Beyond The Basics

If you’re a regular listener to the Beyond The Basics podcast, I’m sure you have noticed that it’s been about two months since I last released an episode.

Or, maybe you haven’t noticed. That’s cool too.

When I wrapped up the book of Genesis I told you I would be back in a couple months to start going through the book of John. Well, it looks like it will be a little longer than that.

Thanks for asking! I’m happy to tell you. Let’s make a top ten list!

1. Top ten lists are so 2018, Dan.
2. They are?
3. Yep.

Okay, forget the list then. Let’s move on. Introspection in prose!

I started writing episodes for John shortly after I finished publishing the episodes for Genesis and I very quickly realized that it is far more difficult writing show notes based on the dense Christology of John compared to the narrative of Genesis. I mean, have you ever read the book of John? It’s outrageous. The entire book is packed with deep theological concepts, dualism, seeming contradictory passages compared to the other gospels, as well as a portrayal of Jesus that is just… well, different.

Let’s be honest, you guys. The book of John is my least favorite book in the New Testament.

I said what I said.

For real, though. Writing these episodes for the book of John is taking significantly more time than I expected. And I want to do the book justice, and I want to present you, the listener, with a proper examination of the important themes in each chapter. And I don’t want to find myself in a position where I’m trying to write and record episodes the same week as I’m publishing them. I did that for the last 10 or so episodes of Genesis and it wasn’t fun.

So, I need more time.

Speaking of time, between two young children and a full time job that has me totally swamped right now to the point that it’s become more than a full time job, time is something I have very little of right now. So my free time is spent desperately attempting to catch up on the ever-growing to-do list at home.

Hmm, maybe I should get a job working at the TVA. Then I would have all the time in the world because I would be working outside of time!

On a more sobering note, as I’ve been following the news coming out of IHOPKC I’ve realized how much I bought in to their vision and their doctrine. Mike Bickle and other IHOPKC-affiliated teachers were the only voices I listened to for about 10 years in a row. Whenever I studied the Bible, I studied with Mike Bickle’s study guides right alongside me. I still have stacks and stacks of notebooks filled with notes from Mike’s teachings. I totally believed every word of their so-called “prophetic history,” which, of course, has been proven false.

Why is that a problem, you say? Glad you asked.

This prophetic history and doctrine was created by a group of sexually abusive men for the purpose of drawing in young people to carry out their perverted and narcissistic schemes. Paul Cain was a disciple of the cult leader William Branham and Bob Jones claimed an angel named “Emma” was responsible for some of the healing revivals years ago (rather than God Himself). This angel was also apparently responsible for causing people to behave like animals in some of Todd Bentley’s crusades which he described as the anointing of the Holy Spirit but which the Bible describes as a curse from God (Daniel 4:31-33).

How much of the doctrine taught at IHOPKC by Mike and others was born out of this prophetic history that was, at best, a gross misinterpretation of legitimate messages from the Lord, and at worst, completely fabricated for the purposes of grooming young people to perpetuate their ministry machine? And how much of that doctrine have I believed that is actually unbiblical?

That’s what I’m trying to sort out right now. Should I really be doing a lot of teaching while I wrestle through separating out problematic doctrines that I’ve held on to for years due to my affiliation and obsession with IHOPKC and other houses of prayer that taught the same things? It was one thing when I was working through the book of Genesis. Mike Bickle never really taught from the book of Genesis (there were a lot of other books he ignored as well). But he did teach from the book of John on a regular basis and I can still almost hear his voice making commentary as I read the book. So for me, the book of John will be far more difficult to teach without some of that twisted doctrine creeping in. I need to be able to sort that out first before I’m comfortable teaching it.

I suppose I could just go through a different book of the bible next. I’m trying to avoid that because I’ve been announcing that John would be next. So if any of you are so hyped up to listen to a season 2 that goes through the book of John that you will refuse to listen to the show if I go through any other book, please let me know. My guess is, that’s probably not the case.

So here’s where I’m at right now, doctrinally speaking. Here’s what I’m clinging to:

Christ crucified.

Christ resurrected.

Christ returning to resurrect the saints and to judge the earth.

Beyond that, there’s not a whole lot that I’m completely sure of. I’ll be working through the rest of it in the coming weeks and months. I’m grateful to the wise leadership in my church who have already helped me find answers to some of my questions. I’m hopeful that as I had already begun to move on from IHOPKC’s teachings about four or five years ago, that the deprogramming won’t take too long. But I also know that I can’t rush the process.

My current goal is to start publishing new episodes by late fall of 2024. But that would require me to write and record about 20 episodes in the next 3-4 months. You guys, it took me four days just to write this blog post. Life is going to have to calm down in a very significant way for me to hit that goal.

The other hurdle that will come up eventually is the issue of finances. Just being honest here. If I don’t start making some money with the podcast, I will need to start editing my own episodes again and create my own social media content again at some point which will take up even more time and slow down the frequency of new content. So if you feel like you would like to invest in the show, there is a donate button at the top of the home page where you can donate tax-free through Passion For Life Ministries. Any donation you would like to make would be greatly appreciated.

I’ve currently paused payments for my Patreon page but you can still join as a paid member for $4/month. Once I begin releasing content again I will resume payments. If you join, you will receive an additional 10-30 minutes of audio content each week as well as access to all previous Patreon episodes. So that’s another way you can support the show.

This is all to say that I haven’t abandoned the podcast. I just have a lot going on in my personal life that needs to be taken care of first. But there is more content coming! Beyond the Basics will continue!

I appreciate all your support and all your prayers. Keep reading, keep praying, keep seeking the Lord with all your heart.