Waking the Dead

In Waking the Dead, John Eldredge continues to build on the ideas hes introduced in his previous books. In this one, Eldredge hammers the concept of living with our hearts fully alive to God. His basic premise:
1. Our hearts are good (because of the what Christ has done in the New Covenant)
2. Our hearts matter to God.
3. Our hearts are constantly under assault from the evil one.
4. We must guard and fight for our hearts.

Eldredges strategy for (re)awakening our hearts to the glory for which they have been created and redeemed is through the four-fold path of: discipleship (walking with God), intimate counsel from God (listening for the voice of God), restoration (allowing God to heal our broken hearts), and spiritual warfare (fighting for our hearts as well as the hearts of those we love).

While I dont buy the way Eldredge uses every passage of scripture he cites, (I dont always buy the way I use scripture either.) his overall message has the ring of truth to it.

As usual, Eldredge does a masterful job of using quotes and clips from films and great works of literature to illustrate his points. He relies heavily on The Matrix, Lord of the Rings, The Wizard of Oz, and The Chronicles of Narnia.

The best part of the book to me was his discussion about mythic reality on pages 24-34. By mythic, he does not mean fiction, but deep truth. According to Eldredge, all the great stories, or myths, reveal 3 truths that speak to our hearts in an irresistible way:
1. Things are not what they seem. There is more going on here than meets the eye.
2. This world is at war. We live in a far more dramatic, far more dangerous story than we ever imagined.
3. We have a crucial role to play in the outcome of the story.

If youve found yourself inspired by Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings, or The Matrix, these three truths might explain why. The great myths are communicating, in their own way, the truth of the Biblical story.