Night of the living dead....

I was never one for watching scary movies....My brother however, really REALLY enjoyed scary movies.  He, being 12 years older than me, was a teenager in the early 80‘s; the zenith of scary-movie history.  In my opinion, some of the scariest movies ever made were born in the 80’s....granted, I was a little kid then...but still;  many of the movies that are probably considered “classics” in this genre were spawned during the 80‘s;  and they were some of my brother’s favorites.  I distinctly remember him having two  (not one, but TWO) Nightmare on Elm Street posters in his bedroom..AND a Night of the Living Dead (or maybe it was Return of the Living Dead) poster.  I, being 6 years old, was terrified of these posters.  TERRIFIED.  He also portrayed Michael Meyers (from the original Friday the 13th) for halloween one year....and was, as I recall, frighteningly convincing.  He and his best friend even undertook the task of making their own slasher flick one summer.....while  they were baby sitting me....I was told to “just  stay on the deck for a little while” while they videoed in the woods behind the house.  Hearing them pretend to kill each other in the woods was probably what kept me on the deck.  

So, what’s the deal, you might be wondering.....Why all this talk about scary movies? Wow, Beth Ann has really gone off the deep end hasn’t she?  Talking about zombies and Freddie Krueger and all this crazy stuff...No, I haven’t.  You know one thing that most of those movies have in common......In almost all of them, there’s a point in the movie where the villain appears to be dead and then comes back to wreak more havoc on some poor unsuspecting victim/s.  There are even whole movies based on the “living dead”...zombies.  I was reading my Bible this morning and something I came across made me think of all this.(weird I know)  You can find spiritual truths everywhere, yes, even in horror movies.  

“For he who has died is freed from sin. “ Romans 6:7 

“Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.  Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey it’s lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves  to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.”  Romans 6:11-13

Sometimes I think we forget that we’re dead to our old selves.  When we sin, it’s like we’ve become Zombie Christians.  That old man of sin is dead, but it’s just like in one of those movies when you think everything is fine the bad guy is dead and then suddenly he jumps out from behind a tree and attacks you.  In these scary movies the good guy always has to figure out the way to defeat the villain.  Some villains even have special weapons you have to use to defeat them....you know the old cliche’s;  Silver bullets kill werewolves, a stake through the heart will kill a vampire etc.  Well, Jesus is the weapon that kills the old man of sin. 

“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, But the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.  We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.”  II Corinthians 10: 3-5  

In all those horror movies, the villain is never just tolerated.  He has to be destroyed.  We shouldn’t tolerate “zombies” in our spiritual lives either.  They have to be annihilated!    

If a physically dead person climbed up out of their grave and started walking around harassing people we wouldn’t just accept it and say “oh....that’s just how it is.” “There goes Bob again....just don’t mind him.”  When your old, dead, rotten self shows up, don’t accept him or tolerate him either. 

“for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die;  but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.  For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.”  Romans 8: 13-14  

The only way to defeat this villain is to KILL him.  Once you’re immersed and your old self is dead and buried, he should stay dead and buried.  When you see that zombie coming up, it should shock you.  You should wonder how he came up out of the grave and you should do whatever it takes to put him back in his place.  The wonderful thing is; God has given us all the tools we need to kill these “zombies.”  In horror movies, you can always tell when the villain is around, usually the music will let you know.  In your life, if you start to pay attention, you can normally see a pattern to your old self coming up.  When I neglect my memory work or my bible reading or (especially) my personal prayer time....that’s  when the zombie likes to show up.  So...listen to the music.  When you see yourself slipping, STOP.  Regain your footing and don’t let the zombies come up out of the grave.  

Sorry this post was kind of strange.....I told you it came to me when I was reading my Bible and even though it’s a strange illustration, it makes sense. (to me at least)  Until next time....

Nyame Nhyira Wo

BAM