International House of Prayer

[elgregcor]

Hello Super Sola,

I’m sorry, you’re absolutely right. Please forgive me. Thank you.

Speaking for myself only, I was not lamenting any of what my family members have and are doing…I am in fact very proud of the facts as they stand…and feel that I am a blessed man because of it. I was just trying to console Ruthmary to NOT be aftraid…IHOP does NOT seem to be of the Jim Jones strain…

“Remember…Jonestown was a short-lived settlement made in northwestern Guyana by the Peoples Temple, a cult from California. Jonestown became lastingly and internationally notorious in 1978 when all but a few residents died in a mass murder-suicide orchestrated by their leader, Jim Jones. The name of the settlement thus also became a term for that incident.” from Wikipedia

 

[HannahLisa]

I think IHOP could be used for good or bad. Some people love praise and worship music. Personally, I think the idea of being able to worship in that style for long periods of time would be pretty awesome. I also think the idea of 24/7 prayer is a VERY good one and could be used by any denomination.

However, there are some things about IHOP that strike me as odd. For instance, the idea that one can sign up to receive prophecies from trained teams??? I am very, VERY skeptical of this claim. God moves how He wants. I don’t think that includes prophecy or healing when people make appointments.

I did consider going to onething (the young adult conference) this year. I ended up not going, but there is a possibility that I might go next year. We’ll see.

 

[RamyG4c]

Very cute! I would like to know if anyone has any first hand experience with this group. Are they anti-Catholic or tolerant?

They are not Anti-Catholic.
You can check their new website.
Here
All of the teaching that they do is available on the website. Pretty much Bible based, end times focused.
To be honest. I like them they are radical, focused and consistent.

 

[Auriel]

I do not know that much about them but will say, I LOVE the music! It kind of speaks to me. I normally listen to Metal and Electronica. Not really that crazy about Gospel music, but when I heard Misty Edwards? WOW!!! She is a Worship leader, some consider her a Christian Indie Girl singer.

Here is one example of a worship song, it is a bit long but very beautiful. It is called **“Always on His Mind”.
**
youtube.com/watch?v=A9zGDeLUMlI

Here is another, a bit shorter, and it is about end times. “As in the days of Noah”.

youtube.com/watch?v=Shi8fPtjFdc

I kind of agree with the poster above, I admire a person who is bold and not ashamed of what they believe. And who actually “know” what they believe in.

 

[Ruthie]

Well, I finally found their Statement of Faith. It took a while. It seems to be a mish-mash of different things - but the very first article is this:

**WE BELIEVE **that only the sixty-six books of the Bible are the inspired, and therefore inerrant, Word of God. The Bible is the final authority for all we believe and how we are to live.

Their third statement begins:

**WE BELIEVE **that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

It sounds to me as if this faith is not compatible with Catholicism.

God bless,

Ruthie

 

[hughi]

I think I know a few things about IHOP.

I’m a late-comer to the Catholic Church, being raised Methodist and coming into the Church at age 56. My wife was raised Catholic and we were married in the Church in 1981. My wife eventually joined an Assemblies of God Church where I attended for some time, but left. I didn’t attend anywhere for the next 15 years or so, and still struggle spiritually. My wife and I attend Mass together only when visiting her parents.

Through our daughter’s childhood, my wife definitely served as the spiritual leader and moral authority for our daughter, taking her to the Assemblies of God Church, where she became a fervent evangelical and charismatic. She eventully attended Eastern University in Philadelphia, a college originally with Baptist roots, and now, a much stronger flavor of liberal evangelicalism.

My daughter majored in psychology with a minor in dance. She is now married and a full time missionary at IHOP, where she dances in the Sacred Dance Group, and spends a great deal of time in intercessory prayer. She is passionately fervent in her faith, and thankful, I believe, to have been led to IHOP.

My wife avidly tunes to the IHOP web site for streaming broadcasts and occasionally to God TV where IHOP is often featured. Occasionally, we are both able to watch our daughter dance.

I can’t say it’s my “thing” exactly, but realize that IHOP’s focus is a much younger age group, though its founder, Mike Bickle, is very close to my own age. The Christian Rock, which I often find monotonous and possibly mind controlling, is balanced by a more recent emphasis on classical music and a full-fledged orchestra, where my son-in-law plays cello.

It is true that the bookstore features a number of classic Catholic works, especially with emphasis on intercessory and centered prayer, and that sort of thing. Bickle’s organization is fervently pro-life, and from a political standpoint, I’m quite certain that he is aware of this commonality with the Catholic Church. In this respect, you might say he is “pro-Catholic,” but the discussion of his attitude toward the Catholic Church is, in my view, somewhat irrelevant. Whether pro or anti-Catholic, it’s clear that Mike Bickle certainly isn’t “Catholic.” I should add, I’m not aware of Mike Bickles personal view of the death penalty.

My sneaking suspicion is that were Rev. Bickle to offer his view of the “universal church,” the subtle New Age underpinnings of his philosophy might become more readily apparent. In my opinion, the flavor of his organization is heavily laced with Gnosticism, leading the faithful to ever higher levels of spiritual knowledge, and more importantly, experience. And like the Gnostics, I suspect he views suffering as particularly evil. I could be wrong, but I suspect he uses the concept of suffering as leverage over his adherent’s heads, the divine “proof” of one’s failure to measure up. In this regard, I question whether he understands the core meaning of the Incarnation, and its implications for the Church and mankind at large. Minus the litany of spiritual epiphanies, I wonder if he would still believe in the existence and omnipotence of God, much less apprehend the concept that God alone determines who is saved, and who is not.