[Gena]

Dear website owner,

I got saved at IHOP and although I think there are a
lot of people who are genuinely seeking Jesus, they
are way unbalanced to a very dangerous point.

It did feel like a cult. I had hardly any discipleship
for being a new Christian and was allowed and encouraged
to stay up all night praying for months and to fast
excessively.

This church gave me such an extreme, warped, perception
of the how to "passionately" follow Jesus that I did not
even understand that Jesus loved me AT ALL my whole
2 years there (and I was even on IHOP staff!) I could quote the Bible
extremely well, but did not truly comprehend a word of it.

There was no effective church structure and NO
accountability or healthy relationships. Everyone
just prayed all the time. Hardly any members worked
real jobs or interacted a healthy amount with non-Christians
or the real world.

It scares me because my sister is still there.
She can never speak with sentences that begin with "I"
Like "I feel" or "I think". It is always "God is doing..."
"Jesus is...." She has no connection with who
God just wants her to be.

I was just like this, but way worse
for years. I almost died from my issues with fasting.

The beauty of Jesus and the simplicity of the gospel
is usurped by IHOP unbalanced desire for something
greater.

Of course it is okay to crave an encounter with
Jesus. Of course it is okay to want spiritual gifts.

But if you are soooooo horribly tunnel visioned
as they are....you really miss the whole point.

He is love and He is balanced and He created
the whole world not just a prayer closet with
leads to insanity.

My prayer is for their eyes to be opened. I have
only now (after joining a balanced,
family oriented foursquare church) started to realize
who Jesus is and what the gospel is saying.

Please post this and may others read this and
may someone be sent to release these
captives.