Christian Living

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Questions and Answers on Halloween
What does it mean?
Halloween means ‘hallowed evening.‘ This was an evening preceding the ‘All Saints Day
All Saints day is a day set aside to honour the saints of old.
What is its origin?
“According to the Roman calendar in which days began at midnight, the evening of October 31 was the eve before the hallowed day; hence Halloween or All Soul's Eve was kept throughout the ancient pagan world. All Hallows Eve, because it is the day before All Hallows' or All Saints' day, was a holy day in the Roman Catholic Church, Episcopal Church, the Church of England and the Greek Orthodox Church. This festival honors all martyrs, known and unknown, who have died for the church. During the time of Constantine, these two holidays were merged in an attempt to Christianize the heathen. The church could not prevent these heathen practices, so they thought "taming'" them would be the answer. They were, of course, not to worship their gods on the church's "All Saint's day." However, as it is with all compromises, soon the evil overrode the good, and hence we still honor these heathen practices by celebrating Halloween. ( excerpt from Exposing Satanic devices by Betty Miller).

Is it harmless fun? What are the dangers?
Often some people have argued that partaking in Halloween is no big deal; it is a harmless fun. They justify it also because they may have taken part when they were young and were not damaged. Others who have not researched the origins of Halloween say its part of our Christian traditions and there would be nothing wrong with partaking in a festival to honour the Saints- known and unknown.
.’ Children are dressed as witches, goblins, ghosts, little devils and fortune tellers. All these are representatives of Satan's kingdom. Games played at carnivals promote fear in children as they are ushered through spook houses and horror rooms. Skeletons, black cats and bats represent death and darkness. No carnival is complete without the gypsy who tells fortunes. Satan has gained man's approval to celebrate his day by simply making it a tradition that seems like a fun day. The opposite is true, however, as more damage and harm are done on this day each year than any other holiday. Children are taught to go door to door chanting "trick or treat." It is unchristian to demand a gift under threat of playing some trick. Police are on the alert for juvenile vandalism and caution parents to be watchful’ (excerpt from ‘Exposing Satanic Devices’ by Betty Miller).

Judge for yourself. Would dressing up your children as witches, goblins, little devils and fortune tellers and dabbling in games that glorify fear, death and darkness and the occult harmless fun?
Does it honour God? Does Halloween glorify God in any way?
The focus during Halloween is witches, the spooky, horror, death, and the gory. Each year they delve deeper, dream of something more sinister. Gradually you become desensitised to the evil you are letting into your heart.
23 Above all else, guard your heart,
for it is the wellspring of life. Prov.4:23 NIV
23Keep and guard your heart with all vigilance and above all that you guard, for out of it flow the springs of life. Amp.
Keep vigilant watch over your heart; that's where life starts. Message
Does it show our allegiance to God?
We are married to the Lord. We are one spirit with Him. We have no business with witches, cults and the occult and must take our stand without any compromise. We cannot have one foot in and one foot out of the Kingdom of God. We are either in or out. And we must take our family with us.
Is it not a Christian compromise?
What about having an alternative to Halloween? An alternative to Halloween that does not educate the young, redress the tide of witchcraft seeping and sweeping through hearts of our young generation is cosmetic, palliative and at worse an endorsement of the status quo. We must be clear, unambiguous and unequivocal about Halloween. We must pray for our young people and the industry surrounding Halloween that would resist our efforts to protect their business interests. This should be a time for intensive witnessing. Pointing people to the Living God and saving Christ. .




Should we partake of Halloween? Apply the Jesus test.
Would Jesus take part in a Halloween celebration? Can we invite him as a friend to such a party or would we think twice? D.L Moody was invited to a party once and he asked if he could come along with his friend. The person who invited him asked who the friend was and he told him, Jesus. He was told, “I don’t think your friend would like it.” His reply was, “If my friend would not like it, I won’t either.”

We should not take part in the celebrations but must be armed with the knowledge of the origins of Halloween so that we are ready to share with those who are steeped into it. We should be especially prayerful at this time because, ‘we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers’. This is the one time in the year that occult and cults make their recruitment drive the most and succeed in getting many people because it is accepted in the society. We must witness with love and compassion in our heart and speak the truth in love. No amount of knowledge can save any one. The Holy Spirit must have a pivotal role to play.
‘So he said to me, "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: 'Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty’ Zech .4:6
Jesus said: 1"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
5”I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.

What are our parental responsibilities?
Parents have a responsibility to their children. Teachers have a responsibility to their students and pupils. We should not just go along with the traditions of men that water down the word of God and ensnare our children. We need to research the origins of these pagan festivals and expose the masquerade for what it is. We live at a time when JK Rawlings and her Harry Potter books have popularised witchcrafts and satanic rites and incantations as harmless fun and a panacea to literary excellence. We as Christians must remain a salt of the earth and a light to the world. We must not compromise our standards. We must tell people the origins of the pagan festivals and have nothing to do with them. We must warn people when we have the opportunity to come away from dabbling in witchcraft and the occult, but to surrender to the living God.
“Brothers and sisters, God has shown you his mercy. So I am asking you to offer up your bodies to him while you are still alive. Your bodies are a holy sacrifice that is pleasing to God. When you offer your bodies to God, you are worshiping him. 2Don’t live any longer the way this world lives. Let your way of thinking be completely changed. Then you will be able to test what God wants for you. And you will agree that what he wants is right. His plan is good and pleasing and perfect.” Rom.12:1-2NIV

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. 2Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. KJVRom12:1-2

We are to ‘come out from among them and be ye separate.’ We must stand up to be counted. We must live exemplary lives that challenge others else we make ourselves irrelevant. If the salt has lost it preservative quality, it is good for nothing.
“Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.” 2Cor.6:17
23Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men. Col 3:23
Would partaking or allowing our children to partake of Halloween be done to the glory of God?

Let’s stop using the traditions of men to make the word of God of none effect.
Mark 7:13: "Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye."
Protect the easily impressionable minds of young children from satanic and occultic encroachment.
Ephesians 5:6-12: "Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. 7 Be not ye therefore partakers with them. 8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: 9 (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)10 Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. 11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. 12 For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret."

Be wise. Be not conformed to the patterns of this World, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Beware a little leaven (yeast) works through the whole dough. Beware of the little foxes that spoil the vine. Sol.2:15 in Bible times foxes in search of grapes were of two categories- the little one and the big matures foxes. Whilst the big foxes could easily reach the grapes and pluck them, the little foxes hard problems doing that so they were clever to chew the vine from bottom up to get the vine. In effect they ruined the whole vine instead of just plucking the grapes.
Farmers were usually worried about losing their grapes through foxes, but they especially dreaded the little foxes which looked harmless but subtly did the most damage.
The same is true of Halloween. It looks harmless. But this is how the spirit of fear warms itself into the hearts of children. ‘Tricks or treat’ chanting seems harmless but this is how other satanic incantations are let in through the back door. Dressing up as witches seems harmless, but what would Jesus do if He was here? Does it in any way glorify God?
9 When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. 10 Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, 11 or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. 12 Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD, and because of these detestable practices the LORD your God will drive out those nations before you. 13 You must be blameless before the LORD your God.
Deut 18:9-13
We open our children to witchcraft, occultic practices, demonic influences and possibly demon possession if we open the gate of the little foxes that spoil the vine.

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