Should Christians Celebrate Halloween?

This is such a huge debate among Christians and wherever I see it talked about, it can get explosive.  I've mostly seen Christians talk against but rarely hear from Christians like me that do go out and dress up.  Here is how I've done it:

Halloween 2010

All growing up the rule was we could dress up in costume, anything we wanted as long as it was clean and was not demonic.  We didn't dress up as witches, goblins, ghosts, demons.  Nothing of that sort.  It was the one day of the year I could dress up as any character I admired and have fun getting candy.  It was no more than that.  We had to stay in a group and usually we went for hours.  I have so many fun memories of it growing up.  

Here is my solid belief on the matter and I found the perfect way to explain it from this link HERE but I'll copy a certain portion of it for my blog for an easy read.  

Can the Christian celebrate Halloween?

The answer is simple: Yes and No. Let’s look at the negative first.

The Christian is not to be involved with or support the occult, witchcraft, demonism, or any other thing that uplifts the occult. To do so is to contradict God’s word, dabble in demonic spirits, and invite judgment from God. If a Halloween celebration is centered on demons, devils, spirits, etc., I would say don't have anything to do with it.

On the other hand, it isn't wrong to dress up in a costume and go door-to-door saying "Trick or Treat." Provided that the costume isn't demonic, I can't see anything wrong with this.  It's just fun for the kids.

Take a look at the Christmas tree.  It was originally an ancient fertility symbol. Yet, it has become a representation of Christmas and the place where gifts are placed. Are the Christians, then, paying homage to an ancient pagan fertility god? No. Not at all. They do not consider it pagan at all and are simply joining in on a cultural event and giving no honor to anything unbiblical.

In the Bible in 1 Cor. 10:23-33, Paul speaks about meat sacrificed to idols. This meat was often sold in the meat market and the question arose, "Should a Christian each such meat?"

Paul said in verse 25, "Eat anything that is sold in the meat market, without asking questions for conscience' sake." This is most interesting. He says it is okay to eat the meat bought in the market place even though that meat may have been sacrificed to idols.

Then in verses 28-29 he says, "But if anyone should say to you, 'This is meat sacrificed to idols,' do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you, and for conscience' sake; ²⁹ I mean not your own conscience, but the other man's; for why is my freedom judged by another's conscience?" (NASB). Paul is saying that if you find out the meat was sacrificed to idols, don't eat it -- not because of you, but because of the other person. In other words, eating that meat won't affect you. But, it may affect the attitude of another who does not understand the freedom the Christian has in Christ.

Is it any different with Halloween (or Christmas)? No. Even though Halloween has pagan origins, because of your freedom in Christ, you and/or your kids can dress up in costumes and go door-to-door and just have fun. However, if you are not comfortable with doing this, then you should not.

Pastor Sawyer sharing gospel message after Halloween Play

Another side of this I would love to share with you is something my church does.  Growing up my church would put on haunted houses but not the kind you might think of. We'd cover real nightmares.  Abortion, drunk driving, suicide, gangs, murder, hollywood, drugs, etc.  It always was covered in the news because it drew a lot of attention. Often you'd hear crying during the abortion scenes because it touched a raw nerve in the crowd.  Why do ghost and goblins when sin itself is a nightmare?  In the end, the very last scene, would be a bloody Jesus on the cross and a minister giving a gospel message.  Hundreds of people would get saved through that.  What if we shunned that time of the year and as Christian hid away?  The opportunity to bring Christ to a lost people would be missed.  

This year my church did a Halloween play.  Of course the purpose was to bring a gospel message.  Not glorify evil.  It was powerful and amazing to see so many people respond to Christ.  I took my older boys with me knowing it was about the right age.  My boys had a really long discussion afterwards about sin, the effects of sin, and how we never know how long our time is here on earth.

Tomorrow, yes, I'll be dressing up my kids.  I'll be letting the kids play out their favorite character and get candy.  No, we won't be participating in sacrifices or praying to demons.  After trick or treating we'll be attending the Halloween play again to support it and pray with people.  We're really looking forward to a fun night.  I really think this is a personal conviction.  If God spoke to my heart on he matter, of course I will obey Him.  Just as we still put presents around our Christmas tree.  We are not worshipping the fertility God. We are just having fun exchanging gifts and celebrating Jesus' birth.  Of course we know that was not His actual birth date but it's pretty darn awesome that we set that one day out of the year to celebrate.  

Does your family stay home during Halloween or do you dress your kids up?

Courageous the Movie: Honor Begins at Home (Review)

We don't hit up theatres very often but today we did.  We wanted to support the movie Courageous that came out.  Not only to send a message that we are willing to pay for clean, family, Christian movies, but that we want more of them.  There is SOOOO much filth out there it's just sad.  Normally I would just wait for a Christian movie to come out on DVD or watch it in church but I knew numbers was important.  Sending a message to the box office that people will go to these kinds of films.  It's funny how people tell Christians to be quiet and they shouldn't offend others but it goes both ways.  I am offended when I go out and stuff comes from every angle.  We can't go into a mall without having to warn the boys constantly to not look at the windows of some of the stores.  Soft porn is thrown at my kids at what is supposed to be a safe place for families.  If you go in many stores or even eat at the food court you have to endure the big screens of dancers or even just the sound of filthy music.  Wherever we go in the food court my kids see these videos where women are prancing around in almost nude costumes.  So, don't be afraid to share your faith. The world may want to shut the Christians up but we don't have to go quietly.  This is a HUGE reason I wanted to support Courageous.

We were at the mall and I said, "Hey babe, there is this Christian movie that just came out.  Do you want to see it with us?"  He said yes.  ;)  I was excited that the Duggars played a small part in the movie and that it was for fathers.  We laughed and cried through the whole movie.  We brought all six kids, ages 2-11, and they thoroughly enjoyed it. Charles absolutely loved the movie.

Courageous is about not just being a "good enough" dad but being an extraordinary dad.  Someone that is more than just a breadwinner or someone that is just around.  A dad that is there spiritually, emotionally, physically.  Someone who won't just spend time with their kids in their own realm, but in their kids' where they can better connect.  Kids know when we're all talk.  If they see us one way at church but living another way at home, they are gonna think Christianity is a joke.  If they see us talk about forgiveness but we can't even get over the fact that someone said something bad about us, they are gonna follow our example.  If we talk about morality but sit them in front of movies that violate morals in the bible, who do you think they are gonna follow?    I don't know, Hollywood can paint a pretty picture of sin.  Kids aren't dumb when they are sent to bed and mommy and daddy are watching morally questionable content on TV.  Blasphemy, murder, and fornication seem to be a common theme for most movies from Hollyweird.

If we were to go back to the start of television and films, I don't think we could imagine it would go this far.  It used to be that you couldn't even show a couple sleeping in the same room.  Then it moved to double beds.  Then a single bed.  Now sex right in front of the cameras and pushed into every person's home.  They push the envelope and see how far they can go.  If you put a frog in a pot of cold water they won't jump out.  Slowly turn up the heat and their body temperature will adjust.  You could keep turning it up ever so slightly and they won't even notice they are slowly being cooked alive.  That's what has happened to us.  

God, please help me to not only teach my children what is morally right but to live it in my own by what I listen to, watch, and say.  I don't want my kids to take the bible lightly.  To think it's just an old book with old ideas.  God is the same yesterday, today, and forever.  The morals He put in scriptures are the same morals we should have today.  Even in this generation.  It's not called old fashioned.  It's called living a holy and acceptable life before God, our children, and everyone around us.

Please, please, please take your husbands, brothers, dads out to see this movie.  It'll touch their heart.

Bringing Light to a Very Dark World

Can you imagine living in a place where just having light to light up your dark home is hard to come by?  This video really touched my heart.  These people are really poor and have houses right next to each other. Even in the daytime their homes are very dark.  Someone comes up with an incredible idea.

Whoa.  We are sooooo spoiled here in America.  Wow.....

My sister lives in South Africa and she's told me stories that just make my jaw drop.  Such as babies being left in the field abandoned every day, gang fights right in front of their church.  I know you say that happens here but not in the magnitude and frequency it does there.  Or the man they tried to help that was having a heart attack but the ambulance takes sooooooo long to get there, they just have to watch him die because there is nothing they can do.

I'm amazed this guy in the video not only comes up with a way to light up his home but he goes out of the way to bring light to others.  

In the same way Christians bring light to a very dark world that is lost.  Imagine when the bible was being written and being chosen to write down about the end times.  I always wonder what they thought when writing that portion of the bible. "Man, it's gonna get that bad?"  Yep.  Moms will murder their own babies.  Even go as far as to birth them only half way and then take scissors to jab them in the back of the head to kill them. No one will just have one person in marriage but many will just casually have one partner after another. Maybe one day settling down with a kid from here or there.  Lovers of money, boastful, proud, mockers, itching ears. Only hearing what they want and picking a religion from a buffet line.  "I want this but I don't want that.  I'll take that part in the bible about not stealing, but I would like to have the adultery and fornication, thank you." Kind of scary how it's become just like the bible warned, huh?

Proclaiming Christianity but never surrendering to Christ.  "Maybe someday when I'm ready I will."  Don't wait!  You don't have to wait and see what consequences you end up with before finally giving your heart to Christ.  God loves us so much that He gave His son to pay the price for our sins.  We don't have to wreck our lives into the ground, have regrets.  But if you have, God is a merciful God.  He's only a prayer away.  Eternity is only one breath away.  One heartbeat away.