Paul Cain, Mike Bickle, I.H.O.P. & the Kansas City prophets

[beleive]

Some people claim mike bickle is a cult some say ok??Dont know much abou them but people in church are getting involved,so asking does anybody know about them and beliefs???Thanks

[Janh7]

Yes, do a search (google, yahoo) on Kansas City Fellowship. He is associated with "prophet" Paul Cain. They are and have been teaching a false gospel.

[LoudRam]

Try this link. http://www.apologeticsindex.org/c06.html It has a link about Mike Bickle in the article as well.

[jelaine]

I love Jesus ok, A LOT and the thing is I look for people who love Jesus and I had this friend who kept telling me "Jen you gotta see what God is doing out here, you have to come out here to Kansas City and see what the Lord is doing, its revival Jen" Well remember when Jesus said "If anyone says to you, look here in the inner rooms, or look there in the desert, do not believe, do not follow them, for many false christs and false prophets will rise up and decieve many, if possible, even the elect will be decieved"

Well to make a long story short, I almost was, my question to him was "What God is doing there, couldnt He do it here?" And also, here is something really creepy, whenever I went to "Google Search" Ihop + cult or the keywords "Is IHOP a Cult" or "Is Mike Bickle a false teacher?" or "Mike Bickle + False Prophet" Guess who happened to buy about SEVEN PAGES worth of results from Google.... none other than Mike Bickle and IHOP themselves ... kinda creepy, kinda horrible, also I met this guy....

Who likes to mess with people and he shouldnt but he went to IHOP wearing a teeshirt that said in spanish "Im drunk and dont give a damn" because of the reason in James where it says if someone comes in lookin like garbage and you treat him bad, havent you become evil men and placing judgment?


Anyways, during their worship service he felt led of the Spirit to go annoint this young lady with oil and pray for her, which was mild in comparison to the worship that was going on "Hooting hollaring, dancing to God" anyways, within minutes this guy was surrounded by security and escorted outside, asked NOT to annoint anyone because he was not on IHOP intercessory prayer teams or staff of Ihop etc.... so had he not been a stronger Christian, he said he was hurt so bad and felt so rejected he wanted to walk away from 'christianity' all together.... (((hugs))) its Jesus rejection....

Anyways, Beware of false prophets Jesus said, which means there are some.... test all spirits in light of Scripture, God gave me a big NO NO on this place, it seems like a spiritual crack house so to speak, forgive me for being so blunt but this place had me messed up for two weeks, from 2000 miles away.... pray for those who are misled that God would open their eyes but ultimtaely what God is showing me, is those who ARE His sheep will follow only Him and they will not follow a stranger because they dont know the Voice of the stranger, only the real sheep of God know the real voice of the good Shepherd....

Hope this helps, love a lot
jen

[Sing4Him]

Mike Bickle On Contemplative Prayer (part 1)
By Jocelyn Andersen

Mike Bickle, director of the International House of Prayer (IHOP) in Kansas City, and a well-known leader in the Prophetic Movement, claims that God is restoring contemplative prayer to the church. He goes on to claim that contemplative prayer is a God ordained means of entering into the fullness of God, and that the brightest lights in church history have been Roman Catholic mystics who lived during the dark ages. He went on to say the western church had much to learn from these mystics.



Anti-evangelical propaganda is prominent throughout his message. He informs his followers that they are constantly being put on the defensive by, and apologizing to, evangelical Christians for their intensity toward God by saying “Other Christians force us to hide our intensity—to wear a façade. “…even believers in Jesus…are made uncomfortable and intimidated by our spiritual intensity.”



However, he comforts them with the good news that they don’t “have to wear any façade” when they got together in little oasis’ “like this” (meaning his and other prophetic meetings). He continued his barrage against evangelicals by saying, “They don’t grasp it at all—being introduced into the deep realms of love.”



He claims the church of the western world has abandoned its inheritance to have the fullness of God (through contemplative prayer).



Bickle freely admits to pursuing eastern religious philosophies and had nothing but criticism for the Western Evangelical Church.



According to him, evangelical Christians are a pathetic and ignorant bunch. He says of us:



· “The Protestant wing of the western church, which is a tiny percentage of the Body of Christ…, is nearly completely (98%) unaware that the Holy Spirit is restoring contemplative prayer—center stage—to the church… The Holy Spirit is restoring this precious jewel (contemplative prayer) to the body of Christ. This is the God ordained means of attaining the fullness of God.” audio message Comtempolative Prayer pt1 by Mike Bickle on the Mike Bickle Teachings blogspot



He quotes from the contemplatives (his word for mystics) and announces that he will be teaching from the Sacred Pathways (which promotes the carrying of symbols or icons, choosing a mantra and visualizing God). Each one of these things is contradictory to the Word of God, which forbids imagery and vain repetitions in prayer.



He insists we need to study the lives and writings of the Roman Catholic mystics, and because the bookstore chain of Barnes and Nobles has carried so many books in this regard, he says (in all earnestness) that B & N is prophesying to the church that we need the mystics, and he wants to know why the church isn’t picking up on the fact that God is calling the entire Body of Christ to live lifestyles of contemplative prayer?



Below are quotes from Mike Bickle on contemplative prayer:

· “Every one in the Body Of Christ is called to live lives of contemplative prayer...”

· “Everybody is called to live in the contemplative lifestyle. Everyone! Everyone! Everyone! That’s one of the great strongholds we have to overcome (resistance to contemplative prayer).

· “…contemplative prayer, you gotta get over that hurdle! Barnes & Noble is prophesying it! Hurtle one we gotta understand it’s for everybody! Everybody is called to the fullness (contemplative prayer). We’re all going to go into this thing!”audio message Comtempolative Prayer pt1 by Mike Bickle on the Mike Bickle Teachings blogspot

Another hindrance to contemplative prayer, says Bickle, is that we need to dismantle (“we” meaning evangelical Christianity) the idea that church history began with Martin Luther (I wasn’t aware we had that idea until he informed me of it).


Bickle says the most inspiring light in all of Christianity came from the Roman Catholic mystics during the dark ages. Below are quotes from Bickle on the mystics:



· “mystics is a legitimate term... I don’t want to fight the war…so I’m just saying contemplative prayer, but I mean the mystics—even here at IHOP I say, lets just stay with contemplatives …I don’t have time to argue… so I call them the contemplatives…. I don’t want to go into the semantics, the debates…so, I’m calling it the contemplatives… I don’t have time to argue… but I need the mystics.”

· “[They are] Some of the brightest lights in all of history… there has been the brightest lights in all history for men and women of abandonment in the dark ages… somewhere we have to say the dark ages were the luminaries in the grace of God…they were Catholic priests.”

· “…a study of the lives of the mystics, the contemplatives, through history, and clearly the most inspiring, compelling examples of history, in my world, have come out of the Catholic dark ages. I can’t find anything like it in modern times, in America, in the protestant world.”

· “…we need a little Holy Spirit catalytic jump start. We need to see where a few have gone before us, and say if they did we can, and we can go further… and if you’re going to go deep into that well, I’m sad to say, the vast majority of them are going to have Catholic roots in history.”audio message Comtempolative Prayer pt1 by Mike Bickle on the Mike Bickle Teachings blogspot



Bickle minimizes the false doctrine of Roman Catholicism by saying, “But didn’t Catholics do some funny things…? Well, when you stand before the Lord you’ll find out you did some funny things too.”



Bickle heavily promotes Bernard Clairvou (who he claims was a just a quiet little monk who only wanted to stay in his hermitage, praying and reading The Song of Solomon). He is clearly impressed with Clairvou’s healing ministry but leaves out the part where Clairvou travels extensively as a major instigator of the second crusade. He says, “Bernard Clairou became my most inspiring life outside the Bible.”



The writings of Father Thomas Keating (the modern day Father of contemplative prayer) are also promoted.


Bickle says these two mean are examples, for us, of, “a way to a deeper life in God.” He went on to say, “The protestant world is in great need of examples (like these) that will beckon us to the fullness of God.” audio message Comtempolative Prayer pt1 by Mike Bickle on the Mike Bickle Teachings blogspot



Mike Bickle is telling the Body of Christ that we are woefully deficient in having lost God’s fullness and need to look to New Age, Eastern philosophy and to Roman Catholic mystics as examples in how to restore it!



And his advice to questioning, spiritually languishing and anguishing souls (who didn’t know their real problem was that they wanted more of God—until he told them so) is this, “Don’t evaluate yourself, don’t evaluate others. Just keep going after it.” audio message Comtempolative Prayer pt1 by Mike Bickle on the Mike Bickle Teachings blogspot



In plain language that means don’t read or listen to anything discerningly or analytically. Don’t question anything or anybody—not even yourself (except evangelicals of course). Just go with what feels right.



How does that jive with search my heart O God and test my thoughts…? How about this one, “There is a way that seemeth right…?”

http://hungryheartsministries.com/id419.html

[extreme4jesus]

can someone explain to me contemplative prayer?? im concerned for a friend who is going to ihop for school. i know they are wrong on there end times focuse but i didn't know anything about this. i have often wondered if they are some type of cult because of the way people talk about how 'special' it is and the aweome anointing that is only found there. i like the idea of 24/7 prayer and an emphasis on fasting, but i need to know more. can u help?

[jelaine]

Sweety, just pray for that friend of yours Remember Jesus said that "none of them that are mine will be lost"... also the real sheep of Jesus follow His voice, and will not follow the voice of a stranger, they will flee from a stranger.

Keep prayin for that friend of yours, I will also, and always listen to the Shepherd... be prayin for that friend of mine.... remember when Jesus said if anyone says to you "Look there in the inner rooms, or look there in the desert, do not believe it, for false christs and false prophets will rise up and show signs and wonders to decieve if possible even the very elect"

So just be careful and God bless you my friend.

[kenod]

Try this link. http://www.apologeticsindex.org/c06.html It has a link about Mike Bickle in the article as well.

Unfortunately that website lumps people and groups together for the sake of convenience, and passes on a lot of disinformation.

"Latter Rain" and "Manifest Sons of God" have many different understandings. One person mentioned in the article was William Branham who taught that the "latter rain" was the Pentecostal movement and that the "manifest sons of God" was in the world to come, when we are restored to the place we had in the original creation. Those who teach that we should be acting like "gods" before that time have a very different theological outlook.

I don't know a lot about Mike Bickle and the IHOP but the Statement of Faith would not raise too many eyebrows in evangelical churches - though they do believe in a post-trib rapture, and receiving the Holy Spirit subsequent to conversion (like all Pentecostals, and a large number of charismatic evangelicals).

IHOP Statement of Faith (http://www.ihop.org/Publisher/Article.aspx?ID=1000010579)

This might allay some fears also

IHOP: Affirmations and Denials (http://www.ihop.org/Publisher/Article.aspx?ID=1000010501)

Explore the site for yourself - it's always best to go to the source rather than rely on someone who's got a barrow to push. I'm not associated with IHOP in any way (and I disagree with a few things) but I like the emphasis on prayer. And don't be afraid of the mention of Catholics - there were some good ones you know - Francis of Assisi is my favourite. :pray

[extreme4jesus]

i agree i have not seen it as a threat even knowing there view on the endtimes, but i did search through there site and he does promote contemplative prayer. that does worry me.

the problem is there whole ideology is preparing the bride for purification during the tribulation so we can walk in kingdom power and be victorious through the tribulation. that part is a bit disturbing as it is sooo far from the truth and yet they have a HUGE following

i did read the link which ihadn't found before on there site. im glad they make a distinction, but i also know they can put anything on there site. but quotes from them hold a lot more weight.

[kenod]

i agree i have not seen it as a threat even knowing there view on the endtimes, but i did search through there site and he does promote contemplative prayer. that does worry me.

IHOP: contemplative prayer (http://www.ihop.org/Publisher/Article.aspx?id=1000000385)

What exactly is it that worries you? I can see that it might be too structured and disciplined for some.

What would you say to a new Christian who asked you to help them learn how to pray?

the problem is there whole ideology is preparing the bride for purification during the tribulation so we can walk in kingdom power and be victorious through the tribulation. that part is a bit disturbing as it is sooo far from the truth and yet they have a HUGE following


I believe some Christians will go through the tribulation.

The letters to the seven churches in Revelation speak of the lukewarm and the overcomers ... they're not necessarily lukewarm in their lives, but lukewarm towards believing the full Word of God. If any Christian finds him/herself here during the Tribulation, they'll know that their faith wasn't fully based on the Bible.