Nothing is as gut-wrenching as the damage caused to the victims of Mike Bickle’s sexual abuse. It has impacted everyone who felt IHOPKC was a family, a safe community of believers.
There are still, according to conversations I have had, those who believe in Mike and his mission. Having even one person believe in Mike’s continued legitimacy is one too many.
As a body of believers, IHOPKC and Mike’s associated churches have demonstrated a long-term lack of discernment. Since respected spiritual leaders raised serious concerns almost from the beginnings of Mike’s ministry, the valid question must be:
Why have so many who consistently attended Mike’s ministries failed to recognize or discern the problems, problems which go far beyond sexual abuse?
How We Gain Discernment Biblically
Scripture teaches that discernment is not automatic. It must be grown through a combination of God’s Spirit, God’s Word, and an obedient heart. Mike and his leaders consistently failed to train their followers in how to discern.
1. Saturate Yourself in God’s Word
- Hebrews 5:14: “But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.”
- Psalm 119:104: “Through your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way.” Knowing and understanding God’s Word helps you recognize deception and error.
2. Ask God for Wisdom
- James 1:5: “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.”
3. Rely on the Holy Spirit
- John 16:13: “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth…”
- 1 Corinthians 2:14–15: Spiritual discernment requires the Holy Spirit; the natural man can’t fully grasp spiritual realities.
4. Obey What God Has Already Shown You
- John 7:17: “If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God…”
5. Test Everything
- 1 Thessalonians 5:21–22: “Test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.”
- 1 John 4:1: “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God…” Testing means comparing teaching, prophecy, and behavior against Scripture and the fruit it produces.
6. Learn from the Body of Christ
- Proverbs 11:14: “Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.” Discernment grows best in the larger Body of Christ, not just within one’s own group.
Derek Prince’s 1990 Assessment of Mike Bickle and Kansas City Fellowship
This was not Derek Prince’s first assessment. There was one given to Mike and leadership in the mid 1980s that addressed their operating in a spirit of witchcraft.
Derek Prince’s warnings about Kansas City Fellowship (KCF), the precursor to IHOPKC, remain highly relevant today:
“At this time I was asked by Mike Bickle to counsel with him and some of his leaders. I spent nearly three hours in discussion with them. I told them that I felt they were receiving and propagating error. Our meeting was conducted in a friendly spirit and ended with prayer, but no conclusion was reached.”
“Subsequent to this encounter, I studied [the Gruen Document] … Very briefly, I can sum up the main conclusions I have reached:
“The material circulated by Kansas City Fellowship contains many statements which have no basis in Scripture and are frequently contrary to Scripture.
Much of the material is permeated by what I consider to be occult influence.
The overall effect of the material is to divert attention away from Jesus Christ and the Scriptures and toward subjective experiences and human personalities.”
“Any effective remedy would require open confession and renunciation of the errors practiced and a radical elimination of the occult element. All this should be communicated as widely as the errors have been circulated.”
Derek warned that merely changing leadership or renaming the movement would not address the underlying spiritual errors. Mike consistently renamed his churches and added ministries.
Conclusion — From 1990 to Today: The Same Root Problem
Derek Prince’s warnings over thirty years ago were not about a minor theological quibble. They were about a foundational lack of discernment and a tolerance for spiritual error that he said was already “permeated by occult influence” and distracted from Christ.
The same spiritual atmosphere he described, an elevation of subjective experience over Scripture, loyalty to personalities over truth, and refusal to confront error openly, is exactly what created the environment where sexual abuse could be committed, concealed, and excused.
Back then, Derek called for:
- Public confession
- Renunciation of error
- Radical elimination of occult influence
- Widespread communication of correction
Those steps were never taken. Instead, the leadership culture remained insulated, defensive, and resistant to outside correction. As a result, the lack of discernment he identified became generational, producing not only doctrinal problems but also moral collapse.
The lesson is sobering: ignoring godly warnings today plants the seeds for far greater disasters tomorrow. Derek’s assessment from 1990 is not just a historical footnote, it is a prophetic diagnosis of why IHOPKC stands in crisis today.