Yes, he really said this. First let me say that it is a step in the right direction to at least admit you are wrong, but the next step forward would have been to apologize for it. To apologize for defending it. To apologize for enabling it. To apologize for accusing those who were speaking the truth as being in sin. Brown did none of that. Instead, he took two steps back with this absurd notion that the revelations that Mike Bickle was a degenerate liar and spirit hustler don't change anything about the man you knew. Of course, it does! Let's dabble in an even deeper absurdity. Let's say that there is a famous preacher who was always teaching fantastic, even "anointed" for many decades. Then we find out that he was a serial killer over the same period of time. Shouldn't that nullify how great a teacher he was? Wouldn't it be safe to say at that point that God was not actually using this man at all? Ravi Zacharias was not a great holiness teacher, even though Dr. Brown still insists he was. He was a liar and a hypocrite. I can get great holiness teachings from someone who was not organizing an international cabal of sex workers and masseuses for his whims. The Mike Bickle you knew Dr. Brown? He wasn't real! Stop trying to save the Charismatic brand! Show some concern for the lives he destroyed!
3. "I wasn't aware, what else can I say?" - Dr. Michael Brown
How about - "I'm Sorry?" Look, no one expects someone like Dr. Brown to have psychically known that Bickle was a liar. Apparently, he was very good at lying. It is unfair to say "you should have known" and I am not saying that here. What I am saying is that once you do know, you should own what you've said, repent, and apologize. Stop saying "if." Stop trying to defend the years of false ministry. Stop trying to protect the brand. Draw a line in the sand and say you are on one side and people who lie on behalf of God to prey upon young women in order to commit adultery, are on the other side.
4. "Can God work through someone living a double life? God's gifts are God's gifts. If you have the gift of healing God can still heal the sick through you because it's God's gift." - Dr. Michael Brown
Ehh, not quite Doc. First of all, it is poor theology to say God can do something, therefore He did. So, can God use someone living a double life? Of course. He is God. The question is why would He? The reality is that we often see ministers who fall often railed against the very sin they are hiding. Ted Haggard, who used to run the National Association of Evangelicals was known for preaching about what he viewed as the evils of homosexuality, even though he was secretly having a 20-year relationship with a male prostitute who he liked to do crystal meth with. Ravi Zacharias was famous for preaching about purity and holiness but at the same time he was orchestrating an international network of sex workers for his leisure. Now we have Bickle, who also loved to preach on holiness but was doing so while committing adultery and pretending to hear from God to spiritually and sexually abuse a 19-year-old sheep.
So, it begs the question, what do we do now with the legacy of Mike Bickle. According to Dr. Brown, it remains untinged by these revelations, and I say that is patently absurd. Again, we are not talking about a struggle or an instance of sin but rather a repeated pattern over decades of abusing women and claiming God told him his own wife would die! While Dr. Brown concludes that God must have just been using an imperfect vessel, I conclude the opposite. At no time was Mike Bickle a prophet. He was lying about that too. At no time was God using Mike Bickle, which is why IHOP is such a theological cesspool. His idea of the performative 24-7 prayer has been widely reported as a breeding ground for eastern mysticism and transcendental meditation. He supported many things that would be an offshoot of his proclivity for sexual misconduct such as Jesus is my lover worship music and the bridal paradigm. Dr. Brown sees IHOP as a rousing success and thus, it becomes vitally important to whitewash the Bicklegate scandal. Instead, he should be seeing this for what it is. God is exposing a liar, and abuser and someone who has built his earthly kingdom through false prophecy and false teaching. There is nothing redeemable at IHOPKC. Nothing.
As for the gifts, it seems Dr. Brown is of the opinion that once a spiritual gift is given, that the recipient is in constant possession of it. Nonsense. If so, why aren't all of the folks with the gift of healing parked inside emergency rooms? For the same reason psychics do not win the lottery. God gives the healing, not man. So, God may use a man to heal but He decides when or if He will use him again. I know many preachers who can put together a solid, biblical sermon. That does not mean it is from the Holy Spirit. Paul warns Timothy to watch only two things. His doctrine and his life. Mike Bickle never watched either. In Brown's world, the all-powerful God saw Mike Bickle lying about what He had said in order to bed a 19-year-old and commit adultery but said, oh well, I am going to use him anyway. I do not believe such a notion is supported by scripture in the slightest. Then God saw Bickle claim God said his wife would die in order to further this adulterous relationship for four years, while building IHOP, but God said, oh well, I guess I will keep using this guy. Beloved, that is simply insane.
5. "Take Ravi Zacharias. There is no question God used him. Gave him intellectual insight. Every human being is flawed on some level. If you have a book from Mike Bickle that drew you closer to Jesus that was God working through Mike Bickle." - Dr. Michael Brown
