Open to the idea of different religions?
| Posted On: 10/17/08 07:41:56 PM |
Age 39, AL |
I'm sorry that you "are saddened that there are so many people who are not opened to the idea of different religions". I am saddened that there are so many self-proclaimed "christians" who are open to the idea of different religions (meaning accepting them as something other than error). The Bible is quite clear on this matter. We are all born in sin. We all have broken God's Law. He will judge us all according to His Law, and we will be found guilty. The punishment for breaking His Law is death...to be cast into the lake of fire and spend eternity away from His presence...a "living" death for all eternity. However, God loves us so much that he had a single, perfect plan to save us from that punishment. His plan was to send Jesus Christ, God the Son, to die in our place on the cross. God the Father poured out His perfect wrath fully on His Son, so Jesus Christ bore the punishment for all our sins. If you believe in Jesus Christ, believe what He has done for us, believe that His sacrifice was fully acceptable to our Heavenly Father, and offer yourself a living sacrifice to Him and let him be your Lord and Savior, you will be saved. If you don't, then you will one day bow your knee and confess with your mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior when he judges you and finds you guilty. Of course, then it will be too late to accept this precious gift that He has offered you.
Any other way, any other belief, is false. It will end with you suffering an eternal death. Jesus Christ said that He is the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but through him.
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Bend and Blend...I'm Saddened
| Posted On: 10/16/08 11:02:40 AM |
Age 41, AL |
As Christians, who are to have our hearts and eyes set upon Jesus, should have the wisdom to know that bending over backwards, blending in, and inviting non believers into what is supposed to be a place FOR Believers to be encouraged & to grow, is never profitable. It's sad to see the excuses for participating in another blasphemous form of soul saving.
Doing outreach? Bringing in the lost masses & giving them candy isn't going to save them. Only God can open their eyes. He doesn't need you to formulate a way.(Acts 26:18)the key here is that GOD was the one pulling the strings, not man.
Why do Christians always feel the need to "blend in" in order to share the gospel? Jesus doesn't require such worldly tactics.
Do you believe your tract will be read by a child who is digging through ten pounds of candy? Absurd. More than likely, it will be swept into the garbage with the candy wrappers.
Ask God for the boldness needed to share the Truth. Be a true witness that is SEPARATE from this world, not dressed like everyone else in costume. Even if you dress as a Bible character, are you going around sharing the good news? Or are you just moving on to the next booth set up by the 5th gr. SS class? Come on Christian, you think because you merely "attend" that your presence will save? If God hasn't put this on your agenda then you're there for your own desires. Before you go out into the world, do you pray to ask God to use you? And if/when the moment presents itself, do you boldly share that they are a sinner in need of a Saviour? In this world of best life now 'believers', I doubt many tell others they are sinners in need. Do you?
Do you even pray to see if God wants to use you there? Or are you on your own save-a-soul crusade? You see, if God isn't pulling your strings your efforts are fruitless. Yep, FRUIT-LESS.
Get those costumes off of your children, tell them that Halloween and any imitation of it, is of the enemy. Train them to be servant's of the Lord, bold witnesses for this lost world. Be the example. Jesus is our example.
Would you take your children to an x rated movie, in costume of course, to be a witness to those in the theater? Guard your children!
You say your church does in fact preach the gospel? Well, the watered down gospel in that 10 min. skit put on by the middle school puppet team, doesn't qualify. Nine times out of ten either the parents are standing just outside the door chit-chatting or they're too busy clapping to the songs, which are louder than the actual gospel presentation! As for the children, they're awaiting the next funny joke. They're not waiting to hear that they're sinners.
I'm sure many will respond opposed to what I've said, so do what I've done. Go to a few fall festivals(don't bring your children)and time them. See how long each one is actually sharing Christ crucified. Yes, CHRIST CRUCIFIED. Not the watered down stuff spewed out today. And, for those that truly are sharing the gospel, try doing it in an unworldy fashion. Leave the candy on the shelves, promote a come-as-you-are theme. Share John 3:16 from your heart. The candy and entertainment to serve the flesh is not effective to the Kingdom. "What?" You say people "got saved". Be careful Christian that YOU are not promoting false conversions. You're doing more damage than good. Be careful that you're not living on your own agenda.
Stop bending over backwards and conforming. Your children are not learning anything profitable and that's considered wasted time, foolishness, idleness. That time you spend collecting candy and playing games are precious hours wasted to teach your children that this world has NOTHING to offer. How sad that we can't find anything better to entertain our children with than the ways of this world.
How is collecting candy and dressing up your precious gift from God glorifying to Him? If you're teaching them that it's ok to "bend and blend", what is next? What else will they deem acceptable and harmless? You're tampering with their eternal inheritance dear parent.
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Re: Re: Tract or Treat: A Christian Response to Halloween
| Posted On: 11/05/07 10:01:45 AM |
Age 18, MN |
I'm saddened that there are so many people who are not opened to the idea of diferent religions. I have taken the time to read through many of the responses to this article, and have found that many of them are biased at best and extremely hurtful at worst. I read a few who claimed to have been "white witches" at one time, and I must say that what they experienced is not normal. I'm sorry that they had a bad encounter with it, but not all of us are bad people. I would like to state that I was brought up Christian and have attended services on my own free-will since my change in religious views. I also still go to Christmas service every year with my family. Although I seek no solace in it as I once did in my youth, I go out of respect for it, as a religion. It is my wish that others can one day do the same for me and members of my religion. Many of my friends are still devote Christians, but that puts no hinderance on our friendships. They are able to see me for who I am... As A Person. I believe that people can be too quick to judge one another. Especially when it comes to religion. Why must we continue to close ourselves off to others based upon our religious views?
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Re: Tract or Treat: A Christian Response to Halloween
| Posted On: 11/04/07 06:54:52 PM |
Age 18, MN |
I would like to start by saying that I hold very open-minded opinions of religion. I see nothing wrong with Christians or their beliefs. However from an objective perspective, I must say that this article was very one-sided, and VERY biased. Coming from a point of view that's not... Well... Christian, I have to say that this article is not only hurtful on some degree, but also discrimanatory. I was polite enough to read the article several times, I even listened to the two people who delivered it to my door. While I admire their dedication to their religion, they were not open to anything that I had to say. In fact, they told me that I was a bad person, and that I was "...going to burn in hell!". They didn't respect me at all, let alone my beliefs. If people are going to try to disuade others from doing something, I would ask but two things of them. First, that they please get their facts straight (particularly the ones about the Wiccans!), and second that they plaese respect other people. Not just the people themselves, but also their ideas, and yes,... their religions. All in all, the people who dedicate their lives to Christ are not bad people, but the people who have other beliefs (I mean those that don't always see eye to eye with the Christians)are also good people. That is the perspective that one should take when undertaking a subject as delicate as religion. We are all people, judge us by our actions, not by our religions... thank you to those who have taken the time to at least read this, even if you don't agree with it.
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Re: Tract or Treat: A Christian Response to Halloween
| Posted On: 11/04/07 03:20:17 PM |
Age 28, CA |
From my understanding of the history of Halloween, it was an evil holiday (as it still is for the most part) but then Christians moved 'All Saints Day' from spring to fall in order to take 'what the devil meant for evil and to use it for good'.
Many churches are now holding 'Harvest Fair' outreaches. Our church holds one with free food and candy, lost of games, a Gideon Bible table, skits that tell of salvation, Christian karate demonstrations where the gospel is passionatley preached, and live Christian music (often worship songs).
Right now we take our small children (dressed in harmless costumes...ie. animals, knights wearing the 'armor of God', Bible characters, etc.) and have a good time. When they are older we hope to man a booth as a family, as many families in our church do. We are NOT 'celebrating Halloween', neither are we promoting evil, death, destruction, witchcraft, etc.
We are celebrating Christ's victory over the powers of darkness and promoting His life giving gospel! I totally agree with the author's suggestion that Christians use this opportunity to hand out tracts along with candy. But many parents in today's increasingly threatening world do not feel comfortable sending their children out to go 'trick-or-treating', so Harvest Parties are becoming more and more popular. In order for churches to hold this, Christians need to participate. And I personally do not feel any conviction over participating in an event that is meant as an outreach to the lost. I DO want to clarify that I also totally understand if there are others who do feel convicted about attending Harvest Parties. It is not an essential to the Christian faith, therefore it should never be a divisive issue.
Perhaps I read the author incorrectly and he was not saying that particiapting in Harvest Fairs is wrong. However, if he was I just wanted to give my perspective on the issue - in love, as God would have it.
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Re: Re: Princesses and Spiderman
| Posted On: 11/01/07 12:41:11 AM |
Age 26, IN |
"do you HONESTLY believe the the Lord Jesus Christ would have condoned participating in a pagan holiday in ANY manner? how does SAYING you are a Christian MAKE you a Christian?"
Ridiculous argument. Totally absurd. I suppose you celebrate Christmas on the 25th of December like all other "good Christians" not knowing the whole time that it was the same date as the Festival of Mithros, a pagan god?? What about Easter? You're not going to tell me that you don't celebrate with colored eggs and little bunnies, are you? I sure as heck hope not. They are pagan symbols, stolen from the pagan festival centered around the Greek godess Ishtar (hmm..Easter???). Ishtar was the godess of fertility (hmm..baby chicks, baby bunnies, etc.). Around the temple there are carved stone images of, guess what?, decorated eggs and bunny rabbits. Guess now that you know, you won't be partaking in that stuff anymore? I certainly hope not, because you don't want us all to question whether or not you're a Christian simply because you think colored eggs and baby bunnies are cute, do you?
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Re: Tract or Treat: A Christian Response to Halloween
| Posted On: 11/01/07 12:11:29 AM |
Age 46, UT |
Thank you for this AWESOME word!!! It's refreshing to finally see someone take a bold, Biblical stand on this issue. We are to be a holy people, set apart for Christ...not to be conformed to this world, participating in pagan practices. Touch not the unclean thing! When we (who call ourselves Christians) look and act just like the unbelieving world, we deceive ourselves into justifying just about any behavior that we are not willing to lay upon the altar of sacrifice. If we love the Lord, we will obey Him...joyfully! We are to walk in the light as He is in the light!
We are not wrestling with flesh and blood in this battle, especially at this time of year. Why are Christians not gathering together to pray and do battle in the heavenlies? We can also form groups to go out and pass out tracts and witness to those in darkness. May we, the body of Christ, repent for our selfishness and our compromise of God's precious and most Holy Word!
I am a mother of two children and have raised them to honor the Lord and walk against the grain of the world. They are not missing anything by not getting any candy and dressing in costumes. They are learning the value of the fact that human souls are more precious than our own selfish desires. It takes more courage and strength to stand against the evil in this world, but it is worth it! Christ gave His all for us, it's the least we can do in return for His incredible sacrifice! Crucify yourself, Christian! And be resurrected to new life in Him! Freedom! Hallelujah! Be bold, be strong, for the Lord your God is with you! Amen!
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Re: Princesses and Spiderman
| Posted On: 10/31/07 07:15:45 PM |
Age 47, NC |
so you want to be an image bearer (the proper spelling to your barer) of Christ. do you HONESTLY believe the the Lord Jesus Christ would have condoned participating in a pagan holiday in ANY manner? how does SAYING you are a Christian MAKE you a Christian? does saying you are a jeep make you a jeep? Jesus told us that we can tell who is TRULY a believer and who is NOT
Matthew 7:15-20 "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them.
how do the unbelievers KNOW you PROFESS to be a Christian - i am quite sure participating in a PAGAN, SATANIC celebration will REALLY get THAT message across clearly. we were also admonished to be IN the world but not OF the world. in other words, to be Christlike you must FIRST behave LIKE CHRIST and NOT conform to what the WORLD thinks you should do but INSTEAD be just the OPPOSITE of what the world says.
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Re: Tract or Treat: A Christian Response to Halloween
| Posted On: 10/31/07 05:10:31 PM |
Age 28, TX |
It's sad when you have "white witches" who claim there's nothing Satanic about their practices. Alas, I know from experience that, when you actually GET a result, it IS from Satan. I am grateful to the Lord from getting me out of that world!--Mrs. Pilgrim
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Re: Tract or Treat: A Christian Response to Halloween
| Posted On: 10/31/07 03:59:38 PM |
Age 47, KS |
Thank you very much for this article. Every year in September, I start my mission in trying to convince people of the evil of Oct 31st. I put tracts/pamphlets etc at my husband's work. These are free for people to take and read. Most people look at us like we have two heads. Yes, even some of our Chrisitan friends.
I just don't get it!!! How can they be so deceived and not see the evil and death etc? I like your thought on how can they participate and not have concern about getting dirty? How about the churches and all their trunk and treats? I don't know if they hand out tracts or not?
On a Christian radio show they had some folks that wrote a book, something to the effect of, "we're taking halloween back". that disgusts me! It is a pagan, never Christian!
This year I shared this quote from Carol Kornacki, a former witch, now a born again, Christian says, "You don't see witches showing up on Christmas to celebrate the birth of our Savior, so why do we celebrate the night of death for the god of death?"
Also, I hand out a pamphlet by Tom McKenney, "The Festival of Death." He makes a comment about people saying, "oh, it's only harmless fun." He says, "It may be fun but it's definitely not harmless.
I hope your thoughts here will wake up people! thanks
God Bless
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Re: Princesses and Spiderman
| Posted On: 10/31/07 03:18:47 PM |
Age 30, IL |
Thank you so much for your comments. When I was young we went around the neighborhood with my dad trick-or-treating. For us it was a wonderful time to get to know the neighbors better. We would stop at each house for several minutes, sometimes going inside, talking with our neighbors. My dad would introduce himself to people who were new to the neighborhood, tell them where we lived, and give them a friendly invitation to stop by sometime. We often had parties on Columbus Day or Veterans Day or some other holiday, and we would invite lots of people over, some from church and some from the neighborhood. We were always looking for opportunities to share the Gospel with them in love. These times with my dad helped to teach me how important it is to know your neighbors and reach out to them. People are expecting you to come around and knock on their door at Halloween, so it’s a great opportunity and clears the air of any awkwardness in an introduction. Carving pumpkins was another great family tradition. My siblings and I would come up with designs and dad would see if he could carve them. Each year the designs were more complex. One year he made a monkey with hair, all out of the pumpkin. Halloween is something in our culture that we can take advantage of in so many ways. To me it’s all about family time and reaching out to the neighbors, hopefully creating further opportunities to share the Gospel with them.
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Re: Tract or Treat: A Christian Response to Halloween
| Posted On: 10/30/07 10:38:48 PM |
Age 43, OK |
My family used to participate in Halloween in a big way. As a child I was fascinated by witches, magic, Ouija boards and such. I wasn't taught those thing were bad to play with and as a teen and young adult I paid the price for that interest with horrible nightmares and other things. We DO NOT participate in Halloween now.
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Re: Tract or Treat: A Christian Response to Halloween
| Posted On: 10/30/07 09:26:34 PM |
Age 32, TX |
Amen brother. You wrote something very similar to what our pastor preached last Wednesday night. I hope many will turn away from this terrible abomination to the Lord and instead take the opportunity to witness to others.
God bless you!
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Re: Tract or Treat: A Christian Response to Halloween
| Posted On: 10/30/07 04:27:49 PM |
Age 50, NJ |
Thanks for speaking out on this subject. I would like to offer a comment about your advice to use the trick or treat opportunity to give out tracts. Recently I read two "Halloween" tracts which I suppose were written to appease the trick or treaters while explaining the gospel. It went something like "It's fun to dress up, etc." and then talked about Jesus. A proper tract shouldn't condone the behavior. Other tracts I have seen were so scary I can't imagine giving them to a child. I know there are better tracts out there, but why not get away from the situation altogether? Why participate at all? There are other ways to share the gospel. Personally, our church gathers for a time of fun, then worship. The time of fun includes a Bible knowledge game in which the kids run around and look for clues in order to figure out a question about the Bible. We stay away from anything having to do with the world's celebration of that night. If only the body of Christ would stop flirting with the enemy, and would love the Lord so much that we would naturally turn away from these things without having to be told.
Again, thanks so much for addressing this. Your information and your analogy was excellent.
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Princesses and Spiderman
| Posted On: 10/30/07 10:09:33 AM |
Age 32, TX |
I want to be very careful in this. While I agree we shouldn't dress our kids up in Evil consumes, I am not fully convinced of this articles arguments:
1 Cor. 5:6 where Paul asks, "Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough?"
Here Paul is talking about associating, in brotherly fellowship, with unconverted sinners. When I take my two little children up and down the neighborhood block tomorrow in their princess costumes, they will be going door to door asking for candy from my neighbors and friends. That is hardly what Paul is warning about in 1 Corinthians. In fact Paul goes on to say in verse 10:
"I did not at all mean [not to fellowship] with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world. 11 But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler--not even to eat with such a one."
Now lets look at this argument:
Dt. 7:26, "And you shall not bring an abominable thing into your house and become devoted to destruction like it. You shall utterly detest and abhor it, for it is devoted to destruction.";
This passage is talking about graven images that you worship. I agree, don't bring them into your house. However, I have no plans to worship princesses, Spiderman, nor any other costume that my child my put on.
Then there is this verse:
Eph 5:11-12 states "And do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead expose them; for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret."
Deeds of darkness, both here and in Romans 13 are those deeds which are against the commands of God. In short, Sin. We should expose sin so that we can better walk in the light. However it is not a sin to dress up as a princess and ask for candy from your neighbors.
Finally let's look at this verse:
Leviticus 18:30. "So keep my charge never to practice any of these abominable customs that were practiced before you, and never to make yourselves unclean by them: I am the Lord your God."
"These abominable customs," all have to do with sexual immorality except for verse 21 which has to do with idolatry. Again, I have no plans on worshiping my daughter's costume. This passage is warning the children of Israel not to participate in sinful acts of worship or sexual immorality. I have no plans to do any of that tomorrow.
I would just ask you to each be convinced in your own mind. Don't let someone be a judge over what you do in regards to a festival or Sabbath, what you eat or what you drink. Walk in the Spirit and let His Word instruct you. Now maybe we should participate in Halloween because the outside world would view it as an endorsement of evil practices. In this case we should be careful. But all my neighbors and friends know that I am a Christian. They know my beliefs. Don't let others Judge you but also be aware that you are an image barer of Christ.
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Re: Tract or Treat: A Christian Response to Halloween
| Posted On: 10/30/07 10:04:04 AM |
Age 51, MN |
I don't like to celebrate Halloween in any fashion, but I have been handing out gospel tracts for many years along with candy. What better way to witness. They come right to your door! It saddens me that churches (including mine), have to have a Halloween party but make it sound better by only dressing in "good" costumes. I don't understand why we need to give any special attention to a day that is set aside for satan or why our children need to collect 5 pounds of candy. If we want to enjoy a Christian costume party, why not do it in September or November?
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