Jonestown-Waco-Grandview

In numerous letters I have been asked why I believe IHOP (International House of Prayer) falls into the category of a “cult” group.  The most common question is:  “How can a prayer movement that is centrally focused on loving Jesus be labeled a cult?”

This is a good question and one that I would encourage you to study well beyond the limited confines of my blog.  I will share with you some of my research on the topic, but note that this subject is extensive and you will need to conduct your own investigation to go deeper than just the overview of information I give here.

First, we will need to look at the basic definition of a cult.  I like to look at several definitions so that I can get a well-rounded picture of what the word means.
 

 

According to the World Dictionary:  A cult is a specific system of religious worship, especially with reference to its rites and deity; a sect devoted to such a system; a quasi-religious organization using devious psychological techniques to gain and control adherents; a group having an exclusive ideology and ritual practices centered on sacred symbols and with intense interest in and devotion to a person, idea or activity.

According to Larson’s New Book of Cults:  A cult is defined as a group that represents a religious body that is unorthodox or spurious, and has a wide perimeter of devotion to a great person, idea, or a thing.

The origin of the word cult comes from the Latin word cultus, which connotes all that is involved in worship- ritual, emotion, liturgy, and attitude.

Dr. Charles Braden is quoted as saying, "A cult is any religious group which differs significantly in some one or more aspects as to belief or practice from those groups that are regarded as the normative expression of religion in our culture."

In addition to the definition of the word, one must understand that groups can be sociological cults and/or theological cults; and that being labeled a cult does not necessarily mean the group is dangerous. Cult groups can have either a notably positive or negative popular perception.  There are many, many groups that would fall under the blanket description of a cult, but pose no psychological, emotional, physical or spiritual threat to their members.

To be defined as a dangerous cult, a group must possess a certain number of sociological or theological characteristics associated with already known dangerous groups.  I believe the easiest way to understand a group is to compare them to other cult groups and analyze the similarities and differences. 

I will start with a group we can all agree was a dangerous cult:  The People’s Temple/Jonestown led by Jim Jones.

 

JIM JONES  -  JONESTOWN  -  THE PEOPLE’S TEMPLE 

Jim Jones was a sick individual to say the very least, and his mental illness and inflated egotism began in childhood.   In interviews for the 2006 documentary Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple, childhood acquaintances recalled Jones as being a "really weird kid" who was "obsessed with religion".  As a child he was a voracious reader and studied Joseph Stalin, Karl Marx, Mahatma Gandhi and Adolf Hitler carefully, noting each of their strengths and weaknesses. He had few friends and eventually abandoned the ones he had for the preference of reading instead of playing. His mother believed she had given birth to what she called the Messiah, so one can only assume that his initial onset of egotism stemmed from her influence.

As he grew, so did his ability to work a crowd and attract media attention. He was a man of charisma and a speaker that was able to stir emotion in people. His beliefs were predominantly Methodist, but he was greatly influenced by a Baptist Revival he attended, noting that religious revivals were the means toward social change.  In June of 1956 Jones organized a mammoth four-day religious convention in a cavernous Indianapolis hall called Cadle Tabernacle. To draw the crowds, he believed he needed a religious headliner, so he arranged to share the pulpit with Rev. William M. Branham. 

This is relevant to mention for two reasons.  First, Jim Jones was a preacher.  He stood at the pulpit and preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He was a Christian.  He used Christian terminology so that his messages felt familiar and comfortable.

Second, choosing William Branham is significant because Branham was a major name at the forefront of the Latter Rain movement and was known for the miracles, signs, and wonders of his revival style meetings. Branham, though initially ordained as a Baptist pastor, converted to the Assemblies of God and remained there until he had his credentials stripped in 1949. The reason Branham had his credentials stripped is that in spite of his “miracle and healing” services, he also promoted false doctrines such as the denial of the Trinity, the teaching that the Zodiac and the pyramids were as much God’s Word as the Bible, the Serpent’s Seed doctrine which taught that Eve had sex with Satan in order to conceive Cain, and most bizarre of all he popularized the Manifest Sons of God doctrine as originally postulated by Earl G. Paulk.  This doctrine taught that rather than Christ returning physically in his second coming, there would be a re-establishment of the apostolic and prophetic ministries and that the remnant that walked in these ministries would walk so much in the power of God that they would become the fulfillment of the Second Coming. Branham died in a car accident in 1965, but many of his followers were so duped that they waited by his grave for several days fully expecting him to arise from the dead in the same way that Christ did. Though Branham is still in his grave, his legacy of deception lives on in a group of men who feel ordained by God to continue his work…. men like Mike Bickle and those of the International House of Prayer.

Mike Bickle wrote a book entitled, Growing in the Prophetic, published in 1996, in which he calls William Branham a “true prophet of God.”  (page 63)

Just like Jones, Bickle promotes the Apocalyptic ideas of the Latter Rain movement and the Manifest Sons of God, though he has assigned new terminology to avoid past ridicule.  IHOP members are called “Forerunners,” participating in the “Harp & Bowl.” The lingo has changed but Branham’s methods are still in use at the International House of Prayer, just as they were at Jonestown.

In the 1960’s Jones started making his elitism known, stating that anyone who was not a member of the People’s Temple were “drugged with the opiate of religion and had to be brought to enlightenment.”  Bickle has expressed similar elitist views, stating that other members of the body of Christ (those not a part of IHOP) are suffering boredom, dead in their spirituality and spiritually inferior.

Jones was able to gain public support and contact with prominent local and national United States politicians; and he also forged media alliances with key columnists and others at the San Francisco Chronicle and other media outlets.  Why?  Because Jones believed that the only way to achieve social change in the United States was to mobilize people through religion. 

Likewise, Bickle, with Lou Engle at his side, profess to their desire to achieve social change in the United States by way of banning abortion and homosexuality, taking a highly publicized political route straight to Washington.  Engle has gone as far as to say it is better to be dead than to be a homosexual and better for a woman to die than to abort her baby.  He has also proclaimed that natural disasters (i.e. the Joplin, Missouri tornado and Hurricane Katrina) in the United States are God’s punishment for these things. 

With publicity also comes media scrutiny and it was a 1977 article in New West Magazine in which previous People’s Temple members were interviewed and claimed to have been physically, sexually and emotionally abused by Jones, that made him immediately move his group to Guyana, wherein he officially named the place, “Jonestown.”  Jones denied the allegations and then ran and hid. 

Similarly, whenever Bickle has come under media scrutiny, he has denied, altered his terminology, twisted words, outright lied, and gone as far as to disassociate himself with members and other religious organizations.  Examples:  When Paul Cain and Bob Jones came under scrutiny for homosexuality and sexual misconduct, Bickle dis-banned the KC Prophets; a group of prophets he claimed were influential in laying the foundational roots of IHOP.  When Gruen filed what became known as the Gruen Report, questioning Bickle’s theologies and practices, Bickle changed his church’s name from Kansas City Christian Fellowship to Metro Vineyard Fellowship, hiding beneath the then large blanket of Vineyard churches. Then, when Vineyard Ministries came under scrutiny with the proving of falsehood in the Toronto Blessing, Bickle dumped the Vineyard title. 

When an infant (Jeremiah Candler) was starved to death by their IHOP member parents, who were fasting under the encouragement of Bickle’s teachings, he disassociated himself from them, claiming they were never IHOP members. 




When Bethany Deaton was murdered by fellow IHOP members, he disassociated himself with them and called their group a separate cult.  These are but a few examples of a history of running, denying, lying and hiding.

 

Similarities between Jim Jones and Mike Bickle cannot be ignored or dismissed.

Let’s look at fifteen characteristics of Jim Jones and the People’s Temple and compare them to Mike Bickle and IHOP.

(1)Jim Jones was a leader with charisma and passion.  He had the ability to stir excitement in others and convince them that he was speaking truth.  Eventually he even convinced them that he was God. 

(1)Mike Bickle is a man of passion and charisma and he has proven to be good at stirring excitement in the youth; convincing them that he has visited Heaven twice and that he has been chosen as the Apostle of the Lord to create an end-times army and usher the church into new apostolic revelation.

 

(2)By moving his group to Guyana, to establish what became known as Jonestown, he took drastic measures to separate his members from outsiders, or what he considered to be the unconverted.

(2) When his ideas were questioned at South County Christian Fellowship in St. Louis, Missouri, Bickle moved his group to the smaller community of Grandview, Missouri to establish IHOP. With the help of his wife, Diane’s, Realestate business, they began buying up rental properties and housing units in Grandview to create what is commonly known as the IHOP campus.  Over the past decade, Bickle has taken drastic measure to make his IHOP-KC campus separate from outsiders in and around KC. 

 

(3) Jones became the centralized authority that structured the philosophy and lifestyle of Jonestown members.  In doing so, he created an “us” versus “them” complex against those not belonging in the group and viewed outsiders as spiritually inferior. 

(3) Bickle is the founder and centralized authority figure of IHOP-KC.  He has structured the philosophy and the lifestyle of IHOP members, even instituting their own unique verbiage or “lingo.”   In doing so, he has created an “us” versus “them” complex against those not belonging in the group and has admitted to developing a spirit of elitism.  He has openly stated that he views all others (believers outside of IHOP) to be spiritually inferior and to fall under the deception of the enemy. 

(4)Jones enforced financial dependency, ensuring member’s personal assets were donated to his group, and making them less likely to be able to leave. 

(4)Through the design of the IHOP internships, Bickle subtly enforces a certain financial dependency which makes it harder for students, interns and members to leave. They pay elevated rent and/or tuition and are scheduled with prayer room hours that are not conducive to employment outside of IHOP.  If they cannot earn money on the outside and are being supported as a “prayer missionary” by donations that they will feel pressured to pay back upon leaving and have no means to do so, it promotes a feeling of being, in essence, trapped.

 

(5)Jones used the influence of hypnotic states, purposefully inducing a state of manipulative mind control through repetitive chanting, continuous singing, and meditation. 

(5) Bickle doesn’t hide the fact that he uses the meditative methods of Father Thomas Dubais, going as far as to say he believes Dubais’ book, “The Fire Within” should be the IHOP handbook.  Bickle calls his meditation, “communing prayer” or “centering prayer” and combines it with repetitive chanting, and long hours of mantra-based singing.  These are psychological, hypnotic practices used to break down the normal defense mechanism in the brain, thereby opening the human mind to suggestion.

These methods are chosen with intent.

 

(6)Jones ensured his members were rarely left alone, each having roommates and assigned duties that kept them busy and kept their minds from being unattended. 

(6) Bickle has structured IHOP so that students and interns have little choice but to have roommates.  They cannot financially afford to live alone.  In addition, they are required to spend a certain amount of time in the Prayer Room and doing various other duties, so there is a lack of prolonged privacy.  If a member tries to seek out too much alone time, they are reminded of this verse and via peer pressure, pulled back into activity:  Hebrews 10:25  …”not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.”  

 

(7)Members of Jonestown were encouraged and later, forced to share personal secrets in front of other group members and in written journals that were used as a source of intimidation.

(7) There are numerous testimonies from IHOP-KC camp-goers, interns and students that they were forced to share private information during the IHOP application process and via journals that were then turned in to their team leaders.  It has been proven through a private investigative report that these journals have been used by IHOP leadership to device fraudulent prophetic words in an attempt to manipulate individuals. 

 

(8)Jones would give long lectures and schedule long prayer and worship sessions in order to tire and confuse minds. 

(8)Bickle’s teachings are lengthy, at best, as you can watch on YouTube, on the IHOP website and on GodTV.  Even lengthier are the worship sets that can last hours, repeating one or two phrases.  These are purposefully designed to be long and tiring to relax the mind and make it easier for members to fall prey to the power of suggestion. 

 

(9)Jones taught his group meditative methods of centering their thoughts on God and on their apocalyptic agenda. 

(9)I’ve already covered this above, but Bickle teaches centering prayer (also called contemplative prayer and communing prayer) and gives specific steps on how to seek the Holy Spirit and ask for revelation and prophetic vision.  His focus is on building the end-times army of the Lord that will usher in the Second Coming of Christ. 

 

(10) Jim Jones claimed to be God.

(10) Mike Bickle claims to have heard the audible voice of God and to have visited Heaven twice and to be the chosen Apostle of the Lord to prepare for the Second Coming.  One of his fellow IHOP leaders, Lou Engle, preaches that the spirit of Elijah will descend upon him and that he is the spiritual Charles Lindbergh.

 

 

(11)Jones encouraged very strong peer pressure, each member helping to exploit other member’s desire for acceptance and thereby providing a sense of belonging and community. 

(11)The average age range for IHOP members is 19-27.  Bickle targets this age group because this is when the wild, teenager naturally begins to seek a more stable place of belonging and acceptance in the world.  This is the age when they begin to question things spiritually and philosophically and this is the age when they are most easily sucked into something that “feels” good.  Bickle promotes accountability among friends, which, in essence encourages peer pressure to go with the flow and not question.  More importantly than holding each other accountable, is holding ourselves accountable to God; but Bickle knows that by pushing peers to hold one another accountable, it promotes peer pressure and a fear of being judged and ridiculed.  Fear, ironically, builds deeper community; though not a pure community.

 

(12)Jones manipulated minds through the use of sensory deprivation, lack of food, lack of sleep and drugs. 

(12) IHOP enforces mandatory fasts.  They are not called “mandatory,” but participation is “highly encouraged.”  Participation is enforced by the closing of every food-offering establishment on the campus.  In addition, most students, interns and camp-goers don’t have the means (financially or otherwise) to go off campus and purchase food.  Participation is enforced through the fear of the disapproval of peers and leadership.  Food deprivation coupled with sleep deprivation from long hours in the prayer room and studying leave the mind wide open for manipulation. When a person is greatly fatigued and hungry, and is forced into prolonged activity, it can make them vulnerable to normally offensive beliefs and suggestions.

I do not know if drugs are used at IHOP to increase the hypnotic, meditative state of members. Slipping a narcotic into a member’s food or drink is a common cult tactic and it would not surprise me if IHOP were engaging in such manipulations.  We do know for a fact that the drug, Seroquin, was given to Bethany Deaton prior to her murder.  We know that Bethany was an IHOP member and so was her alledged killer.  What we don't know is where the drug came from and if other IHOP members were privy to it being used.

 

(13)To secure the new cult family feel, Jones placed rules on social relationships, allowing members to marry only other members and deny all other familial relationships. 

(13) IHOP has very distinct rules about students and interns fraternizing with one another.  Here are some of their socializing rules as found on the IHOP-KC website:

_______________________________________________________________________

The International House of Prayer (IHOPKC) community expects all its staff members (all staff, students, and interns) to make a personal commitment to live counter to the prevailing moral laxity of our society by not participating in, advocating, supporting, or condoning sexual activity (heterosexual or homosexual) outside of marriage, marriage being understood to be between a man and a woman, as set forth in the Scripture. Further, we will demonstrate our commitment to Christ and to each other by refraining from any use of tobacco, and the public or social* use of alcoholic beverages. This commitment includes summer, breaks from school, and trips outside of Kansas City for all those who plan on returning to IHOPKC after their break, summer, or trip.

*“Public or social” describes any gathering including persons who are not members of your immediate family, whether in Kansas City or elsewhere.

Dating Policy for Students

Dating or courting is not permitted during a student’s first semester of IHOPU. However, students in a relationship before enrolling as students may communicate through written communication only. If the dating relationship is with someone living in the Kansas City area, this must be disclosed on the application form. If you are engaged, please inform the Discipleship Group leader to whom you are assigned within the first two weeks of school.

Dating Policy for Interns

Dating and courting are not permitted during the One Thing and Fire in the Night internships. They are not permitted during the first track of Intro to IHOPKC and Simeon Company. However, interns in a relationship before beginning the internship may communicate through written communication only. If the dating relationship is with someone living in the Kansas City area, this must be disclosed on the application form. Applicants who are engaged should disclose this on the application form as well.

_______________________________________________________________________

In addition, IHOP encourages members to “fast from their families” or anyone who questions or takes offense to the IHOP philosophy.  They are taught that others will not understand, will take “offense” and will question what they are doing.  There are numerous testimonies about kids who have stopped communicating with their parents, siblings and life-long friends because they have received a “prophetic word” from IHOP leadership instructing them to do so. 

 

(14)Jones forced members to have sex with one another to enhance the depth of shared focus and spirituality and further unite the community as one.  He also participated in sexual activity with members.

 

(14) I do not believe IHOP encourages the use of sexual activity to enhance spirituality.  I do know that Bickle’s Bridal paradigm teaching and emphasis on Song of Songs, coupled with the sensual overtones of the mantra-based music certainly lends itself to a spirit of sensuality that, if misunderstood by members, could easily lead to abuse.

I think that Bickle’s theology in this arena is dangerous, though I am not making an accusation that he or his leadership team have been involved in sexual misconduct.

 

(15)Questioning the authority of Jim Jones resulted in punishment, both psychological and physical. 

(15)There are many accounts within IHOP where people have been kicked out of the group for questioning, ignored by peers, ostracized, threatened and even emotionally and psychologically abused because they expressed doubts. 

 

Of the fifteen characteristics found in The People’s Temple movement and in the leader, Jim Jones, thirteen of those are shared traits of the International House of Prayer and leader, Mike Bickle. 
 

Now, I ask you, is IHOP a “cult”?  Should we keep a watchful eye?  Is it dangerous?

If you look only from the outside, from the surface level, you will think it is merely a group of people who love Jesus and are coming together to devote their lives to worship and prayer.  That’s what outsiders saw of The People’s Temple too; but it was and it is a mirage.

Look deeper, from the foundation up, and the truth will begin to reveal itself.  Look deeper and a sinister spirit will emerge.  Stand IHOP’s principals against those of Jim Jones, David Koresh, Marshall Applewhite, etc., and you will soon see a thread of common deceit woven through them.  It is a thread dipped in superiority and laced in hate, cleverly disguised beneath an evangelical veil of God’s so-called End-Times purpose. 
 

They go after the youth, the naïve, for a reason.  They want the outcast, the introverted, the lonely and the misunderstood because they can offer them something no one else can:  belonging, purpose, and community.  IHOP can give them all they’ve ever wanted and never had.  They’ll do anything for acceptance and what IHOP banks on (literally) is that they will accept anything just to belong. 

IHOP speaks of empowering the youth, but it is the youth that empowers this cult.  Deception spreads faster than truth because it is easier to accept and it feels good.  Deception becomes a powerful addiction, one that must keep growing larger and larger in order to satisfy. But, eventually, as history has proven, all prophetic end-time army movements end in disaster. Is IHOP any different?

It is built upon false prophesy, guilty of participating in mental and psychological manipulations by way of sleep and food deprivations, isolationism from the outside, threats and fear tactics, acts of punishment and violence, bigotry, elitism, and IHOP leaders (namely Bickle and Engle) suffer from similar superiority complexes as those of Jim Jones, Marshall Applewhite and David Koresh.

Leaders with charisma and a demanding public persona know what to say and when to say it.  They know how to play the game better than most politicians.  They talk the talk but the path they are walking is not one of truth, but one of destruction.  Most of the members inside these types of groups can’t see it and don’t know it; and sadly, most don’t find out until it’s too late.

We don’t want to believe these types of groups exist because we have this insatiable need to feel we are smarter now… that we’ve learned from Jonestown and Waco….but,have we?

Religious groups that have been focused on the End-Times and are Apocalyptic-driven have consistently and historically resulted in disaster.  I’ve already noted Jonestown, but here are just a few more examples:

 

MARSHALL APPLEWHITE  -  HEAVEN’S GATE

Marshall Applewhite shared the same superiority complex as Jim Jones and Mike Bickle.  Applewhite encouraged his followers to see him as Christ, as the only way to salvation.  His teachings were said to be popular because they had “Christian elements that were basically grafted onto a New Age matrix.”   It was said that Applewhite effectively controlled his followers by packaging his teachings in familiar terms, even creating his own lingo that only his members would understand. It was said he “fit the traditional view of a charismatic leader” and that he was a “master manipulator.”  Members were not forced to stay, but most did and had little contact with their families of origin or with their neighbors or friends.

Thirty-nine (39) people died in a mass suicide.

 

 

STEWART TRAILL  -  THE CHURCH OF BIBLE UNDERSTANDING (aka FOREVER FAMILY)

The Church of Bible Understanding is a destructive cult started in 1971 by Stewart Traill in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The cult targeted teens as young as thirteen years old, by drawing on their weaknesses, offering them a place of acceptance and understanding and giving them the hope of being chosen by God for a greater purpose. 

Traill teaches that he is the reincarnation of Elijah, that Elijah’s spirit rests upon and within him, and that he knows the date of the return of Christ. Members of the cult live in a commune and donate 90% of their income to the cult. Traill amassed a fortune and owns four planes and a half million dollar mansion. According to former members, Traill controls every aspect of members’ lives through harsh criticism, shame, and public humiliation.

Ron Burkes, a staff member at a residential treatment center for former cult members says this:

“Traill has one of most effective means of shutting down critical thinking I’ve ever seen. Of the hundreds of people I’ve treated, The Church of Bible Understanding is definitely in the top five in terms of harm and psychological damage.”

 

 

CHARLES MANSON  -  THE MANSON FAMILY

I could write a book about Charles Manson and his psychosis and deception, but I won’t.  The one thing I want to mention is that Manson is described as a person of charisma, able to motivate others toward action and a convincing speaker.

He convinced his members that they were living in a time of social turmoil and that more turmoil was coming.  He told them they were an “elect group that was being instructed to preserve the worthy from impending disaster.”

 

 

THE MOVEMENT OF THE RESTORATION OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS OF GOD

 

This group had a strong emphasis on the apocalypse, highlighted by their booklet, A Timely Message from Heaven: The End of the Present Time.

New members were required to study it and be trained in it, reading it as many as six times. They also taught that Mother Mary had a special role in the Apocalypse, and that she communicated to the leadership. They saw themselves as a proverbial Noah’s Ark, a chosen ship of righteousness in a sea of depravity.

In March 2000, 300 people burned in a fire intentionally set by leadership.  Once the debris was cleared 500 plus graves were discovered beneath.  The death toll is somewhere between 800 and 1100 people. 

 

 

JOSEPH di MAMBRO & LUC JOURET  -  THE ORDER OF THE SOLAR TEMPLE

The Order of the Solar Temple was a secret society created by Joseph di Mambro and Luc Jouret, based upon the new age myth of the continuing existence of the Knights Templar.

Along with its interest in the Knights Templar, the group incorporated astrology, medieval legend, and Christianity into its beliefs; with an emphasis on the end of the world. 

While Jouret talked publicly about environmental issues and the end of the world, Di Mambro led their followers through elaborate ceremonies, which included guided meditations and prayer.

 

On October 5, 1994 investigators found 48 people dead. Some may have committed suicide while others were most likely killed. Some had been injected with tranquilizers or had plastic bags over their heads while others were shot. Di Mambro, his wife and his children, and Jouret were among those killed.

 

 

 

DAVID KORESH  -  BRANCH DAVIDIANS

The Branch Davidians were a splinter movement from the Seventh Day Adventist Church, and what they inherited was the Adventism’s extreme Apocalypticism.  They believed themselves to be living in a time when Christian prophecies of a final divine judgment were coming to pass.

Koresh was described as vibrant, charismatic and convincing.  He encouraged his followers to think of themselves as “students of the Seven Seals” from the book of Revelations.

He proclaimed to be the final prophet of God.

Koresh played the guitar and sang in a band and recruited people through the use of his music.  In 1985 he traveled to Israel where he claims to have had a vision from God telling him he was the modern day Cyrus.  He then had his name changed from Vernon Howell to David Koresh. The name Koresh is a transliteration of the Persian name of Cyrus, the Persian king, who allowed the Jews - who had been dispersed throughout Babylonia by Nebuchadnezzar - to return to their homelands. His first name, David, symbolized a lineage directly to the biblical King David, from whom the new messiah would descend. By taking the name of David Koresh, he was "professing himself to be the spiritual descendent of King David, a messianic figure carrying out a divinely commissioned errand."

Koresh taught a “House of David” doctrine that was based on a purported revelation which involved the reproduction of 24 children by chosen women in the community. These 24 children were to serve as the ruling elders over the millennium after the return of Christ. Another teaching in the “House of David” doctrine was one of continual prayer and worship.

When the FBI stormed Mount Carmel on April 19, 1993, 82 people died, 21 of them were children. 

 

Each one of these leaders had charisma.  Each one of these leaders had a Christian background and incorporated Christianity into their teachings.  They were/are smooth talkers, pursuing the young, the needy, the vulnerable and the naïve.  Each one had a focus of preparation for the End Times.  Each one emphasized the need for more prayer, meditation, and worship.  Each one created their own lingo and suffered from superiority complexes and severe egotism.  Each of these leaders has claimed to have either visited Heaven, heard the audible voice of God, been labeled an Apostle or Prophet of God or had the spirit of Elijah descend upon him. 

Now, I ask you, how is IHOP and its leaders any different?  Are we to believe that everyone else was wrong, but Bickle and Engle and IHOP is right?  Can we take that chance when history so venomously repeats itself, and now we have a significant trail of obvious signs to tell us when there is something wrong?  Can we afford to ignore the signs?

 

    Just because someone teaches Christianity doesn’t make them right or safe.  Look deeper.  Seek out the foundations upon which any group is built and if it is sitting on a bed of lies, false teachings and false prophesies, RUN!   If these so-called prophets have a history of mental illness, RUN!  If EVERY word that proceeds from their lips isn't true, RUN! 

I know what they are doing at IHOP feels good and looks good… but there is an underlying danger there; one that has and will reveal itself again and again.  It is deceptive.  It is demonic.   It is no different than Jonestown or Waco or Heaven’s Gate or any other Apocalyptic movement.

Jonestown ended in 900 deaths...

... IHOP isn't any different...but my prayer is that it ends differently.  ~