Into the Fire

Well, yes. And no. October 31st is just another day in our household without “celebration” or pumpkins or black and orange decorations and even without candy. And, no, I do not believe it is just another day in the heavenlies.

When a day is set apart for displaying evil, trickery, and darkness, it isn’t just another day. I participated in it for many years before meeting Jesus. Of course, in those adult years, the slant toward a more evil “holiday” developed. One can hardly build an argument for celebrating halloween (no capitalization intentional) when you trace its history and association with the Druid religion. Whatever it was in ancient Catholicism and the Druid practices, it certainly contained the element of evil, human sacrifices, and death. Not exactly the message of Christianity.

Many times I’ve heard people say, “Well, we don’t celebrate that. We just want to have fun—give the kids some candy, dress up in costumes.” If that’s the case, why not have a party in September, or June, or February?

I know it is the intention of churches to offer an alternative activity for a community’s children in a safe environment on a potentially wicked holiday. My church is doing just that. There are harvest parties at many Christian schools which offer festive and fun “alternatives”. Christian people in neighborhoods feature mini-events in their homes or yards to counter the “haunted house” efforts of those people who love to invent scary places for entertaining kids and adults with horror.

I’m not writing this post to create or participate in controversy. This is what we do for this date: nothing. We do nothing because there is nothing worthy to celebrate in the tradition. Our son never felt like he was missing out or being deprived. We taught him the history and explained why we felt a celebration of evil was not a good idea. Yes, if he wanted to attend a harvest party or event at church, we went—but not always. It was never important to him.

You would be hard pressed to convince me there is not an abundance of evil activity fired up in the spiritual realm for a day that features ghouls, goblins, and ghosts to name a few. Delivered saints of God have testified to the fanatical efforts of satanic cult and witch coven members on this unique date. For truly it is a day set apart for the night. The deeds of darkness. Hard to ignore that.

Alternatives for halloween? The praying down of demonic strongholds and revival in the land.

God, you do all things well. You’ve given us the tools and the power to bring down the efforts of the evil one, to exercise the Authority in the Name of your Son Jesus Christ, to live in the power of the Spirit. Direct me in prayer and supplication to do my part on a daily basis. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.