Tag Archives: Halloween

Holidays – Why I don’t celebrate Halloween

I’ve been asked over the years by Christians and nonChristians alike. Oddly, the non Christians accept my reasoning much more readily than Christians.  This is MY point of view, based on MY life experiences and MY understanding of the Bible.  I’m sharing MY story.  What you do is between YOU and Your God and conscience!

IT’S SCARY!
No, actually, that’s not the original reason that I stopped celebrating Halloween. I once participated in Halloween dances, haunted houses, and watched horror movies. So, I cannot say that this is the reason I quit.

I have a history with witchcraft, so I am very sensitive to anything that has the slightest hint of it.  I know there are those that participate. I know there are those that do so in order to pass out tracts and to share the gospel.  Others may, I may not. But why?

Once, many years ago, my dear husband refused to watch a scary movie with me. His reason? It gave him nightmares! Over the years, I stopped watching the crime dramas because, they, too, gave me nightmares. Why would I want to put myself through such things? Still, that has little to do with why I stopped celebrating Halloween.

When we decided to make it known to our family that we would not be participating in holidays, we mentioned Christmas, Easter and Halloween. Which one got the reaction? Halloween. The one that has nothing to do with celebrating Christ Jesus. I have one family member that has never spoken to me again since.

One church we participated in many years ago, had a harvest party, and asked that children come as Bible characters. I caved in. What harm could come from this? We had a dress for one that with some wings, she became an Angel. The others all had animal sleepers, and went as animals from the ark. All this did was to muddy the waters, and give others reasons to question our integrity. My desire is to be a light to the world, shining Christ’s light. I do not want to be accused of sounding an uncertain sound, or having a filtered light, or casting a shadow.

I am going to share my thoughts on this holiday.
This is how I came up with my decision to not participate at all, in any way.

What is a Christian supposed to focus upon?
Phillipians 4:8-9

8 Finally, brothers and sisters,

  • whatever is true,
  • whatever is noble,
  • whatever is right,
  • whatever is pure,
  • whatever is lovely,
  • whatever is admirable—
  • if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice.
And the God of peace will be with you.

In my experience, there is nothing in Halloween that fits these categories. And, yes, I have heard all of the excuses to participate…I’ll share my thoughts on those later.

So, if Halloween is NOT these things, upon what does it focus?

Witches – worshippers of the devil

Death –

Darkness –

  • We’ve been called OUT of darkness –
    1 Peter 2:9

    But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God’s OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

    John 8:12

    Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”

  • We are called into the Light –
    1 John 1:5-7

    5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.
    6 If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth.
    7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

  • We are called to BE light –Matthew 5:14-16

    14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
    15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
    16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

  • and darkness is the realm of the devil:
    Acts 26:18

    to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.

Horror

  • this is a simple statement – look at the Halloween movie offerings!
  • My issue with this is that it feeds fear.2 Timothy 1:7

    7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind

  • Jesus said that He came to give us peace…
    John 14:27

    Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

  • All through scripture, God tells us not to be afraid…he doesn’t say there aren’t things to be afraid of. If it is best for me to not be afraid, why would I put myself in the position to be fearful to get an adrenaline rush?

Monsters, demons, vampires and the undead.
Again – none of these glorifies God or confirms the gospel of Christ.

Here is the one scripture verse that really turned my head:
2 Corinthians 6:14-16

14 Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?
15 What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?
16 What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.”

So – is it serious enough just to base this upon what the current practice does? Well, I look around at the continual decay of the celebration. More and more decorations are based around scaring, with death, and witchcraft and demonic activities. In my area, there are even sheets hanging from the trees covered in “blood”.
None of this brings Philippians 4:8-9 to mind!
None of this brings the light of Christ into our midst… were delivered From darkness into HIS LIGHT. Why would I want to go back there?

To do a very simple research upon the roots of Halloween, I have turned to Wikipedia. This is NOT known for it’s religious bent! Even so, this research option includes some of the pagan background of Halloween.

Just reading the generic write up of Halloween in Wikipedia sets my nerves on edge. There are too many similarities to the various occult practices. As for using it to celebrate those that have gone on before, such as all hallows eve? We are not told to celebrate the dead…and even when the rich man asks Lazarus, who was in Abraham’s bosom, awaiting the day of the resurrection, Abraham says that there is a chasm between the living and the dead, and that no one could go through it.(Luke 16:19-31) Those who have died are either in the place of suffering, or are in the place Jesus called paradise when he spoke to the thief upon the cross.

May I present some interesting articles, that of course, support my position, some more than others.

So, why do Christians participate in Halloween?
Why do Christians participate in any worldly activity?
It is much easier to just follow along rather than stand up for one’s beliefs.
In many cases, it is even excused by those in leadership.

You, dear reader, can google why a Christian SHOULD celebrate Halloween on your own. There are many, many articles out there to support this position.

I said I would comment on some of the reasons Christians use to excuse participating in Halloween.
Some just do not see the harm in participating in this high holy day of the devil.
Some use it to pass out Christian Tracts – little pamphlets that present the gospel.
my issues with this:

  • Who really believes that a child that is looking for candy is going to be happy about a little booklet?
  • Who really believes that a child looking for candy is going to READ said booklet?
  • Could this be considered a bait and switch tactic? Oh, yes, the church has gotten very good at bait and switch in order to ‘preach’ the gospel, or to ‘catch’ converts.
  • It’s very dangerous to bring the worldly ways, the pagan ways, into the gospel. There are passages that speak about this, and stories that illustrate this in the Bible. Strange fire and uncertain sound come to mind.

Christianity is not immune to the occult practices, and has it’s share of worship of the dead, as well as giving demons and the devil way too much credit for some things, and not enough credit for others. In fact, even angels and those that have passed on before us are sometimes given special powers and honor that is not biblical! That does not make any of this right. It is the Bible that is my source for my decision.

Again, for me, I must turn to scripture:

2 Corinthians 6:17

Therefore, “Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.”

More than any other thing, I want to hear the Lord say, “Enter into the Joy of the Lord”.
My heart’s desire is to be received by my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Do I think that celebrating Halloween would keep someone out of the Kingdom of God? I honestly don’t know. I know salvation is based upon the relationship with Jesus Christ.  I know that for me to participate is for me to go against all that I have learned about Jesus Christ, God the Father, and against all that the Holy Spirit confirms in my spirit. For me, it opens doors to my past in witchcraft, which, was practiced with the blessing of my church. For me, this is not something I want to risk damaging my relationship with my Creator God. For me, this is playing with fire. I know that I will get burned. This is my experience any time I go against what I believe the Bible leads me to do. I want to enter in at the straight gate….

Matthew 7:14

14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

Contemplating this very post has had an effect upon my recent watching of murder mysteries. Not the scary, gory ones…these are the ones on Hallmark channel! I believe that a sign of a living relationship with Jesus Christ is that we grow, and change, and learn to look more and more like Him. For my own peace of mind, I will be giving these shows up as well.

I want my life to stand for all that Jesus has given me.
I do not want to complicate it.
I do not want to contaminate it.
Seriously, giving up a scary holiday is the least that I can do to tell my Father God that HE is my one and only God.
Giving up gory or non-gory, scary shows is such a tiny offering, considering all that my Lord has given me.

Deuteronomy 30:15-19

15 See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. 16 For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.
17 But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them,
18 I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.
19 This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live

Here is my declaration:

Joshua 24:14-15

14 “Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord.
15 But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

Hi!
My hope in the midst of despair and my joy in the face of depression is because of my relationship with Jesus Christ. If you do not have one, or are not sure you will join him in heaven, please check out these links.

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

“The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear.
If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation.
If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself.” – from My Utmost for His highest

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100 spiritual walking steps – 27 – the festivals along the way

~I apologize, before hand, for the inconsistencies in this post, as I am using a speech to text program, and have only one hand with which to type. please give me grace for the mistakes.

Right now, the Jewish community is celebrating Sukkot. This holiday began the evening of October 12 and continues until the evening of October 19. Everyone else, especially the pagans, are preparing to celebrate Halloween. Although the celebration is always October 31, the communities celebrate Halloween on various days to make it safer for the children.

How does one walking along the path of life choose which festivals to participate in? Or DO you participate in any festivals?

Because I am a Christian, and because I try to live my life through Biblical principles, I will not be discussing festivals of other religions. I will be discussing festivals/holidays, celebrated or not celebrated, by the various forms of Christianity.

There are some in the Christian faith that don’t celebrate any holidays. Their thinking is that the Jewish festivals are gone/past because we are not bound by Jewish law under Christ, and the so-called Christian festivals were Christianized pagan holidays, and we should not participate in the holidays of the pagans.  Some take this as far as to not celebrate birthdays. Some will not celebrate the national holiday because of the rebellion to the authorities of that day.

On the other hand, there are those of the Christian faith that celebrate everything, with no difference from the world. their position is, it’s all in fun!

As for my personal opinion and position, I am torn.

When Jim and I married, Jim was not that big on holidays, but I had sweet memories of them.   In the beginning, Jim and I chose not to celebrate holidays in the same way as the world. Then we joined a church that exposed the pagan origins of Christmas, Easter, and Halloween.  At this point we stopped celebrating holidays, except Thanksgiving and birthdays.  This caused a great rift with our extended families.

When the children came along, and the first one went to public school, I decided to focus on the Christian aspects of the US holidays, such as Christmas.   Everything we did related to a Scripture verse, or Biblical principle, to be tangible lessons about God’s grace.   We didn’t do Santa because we didn’t want to lie to our children.  We did do Nativity scenes, but made sure they understood that there were no Kings at Jesus’s birth.
My purpose was to give them a godly worldview in the midst of an ungodly world, something to hold onto, that illustrated our difference.

We did participate in harvest festivals as opposed to Halloween parties.  But as we participated in the Halloween alternatives our children asked us what was the difference.  In our understanding of the Bible, and the origins of Halloween, we felt it was a pagan holiday and as Christians we should have nothing to do with pagan celebrations.  Our children concurred, therefore we quit. “and a little child shall lead you”(Is 11:6)

Today, I am looking into the Scriptures that talk about not participating or joining in any way the ways of the pagans.  That said, I do not believe that it is right to throw out an error free thing that evil has used for a sign for itself.

  • God gave the rainbow to Noah as a promise. -error-free
  • Homosexuals have used the rainbow to declare their opposition to God’s design in Genesis.
  • do we throw out the rainbow?
  • The Bible says in Psalm 8 that creation declares the glory of God, God created the Evergreen – error-free
  • Christmas trees go back to the pagans,do we have to give the pagans the evergreen tree?
  • Doesn’t God teaches about eternal life with that?  Didn’t God create the evergreen tree first?

****but what to do with this passage in Jeremiah?

Jeremiah 10.2-4 Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.
3 For the customs of the people [are] vain: for [one] cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.
4 They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.

I cannot get over the fact that this sounds like a Christmas tree.  But not an evergreen tree, growing in the forest. Man has taken what God meant for good and used it for evil.

  • I believe that Judaism is the foundation of Christianity.
  • I believe that God intended celebrations and therefore instituted them in the Jewish religion, as a remembrance His works before the eyes of his people.
  • I believe that God wants us to celebrate, and that the celebrations are meant to remind us of His activity in our lives.
  • I believe as Christians that we should participate in communion (the Lord’s supper) as a remembrance of what Christ did for us on the cross.
  • In that regard, awhy we don’t celebrate the feast of the Tabernacles as our Jewish brothers and sisters do but with the glorious knowledge that the foreshadowing as been fulfilled in Christ’s birth, God Tabernacle-ing with us.
  • why don’t we celebrate Passover, the great foreshadowing of our deliverance?

Do we throw away the Old Testament? is celebrating the biblical feasts really being bound by the law?  I don’t believe Jesus came to abolish the Old Testament but rather to fulfil it.  And if the same celebrations were good enough for Jesus, why not remembering Him in the celebrations that He fulfilled?

As the day nears for Christ’s return, I want to be sure that when He calls out my name I am not entangled with things of this life. I am 51. If God grants me the gift of 70 years I have 19 years left. (Ps 90:10) I have 19 years, 29 maybe, to give, to serve my Lord Jesus.  No man knows the day that Christ will call him home.(Luke 12:16) When He does call my name, what will He find me doing (Luke 18:8)? I have been convicted that while I believe there is room to have parties, to have fun, to laugh, to sing, yes, even to dance, I need to number my days (Ps 90:12), and to the best of my ability to all things to the glory of God (I Cor 10:31).

Since we are in October, and Sukkot and Halloween are upon us, I an going to post links for these two holidays, and let the reader decide.

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

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