Let's Not Give the Devil His Due
October 20, 2009
Eleven days from now it will be October 31. Halloween. The night before All Saints Day and thus All Hallows Eve. I approach this time with mixed feelings. Growing up I always looked forward to the grocery store setting up displays of children's costumes. Yes, I said grocery store. I grew up in Daisy, before it became Soddy-Daisy, and we didn't have a toy store. So you bought your costume at the grocery store. I was Casper one year. I went as Spiderman another. Not that these costumes would fool anyone mind you. They were packaged in flat boxes with the mask peering out through a sheet of cellophane. The picture on the box was not at all like the costume in the box. Kind of like that 7 foot Frankenstein in the back of comic books that you could order for $1. The cardboard creature bore little resemblance to the scary picture on the page. And just try and get your money back!!! I'm sorry, I had to let go of some childhood pent-up frustration. Anyway, I always liked the night of Halloween and as far as I can remember my church spoke little for or against it.
I even went to a few Halloween parties as an adult. I found out these parties were different from any other time of year only in that the guy passed out in the hedges was now dressed like Batman. It kind of lost it's luster. Then a few years ago I talked to a police detective who shared some info with me about this time of year. He told me of places where dis-membered cats were scattered around make-shift altars in woods around Chattanooga. He talked of suspicious vans that drove slowly through neighborhoods while children played alone. I began to look into these things for myself and found them to be true. I learned later that animal shelters ceased cat adoption in the week prior to Halloween for fear that they would be abused. I learned that both witches and devil worshipers understood the dark significance of this night even if the church chose to ignore it. As a Christian and a pastor I began to be convicted of not taking a stand during a time when death and darkness were being marketed to our children. After all the Bible says, "He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love." Col. 1:13 Paul, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, commanded believers to "Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them." Ephesians 5:11.
So it has been years since our family handed out treats at the front door. Instead we began a Fall Festival at church where we give kids an opportunity to have fun in a safe environment. A place where death and darkness are not portrayed. It has been a great success. I even deliver what many have come to call my "pumpkin smashing message" on the Wednesday night before Halloween. So mission accomplished right? I thought many of the things I used to warn parents of during this season have become non-existent. I know the old razor in the apple has proven to be an urban myth, but many of the other atrocities really took place at Halloween. And recently a very prominent story about an abducted little girl has become headline news. But not around here, right? Just this Sunday morning a concerned grand-mother asked me to share this story. Her grand-daughter and another little girl were playing less than a mile from our church when a dark truck slowed down nearby. A man in a black hoody jumped from the truck as the two girls ran screaming to a nearby neighbor's house. The mother reported to the police but no one has been detained. So the battle between darkness and light, good and eveil goes on.
I may be a little one-sided now when it comes to my views about Halloween, but I would rather err on the side of safety than give the devil his due. "Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good." Romans 12:21 I hope you can be at DBBC on the 28th when I share wat the Bible says about the Christians response to the occult and the history of Halloween. See you then.
It's so nice to find someone else who removed the blinders the world pushes...even better that that someone is our family's church leader! :)
Posted by: H | October 20, 2009 at 08:51 PM