By Pastor Eric Watt
Greenbrier Church
CBNNews.com - In just a few days we will celebrate what has become the second biggest holiday décor market in America- Halloween!
The origins of Halloween are Celtic in tradition and have to do with observing the end of summer sacrifices to gods in druidic tradition.
In what is now Britain and France, it was the beginning of the Celtic year, and they believed that the veil separating the natural and the spiritual was "thin" on this night called Samhain.
In fact, it was believed that evil spirits interacted on this night and could do harm to humans, unless they would assume disguises and or in some cases, take on the appearance of evil spirits themselves.
The waning of the sun and the approach of dark winter made the evil spirits rejoice and play nasty tricks. Believe it or not, most of our Halloween practices can be traced back to these old pagan rites and superstitions.
But what about today? Should we allow our children to trick or treat?
Before reaching a conclusion on the subject, CBN News visited wicca.com to find out what the official religion of witchcraft has to say about Halloween.
"Shock" is the only word to describe what we found.
Halloween is a real, sacred day for those who follow Wicca.
In fact, it is one of two high and holy days for them.
The Celtic belief of spirits being released is current, along with the study of the dark mysteries and the worship of the "dark mother" and the "dark father."
Both are promoted as something to embrace on the day that is now generally considered Witch's New Year.
For those who believe and follow the practices of witchcraft, Halloween represents an opportunity to embrace the evil, devilish, dark side of the spiritual world.
So after discovering this, what is a reasonable conclusion?
Christians should be teaching their children that there is a spiritual world filled with goodness from God and evil from Satan. Life with Christ has power over darkness.
Those who celebrate Halloween either are unaware of its roots, or are intentionally promoting a world where evil is lauded and viewed as an ultimate power.
To counter the evil influence of Halloween, we need to join together and celebrate the reality of the heroic efforts of Christian saints over the evil in their day.
Many leaders in the past and present, have fulfilled the mandate of destroying the works of the devil through their sacrificial commitment to Christ and his kingdom.
The families at Greenbrier Church get together every October 31 to provide an environment that makes room for heaps of fun while using the day as a "teachable moment" to celebrate God's protection, provision, and purpose for our lives.
Halloween is a day for us to love life, love our neighbors ,and create a safe place to do life together.
This year, let's make it a Happy Halloween!
Greenbrier Church
CBNNews.com - In just a few days we will celebrate what has become the second biggest holiday décor market in America- Halloween!
The origins of Halloween are Celtic in tradition and have to do with observing the end of summer sacrifices to gods in druidic tradition.
In what is now Britain and France, it was the beginning of the Celtic year, and they believed that the veil separating the natural and the spiritual was "thin" on this night called Samhain.
In fact, it was believed that evil spirits interacted on this night and could do harm to humans, unless they would assume disguises and or in some cases, take on the appearance of evil spirits themselves.
The waning of the sun and the approach of dark winter made the evil spirits rejoice and play nasty tricks. Believe it or not, most of our Halloween practices can be traced back to these old pagan rites and superstitions.
But what about today? Should we allow our children to trick or treat?
Before reaching a conclusion on the subject, CBN News visited wicca.com to find out what the official religion of witchcraft has to say about Halloween.
"Shock" is the only word to describe what we found.
Halloween is a real, sacred day for those who follow Wicca.
In fact, it is one of two high and holy days for them.
The Celtic belief of spirits being released is current, along with the study of the dark mysteries and the worship of the "dark mother" and the "dark father."
Both are promoted as something to embrace on the day that is now generally considered Witch's New Year.
For those who believe and follow the practices of witchcraft, Halloween represents an opportunity to embrace the evil, devilish, dark side of the spiritual world.
So after discovering this, what is a reasonable conclusion?
Christians should be teaching their children that there is a spiritual world filled with goodness from God and evil from Satan. Life with Christ has power over darkness.
Those who celebrate Halloween either are unaware of its roots, or are intentionally promoting a world where evil is lauded and viewed as an ultimate power.
To counter the evil influence of Halloween, we need to join together and celebrate the reality of the heroic efforts of Christian saints over the evil in their day.
Many leaders in the past and present, have fulfilled the mandate of destroying the works of the devil through their sacrificial commitment to Christ and his kingdom.
The families at Greenbrier Church get together every October 31 to provide an environment that makes room for heaps of fun while using the day as a "teachable moment" to celebrate God's protection, provision, and purpose for our lives.
Halloween is a day for us to love life, love our neighbors ,and create a safe place to do life together.
This year, let's make it a Happy Halloween!
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