The Encourager Newsletter - Vol.3 Issue 39

Toward Knowing God and Walking With Him

A FREE WEEKLY PUBLICATION with a BIBLICAL WORLD VIEW

Dan Carr, Editor

Who Invented Halloween?

The U.S. News Political Bulletin this week (10-23-08) gaped at the $5.3 Billion, record shattering price tag of November's elections. In the same paragraph they noted that Halloween this year is expected to pale that figure at nearly $6 billion. The National Retail Federation keeps records of Halloween spending and estimates Americans will increase their shell out for Halloween next week."

The NRF website says: "This year, the average person plans to spend $66.54 on the holiday, up from $64.82 one year ago. Total Halloween spending for 2008 is estimated to reach $5.77 billion." That's $400-million more than the total cost of the November election. There is not yet a Halloween Tree but there's a growing trend toward residential lawn displays that rival Christmas.

So, what is Halloween all about? It's a little complicated because it is a blending of several histories and modern adaptations. For many today, it's simply a different flavor of innocent fun disconnected from anything in particular. Accompanied by parents, young children dress up in a variety of garbs and go to a few familiar houses for candy and the pretend of the moment.

Older kids want more spice and revel in flirting with such scary things as ghosts and goblins and witches .At that point we are back in time to the symbols that pay homage to death and the dark world of demons. Not a few churches have incorporated haunted house "ministries" as an "evangelism" outreach. However, there are a fast growing number of churches that are avoiding Halloween altogether and are staging lively Harvest Festivals to recognize God's blessings.

Halloween is short for "Hallowed Evening," a term from All Saints Day. It was the Hallowed Evening prior to All Saints Day. All Saints Day was a time to remember those who died as faithful Christians. For a time it effectively countered the Celtic dark side celebrations. But over time the term Halloween became infused with the cult of death and darkness. Innocent fun has been blended together with the dark side of paganism.

●Internet articles and books on Halloween pretty well agree on its origin. The summary goes something like this: "The origins of Halloween are Celtic in tradition and have to do with observing the end of summer sacrifices to gods in Druidic tradition. In what is now Britain and France, it was the beginning of the Celtic year, and they believed Samhain, the lord of death, sent evil spirits abroad to attack humans, who could escape only by assuming disguises and looking like evil spirits themselves. The waning of the sun and the approach of dark winter made the evil spirits rejoice and play nasty tricks. Believe it or not, most of our Halloween practices can be traced back to these old pagan rites and superstitions." (Pastor Eric Watt –CBN)

●Wikipedia Encyclopedia enumerates the prevailing themes: "Halloween imagery tends to involve death, magic, or mythical monsters. Traditional characters include ghosts, ghouls, witches, owls, crows, vultures, pumpkin-men, black cats, spiders, goblins, zombies, mummies, skeletons, and demons.^[11]Particularly in America, symbolism is inspired by classic horror films, which contain fictional figures like Frankenstein's monster and The Mummy. Elements of the autumn season, such as pumpkins and scarecrows, are also prevalent." (Note: pumpkins and scarecrows are simply thrown in.)

What parents should do about the holiday is one of considerable variation. A Bible-believing Christian has to begin with the Bible. A clear verse, thousands of years old is this: A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones: their blood shall be upon them. (Lev 20:27)

Since we don't stone people in America, we at least should be able to pick up on God's attitude toward the satanic dark side of Halloween.

Deciding what to do about Halloween takes place at five levels: the individual; the family; the church; the community; and for those who are interested: what God's Word says about certain elements of Halloween.

OK, what do I do on Halloween night? Some families turn out the lights and go to the mall. Other families stay home and greet the little people at their door with open arms and bags of candy stuff.

I don't have chapter and verse, but I suggest you go to the store and load up on some good candy selections; include a good tract on God's plan of salvation and a tract on the history of Halloween. I don't think this is an endorsement of Halloween. You have been the best witness you can be on Halloween night.

The church needs to have a Harvest Festival and plan plenty of games and food. Advertise it for a month and make a big deal of it. Have it on or near Halloween Night. Arrange for plenty of help to keep the lid on. Toward the end, sing some lively Christian songs, have a short devotional from the Bible on God's blessings and give the plan of salvation; clean up the mess and praise God for the good time you've had. Review and revise this year's program to improve for next year.

The family is affected by friends and what they do. If your church does not have a planned activity, have a party at your house. In these days if we are going to honor the Lord at Halloween, we need to be reading and planning a little every month. Educate your children on Halloween and let them help plan and carry out your Harvest Party. It's not just what we are against but also what we are for. We are for fun and good times and we are also for honoring the Lord.

If you are among those who think Halloween is no more than a harmless fun time you might want to consider what the WICCA witches think about it. Today, for them it is a special time of celebrating the ancient rituals of the dark side of the spirit world. It's one of the two high days of the year. I Googled "WICCA" and got 8,000,000+ references.

You may want to begin a little collection of Halloween books, Internet articles, magazine articles, etc. that will undergird your knowledge and give you ideas for doing something different and exciting every year as an alternative. It's easier if your church provides the framework by sponsoring a Harvest Festival or Harvest Party. Dressing up in pretend need not be demonic or dishonoring to the Lord. God is not a grump. He made us so we can laugh and celebrate. But we should not celebrate the Devil and the powers of darkness that are going to spend eternity in Hell.

For more information on Halloween and ideas for alternatives try this link: More from CBN.com's Halloween Resource Section. There's enough inside this one web site to keep you reading for hours. You will not agree with everything you read here. You may want to file some of the articles in your Halloween folder on your computer. This is not an endorsement of CBN or any of the writers that may be included. It is an excellent place to read with a grain of salt and shop for ideas you can use. They have been gathering information and articles on this for several years.

What should we do? Christians are placed in this world to be a light. We cannot ignore Halloween. At the same time it is very wrong and harmful to celebrate a hellish holiday that celebrates death, darkness, and rebellion against God.Ω

Oh Be Careful Little Ears

—Barbara Carr

Joni Earickson Tada said, "We bring so much delight to the Lord when we sit at His feet and consider all the things He says. Others may miss the point or bypass the lesson. But for those who hang on to His words, to them, God reveals His secret plan and purpose."

This quote reminds us of Mary and Martha. (Luk 10:38-39) "Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house.

And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word."

The world today is so full of sounds—voices, music, motors and distractions of every kind. The voice of God is drowned out with endless activity and noise. In the midst of all this, do we find a time and place to just listen to God? Our ears have become dull to hearing God talking to us. Our conscience often speaks to us saying, "this is right" or "this is wrong." Do we listen? I heard this somewhere: "Whenever your conscience speaks, pay close attention!"

God does not force us to listen. In fact, if we do not listen to the alarms our conscience sends, eventually we won't hear them at all. We lose the sensitivity God intended for us to have. I sometimes think we love to hear the sound of our own voices. We talk so loud and long our loved ones even tire of hearing. God wants us to listen for His voice. Listening isn't something that comes easy. Listening is a learned skill.

We find in Isaiah 30:21 " And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left."

If we are listening, the Holy Spirit will call to our attention a wrong direction or that we are saying the wrong words or that we are doing the wrong things. He has not left us without shepherds and other spiritual guidance that will lead us. As children, we follow our parent's leadership and guidance and trust them completely. We need the voice of the Lord to guide us and keep us from going astray.

Do we guard our children's hearing? Remember last week—the eye takes a picture and we store it and retrieve it at will? The ears hear and that information is stored and mixed with what is already there. "Be careful little ears what you hear. There's a Father up above looking down in tender love. So, be careful little ears what you hear." It is our job to teach our children to listen for God's leading. They may use the "everyone else is listening to this" trick to get around an issue. You can use: "God's children don't."

We often wander from the straight path. Isaiah tells us a voice will call to us and direct us back in the way we ought to go. We do want to go the straight path don't we? A stanza from an old hymn says: "I hear Thy welcome voice." Let's clear our ears of the world and in silence listen and welcome our Lord's voice. He will admonish us when we are wrong, comfort us in times of grief and love us eternally.

Can we say with Joni Eareckson Tada? "Lord, today I sit at your feet to listen. May I genuinely hear what wonderful things you have to say." Ω

This article can also be viewed at http://www.biblewalking.com/.