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I’m not going to get into the mainstream “Christianity vs. Halloween” debate. All I’m going to do is ask you a question and give you some alternative things to think about today:
Question: “Does Halloween make your heart feel at rest?”
There. I’m done. Now here are some alternatives:
“Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.” (Psalm 34:14)
“It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master.” (Matthew 10:25a)
“To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” (Luke 1:79)
“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (John 14:27)
“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:” (Romans 5:1)
“For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;” (Ephesians 2:14)
“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)
“There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.” (Hebrews 4:9)
“Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” (Philippians 4:8)
Katie says
Yes! This is what we do with our kids! A wonderful opportunity to share the wonderful gospel of Jesus with those who come to your door. God bless you too, Brianna! Thank you for standing for truth and light- it is not for the faint of ?
Chaney says
Drew carey has in his standup how satan is evil all the other days of thr year, but then on halloween people party with him. Ive never celebrated halloween and i absolutly hate it!
Tamara Sanders says
What a awesome article! I sat here with my and it was awesome as I posed this question to my 12 year old and we went through each verse asking her what the verses meant. It honestly made for a very enjoyable conversation! My husband and I decided before our daughter was born we would not celebrate Halloween, we don’t even participate in the churches version of it and we explained to her why. We have nothing against those who do but personally we felt that we should not participate. Thank you for re-sharing this!
Briana Thomas says
I praise God that it was a blessing!
Aletheia says
All the holidays have dark backgrounds. Christmas is pretty bad actually. Santa comes from a pagan God that was old and had a long beard that they sacrificed children for. So, kind of ironic that even today just about every child is afraid of santa. Anyway, if one takes out Halloween, but celebrates Christmas…hypocrital. if one doesn’t celebrate one due to evil behind it, they shouldn’t celebrate any of them. Or one can make each holiday into their own good meaning for their family. To each their own. Jesus trumped legalism. He couldn’t stand the legalistic pharisees. Christians should live from the word and then convictions from the holy spirit on the rest of these issues not in the bible.
susan says
SUCH wisdom from you “young ‘uns”!!
Lori says
And, then there is Reformation Day….celebrating October 31, 1517, when Martin Luther nailed his 95 thesis on the doors of the church of Wittenburg. He was standing for truth. Christians have an opportunity to celebrate something substantial here. Something deeply meaningful for the body of Christ. God appointed this nailing for that day. It occurs to me this is a clear opportunity for redemption of a day.
And, yet, there is also Christian liberty to consider, and that fact that God deals with individual hearts (Psalm 33:15.) I don’t celebrate Halloween and did not with my children. However, I did as a child. One of my daughters does, and I’m pretty sure will dress up my grandchildren and go trick or treating…when the glorious day of grandchildren arrives!
Each person must make up their minds in faith before the living God forming their own convictions. But, our minds, our decisions should be informed by Scripture ….not emotion or experience or just our own thoughts. Wisdom that is gentle and peaceable comes from above. We need open hearts to consider if we are embracing this holiday due to our own positive emotional associations we experienced as children. Or, are our hearts open for God to redirect our convictions? My one daughter has admitted that due to her observations of other Christians and her friends activities, she decided it was ok. I pray that one day she will evaluate in the light of Scripture, not in the light of her peers. She may come to the same conclusions she holds now, but it will have been from faith.
October 31 and it’s traditions are under the rule of Christ, but there are shades and nuances of wisdom that only the heart truly bowed down will open to.
Michelle says
“Whatsoever is pure..” is a good guide and a hard rule for everything we “take in”. I know for many, Halloween festivities are quite innocent, but for me, it reminds me of artificial birth control ~ even if morality isn’t an issue for you, how about the physical aspect alone? I mean, I have all of this candy and it causes me great distress. Yes, there are plenty of ideas about how to donate it, but have you tried to pry candy from your 4-12 year old brood of 8? Try telling them they can only have one piece. Ugh! I hate Halloween (sorry all you diehards). I mean we’re talking about important stuff here ~ precious little teeth and immune systems!
Thanks for letting me vent. And thanks for helping me eat great desserts ~ that don’t hurt my teeth or my immune system.
Rose Matte says
Halloween is a day to dress up and Trick or Treat. I do not consider it an evil day. I do not even put out scary items for Halloween. As for the devil……..devil worshiper s do not wait until 10/31 they do it daily. I, praise God daily, not just 12/25.
It is what ever you dwell on. My neighbor is “a pastors wife” of a self made church. She put her Christmas wreath on her door on Labor Day. She decorates her yard with all sorts of lights and things at Christmas. But, not one religious item. Calls herself religious, she is a hypocrite.
So, go ahead and trick or treat for fun, and thank God for such a beautiful day.
Jan Johnson says
Amen! My kids are teens and have never suffered ill effects from not celebrating this day that has very non-Christian origins! Most everyone we know does, but I never even had doubts about not making it a part of our lives.
Sue says
AMEN! Even so come…Lord Jesus
Rebecca says
Dear Briana- you are a dear girl and I love visiting your blog and all your scripture references are beautiful words of God.
BUT.
You probably shouldn’t put a “I don’t want to debate but this is how I stand” blog post up…and not expect a debate.
I am a Christian mother of four children and we joyously celebrate Halloween as that fun day where we can dress up and get lots of candy and have lots of giggles and read spooky stories. This year, I have a back woodsman, an Indian, a Queen of Hearts and a snow princess. I totally respect that you aren’t into the whole Halloween thing, I know many people aren’t and that is fine. But I would like to gently nudge you to look at some of the verses you have above quoted in your post.
“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (John 14:27)
“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:” (Romans 5:1)
“For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;” (Ephesians 2:14)
“To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” (Luke 1:79)
“Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.” (Psalm 34:14)
Jesus came to save the world. He stomped on the head of Satan, even with a bruised heel and utterly, completely defeated him. So, we don’t have to be afraid. We have light. We have peace. God has CONQUERED sin. I believe that we do not walk in the ways of darkness when we put on our creative costumes and seek out a few skittles from our neighbors and friends. In fact, I believe that by doing so- we are BEING the light. We are declaring to our friends and neighbors that Hey- there is nothing to be afraid of! We can be fearless and celebrate God on this day when others celebrate their defeated king…We have Christ!
There is nothing unpure about a girl dressed up as an angel, going from door to door spreading a bit of cheer. Or dressed up as a gumball machine, or a princess. Or a tree, for goodness’ sake. In fact, what better way than to be a light to the world? To give light to them that sit in darkness?
Sure- there is some pretty nasty stuff at Halloween- the devil, he tries to make himself look good. But- in my opinion, that is all the more reason why Christians ought to step up and take back the day- declaring Satan to be dead and gone and doing so fearlessly, with peace, being a light to a dark world and having plenty of fun (and candy) along the way.
Instead, sadly, we cower nervously in our darkened homes and lock the doors.
That, in my opinion, gives Satan way more attention than he deserves.
Briana Thomas says
On the contrary, a debate is between two people. I don’t intend to reply to any comments regarding the issue. If someone would like to talk to me about it, that person can e-mail me privately as I don’t feel this is the right place to go into all that. However, I did want to make people think, which is why I posted. I don’t agree with you, but out of the spirit of equality I will still be publishing your comment.
And if *other* people get into a debate, well, I moderate all the comments.
Lori says
Bravo, Brianna!
We have not celebrated Halloween for 25 years and our 6 children never missed it. It instead gave them an opportunity to discuss it with those who ask the question: So, what are you dressing up as for Halloween? And no, Rebecca, we are not “cowering nervously in our darkened home” afraid of that knock at the door. We happen to live in a rural area and so don’t even get children here, but if we did, we could open the door wide and tell them why we are not handing out candy and why we will not do so, with a big, welcoming smile on our face. BUT, we will pray and intercede for all the evil that runs rampant on this day! I think a much better use of our time.
Dirinda Lacen says
Our country is the only country that celebrates Halloween. Interesting, huh? It has some very dark, occultic origins, to be sure. We haven’t always avoided Halloween, but when my kids were still kids we stopped celebrating it. We would go buy the half-price candy the day after, though!
As children of light, I agree with you that we should dwell as children of light and not have any part of a night that has such dark connotations.
In later years, we began handing out candy and Gospel tracts geared to children from livingwaters.com. Never pass up an opportunity to share a tract. In season and out of season be prepared to share the hope that lies within you.
Annie says
I’m really not so “pure” but have never been a fan of Halloween. Our churches have always offered alternatives to Trick or Treating. Children go by what they are taught and mine were never taught to dress up like devils and go door to door for candy. As they got older, they did get caught up in what their friends were doing but eventually came back to what they grew up with.
Chrystie DeSmet says
Amen! Well said! You are an amazing young lady with clear gifts and talents from God. You are choosing a God centered life and your not afraid to share your light with others. May God bless you for sharing his truth in your life and my it effect others for his glory. I so appreciate your blog and your amazing food and photography talent! So glad to have recently found your blog!! God bless you.
Cate Hoepner says
I totally agree with you! I experienced some very dark activity in my old apartment that made me realize how serious things like this are!