Controversy at the Center of Silence

February 2013 – Once a vocal spokesperson against cult groups like those in her novel, S.R.Claridge goes silent, leaving fans to wonder why.

To her regular readers it seems strange that Claridge has stopped blogging about the International House of Prayer (IHOP), one of the many groups she admits to studying prior to writing the controversial novel, House of Lies, which generated death threats and hate mail for the author.   

Up until last month, Claridge had been staunch in her stance against the group, labeling them a “dangerous cult.”  Now, her silence has some concerned.

Ironically, this silence comes at the same time that Claridge’s sister, Director of the Gateway House of Prayer (GHOP) in St. Louis, withdrew her request to turn a vacant firehouse into a rectory for students; a request that stirred dissention within the small St. Louis community. 

We’ve now learned that at the center of the dissention was Claridge’s novel, House of Lies, once again prompting people to wonder how much truth is on the pages.

Residents near the Gateway House of Prayer objected to the expansion, signing a notarized petition and placing signs in their front yards; after which they experienced acts of vandalism which resulted in police intervention.  No charges have been filed against GHOP members, though many residents remain skeptical of their innocence. 

“Nothing like this ever happened in our neighborhood until we said we were against this (GHOP expansion),” one resident told the South County Journal. 

“This isn’t the type of group we want in our backyard,” another resident shared back in October with a local television station.

“We read about the Deaton murder at IHOP in Kansas City and had questions about the connection between IHOP and GHOP,” one resident told reporters.  She explained how they followed the trail from the Deaton murder to House of Lies to Claridge being related to the Director of GHOP.  It was this coincidence that led residents to take their concerns to Claridge, who responded in an email that residents later forwarded to the press.

In the email Claridge stated, “IHOP and GHOP are one in the same.   They are not financially or legally linked, but relationally, in belief, practice and methodology they are one.”   Also in the email Claridge encouraged residents to “educate yourself on their theology,” calling the group a “dangerous end-times Apocalyptic movement.” 

Upon finding out that her letter had been forwarded, Claridge drafted a second letter to the Board of Alderman and the Mayor’s office.  “House of Lies is fiction and should not influence your decision regarding GHOP’s permit request,” Claridge wrote .  “I encourage you to educate yourself on IHOP/GHOP and base your decision upon the facts.”

We finally caught up with Claridge via email and asked her if her recent silence on the subject was indicative of a change in stance concerning IHOP.   She wrote:  “My stance against the International House of Prayer movement has not changed.  I still believe they are one of several misguided groups with dangerous, cult-like tendencies.  I encourage everyone to study these types of movements before getting involved.” 

Claridge ended her email by stating that she wanted it made clear that her stance was against IHOP and not against her sister, who happens to be a leader in the movement.  “I love my sister and she has a beautiful heart,” Claridge wrote. 

 Though there is speculation that Claridge is somehow being coerced into silence, the author denies the allegation.  "Sometimes you just get tired of beating your head against a wall," she wrote.  "When you become so obsessed about standing against something, you lose sight of all of the wonderful things in life that you stand for."

 

 

 

 

Ironic Justice: How much Truth Does Novel Unveil

By Michael Duran

December 2012 -  Written by Susan Claridge (S.R.Claridge) as a political cult suspense, House of Lies has been stirring up controversy, particularly in the mid-western region.  Though the book was released in early October, the story follows real events in a too-close-for-comfort fashion, particularly with the recent murder of International House of Prayer (IHOP) intern, Bethany Deaton.  Claridge insists the book is fiction but readers suspect there is more truth to the story.  See full story Fox 4 News.

House of Lies portrays a woman who attempts to save her sister from a cult group located in Kansas City, Missouri and discovers the cult “stretches far beyond its pseudo-evangelical, House of Prayer veil, penetrating the upper echelon of the United States government and pushing a lethal, international agenda.”  (Quote taken from back of book.)

Claridge states she researched five cult groups in order to write the book and admits that one of them was the International House of Prayer located in Grandview, Missouri.

The story of Bethany Deaton, drugged, sexually assaulted and then killed so she wouldn’t talk is all in the book, as is the fact that the woman’s body was found by a lake.  Another likeness, Deaton worked at Menorah Medical Center and the woman in the book was taken to Menorah Medical Center.

But the similarities don’t stop there.

Many Grandview residents and ex-IHOP members confirm that the book accurately describes what takes place behind the armed guarded doors of IHOP-KC.  (See NYT article on armed guards.)

“The look like zombies roaming our city,” said one Grandview woman who asked to remain anonymous, adding, “Most local businesses won’t hire them anymore.”

Another resident said, “There is no light in their eyes, most of them look like walking corpses.”

A friend from Texas who knew Micah Moore (the IHOP member who confessed to killing Bethany Deaton, upon the order of her husband, Tyler Deaton) said this about Moore:

“We were never the best of friends, but I would describe him as being intelligent, soft-spoken and kind. I am only beginning to learn about IHOP and what kind of a community they are creating and promoting. However, I have to say that even though there is some evidence that Deaton's group began in Georgetown, TX while the members were students at SU there appears to me to have been a dramatic change in Micah since he moved to Kansas City to join IHOP. The pictures that have come out in the past week show that the light is gone from his eyes. Bethany Deaton is not the only victim in this horrible tragedy, merely the first to come to be revealed.”

Numerous blogs have detailed evidence of corruption inside the IHOP group, but it took a murder to finally make the media take notice. 

Bethany Deaton’s death was said to be a suicide, then a murder, then back to a suicide.  In the novel, cult members are told the woman committed suicide and the cover up is inside the Kansas City Police Department.  The book paints the picture that cult leader, Maxwell Sagan, is so powerful that individuals will do anything he says…even kill.

One ex-IHOP member said, “People will do anything Bickle says.”

Is it possible that the book holds even more truth and that Grandview Police will also do anything Bickle says?

Does Bickle have the resources to pay them off?  It certainly appears that way.  Between what he charges students to attend the university, what he charges interns, camp-goers, conference attendees, the fact that seventy-five percent of the IHOP-KC bookstore is filled with books written by Bickle, (all self-published books so all monies go to him) it would stand to reason he has the financial means.

In addition, his wife, Diane Bickle, owns Gladheart Realty, which (just like in the book) shares the same lot as IHOP-KC and is responsible for providing all of the apartment buildings, hotels and housing for members.  A deeper look into this financial structure would prove interesting.

How deep does this corruption go?  According to ‘House of Lies’ it dates all the way back to the foundation of the cult group. Is that true of IHOP?

On a blog post by Claridge, who has made her opinion of IHOP known, the author stated:

“IHOP is a cult, but don’t take my word for it; study it for yourself, starting at the very beginning.  My advice is to research the Kansas City Prophets (namely Paul Cain, Bob Jones and their relationship to Mike Bickle), read all versions of the Blueprint Prophesy and all 233 pages of the Ernie Gruen Report.  Look at Bickle’s involvement in the Toronto Blessing, Vineyard Ministries and read/listen to/watch his sermons on his ‘open visions’ and two visitations to heaven.  What you will find is that every prophecy was been proven false and that Scripture has been twisted to form a foundation of deception.”  (Author Blog)

IHOP has been accused of having a spirit of elitism, one to which Bickle admitted by saying, “We had an elite spirit. That’s become more and more real to me- it’s so repulsive.”   

 

But nothing has been done to rectify the problem. 

In fact, according to several family members of those involved in IHOP-KC, the elitist spirit has gotten worse.  “We can’t even talk to our son anymore because he acts as if we don’t ‘get it,’ like we don’t understand God because we aren’t a part of this end-times army.”  (Mother of an IHOP member who asked to remain anonymous for fear of destroying her relationship with her son.)

This elitism and families separated from their children is apparent in House of Lies, as it is in the reality created by IHOP. 

One mother wrote:  “I haven’t spoken to my son in over a year because he was told to stay away from us, his family, and he said he was given a prophetic word that IHOP was his family now.  He won’t return my calls.” 

Bethany Deaton was estranged from her family, drugged, raped and murdered.  Was she the first?  Was she the only?

According to John Colwell, she wasn’t the first and she will not be the last. “I spent four years in and around this community exposing their practices on my web site www.hisapostle.org This cult has a history of rapes and other felonies all being covered up by their leaders. The most perverse leaders in the body of Christ are IHOP leaders. I guarantee you eventually all will be exposed and you will find that this episode (Bethany Deaton’s death) was just typical of the practices taught and exemplified by many of their leaders.”

How much truth does a fictional book unveil? 

If Bickle can take the truth of God’s Word and turn it into lies, why can’t God take fiction and use it to expose the truth about IHOP, a cult group that is destroying lives? 

Some are calling it "ironic justice. "

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Murder in Grandview Brings Novel to Life

By Michael Duran

Grandview, MO  -  Calls and emails came pouring into local media stations as the murder of Bethany Deaton struck a chord with readers of the book, House of Lies.  One reader said, “The book was being played out in real life, and it was scary.”

Bethany Deaton and her killer, Micah Moore, were members of the International House of Prayer (IHOP) out of Grandview, Missouri, a group some say is a cult.

Moore confessed to killing Deaton and told police he was ordered to murder her by Deaton’s husband, Tyler, a known leader at IHOP.

Not only does House of Lies mirror Deaton’s murder, but it also raises a question now on many readers minds:  Does the author know more about what goes on at IHOP and if so, why isn’t she speaking up?

In the novel a woman is drugged, murdered so she doesn’t talk and found by a lake in Kansas City, Missouri.  Sounds all too familiar, making the fact that the story was written before the Deaton killing that much more intriguing.  “I think the book was prophetic,” said one Grandview resident.  “We’ve always known IHOP was a cult and now God’s using a fiction story to prophetically reveal the truth.”

Other similarities have readers expressing concern over what might really be happening behind IHOP’s closed doors. 

Author S.R.Claridge told Fox 4 news that her story is fiction and was written after she studied five cult groups.  “It isn’t written about one cult group or one cult leader,” Claridge explained.

Ex-IHOP members see the book in a different light.  They say it depicts exactly what takes place in the 24/7 prayer movement. 

Ex-member, Julie Basham, says House of Lies describes IHOP with “eerie accuracy.”  Basham claims the repetitive chanting, swaying and mantra-based meditation is right on.  She also described IHOP as a “place where young people are encouraged to abandon their families and friendships and become a part of an end-times militant army.”

Another ex-member turned anti-IHOP crusader, William Fowler, stated the book “accurately depicts the demonic activity within the group and the use of deliberate and false prophetic information to deceive believers.”  

Fowler went on to explain that, similar to what is in the novel, IHOP has political connections and a political agenda in place.  “They are a very dangerous group,” Fowler warned.

If this is true, can we expect more from the pages of House of Lies to play out in real life?  That’s the concern of some Grandview residents, though Claridge tries to belay their fears, confirming the book is a work of fiction.

Fox 4 news reported that Claridge has a sister inside the IHOP organization, the Director of the Gateway House of Prayer (GHOP) in St. Louis.  Ironically, or not, the premise of House of Lies is that a woman sets out on a course to save her sister from a cult in Kansas City.  Too close to not be real?  Claridge told Fox 4 news that the book was not written about her and her sister, but readers and ex-IHOP members aren’t buying it. 

Basham said, “I think God is using IHOP’s lies against them, to expose the truth, and He is using a fiction writer to do it.”