Quote from Forum Archives on October 24, 2001, 9:58 pm

Posted by: masinick <masinick@...>

Dear friends,

I would like to share with you the entertaining weekly message
from Larry Davies. This week, Larry has a confession to make to
us before he shares his usual insights mixed with humor and wit.
As always, I look forward to these messages each week. I hope
you enjoy them as much as I do, but I also pray that the message
will help remind you of eternal truth and reinforce those things
you already know.

Your Brother in Christ,
Brian

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Reply-to: "Sowing Seeds of Faith..." <sowseeds@nesbeonline.com>
Subject: Halloween and All Saints Day

Sowing Seeds of Faith

Halloween and All Saints Day -Larry Davies

I have a confession to make! This is going to be so hard for a
preacher to admit. Gulp! I love Halloween. No, I'm not
kidding... I really love Halloween! I love the candy, scary
costumes, more candy, horror movies, jumping out of the bushes
screaming, "Boo!" Oh, did I mention the candy?

Our school held Halloween carnivals with costume judging, cake
walks, bobbing for apples and other games. Inevitably, a few of
the wilder boys would bring water balloons and bomb the crowd
until we ran out of ammunition or were collared by a
teacher. Halloween brought out the prankster in us. After all,
when else can you knock on a stranger's door, scream "trick or
treat" in your scariest voice and the only response you receive
is a free bar of candy? What a great day to be a kid! Or is it?

After becoming a preacher, I was warned about the dangers of
celebrating Halloween. "If you allow your children to
participate in Halloween (Trick or Treating, costume parties,
etc.) you are allowing them to play on 'the devil's turf,' and
Satan will definitely press his home court advantage." wrote
William Schnoebelen. Stories abound of witches and devil
worshippers meeting throughout the night.

Others pooh, pooh the warning as merely the ravings of mad
fundamentalist crusaders out to spoil every child's good
time. Halloween is an opportunity to play dress-up. Halloween
inspires creativity and imagination that seems to be missing
today. One internet site writes: "Halloween is a chance to trot
out all of our silly superstitions, our fear of the dark and
laugh at them."

Which view is right? "All of them. No, I mean none of them!
Larry, what do you mean?"

Halloween actually began with the ancient Celtic tribes who lived
in the British Isles. November 1 was a day of honoring the dead
and celebrating the New Year. Christians combined the ancient
practices and came up with All Saints Day, a Sacred Christian
holiday meant to honor the Saints of the church who died,
especially those who have been martyred for their faith. The
night before became known as All Hallow's Even or "holy
evening," later shortened to Halloween. In others words,
Halloween is a unique blend of pagan and Christian rituals all
designed to help us remember those who have died.

Paul says in his first letter to the Corinthians, "I try to find
common ground with everyone so that I might bring them to
Christ." (9:22) I like this attitude because we are urged to
treat people and their beliefs with respect and look for common
ground before sharing our love of Jesus Christ.

So, both views are right. We can participate in Halloween
activities but we should also honor those who have passed
away. Especially during these uncertain days when we face the
threat of crashing passenger jets and biological terror. The
worst perception of terrorism is the fear that evil lurks
everywhere. Halloween is our way of saying to evil, "I am not
afraid of you. I will not give in to you."

One of my favorite Halloween emails emphasized this point: A lady
had been baptized. One of her co-workers asked her what it was
like to be a Christian. She was caught off guard and didn't know
how to answer but she saw a jack-o'-lantern on her desk and
answered: "It's like being a pumpkin."

"What do you mean by that?" the other worker asked.

"Well, God picks you from the patch and brings you in and washes
off all the dirt on the outside that you got from being around
all the other pumpkins, The he cuts off the top and takes all
the yucky stuff out from inside. He removes all the seeds of
doubt, hate, greed, etc. Then he carves you a new smiling face
and puts his light inside of you to shine for all to see. It is
our choice to either stay outside and rot on the vine or come
inside and be something new and bright."

Halloween is a reminder for me that evil forces may occasionally
have their day... or night but as sure as the sun comes out each
morning, the next day will belong to God and the Saints of the
church who will all rise from their graves on their way toward
the promise of heaven. Now that I think about it, I may never
look at a pumpkin or Halloween the same way again. Honestly, I
still like the candy best.

Sowing Seeds of Faith... Weekly devotions with ATTITUDE, humor,
great stories and a down-to-earth Bible study.

Would you like to receive twice weekly prayer needs from around
the world? Click here:
www.sowingseedsoffaith.com/sign-up.htm

=====
--
Brian Masinick, "The Mas", mailto:masinick@yahoo.com
Home page: www.geocities.com/masinick/

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