What do you think? How do you use the Bible and prayer to find your own point of view? What part does personal experience play?Modern times
Churches and individual Christians will differ in their assessment. Some will see Halloween as a harmless bit of fun quite detached from its pagan origins (but we need to note that Samhain is still a key festival for modern Pagans); others will see it as direct involvement with the occult. In between is a whole range of views. If you are discussing this with your children be clear on your own point of view first, and then be clear about the position taken by your own church, which may be different.
I tend to place myself toward the 'harmless fun' end of the spectrum, because God is all powerful and Christ has the victory. However, I haven't had to help anyone who has been involved in the occult and now wants nothing to do with it.
So, what do you think?
Darren
5 comments:
In the large inner London school where I work, a fellow Christian on the staff called me to see graffiti in the girls' loos. "Satan I am yours forever' ,and on it went praising the Devil.We prayed over it and reported it to the caretaker. It is my experience, that the works of darkness hover just under the surface of life, more than we like to think.
20 years ago i was an evangelical youth leader. I left the church, back slid and started dabbling with the occult. 5 years ago i tried to come back to God because i became seriously ill and had an overwhelming feeling that i was going to hell.I repented but became full of very, very bad fellings and deep, deep misery. This came to ahead when on holiday in Bulgaria i threw my Bible across the room, went out and got incredibly drunk and had a cigarette. That day i felt something leave me which i believed, until very recently was my soul and that i was without a shadow of doubt going to hell. At this time, i developed blisters all over my body and as it was near the end of my holiday my wife decided we should stay in Bulgaria. I was unconcious most of the way home and bleeding from every orrifice, my urine and excrement were red with blood. By the time i got to hospital in England my platelet levels had dropped below 10. I had blood, platelet and plasma transfusions. In hospital i had feelings of being drawn towards the window, to jump. I started chain smoking 150-200 cigarettes a day and drinking vast quantities of fluid a day, to the point of becoming very ill.The pain in my head was so severe that i just wanted to lye down and go to sleep all the time, but i couldn't because i was being forced to smoke. To cut a long story short God has deliverd me, has turned my life around and is healing me. Even my atheist freinds are saying that a miracle has taken place in my life.God has given me a book to write and has given me a title, "Renewed like the Eagles" from Psalm 103( my nickname, after my surname, is Eagle). God has told me that i am to be an evangelist and the story of legion is the principle for this (look at what Jesus found when he returned to the place he had left this man).I am prepared to send free copies of my book to people( if there is a way i can find to do this). It goes without say that there was and still is an occult spirit behind Nazism. We in the UK have a responsibility to respond to the British National Parties lies that they represent christianity, we can do this by putting over to the media the real message of Jesus. Halloween gives us a perfect opportunity to give out tracts to people coming to our doors (Living Water have some excellent ones)The world is dark but we are called to be salt and LIGHT, Jesus is Lord and every challenge is an opportunity to put this over, GOD BLESS, Eagle
Thanks Elizabeth and Eagle for the comments, both amazing examples of how God can use us in the situations we find ourselves in.
It is far too easy to forget that there is more going on than we can see, as Paul says in Ephesians 6:12.
I pray that God will bless you both as you journey with him.
Halloween is a way of Satan 'harmlessly' getting into the hearts of young people.
Thank Talia, I think it was C.S.Lewis who wrote that one of the Devil's best moves was to convince the world he didn't exist.
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