Lou Engle, Kingdom Now and Cultural Wars

I have traveled with Lou Engle. I have seen Lou walk with God. I do not question his walk with the Lord. However, theologically, he is a hot mess. There is only so much you can turn the other way saying “but God uses him.” At some point, enough is enough.

I can not, in good faith, support anything that Lou Engle is part of. There is too many theological concerns. There is too many failed prophetic words. There is too many questionable philosophies of culture. This is why, even though I had many friends involved, I did not attend the Send in Kansas City.

My story goes back to when I just got saved and this Lou Engle guy was calling everyone to Washington DC to pray. I was fresh out of the Brownsville Revival and part of a prayer ministry in Kansas City. I did not understand all the theological, philosophical and cultural ramifications of these men that claimed that revival would come. All I knew is that what I saw at Brownsville, I wanted every city in America to see!

However, I found that few people that walked in discernment. No one was willing to stop and say “Hey, can we think about this biblically?”

The theology of Lou Engle

Last Summer when he was invited to a special meeting for people at the International House of Prayer in Kansas City to talk about Israel, he openly admitted that he was a Dominionist. This is a belief that we will take over the earth and prepare the culture for the return of the Lord. It is also known as Kingdom or Christian Reconstructionism.

No matter what terms you use, it is widely disregarded as heresy by any legit theologian. The only defense of this is they have taken the historical view of Post-Millennialism, treated it like a buffet line and came up with a new idea that they would take over the 7 Mountain of society. However, this is very different than anything the Presbyterian would support.

The other issue is related to his view on how God related to man. You would think being a Kingdom Now guy that he was a Calvinist. However, he actually believe that God can not move if we do not pray. Somehow, God has a need for us to “intercede” for issues before He will act on our behalf. Theologically, he is known as Open Theism. It is a heretical doctrine that taken the framework Arminianism to unbiblical extremes. This belief that people like Lou Engle support is a complete disregard for the Sovereignty of God.

In over 20 years, I have never seen Lou take a passage, in context, apply proper exegesis and apply to the people with theological honesty. Largely, any use of the scripture is completely out of context and the proof texting is on a level that only Kenneth Copeland could compete with. In other words, the theology of Lou Engle is one of the worst I have seen in the charismatic movement. There is a reason we talks about dreams much more than scripture.

Lou Engle and Politics

The politicalization of Lou is insane. It is full of false prophecy after false prophecy. For example, there was claims that He had a dream where Sam Brownback would become President. That did not happen. When Brownback had to drop out of the race, the Lord told Lou that it was Mike Huckabee to become President. Huckabee dropped out as well. Next, it was John McCain to be in office. He lost big. In a series of six months, Lou Engle told us that God changed his mind three times. 

He also claimed that God said there is a mocking spirit against the Charismatic churches that are twins: homosexuality and abortion. God would not pour out in revival until these spirits were confronted. (Again, his Kingdom Now ideology) Nevermind that both of these issues were happening in the midst of the Brownsville Revival as well as the the renewal in Pentecostal churches in the early 1980’s!

The driver of this was his view of Christian Nationalism that is really Christian Right or a modern theocracy. He believed that republicans are from the Lord and democrats are of the devil. (Note: I am a registered GOP member) His drive to “change the culture” has become his gospel. In all the years I have followed Lou, I have never once heard him shared the gospel of Jesus Christ. His mission is to make America a Christian nation without anyone actually getting saved.

A biblical answer to the craziness

Paul wrote to Titus about what a leader (an Elder) should look like. Among those was having sound doctrine and being able to rebuke false teachers. Titus 1:9 declares….

He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.

The requirement for sound doctrine was not an option for leaders. If you did not have it, you were not allowed to be in any form of leadership in the early church. The pattern they left for us is simple: if you do not have biblical theology, sit down and learn. The truth is there is no way that Lou Engle can lead in any church that takes passages like this serious. The problem is most Charismatic church will hand anyone a microphone that can generate a big offering. Lou is much like Todd Bentley: cash cows.

From a Pentecostal perspective, people who are “prayer warriors” are called to the prayer meeting, not the pulpit. There is many people called to prayer that would never preach. The only reasons this is different for Lou Engle is because 1) Charismatics have no discernment 2) he knows how to pull on the strings of people for hype. 

If anyone teaches otherwise and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, they are conceited and understand nothing. They have an unhealthy interest in controversies…who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain. (1 Timothy 6:3-5) 

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