Today, five hundred years ago, a humble monk stood at the doors of the church in Wittenberg and nailed 95 theses on the door.  Have you ever looked them up?  I bet it was a small book and remember they would have been hand written.  In these theses, he explained salvation is only in Christ.  This was the official beginning of the Reformation and the Protestant church.  Maybe you don’t go to a reformed church or maybe you do, but either way this one single step of faith has affected you and your church.

Today I’m finishing up my points of Halloween and what we as Christians should do during it.  Should we lock our doors and turn off our lights?  Or should we give out candy and try to evangelize?  Or should we make knock-off festivals to give our kids a party?

These are difficult, but important questions.  I’m first going to go into the evangelizing part of the question.  Christians, this is the one time of year that lost people are knocking on your door.  The one day in a whole year!  Should we give them tracks?

Last year, a ministry we enjoy gave free audio dramas that shared the gospel story to trick-or-treaters .  Is it wrong to give those out?  My family and I handed out two hundred with Snickers and water bottles.  It was one way to evangelize.

Many years, we have just hidden in the back of our house.  We lock doors and turn off lights.  We make sure my younger siblings don’t go near the front door.  Is that wrong?  Was that what our Lord and Savior would want?

Those questions are answered with only one thing…Christ has given us Christian liberty.  Just because my family hands out tracks doesn’t mean we think that if you hide in the back of the house you’re wrong.  Quite the opposite. In First Corinthians 8:8-9, Paul tells us,  “But meat commendeth us not to God: for neither, if we eat, are we the better; neither, if we eat not, are we the worse. But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumbling-block to them that are weak.” (KJV)

God has given us liberty, but we are not to impose our liberty upon others.  These questions about supporting, or evangelizing, is what you feel God is calling you to do.  We should not be judgmental to fellow Christians for minor things like that.

Now, to answer the question; should we have knock-off festivals?  I think God, in His providence, easily answered this one.  Today, as I said above, is the day that really marked the beginning of the Reformation.  If you want something to celebrate, go ahead and celebrate that!  Then, you won’t have to come up with other reasons you’re celebrating October 31.

I hope this has helped you and answered some questions you might have.  If you’re wondering whether my family celebrates Reformation day, the answer is yes.  Yes, we do get dressed up and get candy at church.  Those things are not bad in themselves, but the reason the world does it is not honoring to our Heavenly Father.

~~Amie~~

It’s the day before October 31st, a day celebrated in Japan, China, Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, Bosnia, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Romania, Russia, Poland, Switzerland, Scotland, England, Canada, and the USA.   On that night, kids go from door to door, chanting the well-known words, “Trick-or-treat!”  People decorate in the beginning of October with jack-o-lanterns, ghosts, gravestones, and much more.

How did it begin?  What are Christians supposed to do on a night like that?  What are they really celebrating?  Why do churches have trunks-or-treats, fall festivals, and more?

Halloween is based after All Hallows Eve, a holiday celebrated in the catholic church.  On October 31st, catholics go and pray to the dead.  You may wonder why they would pray to the dead (I always did…) but in the Roman Catholic church, they believe that you have a period after death were you hover between earth and heaven.  It is there you have the chance to correct mistakes you have made on earth.

A lot of the ways we celebrate are thought to be from the ancient Celtic festivals.  Samhain is one of the main ones, which was celebrated October 31st to November 1st.  They celebrated the changing of the year to winter, or the darker half of the year.

During this time, Celtics would bring their cattle to slaughter.  They also would have large bonfires and knock door to door in costumes.  Why would they wear costumes?  They believed during that time it was easier to cross into the ‘other world’.  Because of that, spirits and fairies would cross over and they would disguise themselves so the fairies wouldn’t recognize them.

Hmm, that sounds a little like what we do, doesn’t it?  Children dress up and go door to door…for what?  Candy?

During Samhain, they would exchange food while going door to door, and would whisper verses to each other.  Maybe we don’t whisper, but we do say a verse to each other.

So…What do Christians do during this time?  We don’t believe in praying to the dead or even worshiping spirits.  We worship the One True God, not many spirits.  Should we lock our doors and turn off the lights?  Should we just give in and give the children candy?

That’s some hard questions.  And I hope to answer them…Tomorrow!

~~Amie~~

The picture above is from here