In scripture, there is generally a sense that when one communicates with God, it is with a sense of humility, awe and reverence. But for Crowder and his ilk, things seems to be quite a bit more cavalier, as evidenced by phrases like, “Okey-dokey, Lord.”

Using the term “possession” in the jocular way he does in the video, comes across as mocking the more proper (and very real) meaning of the term.

Also, seeing as God upholds the Government and laws of the land in scripture, one has to wonder if there’s really much humor in Crowder’s reference to “Jehovajuana”. However he meant it, associating God’s name with something that is illegal in many countries and in the minds of many, equates to substance abuse problems, hardly seems useful (or wise).

Bottom line— Whereas scripture adjures believers to “come out from the world” so that their visibly different lives can be a “light” to nonbelievers, the “New Mystics”/”Prophets” seem to do away with the need to be different from the world… If you do things like show little reverence for God & scripture, associate God’s name with illegal activities & substance abuse issues, etc., how is that different from the (unbelieving) world?

Hopefully genuine believers will recognize this and not be deceived.
And hopefully, Crowder and company will someday repent.

Now it is true the conservative, non-charismatic types have their own brand of oddballs, but they seem much quicker to address such abuses & in getting the word out that no, this individual is not considered a bona-fide member of their particular denominational flavor & to cease-and-desist immediately.

Pentecostal/AoG/charismatic expressions seem more interested in letting the ‘spirit’ loose than keeping unchecked character restrained. What results is the attention grabbing ministries become more a parody of the kingdom than what it is really about.

Crowder is a prime example of AoG upbringing, indoctrination & ultimately a ‘top this’ attitude. He is making mysticism ‘hip’ for disinterested youth turned off by their grandma’s old time religion. I think he may have a sincere desire to repackage Christianity as a supernatural adventure instead of the dour go-thru-the-motions format it is measured against. Not sure such sincerity or zeal trumps reality & truth & a respectful representation of the kingdom though. After all, wacky is well, still wacky, no matter what spiritual spin is attached to it…

Crowder is deliberate in offending the old guard. It is his act of religious martyrdom that legitimizes his claims in the eyes of the youth he wants to influence. Since I am an outsider looking in, I would say he is more goofy than genuinely Spirit inspired. More silly than sincere. More repellent than reverent.

Should we be surprised? Nope. Has charismania taken on its own screwy identity? Yup. Can we get what we consider that ‘bad genie’ back into the bottle again? Nope.

Ever consider the dear saints of old that were considered mystics? As far as I can determine, they were always the exception, never the rule. They may have been pious, but how much of what they experienced was genuine or a personality quirk or a result of an austere lifestyle where severe asceticism was the norm? How much was hallucination vs. divine encounter? We only have their stories to appreciate. There is no way to look into the claims with our current understanding of personality disorders or how physical deprivation affects the mind. Before all you charismatics jump all over my case, let me state plainly that I can accept their stories without translating that into the new bandwagon everyone gets to climb aboard to get a good toke of the Holy Ghost…

Once you’ve set a theological precedent of the exception & claim it is the right of every believer to have the same or even greater experiences, it sets people up for a grand disappointment & is spiritually dangerous & irresponsible IMHO.

There are going to be exaggerated claims of God doing this, or instigating that, or moving here, or breaking out there, or stirring up revival here, or doing new/strange things in the inner rooms until the end I suppose. And not all such claims will be insincere or improper. Yet I do think the approach needs to be the more sober one. Test it. Speak up about it. Point out any inherent problems. Challenge the claims. But as it is in the secular realm it is a ‘buyer beware’ world we live in with its myriad brands of snake oil being peddled today. The ranks of the disappointed glam-glory chasers are growing. Post-charismatics are speaking up more. And it will be those that want to reestablish the authentic gift expressions sans the silly hype that will create a soft place to land for those that end up flying higher than was spiritually prudent…

RE: Bentley & Crowder…there are some commonalities yet I do not sense any character weaknesses in Crowder that Bentley has exhibited. But I don’t want anything John is tokin’ anymore than I want a ‘BAM-A-DOODLE’ from Todd…