Some years ago Mike Bickle, founder of International House of Prayer, revealed that many of the alleged manifestations of the Holy Spirit that take place during IHOP worship and gatherings are, in fact, fake.
In the video below, Bickle told the IHOP-KC students, “I know that I know the value of genuine manifestations. The real. Again I’ve seen, and I’ve had it happen to me, people thrashed around, I’ve seen people thrown against walls, and across rooms. I’ve seen a lot of fake, but I’ve seen a lot of real.”
Should being thrown “against walls and across rooms” be attributed to the Holy Spirit?
Mike Bickle stated he does not allow fake manifestations of the Holy Spirit up on the platform, but “I will allow the fake in the room because I so believe in the genuine.”
Huh?
Bickle encouraged the young people to seek genuine manifestations of the Holy Spirit, while warning that 80% of what occurs is fake. He discouraged those he calls “auto-manifesters” and “auto-screamers.”
Like Bill Johnson’s Bethel Redding, the unholy practice of contemplative prayer is foundational to Mike Bickle’s IHOP. False (and/or demonic) manifestations, false visions, and false prophecies will continue.
Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment. (James 3:1)
Bickle stated, “I’ve experienced so many different types of manifestations personally.”
He also said, “[I]t’s not all fake and the genuine is in our midst, and I will allow a whole lot of hamburger helper to allow the genuine to take place. I will not promote it but I will allow it, because the genuine is so important to the Kingdom of God.”
For many hypercharismatics, one desired manifestation is the so-called holy laughter:
Bickle said, “I’ve had times when the Lord’s come on me and I’ve laughed and I could not stop. A few times it was really embarrassing because I was in a situation where it would have been better if I could have stopped.”
Even better if we could stop celebrity Christians from forming alliances with this errant organization.
The Word Like Fire 