Commentary Tidbits

The Many Banes of My Existence by Alexis: Did God Ever Send YOU a Thank-You Note?

Unseen Perfidy: I Grew Up in a Southern Baptist Elementary School

Mother Jones: Ted Cruz's Dad: My Son Ran for President After God Sent His Wife a Sign

Forward: Why Ted Cruz's Preacher Sidekick Is No Friend of the Jews — or Israel

Godless in Dixie: What the Story of Lot Tells Me About the Bible

News Tidbits

Pink News: The Pope and head of the Russian Orthodox Church release statement against gay marriage

New York Times: Catholic Leaders Say Zika Doesn’t Change Ban on Contraception 

Huffington Post: GOP Congressmen Oppose Abortion Rights For Women With Zika In Developing Countries

The Times of Israel: Cruz rejects evangelical backer’s controversial Hitler comments

Associated Press: West Virginia House approves religious exemptions bill

Associated Press: Virginia state Senate passes protections for same-sex marriage opponents

SBS: Pastors, politics and anti-gay rhetoric: Uganda's election cometh

Mike Bickle's Endorsement of Ted Cruz Offends Jewish Groups

Last month, presidential candidate Ted Cruz announced an endorsement from Mike Bickle, founder of the International House of Prayer in Kansas City, Missouri. Bickle's homophobic and sexist comments have been well-documented at this blog and others, as have his paranoid End Times speeches. However, it is Bickle's shocking statements about Jews that have landed him and Cruz in hot water.

Bickle has a long history of disturbing statements about Jews. Bruce Wilson, co-founder of Talk to Action, created a montage of such statements, including Bickle's claims that Jews will be thrown into concentration camps in the End Times, that Jews will convert to Christianity en masse, and that God used Adolph Hitler to pressure Jews to convert to Christianity. (Hat tip to Right Wing Watch and Think Progress.)

• "Israel's condition before Jesus returns -- not every Jew, but many -- is prison camps. There are so many Bible verses on this, it is staggering." (2009)


• "A lot of Israel's going to get converted, but a lot of Israel's going to worship the Antichrist. A lot of Israel is going to have revival; a lot of Israel's going to fall away. Portions of Israel will be supernaturally protected, and portions of Israel will die and go to prison camps." (2006)


• "One third of Israel's going to get radically saved and become lovesick worshipers of Jesus. One third of Israel? There's about fifteen million Jews on the earth at this point in time. That's four, five million people ... They end up dying, or if they survive, they get radically converted at the Second Coming. And many are going to get converted between now and then. We're not giving up on Israel until the Second Coming. Matter of fact, it's the efforts of leading people to the Lord right now that is significantly related to the events that are going to happen that are going to lead up to the Second Coming. So there are more Jews getting saved right now in Israel than in any time in history." (2006)


• "Two-thirds [of Jews] will die in the rage of Satan and in the judgments of God, and the one-third, every one of the one-third will be in the land before it's over and they'll be worshipers of Jesus. Now the Lord's bringing back multitudes now to give them a chance, to give them every opportunity to say yes to salvation and the land ... The Lord says, 'I'm going to offer two strategies to Israel, to these twenty million.' He says, 'First, I am going to offer them grace. I am going to send the fisherman.' ... Do you know how a fisherman does their thing? They have the bait in front, luring the fish. It's a picture of grace. The hunters are opposite. Instead of luring them in front, hunters drive with fear from behind  ... He says, 'And if they don't respond to grace, I'm going to raise up the hunters.' And the most famous hunter in recent history is a man named Adolph Hitler. He drove them from the hiding places. He drove them out of the land." (2004)

Bickle's church has also taken an awkward stance on Jews. The International House of Prayer runs a project called the Israel Mandate, whose mission is to "mobilize intercessors in the Church to pray for Israel, and to stand with and encourage Messianic believers in Israel." The Israel Mandate's resource list is brimming with books that link Israel to a fundamentalist Christian vision of the End Times. The project's "Prayer for Israel" section predicts war and bloodshed in the Holy Land during the End Times, Jesus' military victory, and Jesus ruling over the world from his throne in Jerusalem. In other words, the Israel Mandate seeks to convert Jews to Christianity and promote End Times beliefs about the supremacy of Jesus over Israel.

Several Jewish leaders were disgusted. According to the Times of Israel, the Anti-Defamation League called Bickle's statements "abhorrent, intolerant and unacceptable", urging Cruz to "clearly and forcefully reject Bickle's hateful ideas." In a February 9th press release, the National Jewish Democratic Council demanded that Cruz account for his ties to Bickle.

"It is profoundly troubling that Sen. Ted Cruz proudly trumpeted the endorsement of such a controversial figure who holds such offensive views. In announcing Bickle’s support, Sen. Cruz said, ‘we will fight the good fight, finish the course.’ We call on Sen. Cruz to clarify his position and explain why he chose to highlight someone who is ‘notorious for having said that God sent Hitler to hunt Jews for not accepting Jesus as the messiah.’"

As of February 11th, the National Jewish Democratic Council was unsatisfied with the Cruz campaign's response.

"Presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz must clarify if he stands with Pastor Mike Bickle and his belief that G-d sent Hitler to hunt Jews for not accepting Jesus as the messiah. The Cruz campaign’s response from criticism from NJDC and the ADL of one of its featured endorsers falls woefully short. We remain troubled that rather than distance himself and refute Bickle’s offensive rhetoric, the Cruz campaign has doubled down, merely restating the senator's position on Israel and attempting to minimize Pastor Bickle's role as an endorser. We call on Sen. Cruz’s campaign to speak clearly when it comes to such an offensive statement. As the ADL said, ‘We hope that when these comments are called to the Senator’s attention, he will clearly and forcefully reject Bickle’s hateful ideas.’ Unfortunately, we’re still waiting for Sen. Cruz to do so."

Bickle has since gone on the defensive. In a February 12 statement posted at the IHOP website and the Times of Israel website, Bickle insisted that the media distorted his words. "Taking Scripture out of context is routine to the secular media," he wrote. Bickle emphasized that he was appalled by Hitler's actions and that he meant to encourage solidarity with Jews during the End Times.

"I have been alarmed in recent days to hear that comments I made in a sermon several years ago were taken to be anti-Semitic. Today I write to clarify my beliefs.

The false statements circulating in the media distort what I said. I have been and remain committed to the spiritual and material defense of Israel and the Jewish people, as is my ministry. When I paraphrased from the difficult passages of Zechariah 12:1-3, Zechariah 14:1-3, Zechariah 13:8-9, and Jeremiah 16 in the sermon excerpt that has been circulated of late, I did so with one main intent: to stir the American church to stand with Israel in time of a future persecution as foretold by most of the Jewish prophets in the Bible. Various Old Testament prophets prophesy dark days for Israel before the Messiah returns, and I read these prophecies with dread. My message is that the Church must respond like Corrie ten Boom’s family—by standing with Israel instead of drawing back in fear and silence.

The prophecies of Zechariah and Jeremiah are difficult and easily misinterpreted to the biblically illiterate. Taking Scripture out of context is routine to the secular media. But let me be clear: I have made support for Israel and the Jewish people a central part of my ministry. For the last 15 years, our ministry has hosted several two-hour prayer meetings for Israel each week.

Some have misrepresented my remarks on Hitler being among the ‘hunters’ mentioned by the prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 16:16), but let me make clear: what Hitler did was evil, an utter atrocity to the Jewish people and to all of mankind. The creation of the modern state of Israel after the Holocaust is a testament to God’s enduring love for His beloved people.

Mike Bickle can backpedal all he wants, but his disturbing statements are still disturbing. End Times preachers such as Bickle see the Jews as potential converts and/or supporting characters in bizarre End Times stories, but rarely as people. Furthermore, anyone who see Adolph Hitler as the tool of a righteous God is morally and spiritually bankrupt. The Cruz campaign should be ashamed of Bickle's endorsement, but as we've seen before, Cruz has a soft spot for offensive preachers.

IHOP's Mike Bickle Endorses Ted Cruz

Right Wing Watch just revealed that Mike Bickle, founder of the International House of Prayer (IHOP) and a prominent New Apostolic Reformation preacher, had endorsed Ted Cruz's presidential campaign. The Cruz campaign announced the endorsement in a January 21st statement.

"HOUSTON, Texas – Presidential candidate Ted Cruz today announced the endorsement of Mike Bickle, Founder and Director of the International House of Prayer of Kansas City, an evangelical missions organization based on prayer.

“Our nation is in a great crisis in this hour,” Bickle said. “We need a president who will first be faithful to honor God’s Word. We need a president who will work to defend religious liberty, uphold our Constitution, keep our country safe and our economy sound, and speak truth to the nation. We have been praying for righteous leaders, and Ted Cruz is such a leader. I am enthusiastically endorsing Ted Cruz.”

The International House of Prayer is engaged in many outreaches, justice initiatives, and mission projects. For the last 16 years, their prayer room has continued nonstop in 24/7 prayer led by worship teams. 800 staff members work at the IHOPKC Mission Base in Kansas City, and 800 full-time students and interns attend the International House of Prayer University, which consists of three full-time ministry schools— a Bible school, music school, and media school. About 20,000 people attend One Thing annually, IHOPKC’s year-end young adult conference

“Through prayer, the Lord has changed my life and altered my family’s story,” said Cruz. “I am grateful for Mike’s dedication to call a generation of young people to prayer and spiritual commitment. Heidi and I are grateful to have his prayers and support. With the support of Mike and many other people of faith, we will fight the good fight, finish the course, and keep the faith.”

Bickle is the author of 10 books including Passion for Jesus, Growing in Prayer, The Pleasures of Loving God, and The Rewards of Fasting. His teaching emphasizes making disciples who seek to walk out the two Great Commandments while serving together to see the Great Commission fulfilled and the fame of Jesus’ name fill the earth. Mike pastored for 23 years before starting the IHOPKC Missions Base in 1999, and has been married to Diane for 38 years, with two sons and five grandchildren."

Mr. Cruz, are you sure you want Mike Bickle associated with your campaign? Are you sure you want to trumpet the endorsement of an apocalyptic preacher who cultivates End Times paranoia among his followers? Who sees women as subordinate to men? Whose church came up repeatedly in media coverage of a tragic 2012 death?

This is not the first time Cruz has courted controversial allies from the Religious Right. For example, Cruz appeared at the Freedom 2015 conference alongside Generations with Vision host Kevin Swanson, whose homophobic meltdown on stage at the event left observers stunned. Right Wing Watch has also documented Cruz's other unsavory endorsements, including Duck Dynasty patriarch Phil Robertson, anti-abortion activist Troy Newman, and activists from the anti-feminist Eagle Forum.

Cruz's affinity for unhinged and/or hateful figures will earn him a few evangelical votes, but will cost him exponentially more mainstream votes. Moderate and progressive voters will listen to Cruz's rhetoric, observe those with whom he breaks bread, and recoil.

OneThing 2015: Stuart Greaves and Empathy

To read about Mike Bickle's talk at OneThing 2015, click here.

The International House of Prayer (IHOP) hosted its annual OneThing conference on December 28-31 at the Kansas City Convention Center in Kansas City, Missouri. Stuart Greaves, a member of IHOP's senior leadership team, delivered a talk on December 31st entitled "Walking with Joy in the Midst of the Growing Crisis on the Earth". When I listened to Greaves, I heard a fundamentalist man who seemed to be struggling against his own empathy.

Greaves began by telling listeners about how he and IHOP prayed against same-sex marriage in 2015. When the Supreme Court ruled in favor of same-sex marriage, Greaves was filled with joy that he couldn't understand.

"Several months ago, in April, when the Supreme Court began the deliberations concerning the issue of same-sex marriage, at the House of Prayer we had set aside the whole day to cry out to the Lord, for the Lord to touch the judges with wisdom and the fear of the Lord, that the deliberations toward same-sex marriage would not take place. Of course, they started the deliberations and it would take several months before the conclusion would be made know.

As Mike [Bickle] mentioned earlier, I'm on the Night Watch, so I went to bed as normal and I woke up in the early afternoon, and my wife Esther, she happened to walk into the room. It's June 26th, and she tells me that the Supreme Court had come to a verdict and that they decided to legalize gay marriage.

And when she told me that, a very strange thing happened in my heart ... My heart was filled with joy, and it troubled me. I went, 'Wait a minute. I shouldn't be feeling joy right now. This is not good news. Why am I feeling joy in my heart?' And for a couple of days, I just didn't want to talk about it, because I did not know what to do with this joy in light of this horrific news about this very dark and evil decree that came from the Supreme Court.

As the days unfolded, I felt directed to go to John 16:33 ... Jesus said, "These things I have spoken to you, that in me you may have peace." He says, "In the world, you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."

In other words, Greaves decided that his strange joy was a reminder that God will be victorious someday, even if "dark and evil" events are happening now. At the 7:26 mark, he elaborated on this belief.

"Our joy and our peace is rooted in our understanding of where this thing is going, that it's rooted in understanding of what it is that is in God's heart. Nations will rise and nations will fall, but under God's leadership, he is preparing a bride for his son and he's preparing his people to rule and reign with his son in the age to come."

I don't know Greaves personally. I don't know what triggered his unexpected joy, but have a theory. What if, deep inside, some part of him was happy for LGBTQ Americans? What if this joy was suppressed empathy for the LGBTQ people who had just won the right to marry? Was that empathy fighting to break through, in spite of his anti-gay beliefs?

Fundamentalism encourages people to suppress their empathy in favor of obedience to an infallible authority (in this case, the Bible). Obedience to that authority supersedes all other moral concerns, including respect for the rights of others (in this case, gays). Fundamentalism also erodes empathy by demonizing the "other". That other can be the apostate, the LGBTQ person, the abortion provider, the feminist, the Muslim, or any number of other targets. Demonizing a scapegoat allows fundamentalists to unite against a perceived enemy and envision themselves as righteous and superior.

However, this process is imperfect. Empathy cannot always be silenced. Sometimes, it asserts itself no matter how much dehumanizing rhetoric one has absorbed.

We see this process happening with the exodus of American "nones" from organized religion. More Americans empathize with their LGBTQ brethren and find the homophobia of some Christian churches offensive. Slowly, empathy is undermining bigotry. I hope that Greaves' strange joy was actually his empathy struggling against his homophobia.

Greaves said something else later in his talk that made me wonder if his empathy was warring with his fundamentalism. He talked at length about the book of Habakkuk, describing how God raised up the Babylonians to wage war on the nations. The prophet Habakkuk was horrified, crying out to God that "your eyes are too pure to look on evil!". Greaves used the story to remind listeners that they must defer to God, even if God's actions shocked them.

At the 29:35 mark, Greaves admitted that a passage in scripture angered him so much that he threw his Bible down in disgust. He quickly stifled the feeling and deferred to his God.

"Beloved, in this hour, as we struggle with God's leadership, we must assume though that his ways are right. Reminds me of a story several years ago ... I remember reading the scriptures and I came across a scripture that so bothered me that I literally grabbed my Bible and I threw it to the ground. I threw it to the ground! I said, 'NO! This is wrong!' ... As soon as I said that, I went, 'Ohhhh.' I said, 'I'm so sorry.' I just realized what I was saying, who I was talking to, and I said, 'I'm so sorry. Let me rephrase. Please let me rephrase.' I said, 'I don't agree. You are right. I don't understand. Help me understand.' And then I felt good again on the inside.

Beloved, that is the attitude that we must have. I say, 'Lord, I'm not even sure I agree with all of this stuff. I know you're the sovereign of all the nations, but I know you're good. I know you're righteous. I wouldn't do it that way if I was you, and I'm not you. You're you, but you know what? I'm wrong. Help me understand. Help me know your ways.'"

What passage disgusted him? Was it one of the many inhumane passages in the Bible? Did a passage about genocide or slavery or honor killing awaken his empathy? I don't know. Whatever passage it was, it triggered such strong emotion in him that he raged against his own holy book, if only for a moment.

I wish I could have told him, Stuart, that anger that shook you? That was your empathy speaking. Listen to it. It's part of what makes you human. You were outraged for a reason.

For those of us who oppose fundamentalism and value social justice, empathy is vital. We must cultivate it in ourselves and others, for it is a strong tool for dismantling oppressive systems. We must help fundamentalists listen to the voice of their own empathy instead of stuffing it down.

OneThing 2015: Mike Bickle and Fear

To read about Stuart Greaves at OneThing 2015, click here.

The International House of Prayer (IHOP) hosted its annual OneThing conference on December 28-31 at the Kansas City Convention Center in Kansas City, Missouri. (More here and here.) IHOP director Mike Bickle delivered a December 30th talk entitled "Being Strengthened to Stand in Victory in the End Times", in which he warned worshipers that they were living in a "dangerous generation". Bickle instructed listeners not to be afraid during the chaos to come, only to devote much of his talk to paranoia.

Mike Bickle began his talk by citing Luke 21, claiming that the passage described this time in history. The people of this era are part of "a very glorious but very dangerous generation", he argued. Nations will be in distress and people will be afraid during this generation, but salvation will be very close. Spiritual dangers will be more intense than physical dangers if people drift away from Jesus during this time, he claimed. At the 2:48 mark, Bickle described what was allegedly to come.

"The enemy will rage, man will sin, but the Lord will overrule it all to bring his church to the greatest place of victory and power of any time of history, even far beyond what happened in the book of Acts."

At the 9:42 mark, he admitted that it was only his opinion that the current generation was the End Times generation described in Luke 21. In spite of this, he impressed upon the audience the importance of warning the next generation about impending End Times crises.

"It's my opinion [that] we're in the early days of that generation right now. I believe that Luke 21 is talking about events that some of you in this room will see in your lifetime, in the fullness of them ... It may be your children. Maybe it's their children, I don't know. Nobody knows the day or the hour. It could go longer, it could stretch out a little bit, or it could speed up, but either way it goes, it's not too early to start paying attention to these kind of passages from the lips of Jesus. ...

I don't know that I will see the fullness of it in my day. I'm sixty years old. I might, I might not. But I know one thing. I'm pouring out all of my life, strength and energy to prepare a generation in understanding to prepare the generation after them in understanding so they're not surprised by the escalation of negative crisis and they're participating with the Lord in the great harvest and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the End Times."

Bickle reminded listeners not to be afraid at the 6:02 mark, insisting that God would be with them during the chaos.

"Millions and millions of people will be overcome in fear as the distress of the nations increases. The problem is, many believers will be among those overcome with fear. And the Lords heart is, 'I don't want my people surprised. I don't want you losing perspective. I'm leading this whole plan! I'm the king! I'm the bridegroom king! You are my beloved bride. I am with you. Don't be afraid. I am leading the nations.'"

After urging his followers not to be afraid, Bickle proceeded to instill fear in the audience for the rest of his talk. As the "crisis in nations" intensifies, people will self-medicate with "immorality" and "drunkenness", he claimed. After reading a Bible passage about the distress of nations, he insisted that the world was about to plunge into a downward spiral at the 20:27 mark.

"This is not a distress like all the other nations. This isn't like--you know, there's five years of difficulty, then we go back to normal. We are never going back to how it was in the 1980s and 1990s. The world is going to get darker and darker and more hostile to the gospel."

Again, Bickle warned that fear and "internal defilement and confusion" would be dangerous in the coming dark times. At the 21:14 mark, he had this to say.

"Fear is dangerous because it will make people respond to Jesus' leadership in a really inappropriate way. When even sincere believers are overcome with fear ... they won't respond. They will be unresponsive to the Lord. And Jesus is saying that's not good. 'I am your only hope. I am the king of the nations.'"

2015 was a year of "seismic shifts" into darkness, he said, recycling some of the same fear-mongering claims he used at OneThing 2014. Predictably, Bickle blasted the "gay agenda", claiming that legalization of same-sex marriage in the U.S. was one of the events helping darkness escalate in the world. At the 31:22 mark, he claimed that June 26th, 2015 was a "day of infamy". (If that sounds familiar, it should.)

"Crisis event number one that I want to highlight [is] the Supreme Court decision to legalize gay marriage. That will go down as a day of infamy, one of the most disastrous, dangerous, destructive decisions in America's history ... Why do we care about what somebody does in the privacy of their bedroom? That's not what I'm concerned with, what someone does in the privacy of their bedroom. That's not at all what I'm focused on.

This decision, June 26th ... it will be one of the most significant dates in America's history for negative. Immorality was institutionalized in America. What do I mean by that? Because of that one decision, our entire culture and out legal system will demand by law, from that day forward, that the gay agenda is systematically presented in all the elementary schools across the nation, year by year. That's unbelievable! The negative consequences of that in ten to twenty years! Millions of seven and eight year-old boys and girls being presented with ideas that are normalized to them, that will cause emotional and sexual chaos to explode in our nation in the next ten to twenty years."

Bickle also disapproved LGBTQ progress in Scandinavia, depicting LGBTQ messages as toxic for children. "That will be in America before long, minus a miracle intervention of God," he warned.

Of course, Bickle denied that he was a hateful man, insisting that he loved gays at the 32:46 mark.

"I have a heart for people that are struggling in the issue of identity and gay agenda and all this. I have tremendous compassion and love for people that are gay. Tremendous love. I'm not talking about them. I'm [inaudible] embrace them and love them. I want them a part of what I'm doing. I want to know them and understand and talk with them. I want to show them the love of God and the way out of the confusion."

Yeah, you love them as long as they wallow in self-hatred, I thought. If LGBTQ people demand equality, then they're part of some evil agenda.

At the 35:50 mark, Bickle recycled another warning from OneThing 2014: outlandish claims of impending Christian persecution. Christians will be harshly penalized for their faith and will even have their children taken away, he ranted.

"The laws are being added, multiplied quickly that if you stand for God's word, what is says about marriage and sexuality and truth, it will be a hate crime with severe penalties, and those laws, they are just whispering right now. They're just slipping out of the gate. Ten years from now, without a major intervention ... they will criminalize believing and telling your five year-old that Jesus is the only way to heaven and there is a real hell, and there really are biblical values. Parents will actually lose their children, taken by state agencies for abusing their children by by teaching those doctrines. That's where this is going."

At the 36:54 mark, he tried to instill more fear in the audience by claiming that an impending economic crisis would trigger "chaos in the cities".

"The economic crisis. That is such a big subject. Beloved, we are in a place in the nation in 2015 [that is] very different from the crisis of 2008. There is no more bailout plan. Nations are going bankrupt, like Greece, or on the verge of it. Half of the states in America are on the verge of bankruptcy, but they're not legally letting them do it ... When the economic rubber band breaks, the entitlements are going to be withheld. [When] those entitlements are withheld, there will be chaos in the cities of America."

Bickle also denounced the Iran nuclear deal, maintaining that it would launch a "nuclear arms race" in the Middle East, place nuclear weapons in the hands of extremists, and endanger Israel. At the 38:42 mark, he had this to say.

"Terrorist groups, not just ISIS, they will end up with nuclear weapons. With a terrorist agenda, they will force Israel into a preemptive strike mode to save the nation of Israel, and then Israel will be presented in the nations as the aggressor of a world war.

The enemy is fueling anti-semitisim in the nations. And beloved, the people of God that understand the Bible, they're standing with God's purposes for the nation of Israel."

Bickle advised listeners to reject bitterness and the impulse to feel offended about not receiving the honor one deserves, which I found odd. Is there grumbling within IHOP? I wondered.

Now is the "worst hour in history to be bored in your prayer life", he insisted, encouraging attendees to continue praying to God. Christians should not isolate themselves during the impending "local disasters", but should instead bond with others in their communities and listen for God's solutions together. At the 54:50 mark, Bickle ended his talk by reminding listeners to connect with each other and "know the biblical narrative" in the days ahead.

"I don't want to be part of the confusion of that hour of history. I want to be with people that are part of the solution. I don't want to be a people overwhelmed with fear and confusion and offense. -- 'I thought you were a God of love! How dare you let this get to this place, God in the nations!' -- Many believers will be contributing to the confusion in the decades ahead. -- 'I don't know! I'm freaked out! Ahhh! Somebody help me!' -- I appreciate all that, but I want to be with people who can be part of the solution. I want to come and help people. I want to raise up young people that know how to stay connected to the Lord, connected to each other. They know the biblical narrative. They know what's happening. They're not retreating in fear."

Like so many of his Religious Right brethren, Bickle uses fear to steer his followers. Be afraid of the impending End Times! Be afraid of gays! Be afraid of economic collapse! Be afraid of terrorists with nukes! But pray and live as we say, and you'll be okay! Despite his admonishments to followers not to give in to fear, his talk was heavily laden with fearful warnings. As much as he projected fear onto future panicky bystanders and inadequate Christians, his own speech brimmed with fear.

I suspect that this fear is meant to keep followers close to IHOP. If young worshipers are fearful of external dangers and their own "internal defilement", they will cling to IHOP so as to avoid catastrophe.

The problem is, those catastrophes aren't coming. Gays aren't spoiling America. Economic collapse is not imminent. Jackbooted thugs aren't arresting Christians. Israel isn't going anywhere. The End Times aren't approaching. IHOP's followers must realize this. I hope they can rise above the fear that preachers are trying so desperately to instill in them.

News Tidbits

Kansas City Star: Thousands seeking renewal arrive in Kansas City for International House of Prayer conference

Kansas City Star: Photo gallery: International House of Prayer conference

Washington Post: Ted Cruz huddles with faith leaders at ranch of super PAC donor

Religion News Service: Ed Dobson, retired pastor and onetime Moral Majority leader, dies at 65

Talking Points Memo: Longtime Duggar Ally Mike Huckabee Says He Never Supported Son Josh

In Touch Weekly: Civil Lawsuit Against Josh Duggar May Lead to Prison Stint 

Commentary Tidbits

Blaise Foret: Why I Left IHOPKC and How I was Treated When I Left

This Brother: The Impetus of Patriarchy

On Faith: The Bad Biblical Scholarship of Christian Radio

Women's eNews: 50 Shades of Grey Hits a Red-State Sweet Spot

Buzzfeed: The Question On Every Creationist’s Mind

Dianna E. Anderson: Apocalypse When? How I Grew Up Afraid of The End of the World

Raw Story: ‘Your world is on fire’: Ted Cruz scares the hell out of a terrified little girl in New Hampshire

Commentary Tidbits

Micah Moore at Airborne, Anchored: A False Confession in Context

People for the American Way: Civil Rights Groups to GOP Presidential Candidates: Distance Yourself from CPAC’s White Nationalist Ties

Raw Story: CPAC’s ‘ask a speaker’ hashtag campaign backfires before the conference even begins

Just One Train Wreck After Another: Pastors: Stop Disrespecting Women With Your Chauvinistic Name-Calling

Salon: Jeb Bush to meet with anti-gay activist who thinks LGBT rights could lead to a new Holocaust

Gay Star News: Pope Francis must prove himself after his trans nuclear bomb

Commentary Tidbits

The New Republic: The Failure of Macho Christianity 

The Cosmic Cathedral: What 48 Hours Didn’t Tell You About Micah Moore

Religion News Service: I’m queer, and I’m (still) an evangelical

Alternet: 10 Worst Sex and Romance Tips from the Christian Right

New York Times: The GOP's Assertive God Squad 

Raw Story: CPAC: Guns, Racism, and God 

IHOP and Tyler Deaton's Community

The February 21st edition of 48 Hours explored the 2012 death of Bethany Deaton and the ominous religious community led by her husband, Tyler Deaton. (The full episode is available for viewing here. A transcript of the show is available here.) Former members of Tyler Deaton's home-based religious group have accused Tyler of shunning, rigid control over members' lives, and sexual encounters with male followers. The Deatons were affiliated with the International House of Prayer (IHOP), a controversial New Apostolic Reformation ministry in Kansas City, Missouri.

Bethany's death was originally deemed a homicide when her friend, Micah Moore, confessed to murdering her. Moore was a member of Tyler Deaton's religious group and a congregant at IHOP. In late 2014, however, Moore was cleared of all charges. According to a motion filed by his attorneys, Moore's account of her death was not corroborated by forensic evidence, and his confession may have been prompted by a chaotic "exorcism" conducted by IHOP representatives. IHOP spokesman Nick Syrett denied that an exorcism took place, according to the Kansas City Star.

After Bethany Deaton's death, IHOP distanced itself from Tyler Deaton's group, lamenting that it failed "to discern the nature of Deaton’s alleged secretive, perverse, cultic practices" in a November 2012 press release. However, some observers remain unmoved by IHOP's statements. Last night's Twitter conversations about 48 Hours probed the relationship between IHOP and Tyler Deaton's private religious community.

Is IHOPKC at fault? No. Could IHOPKC have prevented this? Yes, but not without radically changing its DNA #48Hours
— Steve Hill (@epiclysteve) February 22, 2015

If a person doesn't understand the larger context of #Ihopkc it is impossible to assess what was taking place in Tyler's group #48hours
— Kendall Beachey (@kendallbeachey) February 22, 2015

Any one else think there's something more to IHOP being involved? Think that's why KC police didn't want to comment on suspects? #48Hours
— JP (@jesseworldwide) February 22, 2015

It speaks volumes about #Ihopkc that they refused to be interviewed about the death of a member of their own community. #48Hours
— Boze Herrington (@SketchesbyBoze) February 22, 2015

As much responsibility as Tyler shares, it would be unfair to blame him for everything. Our beliefs were given legitimacy by #Ihopkc.
— Boze Herrington (@SketchesbyBoze) February 22, 2015

I wish 48 Hours had devoted more time to IHOP's culture and how this might have influenced Tyler Deaton's and his group. In what ways did IHOP's practices and beliefs provide fertile ground in which Tyler Deaton's group could take root?

First, several former IHOP congregants have accused IHOP of fostering unhealthy power dynamics. For example, Ariel, a former IHOP congregant who blogged at Gospel Masquerade, looked askance at Mike Bickle's immense power in the organization and his grandiose statements. Another former followers told the New York Times that IHOP asked her to leave after she questioned an instructor's teachings about "signs and wonders". Writing at the Cosmic Cathedral, former IHOP congregant Kendall Beachey claimed that IHOP tolerated no dissension from those in its ranks.

"[Boze] Herrington tells a story of being rebuked for questioning Deaton. "Tyler is the apostle of Southwestern," he was told, "you need to do whatever he tells you!" Yet I could tell countless stories of how students who voiced disagreements with teachers at IHOP’s Bible school, my alma mater IHOPU, were treated in similar fashion. Many were reduced to tears; I was compared to heretics; a friend was told, "I’m fighting on the Lord’s side, whose side are you fighting on?” and most pointedly one teacher said, “The angel came to Mike, not you; who do you think we are going to listen to?"

These statements from former congregants paint a picture of a church that is hierarchical and intolerant of dissent. The teachings of IHOP pastor Mike Bickle also suggest a hierarchical worldview, specifically a patriarchal worldview. For example, in a May 2012 talk entitled "The Incredible Worth of a Woman", Bickle promoted male "headship" and wifely submission, as did guest speaker Michael Brown during a 2014 talk at IHOP. According to former members, IHOP models a hierarchical religious community that demands acquiescence from its members. If this is true, Tyler Deaton's hierarchical religious group resembles IHOP in this respect.

Second, IHOP embraces a theology that favors magical thinking over critical thinking. Dreams, visions, ecstatic prayer, battles with demons, and communion with the divine are the bread and wine of New Apostolic Reformation ministries, including IHOP. Preachers and worshipers alike believe themselves to be "forerunners" for Christ's return, possessing special God-given missions to proselytize, end abortion, etc. In at atmosphere full of fanciful statements, worshipers are not encouraged to reason, question, or weigh teachings against evidence.

When there is no rational criteria for weighing religious claims, charismatic figures such as Tyler Deaton can make religious claims and assert authority with ease. Rolling Stone's 2014 article on IHOP observes that its theology makes it very difficult for leaders to rein in zealous congregants. Since IHOP's theology is based on personal religious experiences, the spiritual claims of followers are no more falsifiable than those of the pastors.

In a post at the Cosmic Cathedral, Kendall Beachey pointed out parallels between IHOP's belief system and the belief system of Tyler Deaton's religious community.

"While intensified, twisted, and warped in Deaton’s group, the key dynamics of ecstatic religious experiences, charismatic giftings, and strong hierarchic authority based on religious devotion, fundamentalism, and asceticism are all values alive and well within the leadership culture of IHOP.

The sense of urgency and the belief that through spiritual discipline, prayer, and fasting, the return of Christ will be hastened is another tenant of IHOP that was warped and manipulated in Deaton’s group. Young adults, desperate for purpose and meaning, latch onto Bickle’s unique end times teaching about their present day role in the unfolding end- times drama in order to feel special, elite, a ‘part of a history-changing movement.’ Language about being “Joel’s army in training” (a phrase stripped in Bickle’s current view of the ‘latter rain’ theology it originally supported), ‘the end time generation,’ or the ‘point of the arrow’ in God’s activity on earth, all give members of IHOP purpose and motivation. Students and staff are told to live lives of spiritual devotion so they may have supernatural apostolic power ... 

... Elitism, gnostic secret knowledge of the end times, special religious experiences, etc. all differentiated IHOP and those like them from the rest of the American church. That more extreme versions of this theology and praxis grew up and flourished (no matter where they got their start) at IHOP should be of no surprise. From the outside, the extremism blended right in."

Finally, both IHOP and Tyler Deaton's group have sought separation from the outside world. According to the 48 Hours expose, Bethany and other members of Tyler's group had less and less contact with those outside their group, including family members, over time. Similarly, IHOP leaders see those outside their church as distractions, rivals, and even dangerous enemies during the impending End Times. Mike Bickle has repeatedly prophesied horrific End Times scenarios, in which wicked non-Christians will wallow in depravity and persecute Christians. In a presentation for Joseph Company, Linda Fields framed Muslims and the "gay agenda" as competitors with Christians for leadership. At OneThing 2011, Corey Russell encouraged audience members to break ties with friends and lovers who did not share their faith. In short, both IHOP and Tyler Deaton's group looked askance at outsiders, even if they acted out this sentiment in different ways.

I want to be absolutely clear -- Tyler Deaton is responsible for his own actions. Did IHOP cause Tyler to create an isolated, toxic religious group in his home? No. Did IHOP encourage the unethical behavior that Tyler has been accused of? No. He and he alone chose to create his home-based religious community. The actions he took as leader of that community are his alone.

However, IHOP's theology and culture deserves closer inspection. Judging from the claims of former members, Tyler Deaton's religious group appears to have exaggerated and perverted elements from IHOP's culture. IHOP provided a setting in which hierarchy, magical thinking, and distrust of outsiders were seen as normal. We need to ask if and how IHOP's theology and culture allowed Deaton's group to take root.

"48 Hours" to Cover Bethany Deaton's Death

The February 21st edition of 48 Hours will discuss the 2012 death of Bethany Deaton and the religious group run by her husband, Tyler Deaton. In late 2014, Jackson County prosecutors dropped the murder charge against Bethany's friend, Micah Moore. As you may recall, Moore and the Deatons were closely associated with the International House of Prayer (IHOP), a New Apostolic Reformation ministry based out of Kansas City, Missouri. Tune in at 10:00 p.m. this evening to watch 48 Hours.

Boze Herrington, who blogs at Sketches by Boze, will be live-tweeting the 48 Hours show at 10:00 p.m. Eastern this evening. Boze knew the Deatons and was interviewed for the upcoming edition of 48 Hours.

News Tidbits

Ms. Magazine: Anti-Choice Extremists Target Abortion Clinic Director in Kansas

Washington Post: Mormon church to announce support for legal protections for gay people

Edge Media Network: SPLC Calls on GOP to Cancel Hate Group-Sponsored Trip to Israel

Christianity Today: Gun range owner bans Muslims, compares herself to Christian baker refusing LGBT cake order

Pennlive: Pennsylvania Christian camp sued over sexual assault by former counselor with history of abuse

KSHB 41: Kansas City neighborhood at odds with proposed bed and breakfast

Washington Blade: Anti-LGBT forces strike back with religious freedom bills

Raw Story: Sarah and Bristol Palin push fringe plan to let Christian conservatives rewrite the Constitution

The Advocate: What Have the New Catholic Cardinals Said About LGBT People? 

OneThing 2014: Reinhard Bonnke's Stories

To read about Mike Bickle's talk at OneThing 2014, click here.

OneThing 2014, hosted by the International House of Prayer (IHOP), took place on December 28-31 at the Kansas City Convention Center in Kansas City, Missouri. Among the speakers was Reinhard Bonnke, founder of Christ for All Nations (CFAN). Bonnke, a German missionary, regularly preaches around the globe at CFAN rallies characterized by witchcraft warnings and alleged faith healing. Bonnke and CFAN courted controversy after inviting Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta to the Great Jubilee Crusade in Nairobi in 2013.

Bonnke spoke at OneThing on December 30th, where he shared loosely connected anecdotes about faith healing, preaching, and conversion. His talk brimmed with New Apostolic Reformation tropes such as divine dreams, faith healing, and conversion of foreigners, but offered little spiritual nourishment, in my opinion.

Bonnke urged the audience to recognize "their own possibilities in God" and emphasized the importance of evangelism. "America shall be saved. America will be saved! That is God's plan," he told listeners.

At the 4:09 mark, Bonnke shared a story from his youth in Germany. When Bonnke was a teenager, his pastor father told him about an alleged faith healer who converted his grandparents to Christianity.

"I studied the family tree of the Bonnke family and discovered that my family was a godless family! And I said to my father, I said, "How did God break into our family since Grandpa and you are outstanding men of faith?" And he told me a story that had a mighty impact on my life ...
 
In 1922, there in east Germany, those huge forests, forested areas, my grandfather was very sick. He suffered from a disease the doctors couldn't diagnose. He was sensitive to touch or to movement. He was screaming day and night. He had excruciating pains. The whole village could hear him scream ... There was no hope. There was no help. There was no Jesus.

And then a miracle happened. An American missionary from Springfield, Missouri got lost in the forest and came to our village, and as those early evangelists worked in those days, his first question was, "Are there any sick people here?" ... That man, his name was Luis Graf, entered the house of my ancestors like a burning torch of the Holy Spirit. He preached the Gospel, and then he said, "The Lord has sent me to demonstrate the power of the Holy Spirit!" He stepped to the bed of my grandfather, grabbed his hand. That moment, a jolt of power shot through my grandfather. He jumped out of bed, totally healed! ... That day, my grandfather and my grandmother became wonderful, born-again Christians."

I've always been uncomfortable with Bonnke's talk of faith healing. The practice -- which appeals to the gullible, the uneducated, and the desperate -- offers false hope but no results, making it unethical and dangerous. Like many other fanciful stories shared by New Apostolic Reformation figures, this faith healing tale fed the magical thinking of the audience.

Bonnke discussed his early missionary days in Lesotho alongside his wife and three small children.  Heartbroken over his failure to convert his target audience, Bonnke fasted and cried out to God. At the 14:13 mark, he described a dream in which the Holy Spirit allegedly told him that Africa would be converted to Christianity.

"Then, in the night, God gave me a dream. I saw in that dream a map of Africa, and suddenly I saw how the whole continent became washed in the precious blood of Jesus. I heard the voice of the Holy Spirit cry, "AFRICA SHALL BE SAVED!" ... The Lord gave me the same dream, the same vision in a dream in four consecutive nights."

Given that Islam has grown rapidly alongside Christianity in Africa, and that traditional religions still maintain a presence on the continent, I don't see Africa becoming completely Christian any time soon. God-fueled dreams are a common trope among New Apostolic Reformation preachers, so Bonnke is in good company.

After his Lesotho trip, Bonnke traveled to South Africa and founded CFAN, he explained. Bonnke went on to tell more fanciful stories about his ministry, including the time a fellow preacher in Maseru flaked out of preaching at Bonnke's church. When Bonnke lead that Sunday's worship service himself, the Holy Spirit was "mightily" present, he claimed, and God allegedly healed several blind women in attendance. In another story, Bonnke bragged about preaching at a prayer rally in Nigeria, where 500,000 people had gathered, he claimed. The pastors alongside him wept with joy because most of those in attendance were Muslims, he told listeners, and many of those Muslims accepted Jesus as savior that day. Somehow, I remain doubtful that Bonnke and his colleagues healed the blind or converted hundreds of thousands of Muslims to Christianity in one day.

Each generation takes the baton of evangelism, he told the audience. "If the men don't go, the women will go," he said. "If the women don't go, the children will go. If the children don't go, the stones will cry out, but the Gospel will be preached in the mighty name of Jesus." He urged listeners to recognize the "finger of God" when it pressed them into service, reminding them that the "fingerprint" of God would always be upon them if they refused.

Bonnke hopped from story to story, making it difficult to discern the central theme of his talk. However, the topics of his anecdotes -- faith healing, dreams from God, "saving" foreigners, and Christianity's rivalry with Islam -- have come up before in plenty of New Apostolic Reformation talks. A familiar world unfolded in his talk, one of miracles, visions, and callings from the Creator himself.

The magical thinking in Bonnke's talk, like that of other New Apostolic Reformation preachers, struck me as hollow. Dreams, promises, and tales of faith healing may enchant listeners, but what spiritual nourishment do these fanciful ideas provide? Does magical thinking help believers practice introspection, cultivate respect for others, or engage the world in positive ways? No. Does it help believers navigate the world of facts so that they can face reality? No. The magical thinking of the New Apostolic Reformation can thrill believers, but it offers little in the way of substance.

OneThing 2014: Mike Bickle's Nightmarish Vision

To read about Reinhard Bonnke's talk at OneThing 2014, click here.

Every December, the International House of Prayer (IHOP) hosts its annual OneThing celebration. OneThing gatherings feature music, ecstatic prayer, and talks from New Apostolic Reformation speakers on everything from the end times to anti-abortion activism to overseas missionary work to shunning non-Christians. OneThing 2014 took place on December 28-31 at the Kansas City Convention Center in Kansas City, Missouri. The gathering featured speakers such as Christ For All Nations' Reinhard Bonnke and various IHOP leaders, including Mike Bickle.

Mike Bickle delivered a talk on December 28th entitled "The End-Time Crisis: God's Response to the Rage Against Jesus" (available at YouTube). Bickle's talk focused on Psalm 2 and its supposed implications for today's degenerate society. I was startled by Bickle's ominous rant, which was paranoid even for him. With feverish intensity, Bickle foretold violence in the streets, incarceration of Christians, and state-sanctioned slaughter of believers, magnifying the usual Religious Right persecution complex into an end times nightmare.

"There is a crisis that's in the land that's escalating quickly," Bickle told the audience. I believe that we're in a season actually in human history, and we're entering a new hour, a very, very sober time." Bickle cited Psalm 2 as a descriptive Biblical passage for today's society. At the 5:01 mark, he interpreted Psalm 2 in such a way as to suggest that today's leaders despise God and seek to remove God's word from society.

"For three verses, David describes their rage against God, against his Christ, the anointed, the Messiah. What the rulers of society want to do, according to David, they want to remove the influence of the word of God out of society and away from culture entirely, that's their goal. You can see that trend escalating right now. Many of the kings, but also the rulers of society, which are not the kings, the leaders in industry and business and sports and media, they're taking a bold stand, challenging the truths of the word of God, wanting to remove the influence of the word of God out of culture entirely, that's what their design is, according to David."

Throughout his talk, Bickle raged at leaders of society for wanting to free themselves from God's "bondage". At the 25:07 mark, he claimed these leaders reject God because they've grown tired of slavery under the Almighty.

"They see the word of God as slavery. They see the moral standards of Jesus' leadership as slavery that is hindering their human potential, hindering and interrupting the dignity and equality of humans. They say, 'let's take the word of God, the bonds that enslave us, let's cast them away, let's break them! Let's show God who's in control."

Later in Psalm 2, God tells the leaders of the earth that their machinations will fail. At the 6:32 mark, Bickle had this to say.

"He tells the kings of the earth, 'Your plans will come to nothing! For I've already determined that my son will be acknowledged as king in every nation of the earth, and I'm going to speak and move and act against you, and I will break your powers so you will not be able to resist my king effectively.' They will for a season, but only for a short season."

Bickle elaborated on the significance of Psalm 2, telling listeners that many "kings" of the earth are resisting Jesus, and that much of the Christian church stands with them. Some people in the church even oppose God's truth under the guide of scholarship and biblical literacy, he claimed. At the 13:37 mark, he accused these Christians of giving lip service to Jesus but being "biblically illiterate".

"Right now a lot of believers are intimidated by the stand that the leaders of culture are taking against the Christ. Many in the church are echoing the stand of these leaders. They don't know the Bible. They're biblically illiterate. They have language -- 'Jesus' -- they know how to say grace, they know how to say 'kingdom of God'. They don't know the details, I mean, even the broad strokes of what the Bible said. So the voices of the culture seem convincing. Many people in the church are confused."

Older generations are in a better position to appreciate the supposedly sinister changes in American society, Bickle argued. At the 16:45 mark, he listed the "gay agenda" and the "explosion of pornography" as signs of a society plummeting into darkness.

"Those of you that are in your twenties and younger, you can't maybe fully appreciate appreciate the escalation, the speed of which this is increasing like those of us that might have a forty-year-plus point of view looking back. I mean, the escalation is so intense. I mean, the phenomenon in the last five years of the gay agenda taking center stage in the conversation of our culture. This was unthinkable ten years ago! There were whispers ten years ago. The explosion of pornography in the last five years ... Where this will be in ten years is a moral crisis in our nation beyond anything we can imagine. And then ten years after that, and ten years after that if the Lord tarries."

Heterosexual marriage was also imperiled by the advance of the "gay agenda", he argued. "Today, they're already talking about outlawing marriage, making the institution of marriage obsolete because of the controversies," Bickle claimed at the 40:10 mark.

Of course, Bickle denied that he hated LGBTQ people. At the 31:53, he insisted that he loved all people regardless of sexual orientation, right before warning his audience that the gay agenda was about to teach homosexuality to small children. Um, Mike? Spouting homophobic vitriol isn't loving, I thought.

"I love all human beings, regardless what their sexual orientation is, but God has clear definitions and standards of what love is. We have to line up with the Lord and with his Christ, and not against him ... In a few moments from now, they'll be teaching the six years-olds, in first and second grade, third and fourth grade, they'll be teaching them the details of homosexuality as part of mandate, by law, in the curriculum."

One example of the spiritual confusion engulfing the church is the emphasis on feelings, Bickle claimed. At the 18:07 mark, he warned that young people who have been "seduced by the lies" of the surrounding culture use their feelings as the measure of truth. Was this a subtle jab at gay and transgender youth, I wonder?

"The father has very strong feelings about how many in the church are echoing the popular sentiments of culture, the preachers that are telling lies about the word of God to keep it popular, keep it positive; the young people that don't have a biblical foundation that are seduced by the lies, thinking that the things they feel must be the standard of truth, for they feel it, so it must be true. Their feelings are real but they're not based on truth."

No IHOP gathering would be complete without anti-abortion rhetoric, and OneThing 2014 was no exception. Bickle blasted abortion as another sign of a fallen society, raging against "50 million babies, slaughtered in their mothers' womb, applauded by their culture."

Love, as the fallen culture allegedly defines it, disgusted Bickle. At the 29:22 mark, he contrasted God's love with "humanistic love", which many people allegedly worship as an idol now.

"God is calling young people to be bold, to take a stand for truth ... with humility, with love, love as God defines love, not as the humanistic culture. Right now, love is god to many people. Humanistic love is their god, and they'll throw a little Jesus language in every now and then, but humanistic love is the god they're worshiping and serving. God says 'No, it has to be love on my terms. I'm the God of love. Love is not god. I am the God who is love.' They're very different. Human sentiment is not the final word of what love is, but the written word of God."

Bickle's talk took an ominous turn, with visions of draconian persecution and violence. At the 14:46 mark, he claimed that criticism of God by celebrities and political leaders would give way to outright persecution of Christians. Believers who teach their children about salvation or criticize same-sex marriage will be arrested and incarcerated, he warned.

"It's going to escalate beyond the opinion of sports figures, movie stars, famous singers, famous actors, political leaders. It's going to go beyond their opinions ... They're going to use the power of the state eventually to enforce their ways. The days are coming where if a mom and dad tells their five year-old child, 'There's only one way of salvation', it'll be considered a crime. They tell their child, 'Homosexual marriage is contrary to the word of God, the Bible calls it a sin', they'll actually go to jail for it."

The paranoid predictions continued. At the 20:07 mark, Bickle warned that at impending financial crisis would produce nightmarish "violence in the street" soon.

"I'm not even talking yet ... [about] the financial crisis that's right around the corner, far beyond 2008. There is a financial crisis looming over this nation and the nations of the earth. But this financial crisis will create a state, a context for violence in the street beyond anything we could imagine."

The height of society's depravity would be the wholesale slaughter of Christians, Bickle told the audience. At the 40:57 mark, Bickle spouted paranoid predictions about world leaders passing legislation that would order the execution of believers as "enemies of society". The fact that governments murdering Christians en masse around the world would be both insane and logistically impossible did not occur to him.

"The rage is going to escalate. They will kill believers ... The day is coming where the kings of the earth, in their rage, will establish legislations where they will kill believers in the nations of the earth. They will see them as enemies of society, believers. They will see them as enemies of the people. This is an hour for you and I to decide are we going to go deep in the Lord and be faithful to truth?"

After frightening his audience with visions of violence, Bickle offered the antidote. Prayer, he assured them, could set back the crisis by several decades. How convenient, I thought. Praying with IHOP will avert the impending nightmare. 

Jesus will prevail over all the nations, and God will laugh at the "kings" of the earth for their hubris, he said. Bickle urged listeners not to be silenced or intimidated by the voices of the surrounding culture, since victory is assured.

Bickle comforted his audience with the assurance that some political leaders still love God, even though the percentage is small. Really? I thought. The Religious Right was still a strong presence in politics, the last time I checked. Bickle praised Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal for arranging the Response Louisiana rally, and Texas Governor Rick Perry for arranging the 2011 Response rally.

Mike Bickle's OneThing talk can be summarized as such: The world is decaying because of non-Christians and phony Christians and abortion and dirty pictures and gays! The outside world is the enemy! They'll arrest us and kill us, and the only way you can stop it is to pray with IHOP!

Only a fearful worldview could produce this vision of the future. Only a worldview that sees outsiders as a poisonous force could produce this us-versus-them attitude. Fear, bigotry, paranoia, and insularity do not make for good spirituality.

This isn't healthy. IHOP enthusiasts, wake up.


To download the talk, visit mikebickle[dot]org/resources/series/onething-conference-2014

Commentary Tidbits

Sketches by Boze: My Heart Breaks for Micah – and Bethany

The Life and Opinions of Kathryn Elizabeth, Person: Malala and Me

Faithfully LGBT: Notre Dame hosts “Gay In Christ” conference promoting gay celibacy 

The New Civil Rights Movement: IRS Ignoring 1600 Pastors Who Admit To Illegally Endorsing Political Candidates

Religion News Service: Is the U.S. military anti-atheist? An interview with Jason Torpy

Washington Post: Pope Francis has conservatives talking schism. But a split is easier said than done

Huffington Post: This Is What Happened When I Tried Banning Conversion Therapy in Minnesota

Prosecutors Drop Murder Charge Against Micah Moore

In late 2012, Bethany Deaton was found dead inside a vehicle in Jackson County, Missouri. Bethany's husband, Tyler Deaton, was the head of a communal religious community that drew controversy and criticism after her death. Micah Moore, a member of the religious community and a roommate of the Deatons, confessed to Bethany's murder. (More here.)

Bethany, Tyler, and Micah all had ties to the International House of Prayer (IHOP) in Kansas City, Missouri. IHOP distanced itself from Tyler Deaton's religious community, insisting in a press release that Deaton's group operated independently and expressing alarm at its "secrecy and disturbing religious practices".

Now, a new twist in the case suggests that Micah Moore may not have murdered Bethany. According to the Kansas City Star, Jackson County prosecutors dropped the murder charge against Micah Moore. Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker explained that Moore's DNA was not found on the bag on Deaton's body. Furthermore, a handwriting analysis concluded that Deaton had written her suicide note.

Moore's attorneys submitted a motion to exclude Moore's statement, which offers details about Tyler Deaton's religious group, the Deatons' unhappy marriage, and Bethany's struggles with depression. According to the motion, Moore's claim that members of the group sexually assaulted Bethany was not corroborated by evidence, and that no independent evidence indicates that Bethany died as a result of homicide. The motion argues that "without independent evidence that Bethany's death was caused by another person (a homicide), Moore's statements are inadmissible."

Why would Micah Moore confess to killing Bethany Deaton? According to the motion, IHOP hosted a prayer session for members of Tyler's religious community after Bethany Deaton's death. At the Shiloh retreat center, IHOP representatives allegedly told those in attendance that they were afflicted by supernatural forces and needed an exorcism. The chaotic atmosphere of the exorcism preceded Micah Moore's false statements, the motion argues.

"Still overwhelmed with grief, the community also had to cope with the extraction of their leader from their midst at IHOP's insistence. IHOP leadership told Tyler he was no longer able to stay and had sessions for the community at Shiloh, a remote retreat center utilized by IHOP and its affiliates. During an evening session on November 8, 2012, it was made clear to the community that IHOP believed the community was not just a community but a cult and called into question everything they had been doing under Tyler's command. Leaders of the session made it clear that everyone had been hurt and controlled supernaturally and needed an exorcism, though the term exorcism wasn't expressly used. A large group of people, called the Prisoners of Hope - an IHOP affiliated prayer group - prayed for the group. Putting their hands on the cult members, shouting at demons to leave and scream-praying in tongues, soon had many in the group crying and yelling and falling to the floor. In that atmosphere - loud, frenetic, chaotic - all the pent up emotion from their friend's death and from being accused of being a cult - spilled out. In the hours that followed, the men and women would be separated and it would come to light that Tyler had physically intimate relationships with several of the men. Homosexuality is strongly condemned within the church though Tyler had masterfully managed to convince these men that the relationship was one of intimacy, not sexuality. Ultimately it led to an unraveling of others within the group that were equally vulnerable and fragile. And, it led to the completely false statements by Moore relating to Bethany's death. Notwithstanding that Moore told police unequivocally while in custody, after he finally had some sleep, that he did not kill Bethany, murder charges were filed and a full investigation launched into Deaton's death."

IHOP paints a different picture of the events of November 8th. According to the Kansas City Star, IHOP spokesman Nick Syrett denies that an exorcism occurred, saying that the meeting was intended to help members of Deaton's community grieve over Bethany's death.

I find these recent twists baffling. If, as the motion argues, evidence suggests that Micah Moore did not murder Bethany Deaton, what prompted his confession? Was Micah Moore manipulated by religious histrionics, or did other factors trigger his confession? What other details about the case will emerge?

News Tidbits

Baptist Press: Marriage, homosexuality focus of conference

Religion News Service: Evangelical leader Russell Moore denounces ex-gay therapy

Associated Press: Southern Baptists tell pastors: Hold line on gays

ABC News: Murder Charge Dropped in Prayer Group Death

Kansas City Star: Exorcism preceded confession in 2012 death involving International House of Prayer, defense says

On Top Magazine: Tim Cook's Sexuality Is 'Irrelevant,' Says Tony Perkins As He Threatens To Boycott Apple 

Religion News Service: Mark Driscoll resigns from Mars Hill Church 

The Guardian: Mars Hill church to disband following resignation of lead pastor 

NBC K5: First pastor fired at Mars Hill foresaw fallout

Christian Post: Christian Rocker, 10-Year Mars Hill Member Says Mark Driscoll Resignation Is 'Good News'

E! Online: Duggars Support Pro-Life Political Candidates With "Faith, Family, Freedom" Bus Tour

Deseret News: Group meeting in Salt Lake to plan 2015 World Congress of Families

The Guardian: As Ebola epidemic tightens grip, west Africa turns to religion for succour

Sioux City Journal: Church officials struggle to assist those with mental illness

Windy City Times: Focus on the Family's Glenn Stanton talks bigotry, marriage

Huffington Post: Ron Baity, Baptist Preacher, Claims God Will Send Something Worse Than Ebola As Punishment For Gay Marriage

NECN: Scott Lively on His Biblical-Based Massachusetts Governor's Campaign


 

Commentary Tidbits

Confessions of a Teenage Montanist: The Acquittal of Micah Moore: Two Years Too Late

What Would JT Do? So long, Mars Hill, and thanks for all the fish

The New Republic: Why Did the Ultra-Religious, Anti-Gay President of "God's Harvard" Suddenly Resign?

Salon: The sad, twisted truth about conservative Christianity’s effect on the mind 

Green Eagle: Green Eagle Joins the War on Christians 

Mother Jones: How the Christian Right Is Using Hobby Lobby and "Duck Dynasty" to Take Back America

Salt Lake Tribune: Anti-gay World Congress of Families should not be welcomed here

Inquisitr: Why Do These People Have Red Duct Tape Over Their Mouths? 

The Atlantic: Southern Evangelicals: Dwindling—and Taking the GOP Edge With Them

The Bilerico Project: Sodom: Review of a Russian Anti-Gay Documentary

SPLC Hatewatch: Boykin’s Speech at Civic Breakfast Stirs Controversy in Washington State

Commentary Tidbits

Sahara Reporters: Ebola Epidemic: Where Are The Faith Healers In Africa?

The Irish Atheist: Why Left Behind Didn't Convert Me

The Root: How a Black Gay Mormon Kid Lost His Faith 

Talking Points Memo: Inside the International House of Prayer

Salon: Stephen Colbert mocks Ted Cruz, Sarah Palin and Bobby Jindal in epic Values Voter Summit takedown

RH Reality Check: MRAs for Jesus: A Look Inside the Christian ‘Manosphere’

The Independent: An unholy alliance of US and Russian Christians are fighting against Estonian gay rights