Thursday, November 29, 2012

Christianity And Halloween - My Thoughts (Sorry So Late)




If you're a Christian and you celebrate Halloween, it's wrong, and you need to check your salvation.
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The bible says that we are suppossed to be salts in this world.  That we are suppossed to be lights in this dark world.  How can we be lights in this world when we are doing the same thing that the unsaved are doing?
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The more I look around the more that I see Christians who don't even really seem like Christians.  I know the bible says don't judge, so just pray for me.  If you want to call this judging you can, I call it fruit inspecting.  :D
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But how can you be just as tattooed up as the person next to you, and then say, I love the Lord, when the bible clearly says not to mark up your body?  Don't give that excuse, "that's Old Testament" stuff.  Old Testament or New Testament, it all came from God's mouth, so that means it's all true and it all needs to be followed.
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There really isn't alot of difference these days between a so-called Christian and a sinnner, except the Christian goes to church on Sunday and the sinner doesn't. 
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There's no power in the body of Christ, because Christians are doing the same thing that the world is doing.  Getting tattoes.  Sleeping around (fornication, for those who don't know or shacking for those who are older).  Participating in Halloween.  Drinking.  Going to clubs and bars.  The list goes on and on.
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How do you know whether you have any power or not?
(1) Are you able to draw people to Christ?
(2) Are you healthy?  Spiritually and physically?
(3)  When you pray do your prayers get answered?
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 Let's take the first one.  How can you draw somebody to Christ when you were in the club with them shacking your booty just as much as they were?  Where's the difference?  Where's that something special that might draw an unsaved person to the Lord?
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The second one, now don't get me wrong.  There are alot of reasons why Christians are sick, and it's not just because you have no power in your life.  There could be other reasons.  But when you are in a club or a bar doing the same thing as everybody else, that's sin.  How can you knowingly committ sin and then come to God asking Him to heal you?  How can you knowingly sleep around and then when you catch some sexual disease, you want God to heal you, when fornication is a sin? 
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And finally, the third one, why would God answer any of your prayers when you don't even obey His word?
 
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Why would God heal you when just last week you had a costume on with your bag out looking for candy?  He's probably trying to figure out if you really belong to Him or not.
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People want to serve God how they want to, when they want to, however they want to.  But the truth of the matter is, that's just not going to fly.  The bible says "come from among them and be ye separate, says the Lord".
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As I'm writing this, I'm not saying I'm perfect, so you don't even need to go there.  I'm just saying, being a Christian is being a disciplined beleiver.  It's being Christ-like.  Do you really think the Lord would be in a club?  Does that sound like something He'd do?  Trick or treating?  A tatooe?  Having sex with every woman He saw?  You know it ain't because He didn't even get married. 
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The Lord kept His focus on what He was put on earth to do.  Dying for our sins and resurrecting on the third day.  We need to keep our focus as well.  Being lights in this dark world.  Loving the unloveable.  Being salts of the earth.

Friday, November 9, 2012

Christianity And Halloween Part 3 Of 3

How do we teach our children to wrestle spiritually?

  • Discourage them from participating in traditional Halloween activities (2 Timothy 2:4).
  • Then tell them why.
 
  • Encourage them to pray on a regular, daily basis (Ephesians 6:18). Let them know first hand the power that we have in prayer. All Christians should know how to fight on their knees.
 
  • Remind them to be alert and self-controlled (1 Corinthians 16:13; 1 Thessalonians 5:6). Give them the discipline of knowing it is their responsibility to keep watch. They, themselves, might also become casualties in the war.
 
  • Make certain they are prepared for battle (Ephesians 6:11). Do they know the truth? Stand on the Word of God? Have faith? Know the gospel? Are they righteous? Are they saved?…
 
 
Instead of celebrating, what’s a Christian to do on Satan’s feast day? PRAY! Intercession and spiritual warfare should be the first item on our agenda. It is NOT a last resort!
 
 
  • Join with other families in the church. Have the pastor announce a night of spiritual battle. Organize a group of Christians parents and students from your children’s school or homeschool group. As a family, designate the seven nights before October 31 as Family Prayer Outreach nights.
 
  • Pray for protection. Pray over both those who engage in prayer warfare and over those who will be out trick-or-treating or at Halloween parties. October 31 is a prime recruiting time for witches and Satanists… and a time for interested kids to experiment. Pray that the Lord keeps our kids from falling prey to those who worship the enemy.
 
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  • Pray for discernment. Let the Holy Spirit direct you to specific prayer requests. Pray that the children who are “out there” will somehow “know” to keep away from certain activities.
 
  • Pray that the Lord hinder the occult rituals. For four years, I lived in a building which over looked a cemetery where occult ceremonial markings were often found. On certain occult feast days, usually between midnight and 3 a.m., I would look down into the darkness and kneel at my window binding the demons that controlled the ceremonies. I’ll never know this side of heaven what effect my prayers had. Maybe a potential sacrifice escaped. Maybe the occultists weren’t successful in summoning their demon. Maybe a new, young recruit decided that this was not the lifestyle he thought he wanted.
 
  • Pray for the salvation of the occultists. Jesus Christ died for those whom Satan holds captive and deceived, for those who mock Him, who deny His deity or His existence. He doesn’t want them to perish, but to come to Him calling Him Father, Lord. Pray the veil is lifted from their eyes, the Lord allows them to see clearly their spiritual condition and their only hope lies in Jesus Christ. Pray also, about whether the Lord would have you take a more active role in bringing the gospel to Satan’s servants.
 
  • Let your children know that this is effective warfare. They must know their prayers are heard and acted on by our Father. Let them know they can make a difference. Come October 31, they’ll know they have a job to do.

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Christianity And Halloween Part 2 Of 3

 
 
“What are you doing for Halloween?” Ask a Christian parent this question, and be prepared to hear an answer like, “Nothing! We don’t celebrate Halloween.“ Thunder crashes, and you creep away, embarassed for even asking.
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“What are you doing ON Halloween?” Ask the same parent this slightly altered question, and their whole manner and response brightens. “Why,” they begin, as birds begin to sing and sunshine breaks through the cumulus clouds. “We’re all going to the Harvest Party at church!” A choir sings. A trumpet sounds. You feel privileged just knowing these saints.
Let’s take a look at the typical Harvest Party.
  • It is a celebration.
  • It is chaperoned (usually).
  • It may have costumes.
  • Games are played.
  • Contests are held.
  • Food abounds.
  • Music blares.
  • Everyone enjoys themselves.
Certainly, nothing to get concerned about, right? The problem, however, lies in the billing. The Harvest Party is usually referred to as the Christian alternative to traditional Halloween hijinx. Alternative, however, implies substitute. It assumes our children need something to take the place of Halloween, since they won’t be participating in the secular and pagan celebrations. It suggests our kids are missing out on something. And indeed they are, if we allow them to spend Halloween in celebration.
If we are to train our children to be soldiers in the army of Christ, why would we sign a pass for them to go on leave when the battle is escalating on the front lines?
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As a child of four, I contacted the first of many spirit guides (read: demons) while playing with a Kindergarten classmates’ ouija board at a chaperoned Halloween party. This spiritual assault ignited an intrigue with the supernatural that culminated in my lifestyle as a practicing witch: divination, necromancy, channeling, astrology, psychic ability, and spell working. It wasn’t until I was twenty that I met the real Jesus Christ, and was released from the trap that Satan had set for this young prisoner of war sixteen years earlier.
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There are too many casualities on Halloween and far too few troops fighing the enemy. Instead of partying on Halloween, teach your children how to fight. Keep them aware that the fight isn’t against occultists, non-Christians, Christians who feel differently than we about Halloween, or institutions that promote Halloween, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers or darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:12).