God is better than zombies

In your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, 16keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. (1 Peter 3:15-16)

Tonight we were at the mall and I went into a new store that just opened. It’s a costume store that will be open until after Halloween.

There are costumes of every kind there, including some that are really ugly. Not in the aesthetic sense, but in the moral sense. Much of what passes for culture today doesn’t jibe with my moral sense. However, I must not be in the majority.

At the back of the store was a big box, room-like thing with shredded fabric at the door. Behind the fabric was a black sheet. I saw it the other day, but there were several people waiting so I left.

Today I came in and saw there was no one there. I walked to the back of the store – quite a large one – toward the box. The woman at the desk said, You sure are walking with a purpose.

I felt rather embarrassed. At my age, it felt kind of goofy to be excited about something, but I had seen people come out of there with surprised looks on their faces.

I was by myself today. I walked in and went up to where there was an X on the floor.

There was a screen at the back. On the screen there was a zombie eating somebody’s brains. When I got to the X the computer program engaged.

The zombie saw me and ran toward me. It got quite large in the screen when a man came up and blew its brains out with a rifle.

When he did, the zombie’s head exploded and his brains went everywhere.

Now here is the strange part. When he blew the zombie’s brains out, I felt the brains blow all over me. On my arms, on my face, my hair. All over me. And it was cold, like a zombie’s blood probably would be. Since he was dead of course. Never having met a zombie, I am not sure, but it seemed that way to me.

Needles to say, it surprised the daylights out of me. I came out of the box with a really shocked look on my face. I fully expected to see blood on my arms. There was nothing there. I suppose there was a jet blowing cold water droplets on me.

But it felt like the brains of the zombie were on me.

When I came out I must have looked surprised, because there was a young man and his mother standing there.

The young man said, How was it. I said, Wow. Go see it, but be sure to go forward and stand on the X.

He said, On the X? Like it was a secret formula. I replied, Yes. Go stand right on the X.

They went in eagerly. I came over to Ella and said, again, Wow! I kept looking down, still expecting the blood on me. But there was nothing there. So we left.

There was an evangelistic fervor in what I had seen and I wanted that young man to experience it. It had been one of the most interesting experiences in my life and I wanted to share it.

When we feel that way about the grace of God and the knowledge of salvation, we are in the will of God. When we feel that eager to share what God has done for us, it makes us happy to tell others about him.

He is a fat lot better than zombies, after all.