THE TRUTH ABOUT HALLOWEEN: “OH, IT’S NOT SO BAD” (OR IS IT?) [AT THE BATTLE FRONT 23]

(Note: you may freely download this message in a PDF legal size track form at the end)

“Oh, it’s not so bad.”

Or is it?

If you’ve been in Christian circles for very long and dealing with worldly, carnal behavior in God’s church in the west and other affluent areas, this phrase is surely to rear its ugly head.

Now that we’ve seen that the eternal purpose of God the Almighty is to help complete the kingdom of God…Your kingdom come! As He defines His love from us and to us in obeying Him, it’s a matter of eternal life and earth to discern what brings Him pleasure or causes wrath. What brings Him glory? The opposite of what the world loves to do. Ask any young child who knows Jesus and they’ll often tell you honestly what is right and wrong in the sight of God. The adults learn by example to justify the flesh.

Years ago, one of my young sons and I did some research on Halloween, and wrote the subsequent piece below. We also have these in a very effective track format that’s been used by many over the years. We were stunned at what the Lord God showed us about this “celebration.”

Many Christians try to “Christianize” pagan celebrations by cleaning them up. Ask yourself and those who do such things, how does this bring the Father glory (esteem, honor, respect, value, radiance) by making Him bigger like a billboard to the lost world? Or does it just tickle our flesh?

Ask the Holy Spirit and those in His body to show you the Truth. He never fails us. Jesus died and was resurrected for the Truth, and as the Truth.

+++

THE TRUTH ABOUT HALLOWEEN: “OH, IT’S NOT SO BAD,” (OR IS IT?) – BY MARC & NATHAN WHITE

Why do you participate in Halloween? Have you ever really thought of what Halloween means? Is it simply cute witches, smiling ghosts, friendly graveyards and black cats that are only a little scary?

Or is it something much, much more – with a terrifying past and leading unsuspecting people into other dangerous paths? How do you explain this increasingly dangerous night?

“Oh, it’s not so bad.”  Or is it?

THE BEGINNING OF HALLOWEEN 

It all started thousands of years ago by people called Celts, who were primarily from Britain and France. They worshiped mother nature and many other gods, similar to America today. Among their gods were the sun, and spirits of woods and streams.

The cold, short days of winter, along with the “disappearance of the sun,” were a great mystery to the Celts and filled them with fear and superstition. So, they made up a lie that each year the sun god was attacked by the evil powers of cold and darkness and was held prisoner for six months.

The Celts called winter the “season of death” and believed it was ruled by Samhain (the devil), the Lord of the Dead and Prince of Darkness, who called together all the dead, wicked souls who had died in the last year and, to pay for their sins, had been condemned to inhabit the bodies of animals.

The greater the person’s sins, the lower the animal into which his or her soul had been placed. The Festival of Samhain, held on October 31st (the day before winter began), was for the Celts, a “celebration” of death, to honor and “worship” their sun god, the spirits and Samhain.

Druids, men who were the Celts’ priests and teachers, would lead the fanatical night ceremonies. The Druids, who practiced witchcraft and fortune telling, believed that on Halloween, the ghosts, spirits, fairies, witches,  and elves of the dead returned to their former homes and came out to harm crops and trouble the Celtic people.

To protect themselves, they built huge “bonfires” (actually called “bonefires” back then – used to destroy the bones) on the hilltops next to an altar. There they worshiped the Lord of the Dead, Samhain, and killed livestock, burned crops, and burned imprisoned  cats  in wicker baskets.

They also imprisoned people and their own children in wicker cages built to resemble animals, and burned them to death as sacrifices, all for the Prince of Death. They did all this to “keep away evil spirits and demons.” Not exactly roasting marshmallows and shouting “Boo!”

HOW WE GOT THE NAME

The Romans, years later and at harvest time, laid out apples and nuts for their fruit and garden goddess called Pomona. Still later, the early Roman Catholic Church contribution to Halloween was a considerable one. Rather than obliterate pagan ways, shrewd Church leaders set about conforming existing pagan rites into their new Christian ones.

As the Catholic Church conquered the German Saxons and the Norsemen of Scandinavia and to accommodate the vanquished peoples insistence of practicing the ancient Druid and pagan holidays, the Church in 835 A.D approved November 1st as All Saints’ Day or All Hallows (all ‘holies’), a holiday (holy day) to honor all saints.

They also added All Souls Day on November 2nd to honor all dead people and built “bonefires,” had parades and  dressed up like saints, angels and devils (sound familiar?). However, the people refused to give up the Samhain and Pomona customs and continued to “celebrate” them on October 31st.

By now called The Night of the Witches Sabbath, the event was devoted to the dead, ‘stealing souls’ and where the devil was worshiped by all his followers – witches, warlocks and demons. They all gathered to perform cruel, sadistic acts, and to mock the coming of the Church’s festival of All Saints Day on November 1st, the very next day.

The Church leaders hoped that, by making November 1st a religious holiday, the evil, pagan rituals that had survived over the centuries would be forgotten. It didn’t work. The rituals continued. The Church, ironically, gave the day its name, calling it All Hallows’ Eve.  Eventually, the name was shortened to Hallowe’en, and then to Halloween.

Thus, Pomona gave us apples and nuts; Samhain gave us death, sacrifices, witches, fortune telling, magic and evils spirits; All Saints and Souls Day gave us ghosts, skeletons and skulls. Not a wonderful family influence.

There are now dozens of Halloween divination (fortune telling) games that use apples and nuts to predict one’s future. In some countries, people thought a sneeze on Halloween would shot the soul out of the body for a second and the devil could take the soul to hell in that time. Quickly saying, “God bless you” protected the loose soul from the devil, they thought.

TRICK – OR – TREAT ?

The “tradition” of wearing Halloween costumes is greatly misunderstood. People don’t realize what they’re really doing and if someone  asks them why they often respond with, “…because everybody else is doing it!!”

Many of our misunderstood Halloween customs came from the land of the Celts and Druids. Remember Samhain, the Lord of Death and his “festival”? The Druids believed that on this night the souls of the dead returned to their former homes to be entertained by the living. Evil spirits demanded to be satisfied with a “treat” consisting of acceptable food and shelter. If not provided, they would cast spells, cause havoc and terror, as well as haunt and torment the living.

On that night, people were afraid to be alone so they paraded in costumes made from the skins and heads of animals. They thought this pleased Samhain and would “keep away the evil spirits and demons” by disguising themselves as one of them. By playing this “trick” on them, the evil spirits would think the Celts were one of them and so be left alone.

Look closely! Here is the beginning of “Trick-or-Treat.”

This custom has been passed down to today’s American culture and hardly anybody realizes its significance or how it originated.  It was the Church that firmly established the custom of visiting house to house on All Hallows Eve – a practice that evolved into America’s “Trick-or-Treat.”

The Celts also carried lights, carved out of  turnips, to  keep away  evil  spirits  when  they  went outside on October  31st.  Later  on,  an  old  Irish   story developed. Once there was a man named Jack who was very mean, stingy and tricky. When he died, he had been too mean to go to Heaven, but when alive, he had “tricked” the devil to keep his soul from hell. Jack  had no place to go, so the devil threw him a piece of burning coal.

“Put this into the turnip you are eating,” he told Jack. “This will be your lantern.” Jack is still walking with his lantern, looking for a place to stay.

Years later, children carved grinning faces on the turnips. They were called “bogies” (the ‘bogie’ man), but soon the name turned to “jack-o’-lanterns.” In America, we use pumpkins carved with faces, to keep the devil “away.”

WHAT NOW?

Article after article in the media graphically reports Satanic activity during the Halloween observance. “We enjoy the commercial exploitation of the public at Halloween.. it’s free publicity,” commented a Satanic high priest in one interview. He went on to say that most people have now fully accepted the “Halloween tradition” of “ghosts, witches and evil spirits” as the costumes of people. In fact, The Festival of Samhain remains a principal sabbath among modern day witches and other neo-pagans. So much for “good, clean fun.”

Halloween really is a Satanic “holiday,” but not many of us know the whole truth, or want to realize it. We should face that truth, even if it is frightening and bizarre. “Well, that may be true, but I would never get involved with anything like that. Oh, it’s not so bad,” you say.

Would you take poison a drop at a time knowing it wouldn’t kill you immediately? Does a “little” bit of evil lead to a little greater evil? Hitler and Stalin murdering millions. Ted Bundy raping and dismembering coeds. Madonna pretending (?) to have sex with animals. Kids worshiping and sacrificing living things to Satan. Did they all start that way? Or was it a gradual decline? Where do these people start their pursuit of this evil? Do their parents say, “Oh, it’s not so bad?”  What do you think?

“Oh, it would never happen to me or my kids?” Oh? Have you ever seen a beach erode a little at a time? What if years from now your daughter or son ended up off the deep end in one of these evil, scandalous situations? Can you be 100% certain they won’t? Is this Halloween stuff safe? Do you want that responsibility of contributing to their fall on your conscience and record before facing God at the Judgment Seat?

Ever wonder what Almighty God Himself has to say about all of this? What does His Holy Bible have to say? If the Bible isn’t perfectly true, then why can’t skeptics find any errors in it, and why does the President of the United States place his hand upon the Bible and swear to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court to uphold the truth in leading our country?

For our protection, well-being and safety, God provides Truth for us to obey: “You shall not practice witchcraft or fortune telling.”1  Also, “Do not turn to ghosts or spirits…do not seek them out…”2 Why not? Jesus knows all about the likes of a Hitler or Stalin. And Bundy. And Madonna. And the Satan worshipers. He knows exactly where they started their slide toward deeper and deeper evil.

God’s holiness is perfect, and His love pours out on us as He warns of sliding deeper into evil. For our own welfare, He says,  “Abstain from every form of evil.”3 and “Let us have a genuine hatred for evil and a real devotion to good.”4    Also, ” Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them.”5  Finally, “…whatever is true…honorable …right…pure…lovely… let  your  mind  dwell on these things.”6

The devil and his evil demons haven’t changed since God threw them out of Heaven ages ago in their rebellion toward Him, and He gave them limited rights to cause evil on earth. Jesus Christ Himself confronts them over 75 times in the Bible.

The devil isn’t an ugly, red creature with horns and a pitchfork. He is a brilliant minded, evil reality that can win peoples affections with appealing lies  – twisting the truth just a bit to get people like you and I running downhill out of control. If this were not so, why is the world in the mess it’s in?

Although God is in full control, He allows the devil’s evil and other human suffering to draw all mankind to Himself through His Son. Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me.”7

Halloween. “Oh, it’s not so bad.”

Or is it?

Making the right decision counts for eternity.

Forever. The road to hell is not marked with illuminated road signs, dear friends.

1  ( Leviticus 19.26);  2   (Leviticus 19.31); 3  (1 Thessalonians 5.22);  4   (Romans 12.9) ;  5  (Ephesians 5.11);  6  (Philippians 4.8);   7  (John 14.6)

+++

Here’s a life and death question for you:

Do you consider yourself to be a good person? Do you follow another religion, or no religion, in place of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, King of kings and Lord of lords?

Have you ever lied? Stolen anything? Lusted after another non-spouse person for sex? Thought murderous thoughts? There’s none that seek after God, but He seeks after us for rescue from our errors – our sin.

You Already Know About the True God

God Almighty has declared that every human being He’s ever created already knows about Him. How? Through what He has made in all creation. That fact is evident within us all. None of us can use an excuse. He says His wrath is revealed against the ungodliness, the sin, of our lives. This is the bad news…

But Father God in His merciful, gracious love sent His Son, Jesus the Christ, to save us from His wrath and our own sins. What Good News!

DO YOU BELIEVE THIS GOOD NEWS?

He did it all for you, rotten, filthy you. If you truly desire God, and you believe this news with all your heart, your sins are all forgiven. He then miraculously comes to live in your spirit. “For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” John 3:16

It is not just a religion. It is the Person Jesus.

Repent. Trust Him. Love Him. Follow Him.

+++

Please note: to download this in legal size track form, click here.

+++

Halloween and human sacrifice:

HALLOWEEN IN AMERICA & HUMAN SACRIFICES – BY KELLY TYLER  [AT THE BATTLE FRONT 48]

http://www.libertytothecaptives.net/prayer_halloween.html

read also:

AN ANGEL CAPTURED ON FILM – THE SPIRIT WORLD IS REAL [THE DEVIL’S SCHEMES 1]

+++

Please comment on this post right below. Feel free to write and proclaim your leadings in the Spirit in an honorable fashion.

Saints, we’re one day closer to Home, and Him! Love Him wholeheartedly!

You may view our Archives here: AT THE BATTLE FRONT – ARCHIVES;   Complete Archives; feel free to write and proclaim your leadings in the Spirit in an honorable fashion. May our Father richly bless you with His grace, through Jesus Christ our Lord, in order to walk worthy of His name.