About Us
John Crowder loves to push the envelope and provoke people to extreme joy, radical grace and contemplative wonder through the scandalous, liberating good news of humanity’s union with God in Jesus Christ. Based in Oregon with Lily, his wife of 23 years, and their children, John is an internationally recognized author, speaker and advocate of Trinitarian theology. John brings a Christological lens to his teaching, with openness to supernatural expression. For John, theology and mysticism are inseparable. Grace and Truth are more than a doctrine but a Person: Jesus who has universally woven creation into the life of Father, Son and Holy Spirit - awakening us to limitless divine love and our true identity in Him.
John has been on the forefront of a fresh renewal movement marked by miraculous and ecstatic experience, yet rooted in the recovery of a grace-based grasp of the finished work of the cross. John has traveled to more than 125 nations, hosted mass evangelism campaigns, planted children's homes and equips the church at events and outreach missions worldwide. John won eight Press Club awards as an editor and journalist in Alaska, publishing more than a thousand articles. For nine years he produced a bi-annual magazine, The Ecstatic, and has written seven books including The Ecstasy of Loving God, Mystical Union, Cosmos Reborn, Chosen for Paradise and Money. Sex. Beer. God. His Jesus Trip video series has garnered millions of views. John is dean of Cana New Wine Seminary and produces extended E-courses on topics such as Christology, contemplation, church history and Biblical commentary. He hosts a monthly Webinar platform, The Inner Sanctum. The Crowders are founders of Sons of Thunder Ministries & Publications.
John’s ministry is known for a comedic style, iconoclastic yet contemplative, both charismatic and creedal, rooted in tradition yet open to the Spirit. Though John has a history in revivalism, the ministry is ecumenically diverse, with primary theological influences including early church Patristics, Eastern Orthodoxy, monastic mystical traditions and post-Protestant grace movements.
Lily is an accomplished artist specializing in plein air painting. She is author of Grace for the Contemplative Parent. She carries a special interest in mental health and grief recovery, together with contemplative Christian spirituality. Lily operates Zeke's Farm, producing natural farm products to support the nonprofit in honor of the Crowder's late son, Ezekiel. While Lily does not travel as extensively as John, long considering family to be the primary focus of her calling, she is an invaluable part of the ministry and a guest speaker of Cana New Wine Seminary and various retreats.
What we Believe
John's ministry has an extensive theological focus. For simplicity in summary, we affirm the creedal confessions of the ancient ecumenical church, primarily the Nicene Creed and Chalcedonian definition:
We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible;
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Only-begotten, Begotten of the Father before all ages, Light of Light, Very God of Very God, Begotten, not made; of one being with the Father, through whom all things were made:
Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven, and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and was made man;
And was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered and was buried;
And the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures;
And ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father;
And He is again coming with glory to judge the living and the dead,
Whose kingdom shall have no end.
And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, and Giver of Life, Who proceeds from the Father {and the Son*}, Who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified, Who spoke by the Prophets; in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, And the life of the age to come. Amen.
The Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed (381 AD)
We, then, following the holy Fathers, all with one consent, teach men to confess one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the same perfect in Godhead and also perfect in manhood; truly God and truly man, of a rational soul and body; consubstantial with the Father according to the Godhead, and consubstantial with us according to the Manhood; in all things like unto us, without sin; begotten before all ages of the Father according to the Godhead, and in these latter days, for us and for our salvation, born of the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, according to the Manhood; one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, only begotten, to be acknowledged in two natures, inconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably; the distinction of natures being by no means taken away by the union, but rather the property of each nature being preserved, and concurring in one Person and one Subsistence, not parted or divided into two persons, but one and the same Son, and only begotten, God the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ; as the prophets from the beginning [have declared] concerning Him, and the Lord Jesus Christ Himself has taught us, and the Creed of the holy Fathers has handed down to us.
Definition of Chalcedon (451 AD)
*We recognize the Filioque clause is a point of contention among the East and West, and therefore point to the Reformed-Orthodox Agreed Statement on the Holy Trinity as a valuable aim at rapprochement in getting behind the impasse.
Contact Us
Email us at info@thenewmystics.org
Write to us by mail at:
Sons of Thunder
P.O. Box 40
Marylhurst, OR 97036
Call toll-free at: 1-877-343-3245
Follow John on Twitter at: www.twitter/thenewmystics
Follow John's personal Facebook page at: www.facebook.com/thenewmystics
Follow John's public Facebook page at: www.facebook.com/revjohncrowder
Follow John on Instagram at: www.instagram.com/thenewmystics
*John is unable to respond to direct messages through social media, so please email us for specific communications. Thank you!