Why so many religions? What about Halloween?
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Ephesians 6:11-13:
Government employees who combat counterfeiters show us something of this reality. An untrained eye may not notice that the hundred dollar bill they were just handed has the wrong President in the watermark, is a slightly off color, or lacks the security stripe. But a trained eye knows the true from the false. How? By learning what is true. The potential falsehoods are endless. You couldn't learn them all even if you tried. To recognize the false you must know the true.
It is the same for us. We lost sight of the true God, and falshood stepped in, one lie at a time, to confuse and deceive the world. It's a clever plan. It's brilliant actually. It has worked so well that even those of us who know the true nature of God and the truth of His Son Jesus struggle with the claims of some of these false religions. But, we must focus on knowing the truth, or we too and the generations after us may be deceived.
The tricky things is that there are religious ideas and practices that we don't even recognize as being religious. Evolution is a religious thought, contrary to the Bible. Humanism is also a religious idea. Even nationalism can become religious. (Who says God is always on the side of the USA?)
SO, it's October. If Christianity is true, what do we say about Halloween?
First, we must recognize that Halloween is a religious event. It was established as a compromise between a government controlled church and the pagan world. It has been a night of demonic worship since before Jesus was born in Bethlehem. It doesn't matter is you think it is bad or not. It matters what God says. Even if you only hand out candy, you are participating in an unholy communion.
1 Corinthians 10:19-21:
"What am I saying then? That an idol is anything, or what is offered to idols is anything? Rather, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord’s table and of the table of demons."
Sacrifice? Yes. This religion involved child sacrifices by sealing infants in wicker baskets and burning them in bonfires.
Leviticus 18:21:
"And you shall not let any of your descendants pass through the fire to Molech, nor shall you profane the name of your God: I am the LORD."
Second, we must realize that we are called to be a holy people, in the world, but not of the world. We are called to be different. Why should we as Christians let our decisions about Halloween be controlled by the opinions of the lost world? Why should we conform to them? In fact, we shouldn't.
Romans 12:2:
"And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."
Third, participation in Halloween is NOT good evangelism. "Look, we are just like you," is not a compelling reason for someone to come to Jesus. "Look, we like to have fun," is weak when it compromises the truth that makes Christians different, the truth of being led by the Spirit of God and not the spirit of the world. We are called to show other's how different we are, how much we desire to be like Jesus, not how much we desire to be like the world.
1 Timothy 4:7:
"But have nothing to do with worldly fables fit only for old women. On the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness;"
NOW, I am not suggesting burning down all the haunted houses, just don't visit them. Perhaps even encourage other's not to visit them as well, and tell them why. In fact, what you don't do will be your most powerful message.
Don't compromise!
Dont' hand out candy (even with tracts in it). You will confuse the lost about the nature of Christianity.
Don't go to a Trunk-or-Treat, a Harvest Festival, or some other compromise event. (I wouldn't even be a member of a church that hosted one of these things!) This is spiritual compromise.
Don't dress your kids up in costumes! (Halloween is NOT the time for dress up!) You are sending you child the message that Christianity is less important than participation with the world. There are things a loving parent wants their children to miss out on.
Don't do business with companies that promote Halloween. (This is a difficult, but revealing exercise to try to do.)
DO PRAY.
DO TALK TO YOUR FAMILY, NEIGHBORS, AND FELLOW BELIEVERS.
DO TAKE A STAND.
DO PUT ON THE ARMOR OF GOD.
DO EXPECT RESISTANCE, EVEN FROM THE BODY OF CHRIST.
THEN,
Remember: this all got started. People stopped learning the truth, and the lies came in a filled the gaps.
Remember: there are spiritual forces at work, depending on your compromise and your silence to deceive your children, your family, your friends, your neighbors, your co-workers...
Remember: our battle is not "against flesh and blood". The people who dress there kids up, hand out candy, and even host the the fall church festivals are not our enemies; they are deceived by our enemy.
Remember, Halloween is the practice of a false religion, a religion in direct conflict with the truth of Christianity.
There are other powers at work in the world.
Joshua 24:15"
"And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."
.
Ephesians 6:11-13:
"Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand."
Ok, let's get this straight. I believe in the inspiration of the Bible and this has certain necessary consequences. One of these consequences is belief in a certain story of history: God created the world (including humanity) as described. God destroyed the world in a global flood. God saved one family through that flood, Noah's. All of us, all over the world, come from Noah.
So, if we all come from the same family, why are there so many religions?
Well, obviously everyone on the boat knew who God was. Genesis 7:16 says "Those that entered, male and female of all flesh, entered as God had commanded him; and the LORD closed it behind him." They all had the same experience with the same God, the same revelation of truth. But, other forces were also at work, and they began almost immediately to try to destroy humanity's relationship with God by turning people away from the truth.
People aren't as dumb as we sometimes assume they are. And the ancients didn't turn from the true God to false religions on a whim. They were lured away, won over, convinced that there were other powers in the world. Why? Because there are other powers in the world!
Only God is truly God. But, there are other spiritual forces at work, and some of them are pretty powerful. The enemy is called the prince of this world, because that is what he is. He has authority. His forces are strong. He is a raging lion seeking whom he might destroy. He is a liar and the father of lies.
So, this is the scenario in my mind. Noah and his children get off the boat and begin to be fruitful and multiply. Now there are generations of people who don't have that same personal experience of the living God. Yet, they also are created with a void that only God can fill. Some of them try to fill it with possession, some with influence or power, and some go on a spiritual journey (whether they physically go anywhere or not doesn't matter). They open themselves up to new things instead of listening to the stories of Great-Grandfather Noah. They doubt: "Did God really flood the earth? What really happened?" And, the enemy, the liar is right there to lead them astray just as he did in the garden.
Soon, people notice other forces at work. Something happens each time the red planet (Mars) orbits near the earth (perhaps an earthquake, or some cattle die) and a little voice says, "You'd better do something to make that spirit happy." Ba'al worship is born. Folk stories soon become institutionalized, and habits and conventions become "the right way" to do something. Someone displays power and authority beyond others, and demands that they be worshiped as well, or else.
There are so many steps to the process, little ones, each leading further away from the truth. Each stage of life, season, and political force acquires its own little god, and each new god demands attention. Soon, the true God gets lumped in with the rest. The one true God is reduced to one among many, just Jupiter, Anu, or Tiamut. In at least one case ("Allah") a little false Arab moon god actually takes the true God's place!
So, did this just happen by itself? Or, was there some evil force at work behind the scenes?
These false religions may have a kernel of truth left in them (God is loving, God is powerful, etc.), because they came from corrupting the truth. But, that truth cannot be freed from the lie. Buddhism can not save. Baha'i is a dead end. Druidism goes nowhere. The truth has been hidden, covered in lies and corrupted. It has been replaced. There is only a dangerous little kernel of partial truth left, just enough to make the lie convincing to those who do not know the whole truth.
Government employees who combat counterfeiters show us something of this reality. An untrained eye may not notice that the hundred dollar bill they were just handed has the wrong President in the watermark, is a slightly off color, or lacks the security stripe. But a trained eye knows the true from the false. How? By learning what is true. The potential falsehoods are endless. You couldn't learn them all even if you tried. To recognize the false you must know the true.
It is the same for us. We lost sight of the true God, and falshood stepped in, one lie at a time, to confuse and deceive the world. It's a clever plan. It's brilliant actually. It has worked so well that even those of us who know the true nature of God and the truth of His Son Jesus struggle with the claims of some of these false religions. But, we must focus on knowing the truth, or we too and the generations after us may be deceived.
The tricky things is that there are religious ideas and practices that we don't even recognize as being religious. Evolution is a religious thought, contrary to the Bible. Humanism is also a religious idea. Even nationalism can become religious. (Who says God is always on the side of the USA?)
SO, it's October. If Christianity is true, what do we say about Halloween?
First, we must recognize that Halloween is a religious event. It was established as a compromise between a government controlled church and the pagan world. It has been a night of demonic worship since before Jesus was born in Bethlehem. It doesn't matter is you think it is bad or not. It matters what God says. Even if you only hand out candy, you are participating in an unholy communion.
1 Corinthians 10:19-21:
"What am I saying then? That an idol is anything, or what is offered to idols is anything? Rather, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord’s table and of the table of demons."
Sacrifice? Yes. This religion involved child sacrifices by sealing infants in wicker baskets and burning them in bonfires.
Leviticus 18:21:
"And you shall not let any of your descendants pass through the fire to Molech, nor shall you profane the name of your God: I am the LORD."
Second, we must realize that we are called to be a holy people, in the world, but not of the world. We are called to be different. Why should we as Christians let our decisions about Halloween be controlled by the opinions of the lost world? Why should we conform to them? In fact, we shouldn't.
Romans 12:2:
"And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."
Third, participation in Halloween is NOT good evangelism. "Look, we are just like you," is not a compelling reason for someone to come to Jesus. "Look, we like to have fun," is weak when it compromises the truth that makes Christians different, the truth of being led by the Spirit of God and not the spirit of the world. We are called to show other's how different we are, how much we desire to be like Jesus, not how much we desire to be like the world.
1 Timothy 4:7:
"But have nothing to do with worldly fables fit only for old women. On the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness;"
NOW, I am not suggesting burning down all the haunted houses, just don't visit them. Perhaps even encourage other's not to visit them as well, and tell them why. In fact, what you don't do will be your most powerful message.
Don't compromise!
Dont' hand out candy (even with tracts in it). You will confuse the lost about the nature of Christianity.
Don't go to a Trunk-or-Treat, a Harvest Festival, or some other compromise event. (I wouldn't even be a member of a church that hosted one of these things!) This is spiritual compromise.
Don't dress your kids up in costumes! (Halloween is NOT the time for dress up!) You are sending you child the message that Christianity is less important than participation with the world. There are things a loving parent wants their children to miss out on.
Don't do business with companies that promote Halloween. (This is a difficult, but revealing exercise to try to do.)
DO PRAY.
DO TALK TO YOUR FAMILY, NEIGHBORS, AND FELLOW BELIEVERS.
DO TAKE A STAND.
DO PUT ON THE ARMOR OF GOD.
DO EXPECT RESISTANCE, EVEN FROM THE BODY OF CHRIST.
THEN,
Remember: this all got started. People stopped learning the truth, and the lies came in a filled the gaps.
Remember: there are spiritual forces at work, depending on your compromise and your silence to deceive your children, your family, your friends, your neighbors, your co-workers...
Remember: our battle is not "against flesh and blood". The people who dress there kids up, hand out candy, and even host the the fall church festivals are not our enemies; they are deceived by our enemy.
Remember, Halloween is the practice of a false religion, a religion in direct conflict with the truth of Christianity.
There are other powers at work in the world.
Joshua 24:15"
"And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."
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