One of the things I love about the internet, blogging and social media is the friendships built. I ran into Julie through a mutual friend and online conversations about worship. Julie is a worship leader and director of children's worship arts at Lynn Haven UMC in Panama City, Florida. She is also a mother of three AND a zombie lover. I asked her to contribute to the blog and she came through with flying colors. Thanks Julie! ------ From George Romero's, "Night of the Living Dead," to Michael Jackson's "Thriller," video to the recent hit series, "The Walking Dead," I... Continue reading

My friend Ryan Kocak pointed me to this video earlier today. In it, we hear some great ideas about how zombies just fit our culture. Scott Poole wrote Monsters in America and has a great perspective on the subject. I enjoyed the video and I hope you will. Continue reading

Earlier this week I asked the questions "Why Zombies?" and offered a few brief reflections. While it might be obvious, I think the first answer is because people are talking about them. We play games on our cell phones, kids have cartoon t-shirts, adults are watching "The Walking Dead" and they have entered some level of cultural popularity. While it might be cliched for churches and pastors to talk about zombies just for popularity's sake, they should recognize some level of conciseness is manifesting. Zombie's are popular because they allow us to casually work out some fears and internal commentary... Continue reading

This past Sunday, great television returned to primetime. I, along with plenty others, watched the 2nd season premiere of The Walking Dead (I wrote about the first season here). The western world is taken up with Zombies, they are a pop culture phenom. Over the next couple of days, I want to look at the topic "Why Zombies", especially in relation to the way Christians interact within the world. The quick version is that zombies provide a place for our culture to both recognize own our destructive nature while maintaining cooperation in what we see is a flawed society. Zombie... Continue reading

Yesterday in my sermon I challenged folks to become "imagining storytellers in the great Drama of Scripture." Nice words....they sound pretty nice changed together like that. But I am straight serious. To be Christians in the 21st century, participating in God's mission for the world, we have to understand the Bible as something that actually effects our life. In the past, we understood its effects as knowledge and moral priority. We read the Bible to find more knowledge about God and to learn the do's and don'ts of the Christian life. These still apply, but perhaps not in the same... Continue reading

Inside Methodist theology, folks have always looked at what John Wesley might have believed about the end times. In reading this morning sermon 26 (I read one of the standard 52 a week), I came across this snippet. Click here to read the entire sermon on The Lord's Prayer. I appreciate how Wesley doesn't allow his eschatology to take over. Clearly, it forms a very important part of his thoughts on the Lord's Prayer. The segment that I am interested in was part of the section on the phrase "thy kingdom come." Wesley see's that the thoughts about The End... Continue reading

Earlier this week I posted about how local churches need to engage with Revelation. To some, this might be an insurmountable task. The character of Revelation makes an auditory involvement necessary. In country terms; We need to HEAR Revelation. Those in the company of preachers must learn to call the church to its eschatological dwelling place. In the enterprise of the earthly church taking Revelation back, local pastors serve both as truck drivers and road crew. We direct the energy as well as take care of the movement so that the laity can travel alongside. Intentionally preaching eschatologically means a... Continue reading

So it didn't happen. The internet is abound with jokes, judgements and taunting. Alot of it comes from the mouths (and fingers) of Christians, critiquing what was rightfully an ill found theology. Several of my readers asked me last week why I was absent from speculation, linking and commentary. I was actually really busy these last few weeks, but as Saturday grew closer and closer, I felt the pit of my stomach aching for what was going to be a bad weekend for Christians. It was bad for those who hoped Camping was correct and it was a bad weekend... Continue reading

When running in a multiple vehicle caravan, you have several different types of vehicles needed. A couple of self sufficient larger trucks. An armored school bus for carrying people. An RV can serve as the mobile command center. You might want to lash a few motorcycles to the back of the bus for recon missions or to gather supplies. To think that a random assemblage of running cars and trucks will work sounds like a quick way to become one of the undead. In the infancy of WWZ, one of the key pieces to any successful roving tribe of the... Continue reading

Ford Diesel F350. The sleeper....no one knows how valuable this truck will be until it is needed. The basic work truck...seen around countless farms, work crews and rural communities. It isn't immediately threatening, but its abilities for offroad driving, hauling and general transportation on Z day make it a handy thing to keep around. The 4x4 really doesn't need to be mentioned, but the hauling capability of this truck really takes it up a notch. What other truck would be best to pack that armored parade float designed to mow through hordes of the undead? So I present The Sleeper. Continue reading

I tell a story about answering a tough question. How do we talk to people about the end of the world? What makes our story uniquely Christian? Do we take part in the tales of destruction as the final event, or do we tell stories of grace, fulfillment and love to those who are in Christ? We must be talking about all of these things. If we aren't, we will forget who we are. I always go back to this quote. What you hear today...you have to tell the birthed tomorrow" (Beyond the Thunderdome). Continue reading

VIntage Pickup..check Buckshot tires...check Easily accessible storage...check Carburetor...check Precomputer...check 4x4...check This guy has to be the best hillbilly zombie truck I have seen. It fits the bill for postapocalyptic survival in varied terrain. Continue reading

Part of the nutjob apocalyptic and separatist community is having a "bugout vehicle". I think these follow in the grand tradition of the armored caravan that you see in some post-apocalyptic movies (think the chase scene in The Road Warrior and the travelers in Resident Evil 3). Don't we all need a vehicle prepared to both escape and then take out the undead? I love finding vehicles that I think would fit the purpose. I try to do a "zombie truck of the week" on twitter, and this is a shot I took today. I was driving in rural Kentucky... Continue reading

...Or at least moving picture. Below is my first video on Eschatology. I have a few friends that really engage with the Youtube community and I am thinking about expanding in that direction. More and more I think about Revelation and it needing to be narrated. Some scholars think that it was primarily a book for corporate reading, and those who interpret it need to do so out loud. Continue reading

In the last post we looked quickly at the only four occurrences of “antichrist” in the scriptures (1 Jn 2:18,22 4:3 and 2 Jn 7). At the end of the post I asked the reader to spend some time in these verses alone and answer this question. How would you define antichrist? When looking at the verses, I think 2 John 7 really sums up everything. 2 John 7 Many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh; any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist! (NRSV)... Continue reading

Nothing is stronger in conservative end times language than the topic of the “AntiChrist”. He is the perennial “Big Bad Wolf” of the church. Using this language, we easily can demonize any person to the highest degree. Many people have been named as a potential AntiChrist. Jason Boyett gives a very tongue-in-cheek guide in chapter 10 of the Pocket Guide To The Apocalypse: The Official Field Manual For The End Of The World , and quickly puts together a list of 10 qualities found in current PreMillennial Dispensationalism (the fancy word for Left Behind). He also has a short list... Continue reading

I am often asked by friends and those in church circles if I ever want to formally put my thoughts regarding Eschatology and the book of Revelation together. I carefully navigate these questions because I feel called to the local church. Therefore, much of my energy related to these topics is placed inside the local church. I don't like the idea of meandering through 100 pages of the use of the genative case. I know people much better at that than me, and I will gladly point others in their direction. I am writing a Master's Thesis, because I liked... Continue reading

Eugene Peterson is about as mystical as Presbyterians get. He is a great example of a 21st century contemplative. Over the last few weeks I have been studying the use of Revelation in preaching and the pastoral vocation. Peterson devotes an entire chapter in The Contemplative Pastor: Returning to the Art of Spiritual Direction to the topic. Peterson quickly identifies the role of apocalyptic as an adjective of the pastor. Insisting on the realities of the kingdom against the realities of the world is part of the task of the pastor. They are there to remind us of our exact... Continue reading

It has been awhile since the last roundup. Here is the best of End Times thoughts from around the internet. 1. Wednesdays with Wright: Monotheism, Election and Eschatology. A good summary of N.T. Wright's thoughts in Jesus and the Victory of God. Wright is a leader in current progressive eschatological thoughts and integrates it well into the rest of theology. Brian does a great job of quickly summarizing a few key points. 2. Glenn Beck and Mormon Eschatology. More and more I think Beck is a fascinating character when it comes to American eschatology. I will wait till later to... Continue reading

The Western fascination with abandonment is part of a cultural apocalypse. This film has been making the rounds lately, showing the abandoned 6 Flags Themepark in New Orleans. I have written before of hurricane Katrina as a unique American Apocalypse, and this video is part of the continuing influence. Our culture is fascinated with End. Our postmodern location insists upon it. While a story is not believed in, an end is part of the reality. The bleak nature of a secular eschatology is confronted by the Church and her story and mission. Humans have a purpose, and we are part... Continue reading

A few of us have been thinking about how the scenario of the Zombie Apocalypse speaks to the future of the Church in America. This might seem a morbid analogy, but it is not based off of a sci-fi geekery (well...maybe a little). In the catalog of books and movies of the zombie family, one of the biggest threats is "being overrun", when the masses of undead overwhelm the living. A critical mass no longer exists, and the possibilities of demise are soon. There is only a matter of time until nothing is left. For those that serve and attend... Continue reading

In my scripture this week I was in Isaiah 26 and I stumbled upon this verse- Is. 26:15 But you have increased the nation, O LORD, you have increased the nation; you are glorified; you have enlarged all the borders of the land. (NRSV) The first thing that came to mind was the "Prayer of Jabez" which took the evangelical world by storm and inspired countless pieces of Christian accessories. It is taken from 1 Chronicles 4:9-10. The passage from Isaiah is the end of a praise of the uprightness of YHWH. The Prayer of Jabez is criticized for being... Continue reading

The last few days I have been working on blog stats and planning how both this blog and my "usual" blog outsideisbetter.net will run for the next year. It is always good to be constantly tweaking things. I am moving towards version 2.0 ( I like to call it POMO2.0) on PostModernEschatology.com. My desire for this site has always been to resource and write for the average Christian, and putting the book of Revelation back into the hands of worshipping congregations. These slight changes in POMO2.0 are designed to help this site work better inside that mission. I just wanted... Continue reading

I took this picture earlier in the year of my favorite prayer shack at the Abbey of Gethsemani in Bardstown, Ky. Famous as the monastery of Thomas Merton, I can completely lose track of time during my retreats there. This particular Rosary Hut is my favorite place to forget about things and concentrate on prayer. I leave behind the time that often rules me and enter into the liminal space of eternal time. In my studies on the book of Revelation, I am coming to the growing conviction that the book is less about a linear dating of a dramatic... Continue reading

To make Christmas easier for the various parts of my family I started an Amazon wishlist years ago. This year, it seemed to be used by more and more people in the family. Most of them had things to say about the amount and type of reading that was on my list, but I think my sister's thought takes the cake: Mom..the funny thing is this isn't just for school, this is his leisure reading!!! I will say that building a good library on things your are interested is is important, and part of that is putting resources in that... Continue reading