Mike Bickle, founder of the International House of Prayer in Kansas City (IHOPKC), has been accused of clergy sexual abuse. The allegations are called “credible and longstanding,” spanning decades. According to a statement released by three former leaders at IHOPKC:
A few days ago, we made the leadership team of the International House of Prayer in Kansas City(IHOPKC) aware of serious allegations spanning several decades concerning its founder, Mike Bickle, Without going into details to protect the privacy of the victims’ identities, we have found these allegations of clergy sexual abuse by Mike Bickle to be credible and long-standing. The credibility of these allegations is not based on any one experience or any one victim, but on the collective and corroborating testimony of the experiences of several victims.
Bickle is said to have repeatedly rebuffed their efforts to bring this to him ahead of time for explanation. If these allegations turn out to be true, Bickle will be added to a long list of those who lecture on sexual propriety, but are unwilling to follow their own rules. Remember, these allegations span decades.
Bickle founded IHOPKC in 1999. It is part of the Seven Mountains Movement of dominion theology. This holds that the Church must take control (dominion) of major areas of society in the name of God. In this way they will usher in the end times. It is basically a plan for taking over control of the world, and they are serious about it.
This theology led Bickle to Uganda earlier than the other evangelicals who ultimately landed there. A great deal of money was poured into schools and hospitals, admittedly necessary in a country ravaged under the reign of Idi Amin. Unfortunately, the influence all this bought caused many to realign their beliefs to match the plan followed by Bickle and others. They indoctrinated political leaders as they sought to take control of at least four of the seven mountains, religion, family, education, and government.
When the detestable “Kill the Gays” bill was being debated, Bickle and his brethren were right there to help push it through. Preaching a hard line on homosexuality, linking it to attacks on children, stoking fears about AIDS — this was just part of the playbook to get the bill passed. Uganda had become the proving ground for creation of a society in their image, one which would succeed where their efforts in the US had not. The result is an unbelievably homophobic society where being gay is against the law — punishable by death in certain instances — and HIV infection is on the rise once again (apparently evangelicals don’t believe in condoms).
Bickle and IHOPKC have also claimed “healing” of homosexuals through prayer and possibly the “casting out of devils” — a common practice in such charismatic, Pentecostal movements. The video has since been removed, but XGW has reported on this before. We can only hope the young man in that case was able to find the support and acceptance he needed.
This has to be a hard time for the victims, and Bickle’s family as well. Bickle deserves his day in court — these are still only allegations though they seem well founded. We hope the aftermath won’t cause too much additional trauma as could easily be the case. Bickle can assist in this by taking responsibility up front for any abuse he committed.