C.R. Mooney

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

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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).

Storm Amazon.com With Us!

http://www.christopherhopper.com/2010/06/storm-amazon-com-with-us/trackback/

“Salvation… is a gift, not a wage.” ~ Arthur Wallis

There is so much to be unpacked in that tiny statement.  Here is a link to the book Into Battle, the quote is from page 24.

I am a head-banging rocker. I always have been, and will always be. I love guitar shredding licks and earth shattering solos. I’ve always dreamed of being able to play like the greats: Satriani, Johnson, Page, Van Halen, Lang, Sanatana. I’ve been to some awesome concerts, thrashed my head around, jumped up and down, waved my arms in the air, screamed until I was hoarse, sat in awe, and raved at how awesome the bands were.

Man I want to be like that! I want the skills, the money, and thousands of people screaming my name.  I want the recognition, and the ability to walk into a room and own it, with everyone centered on me, and my talent.

Then it reminds me of how I sometimes treat my Jesus, aka Rock Star Jesus.

I go to meet my Jesus at church. I listen to the preacher talk of a man who walked on the earth with amazing power to heal people’s bodies and souls. He had incredible wisdom and authority to speak into people’s lives and bring light into their darkness. Then I look at the cross, “Man I want to be like that!”

Just like at the concert, I leave, listen to my new CD, and life goes on just the same.

See, I don’t really want to be like my Rock Star Jesus, I just want what He has.
To really be like the rock star, it takes hours every day, for years, sometimes playing until the fingers bleed. While everyone else was out playing or doing whatever, the rock star was locked in his room running through scales and riffs, learning theory, and emulating his own rock stars. It takes work, hard work, to get to that level. It costs you your life.

And it is no different for me as a Christian. If I truly want to be like Christ, then I have to be like Him, and do what He did. I have to spend time with Him, study His life, techniques, and ways. Do it every day until His nature is my nature. It takes work, hard work to get to that level. It will cost me my life.

Then I am reminded of this little ditty from John 14:23-24:

“Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.”

I say I love him, but do I obey him? Do I spend time every day making my life a reflection of his?

- God, don’t let me be a Jesus groupie. I don’t want to spend my life chasing Him for just one glance, or just one touch, I want to be like Him. Help me to count the cost, and lay down my life to truly gain His.

When God says, “I am _____ (peace, love, mercy, good),” He means that without Him, you are not.

Your thoughts?

The Black Eyed Peas hit a home run with this one. Where is the love? The answer to that is that it starts with me.  I say I have faith in Christ, and I am His disciple, but where is the love?  Am I showing my family love?  Am I showing my neighbor love? Am I showing my enemies love?

We need to remember that our battle is not against men, it is against principalities and powers of darkness.  It is against the father of lies (Eph. 6:12). How can we love God, that we cannot see, if we cannot even love our brother, who we can see (1 John 4:20)?

Your thoughts?

Simple enough.  This Psalm is by far my favorite chapter of the Bible.  It has strengthened and encouraged me in many ways.  What is your favorite verse or chapter?

Psalm 27 (NIV)

Of David.

¹ The LORD is my light and my salvation—
whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the stronghold of my life—
of whom shall I be afraid?

² When evil men advance against me
to devour my flesh,
when my enemies and my foes attack me,
they will stumble and fall.

³ Though an army besiege me,
my heart will not fear;
though war break out against me,
even then will I be confident.

⁴ One thing I ask of the LORD,
this is what I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD
and to seek him in his temple.

⁵ For in the day of trouble
he will keep me safe in his dwelling;
he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle
and set me high upon a rock.

⁶ Then my head will be exalted
above the enemies who surround me;
at his tabernacle will I sacrifice with shouts of joy;
I will sing and make music to the LORD.

⁷ Hear my voice when I call, O LORD;
be merciful to me and answer me.

⁸ My heart says of you, “Seek his face!”
Your face, LORD, I will seek.

⁹ Do not hide your face from me,
do not turn your servant away in anger;
you have been my helper.
Do not reject me or forsake me,
O God my Savior.

¹⁰ Though my father and mother forsake me,
the LORD will receive me.

¹¹ Teach me your way, O LORD;
lead me in a straight path
because of my oppressors.

¹² Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes,
for false witnesses rise up against me,
breathing out violence.

¹³ I am still confident of this:
I will see the goodness of the LORD
in the land of the living.

¹⁴ Wait for the LORD;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the LORD.

This morning I woke up with this thought in mind, “God show me what I need to deal with in my life – what keeps me from walking perfect and blameless as You have called me too?” The Holy Spirit then brought Galations 2:20 to mind. “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” I need to be careful not to beat myself up though. Some would say that you have to “Kill the flesh!!” but we have to be careful NOT to. See, I cannot crucify myself, someone else has to do it. God uses other people in our lives to help change us. I believe that as long as my heart is for God, that He will work things out of me that are not giving glory to Him. After all, isn’t He more gentle and merciful than I? The Word says He has ABUNDANT mercy (1 Peter 1:3 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the ressurection of Jesus Christ from the dead,” .

When will I learn that this life I live is not my own? When will I learn, not in my mind but in my heart, that the life I now live is not my own. When will I follow the example set by Jesus in the garden and let my prayer be “Not my will but YOURS be done” (Luke 22:42 – Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.)

Here are two more quotes form Jesus from John 5:19 and 30, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.“, and “I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.” Jesus said He could do nothing in and of Himself, only what He saw His father do. How can I think that I can do anything on my own? Why do I try to stand on my own two feet?

I can have the type of relationship with God where I lay aside my desires, motives, and pride and say to God, “I will do nothing unless You tell me to.”

I need to die to myself so that my selfish wants, needs, and motivations are not in the picture. Actually, I have already been given the power to do this according to 2 Peter 1:2-4 “Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”

When will I accept that am NO LONGER a sinner by nature, and do NOT have to live a sinful selfish life.

Lord, crucify me and help me to look to Your will for my life. Let my motives be out of love for You and love for my brother, and not love of self. Teach me to be who you have already given me the power to be. I repent of my pride and my doubt. Thank you for freedom through Christ Jesus!

“Often, kids who follow their dreams first have parents who follow theirs”

Wow, that one is hard to swallow today.   I try to set a great example for my kids in every way I can, but do they know what I am aspiring to?  Do they see me being successful at pursuing it?