Should Christians Celebrate Halloween?

MY GOAL TODAY IS...

NOT TO GIVE YOU THE ANSWER TO THIS QUESTION

BUT MY GOAL TODAY IS TO INFORM YOU

SO THAT YOU CAN MAKE AN INFORMED DECISION FOR YOU AND YOUR FAMILY

I WILL BE TALKING TO YOU ABOUT THE ORIGINS OF HALLOWEEN

THEN WE WILL ALSO TAKE A LOOK AT WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS IN REGARDS TO THE PRACTICES OF HALLOWEEN

MANY OF YOU SAW THE FACEBOOK POST THIS LAST WEEK

AND THE QUESTION THAT WAS PUT OUT....

“SHOULD CHRISTIANS CELEBRATE HALLOWEEN?”

THIS WAS MY DECISION TO POST THIS AND ONCE MY WIFE FOUND OUT

SHE WAS LIKE....

BABE, WHY DID YOU POST THAT?

YOUR GONNA START A WAR....LOL

MY GOAL WAS NOT TO START AN ARGUMENT BUT...

IT WAS TO GET OTHER PERSPECTIVES

AND TO SEE THEIR STANCE ON HALLOWEEN

IT WAS MERELY INVESTIGATIVE RESEARCH…LOL

I KNEW THAT PEOPLE WERE GONNA DISAGREE

I THINK WE ALL KNOW THAT THERE ARE MANY DIFFERENT OPINIONS ON THE MATTER

EVERY ONE HAS AN OPINION

BUT WHAT DOES SCRIPTURE SAY?

Ephesians 5:8–13 NIV

8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) 10 and find out what pleases the Lord. 11 Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. 12 It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. 13 But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light.

FIRST LETS LOOK AT THE ORIGIN OF HALLOWEEN.....

ALL THAT AM ABOUT TO READ COMES FROM HISTORY.COM

A SECULAR SOURCE

JUST SO YOU KNOW THERE IS NO BIAS IN ANYTHING I’M READING

Halloween’s origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in). The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago, mostly in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom and northern France, celebrated their new year on November 1.

This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31 they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth.

In addition to causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought that the presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future. For a people entirely dependent on the volatile natural world, these prophecies were an important source of comfort during the long, dark winter.

To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities. During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other’s fortunes.

By A.D. 43, the Roman Empire had conquered the majority of Celtic territory. In the course of the 400 years that they ruled the Celtic lands, two festivals of Roman origin were combined with the traditional Celtic celebration of Samhain.

The first was Feralia, a day in late October when the Romans traditionally commemorated the passing of the dead. The second was a day to honor Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. The symbol of Pomona is the apple, and the incorporation of this celebration into Samhain probably explains the tradition of bobbing for apples that is practiced today on Halloween.

All Saints' Day

On May 13, A.D. 609, Pope Boniface IV dedicated the Pantheon in Rome in honor of all Christian martyrs, and the Catholic feast of All Martyrs Day was established in the Western church. Pope Gregory III later expanded the festival to include all saints as well as all martyrs, and moved the observance from May 13 to November 1.

By the 9th century, the influence of Christianity had spread into Celtic lands, where it gradually blended with and supplanted older Celtic rites. In A.D. 1000, the church made November 2 All Souls’ Day, a day to honor the dead. It’s widely believed today that the church was attempting to replace the Celtic festival of the dead with a related, church-sanctioned holiday.

All Souls’ Day was celebrated similarly to Samhain, with big bonfires, parades and dressing up in costumes as saints, angels and devils. The All Saints’ Day celebration was also called All-hallows or All-hallowmas and the night before it, the traditional night of Samhain in the Celtic religion, began to be called All-Hallows Eve and, eventually, Halloween.

All Souls Day and Soul Cakes

The American Halloween tradition of trick-or-treating probably dates back to the early All Souls’ Day parades in England. During the festivities, poor citizens would beg for food and families would give them pastries called “soul cakes” in return for their promise to pray for the family’s dead relatives.

The distribution of soul cakes was encouraged by the church as a way to replace the ancient practice of leaving food and wine for roaming spirits. The practice, which was referred to as “going a-souling,” was eventually taken up by children who would visit the houses in their neighborhood and be given ale, food and money.

The tradition of dressing in costume for Halloween has both European and Celtic roots. Hundreds of years ago, winter was an uncertain and frightening time. Food supplies often ran low and, for the many people afraid of the dark, the short days of winter were full of constant worry.

On Halloween, when it was believed that ghosts came back to the earthly world, people thought that they would encounter ghosts if they left their homes. To avoid being recognized by these ghosts, people would wear masks when they left their homes after dark so that the ghosts would mistake them for fellow spirits.

On Halloween, to keep ghosts away from their houses, people would place bowls of food outside their homes to appease the ghosts and prevent them from attempting to enter.

I WANT TO SHARE SOME QUOTES AND THINGS THAT ACTUALLY COME FROM WITCHES...

THIS IS ALSO A SECULAR SOURCE

ALTPRESS.COM

Whitney Woods identifies as a white witch. Her practice involves positive and well-intended magic through candle spells, rune and tarot-readings and imbuing crystals with positive intent.

“A lot of the magic that interests people around Halloween is darker thanks to the horror genre, and, in general, not the kind a person ought to be playing with,” she says. “I personally won’t even touch a Hasbro Toys Ouija board, since I believe intention is a large portion of what it takes to do something like communicate with a spirit, and not all spirits are good.

“Casting dark magic usually bites you back, so if you want to use magic on Halloween, try to avoid casting curses [or] summoning anything, and please don’t charge objects with a negative intent.”

Marleigh McVeigh, who identifies as an “eclectic witch” because of the wide berth of Pagan religions she practices, including Santeria, Gardnerian Witchcraft and others explains, “Most individuals believe that Samhain or Halloween are the most ‘evil’ days of the year. The association comes from it being the ‘most occult’ holiday.

Kristie Miller practices nature-based religion as a green witch, working with herbs, flowers and sundry natural elements for spiritual guidance and healing.

“During autumn we celebrate! The house is cleansed with sage or cedar,” she says. “We spend time outside. We go apple picking, have bonfires and enjoy the time of the season. We enjoy food—harvest meals include bread, apples, squash, cranberries and pumpkin. I also write a gratitude list. A witch’s autumn is similar to Thanksgiving.”

Most are familiar with Dia De Los Muertos tradition, when loved ones are honored with food, grave decorations and altars. It is believed that during this time the “veil is thin.” That means: the boundary between the spirit world and ours is diminished, thus allowing departed family members to revisit their loved ones.

Similarly to those who celebrate Dia De Los Muertos, many witches also use Samhain to honor the dead.

Jessica Jewett identifies as a pagan in the Celtic tradition, and mixes those practices with American folk magick.

“Samhain is our most sacred time of year because it’s a time to honor our dead and our more distant ancestors,” she says. “Activities at this time of year include keeping an ancestral altar with items from your family members that have passed away in order to honor their lives and spirits.

“Other altar items include candles, pumpkins, the colors orange, brown, black and so on. Usually on Halloween night or the closest full moon to then, there is a big feast that includes a place set for any unexpected guest, which is like a euphemism for setting a place for the dead. In my family, we leave one of the windows open with a candle in it to lead our loved ones home from the Otherworld [the afterlife].”

Witch Miranda Scott is the owner of Cleveland modern witch shop and a personal favorite haunt for those at AP called Coven. She and her daughter stock up on pumpkins this time of year, for a special reason.  “We…carve them a few days before Halloween, and we leave them lit all night,” she reveals. “They light the way for our ancestors, and the element of fire keeps bad spirits from entering our home.”

And when welcomed spirits pay their visit to her house. they’re greeted by burning candles and a lovely personal touch at her altar. “I buy my mom cherry Jolly Ranchers, because those were her favorite, and my dad always liked [Caramel Creams],” she says.

We have yet to meet a decent human being who doesn’t like Halloween, so of course, practitioners of magic are in on the fun like the rest of us. As we’ve established, many Halloween activities come from the celebration of Samhain, so outwardly, they probably look exactly the same. Miller hands out treats to the “kiddies,” as she says, and Scott, who has a child of her own, does all the typical fall things such as apple picking and decorating her front yard. “We buy an entire cart full of candy to hand out to the kids, we give out prizes and set up an entire haunted cemetery in the front yard along with people in place to scare the kids and adults,” Scott says.

On the spookier side, Woods manages a haunted house and plans to use witchcraft to boost a little extra positivity. “Since I do work in a haunted house I plan to charge the crystals I carry with celinite before I go into work the night of Halloween to increase the positive intentions I am holding toward my haunted house I manage and its actors,” she says.

So, if you want to celebrate Halloween like a witch, keep doing what you’re doing. Unbeknownst to you, you’re already partaking in a celebration derived from a long history of magical tradition.

PASTOR CHRIST WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT HALLOWEEN

THE BIBLE ISN’T SPECIFIC ABOUT HALLOWEEN

HOWEVER THERE ARE MANY LINES THAT ARE DRAWN AGAINST THE PRACTICES OF HALLOWEEN

Since early times,

people have sought supernatural experiences God did not endorse.

The nations that surrounded the Promised Land were saturated with such practices,

WE CAN SEE...God had stern words for His people concerning any involvement with them.

Deuteronomy 18:9–12 NIV

9 When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. 10 Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, 11 or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. 12 Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord; because of these same detestable practices the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you.

God takes witchcraft very seriously.

The penalty for practicing witchcraft under the Mosaic Law was death

Leviticus 20:27 ESV

27 “A man or a woman who is a medium or a necromancer shall surely be put to death. They shall be stoned with stones; their blood shall be upon them.”

First Chronicles 10:13 tells us that...

“Saul died because he was unfaithful to the LORD; he did not keep the word of the LORD

and HE even consulted a medium for guidance.

In the New Testament, “sorcery” is translated from the Greek word pharmakeia, from which we get our word pharmacy

UNDERSTAND THIS....

Witchcraft and spiritism often involve the ritualistic use of magic potions and mind-controlling drugs.

Using illicit drugs can open ourselves up (OPENS DOORS) to the invasion of demonic spirits.

Engaging in a practice or taking a substance to achieve an altered state of consciousness

is a form of witchcraft.

There are only two sources of spiritual power:

God and Satan.

Satan has only the power that God allows him to have,

but it is considerable

WE SEE THIS IS THE LIFE OF JOB....

Job 1:12 NIV

12 The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.” Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.

To seek spirituality, knowledge, or power apart from God is..

idolatry

WHICH IS closely related to witchcraft.

1 Samuel 15:23 NIV

23 For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king.”

Witchcraft is Satan’s realm,

he excels in counterfeiting what God does.

When Moses performed miracles before Pharaoh,

the magicians did the same things through demonic power

Exodus 8:7 NIV

7 But the magicians did the same things by their secret arts; they also made frogs come up on the land of Egypt.

At the heart of witchcraft is...

the desire to know the future and control events that are not ours to control.

Those abilities belong only to the Lord.

This desire has its roots in Satan’s first temptation to Eve: GENESIS 3:5.

“You can be like God”

Since the Garden of Eden,

Satan’s major focus has been to

divert human hearts away from worship of the true God

I’M NOT ABOUT FEAR- MONGERING

IN FACT....

We don’t need to fear Satan’s power,

but we should respect it and stay away from it.

1 John 4:4 NIV

4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

Satan can create much havoc, harm, and destruction, even in the lives of believers

However,

if we belong to the Lord Jesus Christ,

there is no power that can ultimately defeat us

Isaiah 54:17 NKJV

17 No weapon formed against you shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, And their righteousness is from Me,” Says the Lord.

1 John 5:4 NIV

4 for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.

AS CHRISTIANS,

WE ARE OVERCOMERS

Ephesians 5:11–13 NIV

11 Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. 12 It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. 13 But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light.

SO…PASTOR WHAT DO WE DO?

SHOULD WE OR SHOULD WE NOT PARTICIPATE IN HALLOWEEN

THIS QUESTION IS BROAD....

THE BIBLE DOESN’T TALK ABOUT DRESSING UP AND PASSING OUT CANDY

YEAH BUT IT HAS PAGAN ROOTS....

THIS ISN’T A GOOD ARGUMENT AND HERE’S WHY...

MANY OF THE THINGS WE DO AND ESPECIALLY TRADITIONS WE HOLD

HAVE PAGAN ROOTS

DID YOU KNOW THAT EVERY DAY OF THE WEEK IS NAMED AFTER PAGAN GODS AND CELESTIAL BODIES?

DID YOU KNOW THAT CAROLING IS A PAGAN PRACTICE

YEAH BUT PASTOR CHRIS....

WE DON’T ACTUALLY RECOGNIZE THESE THINGS AS PAGAN

I KNOW AND AS YOU CAN SEE WE

THIS IS WHY THE PAGAN ORIGIN OF A HOLIDAY ISN’T A GOOD ARGUMENT

BECAUSE THIS IS SO COMPLICATED....

I THINK IT COMES DOWN TO CONVICTIONS AND CONSCIENCE.

LET SEE WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT THIS...

Romans 14:23 NIV

23 But whoever has doubts is condemned if they eat, because their eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.

LISTEN IF YOU FEEL LIKE YOU CAN’T PARTICIPATE BECAUSE SOMETHING IS WRONG

THEN YEAH YOU CAN’T PARTICIPATE

ROMANS 14 IS ABOUT FOOD

AND HE SAYS CLEARLY

“ALL FOOD IS CLEAN”

BUT IF YOU FEEL WRONG ABOUT EATING IT

THEN YEAH…YOU SHOULDN’T EAT IT

IF YOU FEEL THAT TRICK OR TREATING IS WRONG....

THEN DON’T DO IT...

WE HONOR GOD BY BEING OBEDIENT TO THAT FEELING WITHIN US

MAYBE IT’S THE HOLY SPIRIT TELLING US THIS FOR A REASON

WHATEVER IT IS....HONOR GOD BY BEING SENSITIVE TO THE HOLY SPIRIT WITH IN YOU.

SO PASTOR CHRIS...

IF I FEEL OK WITH DRESSING UP LIKE A WITCH OR SOMETHING DEMONIC AND SCARY

OR IF I FEEL OK ABOUT DECORATING WITH WITCHES AND DEATH AND SCARY THINGS

IS THIS OK?

NO!

WELL, WHAT ABOUT A SEXY NURSE COSTUME

CAN I DRESS UP LIKE THAT?

NO!

THESE THINGS ARE NOT CONSCIENCE ISSUES

THESE THINGS ARE BLACK AND WHITE ISSUES

YOUR CONSCIENCE ONLY COMES INTO PLAY WHEN THINGS ARE OK

IT CAN MAKE A GOOD THING BAD

BUT IT CAN’T MAKE A BAD THING GOOD

THE SCRIPTURE IS VERY CLEAR ABOUT STAYING AWAY AND NOT PARTAKING OF DARKNESS

THAT IS CLEAR

IF YOUR A CHRISTIAN WHO DOESN’T SEE ANYTHING WRONG WITH ANY OF THESES THINGS

SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH THIS

CHRISTIANS HAVE TO USE DISCERNMENT

I BELIEVE THAT THIS IS SYMPTOMS OF PEOPLE WALKING IN SPIRITUAL DARKNESS

THERE IS ANOTHER PART TO CONSIDER TO THIS....

Romans 14:20–22 NIV

20 Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a person to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. 21 It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother or sister to fall. 22 So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who does not condemn himself by what he approves.

THIS IS A CONSISTENT TEACHING THAT WE SEE ALL THROUGHOUT SCRIPTURE

THAT IS…

THAT I MIGHT GIVE UP SOME OF MY FREEDOMS

TO BE A BLESSING TO SOMEONE

WHO DOESN’T HAVE THE SAME FREEDOMS

TO SAY THAT SOMEONE IS NOT A TRUE CHRISTIAN

I’M NOT TALKING ABOUT A CHRISTIAN WHO IS IN ERROR

BUT YOU SAY SOMEONE IS NOT EVEN SAVED

BECAUSE THEY DECIDE TO TAKE THEIR KIDS TRICK OR TREATING

IF THIS IS YOUR STANCE

THEN PLEASE HEAR ME....

YOU ARE IN ERROR

FOR YOU TO BE ABLE TO DISCOUNT SOMEONES SALVATION

BASED ON WHETHER THEY TAKE THEIR KIDS TRICK OR TREATING

YOU MAY HAVE AN ISSUE WITH PRIDE

THE FACT THAT WE CHOOSE TO DIE ON THE HILL OF ISSUES THAT ARE NOT SALVIFIC

IS A BIG PROBLEM

LET’S DIE ON THE HILL OF THE GOSPEL

WHEN WE GET HUNG UP ON OTHER ISSUES THAT DON’T PERTAIN TO SALVATION

THEN WE CAN EASILY BECOME LEGALISTIC

UNDERSTAND THIS.... I AM NOT TELLING YOU THAT IT’S OK TO GO AND DO

AND I AM NOT TELLING YOU THAT IT’S WRONG TO TAKE YOUR KIDS TRICK OR TEATING

AND I AM NOT TELLING YOU THAT ITS WRONG TO DRESS UP

I AM SIMPLY GIVING YOU INFORMATION

SO THAT YOU ARE AWARE OF WHAT HALLOWEEN IS

AND WHAT THE BIBLE IS CLEAR ABOUT REGARDING SOME OF THE PRACTICES

AMEN???

....WORSHIP TEAM COME....

I WAS CONVICTED A COUPLES YEARS AGO ABOUT PARTICIPATING IN THINGS LIKE

HAUNTED HOUSED

HAUNTED RIDES AT AMUSEMENT PARKS

WATCHING SCARY MOVIES

MY DAUGHTER (KAMRYN) LOVES SCARY MOVIES

I MEAN I DON’T GET IT

BECAUSE WE WOULD WATCH THEM AND THEN SHE WOULD SPEND THE WHOLE MOVIE WITH HER HEAD COVERED

I EVENTUALLY, WITH THE HELP OF MY WIFE...

STOPPED THIS

2 Timothy 1:7 NKJV

7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

(EXPOUND)

.....STAND TO YOUR FEET.....

I WANT TO GIVE AN OPPORTUNITY TODAY

TO ANYONE WHO MAY HAVE NEVER THOUGHT ABOUT THESE THINGS

MAYBE YOU HAVE BEEN PRACTICING OR INVOLVED IN THINGS THAT...

YOU SHOULD HAVE NEVER BEEN INVOLVED IN

OR MAYBE YOU JUST NEED GODLY WISDOM

TO HELP YOU ABOUT HOW TO PROCEED WITH YOUR FAMILY

WERE GONNA SING AND WORSHIP

THE ALTARS ARE OPEN.