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(NOTE FROM JAN: Our staff pastor, Josh Schwartz, shares my burden about warning of this season of the year. Halloween is nearing Christmas in popularity, spending, and more. Think of it! What an abomination. What a clear sign of the last days when society glorifies evil. He writes our E-newsletter this week.)
There is a glaring day on my fall calendar every year. It is neither circled nor highlighted. Still, I am highly aware of it and sensitive to its significance. It should not be celebrated or glorified.
I live and minister a few short miles away from both Anoka, Minnesota, the witch and Halloween capital of America, and Plymouth, Minnesota, the yearly destination of Paganicon. This is a “celebration” of the dark arts observed by every form of pagan imaginable. Our ministry founder, Jan Markell, has attended this convention more than once to share the gospel with these very lost pagans.
And Then There Is Halloween’s Deception and Destruction!
We are familiar with the dark arts and the demonic. October 31st is a day when our culture celebrates and glorifies deception, delusion, distraction, and destruction.
However, many dismiss it as just a fun, light-hearted day. Halloween, as it is colloquially known, is when people of all ages dress up and share time, tricks, and candy together. Like many Western holidays, it has been heavily commercialized. Companies use Halloween to boost sales and attract attention. But historically, its roots are dark and demonic. According to gotquestions.org . . . .
“Many believe the festival of Samhain to have been the beginning of the Celtic year. At Samhain, farmers brought livestock in from summer pastures, and people gathered to build shelters for winter. The festival also had religious significance, and people burned fruits, vegetables, and grains as offerings to the gods.
“In ancient Celtic stories, Samhain was a magical time of transition when important battles were fought and fairies cast spells. It was a time when the barriers between the natural world and the supernatural were broken. The Celts believed that the dead could walk among the living at this time. During Samhain, the living could visit with the dead, who they believed held secrets of the future.”
Glorifying Evil
This is just the tip of the iceberg of evil surrounding this holiday. As noted above, it is on Halloween that many in our cities and neighborhoods glorify deception, delusion, distraction, and destruction—traits characteristic of Satan and his demons.
When studying Scripture in relation to Satan and evil, deception, delusion, distraction, and destruction frequently appear as common themes. These are the fruits of the satanic. Take Mark 5, for example: when the disembodied spirits from the demoniac are allowed to possess the swine, they immediately run them off a cliff because that is their prerogative—destruction!
In Matthew 4, when Satan tempts Jesus, he cannot help but be deceptive in how he twists the Scriptures out of context. Again, deception, delusion, distraction, and destruction are Satanic traits. Yet, on or around October 31st, Halloween, these very characteristics are celebrated.
As Believers—Love Righteousness, Hate the Ungodly
Friends, if we profess the name of Christ, we are commanded to flee from evil; the old self and its practices have died, and the new has come. Therefore, as followers of Jesus, we should at least be wary and, at most, outright abhorrent of the celebration and glorification of such things.
The Apostle Paul emphasizes rejecting the old self in various passages throughout the New Testament (Romans 6, 1 Corinthians 10, and Colossians 2-3). We must not dwell in the places where we once lived because we are now a new creation in Christ Jesus.
Redeem This Time—Disassociate from What Dishonors God
More importantly, if you have placed your faith in Jesus, the shed blood of Jesus has purchased you. Your eternal soul has been transferred from death to life, from eternal separation to everlasting unity in the body of Christ. The deeper reality is that those not in Christ face eternal separation and punishment.
Friends, the eternal fate of souls depends on one’s faith in Jesus. As Christ’s ambassador, where He has placed us, we must stand for truth with honor and dignity. We must not conform to culture just to appear ‘hip’ or relatable, nor should we try to make Christianity seem relevant. That is not our role; Jesus is relevant to every person born.
We are called to flee from evil and to disassociate from actions that dishonor God. So, I urge you: do not celebrate or glorify Halloween. Instead, see it as an opportunity to share with others their eternal need for a Savior.
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