Examining the practice of having church meetings WITHOUT being the church. Mike started IHOPKC saying, “We are not a church, and I am not your pastor.”
According to the Bible - we are ALL “the Church” corporately and each of us are members of “the church” individually.
Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it. I Corinthians 12:27
When the church assembles together (has a meeting) there is a Divine Order that Paul writes about in I Corinthians chapter 12, 13 and 14. This order is set by the Holy Spirit’s purposes and direction.
What is the outcome then, brethren? When you assemble, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification…. 39 Therefore, my brethren, desire earnestly to prophesy, and do not forbid to speak in tongues. 40 But all things must be done properly and in an orderly manner. I Corinthians 14:26-40
The practice of IHOPKC having twelve 2-hour prayer meetings in each 24-hour period, seven days a week with Christians worshiping and praying and NOT following New Testament Government practices is dumb. By not calling a group of Christians meeting at a certain time in a certain building to worship God THE CHURCH, IHOPKC may have assumed no one would notice the lack of order.
By taking the position that IHOPKC was not a church and Mike was not having church meetings, then Mike was “not your pastor.” He said it many times. This allowed Mike and many others to not be accountable to ANYONE. Mature and seasoned “Guest Speakers” came and went but none were in the leadership (what the Bible would call – Overseers or Elders) that led IHOPKC.
By taking this position, the New Testament church government models did not have to be followed. Sometimes they were taught and practiced and other times they were ignored. Whatever the leaders wanted to do or maybe - whatever the leaders needed to do to keep the meetings going.
Young Christians, because of their lack of knowledge, have prayed false doctrine on the Prayer Room microphone many times. The section leaders were not pastors and may or may not have been called or anointed to help those they were overseeing. Since there was no New Testament Divine Order governing the Prayer Room meetings, there was no Biblical way to stop, confront or teach those who were in error. (SEE #3 - the practice of not having Pastors.)
Since IHOPKC was not a “church”, Mike did not have to discipline his “sons” when they were in error. This is normal for a cult-like atmosphere. Everyone is supposed to follow the leader without question.
The leaders immediately under the leader (on the unwritten Org Chart) are judged and given leadership because of their loyalty and conformity (being of the same spirit). The leaders closest to Mike did not submit to his authority, because Mike did not want “to be their pastor.” He met with them as a friend (lateral relationship) and they talked together about doctrines and practices.
Since there were only loyal friends on all leadership teams, there was no reason for Mike to have to overtly administer authority and correction. In this type of Unordered group everyone knows who the “boss” is.
This also allowed Mike and his underlings to deny that they were a Cult-like group, since there was no Outward Show of Authority. Sadly, this showed IHOPKC lack of understanding of Cult-like groups. Cult-like groups seldom need overt strong authority on a day-to-day basis. They have a language that hides the CONTROL mechanism.
This unspoken practice of being in authority without outwardly seeming to CONTROL is shown in the following story from a female student. Stewart (number one - leader – with no New Testament ministry designation) sat down next to a girl and motioned for her to go into a side room. She ignored him and finally, Stewart leaned over and whispered, “Don’t you know who I am?” The poor girl had not yet been fully indoctrinated into the cult-like leadership behavior that most people knew but would not admit that it existed.
This leads us to what IHOPKC really was. Many of my spiritual fathers taught this simple idea. If you organize a spiritual meeting or group - you are either Babylon (confusion) or a model of the New Testament Christian Church. One has Order and one has confusion.
(Back to Title Page - https://www.gregorygrinstead.com/post/12-ihopkc-doctrines-practices-to-examine)
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