Another church scandal. Unfortunately, it’s nothing new – spiritual abuse, sexual abuse and cover- ups. Same story, different church, different victims.
An Innocent Victim Joined a Cult Without Knowing It
She was young and committed to her faith. She wanted to live a life of service to God, so she went to the Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry (BSSM) at the tender age of 18. She got married to a man who was ten years older than her based on a prophecy. The “Man of God” gave a “word of knowledge” in which he mentioned her name to her future husband. She happened to have a unique name, one with spiritual connotations. He mentioned her place of work…. How else could he have known these things unless he was really hearing from God? So, she went ahead and got married. It didn’t take too long for her to realize that she was in an abusive relationship, but she didn’t think she could leave, because she believed this was God’s choice for her.
Her name is Jubilee, and she has been sharing her experiences on social media. Her video about how she got divorced over a Walt Disney World burger went viral, and while the story may have appeared humorous, she was actually a victim of domestic abuse. The burger incident may have just been the last straw in the abusive relationship.
Jubilee Was Only One of Many Victims
Unfortunately, Jubilee is only one of many victims. Christian apologist Mike Winger recently released an almost six hour- long video – exposing the scandals and coverups in the Bethel ministry. I’ve only seen clips that were included in other people’s videos and don’t have six hours to spare, but if you want to listen to the full video, here is the link.
Since Jubilee has shared her experience publicly, I am telling the story using her name and from her perspective, based on what she has shared publicly.
Hearing From God or Social Media Mining?
The “prophet” would call on people in the audience and give them information that was very specific to them, like phone numbers, birthdays or home addresses. He would then proceed to give them a “word from the Lord.”
“Ted” (Jubilee’s social media name for her now ex-husband) was in a service where the “prophet” gave him a personal a message about the number “50,” and the year of “jubilee.” After confirming that Ted was, indeed dating a lady named “Jubilee,” he said God was giving her to Ted. Based on this “prophecy,” Jubilee ended up in an abusive marriage. And even though she almost lost her life, she didn’t want to leave because she thought the marriage was “God’s will.”
At some point she realized that the “prophet” must have gotten information about her – including her name and place of employment – from Facebook.
After Jubilee left the abusive marriage, she did an internet search and found out that her former spiritual leader (a.k.a. “prophet”) was being called out by other people for being a con artist, getting information about people from social media and using it in his “prophecies.”
The Dangerous Culture of Protecting Abusers
According to various reports, there have been many other allegations against the ministry leader in question and other authority figures in those circles knew about them. Even though they cut ties with said “prophet,” and warned other ministry leaders about him, they failed to warn the members of the congregation.
Of note, when Jubilee shared her concerns with her fellow BSSM alumni, she was attacked and accused of gossip and “unchristian” behavior.
A “Culture of Honor” that Promotes Spiritual Abuse
Another former student of the Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry speaks about the so-called “culture of honor” that is promoted there in one of her videos. The culture she describes is one that discourages people from saying anything bad about spiritual leaders, because that’s not honoring them. She also shares that there are reports of people who complained about losing money as a result of investments made based on advice from a man they thought was speaking for God.
Unfortunately, such stories are not new. The long history of deceit and manipulation in the American charismatic church movement has been well documented by John Collins and others on the YouTube channel Leaving the Message.
A False Prophet is Exposed by His Son
Jedidiah (Jed) Hartley, a frequent guest on Leaving the Message, has exposed his own father as a false prophet. He describes his father as a “prophetic magician,” who was known for speaking at conferences and calling people out in a performative way.
Jed says that his father would send him to get directories before services, saying that he needed the names of the attendees so he could pray over them. He would then use the information gathered prior to the service in “prophecies” that were directed at specific people.
Jed himself was a victim of his father’s deceptive practices. While they were meeting in a coffee shop, his father claimed that he had a dream in which Jed was questioning his faith and that he (Jed) needed to repent. He made references to specific issues that Jed had written about in a paper for one of his college courses. He even mentioned the name of Jed’s professor.
Jed was at a loss as to how his father got the information. But then, he was supposed to be a prophet, right? Later, while at his father’s house, Jed’s attention was drawn to a computer that he had previously used while doing some work for his father. He found some of his personal information on the desktop, including banking details, text messages, and the paper he had recently written. He then realized that he had logged into the Chrome keychain while using the computer in the past. When his password was later updated, it was updated on the old computer, since it was a trusted device. He concluded that his father must have been logging into his accounts and getting his information, and he (Jed) wasn’t getting notified since the computer was a trusted device. This experience confirmed to Jed that his father was a con artist.
Who needs “divine revelation” when you have access to a person’s computer?
In a statement on X, (formerly known as Twitter), Jed wrote:
“I have never known how to address this publicly, but it has become clear that (it) is time for me to speak up. My dad, Bob Hartley, who has been an influential prophetic figure in both IHOPKC and Bethel church is a complete fraud. His prophetic ministry has always been a con. For decades his process has always been the same. He gets specific information about people, either through online searches, church directories, or most commonly, through conversations with pastors of local churches, and then he pretends as if he is (divining) this info.”
One can only imagine the amount of courage it took for Jedidiah to expose his father, and my heart goes out to him. The Christian community needs more “Jedidiahs” who are not afraid of exposing their biological and/ or spiritual fathers. The abuse will not end overnight, but at least speaking out is a step in the right direction.
It’s Time for the Church to Clean Up Its Own House
I can’t help wondering if the current state of the church in America is due, in part to the focus on those outside the church. If a community constantly sees those outside of its circles as “problems” to be solved, it’s easy to neglect the issues within. Unfortunately, Bethel and IHOPKC (International House of Prayer Kansas City) are just a few examples of Christian communities where several members have been subjected to various forms of abuse, and the perpetrators have been protected at the expense of the victims. If these churches are truly concerned about “saving souls” and welcoming others into their communities, they should start with looking inward and clean up the rot within. You can’t bring people into a burning house – and right now, the “house” is on fire.
Footnote
Jedidiah Hartley shares part of his story in this YouTube video.
Update
On Sunday, January 25, 2026, Bethel leaders made a public apology during a livestream service. They acknowledged their failures and stated that they have resolved to make amends. Of note, the apology was specific to how they handled the scandals related to a specific “prophet,” Shawn Bolz, who I intentionally did not mention by name in the essay. Shawn was the one who gave the “prophecy” in Jubilee’s story. The statements did not include any reference to others like Bob Hartley, Jedidiah Hartley’s father, who have been called out for various forms of spiritual abuse.
The systemic issues that led to these scandals and the years of untold damage will not be resolved by a public apology, but at least it’s one small step in the right direction.
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