In July of 1993 Mike Bickle said this to Charisma Magazine:
“We had an elite spirit. That's become more and more real to
me - it's so repulsive"
me - it's so repulsive"
I wish I could tell you that the repulsive elitism to which he admitted was then banished from him and his IHOP movement, but sadly that is not the case. Mike Bickle still believes he is the only one who possesses a true revelation of the end times, and has even gone so far as to criticize, condemn and call other men of God, liars.
In a 2008 podcast interview (of which you can still view on youtube ) Mike Bickle said "I feel like many of God's shepherds are lying, they're just telling lies about the Bible." In fact, if you listen to all three podcasts you will hear Mike Bickle telling the youth of America (several times) … “Your pastors are lying.”Before we touch on the sheer irony of these statements, let’s look at the type of lies and deception of which he is speaking.
Beloved, we're not waiting, 'Oh, rapture me out of here,' a lot of people are waiting to be taken up. They want to go up so they can escape the tribulation and the Lord's waiting for us to grow up to loose the tribulation, through the prayers of faith, I mean the global, united eschatological prayers of faith. Now I know that's a lot of big terms there, or whatever, but we're going to be talking about some of these areas.
-Mike Bickle, OneThing 2008 Podcast 3
I suppose the only way to have a global, united eschatological prayer of faith is to dismiss the prayers of those Christians who disagree with Mike Bickle’s theory on the end-times. Or,as Bickle has chosen to do, not even consider them a part of the body of believers at all. Need I point out the obvious that this man tries with intent and purpose to cause division in the body of Christ?
Some have stated that the "pastors are lying" comments that Bickle repeatedly made before the 2008 One Thing conference were in reference to the "emerging church." The videos of him speaking strongly suggest that, among other things, Bickle is speaking of Pre-tribbers such as the Assemblies of God, the largest Pentecostal denomination in the world, who hold to what he calls a "dangerous deception."
Granted, he does use the term "emerging generation" and also speaks of the "false justice movement" which may lead some to think he is speaking of the emergent church; and he also makes mention of the "prophetic" church…which is a movement he, himself, began.
But, as seen from the session titles and as confirmed from people who attended the One Thing 2008 sessions, Mike Bickle’s focus with eschatology- and his promise in the videos was that he would deal with the lies that pastors were telling.
Granted, he does use the term "emerging generation" and also speaks of the "false justice movement" which may lead some to think he is speaking of the emergent church; and he also makes mention of the "prophetic" church…which is a movement he, himself, began.
But, as seen from the session titles and as confirmed from people who attended the One Thing 2008 sessions, Mike Bickle’s focus with eschatology- and his promise in the videos was that he would deal with the lies that pastors were telling.
Who will deal with the lies that Mike Bickle is telling?
Here are some more quotes from the podcast series:
"There's a third mandate at IHOP that we haven't talked that much about - this year we're going to focus on it and that's the - what - God's end time plan. What He's going to do particularly, specifically with the body of Christ, in the generation that He returns. I believe we're in those days...."
Here are some more quotes from the podcast series:
"There's a third mandate at IHOP that we haven't talked that much about - this year we're going to focus on it and that's the - what - God's end time plan. What He's going to do particularly, specifically with the body of Christ, in the generation that He returns. I believe we're in those days...."
Keep in mind that when he speaks of the “body of Christ” he is only referencing the followers of Mike Bickle, not the worldwide followers of Jesus Christ. He has already made it clear that anyone who doesn’t adhere to his eschatology and questions his belief system… well, they are liars and are excluded from the body of Christ.
“Right now the Lord is wanting to get forerunners locked in –really with clarity- about the end-time plan....”
I have to stop right here because the use of the term “forerunners” indicates to me that Mike Bickle still adheres to his theory of Joel’s Army and the term “locked in” could not describe better the concrete prison of his deceptions.
"I feel like the shepherds in the body of Christ are lying on so many levels - they're lies- and I don't mean that there insidious lies where they're in the backroom thinking it through and coming out saying "I'm going to lie to people." I mean there's lies at so many levels, there's lies about how to get saved, there's lies about what the mandate of the kingdom is, there's lies about how the church is supposed to be built, there's lies about what God wants to do with the generation, the young generation that's emerging."
What are these so-called lies? In the videos Bickle promised to expose these falsehoods in his upcoming conference in 2008, but he never did. The only “lie” addressed was his frustration that other pastors and denominations had a Pre-tribulation view of the end-times.
"I feel like the shepherds in the body of Christ are lying on so many levels - they're lies- and I don't mean that there insidious lies where they're in the backroom thinking it through and coming out saying "I'm going to lie to people." I mean there's lies at so many levels, there's lies about how to get saved, there's lies about what the mandate of the kingdom is, there's lies about how the church is supposed to be built, there's lies about what God wants to do with the generation, the young generation that's emerging."
What are these so-called lies? In the videos Bickle promised to expose these falsehoods in his upcoming conference in 2008, but he never did. The only “lie” addressed was his frustration that other pastors and denominations had a Pre-tribulation view of the end-times.
The weakness of this view (Pre-Trib) is its error that Jesus will rapture the Church before the Tribulation. It is a dangerous deception that hinders the effectiveness of the gospel in several ways.
-Mike Bickle, Apostolic Pre-Millennialism
-Mike Bickle, Apostolic Pre-Millennialism
What are those ways in which a Pre-Trib view hinders the effectiveness of the gospel? Bickle doesn’t say because Bickle doesn’t know. The truth is no one knows whether the Lord takes His people home first, in the middle of it or in the end. It doesn’t matter and it certainly doesn’t affect the power of the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.Mike Bickle makes statements that imply Godly pastors in other denominations belong in the Revelations 21:8 roll call of hell, simply because they do not have his “revelation.” This is a direct act of division and it is repulsive.
His condemnation for other churches doesn’t stop at the Assembly of God or other installments of the Pentecostal movement, as seen in podcast 2 when he suggests that some of the lies being told are in the emergent and seeker-sensitive churches as well. In podcast 3 (around 08:16 or so) he says, “We want to confront things, the deception in the emergent church and groups like this…”
The so-called “deception” is that Mike Bickle believes no one else has his revelation. This is from where and from whom the “we get it and you don’t” elitist attitude at IHOP is birthed… in the ego of a man named Mike Bickle.
Don’t take my word for it, study for yourself. To understand the movement called IHOP you must first look at the man named Mike Bickle. The links to the podcasts are listed below.
