The Rise & Fall of the Kansas City Prophets | Reviewing Dr Sam Storms

Reviewing Dr. Storms' book on the Kansas City Prophets

May 11, 2026

Show Description

Dr. Sam Storms has been one of our own. He's served at our conferences, he's connected to us through the Convergence Church Network, and he's been one of the clearest continuationist voices in evangelical Christianity for decades. His new book, The Rise and Fall of the Kansas City Prophets, is the most detailed insider account of the Kansas City prophetic movement ever written — 310 pages covering 1982 to 2000, the era of Bob Jones, Paul Cain, and Mike Bickle's rise to prominence.

And people are asking some tough questions about it.

This episode is not a hit piece on Sam Storms. He was lied to like the rest of us. He has acknowledged that his discernment failed him. That kind of accountability takes humility and bravery. As we review his book, we're going to do our best to call balls and strikes. What does Sam get right? Where does he miss?

What this episode is ultimately about is discernment — not just the discernment of individual prophetic words, but the communal discernment of a movement. How does proximity to leadership shape what we're able to see? And after everything that has happened, what does it look like to hold continuationist convictions with both faithfulness and sobriety?

There is grief in this conversation, but there is also hope. We're not abandoning the prophetic because Mike Bickle and others abused it. We're asking hard questions — with honesty, with care for Dr. Storms, and with deep love for every person still healing from the IHOPKC collapse.

Previous Episodes on Mike Bickle:
- How Do We Process the Allegations Against Mike Bickle? https://youtube.com/live/dlkA_FjimJo
- IHOP: A House Divided - Mike Bickle & IHOPKC https://youtube.com/live/EpcaPgqCaGo
- Behind the Scenes at IHOP: Stories of Systemic Abuse Part 1 https://youtu.be/Y9tDHlOLriM
- Surviving a Toxic Church: Victims of IHOP Speak Out, Part 2 https://youtu.be/rpo8wJkm--I

0:00 – Introduction
1:09 – Sam Storms' Book
8:21 – Bob Jones Controversy
12:19 – Sam's Apologies
17:46 – Sam's Skepticism
42:51 – What About Empirically Verified Prophecies?
59:51 – Paul Cain
1:02:57 – Closing Thoughts

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