Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. (1 John 2:15). …Don’t you realize that friendship with this world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again, that if your aim is to enjoy this world, you can’t be a friend of God. (James 4:4).
…What the pagans sacrifice is to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be partners with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot take part in the table of the Lord and the table of demons. Or are we trying to provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we really stronger than he is? (1 Corinthians 10:20-22). No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other…(Matthew 6:24).
Jesus answered: "Watch out that no-one deceives you. (Matthew 24:4).
For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death. (Romans 7:11). If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. (1 John 1:8).
Here we go again! October 31st-“Helloween“. It is this this time of the year when Autumn shows it’s wonderful colors as God once again paints beautiful sceneries. The air gets a little chilly as we break out our long sleeves and jackets. Retail stores across the land anticipate revenue from costumes of characters of both cute and hideous. Candy sales are up as well. But amidst all this “innocent fun” is a larger picture. A deception if you will. There is a puppet master. His name is Satan, and you my Christian friends are the puppets. You have been tricked to lose the treat of Jesus Christ.
Now at this point in the blog I have either lost you as a reader, or I have upset you and yet sparked a curiosity that has prompted you to keep reading. If you are still with me then let’s continue…
Halloween, or “Helloween” as I call it, is known worldwide as a holiday that has roots and continued traditions in paganism. I should not have to quote any research on this. Any person over the age of five should know this. It is a holiday in which the dead and other paranormal things such as ghosts, werewolves, vampires, demons, zombies, witches, mummies, etc. are honored and celebrated. Many love to watch horror movies where people are butchered to death by demonically possessed psychos. Adults dress as sexy and scary as can be and attend parties where there is usually a LOT of alcohol consumption. And children are dressed either as something cute, or something that will give them nightmares later that night, and sent out into neighborhoods to beg for food from strangers. What a disturbing concept this is. Yet Christians have been so deceived that they participate in these activities, or try to cover up the evil by having “Trunk or Treat”. Where is Jesus in all of this mess?
Now, if the main objective of the New Testament is to teach us how to imitate Christ, which is what He has asked of us, His church, then why would you believe that He would be pleased if we spent one night imitating Satan and preparing for one month to do so? That is one night that we could be witnessing, praying, worshipping, fellowshipping, etc. in His name. Instead we choose to do what the world does and what Satan wants us to do. Even for one minute God would not excuse this “innocent fun”.
Recently I was on a job in a nearby city when our contact asked me what ideas I had for Helloween with my children. The guy who I was delivering with said “Let me answer that for Chris-he doesn’t do Halloween. Something about it being the devil’s holiday.” Then the contact said “With the evil stuff aside, what about all the fun?” I just said “Nope. Not at all.” FUN! That is the main reason why so many Christians celebrate Helloween. Because it is fun. But does that make it right? I am sure when a group of guys go partying at the bar that they are “having fun”. I am sure when the man pursues his mistress that he is “having fun”. I am sure he is having “a lot of fun” when he succeeds. I am sure that teenagers smoking dope are “having fun”. Those car thieves down the road are having a “real thrill”. In all of these situations Satan’s hands are at play. But because it is “fun”, does that transfer it to God’s hands and therefore excuse the matter? No. Of course not! Sin feels good and is fun and pleasing to the flesh, but God most certainly does not accept and approve of it. His Word says so. So why would celebrating and honoring pagan ways be acceptable to a God that said “Thou shalt have no other gods before me”? (Exodus 20:3, Deuteronomy 5:7).
So I ask this of you my Christian friends. Do you feel that you are pleasing God when you dress up and party on Helloween? Do you feel like he is happy with you when you dress your children up and send them door to door to be tricked to lose the treat? Not to mention you encourage them to keep the cycle going for their children down the road. When they are taught to excuse God on Helloween night for fun, then what? Excuse church? Excuse prayer? Excuse the walk altogether until nothing is left but an adult who once knew Him, but is now lost? Hey, at least he/she is having fun while they are lost. Right? Isn’t that what is most important? “Innocent fun”?
Celebrating Helloween in an option. It is not forced. I know many Christians feel that they are obligated to celebrate it because it is “the norm”. Well the ways of the world are always “the norm”. Even Jesus said that He was “not of this world” (John 18:36). When we seek to do what the world is doing, we do it to appease our flesh and fellow man. Man is full of folly, but God is perfection and is above mankind in holiness. He was able to come to Earth as a man to show us how to live and to love. God and His Kingdom needs to be our focus. Through Jesus we can know Him. Through Jesus we can know what we should be doing every year on October 31st. The time has come to repent and seek His direction and destroy worldly customs and traditions.
So this year will you be praying for the crowd, or playing for the crowd?
Love in Christ.
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