Some thoughts with the AIDS Walk coming up…

I just read this on Perry Noble’s blog (http://www.perrynoble.com/), and it is so relevant to what we as Zombies are here for, and what our purpose is, and where we came from, that I had to copy it here.  Enjoy!

Ephesians 2:1 has been rocking my world lately…seriously…read it…Ephesians 2:1.

“YOU WERE DEAD…”  AND…keep in mind that the Apostle Paul was writing this to people INSIDE the church…church people…Bible study people…deacons…elders…reminding them that THEY WERE ALL DEAD!

I was DEAD…not suffering from bad habits, not caught up in destructive patterns, not trapped in a system of making bad mistakes, not addicted, not unfocused…BUT DEAD!!!

BUT…Ephesians 2:4-5 tells me that GOD MADE ME ALIVE IN CHRIST!

So…I was dead…God made me alive…so…that transaction had EVERYTHING to do with HIS effort and not my own!  (Because dead people can’t decide to be better people…because…THEY’RE FREAKIN DEAD!!!)

God saved me by HIS grace…not because I am great but because HE IS GREAT!

BUT…as Christians we forget that fact.  We forget that salvation was (and is) a gift…quite often because we slip into a system of legalism that allows us to be defined by what we do and do not do rather than the finished work that Christ has done for us.

We get angry at spiritually dead people for…well…acting spiritually dead.  So…we protest them, we picket them, we yell at them and damn them to hell…completely forgetting that if it were not for the amazing grace of God we would be the very people that we try to isolate ourselves from!

It is incredibly difficult to look down on someone when you realize that you WERE that person…and God brought you out of that death by HIS SON and not your effort!

The church is not called to condem the world (John 3:17) but to reach and impact the world…and that will NEVER be accomplished until those IN the church realize the reality of the Gospel…and instead of using the cross to beat people with we simply kneel at the foot of it and began to declare that there is still room for those who are far from God.

We can’t forget what it was like to be lost…

And we can’t yell at people who are the very people we would be if it were not for God’s grace.

I believe the grasp of those two concepts could CHANGE our churches…and through that would eventually CHANGE our world!

Serving.

What does serving mean to you? What does it mean to serve God? A blog will soon follow this, but to kick things off, what are your thoughts?

THE ZOMBIES

An Upside-Down World

As our zombies with Jesus outbreak grows, it is important for all to remember that what we have discovered is so different from what the world thinks of zombies.

When we have given our lives to Him, our new lives are not the gooey, gorey, rotted beings that you see on T.V.  Oh no!  In fact, if anything, we realize that our old lives were the gooey, gorey beings.  When we are serving others, doing God’s will, our lives are exuberant, exciting, and more fulfilling than anything we could find while we were still in the world.  Instead of darkness, we found light inside!

And that is what we are obsessed with during this outbreak.  Not brains, but souls.  And not for us, but for Jesus.  We want all of you to be able to share what we have found.  And the beauty of it is, God’s grace has more than enough to go around. Give Him a chance, and you’ll see.

Get undead and come alive!!

Worship Music. Harder Than You Think.

Hi, A Zombie here,

I am just going to do a quick blog post here. I know that The Zombies post quite a bit, but I think its time we had some more of a thoughtful blog post once and awhile (not saying kittens aren’t thoughtful or anything).

The subject is worship music. I am in the worship band at church, and I do listen to the occasional worship song. Some might think that worship band is just like any other band that plays. We play our set, then we are done. But worship music is much more complex, in ways that you might now have thought before.

One is that worship music is supposed to connect you with God. Especially after a moving sermon or in a hard time in your life, worship music is very powerful in connecting you to God in ways that you might not be able to do at home. But when the band plays, you still notice the quality of the band, and you still expect them to be good. No worries, I expect them to be good as well. There is one hard line about worship music: the line of your audience thinking about you or thinking about God.

Here is an example: Lets say we are playing an average worship song, and there comes a part where I don’t sing and just the guitar plays. In any other type of music, this is an open time for a solo. Even in worship music the solo is present, but you don’t see the guitarist playing with his teeth or playing some loud obnoxious notes.  Then you would be focusing on the guitarist, not worship. If there is a drum fill that could go into the piece, I tell the drummer not to play it. Its all about balancing the line between a good song to worship to, and not a good song to worship to.

Another way that worship music is a bit more complex is through actually getting the notes right. Worship music is nationwide, even worldwide. There are songs on our set list that have been played in many countries all over the globe. That means that if we mess up, we mess up big.

People memorize worship songs because they are soundtracks to their lives. These songs speak to them when words or family or friends can’t. That means if we screw up their favorite verse, there won’t be happy campers in the audience. Even the pitch of my voice to the original recording gets compared, and the overall sound of the band is put up against the sound people in the audience in their heads when they think of the song. Its like a video-game, like Rock Band. Imagine worship music as Rock Band on normal mode, except the audience was super critical. Thats a pretty accurate representation of what we have to go through in playing in a worship band. And don’t feel as if I am offended by it, when I go and see worship bands, I expect the exact same out of them.

The final thing that is difficult about worship music is choosing the right set list. It can be hard choosing what songs to play. What will the mood of the sermon be? What is the mood of the audience like? Do we need more slow songs or more fast songs? These things come into my head when I am choosing music 15 minutes before church starts. Usually the worship band does 2 fast songs and 1 slow song. I would argue that this format isn’t always appropriate. When there is a hard-hitting sermon, I usually don’t want to “Shout it Out” just yet. So, the worship band plays melancholy sounds. As a worship band leader, it can sometimes be difficult to choose the songs that match the mood of the sermon, while at other times it is very easy to choose. Its usually good to have a slow song right after a sermon, then a bit of a faster tune, then a hit song being played to finish. But I even go through lyrics to find which song connects the most to what side of God we are seeing, and what we are learning about God in that time.

I hope you enjoyed this bit of a more blog-related post on this site. Leave a comment telling me what you think, and continue reading about The Zombies and our adventures.

Sincerely,

A ZOMBIE

The Zombies Have Congregated.

Today is Wednesday.

That is Zombie meeting day.

Today, on the official Zombie meeting day, the Zombies met and discussed ideas and ways for us to raise money for our project, but also about this website and other subjects such as some guy named Jesus. But, our idea on the website is for us to maybe continue giving updates on the Treasure Box Project, but maybe not as many. This means The Zombies will now talk about other subjects, and just because we are lifeless creatures doesn’t mean we don’t have a social life. Quite the contrary, The Zombies do in fact party until we die, and because we already have, that means we party all the time.

So, what does this mean for you? This means to you, the avid Zombie blog reader, to expect a bit less posts about The Treasure Box and more posts on The Zombie meetings and happenings, as well as any thoughts (which is hard because we don’t have a brain) The Zombies might have. Do you all have any ideas on what would be interesting to talk about on here? And don’t fret, every few days there will be a Treasure Box update, just not every day. But to summarize what we did talk about today about The Treasure Box:

-We will have flyers to pass out on Sunday to whoever wants them that informs you about our website and our facebook page. Obviously because you are here you don’t need that information, but it would be good to pass on to friends, family, pets, strangers, and parked cars.

-There will be an announcement in Live and Unplugged about our website and what we are doing exactly. If you are the over-highschool age crowd (I’m talking to you, random 21 year old that reads this site), then try to talk it up with fellow church members and answer their questions if they are confused or a bit baffled by the announcement, or if they look up our website right then and there on their iPhone or other electronic internet device, answer their questions that will probably entail after seeing kitten pictures.

-We will be working with The Treasure Box this Saturday. Be ready for a post about that on Saturday or Sunday.

And due to the overwhelming popularity of our animal photos, The Zombies will not post another photo, because its always good to stop while your on top and not continue until no one likes you anymore, like most modern pop bands or artists (The Zombies’ favorite is definitely Miley Cyrus).

Thanks for reading,

THE ZOMBIES

We Need A Sign Of Life.

Ok folks, here I am, being a Zombie and talking to all of you. Or am I? This question is raised because although The Zombies see that people are reading our website, we don’t know who these people are, what they think, if they care, if they have ideas, or if they too like cute pictures of random creatures. So, here we are: The first person to comment on any posting on this website and post something on our facebook wall (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Zombies-With-Jesus/147818405253274?v=wall&ref=mf) then you shall get a reward. Second place gets a prize as well, so keep commenting and posting. And please don’t call this a shameless act of self-promotion, call it more of The Zombies wondering if there is anybody living out there.

And because it is now a tradition:

Now, Comment!

THE ZOMBIES

An Idea

The Zombies have an idea for this project to be more well known. We are off to a great start with over 30 fans on our Facebook page and well over 100 visits to our website so far. But The Zombies have a challenge for you. In order for us to have this project become more well known, our challenge to you is to share this website and our Facebook page with 5 people. They can be church people or non-church people. Then, once that is done, post this website or our Facebook page in a status on Facebook (assuming you have Facebook, if not, then get a Facebook and join the over 1 billion user experience). Can you do that? Its a simple way for you to help us reach our goal of 50 thanksgiving feasts because the more people we have with us, the more people will help out and contribute. And this is a way for you to help contribute. Not only that, know that if you help contribute you can look at the following pictures (if not contributing, please scroll down the page for three scrolls then open your eyes):

YOU HELPED US! CONGRATS! HERE IS YOUR REWARD:

If you decided not to help us, we are sorry you missed out on those wonderful rewards.

So, to recap on a quick and easy way to help us:

-Share our website/our facebook page with 5 people

-Post our website/our facebook page as a status

This is an easy way for us to be more well known and for more people to come and help!

Thanks for your help,

THE ZOMBIES

Why Is Someone Dressed Up Like A Chicken?

For those of you who are reading this before 11:30 or didn’t go to church today, this post might be a little bit confusing. Today is the official day of The Zombies beginning our service project called The Holiday Box. This post is about how exactly we are supposed to raise $1750 by November 7th.

First off: Why is someone dressed up like a chicken?

This chicken is symbolic of food and good harvest. Also, some of The Zombies like dressing up as animals. One of The Zombies is dressing up like a chicken to raise awareness for The Holiday Box. The Holiday Box is a program in which families that cannot afford the averaged price thanksgiving dinner can get a full thanksgiving feast for the price of $35. This includes a turkey, sweet potatoes, vegetables, pasta, stuffing and a pie! And who doesn’t like pie? The Zombies do. A lot. But, this shows how we are not afraid to do anything and that any idea to raise awareness or money is welcome. The chicken idea got you to come here, who knows what other ideas could cause things to happen?

Second: How are we supposed to raise $1750 in a month?

If ActiveWater taught us anything, its that we can do and accomplish whatever we want as long as we show dedication and passion. We persevered to raise $2500 in a month, and we will be showing as much dedication to this project in order to raise $1750 this month. But how will we do it? Here are a few ideas:

-Have a videogame party and every time you die, you pay $.25.

-Have a soccer shoot-off, and every time you make it the goalie pays $.25, and every time you miss you pay $.25

-Dress up like a chicken and harass strangers for money.

You see? There are many ways for us to raise money, and there are many options. But we can’t do it alone. The Zombies need your help. We can help you fund raise as we do our own fundraising, you can fund raise with us, or you can fund raise on your own and help contribute to the grand total. Not only that, you can help by giving us ideas to fundraise too!!

Now, The Zombies know that this is alot of information to take in at one time, and probably your eyes are straining from reading all this beautifully presented information. Thank you for reading this and please comment and tell us your opinions or ideas. Now, to give your eyes a break, here is a picture of a cute kitty-cat:

Thanks for reading,

THE ZOMBIES

Ideas?

The Zombies released a poll recently, and before the results are tallied, are there any ideas to reach our goal of 50 meals? Any idea works, from jamming on musical chords for money to playing videogames where every death costs you a quarter. So is there any ideas that could be used to reach our very high goal? Because if we don’t have any ideas, the zombies get restless. And thats never a good thing.

Sincerely,

THE ZOMBIES

The Holiday Treasure Box

The Treasure Box is an organization that helps families in need by providing boxes of food for an affordable price. For this Thanksgiving, The Treasure Box is offering a special box deal of a turkey, pasta, stuffing, sweet potatoes, vegetables,  and a pie for only $35! This program is called “The Holiday Box”. Our goal is to donate 50 of these boxes to families in need. Please help by donating through us or through The Treasure Box’s website which can be found below. All donations are due by November 7th in order to be used for The Holiday Box, but The Treasure Box donations can be made anytime.

Here are the links;

The Treasure Box:

http://www.thetreasurebox.org/index.php

The Holiday Box:

http://www.thetreasurebox.org/press-room.php?id=57&do=view

Thank you very much,

THE ZOMBIES