My Thoughts this halloween

[jeolmstead]

It is odd for me to find myself on the “religious” side of any issue. If you know me, you know I’m all about grace and freedom. Yet, this year more than any previous I have been vexed by all the Halloween stuff.

Every show on the tube, every movie offered up this week has focused on it. The movies have been especially vile offering up in the most graphic way possible the evil man is capable of.

All the churches had their alternatives of course as they always do. We have harvest festivals or judgment houses. Mine had “trunk or treat”. I'm sure to the kids who came they were better than some of the world’s offering. I suspect however that to most they were just another Halloween party.

Something about this all seems wrong to me.
Anyway, I glad it’s over.

 

[lismore]

Hi there good to see you

Christmas is coming round now. Every ad on TV is about Christmas. All the shops are stocking Santa junk.

I dont think I'll last until Christmas without banjoing santa.

 

[imperfectchristian]

Halloween is originally a very superstitious holiday. Now it is more of an agnostic holiday where people celebrate not believing in ghouls, gobilns and devils. There is a good side to this and also a bad side. The good side is that it teaches society not to be superstitious. The down side is that people begin not to take anything seriously.

There is a spiritual world and pretending it does not exist does not change that fact. At the same time, filling children with fears of the supernatural (as I was religiously taught growing up) can cause people to begin believing that demons have more power than they really do.

We shouldn't celebrate evil things, but we also shouldn't help promote fear of the devil either.

My kids trick or treated and it was fun. We laughed about the witch outfits and the grim reapers. They understand it is not real. At the same time, my children did not dress up (celebrate) anything evil. My oldest was a southern belle, my son was a knight and my daughter was a fairy princess.

 

[jeolmstead]

I remember a demonized lady I ministered to once. She had a spirit of witchcraft. The demon cried out that it did not have to leave as she had invited it in as a child when while watching “Bewitched” she had said to herself “I wish I could do that”

One does not have to fear or even believe in rattlesnakes to be bitten by them.

John O.

 

[imperfectchristian]

@ John: And the extreme of that spectrum is the salem witch trials. I think a lot of deliverance ministry plays on peoples fears which can actually open people up to the demonic realm. I have seen first hand how pentecostal christians bring torment to adults and children alike by highlighting (drawing their attention to) evil/demonic forces. I have also seen how love and grace can dispel that torment instantaneously.

Actually there is in a sense, demonic influence everywhere, even in church, even from pulpits. Anytime a truth is compromised it becomes (to some measure) a lie which ultimately comes from the father of lies. The way to combat lies is with the truth.

I am convinced that what opens people to the devil (at any measure) is when they believe lies. People who are possessed (tormented) are in the bondage of sincerely believing a lie/lies. Once the light of truth comes, the lie can no longer remain.

Christians who use any fear (except the fear of God) as a motivator actually do more to harm people than help them.

 

[Ajax 777]

Perhaps you hear HIS small, still voice of conviction, John...
If you are, it's truly a blessed thing to hear HIM.

"If, today, you hear HIS voice, do not harden your hearts..."

 

[imperfectchristian]

Perhaps you hear HIS small, still voice of conviction, John...
If you are, it's truly a blessed thing to hear HIM.

"If, today, you hear HIS voice, do not harden your hearts..."

Perhaps this is true. If John feels it is wrong to have anything to do with halloween then he should follow that conviction.

 

[Ajax 777]

Perhaps this is true. If John feels it is wrong to have anything to do with halloween then he should follow that conviction.

 

[jeolmstead]

@ John: And the extreme of that spectrum is the salem witch trials. I think a lot of deliverance ministry plays on peoples fears which can actually open people up to the demonic realm. I have seen first hand how pentecostal christians bring torment to adults and children alike by highlighting (drawing their attention to) evil/demonic forces. I have also seen how love and grace can dispel that torment instantaneously.

Actually there is in a sense, demonic influence everywhere, even in church, even from pulpits. Anytime a truth is compromised it becomes (to some measure) a lie which ultimately comes from the father of lies. The way to combat lies is with the truth.

I am convinced that what opens people to the devil (at any measure) is when they believe lies. People who are possessed (tormented) are in the bondage of sincerely believing a lie/lies. Once the light of truth comes, the lie can no longer remain.

Christians who use any fear (except the fear of God) as a motivator actually do more to harm people than help them.

I agree Dave, I would make the same points you are. It is odd that both Cathy and I are so vexed about it all, but, we are and I guess that is all I can add to the subject.

John O.

 

[imperfectchristian]

I agree Dave, I would make the same points you are. It is odd that both Cathy and I are so vexed about it all, but, we are and I guess that is all I can add to the subject.

John O.

John I would be lying if I said a great portion of the Halloween holiday doesn't bother me. Halloween is the in your face celebration of all things dark and malific.

The catholic church tried reinventing halloween with all saints day, but unless you are catholic, most people don't give that day a second thought. I think their motive was right...they tried to take what they saw as a negative celebration and turn it into a positive one. I took a similar approach with my children, that was a bit more practical. We simply celebrated positive fun characters on halloween.

I don't believe in raising my children like I was raised (which was censorship of everything) I had to force my way to go to the movie theater when I was a teen. I can't tell you how many copies of the beach boys music I burned as a kid thinking I was sanctifying myself from the world.

The amazing thing is I still hold many of the same values I was taught in the Pentecostal church growing up (greatly modified of course) I just understand the world a lot better than I did as a kid growing up.

I guess what I am saying is, I want to be the one to expose my children to the world in bite size increments so I can also share with them my philosophy about the world and how I think we should approach it. Then I have equipped them to live in the world and think for themselves instead of hiding and blockading themselves off from the world and blindly following someone else's conclusions about things the way I was brought up.

I allowed my oldest daughter to watch a little bit of NCIS with me yesterday evening. She learned what an autopsy was and I am very proud of her because she is always inquisitive and wanting to learn and I encourage that as much as possible with broad, but not extreme perimeters.

The basics of Halloween are within those perimeters. We didn't go to haunted houses and we certainly do not watch any horror movies. They do watch shows like disney's tinker bell that has some fairies with magic in it (which I would have been forbidden to watch) and I teach my children that fairies are not real and that magic is also not real while still allowing them to enjoy their own imaginations and the richness of the story world they have through warm hearted childrens shows like barbie and the Magic of Pegasus, etc...

 

[_Sonnie]

I agree Dave, I would make the same points you are. It is odd that both Cathy and I are so vexed about it all, but, we are and I guess that is all I can add to the subject.

John O.

There are definitely things about halloween that really bother me - "vex" even. Growing up there were several kids at our church that would play with ouija boards around October-November, and they should have known better. There are definitely things people do and experiment with around halloween that they wouldn't any other time of year - things that open them up to influences they're not equipped to deal with.

I used to stay home and turn out the lights on halloween for this reason, but now I think it's important (for me) to at least try to give people an alternative or at least be available should someone dabble with something they shouldn't and then need someone there to help them deal with it.

I don't know. I guess we do the best we can.