Trick or Treat? Going Beyond the Grave...

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 Do you participate in Halloween activities in your neighborhood?  Is there an opportunity for you to start a dialog with your neighbors and their kids about what Halloween really represents?  Can you focus on death and use it as a witnessing tool?  

No doubt you can answer those questions in several ways. In case you don't know the history of this "holiday" - here's a brief overview of the origins of  Halloween. 

Halloween is a culturally popular holiday observed on October 31st. It was a Celtic pagan festival, and then became the Christian holiday - All Saints' Day, but today is a secular celebration. Halloween activities include trick-or-treating, wearing costumes, carving Jack-o'-lanterns, apple bobbing, visiting haunted attractions, committing pranks, telling ghost stories or other frightening tales, and watching horror films.

Wikipedia, the on-line encyclopedia, has this to say about Halloween:  “The word Halloween is first attested in the 16th century and represents a Scottish variant of the fuller All-Hallows-Even ("evening"), that is, the night before All Hallows Day.  Although the phrase All Hallows is found in Old English (ealra hálȝena mæssedæȝ, the feast of all saints), All-Hallows-Even was not attested until 1556.

In traditional Celtic Halloween festivals, large turnips were hollowed out, carved with faces and placed in windows to ward off evil spirits.  The carving of pumpkins is associated with Halloweenin North America where pumpkins are both readily available and much larger – making them easier to carve than turnips. Many families that celebrate Halloween carve a pumpkin into a frightening or comical face and place it on their doorstep after dark.  The practice of dressing up in costumes and begging door to door for treats on holidays, dates back to the Middle Ages.  Trick-or-treating resembles the late medieval practice of souling, originating in Ireland and Britain.  Poor folk would go door to door on Hallowmas (November 1st), receiving food in return for prayers for the dead on All Souls Day (November 2nd).

Image - Wikipedia

The early Christian church moved a festive celebration called All Saints' Day from May to November 1 and renamed it All Hallows' Eve, from which we get the word Halloween. This was an overt attempt on the part of believers to infiltrate pagan tradition with the truth of the gospel.  It was a bold evangelistic move designed to demonstrate that only the power of the resurrected Christ could protect men and women from the destructive ploys of Satan and his demons.

An article posted on ChristianityToday.com in 2009 cited a Barna Research study which had this to say:

“The majority of American Christians do not believe that Satan is a real being or that the Holy Spirit is a living entity, the latest Barna Research survey found. Nearly six out of ten Christians either strongly agreed or somewhat agreed with the statement that Satan “is not a living being but is a symbol of evil,” the survey found.  40 percent strongly agreed with the statement while 19 percent of American Christians somewhat agreed.  In contrast, about 35 percent of American Christians believe Satan is real.  20 percent strongly disagreed with the statement that Satan is merely symbolic and about one-tenth (9 percent) somewhat disagreed. The remaining 8 percent of American Christians responded they were unsure what to believe about the existence of Satan.”

What can we as believers do to counter-balance a society that deems Halloween “harmless?” For starters, we can have an open door for evangelism and education. The deception of a holiday such as Halloween, with its witches, vampires, demons, skeletons, and overall theme of evil, can become an opportunity to demonstrate the dynamic power of Christ to redeem us from death.  Halloween distorts the reality of true spiritual warfare, and glorifies the dark side of the spiritual world.  However, we can tell them about the One who triumphed over evil, and who came to give us a purpose, and a God-given destiny.

If you allow your children to trick-or-treat, focus on costumes that are based on Bible characters, animals, cartoon characters, historical people, and other “non-horror” themes.  We need to be careful not to add to the “feeding frenzy” of horror movie characters, demons, ghosts, goblins, the devil, and other evil beings.   

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We often decorate our house with scary “nature things” like spiders & webs, lizards, snakes, mice, birds, bats - and not “death and demon” related items most often found in Halloween-themed stores.  We carve real pumpkins or put out the plug-in type.  We hand out candy or tiny Christian toys and witnessing tracts that are family-friendly.  For the past couple of years (as an empty-nester) I take my two dogs out and walk the neighborhood, visiting with those we meet. You can make October 31st a night to talk about death, eternity, and how Jesus laid His life down for them.  

Dying and decay are eminent; however, evil and the grave has been defeated by Jesus through His death on the cross.  

We are more than conquerors over the powers of darkness, demonstrated by Jesus’ resurrection (Colossians 2:15), and the Holy Spirit’s power in us as believers (Ephesians 6:11-17).

Use Halloween as a teaching tool and an opportunity to witness.  Share the good news of Christ.   

            R. I. P.    (Rest in His Presence)

“For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus… For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God.  And the dead in Christ will rise first.”  (I Thessalonians 4:14; 16)

Deborah is the author of a Christian non-fiction book titled “Mission Possible”. It is written for women who love the Lord Jesus, but their spouse doesn’t share their passion.  It will encourage and challenge the reader to embrace God’s promises for their spouse and future together. 
Visit  http://www.spirituallyunevenmarriage.com

Trick or Treat? Going Beyond the Grave...

Guest Author Kristine McGuire & "Escaping the Cauldron"

I'd like to introduce you to Kristine McGuire, author of the book "Escaping the Cauldron: Ghosts and the Paranormal".  Have you experimented with the occult? Do you find yourself being pulled into the paranormal?  There are Christians who have, and Kristine was one of them.

Kristine McGuire has written a book that is a must read for any parent, friend or family member who has known someone trapped by the spiritual underworld and its web of lies. Her book “Escaping the Cauldron” systematically breaks down the allure of the paranormal, and why so many spiritually hungry people are drawn to its appealing qualities of excitement and intrigue. Kristine candidly exposes not only her own fascination with the occult, but her sincere regret at pursuing this warped version of spiritual intimacy. She readily concurs that Jesus Christ is the only True spiritual guide for her as a believer, and that her past involvement with demonic spirits was foolish and dangerous. Her use of the Holy scriptures make the argument that only God’s Word can truly open the eyes of the spiritually blind, and that He alone can bring healing and restoration to a life in the clutches of evil spirits and demonic activity. Kristine has truly written a book that will make the demons tremble and satan packing his bags for a one-way trip back to his pit. I recommend giving this book to anyone who is living in a danger zone with one foot in the kingdom of God, and one foot in satan’s den. “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:26)     [Reviewed by Deb McCarragher]

This is an excerpt from Kristine's book:
     A little over a year ago God gave me a vision. He wanted me to share the story of how He rescued me from the occult. I knew I was meant to write a book about my experiences but the question was how should
I go about it?  As I began exploring options my husband, Thom, encouraged me to create a blog. A place to share my thoughts about daily life as a Christian, and inform others about the occult through my past experiences as a witch, medium, and ghost hunter. I thought that sounded like a good idea and so Kristine Remixed was created.  "Escaping the Cauldron" was inspired from a collection of articles I wrote on the topics of ghosts, ghost hunting, and mediums for Kristine ReMixed, October - December 2009.  The idea behind "Escaping the Cauldron", and future books in the series, is to create an easy resource for you to share with others; arranged in a format where each chapter can either stand alone or as a unified whole. Allowing you, the reader, to pick and choose what you want to read.  My prayer is that "Escaping the Cauldron: Ghosts and the Paranormal" will bring honor to my Savior, Jesus Christ, and help raise awareness in the church to the current unprecedented interest in the occult in America. I hope this book will be an encouragement to those who may be questioning their faith, as I once did, or who may be doing some dabbling themselves.
 
Here is a brief interview with Kristine:  
What is the book about?
The book is part of my testimony of how I went from being a committed, but legalistic, Christian for 29 years to being a witch, medium, and ghost hunter for eight years before God restored my faith and life. The book also examines the current popular interest in the paranormal and how it is affecting Christians, their beliefs, etc.

Why call it Escaping the Cauldron?
This is actually the first book in a series about the occult. I chose to write several books that are basically collections of essay's inspired by my blog and written from my personal experiences as a witch, medium, and ghost hunter. The first one honestly has more to do with ghost hunting, mediumship, and the paranormal but I chose "Escaping the Cauldron" as the title of the series because (for me) witchcraft was truly my entry into a variety of areas of occult interest including divination, developing psychic ability and mediumship, ghost hunting, etc. So when I was finally able to turn away from witchcraft (escape the cauldron) I found freedom from the occult in general.

What do you think is the most important chapter of the book?
I think there are several chapters that are important but I suppose Haunting Spirits is one I think people should read because it discusses what is behind hauntings and ghost activity. Many people want to believe loved ones can come back to visit or haunt a location as a ghost but I don't believe the Bible supports that idea.

What do you hope to accomplish with this book?
Honestly, I simply want the church to begin acknowledging the presence of a spirit world and listen to people who come forward with stories and claims of paranormal experiences without dismissing them immediately. When the church refuses to listen people are forced to seek help elsewhere and that means ghost hunters, mediums, and psychics. I also hope to encourage Christians who may be questioning their faith to seek a deeper relationship with God, especially if they are stuck in a form of legalism. Our answers truly can be found in Jesus Christ.
  

 

Kristine is a Christian wife and mother. She works with her husband, Thom, through Big Fish Ministries, is a Biblical Counselor, and writes for her blog, Kristine ReMixed. Kristine has published her book, "Escaping the Cauldron", detailing her former experiences as a witch, medium, and ghost hunter. In the book she discusses the current interest in the Occult and how it is subtly influencing Christians. Kristine also is a featured columnist for http://www.positivelyfeminine.org/ . You can purchase her book at http://www.kristinemcguire.com/  and from Lulu.com or Amazon.com.

Guest Author Kristine McGuire & "Escaping the Cauldron"