Steven Strang is still lying to try and save his buddy Mike Bickle...

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Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. For each will have to bear his own load. - Galatians 6:1-5 (ESV)

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The video accompanying the above linked article from Steven Strang at Charisma News screamed - "Is Restoration Possible?' Strang is of course referring to his lifelong friend and predator, Mike Bickle. This has been the track Strang has been on since the scandal broke. He has smeared the victims, defended the indefensible and all with an eye towards letting bygones of sexual abuse be bygones and getting his buddy back behind the pulpit. You know, God's holy desk. Never mind what the bible actually says about pastoral qualifications. We are talking about a proven breadwinner for the Charismaniacal Industrial Complex. Never mind that now we know he was lying about being a prophet. Never mind that now we know Bob Jones and Paul Cain were also false prophets and predators themselves. So, let us reason once more together through this above trash article and see what depths Steven Strang is willing to stoop to this week in defense of his good buddy Bickle.

'In the latest episode of "The Strang Report," Charisma Founding Editor Stephen Strang delves into the ongoing investigation at the International House of Prayer (IHOP) in Kansas City, particularly focusing on its founder, Mike Bickle, and the accusations being made against him. Strang shares his heart on the need for restoration for all parties involved, and is deeply concerned for the impact this controversy will have on the body of Christ. There is history between Charisma and Bickle dating back to 1990 through early coverage of 24/7 prayer at IHOP. "I want you to know that I believe in him [Bickle]. He is my friend. I do not hide it," shares Strang. "I don't think it's ever wrong to stand for your friends. And no matter how this comes out, Mike Bickle is my friend. That doesn't mean I excuse anything Mike Bickle does or has done."' - Charisma News

Sure Steven. Please. All Strang has done is excuse Bickle! He used the lying Misty Edwards rant to actually declare Bickle had been exonerated, in December!! Then Bickle confessed and mucked that all up for him. There is a difference between standing with your friends and excusing them when they lie about what God has said to them in order to lure a woman half their age into bed, when they are already married! Strang's heart has nothing to do with anyone other than Mike Bickle. That is who he is advocating for restoration of. The problem is he is advocating for restoration to his job, as a minister as opposed to his walk with Christ, which I think it is safe to assume now was also fake. Do not be fooled beloved. Anyone can fall. Anyone can fail. This is not about someone who made a tragic mistake 25 years ago. This is someone who has lied from the very beginning and every time he woke up since he established IHOPKC. My prayer for him is the same for anyone who is this lost. I pray he hears the actual gospel of Jesus Christ and repents. Short of that, my concern is for his victims. For the lives he destroyed in the name of God. That includes the ten victims from this scandal as well as all the unknown victims. Lastly, it also includes everyone in the IHOPKC community who have been led down the broad path to destruction by a charlatan and huckster.

'Strang expresses the pain he feels for the broader Christian community: "I am a journalist, I seek for the truth. I want the truth. I love the body of Christ. And for me, part of the pain of all this is what it's doing to the body of Christ," Strang explains. Strang acknowledges wrongdoing on both sides and emphasizes his careful approach to the matter. He recounted a previous podcast interview with IHOPKC's General Kurt Fuller, now the Chairman of the Board, stressing the importance of a balanced perspective. "Sadly, some of the nastiest fights are church fights," Strang says. "And unless you've been in a church split, you don't know how nasty it can get. And the thing is that most people on both sides of the church fight, maintain that they're righteous and the other people are unrighteous. And that's exactly what's happening here."' - Charisma News

No, no, a thousand times no. This is the duplicity of Steven Strang on full and arrogant display. This is not a "church split." That is a false argument designed to pretend both sides are somehow equal. We see this when Strang also says that mistakes were made by both sides. No, they have not. One side is comprised of the victims of Mike Bickle and the other side are the people protecting Bickle and IHOP at all costs. Strang is not a journalist because if he were, he would recuse himself from reporting on someone he admits is a dear friend who he must stand by! If he truly loved the body of Christ, he would be vaguely concerned for the sheep instead of trying to restore the wolf. His allegation here that this is a church fight is a direct slap across the face to the previous IHOP leaders who have been advocating for the victims. This has been the plan from the Bickle backers all along. To try and split the bill. To try and smear the "other side" and cast doubt on them. They rolled out a fake talking point early on that there were victims who denied being victimized, the most famous of them being Misty Edwards. The truth however is Misty was never listed as a victim so this "leak" was clearly perpetrated by the Bickle side so that they could point to it in order to dismiss all the victims. Even with the current situation, Fuller and the former crisis manager Eric Volz are pretending that because the advocates refused to participate in their sham investigation, that they have somehow been deficient. Nonsense. IHOP needs to stop whitewashing and pretending the McNamara Report is worth anything and bring in an outside agency that is reputable and acceptable for the victims. Don't fall for the Strang scam. Bicklegate is the case of a man who lied, manipulated and sexually abused multiple women. It is not a nasty church fight.

"Strang noted an exception with Bickle, in his stance over a number of years of not defending himself if some matter arose. Strang's discussion revolves around the spiritual restoration that needs to take place on both sides of the investigation. Citing Galatians 6:1, he argues that individuals caught in transgressions can be restored with a spirit of meekness. Drawing from his roots in the Assemblies of God, Strang pointed to examples of other leaders such as Jim Bakker and Ted Haggard, who went through periods of restoration after public scandals. "I believe that the apostle Paul writing to the Galatians said very clearly that people can be restored. I come from a denominational background that has a path to restoration for ministers who are repentant, and to their credit have always stood for righteousness. And they're very quick if somebody messes up to deal with it, unlike some groups where it seems almost anything goes. But they also have a way that people can be restored," Strang says." - Charisma News

Mike Bickle has been given legal advice since one of the alleged charges might include illegal activities, for which there is no statute of limitations. So, his stance of not defending himself is self-serving and should not be trumpeted as pious, as Strang indicates here. That aside, let us first deal with his two examples. Jim Bakker was a fraud from the beginning so it is unclear why we should be gleeful that he was able to resurrect his ministry career. Granted he went from being the prominent televangelist to hocking nuclear war supplies of food buckets but hey, you have to make a buck, right? The Ted Haggard case however is a far more egregious example, and it simply shows the disconnect people like Steven Strang live under. In 2006 Ted Haggard was the king of Evangelicalism. He was the President of the National Association of Evangelicals and worked with the Bush Administration at the time. His Colorado church had in excess of 14,000 members who would pack in every Sunday to hear Haggard feed them a steady diet of how homosexuals were ruining everything in the world. Haggard was also pushing a Colorado ban on same sex marriages at that time. Then a male prostitute named Mike Jones came forward to say that Haggard had been availing himself of Jones's services for 20 years and liked to do crystal meth at the same time. Oops. Haggard at first lied vehemently and was backed by fellow political hack James Dobson, who claimed this was irresponsible journalism to take the word of one man. Haggard said at the time:

"I did not have a homosexual relationship with a man in Denver... I am steady with my wife. I'm faithful to my wife." Haggard also said, "I have never done drugs - ever. Not even in high school. I didn't smoke pot. I didn't do anything like that. I'm not a drug man. We're not a drinking family. I don't smoke cigarettes. I don't socially drink. We don't socially drink. We don't have wine in our house. We don't do that kind of thing." - Ted Haggard

Then Jones released an audio of a message Haggard left for him asking for the Meth. Oops again. Haggard then employed the Bill Clinton defense by saying he did buy the drugs but didn't use them. Eventually his church would part ways with him and say that Haggard admitted to much of what was being alleged by the male prostitute. His church did however give him a generous severance package lasting through 2007, at the expense of the sheep of course. By April of 2007, just a few months after being removed, and only three weeks of "intensive counseling" a pastor on his restoration team declared that Haggard was 100% heterosexual. Yeah, right. After bumbling around for a couple of years, even selling life insurance, Haggard declared that his homosexual feelings had miraculously disappeared and in late 2009 he announced he would start holding church services out of his barn, with himself as the lead pastor. This grew into St James Church, which he pastored until he sold the property for almost two million dollars in 2022, after new allegations arose regarding him being sexually inappropriate with boys in his church and more drug allegations as well. So, this is the fantastic example Strang wants to bring up? Haggard's "period of restoration" was three weeks. He was out of work for about three years, one of which was still paid by his former church. Then he decided to start a new church. On his own. He did not ask anyone for permission and no permission was given. He was not "restored."

Let's deal with being restored though as we see in the key verses from Galatians. Paul is writing clearly that BROTHERS can be restored in their WALK. There are two things wrong with applying this here. First of all, the guy railing against homosexuality from the pulpit while doing crustal meth with a male prostitute for 20 years? Yeah, that's not my brother. That is a wolf. The same can be said in the Bickle situation. He has lied to everyone for four decades. He is not a brother. He is a wolf. He is a hireling. He should be treated as such. The other point is Paul is speaking about our walk, not our ministry. No one is rooting against Mike Bickle truly finding Christ and walking right with the Lord. There is no restoration to the pulpit however because he has disqualified himself from ministry according to the bible. Again, do not be deceived. If someone messes up, has an affair, and is repentant - can they be restored to their walk. Absolutely!

"There's other examples that I could cite, including my own mentor and longtime friend Jamie Buckingham, who died in 1992," shares Strang. "Jaime had two, kind of crash and burns, both of them affairs. He, in two different churches, he was run out of town both times. He's written about this, in several of his books, and all this happened before I knew him. It was a real crushing season for him, he described himself as being a very prideful Baptist preacher. And, and he was totally humiliated. But it was through that crushing that he became open to the Holy Spirit in 1967." - Charisma News

Maybe we should consider that someone who has multiple affairs may not be fit for ministry. Unless he is saying that the man was not saved until 1967, which would be a different story. I also think we should pause here and recognize that Strang always seems very concerned for the offenders and not so much for the actual victims. It was a crushing season for the man who had the two affairs? Pardon me while I really do not care so much because I would be far more concerned for his wife, and the two women, whose lives he probably destroyed. That is also the application in IHOPKC. Strang is very concerned about restoring Mike Bickle but what about the woman whose life he nearly destroyed? How many other victims have had their faith shipwrecked? This is another reason why people like Strang have zero credibility.

"Strang raises questions about the validity of the accusations against Bickle, emphasizing the need to consider the perspectives of all parties involved. He references a statement from Jane Doe's, published by Misty Edwards on X, who claim they were involuntarily labeled and had narratives constructed by others. Strang urges a careful examination of the entire situation, questioning why some Jane Doe's are believed while others are not." - Charisma News

As discussed earlier, the releasing of the names of some Jane Does was strategic and is usually called, "poisoning the well." Misty Edwards is probably the most well-known female person at IHOPKC. Leaking falsely that she was listed as a victim allowed her to strongly deny it, which allowed unscrupulous men like Steven Strang use the denial to cast doubt on all of the victims, as he does here. There is no question about the validity of the charges. Bickle has admitted to them and IHOP leadership has given him the boot. The advocacy group has now stated that Misty Edwards has NEVER been listed as a victim. Strang knows this, yet still uses it here to further his wicked ends. All Jane Does were believed Steve. Misty Edwards was not one of them.

"Strang also cites other complexities in this controversy, including social media reactions and criticisms faced by Strang for advocating the possibility of Bickle's restoration. While emotions are running high on both sides of the investigation, Strang reinforces the importance of compassion, avoiding judgment and focusing on the bigger issues at hand. "There's been quite a bit on social media as a result of my last podcast, [and] I stand by the podcast. I was attacked for saying that he could be restored. But I've answered that with that Scripture from Galatians. And explained that my perspective is that ministers being restored is something admirable....as far as Mike Bickle is concerned, he will survive this, his name and reputation in some ways will always be tarnished," Strang says." - Charisma News

Steven Strang has no shame. Bickle's reputation? Is that what we are worried about here? Let me dispel that. Mike Bickle's legacy forever will be that of a false prophet, who was falsely prophesied over by two other false prophets, who also turned out to be sexual predators. While he built his false prophetic kingdom, he was seducing young sheep by telling them God said his wife was going to die. These facts are not in question Steven. These are established, and that is only ONE woman. There are about nine more. Where is your compassion for this woman whose life was upended? Where is your compassion for the other nine and Lord only knows what Mike did to them. Why do you only have compassion for the wolf? The fake investigation was just released last week and did not exonerate your buddy. Why are so focused on his restoration? You have answered nothing except the obvious fact that you cannot handle scripture correctly. Galatians 6 is not about restoring Mike Bickle back to ministry. Heck, it is not even about restoring pastors who have fallen to their walk. It is about someone who sins in the church, not the church leadership, and how to gently retore them. By the way, Bickle allowing all of these lies in his name, is not exactly agreeing to any form of restoration. There was nothing admirable about Ted Haggard deciding he was no longer a predator and because no one held him to account he did the same thing years alter but with boys in his church. Who knows how many abused bodies are left in his wake. Mark Driscoll escaping church discipline in Seattle to decide on his own to open a new church in Arizona is not "restoration." Todd Bentley agreeing to have his bovine excrement restoration overseen by people as false as he is means absolutely nothing and it led to more victims later. There would be nothing admirable about Mike Bickle returning to ministry. It would tell victims they don't matter. It would tell other predators that the women and little boys in their congregations are fair game.

'Throughout, Strang grapples with the spiritual warfare aspect of the controversy, expressing concern for the potential vulnerability of all ministries if a prominent one like IHOPKC can be tarnished. He calls for prayer, forgiveness and support for the parties involved at IHOPKC.

"Most people, even most leaders, have done something they would not want [brought] out, and the enemy would want to destroy all the different ministries. So let's forgive. Let's stand together. Let's be supportive of the leadership, they have a very great responsibility."' - Charisma News

No Steven. We can only support the truth. Not these lies. Not your lies. Not Bickle's lies. IHOPKC should not only be tarnished; it should be razed to the ground. It is not just that their leader had an affair. The entire premise of IHOP is now proven false. The entire 24/7 prayer scheme is now exposed as not having come from God at all! This all came from the devious and wicked mind of one man, supported by two other sexual predators, all lying to you. Strang continues to try and marginalize what Bickle has done. This is not comparable to most leaders having done something they wouldn't want public. Let me be clear, if ANY church leader lied about what God said to seduce a 19-year-old sheep into a four-year sexual affair on his wife, who he claimed God said would die, that person too would be disqualified from ministry. Leadership does have a great responsibility and the bible says they are held to higher standard. Strang seems to be advocating for a lower one. Leadership responsibility in the church should start with not seducing young women or fondling little boys. You know, just as a starter. Until then, let us stand as the body of Christ and hold people to proper account. Mike Bickle does not need restoration. He needs the gospel. As for Steven Strang, he needs to shut up.

Reverend Anthony Wade - February 7, 2024

Authors Bio:
Credentialed Minister of the Gospel for the Assemblies of God. Owner and founder of 828 ministries. Vice President for Goodwill Industries. Always remember that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.