Mike Bickle
Mike Bickle himself is on record as saying, 'We don't believe everything that's said. We've been given ten thousand prophecies, and I believe there's only a small number that I've really cherished in my heart as from the Lord.'
That’s a lot of false prophecy!!!!
Too many have been exposed to the prophetic movement of Latter Rain teachers like Peter Wagner, Bill Hamon, Cindy Jacobs, etc. Convinced by them, they too want to be a prophet. These men have turned out thousands and thousands of prophets, they become prophets who CAN’T prophecy accurately.What a prophetic movement!
Mike Bickle, who was pastor of Kansas City Fellowship in Kansas City, Mo., in 1990 when the ministry of several prophets in his church brought criticism from a group of charismatic pastors in the city, cautions labeling prophets as “false,” even when their predictions do not come to pass.
“The easy response is to discount a prophetic person who gets it wrong,” he said. “That's not the right response. We have the 'horrible' job called discernment.”
So if they are wrong they are still right? Even what they speak does not come to pass we are told not to speak about it, be cautious. So then when do we speak? And who are these people that tell us to be careful when blatant false prophetic speech is consistently uttered. It's not a horrible job to discern though unpleasant as it may be, it is our spiritual duty. And what discernment do these prophets exercise? Even the true prophets spoke up against the false ones. It is the false ones that tell people not to discern.
First – his mentors and the prophets who gave him the ministry he established:
Bob Jones – taken out by false prophecy he gave and sexual impurity
Paul Cain – taken out by false prophecy he gave and sexual impurity (homosexuality & and alcoholism)
This is not a good foundation!
- We are forbidden to add new teachings that go beyond what God's word teaches:
1Cor 4:6, Now these things, brethren, I have figuratively applied to myself and Apollos for your sakes, that in us you might learn not to exceed what is written…
2Jn 1:9, Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God…
Deut 4:2, You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it…
Prov 30:5-6, Every word of God is tested… Do not add to His words, Lest He reprove you, and you be proved a liar.
Rev 22:18, I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God shall add to him the plagues which are written in this book…
The book of Revelation takes us through all future events, to the end of time, and ends with this command. When the Bible was completed, God was finished revealing the unknown. Any new prophecy would have to fit within the time frame of the book of Revelation and would therefore add to its prophecy. The one who presumes to do so is given strong warning of the consequences!
- God has warned us that false prophets will come to us: Are we prepared to recognize them?
Mark 13:22-23, For false Christs and false prophets will arise, and will show signs and wonders, in order, if possible, to lead the elect astray. But take heed; behold, I have told you everything in advance.
The new prophets say God is giving new information we can't afford to miss. Jesus says He has told us everything in advance.
- One false prophecy is all it takes to reveal someone as a false prophet:
Deut 18:20-22, But the prophet who shall speak a word presumptuously in My name which I have not commanded him to speak... that prophet shall die. And you may say in your heart, `How shall we know the word which the Lord has not spoken?' When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously.
This passage is clear that, if a prophet is truly from God, he will be absolutely, 100% accurate. These new prophets are usually wrong when they prophesy about events- but they claim God told them (in a new prophecy) that this rule no longer applies. (1)
Jesus said ''the scripture cannot be broken'' and ''Until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass away. Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and so teaches others, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven.'' (Jn 10:35, Mt 5:18-19)
- Deut 13:1-5, If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes true, concerning which he spoke to you, saying, `Let us go after other gods (whom you have not known) and let us serve them,' you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams; for the Lord your God is testing you to find out if you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
The only way to know if prophecy is being sent as a test from God is to examine the content and compare it to the scriptures. If the message is not consistent with God's word -if the god presented is not absolutely consistent with the God of the Bible- we need to turn away to pass the test.
God called the Berean Christians noble-minded because "they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily, to see whether these things were so" (Acts 17:11). The way we know any idea 'is so' is by seeing what the scriptures say about it. They are the reference point for everything in the Christian life.
- God's word is superior to new prophecies. It is completely trustworthy and meets every need:
2Tim 3:13-17, But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. You, however, continue in …the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.
False prophecies are very allegorical in speech and can be very deceptive:
The prophecies are secretive and vague, in contrast to the Bible's openness and forthrightness. The speaker hints at his plans in figurative language but does not openly disclose them. When one examines them carefully, these hints are often worded in such a way that they could actually mean the very opposite of what you would first assume. For example, let's look at a prophecy given by Cindy Jacobs to Europe, called ''One More Chance'':
And the Lord would say I'm renewing ancient covenants. I'm calling together ancient kingdoms. I'm the ancient of days. I'm doing a new thing in Europe... I'm calling back to ancient times when I stirred my people to take Jerusalem I'm calling out my warriors and my war horses forth.
Satan is restoring ancient covens in Europe – but it’s not a Christian revival, it’s a revival of Paganism.
Think carefully about this prophecy. What were the 'ancient covenants' of Europe? Did you assume Christianity? Why? Europe was the ancient seedbed of pagan religions like Wicca, druidism, and the ancient Celtic myths, which are making a strong comeback. Who was ''stirred to take Jerusalem''? This could speak of the Roman destruction in A.D. 70, or the Roman Catholic crusades. As we have seen, Roman Catholicism is making a strong bid to become the global 'church' once again. Do you say, 'but he says he's the Lord, the ancient of days!' Don't you know ''the devil... is a liar, and the father of lies'' (Jn 8:44) ? Furthermore, he can legitimately call himself the ''God'' or lord - of this world (2Cor 4:4, 1Jn 5:19). Gnostic symbolism. The prophecies contain the marks of gnosticism- a secretive, highly symbolic mysticism where one works to 'attain to' a 'higher wisdom.' Gnostic symbols well-known since ancient times are used, such as Rick Joyner's allegorical ''mountain'' which he had to climb to attain to 'higher spiritual levels' of the 'revelation of God.'
“The Holy Spirit constantly speaks on His own initiative, portraying Himself as wine, and saying He longs to make us ''drunk'' with Himself.”
Statements that sound like Bible verses are made but when you look them up, you find they've been cleverly misquoted or misapplied. God does not misuse His own word. Satan, however, has been known to misuse God's word to tempt (Mt 4:6).
These false prophets have told us to go to the ‘high places’ to meet God!
God has no need for his people to go up to high places to seek Him! Jesus made it clear that a person's physical location has nothing to do with his worship of God; ''the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth,'' (Jn 4:21-23)
In the Bible, the 'high places' were places of demon worship (Num 33:52; Num 22:41; 1 Kings 14:23-24; 1KI 13:33-34; Jer 32:35; Ps 78:58-59). Jesus was taken by the devil to the pinnacle of the temple and to a very high mountain, to be tempted (Mt 4:1,8).
These ‘prophets’ warn the believer not to question or doubt it is really God speaking, whereas the Bible commands us to ''test the spirits,'' 1Jn 4:1. This demand should actually fill us with doubt!
They say their message is God seducing believers for deeper intamacy. We do read of seduction in connection with demons and also false prophets (1Tim 4:1, KJV; Dt 13:5).
At the “New Millennium Apostolic Council of Prophetic Elders” held November 30, 1999, 12 “prophecies” were brought forth, some as muddled as the television psychics or the supermarket tabloids about floods and earthquakes. The “Apostolic Council” present consisted of C. Peter Wagner, Cindy Jacobs, Dutch Sheets, Tommy Tenney, Mike Bickle and Jim Goll. (Other members not present but on the council include Paul Cain, James Ryle, John and Paula Sanford, Bill Hammond and Gwen Shaw.)
A report submitted by council member Goll included:
“This move of God will be so powerful that the church will gather in stadiums to worship, both the church in given regions as well as some local churches which will grow so large that they will fill stadiums for their celebration worship services. ... The Government of God [sic] kingdom will be established through the apostolic and prophetic authorities in cities and nations. ... We will see tremendous transfers of wealth into the Kingdom of God through the ministry of market apostles (those with apostolic anointing for business and other areas of society).”43
Mike Bickle
Exerts from Bill Randels: One service:
Mike teaches that prophets do not have to be 100% accurate
"[Bob Jones] Hmmmm, witchcraft coming again...check that in Jesus' name. I feel pin pricks on me. There's witchcraft comin'..."
Then the pastor, Mike Bickle explains to the crowd,
"When Bob feels pin pricks in his hand, that just show up, that means witchcraft is in this [place]... The phrase that Bob uses is his senses turn golden... His live senses are literally inspired by the Holy Spirit ... He could tell what was happening in the spirit realm from the five senses..." (1) (See Jude 19)
Mike Bickle is asking him to elaborate on the whole concept of "golden senses," in which 20-30 different signs show up in his physical body to help him divine the spiritual realm. For example, his hands turn different colors to indicate things, (purple-royalty, red intercession, etc). Did the apostles ever model anything even remotely like this? Never mind, these men are part of the new breed, they are so anointed that the apostles can't wait to meet them! As Mike Bickle says,
"The saints in the New Testament would wait in line to greet the apostles coming from this generation!" (2)
Mike Bickle himself heard an audible voice speak to him, while on a trip in Cairo, Egypt. The voice told him,
"I am inviting you to raise up a work that will touch the ends of the earth. I have invited many people to do this thing and many people have said yes, but very few have done my will." (3)
Shortly after this, on a "word from the Lord," Bickle began a new work in Kansas City, Missouri.
We all have a problem when Mike [Bickle] seeks to conjure up divine approval for his "movement" with stories of supernatural confirmations that are blatantly false. For example, Mike regularly retells the story of how the so-called "prophet" Bob Jones predicted [in May, 1983] a three month drought which would finally end with a "drought breaker" on August 23. In telling this tale, Mike makes such statements as, "we watched it day by day...June, no rain...then on August 23, three to four inches of rain!" It sounded like a pretty impressive miracle until we checked it with the National Weather Bureau and the daily newspaper accounts for that time frame. We found the following:
- Actual readings from the former Richard Gebaur Air Force Base, which is only a few minutes from KCF show over seven inches of rain in June, which is well over normal!
- The "drought breaker" on August 23, actually produced less than one third of an inch.
- Of the 12 days it rained in June, six of them produced records of rains heavier than the "drought breaker." One day alone had over seven times the rainfall of August 23_2.35 inches. (From What's the Problem, Ernie Gruen.)
Here is information from the National Weather Associations site for that period:
KANSAS CITY DOWNTOWN AP June-Aug. 1983 Precipitation in Inches
June: 7.68 July 6.43 August 4.31
The U.S. National Weather Bureau confirms that seven inches of rain fell on Kansas City in June 1983. It rained on 12 out of thirty days - almost half the month! On just one of those days, the rainfall was seven times the rainfall on 23rd August! So, the prophecy was a lie and a fake. What is far worse, is that Bickle afterward (that is, after knowing what really happened, and after knowing the prophecy to be false) claimed it to be true!
He then formed Grace Ministries described as:
"A ministry team of men committed to seeing the church fully restored to the glory described in God's Word." (4) Now, Grace Ministries and KCF are two distinct organizations. A1 Dager gives a good description of the function of Grace Ministries,
"Grace Ministries is a parachurch organization that represents several men who engage in itinerant, allegedly prophetic, ministries... There are seven major facets to Grace Ministries: 1. Apostolic teams; 2. City churches; 3. The House of Prayer; 4. The Joseph Company; 5. The Israel Mandate; 6. A Ministry training center; 7. Shiloh Ministries." (5)
The city Church ministry – Apostolic Authority in each city:
"The way we used terminology created fear, division, and suspicion," Bickle admits." (6)
One Evangelical newsletter has this to say:
"The fallible-prophet idea is a recent invention from the imagination of self-proclaimed prophets who are confronted with misses all the time. Men like Mike Bickle, Rick Joyner, Bob Jones, Jack Deere, and James Ryle have conspired to create a new paradigm of prophets who make mistakes in their predictions. This way anybody can do it. By their definition, anyone who can guess right a lot of the time can be a 'prophet.'"
Mike Bickle for example says, "Someone suggested that I write a follow up book that revealed all our mistakes in the prophetic ministry. He suggested I call it Some Said We Blundered. I almost agreed. Indeed, we've made many mistakes on our journey in the prophetic ministry."
Benny Hinn as well, "[Paul Cain] is the most accurate prophet, I believe, on the Earth today...Thank God for such accurate prophets."
Listen to Rick Joyner explain the fallible prophet, "Bob Jones was told that the general level of prophetic revelation in the church was about 65% accurate at this time. Some are only about 10% accurate, a very few of the most mature prophets are approaching 85% to 95% accuracy."
Mike agrees with this!
"Now, the 'two-thirds,' you know when Bob first said it, I said, 'two-thirds?...Well, that's better than its ever been up to now, you know. That's the highest level it's ever been."
(Dr. John MacArthur, "Charasmatic Chaos," page 79. Mike Bickle, "The Shepards Rod," October 1989)
Shiloh Ministries – Mike’s prophetic community:
The senior prophetic authority recognized over Shiloh, was to be Paul Cain, a former associate of William Branham. Cain once called Branham, "The greatest prophet who ever lived." (It is interesting to note that there was, in Iowa, (might still be) a "prophetic" retreat and community called Shiloh. It was noted for its Manifested Sons of God teaching. But I don't know if it's directly related.)
"There's no one in our midst that we give the title "prophet." The only one I would feel comfortable of giving that office would be Paul Cain, but he refuses to accept it. So, I'd say both of them, apostle and prophet, I believe that in God's purpose they exist, but we're very hesitant to designate somebody as being one at this point and time." (7)