An Impact... What Are You Saying?

How frustrating, aggrivating, and proposterous!

These are but a few adjectives that describe the way i feel when i see some facebook & myspace web pages. As a student pastor i frequent sites like facebook and myspace to stay in touch with students as well as my high shcool and college friends. What i have been finding has really concerned me. For instance, i think you can learn a lot about a person by simply looking at their interests. My favorite profiles look something like this:

Interests: ~!!GOD!!~ hanging out with friends, my youth group, kissing in the rain, partying, etc.

did you catch that? squiggly line !! God !! squiggly line. then my youth group. then these other things that make you just like the world. (disclaimer: i am not saying that kissing in the rain makes you a terrible person)

What about the groups that you join? I have students that put God as their number one interest then they join groups like: the beer drinking committee, I love to be Jagermeistered, I Love Jack Daniels, not to mention all the groups that are nothing but profanity and encourage hooking up.

Please don't get me wrong, and do not think that i am judging you for what you want to be a part of.

i guess i simply want you to think about what your profile is saying about God? What is it saying about Christians? What is it saying about you as an individual?

I beg some of you to think more highly of yourself! Some of you guys appear to be immature alcoholics who don't have a vocabulary larger than four letters. And some of you girls appear to be real sleazy. The focus of your page deals with superficial relationships & hooking up.

If you had to define a Christian by your page or profile, what would your definition be?

You see the fact is that you are making an impact. What are you impacting? This world for Christ or something else. I encourage you to take a look at your individual page and get a real picture of who you are as a person. Find out what your priorities are. You may even notice that you don't worship your creator, but what everyone else thinks.

I pray that you would understand who you are in Jesus Christ... complete, lacking nothing. I pray that you would quit trying to be something so others will think you are hip, or so you will fit in.

You were put on this earth for one reason... to bring glory to the son of God and make Him known! Are you fulfilling your purpose?

Trick or treat... happy halloween... boo!

Trick or treat... happy halloween... boo!

Just a couple of phrases that i heard more than 20 times yesterday. What do these phrases mean anyway? Why do we use them? With all the witches, ghosts, and goblins running around should we, Christians, be invovled in this madness? What do you think about a Christian dressing up and playing the part of an evil spirit, a pagan, or even satan himself? Is it ok! I am not talking about dressing up as the pink power ranger or spiderman... the cowboy, football player or cheerleader. Just those costumes which represent themes contrary to the Christian life. Should we simply turn our heads one night a year? (Even though it is probably the only night that the majority of people will dress up)

Apparently, the origins of Halloween can be traced back to ancient Ireland and Scotland around the time of Christ. On Oct. 31st, the Celts celebrated the end of summer. This was important because it was when animal herders would move their animals into barns and pens and prepare to ride out the winter. This was also the time of the crop harvests. This annual change of season and lifestyle was marked by a festival called Samhain- pronounced 'sow-ane' and means 'end of summer.' Sow rhythms with cow.

There was much superstition associated with this time of change including the belief in fairies, and that the spirits of the dead wandered around looking for bodies to inhabit. Since the living did not want to be possessed by spirits, they dressed up in costumes and paraded around the streets making loud noises to confuse and frighten the spirits away. In addition, the new year began for the Celts on Nov. 1. So, the day of Samhain was believed to be a day that was in neither the year past or the year to come. Since it was in between, chaos ruled on that day.

Later, around the 5th century, as the Catholic Church developed and moved into the area, instead of adding a new day to celebrate, it took over the Samhain celebration. Nov. 1st became "All Hallows Eve" where all the saints of the Catholic church were honored. A later custom developed where people would go door-to-door on Nov. 2, requesting small cakes in exchange for the promise of saying prayers for some of the dead relatives of each house. This arose out of the religious belief that the dead were in a state of limbo before they went to heaven or hell and that the prayers of the living could influence the outcome. This may have been the precursor to Trick-or Treat.

The Jack-0-Lantern apparently comes from Irish folklore about a man named Jack who tricked the devil into climbing a tree. Once the devil was in the tree, Jack carved a cross on the trunk, preventing the devil from coming down. The devil then made a deal with Jack to not allow Jack into hell after Jack died if only Jack would remove the cross from the tree. After Jack died, he couldn't go to hell, and he couldn't go to heaven. He was forced to wander around the earth with a single candle to light his way. The candle was placed in a turnip to keep it burning longer. When the Irish came to America in the 1800's, they adopted the pumpkin instead of the turnip. Along with these traditions, they brought the idea that the black cat was considered by some to be reincarnated spirits who had prophetic abilities.

So, it appears that the origins of Halloween are a mixture of old Celtic pagan rituals superstition and early Catholic traditions.

What does the Bible say about Halloween?

What does the Bible say about Halloween? Nothing. But it does speak concerning witches, the occult, and paganism.

Exodus 22:18, You shall not let a witch live.
Deut. 18:10-12, "Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his 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…"

The Bible definitely speaks negatively about occultic practices, spirits, and witches and condemns not only the practice but also the people who are involved in it. As Christians, we are to have nothing to do with the occult. Tarot Cards, contacting the dead, séances, lucky charms, etc., are all unbiblical and can harm a Christian's fellowship with God and open the Christian to demonic oppression. Most Christians know this and avoid these activities. But, the question still remains. Since there are ancient pagan connections and present occultic connections, what is the Christian to do?

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. The same is ture of the easter bunny. We get the word "easter" from a Babylonain fertility goddess 'Ishtar'. Are the Christians, then, paying homage to an ancient pagan fertility gods? 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, Easter)? No. Even though Halloween has pagan origins, because of your freedom in Christ, you and/or you 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. If you know of a person who would be stumbled by doing it, then you shouldn't either.