Friday Mashup: On Mike Bickle, Witches, Social Media Generated Prophecies, and Christians and Mental Health

Posted on by February 7, 2025avatar

Located about 567 million light-years away, the Bullseye Galaxy resides in the constellation Pisces NASA.

“Experience: that most brutal of teachers. But you learn, my God, do you learn.” CS Lewis

Tonight, I am working at the Night to Shine prom at our church. Here are some articles that interested me.

IHOPKC Founder Mike Bickle Sexually Abused 17 Women, Investigation Find.

“Throughout the investigation, we have identified and interviewed seventeen (17) Survivors who were either sexually abused or experienced sexually abusive misconduct, including sexual abuse, rape, clergy abuse, and spiritual abuse, perpetrated by BICKLE beginning to our knowledge in the mid-1970s,” stated the report by Firefly Independent Sexual Abuse Investigations. “These acts of abuse have had profound and lasting impacts on the lives of the victims, causing significant emotional, psychological, and spiritual harm.”

Bickle and his Executive Leadership Team (ELT) also responded to reports of sexual abuse with “deliberate indifference” and discouraged victims from involving law enforcement, the report added.

“This indifference not only exacerbated the trauma experienced by the victims but also allowed the perpetrators to evade accountability and continue their misconduct,” the report stated.

Treading on taboos, a psychiatrist trains Christians to see spiritual side of mental health.

Long a taboo topic in religious circles — whether clergy burning out on ministry or laypeople turning to faith communities for help — mental health has become a topic too prevalent to avoid inside many faith communities, while local and national outside initiatives have recognized that houses of worship have a nearly unique ability to reach underserved communities.

…One such latter enterprise is the Christian Mental Health Initiative, a nonprofit that takes free mental health trainings into churches, especially primarily Black churches like Christ Community.

(My personal favorite) Bethel Church Raises Concerns that Shawn Bolz Fabricated Prophecies Using Social Media.

Bethel Church has announced it had a falling out with Shawn Bolz, a well-known Christian prophetic minister, over concerns he fabricated his prophecies using online resources.

The megachurch based in Redding, California, shared in a statement that it distanced itself from Bolz five years ago. The statement was released this week as online allegations from various blogsand influencers, labeling Bolz a false prophet continue to grow.

Bethel also alleged Bolz was accused by one of employees of behaviors that “seemed to fit the descriptions of sexual harassment and a hostile work environment,” according to the statement.

Bolz is known for both creating prophecies that call out specific people during sermons, according to Prophecy Today UK. He regularly identifies a specific individual during a sermon, then lists several personal details about the person before sharing a “prophecy.”

…“Shawn still maintains he never used social media in any words. And truthfully, unless something changes, only he and the Lord really know what took place.”

(Because I grew up in Salem, MA) ELCA ‘herchurch’ in San Francisco promotes ‘goddess’ worship, features ‘resident witch’.

Church aims to ‘deconstruct Christianity and other patriarchal religions’

…The staff, which is led by “pastor and priestess of ritual” Stacy Boorn, includes over a half dozen “priestesses” and a “priestexx” Thom Longino, who is listed as “adjunct pastor” and “spiritual director.” A CP review of Longino’s LinkedIn profile also revealed that he is an employee of Catholic Charities San Francisco.

…One of herchurch’s “priestesses,” Christine Konkol, identifies as a “resident witch” and is seen in a photo on the church website wearing a traditional witch’s hat.

…As part of its about section, its website calls herchurch an “emerging, liberating feminist congregation” which is “hoping to be a part of the prophetic voice of the divine feminine that will deconstruct Christianity and other patriarchal religions.”

Comments

Friday Mashup: On Mike Bickle, Witches, Social Media Generated Prophecies, and Christians and Mental Health — 26 Comments


  1. Notice: Undefined variable: button in /home/guswo2wr8yyv/public_html/tww2/wp-content/plugins/quote-comments/quote-comments.php on line 127

    OMG . . . I have no words for these articles. May be time for tequila.


  2. Notice: Undefined variable: button in /home/guswo2wr8yyv/public_html/tww2/wp-content/plugins/quote-comments/quote-comments.php on line 127

    Washington state bill would force Catholic priests to violate church law.

    A proposed law in Washington state would require priests to violate Catholic Church law by breaking the seal of confession.

    The bill would amend the current state law that requires law enforcement, teachers, medical professionals, or child care providers to report cases of child abuse or neglect to include church clergy that hear about abuse during the sacrament of confession, according to the bill’s text. Priests that break the seal of confession are automatically excommunicated from the church, according to Canon law.

    The bill was proposed by Democratic Washington state Sens. Noel Frame, Claire Wilson, Jessica Bateman, Manka Dhingra, T’wina Nobles, and Javier Valdez.


  3. Notice: Undefined variable: button in /home/guswo2wr8yyv/public_html/tww2/wp-content/plugins/quote-comments/quote-comments.php on line 127

    The ELCA church in San Francisco is as nutty as some of the fundamentalist maniac-led churches featured prominently in sexual abuse cases. We have lost the ability to call out the heterodox or even the heretical.


  4. Notice: Undefined variable: button in /home/guswo2wr8yyv/public_html/tww2/wp-content/plugins/quote-comments/quote-comments.php on line 127

    Okay, here goes.
    I vehemently disagree with with what is/has been going on in three of these churches.

    I can agree, to an extent with the one about mental health. I was a school teacher (7-12) – including in a private Christian School for 2 years, as well as a Sunday School and VBS teacher (ages 4-15). In both school and church, I have worked with/for youths and children with ADHD, mental and physical disabilities, autism, physical and sexual abuse……….
    My teachings/training for being a school teacher helped me understand how to deal with and comfort kids with those problems….. even how to intervene to prevent fights. I believe training for teachers in churches would benefit some of our students… and perhaps even prevent some problems between families and the SS teachers.

    !!!! However!!!! …Separation of church and state….. Each individual church has the constitutional right whether or not to provide mental health services to its staff and members. The Surgeon General needs to keep his nose out of it. He is violating our constitution.
    Sheesh, the government doesn’t even care if ‘churches’ are cults teaching heresy, as long as they are not committing criminal acts!….. and sometimes they don’t care then.
    Anybody ever even heard of our gov.- fed, state, or local, financing a much needed handicap ramp and entrance for a church?

    Okay. Rant over.


  5. Notice: Undefined variable: button in /home/guswo2wr8yyv/public_html/tww2/wp-content/plugins/quote-comments/quote-comments.php on line 127

    Nancy2(aka Kevlar): !!!! However!!!! …Separation of church and state….. Each individual church has the constitutional right whether or not to provide mental health services to its staff and members. The Surgeon General needs to keep his nose out of it. He is violating our constitution.

    While we’re on it, I gotta’ say this too:
    Posting the ‘Ten Commandments’ in a classroom is no more the establishment of a ‘state religion’ than would be a Starbucks in the Capitol Rotunda, the establishment of a state coffee.
    Same goes for kids holding Bible studies on school property, it’s not even remotely endorsing a preferred religion.
    What it does do however, is come dangerously close to prohibiting the free exercise thereof.
    Okay.
    Muff’s rant is over.


  6. Notice: Undefined variable: button in /home/guswo2wr8yyv/public_html/tww2/wp-content/plugins/quote-comments/quote-comments.php on line 127

    Muff Potter: Posting the ‘Ten Commandments’ in a classroom is no more the establishment of a ‘state religion’ than would be a Starbucks in the Capitol Rotunda, the establishment of a state coffee.

    But what if Starbucks was a 2000 year old organization devoted to establishing a universal coffee that bestowed eternal life, while seeking government influence? And, what if the teachers were mostly members of this coffee cult and smiled most favorably on fellow drinkers, while passing judgement on their sex lives?

    What if?

    Decaf or regular?


  7. Notice: Undefined variable: button in /home/guswo2wr8yyv/public_html/tww2/wp-content/plugins/quote-comments/quote-comments.php on line 127

    Nancy2(aka Kevlar): !!! However!!!! …Separation of church and state….. Each individual church has the constitutional right whether or not to provide mental health services to its staff and members. The Surgeon General needs to keep his nose out of it. He is violating our constitution.

    I’m confused. I clicked on all the links and it looks like the Christian Mental Health Initiative is a nonprofit growing out of a Christian woman’s convictions when she had a psychiatry rotation during medical school. The article on the surgeon general is about his focus on social media and the mental health of teens, but I didn’t see any mandates to churches or mention of churches. Can you help me see what I’m missing?


  8. Notice: Undefined variable: button in /home/guswo2wr8yyv/public_html/tww2/wp-content/plugins/quote-comments/quote-comments.php on line 127

    Eyewitness,

    Notice that I said, ‘to an extent’.
    I do not support that enterprise. I only meant that a little optional training for teachers might be a good thing.

    And, I am sorry….. I had intended to post something our former surgeon general said some time ago, connecting depression with lack of church attendance. I could not find that specific article again, but I hope the link will be enough to explain. I was interrupted for a while and forgot….. hope this explains:

    https://julieroys.com/u-s-surgeon-general-health-may-be-undermined-by-not-going-to-church/

    “ Unfortunately, Murthy writes, Americans have become disconnected from one of the institutions that can forge deep and permanent social connections: church attendance. “Religious or faith-based groups can be a source for regular social contact, serve as a community of support, provide meaning and purpose, create a sense of belonging around shared values and beliefs, and are associated with reduced risk-taking behaviors,” Murthy writes. “As a consequence of this decline in participation, individuals’ health may be undermined in different ways.”


  9. Notice: Undefined variable: button in /home/guswo2wr8yyv/public_html/tww2/wp-content/plugins/quote-comments/quote-comments.php on line 127

    Sandy,

    Well, at least Starbucks would be non-profit…. maybe their beverages would not be so expensive!
    (BTW, I don’t do business at Starbucks.)


  10. Notice: Undefined variable: button in /home/guswo2wr8yyv/public_html/tww2/wp-content/plugins/quote-comments/quote-comments.php on line 127

    Sandy,

    Don’t forget Coors beer.


  11. Notice: Undefined variable: button in /home/guswo2wr8yyv/public_html/tww2/wp-content/plugins/quote-comments/quote-comments.php on line 127

    Nancy2(aka Kevlar),

    There is almost no such thing as ‘community’ and more.
    It’s all about ME, ME, and ME.


  12. Notice: Undefined variable: button in /home/guswo2wr8yyv/public_html/tww2/wp-content/plugins/quote-comments/quote-comments.php on line 127

    Nancy2(aka Kevlar): (BTW, I don’t do business at Starbucks.)

    I don’t go there either.
    I brew my own joe from Hawaiian beans.


  13. Notice: Undefined variable: button in /home/guswo2wr8yyv/public_html/tww2/wp-content/plugins/quote-comments/quote-comments.php on line 127

    Witches huh? (from the TWW marquee)
    Long ago in another time and another space, I sojourned with a coven of forest crones.
    They taught me much.
    I remember them with fondness.


  14. Notice: Undefined variable: button in /home/guswo2wr8yyv/public_html/tww2/wp-content/plugins/quote-comments/quote-comments.php on line 127

    Sandy: Decaf or regular?

    And the wrong answer gets you Burned for Heresy.
    Just like the Little-Enders of Lilliput and the Big-Enders of Blefescu.


  15. Notice: Undefined variable: button in /home/guswo2wr8yyv/public_html/tww2/wp-content/plugins/quote-comments/quote-comments.php on line 127

    Muff Potter:
    Nancy2(aka Kevlar),

    There is almost no such thing as ‘community’ and more.
    It’s all about ME, ME, and ME.

    Including the Gospel of Personal Salvation and ONLY Personal Salvation.
    AKA MY PERSONAL Relationship with The LORD(TM – nobody else Allowed).


  16. Notice: Undefined variable: button in /home/guswo2wr8yyv/public_html/tww2/wp-content/plugins/quote-comments/quote-comments.php on line 127

    Nancy2(aka Kevlar): Sheesh, the government doesn’t even care if ‘churches’ are cults teaching heresy, as long as they are not committing criminal acts!

    Once more, the Christianese definition of “Cult(TM)” entirely by Theology and Doctrine, not repeat not abusive behavior and thought-control towards their rank-and-file. (Helps when the Christanese Cult-Sniffers are the exact same Theology – Rapture Ready Fundagelicalism – as the not-a-cult cults they greenlight.)


  17. Notice: Undefined variable: button in /home/guswo2wr8yyv/public_html/tww2/wp-content/plugins/quote-comments/quote-comments.php on line 127

    Stavros49: The ELCA church in San Francisco is as nutty as some of the fundamentalist maniac-led churches featured prominently in sexual abuse cases.

    Maniacs are not limited to a single theology or religion.

    “Look at the Manaics!
    They’re fighting the Brainiacs!
    And look at the Brainiacs!
    They’re hiring Maniacs!”
    — “Maniacs & Brainaics”(?), lost-media song from long-ago Dr Demento Show


  18. Notice: Undefined variable: button in /home/guswo2wr8yyv/public_html/tww2/wp-content/plugins/quote-comments/quote-comments.php on line 127

    (My personal favorite) Bethel Church Raises Concerns that Shawn Bolz Fabricated Prophecies Using Social Media.

    Bethel Church of Grave-Soaking and Dead Raising Team fame?

    Bethel Church who’s doing to Redding what Scientology did to Clearwater, Rajneeshpuram tried to do to Antelope, and Douggie’s Kirk is trying to do to Moscow?

    Who’d-a thunk it?


  19. Notice: Undefined variable: button in /home/guswo2wr8yyv/public_html/tww2/wp-content/plugins/quote-comments/quote-comments.php on line 127

    Muff Potter: While we’re on it, I gotta’ say this too:
    Posting the ‘Ten Commandments’ in a classroom is no more the establishment of a ‘state religion’ than would be a Starbucks in the Capitol Rotunda, the establishment of a state coffee.
    Same goes for kids holding Bible studies on school property, it’s not even remotely endorsing a preferred religion.
    What it does do however, is come dangerously close to prohibiting the free exercise thereof.
    Okay.
    Muff’s rant is over.

    I object strenuously to posting the 10 Commandments in school or to coerced, during school, prayer or Bible studies. I object, because I remember being that seven year old kid on the first day at a new school, being gently chided by my teacher, when I went and got my lunch at lunch time and opened it up to eat: “Deana, we are not pigs. We pray before we eat.” I was mortified.

    Remembering that, I am going to absolutely be against any sort of religious stuff in the public schools. That happened in 1968, and I am still angry about it. What the teacher did caused me a lot of problems. She left our school after that year, but I still had to be with those kids for another five years. Being labeled as essentially godless didn’t help!

    Let’s not do this. Let’s not have religion in the public schools. You want religion, there are plenty of private/parochial schools out there. But let’s not open up the Wars of Religion in our public schools. Thanks!


  20. Notice: Undefined variable: button in /home/guswo2wr8yyv/public_html/tww2/wp-content/plugins/quote-comments/quote-comments.php on line 127

    Muslin, fka Dee Holmes: Let’s not do this. Let’s not have religion in the public schools. You want religion, there are plenty of private/parochial schools out there. But let’s not open up the Wars of Religion in our public schools. Thanks!

    I am probably one of the least religious people here at TWW.
    My comment was strictly in favor of free expression, whether it be in the public square or the public schools.
    No need to get one’s undies in a dither.


  21. Notice: Undefined variable: button in /home/guswo2wr8yyv/public_html/tww2/wp-content/plugins/quote-comments/quote-comments.php on line 127

    Nancy2(aka Kevlar),

    ““Religious or faith-based groups can … create a sense of belonging around shared values…”
    +++++++++++++++++++++

    well, that’s the thing – i no longer share the values of christian culture.

    somehow, at some point, the angle & focus of christian culture’s values changed.

    (decided in shadowy conference rooms and proliferated through campaigns involving promoting people & publishing)

    (i hate aliteration – no time to edit it out)


  22. Notice: Undefined variable: button in /home/guswo2wr8yyv/public_html/tww2/wp-content/plugins/quote-comments/quote-comments.php on line 127

    Muslin, fka Dee Holmes: I object strenuously to posting the 10 Commandments in school or to coerced, during school, prayer or Bible studies. I object, because I remember being that seven year old kid on the first day at a new school, being gently chided by my teacher, when I went and got my lunch at lunch time and opened it up to eat: “Deana, we are not pigs. We pray before we eat.” I was mortified.

    I’m so sorry that happened to you, Muslin, fka Dee Holmes.

    Remembering that, I am going to absolutely be against any sort of religious stuff in the public schools. That happened in 1968, and I am still angry about it. What the teacher did caused me a lot of problems. She left our school after that year, but I still had to be with those kids for another five years. Being labeled as essentially godless didn’t help!

    Not to discount you or diminish your experience, Muslin, fka Dee Holmes ….I wonder how many other students that expletive-deleted “teacher” humiliated.

    Let’s not do this. Let’s not have religion in the public schools. You want religion, there are plenty of private / parochial schools out there. But let’s not open up the Wars of Religion in our public schools. Thanks!

    (The bold was done by me.)

    That.

    If the 10 Commandments are posted in a public school, then every other religion should also be allowed to post something (I’m not sure what that’d be — I’m well-versed enough to say).


  23. Notice: Undefined variable: button in /home/guswo2wr8yyv/public_html/tww2/wp-content/plugins/quote-comments/quote-comments.php on line 127

    researcher: (I’m not sure what that’d be — I’m well-versed enough to say).

    Oops….typo. 🙂 That should read: (I’m not sure what that’d be — I’m not well-versed enough to say).


  24. Notice: Undefined variable: button in /home/guswo2wr8yyv/public_html/tww2/wp-content/plugins/quote-comments/quote-comments.php on line 127

    Muslin, fka Dee Holmes,

    The 10 Commandements were never intended as a “public notice”, they were for private recitation.

    When we had a couple of nice hymns and the Lord’s Prayer at assembly in ordinary state schools, there was never “grace before meals”. The only religious displays were ephemeral seasonal ones painted or crafted by us.

    In those RE lessons I recall (up to about 55 years ago) the ethos seemed to be one could warm to the subject matter individually as much or as little as one felt like. I’ve always had a personal feeling towards any subject matter I was studying but that’s me.

    There was a point around when RE lessons ceased, when by hindsight it appears that “evangelicals” started speaking half-truths to power, perhaps about how to go through hoops to be “alright in the sky”.


  25. Notice: Undefined variable: button in /home/guswo2wr8yyv/public_html/tww2/wp-content/plugins/quote-comments/quote-comments.php on line 127

    Michael in UK: “evangelicals” started speaking half-truths to power,

    “With a ruler, you can lay the flattery on with a trowel.”
    — Benjamin Disraeli


  26. Notice: Undefined variable: button in /home/guswo2wr8yyv/public_html/tww2/wp-content/plugins/quote-comments/quote-comments.php on line 127

    Sandy: But what if Starbucks was a 2000 year old organization devoted to establishing a universal coffee that bestowed eternal life, while seeking government influence?

    Give ’em time…