When our children were youngsters, we dressed them up, held Halloween parties and passed out candy. We, too, thought there was no harm, since we did teach them that there is One God and One Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ. We said the right words, that Halloween was "just for fun" and had no spiritual meaning, that ghosts and goblins were made up characters and not real.
In short, we had bought into the deceit.
It has taken many years, much research, attempting to understand and trusting in spiritual discernment to come to the conclusion in our own hearts that others have come to.
Halloween is used by the Prince of the power of the air, that scurvy dog we call satan or the devil to further a culture of death; to deceive as many hearts and minds as possible to open them up to further indoctrination to the opposite of Jesus' stated purpose.
John 10:10 I am come that they might have LIFE and they might have it MORE ABUNDANTLY.
Jesus begins that statement by clearly making known the bottom line purpose of the enemy, the devil.
John 10:10 The thief comes to steal, kill and destroy.
These two statements are the complete opposite of each other. They are diametrically opposed. They are at complete odds.
One is a culture of destruction resulting ultimately in death.
The other is a promise of the most precious gift God has ever given to His creation.
Satan could not deceive anyone if he were blatant and startlingly obvious. Read Genesis chapter 3. It begins with the statement: Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made.
First, understand that GOD MADE THE SERPENT. The devil is NOT powerful, almighty and all knowing as the Lord God is. He is a created being, created by God, just as you and I are. He attempts to steal Gods throne, he makes counterfeits of things God originally created and he has set himself to be the opposite of all God is.
We see that most clearly in this deceitful culture of death he has spent millenia coaxing into greater and greater influence over human beings.
Most of it is subtle, cartoonish even. Dead isn't really dead, you just live in a different "state of being" than regular people. You might be a zombie, or a vampire but you aren't actually DEAD.
Websters Dictionary defines dead as - no longer living, an absence of life.
Working through many avenues of influence, this culture of death contradicts the truth of Gods word by presenting people with friendly alternatives. Movies like Dracula, the Werewolf, Frankenstein, moving on to friendlier versions like Beetlejuice and shows such as The Ghost and Mrs. Muir. All pushing an agenda that declares
DEATH ISN'T FINAL AND IT ISN'T SUCH A BAD STATE OF BEING.
Really? Can Christians afford to buy into that? Because that absolutely contradicts what Gods Holy word tells us.
ICorinthians 15:26 - the last enemy that will be destroyed is death.
We are told by Gods Inspired Word that death is the enemy. The world tries to convince us that death is our friend. Religions of this world teach that death is honorable and is even rewarded in the supposed "happy afterlife" that is to be taken for granted when you willingly, publicly and violently cause your own death and often the deaths of others in the process.
UNDERSTAND THAT COMPROMISE TO ANY DEGREE IS UNACCEPTABLE
As we watch more of Gods truth compromised, even in our Christian churches in the mistaken hope of attracting the world to sit in our pews by acting more like the world and presenting more of what the world likes and wants, it becomes ever more crucial that we recognize the extreme need to diligently protect the integrity of the revelation and teaching that God has given to guide His people to the successful, abundant life He promised.
God wants His children to live their lives, live them well, live them in peace with JOY and GLADNESS. God, who created us in His image wants us to understand that HE is LIFE and He has blessed us with LIFE, and life eternal through Jesus Christ His Son.
He has called us to be PECULIAR!
Deuteronomy 14:2 For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God, and the Lord hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth.
Titus 2:14 Who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purity unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
IPeter 2:9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people that you should show forth the praises of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
We are called to show the world the DIFFERENCE in a life that following and obeying God makes when we accept the sacrifice Jesus made to free us from SIN. Behaving like the world will not attract the world, it will only destroy the very peculiarity that God calls us to live in.
We don't pretend we know it all or we are doing things perfectly ourselves or that we have it all figured out. Let me be clear. WE DON'T. As long as we are in this flesh, until Christ returns, we will sin (hopefully a lot less than without Him!), we will be subject to the flesh, we will be fallible and wrong many times in many ways in many things.
EVERYONE. There are no perfect human beings and no one has "ARRIVED". But that doesn't mean that we shouldn't live in the truth that we have learned, that we shouldn't even make the effort to let the light of Christ shine from us.
We've come to the conclusion that "Halloween" as we know it glorifies the false culture of death the devil is pushing. For that reason we've decided not to participate in any way.
As much as we understand and can, we want to exemplify PECULIARITY that just might catch someone's attention and open the lines of communication that will allow us to share the message of Salvation through Jesus.
We have no issue with candy. We like candy and we like pumpkins, too! But we LOVE God and deeply desire to bear fruit that glorifies Him and honors Him and exalts His Name!
