Charismatic Christian leader Dr. Michael Brown today called for a “new direction” to resolve the sex abuse scandal at the International House of Prayer Kansas City (IHOPKC), following an “impasse” between IHOPKC leaders and an “advocate group.”
“I made a public commitment November 5, that if things did not go in the right direction, I would be the loudest one calling for account,” Brown, who at one time served as an adviser for IHOPKC, said. “. . . So, I’m seeking to raise my voice as loudly and clearly as possible to say there must be a new direction.”
Brown explained that negotiations have broken down between IHOPKC and the advocate group (AG)—15 former, top IHOPKC leaders who published allegations of clergy sexual abuse against IHOPKC Founder Mike Bickle in October.
As a result of the impasse, Brown appealed to “senior, respected leaders” in the “Body of Christ” to “find a third party” to investigate the allegations that is acceptable” to the AG. Then, those leaders need to pursue the investigation, independent of IHOPKC, Brown suggested.
“The body of Christ is hurting terribly right now,” Brown said. “The name of Jesus is suffering terrible reproach. The Holy Spirit is being mocked. People are losing their faith in Jesus over this. . . . We all have to humble ourselves and come together and find a path forward.”
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Brown’s announcement, posted on YouTube, comes just hours after IHOPKC posted a defiant address, titled “Enough!,” by interim IHOPKC Executive Director General Kurt Fuller.
In the address, Fuller accused the AG of lying in videos the group published yesterday. And he expressed anger that the AG had refused to give him information or participate in the third-party investigation IHOPKC had commissioned last month.
(Both the AG and the lawyer representing Bickle’s alleged victims have claimed IHOPKC’s investigation is not independent. They have asked IHOPKC for an investigation by a mutually-agreed-upon firm.)
“I can’t understand why they would not have provided these videos to me to support their claims,” Fuller said. “I’m the one person who has both the authority and responsibility to properly adjudicate this case and hold people accountable. They haven’t even given me a chance to do that. I leave it to you to judge their motives for this.”
Brown said he believes both IHOPKC leaders and the AG are trying to do the right thing. And he dispelled “myths” circulating that the abuse scandal is part of a pre-conceived plan by the AG to bring down Mike Bickle and “hurt the ministry.”
“That is absolutely false,” Brown said. “The people I know on the AG are people whose hearts are broken. This is their worst nightmare. Many of them, their whole lives were shaped pouring into IHOPKC and giving themselves to the prayer movement and loving and honoring Mike Bickle. So, when you hear evil reports about them, simply dismiss those.”
Similarly, Brown vouched for the independence of IHOPKC’s investigation, saying he had seen “the paperwork” and “the emails.”
“General Fuller is not even allowed to interact with the attorney doing the investigation right now, to find out details that will be released to the public,” Brown said. “At the same time, that investigator was not suitable and accepted by the advocacy group . . . (so) another third party needed to be brought in.”
Brown said that two weeks ago, the AG and IHOPKC almost found a solution to their disagreement. He said both parties had agreed on a third-party investigator, but the investigator was unable to conduct the investigation because of “sickness in the family.”
“So now it was back to the drawing board,” Brown said. “And then the devil came in. And other things happened. And boom! Next thing—explosion and no trust.”
Brown said he pleaded with Fuller yesterday to accept the investigator the AG was proposing, but Fuller refused.
Fuller announced yesterday that IHOPKC will stick with the firm it hired, the Lathrop Group.
“I’ll await the independent results of our investigator and then compare those with what the new leadership here and I have found on our own,” Fuller said. He added that IHOPKC will then use the findings to hold people accountable and correct “organizational shortcomings as necessary.”
Regardless of what IHOPKC does, Brown said the charismatic Christian community must find a solution “on behalf of the hurting Body of Christ internationally.”
“We will ask for this panel of leaders to come together to oversee that the investigation takes place in a way that is acceptable to those in the advocacy group . . . And everyone involved will do their best to make sure it is righteous and fair to all involved.
“If Mike is guilty of the charges, then it’s up to that leadership group to call him to repentance, and to bear fruits of repentance . . . And those who have been victims need not just to have a day in court, but to have closure and receive the ministry that they need . . .
“We must now go in this direction. For the honor of the name of Jesus and for the sake of a hurting bride.”
Julie Roys es una reportera de investigación veterana y fundadora de The Roys Report. Anteriormente, también presentó un programa de entrevistas nacional en Moody Radio Network, llamado Up for Debate, y ha trabajado como reportera de televisión para una filial de CBS. Sus artículos han aparecido en numerosas publicaciones periódicas.
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I’ve followed Michael Brown on Twitter for a while, even though I’m not charismatic and have some automatic skepticism of charismatic movements, because he seems like a straight shooter who is interested in truth, not just his own beliefs or agenda. I feel like he was naive at the beginning of this whole mess, and I called him out on it in a couple of Twitter comments, but I’m glad to see him trying to bring some clarity and resolution to this situation. I hope he can persuade the IHOP-KC leadership to do the right thing.
Alexander Haig made the same mistake back in 1981 when he thought he was “in charge.” The NT is more team based rather than hierarchical. It’s time (we) Evangelicals realized this.
You cannot compare leadership in the Old Testament, under Mosaic Law to the New Testament leadership under the New Covenant. Hierarchies exist and are necessary in every organization, whether they are a church body, or secular. The problem is not the hierarchy, in and of itself. The problem is how the hierarchy is conducted. Secular hierarchy is conducted in a “I’m here to give directions” manner. The Church hierarchy is not supposed to be administered like the secular model. Jesus modeled an upside down pyramid where the leader assumes a servant position, simply ministering to the rest of the body. The Pastor in the Church model is supposed to teach, counsel, disciple, edudicate conflicts, etc. But there is still a strict hierarchy as laid out by Paul. The majority of the Church today has adopted the secular world’s version of the hierarchy where those in charge are not to be questioned and when one of the leaders violates biblical rules, you have to circle the wagons, protect the guilty party, and expel the victim so no damage occurs to the body. That isn’t scriptural, and it isn’t the correct way to do it. And we see this repeated over and over because the church leaders have come to believe it is allowable to do these things, because they rarely are punished, and they feel the victims owe it to them for some reason I can’t fathom. That is what needs to be fixed. The hierarchy needs to be adminstered along biblical model, not a secular one. The lack of any hieracrchy simply means there is no accountability anywhere, to anyone and no system in place to redress conflicts.
Finally a voice of reason. I’ve been saying all along that both “sides” need to bend. I am one who is left confused and unsure what is true and what is abuse. This civil war is so very destructive.
It’s hard to watch the Advocacy Group videos that Julie linked to recently, and not be convinced that IHOP-KC isn’t trying to do organizational damage control at the expense of the victims. I encourage you to watch them.
I can’t believe I’m saying this, but the longer this goat rope continues, the better RZIM looks in how they handled the Ravi Zacharias scandal, mistakes and all. Praying for all concerned, starting with the survivors.
In the case of RZIM, it’s much easier to do the right thing when the accused is no longer alive.
Fuller’s hard-nosed military-style approach in obstinately persisting with Lathrop group to do the investigation is not the way to bring godly resolution. Civilian casualties may sometimes be unavoidable in a military context, but this should not be the case in the Church.
Lathrop was rejected by the advocate group 6 weeks ago since it has a heavy focus on limiting legal liability for organizations facing sexual abuse charges, highlighting its successes in this regard on its website: https://www.lathropgpm.com/services-practices-organizational-misconduct.html
Ver también: https://julieroys.com/alleged-victim-mike-bickle-wont-participate-ihopkc-investigation/
Yes, I agree wholeheartedly. This podcast, Wake Up and Win, which has been doing commentary on IHOPKC shares your perspective. There have to be standard bearers in churches today and I think the couple doing the podcast demonstrate that: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBGJt7Zf-GI&t=2s
One thing I like about The Roys Report is that they are willing to shine lights on all tribes/streams of Christianity: Southern Baptists, Charismatics, Catholics, Presbyterians. This is what true journalism looks like. The reporting on IHOPKC is excellent and I believe they are effecting change in religious institutions.
Rob, Agreed! I’ve concluded that the reason so many of her subjects attack Julie Roys personally and try to impugn her character and denigrate her professionalism is because she shines the light on a problem, does “show and tell” with receipts, and offers everyone a chance to comment. Those subjects who don’t want the information made public attack the messenger instead.In her reporting on the Harvest Bible Chapel debacle and disgraced former pastor James MacDonald, I’ve watched it go from James MacDonald name calling her to his admission in open court in California (after being charged with felony assault and battery of a 59 year old woman resulting in a broken leg and 21 day hospital stay). There were witnesses. They detained him at the scene until police arrived, and there’s medical records and a live woman who will testify. MacDonald is attempting to get a mental health deferment claiming hat he suffers from a mental illness, Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD). Except that he can’t seem to resist blaming Julie Roys for causing it!
In this situation, now we have a dispute (of which I know no detail except as reported here, but I will dive deeper into the source materials) which threatens the body of Christ, if true, and certainly needs investigation, correction and appropriate resolution. And we have those “in charge” claiming OTHERS are trying to destroy the very church itself. Projection much? C’mon!
I just went to Wake Up and Win. Excellent! Thank you so much. It’s encouraging to see solid young people who’ve been closely connected with IHOPKC, give their perspective on social media regarding what is taking place within IHOPKC’s leadership, and their approach to Mike Bickle’s allegations. And you will know the truth and the truth will make you free. John 8:32
So it’s come to this in the church…
A megachurch pastor is caught in deep immoral sin. He refuses to apologize, but instead the church hires a PR firm to protect its brand by not allowing a thorough & independent investigation. Then when public pressure mounts the church hires (wait for it) a retired Army General to bark out orders(!) to the victims and their advocates about how things will now get done.
And y’all wonder why God is judging this church? The longer this circus goes the more obvious it’s becoming ihopkc is hiding far more sins/crimes. If I were the Roys Report I’d been doing a deep dive into where all the money is at.
My advice to Bickle & ihopkc: stop mocking God and do what’s right.
IHOPKC is full of corruption and that is why they don’t want an actual third party investigation. The lawyers they hired will likely focus on Bickle or others who have left IHOP. A true third party investigation would bring everything to light. IHOPKC obviously doesn’t want that. Think about it, if you truly had nothing to hide wouldn’t you welcome a neutral third party investigation? The fact that these people call themselves Christians is an embarrassment.
Proverbs 26:17 … Michael Brown … It’s not your Dog
I was appalled when Mike Brown decided to use his voice against Trumpism during the 2020 election year. How many of his trusted followers decided to vote for Biden, because of his concern of ‘Trump worship’ taking over? I lumped him in with the stupidity of Beth Moore, Tim Keller and Piper. Does anyone know if Mike Brown ever apologized for that ill-timed stance? However, I do agree with him here. I’ve watched the AG videos and find them credible. I’m not impressed with, Strang and Fuller. Therefore, I question Eric Voltz’ true motives. I believe the AG group is risking everything to do the right thing. However, the ELT members would lose SO MUCH, if these allegations toward Mike are true. A number of ELT members jumped ship. Why was that, really? Please pray that all truth will be revealed and justice will be served all across the globe.
Would you be ok with some using their voice against Trumpism now? After a jury convicted him of rape? After a jury awarded a settlement for continued and persistent slander and harm? Not a day goes by that I do not wonder what happened to people who claim some higher level of morality. Going to an evangelical church these days is out of the question because of the fawning support of many for a clearly reprehensible predator.
Respectfully, I voted for Trump in 2016 and 2020. I believe the 2020 election was stolen. I believe the J6 event was staged by the same group who is behind the stolen election and the ‘trumped up’ allegation from E. Jean Carroll. The same globalist machine behind it all wants our borders invaded so that our nation is flooded illegally with military-aged men. The machine that does not want Trump in office wants the great United States to become a communist country. This machine is afraid of Trump because he cannot be bought like our media, government officials, banks, some religious organizations, etc. That group of globalists controls the Dominion voting machines so that our vote does not count. That’s why we get involved in local politics and demand paper ballots and a hand count of those votes. Sorry, to be so impassioned. But we’re about to lose everything because the mainstream media lies to us every day. And people do not know what’s actually going on. Btw, I watch Tucker Carlson and Steve Bannon, mainly. I’m on Truth Social, GETTR and Rumble. ‘No’ to FB and X.
Dr. Michael Brown “The name of Jesus is suffering terrible reproach. The Holy Spirit is being mocked. People are losing their faith in Jesus over this. . . . We all have to humble ourselves and come together and find a path forward.”
This ridiculous spiritualizing of illegal and immoral behavior is nonsense. Common sense would say when an organization is–as the evidence shows–this toxic, it is past time to end it. It isn’t as if there aren’t ample churches for people (who want them) to attend. Why all the conflict, sanctimony and obfuscating? Multiple trangressions were made against vulnerable people. Lock the doors, face the consequences and do better.
Good grief.
IHOP(not the pancake place) is terminally flawed. It was never anything more than one guy’s way to control people, which is the fatal flaw of almost every single one of these founder / leader / prophet things.
Stop it.