Most of you have probably heard that Mike Bickle is evidently planning a return to public ministry. An email was released last week urging people to join in a time of prayer and fasting (March 1-7) for Mike’s return. The reason given is that “There are yet necessary and confirmed prophetic purposes designated to manifest forth through his life.”

I’ve read numerous accounts of people giving their opinion on what could possibly be his motivation for doing so. They may all be right. I pass no judgment on them. Some have insisted that he is stirred by greed. Bickle, so some say, needs the money that a return to public ministry would generate. Others argue that Bickle is a narcissist and simply can’t stand the idea of remaining hidden and uninvolved. His former brother-in-law, Bob Scott, has written a book titled, Some Said They Blundered, in which he suggests that behind virtually everything Bickle does is his fear of being ordinary. I suspect there is some measure of truth in this. Scott contends that Bickle feels compelled to be at the center of what God is doing in the earth and that his role is indispensable to the accomplishment of the end-time purposes of God.

Still others build upon Scott’s analysis and argue that Bickle suffers from some version of megalomania (defined as “a delusional mental illness that is marked by feelings of personal omnipotence and grandeur”). He is a man, so they say, with an insatiable ego that demands attention. I am not a psychologist and would never pretend that I can understand the inner heart intention of anyone, other than my own.

Perhaps, before going further, I should make it clear that I do not believe Bickle should ever be restored to public ministry. I have made this clear in numerous other blog posts and articles and interviews on countless podcasts. I do not say that from an elevated position of “he’s not as godly as I am.” I fully realize that there, but for the grace of God, go I. I have not committed sexual immorality or financial fraud that would warrant my removal from ministry, and I can only and always attribute that to the sustaining presence in my life of God’s marvelous grace. Can Bickle be restored to a relationship of intimacy and forgiveness with the Lord himself? Absolutely yes. Can he be restored to a relationship with other Christians and with whatever local church he attends? Absolutely, yes.

But in Bickle’s case, all trust has been shattered. He cannot be described as the “husband of one wife” (1 Tim. 3:2), by which I take Paul to mean that a leader cannot be flirtatious or emotionally or sexually involved with another woman. He is not, at least currently, “above reproach” (1 Tim. 3:2) and he is not “well thought of by outsiders” (1 Tim. 3:7). In light of his actions over the course of some 45 years, he does not give evidence of being “self-controlled” (1 Tim. 3:2). Paul adds to this in Titus 1:8 that a man who aspires to ministry leadership must also be “upright, holy, and disciplined.”

You may choose to believe this or not, but my heart breaks when I think of how my once good friend has failed in these areas of life and holiness. Once again, let me emphasize that if we were to see genuine, Spirit-prompted, humble repentance for his sinful deeds and expressions to his victims of heart-felt confession and the asking of forgiveness, Bickle’s restoration to the church and the Lord Jesus Christ, would be in order.

So, if he appears to be unqualified for public ministry in the local church, why does he now plan on his return? My knowledge of Bickle, whom I first met in 1991, and my study of the so-called “prophetic history” of his church in Kansas City and IHOPKC (about which you can read in detail in my book, The Rise and Fall of the Kansas City Prophets, Cascade Publishers), suggest to me a much simpler explanation.

It comes down to this. Mike Bickle believes in the prophetic history and his central role in it. By the “prophetic history” I have specifically (but not exclusively) in mind the words of Bob Jones. I can’t cite in this brief article the numerous “allegedly” prophetic words that Jones delivered (for this, see my book). But I do know that virtually all of them consist of his insistence that Bickle would be the focus of God’s supernatural activity and especially the supposed end-time revival that he believes is yet to come. And it wasn’t simply the prophecies themselves on which Bickle bases his belief about the future, but the variety of ways in which Bickle believes they were confirmed in dreams, visions, weather events, prophetic words, and other allegedly supernatural scenarios that came from individuals not necessarily connected to the church in Kansas City.

I may be entirely mistaken in my interpretation of what is motivating him. Perhaps close friends and family members are urging him to make a comeback. Maybe the more psychologically rooted explanations of Bob Scott are true, or perhaps all of these factors in combination have served to convince him that now is the time.

I do believe there is one additional factor that is not unrelated to what I’ve already said. Bickle believes that when he sins all that is required of him is heartfelt and sincere confession to God who instantly and graciously forgives him. He has given no indication that he is burdened by a responsibility to go to those whom he has harmed, confess and repent to them, and ask for their forgiveness. He also is persuaded that no sin he has committed can derail or undermine the purposes that God has for his life and ministry. There is no way he can dismiss or deny his past sexual misconduct. But he is equally persuaded that nothing he has done or said can thwart God’s prophesied plans for him in the final days before Christ returns. As far as he is concerned, the prophetic utterances of Augustine Alcala, Bob Jones, Paul Cain, and others are beyond question and remain the foundation for his life now and his expectations for the future.

You may also be wondering why people are still drawn to him and supportive of his restoration. The fact is, Mike Bickle is one of the more winsome and charismatic personalities that I have ever known. Within five minutes of meeting him, he will convince you that you are destined to be his best friend. That is not an overstatement. He is an articulate and passionate preacher, and in spite of the fact that he only has one year of college education under his belt, he is quite brilliant. Simply put, until you hear about his misconduct, he is very difficult to dislike.

Should we pray for Bickle’s genuine repentance? Yes. Should we urge him to meet with the women he abused? Yes. Should we plead with him to apologize to the thousands of young people who have walked away from Christ and the church because of his actions? Yes. Should we support and endorse his return to public ministry? No.