to the public confession wept for joy. They never expected to hear those words in their lifetime. I believe it's time for American men to make a similar public confession. I believe these words will be healing for women who have been hurt by men in the church. You don't have to use the words I've written below, but this would be a good place to start:

As men who are supposed to reflect the character of Christ, we acknowledge that, too often, women have been exploited sexually by men in Christian congregations. This predatory behavior has been at times ignored, minimized or even covered up. We repent on behalf of all abusers, and we ask for forgiveness from our sisters." - J. Lee Grady

America is not Uganda. More importantly, I cannot repent for you. It doesn't work that way. Having the non-abusive men repent for the abusive men will change nothing because the ones who needed to repent never did. Nothing man does, can be blamed on what God has decreed. The problem again is the men and women who all look the other way because the cult of personality pastor cannot be questioned. The reason why so many women were allowed to be abused by Ravi Zacharias and Mike Bickle has nothing to do with women not preaching with authority over men. That is an absurd premise. It has to do with men and women enabling those that abuse and supporting the abuser. J. Lee Grady writes for Charisma News. Steven Strang is the CEO, and he is on record as exonerating Mike Bickle in December! He said the advocates were just organizing a coup of a nasty church split. He said that Jane Doe number one, abused by Bickle for years, was just a tool of the devil. J. Lee Grady has no credibility to tell anyone else they need to repent for abusers when he writes for one and refuses to personally repent by stepping away from Charisma. Then maybe he can ask for forgiveness from his sisters. Properly advising sisters on what the bible says is never something we need to ask forgiveness of. Grady should know that.

"We recognize that in some cases, women who came to church seeking help after being sexually abused or violated did not receive the compassion and care they deserved. In some cases we minimized their pain, trivialized their trauma and blamed them rather than praying for their complete healing. We repent for not listening to women's pain or feeling compassion for their loss. We ask for forgiveness. We also recognize that in some cases, church leaders created an atmosphere of secrecy to enable abusers to continue in their sin. Some pastors or leaders even knowingly allowed abuse to continue, because they didn't have the courage to confront the abusers. Jesus was a defender of women when they were falsely accused"but we have not always been bold enough to defend the women who came to us for help. We repent for our unwillingness to speak out for women when they felt voiceless. We ask for forgiveness." - J. Lee Grady

It will be a recurring theme, but Grady writes for the most egregious Mike Bickle backer in Steven Strang. Charisma News constantly defends indefensible teachers. What Grady continues to do here is reprehensible. He is trying to split the bill for the transgressors amongst everyone. We all will have enough to deal with when it comes to our own sins, let alone something we had nothing to do with. Some cases? How about most cases! Let's just look around the Charismatic landscape. How does Bill Hybels happen? Ted Haggard? Ravi? Bickle? Tullian Tchividjian? Brian Houston? Carl Lentz? Bob Jones? Paul Cain? Bob Hartley? Darnell Barrett? The list just goes on and on and in each case the damage did not need to be so bad. Beloved, if J. Lee Grady is feeling guilty for being part of the enabling system at Charisma News he should repent and withdraw but to lay the blame at the feet of people who did nothing wrong is not the solution. Neither is trying to change what God has already ordered. His boss, Strang, publicly smeared all of Bickle's victims! Don't you tell me I am the one who needs to repent sir. That is you.

"We also acknowledge that in some churches, abusers used prophetic words or other spiritual gifts to manipulate women into sexual relationships. This is spiritual exploitation of the highest order. We believe any servant of Jesus Christ who uses Scripture or a prophetic message to lure a person into sexual sin should not be in ordained ministry. We repent for any instance of spiritual exploitation or deception to manipulate and control. We ask for forgiveness." - J. Lee Grady

This is so sad. Mike Bickle did not use prophetic words or spiritual gifts. He lied about using them. According to this narrative, God would have had to bestow upon Bickle gift after gift, while knowing full well that he was only lying about them to lure underage girls into bed. Sorry, God does not do that! I know this seems hard for Charismaniacs to grasp but Mike Bickle was not a prophet. He had no spiritual gifts because he never had the spirit of God. He lied about hearing from God, just like his predator brothers, Bob Jones and Paul Cain. He never heard from God to build IHOP. Never heard from him about the ungodly 24-7 prayer room. None of it was from God - we clear? Stop perpetuating this myth. You cannot ask forgiveness for his sins. Ask for your own. Ask forgiveness for enabling people like Bickle by refusing to listen to discernment ministries for decades that were warning you about IHOPKC. Stop splitting the bill.

"We acknowledge that God created male and female in His image (Gen. 1:27), and that men and women are equal in His sight. Yet because of male pride, many men view women as inferior"and as a result they believe they can coerce, dominate, demean and abuse women physically, emotionally and spiritually. We affirm that husbands are commanded to show wives honor, and treat them as "fellow heir(s) of the grace of life," according to 1 Peter 3:7. We repent for all cruelty and abuse associated with male domination, and we repent for any pain we have caused." - J. Lee Grady

Everyone being equal in the kingdom does not change what God has decreed in the key verses. Pastorships or church leadership positions are not the pinnacle. It is just a different calling. Is double honor due? Sure, but they are also held to a higher standard. Saying my sister can be a prophetess, or provide comfort, healing, knowledge, or anything else God wants to use her for is not me treating her as an inferior. Stop sowing division in the body! Let me show you how ridiculous this idea is. Mike Bickle had no issue with female pastors and preachers! None! Heidi Baker, Lisa Bevere, and even his own sister all preached at IHOPKC. That still did not stop him from abusing multiple women, including minors, over a forty-year period. Heck, Bickle even shared the wife of one of his administrators with his son. They both had affairs with the woman. There is no compelling connection between abusers and not allowing women to lead in God's church. None. Women are fellow heirs but that does not change what God has commanded. Bicklegate, Ravi Zacharias and all of their ilk has far less to do with male domination then it has to do with sin, accountability and people like Grady, who enable the behavior to continue.

"In some cases, men in the church"including pastors and other ministers"raped women, lured women into sexual relationships, touched women inappropriately, made sexual comments to women or requested sexual favors. Yet God calls men in the church to treat Christian women as our sisters and mothers "in all purity," according to 1 Timothy 5:2 (NASB). We repent for viewing women as sexual objects instead of valuing them for their character traits, personalities, intellect and spiritual gifts. We ask for forgiveness. God wants men to be strong, but our strength should be in our character, meekness, courage, fatherly care and protective love"not in cruel domination, abusive words, immature bravado or lustful exploitation. May God break our hard hearts and make us more like Jesus.{eoa}- J. Lee Grady

I used to read J. Lee Grady. He used to stay true to scripture but as time has worn on, he continues to pick unbiblical wars to wage. Like many on Charisma he is fond of the false arguments for disallowing the key verses today. This piece seems like a poorly disguised attempt to use the Bickle drama to prop up those failed arguments. What Grady is saying here is of course true. The problem is that he uses these facts to somehow pretend that all men are guilty of the same sins and that Mike Bickle's predatory behavior is somehow due to all of us. Absolute nonsense. Mike Bickle is guilty of Mike Bickle's sins. Perhaps the conviction Grady is feeling stems from being associated with enablers like Steven Strang and Dr. Michael Brown. Perhaps disassociating himself from such compromised men would be wise. Either way, Bicklegate did not happen because of a male dominated society but rather the male dominated society enabled the coverup and continuation of abuse over decades. It was rooted of course in poor theology, cult of personality pastorships, and refusing to hold people accountable. None of that changes the key verses. None of that changes what God has already decreed.

Reverend Anthony Wade - April 24, 2024

Authors Bio:
Credentialed Minister of the Gospel for the Assemblies of God. Owner and founder of 828 ministries. Vice President for Goodwill Industries. Always remember that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.