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."

 

 

 

 

More Threats Surround Novel 'House of Lies'

December 2012  -  Kansas City, MO  -  Susan Claridge (S.R.Claridge),author of seven mystery novels, never imagined she would receive threatening letters from readers.  But she never imagined one of her stories would play out in real life either.

The problem:  International House of Prayer (IHOP) members are claiming her book, ‘House of Lies’ is about their group. 

On her blog today, Claridge posted the threatening note:  “S.R.Claridge, I have read your blogs about IHOP and your book House of Lies. I know it's written about IHOP but your information in the book isn't accurate. You tried to make your character Max Sagan be like Mike Bickle, but Bickle is a true man of God and a true prophet. You are going against God and God will not allow you to spread lies about His chosen people. You are offended by what you don't understand and you're mocking people you shouldn't. If I were you I'd be careful.”

The sender is someone who calls themself “AnonBerean12.”  Anon stands for anonymous.  Berean is a common term used within IHOP and means “one who tests what is told.”  The number twelve can be symbolic of many things, the twelve apostles, the fact that IHOP founder, Mike Bickle, teaches that God is raising twelve new super-prophets and apostles, etc.  Regardless of the symbolism, it is clear that the sender is an IHOP advocate.

Claridge’s response reads calm.  She first states factual evidence about Bickle, his history with false prophesy and his status of being what she calls a “self-proclaimed” prophet of God, and follows it up by asking the sender a question. 

Claridge wrote: “I will end this blog by asking you one question:  Could it be that House of Lies offended you because deep down you know you are indeed dwelling in a house of lies?  Could it be that it is just too close for comfort?”

If we were to tally points on who won this round it would be Claridge, hands down.  But one point cannot be overlooked and that is the fact that a threat was made to “be careful.”

'House of Lies' is a story about a 29-year old woman who tries to save her sister from a Kansas City cult group called P3, led by Maxwell Sagan.  The book probably wouldn’t have drawn as much media attention were it not for the likeness between the circumstances surrounding IHOP member, Bethany Deaton’s death, and what happens to cult members in the story.  

Now, IHOP members are bringing it even more attention with their angry threats.

In relation to receiving hate mail about the book, Claridge commented in a thread on her Facebook page:  “It doesn’t hurt me anymore because I know they are speaking from a brainwashed view… but it saddens me.”

Accusations toward the book and the author from IHOP members have been outlandish and Claridge states on her blog that she finds them “humorously ironic.”   One such complaint is that the book doesn’t show IHOP accurately. 

Any reader or mildly intelligent individual will tell you that there is neither accuracy nor inaccuracy in fiction.  It is whatever the novelist wants it to be.  However, IHOP members have gone as far as to post negative reviews on Amazon, stating the book shows that the author has a personal vendetta against IHOP.

Despite the fact that Claridge has stated in a Fox 4 news interview, on her Facebook page and in her blog that the book is not written about IHOP, IHOP members refuse to listen.  "I studied five cult groups before writing this novel.  IHOP was merely one of those five," Claridge told Fox reporter, Gia Vang.

"They'd rather attack the author and place blame on her for their own insecurity about their cult group than face the truth," said one ex-IHOP member.

Outside of IHOP, ‘House of Lies’ is receiving rave reviews, likening it to Dan Brown’s ‘The DaVinci Code’ and calling it “another action-packed adventure by S.R.Claridge.”  (RipeReviews) 

Is Tyler Deaton’s Southwestern group angry because the book, which released three weeks prior to the Deaton murder, foretold the killing in which they were involved?   Are IHOP members angry because ‘House of Lies’ hits too close to home?

Whatever the case, Claridge is taking the brunt.

 

 

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. "

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eerie Similarities Link Novel and Kansas City Cult Group

By Michael Doran

Grandview, MO  -  The case surrounding the death of 27-year old Bethany Deaton takes as many twists as the plot of a novel by S.R.Claridge called ‘House of Lies’. 

Claridge met with Fox 4 news and described the similarities as “scary,” but maintains the book, released in early October, prior to the death of Deaton, is a work of fiction.

The book, about a woman who tries to save her sister from a Kansas City cult group, was allegedly based on Claridge’s research of five cult groups, the International House of Prayer (IHOP) in Kansas City being one of them. 

“The book isn’t written about one cult group or one cult leader,” Claridge told Fox 4.  But, ex-IHOP members say the book depicts this cult with accuracy.

What are the similarities?  In both the book and reality, a young woman is drugged, murdered and found by a lake in Kansas City, and leaders of the cult try to make her death look like a suicide. 

Bethany Deaton was a nurse at Menorah Medical in Overland Park, Kansas and the young woman in the book, named Ema, is drugged and taken to Menorah Medical. 

Cult leaders in the book have armed guards.  IHOP has armed security guards. 

The cult group in the novel is led by a man who claims to have built his empire on the basis of a prophetic document he professes to have come from God but has altered three times.  IHOP is led by founder, Mike Bickle, who says he was given the Blueprint Prophesy directly from God, but has changed the document three times.

Ironically, a neon flashing sign of similarity is the fact that Claridge admits she has a sister and other family members involved in IHOP.  “My relationship with my sister inspired the story, but House of Lies isn’t a story about my sister or about me.  It’s about the dangers of becoming involved in any cult group,” Claridge said.

So far, this work of fiction is splashing truth in the faces of IHOP leaders and members and that’s only the first few chapters.  If the rest of the novel plays out in real life, IHOP has a rude awakening ahead of them.

IHOP leaders didn’t return our phone calls to comment.

 

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.”