Z is for Zombieland

Jeremy Walker (00:14):
And welcome back to another episode of Preschool Pioneers. I am your host, Jeremy Walker. You can follow us on our parent network CR101 Radio, on social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Gab, and YouTube. And you can subscribe to this podcast on your preferred platform so you never miss an episode. Visit CR101Radioradio.com for these links.

(00:44):
Well, well. Welcome back everybody to Preschool Pioneers. This episode is entitled, Z is for Zombieland Why Teaching Children to Live Successfully in This World is Very Important and How to Do That. Well, first, I want to welcome everybody for joining me for this very last episode of season two of Preschool Pioneers titled Z is for Zombieland. It just so happens that not many things go with the letter, but the word zombie does. There was a movie and there is. Actually, there's two movies called Zombieland. There's Zombieland the first one, and Zombieland Double Tap. These are kind of a movie in of themselves, which are different. Most zombie movies are strictly horror type flicks. These movies are kind of in a genre to their own, zombie comedy. That's kind of a very strange combination, but it does work.

(01:50):
And so the whole flick is about people learning to survive a world, well, infested with zombies, flesh eating zombies who like to murder and kill the living and how to do that successfully. So I thought I would kind of grab some stuff from that that was interesting. In the flick and in the movies, there were rules for surviving Zombieland and I had quite a few of them and I want to share some of those here. And I've taken those and kind of commandeered their meanings and as Christians, we can learn how to live successfully in this world and how to teach our children and our students that as well.

(02:32):
See, it's very important that Christians become teachers because somebody is going to teach. There's no vacuum in the world and over the last couple of years in particular, you've seen this staunch effort by very evil perverted people to become teachers. Many schools have been infested by them and because of that they know they're going after children. They even had a song and they were singing it, "We're coming for your children." They want everybody to know what they're doing and they're doing it deliberately. Well, Christians, we are also coming for the children. We are coming to benefit them. We're coming to help them. We're coming to guide them to help in their rearing so they can grow and live in this world successfully.

(03:23):
Now there are a lot of zombies out there, people who are out to seek and destroy children and everybody else on top of that as well, but what our jobs are as Christians and as Christian parents are to teach our children how to live successfully in this world. Unlike Zombieland, the world is not going to hell in a hand basket. It's constantly getting better and that's something that we should know and be inspired by and teach our children as well so they do not look at the world and get disheartened by the evil that is there.

(04:01):
The best way to look at evil in this world is to see if it was in a trap and it cannot get out and so everything it does is just a lash out because it is trapped and it is over. They are not free. Evil people are not free. They cannot get away. They're caught in God's trap and eventually they are going to be gone. That's right, they're going to be destroyed and they know it and so they kind of want to take out as many people as they can with them. That's kind of the idea.

(04:35):
In fact, most people, we talked about school shootings quite a bit, school shooters, the number one thing they want to do is cause as much misery as they can and then kill themselves. It's really about that. They're going out, they hate the world and they want to hurt and kill as many people as they can before they kill themselves.

(04:54):
Well, let's go ahead and jump into what I like to call my rules for surviving in this world. Now we're going to take them from Zombieland and number one was cardio. To escape a pursuing zombie, you'll need to outrun it, and this means being in very good shape. Well, this was really funny because it was the first little rule that was in there about being able to outrun those that are coming after you. Well, for Christians to successfully live in this world, you do have to have endurance and diligence. Life and success is a marathon. It's not a sprint. Our children need to learn that anything you do is going to take work and that means out working and out surviving all the evil people that are out there.

(05:41):
While other people are lazy, while other people are constantly failing because they're breaking God's commandments, we are going to be teaching children to keep God's commandments consistently. It's not a one-stop shop. You don't get to keep a commandment today and break it tomorrow. It's something that you have to do all the time. This is where success comes from and if you want to help your children, they are going to have to build up endurance. They're going to have to learn to say no to themselves, say no to their sin nature, and through diligence and endurance, they are then going to live successfully and in the end have the fruits of success. But it's not something that's going to happen overnight. It's going to take a long time. It is a marathon, not a sprint.

(06:28):
Number two was double tap. When in doubt, don't get stingy with your bullets and this was of course was about killing zombies. Now for the Christian, the idea behind this one that I'm going to pull is success is going above and beyond in all the right areas. Doing the bare minimum will be just good enough to keep you where you're at, but not enough to help you succeed. We are supposed to be teaching our children and showing and modeling these behaviors ourselves.

(07:00):
Is that in good we are supposed to be double dippers, double tappers. And everything you do that is good you should be working very hard doubly so to do that, not helping a little bit, going above and beyond to help. If you have a job and you're at the work, whatever job you have, don't do just enough. Do extra. Promotion comes from those who do extra, promotion comes to those who excel at what they're doing. Doing the bare minimum is not going to help you succeed in this life. It's just enough maybe to keep you where you're at or maybe even to prompt you to do even less because you've become lazy. So you're supposed to go above and beyond doing more than just what is required of you and our children they want to succeed, they are going to have to learn to do that.

(07:54):
Number three in zombie land was beware of bathrooms. You are at your most vulnerable while sitting on the toilet, so always take extra care. Well, for me, I'm pulling from this one to keep yourself out of vulnerable and potentially dangerous situations. That is a major aspect of learning to be successful. See, children need to learn that the world is dangerous. There are a lot of dangerous situations that they will put themselves in or find themselves in or somebody else might be trying to put them in. A lot of the weird sexual perverts of the late last five to 10 years have come out and they're trying to teach the children that these dangerous situations really aren't dangerous at all. Embracing sin is a good thing.

(08:43):
No, our jobs as Christian parents and teachers is to teach the children to recognize when they're vulnerable, recognize dangerous situations and stay very, very far away from them. A little thing I like to tell my children is, "Being in the right place at the right time with the right people is a recipe for success and a recipe for failure is being in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong people." If we teach our children the commandments, we teach them what they mean and how to apply them, they then can beware of all the potential evils that are out there that might make them vulnerable and the biggest thing is learning that they want. They want to do evil, that natural instinct to do evil, to have your will and not God's, it's something that they have to learn to be aware of.

(09:36):
Number four is buckle up. You won't be driving along easy roads anymore. With numerous things to avoid, you need to be ready for a crash. Well, this was one that I decided to pull and say, "Life is full of unpredictable moments and it's important to be prepared for the unexpected." The seat belts of your child's life are going to be, those things will help them keep them safe. Knowing the commandments, first of all, so instructing your children in the ways of righteousness is the first way to help them strap in for safety. And then of course to stay there in their seat. Like the old saying is, "You can't pull off your seatbelt, crawl around the seat and then get into a car crash and then you're going to get into an accident." So children really do need to buckle down. They need to know the commandments. They need to stay in the commandments and that this is where they're safe, not just that, but life is not easy. There's going to be lots of things that they're not prepared for, deaths in the family, sicknesses and many, many other things.

(10:39):
And another way to keep them buckled down is to always hold on to the faith that God has a plan. That is extraordinarily important. Without that knowledge and safety, knowing that God has all things under control, when there are those crashes in life, it's very difficult for children to make it through successfully unless they have faith that God has a plan. That plan is going exactly the way it needs to.

(11:06):
Number five was travel light. While trying to get away from the masses of zombies, the last thing you want to do is have heavy luggage around. Well, for me, I pulled from this, knowing what is important in life and focusing on those things is a huge part of living successfully. Refusing to be distracted by the unimportant and staying focused on small, manageable goals is the key.

(11:31):
Your child is going to be growing up and my children have been, we have to teach them to focus on what is important, not get distracted about what is important in the world because if they do, then they're going to miss those successes which they can't have. On top of that, they'll also get bogged down and thinking they can't do it. When you're lugging around problems, it's very difficult.

(11:54):
Another main example of this is sins. When people are carrying around the baggage of sinful behavior, it's very difficult for them to see a bright future. How do you avoid carrying around all the luggage of sin? One, don't do it and number two, knowing that confession is there and one can grow out of it. There are those people who have committed sins in the past and they feel chained down by it. Well, you don't have to be. That's what Christianity is all about.

(12:24):
But we don't stay in those sins. We don't stay buckled down by them or weighted down by them. We travel light. We don't carry our sins with us around our neck. Christ has forgiven us and so we try one, to not commit them and two, if we do fall down, we get it back up and we brush ourselves off.

(12:44):
Number six was don't be a hero. Possibly the most important rule of all, don't risk your own life just to make yourself look good. Well, for this one I have on here, the person that can keep doing what they should, even when others do not notice or even when they are not given the earned gratitude leads to success. All throughout life, you are going to have to stay focused and it's not about being seen. The vast majority of Phariseeism was only doing things that people saw you like people like to pray, but they like to pray in public, but not in private. Everything they did was to be seen and congratulated by others so they could see them as this great person.

(13:25):
We should be teaching our children that we should be working to be seen by God, not by others. And God is the only one who will truly congratulate us for what we do and it's a lasting congratulations. Eternal reward is better than the flimsy forgotten claps of people who won't care tomorrow.

(13:44):
Number seven was limber up. Before going into a zombie infested area, you'll need to prepare for the impending running by limbering up. Well, I pulled from this one being flexible to the changes of life will aid in avoiding moral muscle strains. As life's challenges come their way, being ready to pivot on demand will allow one to succeed while others fail. Well, our children are going to need to learn that they are living in a world that is not perfect. It's going to have its faults, it's going to have its failures, it's going to have its problems. It's going to have its unavoidable things that take place which they cannot plan for.

(14:22):
The biggest thing, once again, going back to it is having faith in God's plan. Not being stuck in a rut, not thinking you have to have everything your way. You do need to be ready to bend to the will of God and God's plans and not to get upset when your plans are not God's. Teaching a child that they are not God is probably the most important thing you could ever teach them, and this will help them to be limber and nimble whenever they don't get their way and they have to pivot into what God says instead and they will then learn to succeed in this life.

(14:59):
Number eight is when in doubt, always know your way out. You will always need to know the way out of every room of every building you enter in case you are ever caught unaware. From this rule from Zombieland I got reading the room is very important. In other words, throughout life, people and events will come your way that are harmful and destructive. Knowing how to spot dangers and avoiding them is an invaluable skill. Christians and Christian parents and Christian teachers, our job are to teach children to recognize evil. That's right. They have to recognize when they're in danger. It goes back to the things we were talking about earlier, recognizing problems that can come their way, people that are going to try to hurt them.

(15:45):
Now these people are going to be of course, most likely in their close circles. These are people that they know. Yes, there's a lot of stranger danger out there. There are always those people out there that you don't know who might try to hurt you, but more often than not, it is the people that you know are they going to be the ones that try to hurt you, the people that are trying to seduce you away from the good and into the evil and knowing your way out is always very important. Knowing which people, which communities, who to go to for help. Parents should always make it them. The teacher should make it them so that way if the children do spot a problem, this can just be their fellow student or their fellow friend or their whatever neighborhood, kid, whatever, who's trying to convince them to do evil, they should be going for help. Knowing to stay away from such people. Always know where the exits are.

(16:40):
Number nine is the buddy system. You can't always look in front of you and behind you at the same time. Well, for me, I pulled from this having a supportive community of people around you is a necessity for living life of success or a successful life. It can't be stated enough that it's not good for man to be alone. That's why he was given a woman and a woman was given a man. The parents, it was not good for them to grow old by themselves. That's why they had children. The family unit working together supports itself to teach, to train and to support, to protect. This is extraordinarily important.

(17:20):
Building a community of fellow Christians, a church community you could call it is also very important. Being alone is what makes you vulnerable and having people around you also helps you stay accountable. So teaching your children that accountability is not only a good thing, it's something they need to seek out because they have to learn not to trust themselves and therefore they need those good Godly people that will help protect them, yes, but also help to see them when they need to change. And if you don't teach your children that they are going to fail. They have to constantly see their problems and ask God to actively help them to get better.

(18:02):
Number 10 is check the back seat. Before getting into the car and driving off, check the back seat for any hiding zombies. And so for me, I got from this forming and maintaining the proper relationships with others is important. Very often it is the ones that we let closest to us that will hurt us the most. And this goes back to the buddy system as well. You are going to have to teach your children that there are dangers that are going to be very close by. The people that hurt you the most are usually those that are the closest to you. Now, identifying when those people have gone from being beneficial, Godly and friendly to somebody who is now going to be dangerous and harmful to you, that is very important.

(18:48):
And the Bible says very clearly, Jesus did not come to bring peace but a sword to separate people, friends, relatives, even parents and children and the standard for separation was God's commandments and fidelity to God. Recognizing when people are dangerous to you and are destructive to you is very important and they have to be willing to take a stand. Take a stand on the side of life and with Christ keeping God's commandments and be ready to separate from those people that are going to teach them to break God's commandments even if it is their own family, own friends. We have to make choices in life and know where to stand.

(19:33):
Number 11 and the last one, enjoy the little things. As well as surviving all the zombies. You'll also need to maintain a happy and sane state of mind by keeping positive. And for me, I put on here life can have its problems, but learning to enjoy all the good times and work towards creating more is very invaluable for success. Life is full of so many little things that we take for granted. One of the leading characteristics of the unGodly, the sinful man is that they are unthankful to God, even unthankful for life and that's why they become suicidal and try to also murder others. But for us, we need to teach our children that we should be thankful for every little thing, every little thing. And as they obey God, they should be thankful for more.

(20:25):
I was sitting with my children around the Christmas tree because this is the end of the year here. We're about to go into a brand new year in 2025. And before we opened up our presents, I had our children, we prayed and thank God for our year, thank God for everything we had and for all the presents and all the joy and also all the tough times too. You have to be thankful for both because both are a gift from God. And I told my children that when you're in the good times, that's the most important time to pray because people start to forget God and this is very important.

(20:58):
We are warned that when times are going good, it's easy for men to forget God and think that all the good times are because they are just good people or because it's all from them and they forget that it's all from God. And so being thankful, not just for the little things but for everything is extraordinarily important, to maintain a attitude of thankfulness just for the next day.

(21:23):
There was a guy who asked a question I heard in a reel on social media and whatnot. He says, "If I was going to give you something, two different things to choose from" he said, "I would give you a billion dollars today and you could use it just today, but you won't wake up tomorrow. Which one would you choose? So stay where you're at and with the amount of money that you have, etc. etc. but you do get to wake up tomorrow and have your normal life, or you can live like a billionaire today, but no life tomorrow." And all the people who were asked the question said, "Well, I would turn down the money. I want to wake up tomorrow." He says, "Well, what you're saying is that your waking up tomorrow is worth more than a billion dollars."

(22:02):
And the point was, is really simple is that life itself, just waking up in the morning is a gift from God. People take it for granted. They take everything for granted. They think they're going to live forever. They think that nothing bad's going to happen to them. They think they're all going to live to be 80, 90 years old and see their grandkids, grandkids, grandkids, etc. But no one is guaranteed anything like that in life. And so God tells us in Ecclesiastes to enjoy ourselves now. There are no guarantees on the human side of things. God knows how long your life is going to go. He knows where it's going to end. You don't. And so you should live every moment to its fullest and our children need to do just that. They need to learn that concept. Cherishing life, learning what is important, doing the things that are good, shunning the things that are not, bringing together in community, those people that are going to help them and benefit them and getting away from those who are.

(23:01):
These are basic skills for children to learn to live successfully in the real world. We don't live in zombie land. We live in Christ kingdom and this kingdom keeps getting better, but it is full of its dangers and does have its pitfalls, but we can learn to live successfully in it and so can our children. It starts with the most basic concept. God is in charge, I'm not. He is God, I'm a creature. And if we can just learn that simple thing right there and the attitude of thankfulness, we will be setting our children up for an immense amount of success, something that they will constantly go through the rest of their life and just go up, up and up on the scale.

(23:48):
I don't think there's a single parent that would sit around and say, "Well, I want my children to be poor. I would like my children to be lazy. I would like my children to be failures." They don't say that, but the way that they raise them, the way that they teach them, you would swear that that's what it was, because they are absolutely setting their children up for failure and not for success. But that doesn't have to be the case. We can do the right thing. We can put our children on the right path, and with God's blessing, our children will not turn from it.

(24:24):
Well, I hope I've given you something to think about, something to hope you goad your children to good works and Godliness. Thank you for joining me again. Have a Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year in God's world. Thank you and God bless.