His Hand is on the Door

She’s ticked off in Fort Mill…

January 19th, 2007

I’m going to do a couple of posts today, because this afternoon I want to continue the conversation on radical Islam that begun in response to my atheism post earlier this week.

Before I get to that, however, I thought it would be helpful to post this for my beloved friends in Fort Mill who represent the various organizations that are building the prayer movement in that part of the country. They are both dear to my heart and they blog, regularly. As such, they may or may not be aware that those blogs are being scrutinized, and so I wanted to call that to all of our attention. This is, after all, a world wide web, and as such we can’t be thrown off by an empty comments section. Most who read these will not take the time to comment, but because we are all representing a global prayer movement that will only increase in profile in the days to come via television and other media, we will increasingly find ourselves scrutinized closely - maybe a bit to close for comfort.

Here’s an example, from a well-known blog that is becoming a safe haven for those who want to rant against the prophetic movement (which actually is becoming a very different stream than the prayer movement for different reasons, that I’ll gingerly examine another day - but we still get caught at times in the cross-fire):

Let me share a little with you. I live in a brand new neighborhood in Fort Mill, SC. I live about 200 yards from the old, well-known PTL (Jim and Tammy Faye’s glorious haven) which is now owned by Morningstar Ministries. Which is run by … you guessed it, the infamous Rick Joyner! But wait, the best parts are still to come. You’ll never guess this one. Kirk and Dee Bennett live on my street. He is now the director of ZHOP (Zadok House of Prayer). Now between ZHOP, Morningstar and TheCauseUSA (and they are ALL connected!)… about 1/3 of our neighorhood was bought up or rented out to them (mind you, only 2 streets are completed in this new subdivision). Most of these 3500sq ft. homes are shared by missionaries and interns belonging to Kirk Bennett!

We just got to witness a weekend long conference involving many of Rick and Kirk’s followers. They hoarded my residential street and this presented a problem when my children wanted to go outside to play! Among other things!

The main event was Mike Bickle here to speak and I know that Bob Jones is somehow associated with this whole thing.

I know what you are thinking… what a wonderful group, it’s so nice to see Bickle, Joyner, Jones and Bennett working together and prophecizing (if that’s how it’s spelled) to our youth. They target 18-24 yr. olds. But rest assured that you will remain safe when the end comes, for Rick Joyner is training our youth to fight the spiritual forces in a civil war of Church. I enjoy seeing a group of 30-40 youth running up the streets at 6:30am as I’m sitting at my son’s bus stop. As long as it’s for a good cause! Never know when you’ll have to use a full-nelson on a demon.

The ZHOP staff who live here do not work… Oh wait, they pray 24/7, that is their mission. But it doesn’t pay for these beautiful residential homes! They’ve been stripped of money and belongings to enter this life of prayer, but now have things given to them by …. hmmm, I honestly don’t know who gives them this stuff but I do know that they have laptops (they need something to keep them occupied when in the prayer room on their 6 hour shift!) Do a google blog search.. just type in ZHOP and many of them tell their own story, heck you can even click right to their very own paypal accounts to give them money and help keep them in my neighborhood! They only occupy about 20 homes on this street, what’s a few more!

Although they just got a fresh new batch of youth for internships who pay almost $5000 in tuition. Sooooo, 18-20 new interns… on my street… at $5K a pop… Wow, Kirk and Dee must be sitting pretty with that income! But hey, you don’t have to believe me… check out their blogs and zhop.org . Oh and if you visit morningstarministries.com and donate $100,000, you will become a ‘LIFETIME’ member there! Sound familiar??

There is a wonderful blog done by a neighbor here, he goes by FatMan…. check it out. His blog will show up in the google blog search for ZHOP.

She went by the name “ticked off in ft. mill”, and obviously had lots to say. She continued immediately after:

Sorry if my last post was a little ‘choppy’… I’m pretty upset that my husband and I purchased this home to raise our 3 children in and suddenly to our surprise we are surrounded by cult-like groups. And I only use the term cult because of the leaders of these children! To teach our youth of today that you don’t need a job to live in a 3500sq ft home is absurd. I’ve never been to a prayer house or meeting of theirs so I can’t talk about what goes on behind closed doors there. I can only talk about what I see and read as a concerned mother. We worked hard to be able to move our kids into a neighborhood with what we thought would be filled with other families. Not with group homes for intercessory missionaries that have barely made it through puberty. Do the men who lead these youth have control issues? Help me understand what drives them (kirk bennett, rick joyner, etc…) into a life of deceiving our youth into living as vagrants and never knowing what ’stability’ means in life.

It really does hurt me to read their blogs and know that they are struggling daily to make their rent here.

As much as I want this group out of our neighborhood, I want these young adults to be saved. And not by kirk or rick or whichever prophet is on duty that day! Don’t they deserve to be taught the real word of the Lord? We used to see them at the coffee shop down the street writing down random verses from the Bible, but never really bothering to understand that one verse doesn’t sum up how you should live. It’s a book, why not read it all and live by the Bible as a whole? Why pull out one line verses and then using those words literally? I could probably go on all night, but I’ve already lost enough sleep over this whole situation. I guess what I fear most is that as my children grow older and if these groups are still this close to us, how do I make sure that they don’t get tangled in the Kirk Bennett web?? We are a Christian family, but children are easily intimidated and persuaded… that’s why the youth are targeted by these men.

I’m sorry if I’m rambling now. If anything came from my posts, it was definitely the fact that I got most of it out and maybe tonight I can sleep peacefully without nightmares about ZHOP!

Thanks for listening:)

After a few back and forths with someone named “Fred” who stands up for ZHOP, and some encouragement from others, she responds. I’ll just throw in the part that I identify with, as those who are familiar with IHOP-KC’s situation with Terrace Lakes can readily sympathize with this:

Thanks for the warm reply. You must be in the Moravian Falls area?? I had noticed before that they were advertising property up there. Our neighborhood is bombarded with ZHOP, TheCause and Morningstar members. Our HOA is now investigating the purpose of these homes that were purchased by certain investors. I had found ZHOP’s “tuition” page for internship fees which include rent, 13 meals, classes etc… and when you read on it tells of the dorm-style housing available with families already living there that are on staff. Hmmm… sounds a bit like my street. It’s amazing to see how they can by up 15 or more lots in a new neighborhood on just ONE street! -which happens to back right up to Morningstar.

One last excerpt:

They had a huge conference this past weekend with Mike Bickle as speaker and our streets were swamped with parked cars. To the point of our children not being able to ride bikes in front of our homes. We had to stand there to make sure they stayed in the driveways. The ministries were congregating in front yards and acting like they owned this street, it’s their ‘base’- as they call it.

Maybe I’m “ranting” once more, but the whole situation infuriates me and to think that the director of ZHOP is making $5000 per intern and getting 18 or so interns per session while these interns are stripped of their possesions… I don’t even know what to say to that. It’s just plain wrong! It’s fishy and that is not how it should be done. Not at all.

One neighbor spoke to a girl and told her that many of the residents are comparing them to a cult. This staff member laughed and said that they have heard that plenty of times before. Okay… why don’t they question their purpose if they are hearing that they are cult-like? I just don’t get it and that leads me to think that the manipulation being used by these adults is very dangerous to anyone in their path.

We could, of course, easily and quickly dismiss “Ticked Off” as someone who clearly had heart issues long before ZHOP ever rolled into town. We could dismiss her as fearful. we coiuld note that she is beginning to feel isolated and surrounded. She is mostly (in her own words) concerned for her kids, which doesn’t always lead to rational thinking. It may seem to us that she is going to think whatever she wants to think, and we could conclude that she would never bother finding facts that negated some of her conclusions.

We can’t, however, as an IHOP community, so quickly disregard someone like Ticked Off. We should never let her sensibilities dictate what we write nor should we suddenly surrender to the fear of man - we have to be who we are. Still, we are called by Jesus to be both gentle as a dove and wise as a serpent. Thus we should never let our sensibilities blind us to the areas in which we need to come up higher. These are the kinds of situations where wisdom means a bit of self-awareness and care in regards to the things that we are writing. They are being read. And those who are reading them can and will use these words against us in a court of public opinion. It’s why Mike, now that he has been around the block, is so careful to qualify and choose his words carefully when he is speaking publically.

If I am going to be indicted for my words, I want to go down knowing that I meant every word I spoke and chose them with care. In these kinds of forums we have a greater responsibility than simply enjoying our freedom to be extemporaneous in the enjoyment of our liberty. We are modeling something for those who aspire to be a part of the prayer movement in some way, and we are representing something for all who would cast a glance in our direction - even if it is a hostile glance.

What does it mean to live out life in a prayer movement? What values are we expressing in our lifestyles, autobiographically displayed for all to weigh? What does the fasted lifestyle look like? What does the living embodiment of the messages our leaders preach play out 24/7? Most importantly, are we taking care not to give our critics the ammunition they need to turn away the sincere seekers of authentic expressions of Christianity in the west?

Hear me in this: I am not critiquing the content of anyone’s blog posts. I don’t read them closely enough, and it is not my place to dictate what should and should not be written. My desire is only to call us to sobriety and care in the manner in which one of us is representing all of us - for better or for worse. We are in this together - and I am proud of that fact, not burdened by it. Yet I am also mindful of both the cost and burden bourne by such a reality, and want to give us all food for thought in that regard.

And in doing so, I am trembling in the hopes that Ticked Off doesn’t read this blog, and subsequently misinterpret the heart with which it is written.

David

Entry Filed under: life at ihop-kc, prayer movement