Click to check out Undead on Amazon!
Unless you are Amish, you are probably aware that zombies are way in right now. Which is at least slightly weird since zombies aren’t even a little bit sexy. I mean, there’s not much you can do to glamorize the zombie apocalypse.
But Walking Dead is the biggest show on TV. The number of zombie novels might be outpacing teen vampire romance novels. (Also, that those are a thing? Truly horrifying.) Zombies are even getting attention from scholars.
The second (and possibly last!) episode of my new StoryMen podcast with Matt Mikalatos and Clay Morgan is up! Since December 21 is right around the corner, we welcome our first (and possibly last!) special guest, author and podcaster Jason Boyett. Jason’s sort of an Apocalypse expert, having written two very excellent books on the subject.
BONUS: check out the new StoryMen look! The art is courtesy of M. S. Corley, a truly astounding artist (who does COMIC BOOKS WHAT!?!). Check out his blog for some excellent art!
Enjoy these preview clips:
Click here to get this book on Amazon!
Something you may not know about me: when I was growing up, I was the Apologetics Kid. Apologetics, by the way, is the fancy word for a “systematic argumentative discourse” which is the fancy way to say “defending Christianity”. I was really into Apologetics. As in I argued with my science teachers and my atheist friends. Loudly and repeatedly.
But somewhere along the way – probably sometime in college, I sort of gave up on Apologetics.
I realized that you can’t argue someone into a relationship with Jesus, and it just got harder and harder for me to see the point of Apologetics. I still maintained my belief that Christianity is rational – that it basically makes sense and is coherent. And I could still hold my own in conversations with people who don’t see the world the way I do.
Over the last 100 years, our cultural attitude towards the End of the World has taken a fascinating shift. At the end of the 1800s and up until about 1915 or so, most Americans thought Jesus was coming back any day. The number of rapture predictions and End Times scenarios was staggering. And even those who weren’t Christians were predicting that the 20th century would be the new golden age of humanity.
Of course the 1900s didn’t go that way – instead it was a century of endless war, crushing world-wide depression and devastating new technologies like nuclear, chemical and bio-weaponry.
Today, we don’t look forward to the Second Coming. In fact, if you look around at our popular culture, it’s safe to say we’re downright terrified at the idea of the End of the World. How many people do you know who are a little bit worried that those Mayans might be right about December 21? End of the World movies have always been popular, but in the last few years, we’ve seen a higher percentage of them than ever. Two of the most popular shows on TV right now are The Walking Dead and Revolution, both of which ask, What would happen if we lost everything?
It’s hard to believe it’s been less than two weeks since the election. Already all the nasty campaign ads are fading to distant memory and State Secession Petitions have become a national joke.
President Obama’s victory speech, delivered at 2:00 am EST on Wednesday is sure to go down as one of the best speeches in recent memory. And while we can debate to what degree his promises reflect his politics (because please, that hasn’t already been talked to death), I was captivated by the
As promised a couple of weeks ago, Matt Mikalatos, Clay Morgan and I have launched a semi-monthly podcast. Introducing… STORYMEN!
God’s judgment is a scary thing to consider. Anytime a national tragedy strikes, there’re always people ready to claim it’s God judging us. So when 9/11 happened, Katrina or Sandy. The earthquake in Haiti. Or on a more personal level, we often think of the bad things happening in our lives as God punishing us. So if we get an illness or lose a job or something like that, we wonder, Did I do something wrong? Is God judging me?
And to complicate it more, some who experience those tough times, those personal or national tragedies claim they’re blessings. Some claim losing a job or getting cancer or losing a home was the best thing that ever happened to them, that their judgment was a wake-up call and they wouldn’t trade it for a million bucks.
Skyfall is being hailed – and rightly so – as the best Bond of all time. On the franchise’s 50th anniversary, the new film at once completes the reboot of the bond universe begun in Casino Royale and moves forward. Skyfall‘s story is totally contemporary, setting up the franchise to keep Bond fresh in the years to come.
Fair warning: Spoilers past this point!
Think about Sunday. The day we all gather to worship. In a room full of brothers and sisters, full of people who are part of God’s people, God’s kingdom.
And in addition to those who’re followers, many are curious. Who are trying to figure out this religion stuff, checking out Christianity, trying to decide if Jesus is worth all the hype. Some of us coming having had particularly excellent weeks. Some of us are in the midst of the worst times of our lives. A lot of us are just having average, normal weeks. All of us have come here looking for something. We want to be filled.
Maybe you’ve come for encouragement and inspiration. Maybe you’ve come for forgiveness or healing. Maybe you’re here for answers and certainty. Maybe you’re here out of obligation or to make someone happy. Whatever you’re looking for, if you’re like most of us, you’re here to get something. We look to Sunday to energize our week. We come for music or prayer or teaching or fellowship and that fills us up so we can go back out into the week.
Click to check out Sword of Six Worlds on Amazon!
The first time I read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, I was probably 10 years old. I just remember enjoying the story, marveling at the magical world of Narnia. As I grew up, I heard that The Chronicles of Narnia were spiritual allegories, and as I reflected on the plot of the book, I could see what they meant. I didn’t actually reread that first book until college, and the story’s blatant theology caught me off guard (J. R. R. Tolkien famously called the books ‘crude allegory’).
I would’ve loved the chance to read Narnia with my parents, for them to help me see the biblical themes. I can imagine that such a book would be a useful tool for parents today looking for a fun book to help their kids talk about Jesus and theology at their level.
