C.R. Mooney

I say I believe in God, that I believe in Jesus His son. I say that I believe so much that I would give my life for what I believe in, but do I really?

I ran across this video by Francis Chan and it made me really think. Do I truly believe, or are the words, “I believe” the answer I give myself so I don’t have to ask myself the hard questions? And if I do believe, what evidence is there in my life? If I took my “belief” out of my life, would there be a difference? Would anyone be able to tell?

If the answer is no, then I have some decisions to make.

I love movies with huge open field battles. You know, like The Patriot, 300, and Lord of the Rings. It’s good versus bad times ten thousand. One side lines up on a hilltop facing the opposition who line up on the other, both waiting with weapons in hand, hearts pounding in unison so loud it shames even thunder. The commanders each raise their battle cries and it’s a full on run to trade blows. Blood and sweat mix as each gives everything he has not only to survive, but to conquer.

The musical score begins to slow as the battle fades into a few skirmishes until none are left standing save the victors, and the bad guys are turning tail and running for their mommies.

Here is the moment when the heroes, chests heaving from exhaustion, survey the battlefield. Tears of joy and sorrow fall.

Amidst the fallen enemies are their fathers, their brothers, their sons. Many lie dead, others maimed, but in the midst of their anguish is victory! Their losses are not in vain. For at least that day, evil is vanquished and the air carries the bittersweet taste of freedom.

Sometimes I look around the church and I see pain, sickness, and brokenness. I ask, “Why God? Are these not your people, your children?”

He answers, “Yes, they are. We wage a war against the incredible foes of the flesh and the devil, and many are wounded and crushed in the battle. But be comforted, because after their pain, after their sorrow, even after their loss there is victory. It has not been in vain. Though it may not be their lot to hold high the Banner of the Prince of Peace on the field of victory, their legacy is that they have made the way for those after them. They have shown that the cause is worthy and the price of their lives a bargain.”

So be encouraged, “This is what the LORD says to you: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s. (2 Chronicles 20:15)”

(Read to the end to learn how to win a copy of Night of the Living Dead Christian by Matt Mikalatos today!)

Buy Here

We’ve all watched monster movies and later that night held the covers close while sleeping with one eye open, hoping the beasts of the night will find other prey to appease their appetites.  In “Night of the Living Dead Christian,” Matt Mikalatos stumbles upon a mad scientist and some monsters during his neighborhood watch.  The ensuing comical mayhem results in Matt helping his neighbor Luther, a werewolf, find a cure for his lycanthropy before he is killed by Borut the monster hunter.

Mikalatos spins an incredible allegory as the unlikely gaggle of heroes battle various monsters and make allies en route to discovering there’s a monster in all of us.

Now, there are those who will see the words werewolf, zombie, and vampire and dismiss this title completely.  To those I say “a spoonful of brains helps the medicine go down.”  Sometimes the only way to confront the difficult questions in our lives is to see them from a different perspective, and that is what Matt Mikalatos offers in “Night of the Living Dead Christian.”  It’s a light hearted delivery system to some heavy-handed self reflection.

The end of the book has a couple of great features including a glossary of monsters and a Q&A with Mikalatos.

I highly recommend “Night of the Living Dead Christian.” I put his writing in the Jon Acuff section of “makes me laugh until I hurt, and it hurts most because he’s talking about me.” This is my first encounter with Matt Mikalatos’s writing, and it’s impressed me enough to warrant me buying his previous title, “Imaginary Jesus,” in which he is also a main character on a mission to find the real Jesus.

Here is Matt and his take on “Night of the Living Dead Christian.”

You can find Matt’s blog here: http://mattmikalatos.com

And on facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/matt.mikalatos

Thank you to Tyndale House Publishers who provided this copy to me free of charge for review.  A positive review was not required.

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Awesome! You’ve made it to the end of my review, and I hope it was helpful for you.  So, how do you win a copy of Night of the Living Dead Christian? There are two ways to enter:

a) Leave a comment about your favorite monster movie and what frightens you the most about it.

b) Share this post on Facebook.  (edit: My tracker is showing the number of shares, but not who shared, so please leave a note if you shared it. Sorry for the inconvenience.)

Each of these will get you one entry and you can only enter today (12/15/2011). Tomorrow I will put all of the entries into a hat (Yankees!) and have one of my kids draw a name.  Check back to see if you have won. I will post the winner on the blog and on my facebook page (facebook.com/baddogmooney).

So I have recently taken over managing the gumball machines and kiddy rides at our local mall and today I received my first check.  I pulled it out of the envelope and smiled and then thought about how I’m making 10% of the machine’s take, and how little that is compared to the 90% CTM makes. Imagine what I could do if I made the 90%!

Then God whispered to me, “That’s what I thought too.” Ow, that hurts so good.

umm, yeah. Here’s a little ditty I wrote four years ago. Enjoy

I own a store called A Light in the Darkness. It’s a quaint little shop with thousands of different lamps, chandeliers, and the like. I also sell the bulbs for every model you could think of. Our shingle reads, “My light will free you from any darkness.”

When you walk through the aisles, every lamp is lit so you can see how brightly they shine and what type of light they cast. They scream, “Look how bright my light shines! I have what it takes to free you from darkness!”

The display lamps scoff at the others still in the package. They call them useless and tell them how dull and insignificant they are sitting boxed on the shelf. “See how much light I give off? And you just sit there doing nothing.”

All of the lights are in separate rows, so you can clearly see their labels and what each is good at. Sometimes you can hear them argue about who does their job better and why they’re so important.

It’s ironic how proud the lights on display are, because they are the ones that never leave the shop.

The lights that are still in the package, they are my greatest asset. They have the potential to be everything and more that the display lights are, but are content to remain where I put them. They wait for the day that I take them from the shelf and send them to be the light that frees someone from darkness.

And that is important, because I have a specific light for every need. And not everyone knows what type of light is needed for their particular circumstance. These customers are easy to spot as they wander around my store from aisle to aisle looking for the one that’s “just right.” I’ve had a few complaints that it’s hard to know which light to choose when they all say they are the best. So I help them and guide them to a shelf, giving them the light that’s just right for their need.

I wish the display lights could be used to help someone, but they are too busy trying to outshine the others and too afraid to leave the store. They fear that they might be unplugged and their lights cease shining. I try to tell them they will be plugged in again when they are ready to be used but their fear paralyzes them.

So I am surrounded mostly by display lights who give light to no one but themselves in a store that is already lit, while a handful wait patiently for me to send them.

So how can I help you today? Remember, my light will free you from any darkness.

This past August, my good friend Bill and I went camping at the Stillwater Reservoir east of Loweville. Wow, what a beautiful place. It was incredibly peaceful. We arrived after 7pm, set the tent up, and then started a fire for dinner.

Our first attempt wasn’t too great, but after rearranging the wood and finding more dry kindling, (and a touch of gasoline!) our fire was roaring! A few steaks, some mac and cheese, and a little Mt. Dew later, and the fire was smoldering. Time for some more wood.

Our fire was once again restored to it’s three foot glory! It kept us warm for a few more hours before we turned in for the night.

It reminds me of Matthew 24:12-13 “And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.” ESV

It says their love will grow cold, smolder, be of no worth or good.  How does that happen?

Neglect.

A fire has to be tended to or it eventually just goes out.  Wood needs to be added, rearranged, or more potent fuel added to keep it going.

So what are you doing to keep the fire going? Whether it be your relationship with God, or your relationship with your spouse? Is business keeping you from tending to these relationships?

Take some time today to see if your fires are getting a little cold, and if so, take whatever measures necessary to turn them back in to raging infernos!

Please read Part 1 first. (click here)

See, we are no different than Bart. We are blind in this world need a touch from Jesus, and like Bart, we know it. Even as Christians we can still be blind and walking aimlessly around without any sense of direction or purpose. God says we can find Him in the darkness of the secret place (Psalm 18:11, Matthew 6:18), we just have to keep crying out to Him and pursuing our relationship with Him (Matthew 7:7). We keep saying that we want to change and we’ll try anything. We’ll read books, listen to sermons online, watch TV preachers and even send them some money so we can get blessed or delivered. These things are good and help to teach us about God, but none of them can replace the time we must set aside to pray and read (study, meditate on, etc.) the Bible.

We have to take Bart’s approach and get to the place where we are so desperate for God and to be like Him that we will pursue Him no matter what. Even when people tell us that we’re a fanatics or that we’re taking “this God thing” a little too far, keep pursuing Him. Cry out to Him to be touched. If youare anything like me, you know what area of life you struggle with and we need to throw these things off like a coat in the summer and leave them there at the foot of the cross (Hebrews 12:1).

I know that sometimes it’s not easy, and God never said it would be, but isn’t it worth it? If I told you that I would give you $10,000,000 if you would spend at least an hour a day praying and reading the Bible for six months straight while keeping your same work or school schedule, I guarantee that not only could you do it, you would.

How much more valuable than that is your relationship with God and our eternal life with Him? It’s priceless. We need to get our priorities straight.

If you were training to be a professional athlete or a concert pianist it would require great sacrifice and countless hours of training and preparation. To most people shooting 100 jump shots and 300 free throws a day on a basketball court would seem ridiculous, but ask Michael Jordan how many tens of thousands of jump shots and free throws he took in practice, even while in the NBA. If you could ask Mozart how many hours he spent at the piano I am quite sure his answer would be over fifteen thousand! Somehow as Christians we expect God to give us a free ride to the front of the Holy Ghost power train and it’s not like that: it never has been. Even Jesus had to learn obedience through trials (Hebrews 5:8).

You say, “Chris, what you are saying is nuts and you don’t invest as much of your life as you are talking about others doing,” and you are correct, but that is what I am pressing for. This is my goal: to be like Jesus. I must love Him with everything I have, and He will help me through His strength and guidance. It will take many things in my life to get there, and many trials, sacrifices and victories are on that road. Of the many things it will require, I know that one is a holy desperation to be like Jesus.

I leave you with Philippians 3:12-14(NIV): “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

- Peace and God bless.

I want to share something that I feel is missing in my own life and maybe you can relate: holy desperation. You may be thinking “What is that?” and don’t worry, we’ll get to that in a little bit. I recently heard a pastor preaching and he mentioned the story of a blind man named Bartimaeus (which I will refer to as Bart), and this thought of holy desperation really hit me.

I looked at how Webster defines these words and have arrived at the following definition for holy desperation: it is the extreme need of being entirely devoted to the perfect and righteous work of God in an intense way, even though it may be extremely dangerous.

Hold onto that thought, now for Bart’s story found in Mark 10:46-52. I don’t know about you, but I can’t just read through the Bible, I have to look at the stories as though I were there. I encourage you to read this in the Bible, but my rendition is pretty close with a little poetic justice thrown in.

Enter Bart, a middle-aged man blind from birth with no hope of laser surgery or any other means of being able to see. He sits on the same road every day sweating in the sand just hoping that someone will come by and drop a few coins in his basket so that he can buy some food when the local matzo ball vendor walks by. He has lived his entire life dreaming of what a tree looks like, of seeing the bird in the tree that sings the sweet melody he hears every morning. Oh to see the tears that fall down the face of his loving mother when she stops by to see how her beloved Bart is doing, as she blames herself for his condition. To see the sun that brings the warmth of day and the moon the coolness of night.

He can’t help but hear the story’s that are being told by the locals of this guy named Jesus that has been confounding the priests in the temple since He was twelve, who is healing people who couldn’t walk and raising people from the dead. Bart knows that this Jesus must be the Messiah, the Son of God come to save Israel.

There is no doubt in his mind this man could heal him too if only… suddenly he hears a man say, “I think that’s them! Yes, it’s Jesus and His disciples coming from Jericho!”

Bart knows that Jesus has the power to heal his blindness and this will probably be his only chance; he has to get Jesus’ attention. Not knowing exactly where Jesus is coming from he begins to scream in every direction, “Jesus! Jesus! Have mercy on me!” Seeing that he is making a scene, many of the people who are starting to gather scold him and tell him to be quiet. A few are quite harsh and threaten him, but Bart can hear the crowd getting closer. Desperate, he won’t allow anything to stop him from at least being heard so standing, he begins screaming even louder, “JESUS! JESUS! HAVE MERCY ON ME!”

This time Jesus hears him and stops. The crowd quiets to hear any words that might fall from Jesus’ lips. “Bring him to me” is all He says, and that is more than enough for Bart. He jumps and throws off his tunic (so that he doesn’t trip over it) and runs in the direction of those precious words, stumbling several times along the way.

Now face to face with Bart, Jesus asks, “What do you want?”

“Rabbi, I want to see.”

“Go, you’re faith has healed you.” Jesus replies and instantly Bart’s sight is restored and from that moment He follows Jesus down the road. He doesn’t stop to tell anyone or even to gather his possessions, he just follows.

Bart had holy desperation and we need it. We must reach down to the place inside us where we find the extreme need of being entirely devoted to the perfect and righteous work of God in an intense way, even though it may be unpopular or extremely dangerous.

(Part 2 tomorrow!)

I was watching some show with my family and the preview came on for The Lion King 3D, and I immediately tuned out.  I’ve seen the commercial a few times and the kids all start begging, “Dad, can we go see it?”

This time, as I checked my cell phone for anything remotely interesting, I heard something that I can’t let go of.

The scene is Mufasa sitting with Simba overlooking the plains, and Mufasa (Simba’s dad and leader of the pride) says to his boy, “Look Simba, everything the light touches is our kingdom.”

Immediately I felt the Holy Spirit  say, “Hey mooney,  you are to be God’s light to the world, and EVERYTHING the Light touches belongs to my kingdom.”

So go! Let God’s love shine through you today so His kingdom will expand!

Sometimes I make being a Christian so difficult.  I think of all the greatness that God would have me do and overlook the what he really wants of me.  Then I see something like this: my youngest, Lillee, helping with the dishes.

It melts my heart.

~ God, help me to see it’s the everyday little ways I follow you that touch your heart.