THE
Fall/Winter 2015
ecstatic MAGAZINE
CANA
One more year!
MIDDLE EAST Refugee Mission
PARADISE
New Crowder Book
ORPHANAGE Home Repaired
INDONESIA
Joy Adventure
MYSTICS
Mind & Meditation
INCLUSION
A Christless Universalism?
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News
Indonesia Joy Mission to Slums, Lepers
John Crowder and team will visit Jakarta, Indonesia in November 2015 to release the glorious Good News equipping the church with a regional supernatural grace event and imparting the intoxicating revelation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Mumbai Orphanage gets Major Renovations
Thanks to the continued support of our partners, Sons of Thunder was able to conduct many big-ticket item repairs to our Mumbai Children’s Home this summer in the nation of India. Our Mumbai house is one of two Indian homes for orphans run by SOT, with the second in the city of Rajahmundry. We built the large, twostory Mumbai facility in 2007, quickly doubling its size in order to provide much needed housing for more abandoned children. We provide shelter, education, food, clothing and medical care for approximately 40 children at this location alone, also supporting two families and additional staff who live onsite to care for the youth. Due to the intense nature of the Indian rainy season and surrounding wetlands, the home needed an exhaustive series of repairs: fresh plaster, paint and various patch-ups were needed to the ground-floor children’s rooms, ceilings and bathrooms along with significant work to the compound wall. As health and safety concerns, these were mandatory construction needs. Several children at the home lost parents due to HIV. Others were rescued directly from brothels. Some of our first children we began caring for in 2007 have now graduated high school and some are even studying for ministry. Thanks to your support, we are making a critical difference where it is needed most. Every day, more than 16,000 children die of hunger related causes – that is one child every five seconds. More than 800 million go hungry each day. Around the world, more than 11 million children under the age of 5 die from preventable causes, simply because they are too poor to stay alive. SOT has a regular budget of thousands per month we spend in our long-term commitment to these children, so your regular, faithful support is invaluable in making a real, life-or-death impact on their young lives. You can find out more about our children’s homes, provide a generous donation or become a monthly partner by visiting us online at: www.TheNewMystics.Com.
Also, while in the country, the team will be visiting the poorest of the poor, releasing the love of God and bringing the new wine of salvation bliss to the margins of society. We will be visiting the slums and destitute areas of the region, bringing joy and a miraculous display of the gospel of life. Indonesia is one of the largest Muslim nations in the world. Although periodic persecution and bombings continue against Christians, the church there is flourishing and is undoubtedly in the midst of an awakening. Sons of Thunder has hosted several Indonesian missions in recent years, witnessing fantastic miracles and healings and meeting Jesus in the slums. Read more about this trip on page 11. Space is limited. Early registration recommended. Total Cost: $1,800 Team Applications Due: Aug. 15, 2015 Final Trip Payment Due: Oct. 15, 2015 Trip Dates: Nov. 10-16, 2015 Registration: www.TheNewMystics.Com/indy
Sign up for Mexico Mission by December 31 John Crowder and the Sons of Thunder team will minister to 3,000 drunken Mexicans from around the country in an explosive time of miracle ministry, equipping and outreach to the poor on our spring 2015 mission trip. We will join a massive national conference, preaching the gospel, healing the sick and equipping church leaders. In addition, team members will do daily outreaches that may include prisons, rehab centers, slums and have opportunities to preach and flow in healing, prophecy and share the life of Christ. Expect to get activated in the supernatural like never before. Our application process is simple. Just visit us online and place your initial deposit of $500 to hold your spot on the team. Space will be limited on this trip, so the cutoff deadline for your deposit is due by Dec. 31, 2014 (or earlier if the team fills up). This is our lowest cost mission trip ever, so we also encourage young folks and students to sign up as well. As a “make your own way” trip, team members will book their own flights into Monterrey, Mexico – then the fun begins. For more information on trip details, visit our Web page or email us with any questions at info@thenewmystics.org.
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Total Cost: $1,500 Team Applications Due: DEC. 31, 2014 Final Trip Payment Due: FEB. 1, 2015 Trip Dates: MARCH 29 – APRIL 4 Registration: www.TheNewMystics.Com/MX
News
Middle East Mission & Refugee Outreach
For the first time in six years, Sons of Thunder is opening one of our Middle East missions to applicants who would like to join the team. In June 2015, we will travel to Amman, Jordan to host a gathering for many surrounding Arab nations, sharing the gospel and releasing the new wine of the Spirit to visitors from Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and beyond. We will also provide hands-on outreach to the poorest of the poor from war-torn Syria, as we visit refugee camps where more than 2 million people have been displaced by the ongoing civil war in that nation. There we will feed the poor, pray for the sick and host daily relief outreaches. This is a specialized trip that is not for the faint of heart. Christian ministry is often persecuted in the Arab world, so please only apply if you have an appetite for risk and thrive on the unknown! If you would not like to attend this trip, please also consider contributing to our relief efforts at www.TheNewMystics.com/Danger music with Tim Wright
john crowder :: USA TOUR Feb/Mar 2015
To apply, just visit us online and place your initial deposit of $500 to hold your spot on the team. Space will be limited on this trip. Read more about this trip on page 13. Total Cost: $1,800 Team Applications Due: MARCH 1, 2015 Final Trip Payment Due: MAY 1, 2015 ON SALE NOW: TICKETS Trip Dates: JUNE 9-15, 2015 WWW.THENEWMYSTICS.COM/TOUR Registration: www.TheNewMystics.Com/Danger
Crowder Touring Four Regions of the USA
John Crowder is coming to four regions of the USA in a last-minute tour we have planned for February/March 2015. These will be explosive parties with deep revelation, plus we will be joined by Tim Wright for worship. Come enjoy a big drink of the gospel as we bring the wild extravaganza across America. Find the area nearest you and be sure to drag your friends along to this life-changing Holy Ghost smack down! Tickets are on sale now at www.TheNewMystics.com/Tours SOUTH: Atlanta, Ga. Feb. 25-26 EAST COAST: Newport News, Va. Feb. 27-28 MIDWEST: Kansas City, Mo. March 1-2 WEST COAST: Port Hueneme, SoCal March 3-4
One More Year Planned for Cana Seminary We do not plan to run Cana New Wine Seminary indefinitely … in fact, we have just one more summer slated for the three-month program on tap for 2015. Although we considered making Cana an online Web course only, the tangible atmosphere and real-life community environment was so powerful, we decided to host one more summer of the course in Portland, Oregon. Last year, Cana filled up with international students from across the globe. Featuring amazing grace theologians in an electric atmosphere of joy unspeakable, we successfully hosted the first of its kind: a drunken seminary! Our scheduled speakers include doctorate level theologians and mystical ecstatics sharing the same platform. Every day of the summer ended up with the campus littered with bodies, overcome by the weighty atmosphere of God’s presence. A continual string of outreaches – both planned and impromptu – spilled the gospel narrative into real-life interaction: prayers, healings and miracles in the streets and bars. At Cana, we want to see the water of the word transformed into the wine of experience. Our couse instructors include: Dr. C. Baxter Kruger • Dr. Steve McVey • Francois Du Toit Winnie Banov • Lily Crowder • Dr. Eric Wilding Matt Spinks • Jeff Turner • Tony Seigh John Crowder • Rod Williams Those who want to experience thriving community life and a major, supernatural gospel overhaul should sign up quickly, as registration will close January 2015. Registration may close early if the school fills up. For the full scoop on Cana, see the story on page 14, and visit us online at www.Cana.co.
Space is limited. Registration is $25. Early registration required.
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From the Publisher ... These are exciting times as folks who have been steeped in decades of religious dogmas are being liberated by the message of the finished work of the cross and experiencing the tangible, experiential presence of God. Not only does the Gospel scratch the itch and conquer the spiritual thirst that religious legalisms and dualisms never could … It also provokes us on a journey of exploration. Not to achieve or arrive at anything that hasn’t already been fully gifted us in Christ. Quite the opposite! It makes us realize we are only sniffing the cork of the infinite treasures of God Himself latent within us. The elusive carrot chase of religion is replaced by a never-ending discovery of what was ours in Christ all along. It seems we are constantly being revolutionized and awakened, but the simple source and substance of it all continues to resound within us like a glorious broken record … Union! In this issue The present edition represents a continued plunge into the rabbit hole of the Gospel of grace. Included is an excerpt from my new upcoming book Chosen for Paradise scheduled for release in December 2014 – a fresh look at the doctrine of election/predestination in light of the incarnation and the inclusion of humanity in the saving act of Christ. You will also enjoy guest articles from our Cana New Wine Seminary staff – Rod Williams and Tony Seigh – as well as a quick preview of our plans to host Cana for one more year in Portland in 2015. In other happenings, you’ll want to check out some edgy mission trips we have planned for the coming months – including ventures to Mexico, the Middle East and Indonesia where you can join us! Our regular Meditations section features a brilliant piece by contemporary Christian mystic Richard Rohr. And you’re sure to enjoy some amazing thoughts from our dear friend Francois du Toit. Our second digital issue While we are making some print copies available, this is our second issue of The Ecstatic since our publication has gone digital! Although we recognize many prefer a print edition of the magazine, our transition to digital allows us to distribute freely around the globe. Be sure you visit our homepage at www.TheNewMystics.Com and enter your email address to join our free newslist – this will ensure you receive each issue to your inbox twice a year. Those of you who join the newslist will also receive our regular Jesus Trip teaching videos. Keep in mind that we still value your support to keep the magazine and ministry running. Your generous contributions make the publication available to all and enable us to spread Good News to the ends of the globe. Besides discovering great ways to connect with the poor and join us on mission trips, also please consider supporting us financially as a partner or with a one-time gift at www.TheNewMystics.Com. Your generosity connects you as a direct participant with everything we do at Sons of Thunder! What we’re all about We at Sons of Thunder produce The Ecstatic as a way to bring a cohesive voice to the growing interest in authentic, mystical Christianity – but a mysticism rooted in the grace message of Christ’s cross – not in human attempt at spiritual disciplines or mental ascent. In a practical sense, The Ecstatic serves as an information gateway to the ministry of John & Lily Crowder. But moreover, it is a first fruit in publishing toward bridging several important themes that are converging at the moment: finished work theology, the miraculous, divine satisfaction and daily human existence in the divine life. All of these concepts are intrinsically woven together. A new, reformed Christcentered mysticism is on the rise. It is bridging many streams. Relevant is its cultural approach. Radical is its charismatic fervor. Reformative is its theology of grace. These are guiding values of this publication and our own lives. It is a theological journal whose frequency is joy unspeakable.
Fully Satisfied … John Crowder Founder, Sons of Thunder Publications the ecstatic is published bi-annually Copyright © 2014 Sons of Thunder Ministries & Publications, All rights reserved. Email: info@thenewmystics.org Phone: 1-877-343-3245 Address: P.O. Box 40, Marylhurst, OR 97036
www.TheNewMystics.com
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Contents 2 5 7 9 11 12 13 14 16 18 19
News: The Latest from Sons of Thunder Chosen For Paradise Avoiding a Christless Universalism Foundations in Bliss Indonesia Joy Mission Find the Party: Sons of Thunder Itinerary Middle East Mission Cana: One More Year Bangkok Mission Update Meditations of the Mystics Simplicity and Ecstasy
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Chosen For Paradise Excerpted from John Crowder’s Upcoming Book! God’s predestined intention for you was to lavish upon you the eternal wealth of His goodness. You were created as an object of love. Jesus was not twisting His Father’s arm to love you on the cross, acting as a sort of divine lightning rod to absorb the wrath of a schizophrenic deity. That vengeful, legalistic view of the atonement is a modern invention, and not the message of the early Church fathers. The Father was not venting His wrath on Jesus. The Father was venting His love through Jesus. The Trinity was manifesting Its eternal heart of love for you - making clear that the choice of God is positively for you – even when you were estranged from Him. Jesus was never the whipping boy of a legalistic Father who demanded the scales of some obscure cosmic justice be paid ... with a resounding “Too bad!” for those who don’t catch the message this side of their deathbed. No, God is pure mercy. True justice was His demand that you be restored to your rightful place as an heir of your Father’s kingdom. Rather than absorbing the brutality of a capricious deity, Jesus was absorbing the sinfulness of mankind and all its inherent ramifications – destroying our disease in His own broken servant body on the cross. This He did on behalf of humanity. He who descended is the very One who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe (Eph. 4:10). In the incarnation, God bound the created order to Himself. We are all enveloped in Him, as is all of creation – whether we realize it by faith or not. The scripture hints at the possibility that all might come to know Christ, but the mystery remains open ended. Leave room for mystery. We are saved through trusting Jesus, not by figuring Him out. God cut all but Jesus out of the salvation business. He excluded everybody so He could include everybody. Salvation was never conditioned by our performance – including the “drumming up” of faith. Humanity cannot create or manufacture union with
by John Crowder
God. We can only discover it. One thing for certain is that we are no longer outsiders. Jesus Christ went to the altar and accepted you into His life. Kudos to our Arminian brothers for at least recognizing a beautiful gift of participation in this divine dance with the Trinity. But this salvation was decided for us long before we ever responded to it. Election is God’s solid choice for mankind in Jesus.
in a garden called Eden. Eden means “pleasure” or voluptuous living. You were created for a life of divine pleasure. Chosen for paradise – to drink from that River of Pleasure that flows at His right hand. This always was and always will be His intent for you. And that Paradise is found only in the revelation of His Son, the unity of God and Man, Who is Eden incarnate.
To truncate the message of election (God’s choice for mankind in Jesus) to a tract on Heaven and Hell is to sell the Gospel far short of its inherent worth. Our Orthodox brothers in the East are perhaps right in the suggestion that Heaven and Hell are merely our human language to describe what it’s like to be in the presence of God ... we all go to the same place, but to some His fire of love is manifest as torment because some demand to reject the inescapable love of God. We are not created to swim upstream of this infinite torrent of love and fight against it. But rather to receive it and give it freely. To be carried along by the unforced rhythms of grace.
It was always the eternal plan of God to unite Himself to humanity. To experience the bliss of othergiving love. Therefore, God permanently identified Himself with the human race in the incarnation. “His purpose was to make all history work out towards one culminating moment, when He could bring every movement in the whole universe, spiritual as well as material, to a head in Christ” (Eph. 1:10, WAND). God could not stomach being alone. Because He is Love, He could not fathom an existence apart from you. In the incarnation, He fully embraced the human condition. God and man both find their ultimate fulfillment in the Gospel.
In any discussion on election, let us be slow to draw presumptions on the eternal fate of those, whose temporal lives seemed so full of bitterness, hatred and rebellion. Their hardening was to an expected end, that He might show mercy. The cardinal rule in modern American evangelicalism is one must say the sinner’s prayer before he dies. But this fundamental truth seems to be curiously missing from the Bible. There is room for hope for all men when they meet their Maker. Perhaps we’ve underestimated Jesus in this whole equation. As Martin Luther wrote in a letter to Hans von Rechenberg, “God forbid that I should limit the time of acquiring faith to the present life. In the depth of the Divine mercy there may be opportunity to win it in the future.” Time will be the tell. Let us not be dogmatic where the scriptures offer a double-sided coin of mystery. In the beginning, God created Adam and put him
You are more than a created object. You are His very divine, immortal offspring. Otherwise God would be an idolater to love you so. The scriptures tell us that God literally threw Adam into an ecstasy (tardemah), and out of his side came forth a bride. In the same way, you were chosen and brought forth from His broken side, the Last Adam, in the ecstasy of His Passion. Brought forth from His very life-giving breath, you bear His very image, worth and affection. Christ is not unequally yoked to His Bride. You are no vessel of dishonor – no chamber pot, no wretched spider or worm. You are flesh of His flesh, bone of His bone. This is the True Self. The new creation in Christ is not an alternative plan devised by the Godhead after the first Adam failed. God was not wringing His hands, going back to the drawing board after Adam botched life in the Garden and ate the forbidden fruit. The life, death and resurrection of Jesus was not a hurried tourniquet applied to stem the Adamic bleed. Adam’s fall Continued on page 6
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< Continued from page 5 never caught the Lord by surprise, and His incarnation was not a Hail Mary pass – no last ditch effort to rescue as many as possible from the unforeseen devastation of the fall. Hidden even within the collapse of mankind’s utter failure was a latent plan to redeem us from that very fall, revealed at the appointed time in the person of Jesus. It was always His intent that out of the old, the new would spring forth. That the seed must die in order to bear fruit. Although evil was allowed to run its course and mar creation, His ultimate predestined purpose was to restore that very creation to something far better than Eden. To return us to the very image of our Creator. Long before Adam ever fell, Christ was the Lamb who was slain from the very foundation of the world. Christ was always the original purpose of the Father. Incarnation was not a patch over fix. It was always the intention of the Godhead from eternity past to step into our humanity. Don’t be duped into fearing the G.O.D. preached under so many steeples who amounts to nothing more than a twisted human aberration cast upon the scriptures. Our Father of infinite freedom allowed His creation to explore to the hilt the foolish idea that there is any existence whatsoever apart from Mr. Existence Himself. He allowed us to run into the bushes in a delusional attempt to escape His presence – to pretend there was a place He didn’t exist. But separation never existed from His perspective – in our blindness, the illusion of separation only existed from our end. How much more can we now relish the work of Christ – the Chosen One elected to wake us up from that Adamic fallacy Who became the sacrificial ram in those bushes to cleanse us of a guilty conscience? Forever we shall cherish the reality that He alone is the Way, the Truth and the Life. All of creation resounds with this glorious good news, that we have been included in the life of God.
in relation. In the circle of the Trinity, there is no performance orientation. Jesus is not working off a checklist making sure he has obtained the Father’s approval. There is no pretense, no insecurity in this relationship between Father, Son and Spirit. You’ve been swept into this circle of unconditional love from time immemorial, predestined in Him – existing in His heart and imagination from before time began.
and our own fallen, subconscious, twisted projections – because we’ve cast a god in the shadow of our own false personalities. When all we have known is darkness, it seems difficult to comprehend the light breaking through our dimly opening eyes. We have barely understood our separation from that darkness. If we haven’t known what we’re separated from, how on earth will we know what we are separated to?
You will never run fast enough, jump high enough or bow low enough to please the solitary sky god who doesn’t care whether he is alone or not. But the Abba of Jesus is a far cry from that mythical divine solo being of our fearful fallen imagination. He thrives on the face-to-face interaction of spending Himself on the object of His love.
But there is an inherent knowing deep within mankind – no matter how suppressed or ignored it may be. A distant remembrance … an echo of the light of Paradise from which we came. Perhaps in the coming days, that light will be less and less explored through the medium of book and sermon and human instruction, as invaluable as these resources are to us along the way. It will be embraced in the raw, naked ground of contemplative experience with the living Jesus. Perhaps in the full brightness of this Day, we’ll see that the shimmer of light that’s been glancing through the shadows all along was none other than Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Our questions have been all wrong ... Never was there an issue of “Am I chosen?” As if God’s choice for us was ever in question. The answer to that question is not found in the depth of our conversion experience, the sincerity of our own personal repentance, or the tears and travailing we have spent trying to mend our own sinfulness. Not in some You’ve been elected for the unfathomable destiny questionable list of good deeds we’ve accumulated of enjoying Him forever. to prove our acceptance in that circle. Nor was it ever a question of a whimsical arbitrary lotto wheel in the sky, “Whom shall He choose?” The answer is seen most clearly in the heart of the Father, demonstrated in the sacrificial love the Son on our behalf. And the Spirit is awakening us to this love every day. As T.F. Torrance succinctly wrote, “Unconditional grace is too costly, for it calls in question all that we are and do, so that even in our repenting and believing we cannot rely upon our own response but only upon the response Christ has offered to the Father in our place and on our behalf.”
God has never veered from His original intent for humanity. The ancients longed to look into our day, to marvel at the ever-increasing glory of our sonship. The Last Adam has restored all things. We are merely rediscovering what always was. And at the final resurrection, we shall fully see that which was accomplished from the womb of the dawn. Our adoption existed in Christ long before we stumbled He is the Delight of paradise. And to Him, we are into the darkness of the first Adam. This article is excerpted from John Crowder’s upthe delight of paradise. Unlike the solitary monad coming book, Chosen for Paradise, available for god of religion, who doesn’t mind being alone – who It seems to me no wonder that most theology is pre-order online at: was alone for all eternity – the Father of Jesus is a apophatic (telling us what God is “not like”). So TheNewMystics.Com/Paradise God of pure, unadulterated other-giving love. God much processing takes place regarding sin, the law The end of the story culminates with a backdrop not unlike the beginning. Again we see a Garden and a River and the Tree of Life. Behold the predestined plan of God: Deity united with humanity. The intent and purpose and scope of the Gospel. God and man forever meshed in unending unity.
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Avoiding a Christless Universalism Excerpted from Divine Embrace It is so sad that for many years the church had to reduce its message to a heaven or hell theme in order to persuade people into a decision for Christ. The Gospel persuades man what God believes and what God achieved on humanity’s behalf in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. If the Gospel has the power to get people to fall head over heels in love with God and to love their neighbor as much as they love themselves, then this Gospel demands our total attention and emphasis. This automatically frees anyone anyway from the dread of hell or any sense of pending punishment. There is no law against the free expression of the fruit of the spirit. No one can exaggerate love, peace, joy, endurance, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness or self-control. Legalism can neither match nor contradict this. There is no law against love! The urgency to tell everyone the good news of their redeemed innocence because of the success of the cross and God’s act of kindness in Christ to rescue mankind from an inferior expression of life into the most attractive life possible can never be matched by a fear motive! Paul gives such context to the motivation of ministry when he declares that “the love of Christ constrains us, because we are convinced that one has died for all, therefore all have died!” Our message is powerful enough to stop people in their tracks with the best news ever! Sin in its every disguise doesn’t have what it takes to even remotely match the attraction and total contentment and appeal of the Christ life! The truth of our original identity revealed and redeemed in Christ, sets us totally free from every distortion in our minds about the life of our design. We declare the intimate resolve of God and his attraction to engage with the individual in the most personal tangible way possible. The biggest waste is to miss out on one day of fellowship with your Creator. I am often overwhelmed with the thought of the ultimate extent of the great work of redemption and act of reconciliation that God undertook to rescue the human race. Underestimating this great salvation has always been the biggest sin of the church. The greatest safeguard we can
by Francois du Toit
ever give someone against a wasted life is in our message that reveals truth in such a way that every possible excuse we could have to experience distance from God or to continue in any form of sin, guilt, fear or an inferior lifestyle is done away with. In its stead there remains only the wide-open arms of Father God longing to embrace the individual and the world into unrestricted friendship. There is enough content in the positive revelation of Christ in you to rid you of a sin consciousness and its dreadful consequence. Our message is not to persuade people that there is no hell, but rather to convince them that Christ suffered the horror of it to liberate us from its dread both in this life and the next. To influence people into making a decision for Christ based on hell is to distract from the truth. The focus and central theme of the Gospel is the revelation of the mystery of man’s inclusion in the death Jesus died and our co-resurrection and joint-position in the Father’s right hand.
Our message is powerful enough to stop people in their tracks with the best news ever! The liberating truth of the forgiveness of sins and an understanding of their innocence that leads to a tangible intimacy with the living God and spontaneous love for people. God pleads through us to bring people to realize their full inclusion in the Gospel. Let his love in you reveal him to your neighbors and the nations. His love is unthreatened and needs no defense! “This is my prayer request, that I may be able to present this message in the most effective way possible. Do not spoil your chance to touch others with the word through a lack of wisdom. Redeem the time by making the most of every opportunity (Time only finds its relevance in redemption-realities). Season your conversation with the revelation of grace. This remains the most attractive and
appropriate option to respond in every situation” (Col. 4:46). The object of New Testament ministry is not in the first place to get people to go to heaven one day! It is the unveiling of the most attractive life possible, the life of our design redeemed again. Now to be enjoyed in an immediate, intimate, daily, constant, conscious feedback encounter with the Living God in Spirit and in truth and undiluted friendship with our fellow man! He overlooked the times of ignorance and now urges all men everywhere to discover his eternal thoughts about mankind, revealed in Christ, when we were judged in righteousness in one man’s death, and raised in his resurrection as the trophy of justice redeemed! Having made purification for sins he sat down! His throne authority is established upon our redeemed innocence (Acts 17:30-31). The more we declare the integrity of God’s persuasion concerning us demonstrated in his Son’s obedience in our favor, the less we have to prompt people to believe; their believing will be most spontaneous! Even our faith is from him! “Your salvation was a grace thing from start to finish, you had no hand in it; because it is all God’s gift to you …” (Eph. 2:8 Mirror Bible). “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God” (Eph 2:8, RSV). Paul preached in such a way that many believed! (Acts 14:1) Yet he never asked for a show of hands to indicate their “decision” to believe! The more we make an issue of “Now do you believe this? Because if you don’t you’re going to hell!” the more we disguise the very message we’ve just proclaimed! God’s work of redemption is valid with immediate effect. “The hour all creation was waiting for has come. The Son of Man is glorified! The single grain of wheat did not abide alone; it fell into the earth and died and bore much fruit!” (John 12:23-24). Mankind died in his death and was made alive together with him and raised together with him and is now seated together with him in heavenly places. Every human life is fully and equally represented and justified in Continued on page 8
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< Continued from page 7 one man’s act of righteousness (see 2 Cor. 5:14,16 and Acts 10:28); Jesus reveals that man pre-existed in God; he defines us. He justified us and also glorified us. He redeemed our innocence and restored the glory we lost in Adam (Rom 3:23-24; prohoritso, pre-defined: like when an architect draws up a detailed plan; kaleo, to surname: identify by name). What further ground can there possibly be to condemn man? In his death he faced our judgment; in his resurrection he declares our innocence; the implications cannot be undone! He now occupies the highest seat of authority as the executive of our redemption in the throne room of God (See also Rom 4:25). Jesus is what God believes (Rom. 8:30-34, Mirror). If every human life is equally included in God’s economy of grace then man deserves to hear this Gospel more than what any man deserves to be judged. Our influence in society, regardless of our profession, is determined by our faith and not our job-description; our faith is sourced in Christ, in his perfect work of reconciling a hostile world to himself. While we proclaim the sinful state of humanity we are not proclaiming the gospel, and life-changing faith cannot come to the people! This conviction is critical, if we are serious about impacting our world with the proclamation of the Gospel. It is so sad that we allow the deception of a Christless “universalism” to hijack words like ‘inclusion’ and ‘universal.’ These words powerfully and significantly describe the masterful genius of God when Jesus died humanity’s death! This is the mystery that none of the rulers of this world understood, otherwise they would never have crucified the Lord of glory! The point is that the gospel is good news for all people because the gospel reveals how fully included they are in Christ by God’s doing; truth is already true before anyone believes it; a diamond doesn’t become a diamond when you discover it. Obviously God hid the diamonds and treasures in the earth for man and not from man! That is why we preach with passion, urgency and persuasion in order to awaken every man’s mind and instruct every man and present every man perfect in Christ (Col 1:28), because the mystery that was hidden for ages and generations is now revealed. We have underestimated the Gospel of Jesus Christ for centuries, because we have adopted an interpretation that robbed us of the true impact of salvation in its relation to life in the here and now on planet earth. We have felt more comfortable with a faith that refers us to a place in heaven one day rather than to see faith as the now and
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relevant substance of things we always longed for and the evidence of unseen realities around us and within our grasp; the life of our design is redeemed! Jesus didn’t die 99 percent or for 99 percent. He died humanity’s death one hundred percent! If Paul had to compromise the last part of verse 14 of 2 Cor. 5 to read: “one died for all therefore only those who follow the prescriptions to qualify, have also died,” then he would have had to change the first half of the verse as well! Only the love of Christ can make a calculation of such enormous proportion! The same all who died in his death were raised together with him! According to the only scripture in the entire OT that refers to the third day resurrection, we are included! “After two days God will revive us, on the third day he will raise us up!” (Hos. 6:2) When Paul ponders this scripture (he also quotes it in 1 Cor. 15:4) he makes one of his most radical discoveries in his gospel; he writes,
Jesus didn’t die 99 percent or for 99 percent. He died humanity’s death one hundred percent! “While we were dead in our sins (before we knew or believed the gospel) God made us alive together with Christ, and raised us (mankind) together with Christ and seated us together with Christ in heavenly places!” That is the point of the gospel; what happened to Christ happened to us before anyone but God believed it! We’re not window shopping here; we are gazing into the mirror! For so many years we’ve read 2 Cor. 5:17 out of its context (“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation ...”). Verse 14 and 16 gives context to verse 17. Therefore the IF cannot be a condition it must be a conclusion otherwise verse 14 (“all died”) also becomes ‘iffy’! The gates of hades will not prevail against the testimony of truth; the weapons of our already won warfare tears down every argument and resistance to the knowledge of God; love wins, I can see even the ‘other brother’ awakening to the festive sound! I suppose I would still have questions if I think about all the contradictions and issues that theology presents us with; but for years now I have determined to go with what I know by revelation concerning his perfect work of redeeming his image in us: to live daily in the full benefit of that and to
unveil him in every person I have the privilege to meet; that keeps one pretty busy enjoying him and sharing him! I am addicted to the Philemon 1:6 kind of koinonia! The koinonia (communication) of our faith is ignited by the acknowledging of every good thing that is in us in Christ! Exploring the extent of his love initiative and where it leads us truly exceeds any limitation or dimension! And we are all in it together! Wow what eternal bliss and glory we participate in! The hubble telescope surely increases our horizon daily, only to realize again and again that we are dealing with measureless dimensions in outer space that reflect in us! That we may be filled with all the fullness of God is a thought that breaks all boundaries; we are fearfully and wonderfully made and equally fearfully and wonderfully redeemed! The whole earth is full of his glory, “and as truly as I live”, says the Lord, “all the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of my glory, even as the waters cover the sea!” Jesus said: if you believe that I am what the scriptures are all about, then you will discover that you are what I am all about and rivers of living waters will gush out of your innermost being! The good news unveils the love of God spectacularly! The dimensions of his love exceed any concept we could possibly have of height, length, breadth or depth! The gospel can be underestimated, but never exaggerated! The half could not be told of Solomon’s wisdom and wealth and in Luke 11 Jesus says, “A greater than Solomon is here!” And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all therein, saying, “To him who sits upon the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!” (Rev. 5:13). While we argue that all would be okay regardless, we still miss the point! The urgency to communicate this gospel is not compromised thru speculations about the future, but constrained by the revelation of how God’s faith included hostile indifferent mankind in the sacrificial death of Christ, and his triumphant resurrection, when he represented the entire human race; multitudes are living in torment right now because they have never heard the truth of their redemption; what a waste to postpone redemption to life hereafter if it can happen now! How all will eventually discover what they have missed and how they will be ‘judged’ is none of our business anyway; it is our business to live the living epistle to be known and read by all men! And to give everyone within earshot on this planet the opportunity to hear truth that ignites life-changing faith!
FOUNDATIONS IN BLISS by Rod Williams
You were physically conceived in an ecstatic expression of joyful union here, but you began much earlier in the delightful expectation of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. All creation began in the delight of God. We were made by joy for joy. Created for Joy I (Wisdom) was beside Him as a master of crafts. I was having fun, smiling before Him all the time, frolicking with His inhabited earth and delighting in the human race (Prov. 8:30-31, CEB). Mankind was not created by a solitary sourpuss or a grumpy group. Janus is not your daddy. Zeus, Apollo or Neptune have no actual children. We do not have our origin in three angry judges in an empty courtroom looking for legal entertainment in the religious rigmarole of doctrinal dilemmas, judgmental juries, afterlife arguments or missional melees. “For God is good — or rather, of all goodness He is the Fountainhead,” said Athanasius of Alexandria. i Our genesis did not spring from boredom, a bet, or a boondoggle. We were made for joy by joy. Though a highly underrated value on earth, “Joy is the serious business of heaven,” says C.S. Lewis. There love, joy and peace are as ever present and inseparable as the blessed Trinity itself. Much of the church has become the quencher of joy, rather than a source of joy. Yet, Joy is the native currency of that City — Zion — to which we most truly belong. Robert Farrar Capon says: Why do we marry, why take friends and lovers? Why give ourselves to music, painting, chemistry or cooking? Out of simple delight in the resident goodness of creation, of course; but out of more than that, too. Half earth’s gorgeousness lies hidden in the glimpsed city it longs to become. We were created by the ultimate loving functional family of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, who made man and woman in their image, to be like them. We were conceived in peace and born of love, to simply share in their joy.
“He caused things to be other than Himself that, being distinct, they may learn to love Him, and achieve union instead of mere sameness,” writes Lewis. ii Losing Our Way We lost our way because we forgot who we are. We know that “the joy of the Lord is your strength” (Neh. 8:10), but as we lost sight of who created us, we became separated from Joy as our natural state of being. Depression, shame, guilt and all their cousins are not real, but the absence of consciousness of our actual being in God which is love, joy and peace. “The presence and love of the Word had called them into being; inevitably, therefore when they lost the knowledge of God, they lost existence with it; for it is God alone Who exists, evil is non-being, the negation and antithesis of good,” writes Athanasius. The Good News is simple: We were created by the loving relationship of Father, Son and Holy Spirit to enjoy a loving relationship with them and each other. We become what we behold. Understanding our creation and recreation is the foundation of our Bliss. But we have forgotten the rock from which we were hewn. Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee (Deut. 31:18, KJV). …you forgot the Mighty Rock, the source of your life (Deut. 31:18, CEV). …look to the rock from which you were hewn and to the hole in the quarry from which you were dug (Isa. 51:1b, AMP). We Believed Bad News The Good News is simple: We were created by the loving relationship of Father, Son and Holy Spirit to enjoy a loving relationship with them and each other. We were made by joy for joy.
Yet, the original lie still rings in our ears with more complicated bad news, that our behavior can separate us from a God who is everywhere and change His very nature from unconditional love to very conditional hatred. The lie was that we can choose something or do something to become more like God and make Him love us, when we are already like Him and loved unconditionally by Him, simply because He begat us. We became convinced that we live in a false universe where we can do something to make Him our Father by our will, when we are already His children by His will. We have lost sight of the face of our genesis. We do not know our Father or His Son and turned a deaf ear to the entreating of the Holy Spirit. Paul’s Battle and Ours Paul would preach the reality of what Jesus accomplished — grace, freedom, new life and joy. Paul’s Gospel was Good News — powerful and liberating. For it is by free grace (God’s unmerited favor) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ’s salvation) through [your] faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [of your own doing, it came not through your own striving], but it is the gift of God; Not because of works [not the fulfillment of the Law’s demands], lest any man should boast. [It is not the result of what anyone can possibly do, so no one can pride himself in it or take glory to himself.] For we are God’s [own] handiwork (His workmanship), recreated in Christ Jesus, [born anew] that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us [taking paths which He prepared ahead of time], that we should walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live] (Eph. 2:8-10, AMP). Following right behind Paul’s preaching and teaching the grace of God, would come leaders in religion mitigating the work of Christ and turning people back to the false reality of being the enemy of God unless reliance on the dead works of the law were restarted in their hearts. They sought to bring back the chains of law to mix with the freedom of grace, as Paul explains in Galatians. They preached a God with two faces, like Janus of
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the Greeks, having mercy and judgment in conflict. They wanted to add conditions to the unconditional love of God. Their “serious” religion sought to bring back the old false identity continually filing legal briefs with an imaginary judge, instead of playing joyfully in relationship with our true Father. Attempts at serious religion continue today, robbing the joy of many. A Complicated Inner World In modern evangelicalism we have those who still want to reinstall the dark and complicated joyless inner world from which Jesus came to free. In the modern nongospel bad news, the simple, joyous reality of present union that Jesus portrayed in John 14:20 has been replaced by an impossible conundrum. We are told that we are a three-part human being with only one part – your spirit – partially saved when Jesus said He came to seek and to save that which was lost. We supposedly have two completely different natures, old and new in conflict, warring every day when Jesus said He gave us His peace. We are given a horribly complicated self sanctification plan with lists of procedures designed to reform ourselves when Jesus said He was our sanctification and we were born anew when Jesus was raised from the dead. Teachers go to great lengths to increase our faith in our defeated adversary to draw us back into a battle that Jesus has already won. Some want to increase our awareness of generational curses to the point that Jesus seems to have accomplished nothing, when, in fact, He broke every curse back to Adam, whoever our relatives were. We have been taught to see an external Jesus continuing to plead with a two-faced Father in a Trinity split up over the issue of sin, instead of the God who was in Christ Jesus reconciling the cosmos to Himself, not counting men’s sins against them (2 Cor. 5:19). We are effectively told that this two-faced demon Greek God of Janus, is our Father; that the Son, though capable of all Creation, was incapable or unwilling to provide a complete salvation; and the Holy Sprit as the Comforter and guide to all truth has been replaced with a Holy Bible featuring passages out of context, highlighted by the accuser of the brethren. We are told that God can’t be in the presence of sin, which effectively denies that Jesus is the Son of God. Our faith in the enemy to deceive us has been raised to the point that we do not believe the Holy Spirit within us whom Jesus said could be trusted to lead us into all truth. Religion sells a tiny external Jesus of limited accomplishment, instead of the Creator, Living Word and Light of the World of John 1 and Colossians 1 by whom all things hold together and in whom
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all creation — space and time itself — exist. In the midst of this confusion, we have reduced the significance of sin to a mere legal issue or God’s cosmic bookkeeping problem, instead of owning the massive human tragedy of the pain we inflict on one another and acknowledging that we have no real choice but the choice of our Savior to make us new. Knowing the Father. Many of us are still in the state that Jesus found Israel when He came in the flesh — We do not know the Good Father of Jesus is indeed our Father. C. Baxter Kruger explains: Jesus is dead serious: no one knows the Father. Reconciliation is not about changing God, as if somehow our failure altered the Father’s heart or his eternal dreams for us. Reconciliation is about how the love of the Father, Son and Spirit finds a way to do the impossible — reach us in our terrible confusion. The problem for God is not, “How can I declare righteous those who are not righteous,” but “How can I restore to communion with me those so utterly lost in their own fallen minds that they hate me and run for cover from my sight?”
Teachers go to great lengths to increase our faith in our defeated adversary to draw us back into a battle that Jesus has already won. How do you relate to one who does not want to relate to you? How do you get inside of blindness? How do you reach one whose projecting shame so disfigures your own face that he disowns your love and hides in fear at your sight? In our pain we, like Adam, have condemned ourselves, created a god in the image of our shame, and hand-crafted a religion to go with it, all of which we project onto the Father and defend with a vengeance. Coming Home The 100 percent God and Creator, Jesus Christ, became 100 percent man to reach us in our darkness and bring us home to joy. Our Creator became creation so that all creation might die to all false identities and all false realities and all live as a new creation in the joy of conscious relationship. Jesus is “homoousios to Patri” — the same essence as the Father. He said that, if you have seen Him, you have seen the Father. Jesus came to show us that His Good Father was our Good Father. Kruger elaborates:
To speak the name of Jesus biblically and in the tradition of the early church is to say “Father’s eternal Son;” and it is to say, “Holy Spirit Anointed One;” and it is to say, “Creator and sustainer of all things.” Therefore to speak the name of Jesus is to say that the Triune God, the human race and creation are not separated but together in relationship. Jesus is the relationship. God Made Peace With Us We cannot climb into the peace of God. When we were enemies in our minds, He made peace with us, cancelled the law and any accusation against us it might bring and reconciled us completely to Himself (Col.1–3, 2 Cor. 5–6). God’s unending peace with mankind was His work and not ours. Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 5:1). In contemplating Paul’s wonderful statement of Romans 5:1, Karl Barth explains how we enter into the Peace God has already made with us: The known man, the man of unrighteousness, enters into the peace of the Unknown God – this is the ineffable light into which we enter by faith. Peace with God is the peace concluded between man and God. It is effected by a God-given transformation of man’s whole disposition, through which the proper relation between the Creator the creature is reestablished and by means of which also the only true and proper love towards God is brought into being… Peace implies its establishment and realization in God. Otherwise it has no existence and cannot be possessed. We encounter the action of God in contemplating the crucified and risen Christ. His action does not depend upon some experience of our souls or upon some stirring in our spirits. Our righteousness before God does not rest there, nor does the proper ordering of our relation with God hang upon such experiences. Faith and its power is invisible and non-historical. Faith is the point at which life becomes death and death becomes life in Christ; and by its operation we are resolved and reconciled to God. iii Our peace and joy originate in the initiative of God toward us, simply because we belong to Him. Rod Williams serves as senior coordinator of Cana New Wine Seminary. Athanasius of Alexandria, On the Incarnation.
i
ii
C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain. iii
Karl Barth, The Epistle to the Romans, translated by Edwin C
Hoskins, Rom. 5:1.
Leper Colonies, Slums & Gospel Glory! Over the years, Sons of Thunder has hosted several trips to Indonesia. We’ve seen powerful manifestations of glory as meetings have been covered with miraculous gold dust, tumors have disappeared and the gospel has been preached to the poor. There is always a heavy weight of glory and strong angelic activity every time we visit. One of our favorite places to visit are the local leper colonies, where the rejected and outcast of society absolutely melt at the slightest touch of affection. And that’s exactly where we’re headed in 2015! John Crowder and team will visit Jakarta, Indonesia in November 2015 to release the glorious Good News equipping the church with a national supernatural grace conference, imparting the intoxicating revelation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And while in the country, the team will be visiting the poorest of the poor, releasing the love of God and bringing the new wine of salvation bliss to the margins of society. We will be visiting the slums and destitute areas of the region, bringing a big dose of divine joy and a miraculous display of the gospel of life. Indonesia is one of the largest Muslim nations in the world. In 1998, during a massive persecution, more than 600 churches were burned to the ground, pastors were murdered and rioting took place in the streets. However, since that time, the Christian population has seen a massive growth, with estimates
saying it had doubled by 2000 to more than 17.9 million, and has continued to multiply at a tremendous rate since then. Although periodic persecution and bombings continue against Christians, the church there is flourishing and is undoubtedly in the midst of an awakening. Sons of Thunder has hosted missions to the poor living in cemeteries, hosted mas-
sive feasts for the hungry and overall seen Jesus walking in the slums. Our trip will be twofold: equipping the church and reaching the poor. There is a fresh interest in the message of grace that has been stirring in the church in Indonesia, so we are excited to bring not only the tangible power of God, but also solid finished work teaching to equip believers. Our application process is simple. Just visit us online at www.TheNewMystics.Com/indy and place your initial deposit of $500 to hold your spot on the team. Space will be limited on this trip, so the cutoff deadline for your deposit is due by Aug. 15, 2015. This is a “make your own way” trip, which means you will be responsible for purchasing your own round-trip airline ticket to Jakarta, Indonesia. We encourage folks to begin fund-raising at your local church or through family and friends who may want to support your mission, provide air miles, etc. Email us with any questions at info@thenewmystics.org. Early registration recommended. Total Cost: $1,800 Team Applications Due: Aug. 15, 2015 Final Trip Payment Due: Oct. 15, 2015 Trip Dates: Nov. 10-16, 2015 Registration: www.TheNewMystics.Com/indy
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Itinerary Find the Party Near You!
Schools, conferences & mission trips with John Crowder
2015 Mystical School Houston
January 9-11
Texas Regional School
Mystical School Liverpool
February 6-9
UK Regional School
Mystical School Iceland
February 9-11
Reykjavík, Iceland
Mystical School Switzerland
February 20-22
Basel, Switzerland
Atlanta, Georgia
February 25-26
USA Tour Southeast
Newport News, Virginia
February 27-28
USA Tour East Coast
Kansas City, Missouri
March 1-2
USA Tour Midwest
Pt Hueneme, So. California
March 3-4
USA Tour West Coast
Mystical School California
March 13-15
Chico, North California
Mystical School Vegas
March 20-22
Las Vegas, Nevada
Mexico Mission Trip
March 29-April 4
Monterrey, Mexico
Mystical School Colorado
April 24-26
Ft. Collins, Colorado
Mystical School Florida
May 15-17
Jacksonville, Florida
Mystical School Chicago
May 29-31
Great Lakes Regional School
Cana New Wine Seminary
June 2-Aug. 9
Portland, Oregon
Middle East Mission
June 9-15
Amman, Jordan
Indonesia Joy Mission
November 10-16
Jakarta, Indonesia
Schedule subject to change. Sign up for events early at:
www.thenewmystics.com 12 | the ecstatic : fall-winter 2014
Live Monthly Web Conference: Interact With John Crowder
Our interactive monthly Web seminar, Inner Sanctum, connects supernatural gospel grace drinkers all around the world on a regular basis. The live teaching and exclusive online chat features have enabled us to bring fresh revelation to viewers right to their homes, churches and house groups. Each month, we answer your burning questions and unpackage the glorious gospel in a fresh, intoxicating atmosphere of impartation and glory! If you’re diving into grace revelation and want to plug in deeper with lifechanging messages, we invite you or your group to join as a member of our online community at www.TheNewMystics.TV Newly Relaunched – More User Friendly & More Features! We just overhauled the Inner Sanctum with lots of new features, including a social media platform where you can create a profile, share pictures and chat with friends 24-hours a day. Here is a list of upcoming live broadcast dates – so mark your calendar. This schedule is subject to change, so keep an eye on the Web site.
Upcoming Broadcast Schedule: December 14 January 18 February 15 March 8 April 19 May 24 June 21
www.TheNewMystics.TV
All seminars are held on Sunday nights at 9 p.m. Eastern/6 p.m. Pacific
Online Community ... Intoxicating Fun! Our ministry events are full of joy and impartation, but let’s face it ... you can’t make it to every conference in the world! Inner Sanctum is a way to plug you into a steady diet of gospel revelation right in your own home. Everywhere we travel, people are always asking us, “How can we stay connected with the Message?” The Inner Sanctum is a great tool as you grow in grace. Our Most Comprehensive Teaching Resource! Since we’ve launched Inner Sanctum at TheNewMystics.TV, we have posted more than 40 hours of archived teachings – and as a member, you receive instant access to watch all of this footage, anytime! Your monthly membership contribution ($19.95) also helps support our ministry endeavors all around the world! Gather your family and friends to enjoy each month’s event together! Each month, you can take part in our live, interactive seminars where John Crowder spends several hours engaging one-on-one with viewers right from his home study. Ask us your questions live for our real-time Q&A ... or just kick back and have a laugh as other members log in and join the fun. These are NOT recorded church meetings! Instead, John engages live-in-person with viewers, answering your questions and getting you activated in the gospel message. Join us as we savor the bliss of mystical Christianity and the supernatural realities of the new creation. Finally, a fun way to feast on the finished work no matter where you live!
Mission to War Zone Refugees, Arab Nations Event
A few applicants will be able to join John Crowder as we venture to the Middle East summer 2015 to minister at a regional gathering of many surrounding Arab nations, as well as provide outreach to the poorest of the poor from war-torn Syria at the refugee camps. This is the first time since 2008 we have opened up a Middle East trip for team travel. Interested applicants should sign up early, prior to the March 1 registration deadline.
Jordan escaping the conflict in their own homeland.
Our team will make daily visits to refugee camps outside Amman, bringing groceries, love and carrying a catalytic atmosphere of the glory of God. Team members will heal the sick and bring some tangible relief to those in need. Anticipate a heavy weight of glory as we venture where few Western Christians dare to tread. This trip is not for the faint of heart! Our application process is simple. Just visit us online at www.TheNewMystics.Com/Danger and place your initial deposit of $500 to hold your spot on the team. Space will be limited on this trip, so the cutoff deadline for your deposit is due by March 1, 2015. This is a â&#x20AC;&#x153;make your own wayâ&#x20AC;? trip, which means you will be responsible for purchasing your own round-trip airline ticket to Amman, Jordan. We encourage folks to begin fund-raising at your local church or through family and friends who may want to support your mission, provide air miles, etc. Email us with any questions at info@thenewmystics.org.
Total Cost: $1,800 Team Applications Due: MARCH 1, 2015 Final Trip Payment Due: MAY 1, 2015 Trip Dates: JUNE 9-15, 2015 Registration: www.TheNewMystics.Com/Danger
The Sons of Thunder team will travel to Amman, Jordan where a network of pastors and believers from Lebanon, Syria and the surrounding region will converge for several days of equipping and impartation as we share the supernatural gospel of grace and unpackage the message of the finished work of the cross. Team members will be involved in hands-on prayer ministry, healing the sick, releasing the wine of the Spirit and some may even have the opportunity to preach. Not only will we provide invaluable teaching to Arab Christians, but team members will regularly pray and share with Muslim refugees who have fled the Syrian war zone. The United Nations estimates that 190,000 people have been killed in Syria since the onset of a national uprising there in March 2011 that spiraled into civil war. The threat of violence and political turmoil also brought economic instability, including shortage of fuel, food and basic necessities. This has sent approximately 1.2 million refugees fleeing into neighboring Jordan. Many refugees arrive into UN tent camps with no more than the few possessions they can carry. Unable to easily work and integrate into Jordanian society with refugee status, Syrians face a tremendous struggle and dire poverty. In addition, an estimated 30,000 Iraqi refugees are also currently in
the ecstatic : fall-winter 2014 | 13
ONE MORE SUMMER TO JOIN THE CANA EXPERIENCE
Here at Sons of Thunder we had considered converting our Cana Seminary into an online-only course after Summer 2014. But there is something about being in a non-stop, full-throttle atmosphere with other Gospel junkies – living life, exploring community and experiencing the Glory together in complete immersion for three months … We couldn’t resist - we had to host just one more summer of Cana in Portland next year in 2015!
Last summer was chock full of testimonies of radically changed lives. Every day the pure grace message was detoxing folks from religion and intoxing them on the sweet Holy Ghost. It seemed bodies were continuously piled up and vibrating in the parking lot, and the party spilled over into bars, on the streets and countless miracles and divine encounters marked the summer. Students ate meals together. Hiked the Oregon mountains. Effortlessly manifested the kingdom living life together on the streets of Portland. Cana is our first venture at launching a full time ministry school. We have assembled a massive, colorful combination of the most renowned international grace speakers on one summer-long roster. Doctorate level theologians and mystical ecstatics on the same platform serving up an intensive schedule of life-changing, revelatory espresso! Cana is an experiential, contemplative seminary geared to infuse a deep impartation of the Gospel of grace in an atmosphere of joy unspeakable. Wine and word. Grace and truth. Presence and theology. A drunken seminary! John Crowder hosts this unique seminary for wildeyed wonder junkies to be deeply established in the gospel message. A summer of pure, unfiltered grace. Cana offers a unique marriage of paradigm shifting, happy theology woven seamlessly with the intoxicating practice of the presence of God. Naturally supernatural living. We have long dreamed of a drunken seminary where happy theology meets Christian mysticism. This three-month theological circus of fun aims to saturate students with the Living Word - the wine of the New Covenant. For Amateurs and Professionals Cana’s course of study is accessible enough for folks with no theological background, yet guaranteed to deeply challenge and train existing pastors and ministers. Whether you want continuing education or a summer supplement to your current college
14 | the ecstatic : fall-winter 2014
or ministry school, Cana promises to deliver groundbreaking revelation for people of all walks of life. Or maybe you just need a vacation! Cana is not an accredited institution for those merely seeking a preaching career. Cana is for those authentically desiring to plunge into the Message itself – who want a deep, foundational paradigm shift of the finished work of Christ in an atmosphere of mystical Christianity. Whether you are called to missions, ministry or simply to life ... Cana is not just a ministry school for the career-minded. It is a Message School. Something will happen to you. Supernatural Impartation Doctrine is not to be divorced from experiential reality. Cana is chock full of hands-on, supernatural impartation – we load it heavy with miracle outreaches and a contemplative exercise of the practice of the presence of God. But unlike most ministry schools that offer techniques, tools and formulas – the vision for Cana is far different. All of our experiential, supernatural realities flow from the revelation of Christ and Him crucified. Not our religious activities. No Charismatic striving. Our theology is sourced in the finished work of the cross, and the unforced rhythm of grace is the core frequency of Cana. Our vision is to have a place where the wine and the word flow seamlessly as one. It’s a seminary. And it’s a party. School Calendar Because we only have plans for one more year … we highly recommend that anyone with an interest take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. We have no plans to host another live Cana School beyond 2015. Last year the course filled up, so we recommend applicants sign up early to reserve a spot. Classes run four days a week, along with the with many spontaneous outreaches and community activities. Last summer was a wild time of miracles on the streets, in the pubs – even spilling over into gay bars, street festivals and tarot card shops! With barbecues, paintball, concerts, rafting and traversing beautiful Oregon on the weekends – the students spent plenty of time enjoying natural life together, in addition to the intensive “spiritual stuff.” Planning an entire summer takes preparation. But that’s part of the faith journey of taking risks and expecting God to provide time and resources. Your
first baby step of faith is to apply! We are encouraging folks to apply extremely early. The registration deadline and deposit is due Jan. 15, 2015 but will close earlier if the school fills up. Since our last summer course was packed out, we anticipate limited space! We try to keep the school smaller and more interpersonal to foster deep relationships and spiritual development. Cana runs summer-long from June 2 to August 9 of 2015 and will be held again in Portland, Oregon. Visit www.Cana.Co for information on registration, tuition fees and deadlines. Tuition for the entire summer course is $2,500. Students still have plenty of time to complete their payment schedule, but remember that your initial deposit and application need to arrive by mid-January to lock in your spot. Course themes Each speaker carries a different flavor and ability to articulate the Person of Grace. Core themes will involve: the Finished Work of the Cross; Trinitarian theology; New Covenant Grace; Mystical Christianity; Contemplative Spirituality; and Supernatural Experience. But many students said they valued the community life on par with the teaching itself. Cana in Galilee was the place of Jesus’ first miracle. It’s where the water of the word is transformed into the wine of contemplative experience. Students, pastors and lay leaders who want a grace immersion are invited to join us for a summer of intensive theological training and hands-on impartation in an atmosphere of Gospel bliss. Our Web site at www.Cana.Co answers all manner of questions pertaining to housing, foreign student visas, transportation, childcare and more. We recommend serious applicants begin the planning process immediately by visiting us online. Cana Staff John Crowder will serve as dean of the school and will minister to students every week. John loves to push the envelope and provoke God’s people to extreme joy. He is an internationally recognized author, speaker, and advocate of supernatural Christianity. John is on the forefront of a fresh renewal movement marked by ecstatic experience, miracles and recovering the foundational preaching of the cross of grace. John hosts evangelism crusades, plants children’s homes and equips the church at events worldwide. Along with his bi-annual magazine, The Ecstatic,
John has also written six books â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Chosen for Paradise, Cosmos Reborn, Mystical Union, Seven Spirits Burning, The Ecstasy of Loving God and The New Mystics. Rod Williams will serve as senior coordinator at Cana. Rod has a theology degree and heads Kainos Church, a new community that has evolved out of the former Santa Cruz Church planted by John Crowder and Benjamin Dunn in California. Rod has years of pastoral experience and leadership with churches and home fellowship networks. He has a passion for equipping believers in the Gospel of grace and will be a regular, weekly contributing speaker at Cana. Tony Seigh is an explosively happy person. He will serve as student life leader at Cana. Tony has worked as a youth leader, internship coordinator
and outreach leader with the International House of Prayer in Kansas City. After being awakened to the gospel of grace, Tony launched The Joy Boys â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a joint itinerate ministry with friends geared at sharing the good news of the Gospel, bolstering our identity in Christ and confirming the message with signs and wonders. Tony is known for contagious, supernatural joy and will lead students on outreaches at Cana.
Also check out our Cana Facebook page where you can find room mates and chat with other students about housing and campus life.
Find out more and reserve your spot in the cosmic classroom by visiting www.Cana.Co. There you can also find more information about the schedule, housing, tuition payments, childcare, special needs and more. International students are welcome. Last year we had students from Germany, Austria, Mexico, South Africa, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and across the US.
Reach us by mail at: Sons of Thunder P.O. Box 40 Marylhurst, OR 97036
Contact Us On the web: www.Cana.Co Facebook: www.Facebook.com/canaseminary
You can email us at: cana@thenewmystics.org Or call us toll-free at 877-343-3245
Planned Course Instructors Cana New Wine Seminary Summer 2015
Dr. C. Baxter Kruger
Winnie Banov
Lily Crowder
Matt Spinks
Francois Du Toit
Dr. Eric Wilding
Dr. Steve McVey
Jeff Turner Application & Deposit Deadline January 15, 2015* Join us in Portland, Oregon for a lifechanging summer! www.Cana.Co
John Crowder Dean
Tony Seigh Student Life Teacher
Rod Williams Senior Coordinator
*Registration will close earlier if school fills up the ecstatic : fall-winter 2014 | 15
Mission Team Visits Bangkok Transvestites
Thailand is the international hub of gender bending – a worldwide center of sexual alterations. The capital gets more than 11 million foreign visitors per year – the focal point of the sex tourism industry. Amid this rampant sex industry are the ladyboys – a loose term for male homosexuals who dress as women. Large percentages have undergone some degree of sex change from Thailand’s street surgeons. The term “ladyboy” applies to any intersex, transgender, transsexual or homosexual cross-dressing males. Thailand has the most transsexuals per capita in the world at 300,000-500,000. Up to half of transgender people in the Asia-Pacific could have HIV. With all our trips, we often come back home with more than we gave away. There is a massive blessing on pilgrimage, and everyone experienced such an indescribable impartation of love and insight into the gospel along the way. In all honesty, ministering to transvestites in some of the seediest areas of the world would not be “comfortable” for most people. But the joy of the journey and the amazing revelation of seeing Christ in those dark places was well worth the adventure. The late monk Thomas Merton, who coincidentally died in Bangkok, left us an amazing quote that summarized the journey:
Our team just returned from one of the wildest, most unusual mission trips ever. John Crowder and Dave Vaughan brought a joint team to Bangkok, Thailand for a week of outreach and sharing the love of Jesus to the transgender ladyboy community. In November our team ventured to the red light districts of the city to tangibly release God’s loving presence, instilling identity, hope and honor – treating them like human beings who carry the image of their Creator. Our aim was to awaken them to the reality of their True Self in Christ. Obviously, the ladyboy community is known for its glam, showmanship and flamboyance. Our team carried the happy, intoxicating joy of God’s presence into an area most Christians would fear to venture!
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Nearly all our local connections in Bangkok fell apart at the last minute, and we were forced to dive into the deep end, navigating our way by the Spirit! Through conversations, laughter and prayer, our aim was to count conversations more than conversions. Departing from any notion of non-personal proselytizing, we simply entered the brokenness of their world, listened and connected. While the church has failed miserably at reaching the homosexual community, we felt the way forward was to drop any agendas and simply allow love to overcome any obstacle to the truth of the gospel. Also on the trip, we had the opportunity to preach the gospel to hundreds of Pakistani refugees – mostly Christians who fled that nation due to persecution, but whose situation is dire in Thailand due to lack of work and immigration status.
Our task now is to learn that if we can voyage to the ends of the earth and find ourselves in the aborigine who most differs from ourselves, we will have made a fruitful pilgrimage. That is why pilgrimage is necessary, in some shape or other. Mere sitting at home and meditating on the divine presence is not enough for our time. We have to come to the end of a long journey and see that the stranger we meet there is no other than ourselves - which is the same as saying we find Christ in him. For if the Lord is risen, as He said, He is actually or potentially alive in every man. Our pilgrimage to the Holy Sepulcher is our pilgrimage to the stranger who is Christ our fellow pilgrim and brother. Our next trek to Southeast Asia is coming up in November 2015, when we’ll take a team to Jakarta, Indonesia. To find out more about mission trip opportunities where you can join us, visit us online at www.TheNewMystics.com/missions.
john crowder :: USA TOUR music with Tim Wright Feb/Mar 2015
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the ecstatic : fall-winter 2014 | 17
Meditations of the Mystics
Back to Our First Nature: The Mind and Meditation When the importance of some form of meditation is pointed out to us, we often think we are being told about an esoteric, high-level, Buddhist practice, something largely unnecessary for ordinary folks. We imagine that meditation is an add-on for the elite and the few; and largely pursued by those who are already introverts. (I am coming to prefer the word meditation for the disciplined practice itself, and contemplation for the non-dual mind, eyes and behavior that result from such practices.)
hurts. God surely understands this; however, since we do not, we find it hard to forgive one another.
Meditation is often presented in a way that misses how urgent and central the underlying problem is for each and every one of us: we are all well practiced in a repetitive way of thinking – and the problem is not what we think nearly as much as our universal entrapment in our own compulsive way of thinking. The problem only becomes clear when we fully realize that we are all victims of the mind and its hard wiring. The human capacity for true inner freedom is initially quite small in all of us, because our mammalian brain pretty much runs the show – until love, suffering or meditation expands it.
Jesus puts it this way, “Be careful how you see!” and in another place, “Be careful how you hear!” If we do not take ownership and responsibility for our inner processes (largely unconscious tendencies to fear, judge, eliminate, dismiss, attack, merge, take control, pull back and endless variations on these which are eventually “second nature” to us), we quite simply do not see reality or truth – or others – at all. We remain addicted to ourselves and our compulsive reactions, which seem entirely real and compelling because we have no distance from them. Perhaps this is the core and the real meaning of sin, and perhaps sin is simply an older word for what we now call addiction. It is indeed a disease, but a disease that can be cured!
I have become much more patient, forgiving and even loving, as I realize that most people have little choice in their initial knee-jerk reactions to almost everything. What it means to be a spiritual person is quite simply to become someone who is expanding one’s bandwidth of free, conscious responses to the moment. Normally, this can only happen for those who experience being held safely inside of love (which many of us would call God). We are all conditioned, programmed, wounded, addicted, repetitive, habituated and compulsive in our brain processes – which indeed largely determines the content of what gets in and what stays out. True free will is largely a myth, as most of us initially operate almost entirely out of conditioning and culture (read The Social Animal, where I think the author, David Brooks, makes this point on many levels). We now even recognize that many (most?) of our early attempts at friendship or sexuality are little more than “eroticized wounding” of one another, as we all act out of our own deep needs and
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To clarify, the problem in meditation is not the what of our thoughts but the how of our thoughts. How do we receive the moment? Or do we receive it all? Maybe we attack it, push it away or deny any moment that asks something of us. We all must see these deep unconscious patterns or we are minimally free or conscious.
Jesus rightly and humbly said of his executioners, “You do not know what you are doing” (Luke 23:34), and I would further add, “Or why you even need or want to do it.” Meditation gives us a necessary distance from ourselves when we are faithful to its practice of silence – instead of too quickly jumping on board with our own feelings and opinions, which are initially “all about me!” Many of us resist meditation because we think we are being told not to value the mind and its capacity for reason, logic and necessary judgments. That is not the point of meditative practice at all – in fact, authentic meditation will sharpen and deepen these very faculties, along with purifying our emotional responses – by getting “us” out of the way with our obsessive and repetitive, even narcissistic and therefore unhelpful, reactions. Without some depth of spirituality, most of us are indeed totally predictable. We cannot act with freshness or free-
by Fr. Richard Rohr
dom; we largely re-act with our dominant mammalian brain in the same old way over and over again, even when it is not working for us. A good teacher does not take away our “good mind” but simply frees us from how we addictively process information. When we change our how, normally our what takes care of itself. And we will naturally move toward compassion, patience, understanding, forgiveness and inner freedom. We will learn to operate by our “first nature” instead of the learned, largely unconscious, “second nature” responses. I wonder if this is what Paul was referring to when he told the Corinthians who were “speaking in tongues” (a momentary surrendering of the logical left brain function) that they must not remain children in their thinking, that there is a “grownup way of thinking” (1 Corinthians 14:20). I think meditation teaches us a grownup way of thinking. Ian McGilchrist states much the same in his contemporary study, The Master and His Emissary. He posits that the right brain was meant to be the master that first received the full context and meaning of a moment, and the left brain was meant to help us place this larger experience inside of words and seeming “logic” so we could communicate it to others. It was meant to be the emissary of the master. But after the printing press was developed and books were published, the left brain took over. McGilchrist states that our entire civilization has now turned the original prototype upside-down, and we begin with supposedly left brain logic and argumentative words – staying on a perpetual hamster’s wheel that we cannot move beyond. I honestly believe that meditation is the only way to get off the hamster’s wheel, and to stay off it. So here are our choices: we can practice meditation, speak in tongues or stay in perpetual nondual states of deep love and immense suffering (which is normally impossible). So the best ongoing way for most of us is, quite simply, to meditate every day.
Simplicity and Ecstasy by Tony Seigh We are made for something more than battling with Bible verses, politics and religion. We crave ecstasy, family and above all to be loved and accepted. Over the last two years, I’ve had such an opportunity to be with people all over the world. There have been such ecstasies, caught up in trances while speaking at conferences, churches and homes. As well as walking people through some of the most heart-breaking and evil times they could have ever imagined. In the garbage dumps of Mexico and India, as well as holding weeping pimps and drug addicts in Romania as they encountered our Daddy, I feel I have experienced so much. For this I am grateful. Robert Capon once said, “Every real thing is a joy, if only you have eyes and ears to relish it, a nose and tongue to taste it.” There is something so much more than words can explain going on, in my heart and in the hearts of everyone on the face of this earth. We have found scripture verses to back our claims, or reasons for such feelings in our hearts; but over and over again, I feel the tug of the Spirit on my heart to remember that this glorious liberty was never something I
learned – but mysteriously it just “happened to me.: When Christ died and rose again, we were there with Him, set free, and set at the right hand of the Father in heaven. I often find that prose, arguments or debates have little ability to explain the findings of my heart on this journey with Jesus. Great grace, Trinitarian love and the beauty of humanity, redeemed and revealed in Jesus, have been a cause of great joy and great scandal. I can’t help but see Jesus in the eyes of the people I meet and in the world all around me. The whole earth is full of His glory. Mother Teresa was quoted as saying, “I see Jesus in every human being. I say to myself, this is hungry Jesus, I must feed him. This is sick Jesus. This one has leprosy or gangrene; I must wash him and tend to him. I serve because I love Jesus.” There is such a simplicity in the revelation of the cross that makes us see light, even in apparent darkness – and see joy, even in the midst of excruciating pain. We see Jesus even in the most disturbing disguises and unlikely people.
ever, but I don’t care. There is enough crap and dirt being thrown each and every way; we might as well use it as good soil for these daffodils of bliss. To be heavenly minded is to be fully located on earth in the midst the human race. Heaven and earth have been brought to oneness in Jesus. To fully participate in this life – to each and every day grow more aware of His presence in each and every present moment – is to be truly alive. My heart is always drawing me back to such simplicity of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. There isn’t a greater revelation “out there.” We aren’t waiting for some greater coming. We aren’t looking for another. But we can truly be satisfied in the Christ who has come and dwelt among us. The cross changed everything. I can no longer see anything as I once did. Today, we can enjoy heaven on earth. We can experience Jesus Christ within ourselves and in others. We are free, full of bliss and unconditionally accepted. Tony Seigh is student life coordinator at Cana New Wine Seminary.
This may just seem like flowery language or what-
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the ecstatic : fall-winter 2014 | 19
Chosen For Paradise Brand New Book by John Crowder
The Inclusion of Humanity in the Saving Act of Christ Reframing Election in Romans 9-11 Get it at www.TheNewMystics.Com The doctrine of election has confused theologians for centuries like a dog chasing it’s own tail. Does God choose us, or do we choose God? Some believe that our own striving human willpower must somehow conjure up and maintain our own salvation. But how can we ever be certain that we have believed deep enough? Is it really up to us to save ourselves? To depend on my own decision for God? Others believe salvation is God’s sovereign business from start to finish. But what about those who don’t believe? Did God choose some to fry in their own fat forever in Hell? What if God’s predestination is not about choosing some for bliss and others for destruction? Following the lead of the great theologian Karl Barth, John Crowder explores the volatile passages of Romans 9-11 to shed new light on the debated topic of election. God is not choosing one human over another. Jesus Christ is the chosen, elected man on behalf of all humanity. And you are fully included in Him. John’s shortest book ever aims to cheer up theology’s biggest problem ever! Written as a companion book to Cosmos Reborn. Introduction by Dr. Eric Wilding.
$14.95 + Shipping, PAPERBACK Order NOW for Christmas Delivery! www.TheNewMystics.Com
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A Great Gift Idea for Brainwashing!
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OTHER RECENT RELEASES FROM JOHN & LILY CROWDER! Grace for the Contemplative Parent A much anticipated book from Lily Crowder, Grace for the Contemplative Parent, based on Brother Lawrence’s classic Practice of the Presence of God, is geared for real-time moms whose lives are full of dirty diapers and soccer practice. Don’t have luxurious hours of quiet time like a 17th century monk? You are not missing out. The gospel awakens us to the very real presence of Christ in our everyday, seemingly “mundane” state of affairs. Full of practical, down-to-earth, real-life examples and wisdom from a mother of four, Lily draws readers to the simple awareness of God’s presence in the day-to-day role of parenting. Experience fulfillment of a Holy Spirit saturated life in the midst of doing laundry! Realizing the grace of the gospel and our effortless union with Christ enables mothers to enjoy and rest secure in their spirituality. Religion-free parenting. Letting go of guilt and shame. It’s all found in the finished work of the cross.
$14.95 Paperback
Cosmos Reborn
Need a religious detox? Have a dose of happy theology on the new creation! A grace-centered look at regeneration, the new creation and the new birth. Christ cured the human condition. The book explores the universal scope of the cross - if one died for all, then all died! “For God was in Christ reconciling the cosmos to Himself.” Dispel the myth of a dark, schizophrenic god of religion. This book makes a scandalous case that the Father of Jesus Christ is in a good mood.
Books
Though we opposed Him as “enemies in our minds,” God never set Himself against us as our enemy. Adam was breathed from the very life of God, and it has always been the Creator’s intent to restore humanity to the bliss and immortality of its divine origin. In the incarnation, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God included you and absorbed the entire created order into Himself, bringing an end to decay and corruption. Mortality has been swallowed up by immortality. $19.95 Hardback
Get them both at www.TheNewMystics.com/Books
*NEW*
*NEW*
Seven Spirits Burning
Mystical Union
The New Mystics
The Ecstasy of Loving God
John’s long-awaited Seven Spirits Burning is an extensive, Biblical plunge into the nature and operation of the sevenfold Spirit of God. This book unpackages a deep theological and Christocentric understanding of the seven Spirits. John has taught for years on the seven Spirits, but not until now has he released this detailed compilation of his study and experience. This book could possibly be the magnum opus of anything written to date on the Spirit’s sevenfold nature.
When you think of the cross, do you think of fun? Get ready for the gospel as you’ve never heard it. With clear revelatory truths on the New Creation and the scandalous joys of the cross, Mystical Union promises to be one of John’s most revolutionary, lifechanging works. The happy gospel of grace is about uninterrupted union with the Divine. This book lays out our most core beliefs. It promises to wreck your theology and cheer you up with undeniable Biblical truths on the free gift of perfection.
God has destined you to live in the joyful radiance of Himself, just as Adam was called to live in the realm of Eden. Ecstasy, or “extasis,” is the Greek term for trance, and is linked with a pleasurable, God-given state of out-of body experience recorded throughout the New Testament and the church age. In this book, John takes us on a journey from Old and New Testament ecstatic prophets to the future ecstatics who will usher in a massive wave of harvest Glory to the streets in these last days.
$19.95 + Shipping Hardback New Release Buy It At: TheNewMystics.com
$19.95 + Shipping Hardback New Release Buy It At: TheNewMystics.com
Two thousand years of miracle workers and seers crammed into one generation. The fiery bowls of heaven are being poured out through an anextreme extremebody body of spiriof spiritual tual forerunners. Are called you called to forerunners. Are you to walk walk among them? Miracle Workamong them? Miracle Workers, ers, Reformers New MysReformers and and the the New Mystics tics contains more than70 70 photos, contains more than illustrations, and biographies of men and women whose lives have demonstrated the phenomenal throughout the theages. ages.Let Let their stotheir stories ries inspire inspire youyou. to join their ranks as part of this revival generation. $15.95 + Shipping $15.95 + TheNewMystics.com Shipping Buy It At:
Learn about the sevenfold Spirit
A scandalous message!
Be part of a supernatural generation
Trances, raptures & divine pleasures
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the ecstatic : fall-winter 2014 | 21
Digital Download Store: www.johncrowder.net
John Crowder’s Joy Clinic
Contemplating the Mystery
The Divinity of Humanity
New Covenant Intercession
Three-Part Extended Teaching Set
The Divine Dance of Theology and Contemplation
Immortality and the True Origin of Sonship
Prayer Through a Finished Work Perspective
Do you suffer from Religion, Burnout, Boredom, Depression, Unbelief or Legalism? Looking for a quick, easy remedy that seems too good to be true? This is just what the doctor ordered! In this three-part series John lays out a multi-dimensional gospel feast. Covering new creation realities and the joy of the glorious gospel, he addresses the identity of the believer and dispels the theological myth of an angry, schizophrenic God.
Contemplation is the practice of His presence. Christ is the object of our contemplation. Our intersection between the seen and the unseen, the finite and the infinite. Contemplation - as a mode of enjoyment - is never an end in itself. It does not exist if it is detatched from the Person who is contemplated or enjoyed. And theology is not to become mere intellectualism. When Christ is given His place, the scriptures find their place.
Mankind was breathed from the very substance - the very Pneuma - of God. We find our original identity not in Adam, but in Christ. Created in His image, we existed in His heart and imagination from the foundation of the world. Before we ever fell in Adam, we were found in Christ. But humanity has been in an identity crisis ... wake up to the reality of who we always were from His perspective. We are remembering our origin.
Prayer is summed up in the Practice of the Presence of God. Mankind is not helping God out in prayer. Prayer is an assertion of our dependence and union in Him. It is about intimacy and relationship, not mere verbal, external exercise. Scripture tells us that we have become a prayer - you are an aroma of Christ unto God! Learn the difference between Doing Prayer versus Being Prayer. See prayer through the lens of grace.
Digital download only at johncrowder.net
Digital download only at johncrowder.net
Digital download only at johncrowder.net
Digital download only at johncrowder.net
Renewing the Mind
Manifested Sons of God
Raising Family in Grace
Hearing God for Dummies
Gospel Joy Explosions to the Brain
Effortlessly Shine in the Supernatural Life
The Gospel at Home with John & Lily
New Covenant Prophetic Insights
The renewal of the mind is a happy journey of having our thought life infused with the joy of our salvation and saturated with the revelation of our true identity in Christ. Tired of stupid thinking that produces strife and tension? As we stay plugged into the word of truth, we “know the truth” and the truth sets us free.
All of creation awaits the “revealing” of your sonship. You were created for the supernatural life. Manifesting our divine identity is as effortless as realizing who we really are – adopted heirs entrusted with authority in heaven and earth. John explores our miraculous inheritance in Romans 8 from a finished work perspective.
John and Lily Crowder explore the topic of marriage and family life in the grace and glory of God. The gospel radically liberates parents from the stress and fear of religious performance, infusing children with identity and life. This extended teaching features Q&A and practical tips on practicing the presence at home.
Get practical tips on how God speaks to people, sparking prophetic sensitivity to hear His voice. Much of the prophetic movement gets derailed in old covenant style future-telling, but a new covenant people are emerging who can point backward to the cross, releasing faith for all the breakthrough Christ has already accomplished.
Digital download only at johncrowder.net
Digital download only at johncrowder.net
Digital download only at johncrowder.net
Digital download only at johncrowder.net
22 | the ecstatic : fall-winter 2014
Digital Download Store: www.johncrowder.net
The Election Series
Mystical Union Audiobook
Drunken Theology 101
Freedom From God Pleasing
Seeing Romans 9-11 Through a New Lens
Read by John Crowder
Extended Teaching on the Cross
Delivered from Religion
Romans 9-11 contains some of the most difficult and misunderstood concepts ... In this 5-part series, John Crowder shoots religious cows on every side of the debate - cheering up your perspective of God, hell and predestination. Going beyond the Calvinist-Arminian-Universalist debate John presents a strong hope in Christ - the Vicarious Man, who is both Elector and Elected. This is one of our most stretching teaching sets.
In this audiobook recording, listen as author John Crowder reads his newest release, Mystical Union. The gospel is a mystical message, based on an instant and effortless union with God achieved at Christ’s cross. There is a delicious feast prepared for the believer. This book threatens to turn your Christianity upside down. Makes a great easy listening audio companion to the hardback book.
Get new creation foundations for your bliss as John expands on the revelation of the gospel in this twohour teaching session from Australia. Tap into the mysticism of St. Paul, the glorious drink of divine union and the beautiful gift of perfection. This is a powerful summation of finished works theology that will cheer you up, infuse you with joy and transform your understanding of Christianity.
We hear much talk in the church about our need to get delivered from man-pleasing. And it is true that many have a fear of man that keeps them enslaved to other people’s opinions. But there is a much larger problem in the church than “man pleasing” - it is the problem of “God pleasing.” John Crowder tackles this subject head-on, in light of the finished work of the cross.
Digital download only at johncrowder.net
Digital download only at johncrowder.net
Digital download only at johncrowder.net
Digital download only at johncrowder.net
Disco Mystica
Divine Creativity
Drink Grace Straight
The Seven Spirits of God
And the Graven Image of the Law
Revelations of the Glory
Condensed Audio Teaching
SOS Electronica Music
Ever notice that religious folk are usually not creative? Longing for the Spirit of Creativity - the Spirit Himself - to manifest more through your life? Often, what Christian artists deem to be “creative” is really just a dead, copycat repetition of types and shadows. But now, since you are restored to the true image of God in Christ, you can manifest a fresh expression of the divine.
The knowledge of the Glory of God is filling the earth in this hour. Ever wonder what the “knowledge of the Glory” actually is? It is the pure revelation of the gospel. Grace has to be drunk straight. Any mixture of law added to your pure drink of grace, and it ceases to be true grace. Drink deep of the gospel revelation in this teaching!
A great companion teaching to John’s latest book, Seven Spirits Burning, this mp3 audio teaching gives a clear, consolidated understanding on the Seven Spirits of God. Drawing from numerous Biblical passages, John gives detailed revelation on the sevenfold, while activating listeners in a dynamic encounter with the presence of God.
This electronica music album brings us the words of history’s greatest mystics as they explored the House of Wine in Song of Solomon. Canticles, is by far the favorite book of the church’s mystics, with centuries of meditations and dialogue written on its themes of divine intimacy. Trance out as John Crowder reads their meditations on the topic of heavenly inebriation.
Digital download only at johncrowder.net
Digital download only at johncrowder.net
Digital download only at johncrowder.net
Digital download only at johncrowder.net
the ecstatic : fall-winter 2014 | 23
SONS OF THUNDER P.O. BOX 40 MARYLHURST, OR 97036 USA
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