Thursday, October 24, 2019

Fear Fest

When is fear a good thing?

Every year during the month of October, people start treating fear like it is a good thing.  This is due to the celebration of Halloween.

People start glorifying every sick and twisted thing that people do to create fear in each other in observation of Halloween.

People start creating senseless fear over things that do not even exist, like the living dead, in observation of Halloween.  This fear of spirits is not based on truth (Matthew 14:26-27).

People celebrate everything that comes from the Father of Lies in observation of Halloween.

The Father of Lies (HaShatan aka Satan Aka The Devil) holds people in bondage for their whole lives through the fear of death (Hebrews 2:14-15).  This fear fest only magnifies the fear of death that keeps people from doing what they should do.

This kind of fear is never a good thing.

However, there is a kind of fear that is a good thing.

The right kind of fear can keep a person safe from harm.

For example, a healthy fear of fire will keep people from getting burned, while an irrational fear of fire will keep people from the experiencing all the good things that fire can bring like heat, light, and cooked food.

In the same way, people should have a healthy fear of the Father of Truth (YHVH aka God aka THE LORD), but not an irrational fear of Him.  This is a fear to go against Him, not a fear to approach Him in humility to ask Him for what you need.

People should be more afraid of going against the Father of Truth than death, because He can throw them into Hell (Matthew 10:28).  People should be afraid of going against the Father of Truth, because He can also kill them before throwing them into Hell (Luke 12:4-5).

People should have a healthy fear of being burned to death endlessly in the Chamber of Horrors.

This healthy fear of the Father of Truth is the right kind of fear.  This right kind of fear is a good thing.

This right kind of fear will cause you to keep His commandments (Deuteronomy 6:1-2).  It will cause you to experience the blessings that come from keeping His commandments (Deuteronomy 10:12-13).

This right kind of fear will keep you from being deceived by Prophets of Lies into disobeying the Father of Truth (Deuteronomy 13:3-5).

This right kind of fear is the foundation of true knowledge (Proverbs 1:7).  It will bring knowledge and wisdom from the Father of Truth (Proverbs 2:5-6).  It is the foundation of true wisdom (Proverbs 9:10).  It will instruct you in wisdom (Proverbs 15:33).

This right kind of fear will prevent you from believing that you do not need to depart from evil (Proverbs 3:7).  It will cause you to hate everything that is evil (Proverbs 8:13).  It will cause you to depart from evil (Proverbs 16:6).  It will prevent you from feeling envy towards those who do evil (Proverbs 23:17).

This right kind of fear will cause you to do what is right (Proverbs 14:2).

This right kind of fear will give you confidence that He will provide a place of refuge for you (Proverbs 14:26).  It will save your life (Proverbs 14:27).  It will cause you to live the good life (Proverbs 19:23).  It will bring you riches and honor and life (Proverbs 22:4).

This right kind of fear is better than great wealth (Proverbs 15:16).

This right kind of fear is a good thing.

This right kind of fear will cause you to put your trust in the Man of Truth (Yeshua HaMashiach aka Jesus Christ).  He will deliver you from every other kind of fear, for he came to destroy everything that comes from the Father of Lies (1 John 3:8).

There is no fear that can match the fear that comes from the monster within.

However, the fear that comes from this spirit of bondage leaves your life, when the spirit of adoption into the family of the Father of Truth comes into your life (Romans 8:15-16).  The Father of Truth has not given His children a spirit of fear, but a spirit of love, power and a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7).  Fear torments a person, but His love drives out all fear (1 John 4:18).

Those in His forever family are no longer tormented by fear!

There is no fear of the Spirits of Lies (devils aka demons aka unclean spirits aka gods) when you know the Spirit of Truth (Ruach HaQodesh aka The Holy Spirit aka The Holy Ghost).  The Friendly Ghost drives out the fear of all other ghosts.

The Man of Truth destroys the fear of death in those who trust him to destroy the Father of Lies (Hebrews 2:9-15).

There is no fear of death for them, because their death is their gain (Philippians 1:21).  The moment they breathe their last is the moment they become alive!

There is no fear of death for them, for they know that they will be with the Man of Truth, which is far better (Philippians 1:23).  The Children of Truth (those who obey The Father of Truth because they love Him) know that they are better off dead!

There is no fear in them, because they know that you only die once! When people lose the fear of death, they lose the fear of everything!

They are not even afraid of this fear fest called Halloween.  They are not shrinking back in fear when little children come to their door in costumes, but recognize that they should be redeeming the time to bring those children into the House of Truth!

Those who are the real deal have no reason to fear death or anything else from the Father of Lies.  After all, the one who lives in them is greater than the one who lives in the world (1 John 4:4)!

However, for some who call themselves part of the Children of Truth, they really do have a reason to fear death.  For them it is Halloween all year round, because everyday they are wearing a costume.

They have good reasons to fear death.

The Man of Truth will deny everyone, who denies him out of fear of suffering for him (2 Timothy 2:12).  The Father of Truth has no pleasure in those who shrink back out of fear from obeying Him (Hebrews 10:38).  Everyone ruled by fear will end up in the Lake of Fire (Revelation 21:8).

Everyone should be afraid of going against the Father of Truth (Hebrews 10:31).

So, the fear of going against the Father of Truth is a good thing.  This right kind of fear brings people into the House of Truth.

Those in the House of Truth do not have an irrational fear of the Father of Truth.  They boldly approach Him with their needs (Hebrews 4:14-16).  They know that He will reward them if they will seek after him (Hebrews 11:6).

So, come into the House of Truth and lose your fears.

Your fear fest will end, when you give control of your life to the Man of Truth, because you believe that the Father of Truth raised him from the dead (Romans 10:9).

Come into the House of Truth!


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Wednesday, October 24, 2018

Redeeming The Time

What is the best way to respond to Halloween?

Many of the Children of Truth (those who obey The Father of Truth because they love Him) understand that Halloween is sick and twisted.  It celebrates death and serial killers.  It promotes Pagan myths like the living dead.  It has been instrumental in the rise of Neo-Paganism.  It is not hard to see that it glories the Father of Lies.

Yet, in America, there is no getting away from Halloween.  It is everywhere you go.  There are Halloween decorations in stores, schools, offices, yards, houses, and even churches!

So, the Children of Truth have struggled with the best way to respond to Halloween each year.

One response has been Halloween alternatives.

Once a church I went to for many years started out having a Bible dress up party on Halloween night.  Everyone had to come as a Biblical character.  One guy came as the Father of Lies (HaShatan aka Satan Aka The Devil).  Some people were upset at him, but he had not broken the rules.  The Father of Lies is mentioned frequently in the Book of Truth (The Bible).

Soon other people said, that they were going to come as Jezebel, Canaanite priests, Nebuchadnezzar, the Man of Lies (The Antichrist aka The Beast), Pharaoh, and the like next year.  After all, there are many wicked and scary things in the Book of Truth.

So the next year, the pastor changed the Bible dress up party to a Harvest Festival.  No one was allowed to wear anything that was scary.  People were to have costumes within certain themes.

This Harvest Festival was great fun, but people showed up wearing costumes that were out of theme like super heroes, for example.  Some people were upset when my daughter won the best Hillbilly contest.  They were really upset when they found out that we had just dressed her up in some of her normal clothes, because we were too poor to afford a costume.

So the next year, the Harvest Festival was changed to not have themes, and people could wear any costumes as long as they were not scary.  However, some people complained that it was on Halloween, because their kids wanted to go trick-or-treating with their friends.  So the Harvest Festival was moved to another date and became a Halloween supplement, instead of a Halloween alternative.

Another response has been to try to ignore Halloween altogether.  This is pretty easy to do now, because our city has created an ordinance that says if the front porch light is out, then trick-or-treaters are not to knock on those doors.  For the most part, people obey this ordinance.

However, this response did not work very well before this ordinance was passed.  Some very young participants could be quite persistent.  Eventually, I would have to open the door, and politely tell them that I did not have anything to give them.  Some of them would take it personal and cry.  The only way to avoid this trick-or-treat drama was to not be home.

Since trick-or-treaters were going to be knocking on my door and ringing my doorbell, I came up with another response to Halloween.  I decided that I was going to hand out Gospel tracts that explained what was wrong with Halloween.  So, a week before Halloween, I prayed for the Spirit of Truth (Ruach HaQodesh aka The Holy Spirit aka The Holy Ghost) to guide me to the best tract to give out, and then I headed to my local Christian bookstore.

When I got to the Christian bookstore, they had a fine selection of Gospel tracts explaining what was wrong with Halloween.  Some were like small graphic novels that would interest kids.  Still, I did not get that "this is the one" assurance from the Spirit of Truth for any of those tracts.  I was getting frustrated.

When I was about to leave the store empty-handed, I felt the leading of the Spirit of Truth to go to another section of Gospel tracts that I had not noticed before.  So, I went over there.  Immediately, I found a tract where I got that "this is the one" assurance from the Spirit of Truth.

I was very confused, because this tract said absolutely nothing about what was wrong with Halloween.  It simply told in a very easy to understand manner what was right with the Man of Truth (Yeshua HaMashiach aka Jesus Christ).

Instead of talking about how evil Halloween was, it talked about how good the Father of Truth (YHVH aka God aka THE LORD) was.  Instead of telling about how people are influenced by the Spirits of Lies (devils aka demons aka unclean spirits aka gods) on Halloween to live wickedly, it told about how people are influenced by the Spirit of Truth to live holy.  Instead of telling about the sacrifices that Druids made in the wicker man, it told about the sacrifice that the Man of Truth made on the cross.

This was not at all what I had came to buy, and yet, the Spirit of Truth was making it very clear that I should buy a lot of these tracts.  So, I did and went home, awaiting further instructions.

When I got home to tell my wife what had happened, I learned that the Spirit of Truth had been talking to her as well, while I was at the store.  She told me what she had heard.  The Spirit of Truth was witnessing to my spirit to listen to my wife, so we started putting her plan into action.

We asked our pastor to make a bunch of labels, that told about when and where our church met.  These labels fit exactly in the blank space on the back of the tracts.  So, we started applying the labels.  When we ran out tracts, we found that we had also ran out of labels.

Next, we bought a bunch of small blue and pink zip-lock bags.  We also bought some whistles and bracelets.  Finally, we bought some full-sized chocolate bars - the really good kind.

About an hour before it got dark, we assembled our bags.  We put one of our tracts and a chocolate bar in each bag.  We then put the whistles in the blue bags and the bracelets in the pink bags.  We were now sat in anticipation of the first trick-or-treater.

Soon the doorbell rang.  They were here!  Children, who had never been to church, or heard about what the Man of Truth did for them, were coming to our door with the great expectations!

We gave each boy a blue bag, and each girl a pink bag.  These bags far outdid what was already in their containers.  Soon, word got out that our house was where the good stuff was.  It was a busy evening as lost children came to our house to get something great!

Late in the evening, we had a few very late stragglers.  We had just the right number of blue and pink bags left for them.  We gave them the last of our bags, and that was the end of children seeking us out.

However, the story does not end there.  Those tracts did what they were intended to do.  A number of those children came to our church the next Sunday.  One little boy particularly stands out.

This little boy convinced his parents to drop him off to attend the service that we had for children.  He came up to altar call at the end of the service.  From that moment on, his life was never the same.

His parents noticed the change in him, so they came to our adult service to see why.  Soon, they were also answering an altar call.  Their life began to change dramatically from that day on.

His father got sober and got a job.  He also quit beating him and his mother.  His mother got sober as well, and stopped spending the grocery money on lottery tickets.  Over time, they learned how to be a family.

The Spirit of Truth gave them the strength to live as the Father of Truth had intended families to live, because they surrendered control of their lives to the Man of Truth.  They surrendered control of their lives to the Man of Truth, because they finally understood how much the Father of Truth loved them.  They learned how much the Father of Truth loved them, because a Gospel tract that told them what was right with the Man of Truth, instead of what was wrong with Halloween.  They got that Gospel tract, because their little boy came to the house where the good stuff was.

Their little boy came to get a whistle and a good full size chocolate bar.  What he really got was healing for his broken family through surrendering control of their lives to the Man of Truth.  He got a better future in this world and a better eternity in the world to come.

The Children of Truth should not be afraid of Halloween, but rather take advantage of the opportunity that it gives us to bring people to the knowledge of the truth.  We should be redeeming the time, acting in wisdom, not fear, because we do live in evil days (Ephesians 5:15-17).

We need to be the real deal, so people can see the Man of Truth in us.  This will make us stand out in a world, where so many people are wearing a costume when they go to play church.

We need to let them know about the friendly ghost that will lead them into righteousness.  We need to let them know that the Man of Truth can deliver them from the monster within.  We need to let them know that the Father of Truth sent the Man of Truth to die in their place, because He does not desire that they go to the Chamber of Horrors.

The Great Commission is not for us to tell people how terrible Halloween is.  It is for us to tell people how wonderful the Man of Truth is (Mark 16:15-16).  People need to know how good the Father of Truth is, so that they will come to Him in repentance (Romans 2:4).

We are to overcome the evil of Halloween with good, instead of living in fear of being overcome by the evil of Halloween (Romans 12:21).  We have nothing to fear from Halloween, because greater is the Spirit of Truth that lives in us, than the Spirits of Lies that live in the world (1 John 4:2-4).  We have no fear of Halloween, when we learn to love people like the Father of Truth loves them (1 John 4:16-18).

Take advantage of the opportunity of Halloween!  When else are you going to have so many lost people seeking you out to give them something good?  What is there to give them that is better than the Good News?

It may seem strange to do what my wife and I did that year, but the wisdom of the Man of Truth in reaching the lost, means doing what seems wrong to those with a religious spirit (Luke 7:30-35).  The Children of Truth need to follow the leading of the Spirit of Truth to find the best way to respond to Halloween each year (Romans 8:14-16).  They need to have the wisdom to be redeeming the time, by finding ways to tell people what is right with the Man of Truth (Colossians 4:5-6)!

This is the best way for the Children of Truth to respond to Halloween!

Do not complicate things by going into the evils of Halloween.  You can only give them head knowledge, but that will not convince them to abhor Halloween.

They have to have the second of the two kinds of knowledge, before they want nothing to do with Halloween from their hearts.  They are saved by faith, but grow by knowledge.  After people come into the House of Truth, they will grow to hate Halloween all on their own. 

So, give them the simplicity of the Gospel.

Let them know that, if they will surrender control of their lives to the Man of Truth, because they believe that the Father of Truth raised him from the dead, then they will come into the House of Truth (Romans 10:9).  After they renew their minds in the House of Truth, they start learning for themselves how to redeem the time, when Halloween comes around each year (Romans 12:2)!

Come into the House of Truth!


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Monday, October 30, 2017

Halloween

What is wrong with Halloween?

A good place to start is with the word "Halloween".  The word "Halloween" came from a contraction of "All Hallows Evening".  "All Hallows Evening" was later called "Hallows Even", then "Hallow E'en" and finally "Halloween".

"All Hallows Evening" was the beginning of a three day festival called "Allhallowtide".  The next day was called "All Saints Day" to remember so-called Saints.  The last day was called "All Souls Day" to remember regular people, who called themselves "Christians", who had died.

"All Hallows Evening" was a day of remembrance of all martyrs.  Sometime before the universal persecution of Rome, the Children of Truth (those who obey The Father of Truth because they love Him) had developed a tradition of building churches on the site, where a member of their local congregation was killed for their faith.  They would then commemorate the day of the death of the martyr each year by meeting together to pray to the Father of Truth (YHVH aka God aka THE LORD) on that day.  They would pray to have the strength to follow the example of their local hero.

This left a patchwork of observation dates across congregations, with one congregation observing one day for a local martyr, and the next nearest congregation observing an entirely different date.  Once the Roman universal persecution began in 95 AD, many of the local congregations soon began running out of dates.  There were simply more martyrs than dates on the calendar.

The problem was somewhat lessened by declaring only certain martyrs to be "Saints", and only observing their dates. Still, many congregations would have too many remembrance dates to be practical.  There were also arguments over which martyrs were worthy to be called a "Saint".  Finally, there was the problem that sometimes multiple Saints died on the same date, often together.

So, the False Church of Rome established the first of May as All Saints Day to commemorate the death of those deemed to be "Saints" in 610 AD.  The evening before, "All Hallows Evening", was to commemorate the death of ordinary martyrs.  By this time, people had stopped praying to be faithful like the martyrs, but instead started praying to the Saints.

In 835 AD, All Saints Day was moved to the first of November.  This was done, so it would fall on the same day as the Druid holiday called "Samhain".  Although the Germans called this holiday by another name, it was the day when they, as well as the Celts, commemorated the dead with pagan customs.

Finally, in 1030 AD, All Souls Day was added after All Saints Day.  "All Souls Day" was to remember regular people, who called themselves "Christians", who had died.  This day was observed by praying for those who were stuck suffering in Purgatory after death, so they would be admitted into Heaven.

This completed the three day festival of the False Church of Rome called, "Allhallowtide".  So, the first thing wrong with Halloween, is that at best, it is a holiday of the False Church of Rome.  This entire festival is contrary to the Book of Truth (The Bible).

There is nothing wrong with being inspired by the faithfulness of martyrs.  However, these martyrs are part of the Children of Truth, and not their Master (Matthew 23:8-10).

The Children of Truth are to strive to be like their Master (Luke 6:40).  The Children of Truth are to strive to be like the Man of Truth (Yeshua HaMashiach aka Jesus Christ) (1 John 4:15-17).

So, instead of praying to be like one of the martyrs, the Children of Truth should be praying to be like the Man of Truth.

People are not to pray to dead people, even if they are declared to be "Saints", for every necromancer (anyone who talks to dead people) is an abomination to the Father of Truth (Deuteronomy 18:11-12).  The Man of Truth taught the Children of Truth to pray to the Father of Truth (Matthew 6:6).

The Children of Truth are to pray to the Father of Truth in the name of the Man of Truth (John 16:26-27).  They are to thank the Father of Truth for all things in the name of the Man of Truth (Ephesians 5:20).

So, instead of praying to the Children of Truth who have died, the Children of Truth are to pray to the Father of Truth in the name of the Man of Truth.

The Children of Truth are not to pray for people to escape Purgatory after death.  It is as useless as being baptized for those who died (1 Corinthians 15:29).  No one cannot change the state of someone else after they die (Revelation 22:11).

When people die in their sins, they suffer unending punishment in fire (Mark 9:43-48).  Those who suffer in this fire, cannot be removed from this fire, no matter who prays for them (Luke 16:22-26).  There is no escape from the Chamber of Horrors.

When people die in the Man of Truth, they go to be with the Man of Truth (2 Corinthians 5:6-8).  The Children of Truth will always be with the Man of Truth (Philippians 1:21-23).   They are literally better off dead.

So, instead of praying for the dead to be saved, the Children of Truth are to carryout the Great Commission, and tell living people the Good News, so the living can come into the House of Truth.

As bad as this three day festival of the False Church of Rome is, it is only a small part of what is wrong with Halloween.

Many of the customs of Halloween, as celebrated in countries populated by descendants of the Celtic and Germanic people, like the United States, come from the Druid holiday called, "Samhain".

Although, this holiday was not part of Celtic Christianity in its original form, the Druids were successful in getting many of the customs of Samhain infused into celebrations of All Hallows Eve, after the False Church of Rome moved All Saints Day to fall on the same day as Samhain in 835 AD.

In order to explain Samhain, a brief explanation of seasons is in order.  There are three different systems for defining the seasons of Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter involved.

Julius Caesar set up the Julian Calendar, that is still commonly used today, with a few adjustments made over the years.  On his calendar, the year began on the first of March.  (This is why December is literally "tenth month", even though it is the twelfth month on modern calendars.)  The reason for this was that the first season of the year for Julius Caesar was Spring.  His definition of Spring was Climatic Spring, when the weather became warm enough that life began to spring out of the ground.

The Romans had observed that this came about three weeks before the Spring Equinox, so they set the beginning of Spring to be the first of March, with the Spring Equinox occurring on the the twenty second of March.  Each season was broken into three months, to mark the early, mid, and late portion of each season.  So Climatic Summer began with June, Climatic Autumn began with September, and Climatic Winter began with December.

So in this system for defining the seasons, the first day of Spring is not the Spring Equinox, as people commonly think.  Under the Climatic system developed by the Romans, the Spring Equinox is more properly "the equinox that occurs in the Spring".

This is another system of defining seasons by the position of the Earth relative to the Sun.  In this system, Astronomical Spring begins on the Spring Equinox, Astronomical Summer begins on the Summer Solstice,  Astronomical Autumn begins on the Autumn Equinox, and Astronomical Winter begins on the Winter Solstice. In the Astronomical system, the year begins with the Winter Solstice.

The Celtic and Germanic people had an entirely different system for defining seasons.  They defined seasons by how much sunlight there was each day.  In this Solaric system, Solaric Winter began on the midway point between the Autumn Equinox and the Winter Solstice.  This is around the sixth of November on modern calendars.  The other seasons began on the midway points of the Astronomical Seasons as well.  Solaric Spring began around the third of February, Solaric Summer began around the fifth of May, and Solaric Autumn began around the fourth of August.

This system defined Winter as the quarter of the year with least amount of sunlight and Summer as the quarter of the year with the most amount of sunlight.  (Climatic seasons lag Solaric seasons by about a month due seasonal lag.  Seasonal lag is caused by the time it takes the climate to respond to a change in the amount of sunlight, usually about a month.)

The Celtic and Germanic people marked each day as starting with sunset, so that the day was darkness followed by light.  In the same way, the year began with the start of Solaric Winter, so that the year was darkness followed by light.

The first day of each season was marked with a holiday.  The first day of Solaric Winter, the beginning of the year, was marked by Samhain.  The first day of the other seasons were marked by Imbolc, Beltane, and Lughnasadh.

After the Romans, and then the False Church of Rome, took over the areas where the Celtic and Germanic people lived, there were some adjustments made by both sides to create a single syncretic calendar.  This calendar allowed their holidays to be combined into new "Christian" holidays.  These new "Christian" holidays went by the names established by the False Church of Rome, but most of the practices of the corresponding Celtic and Germanic holidays were incorporated into their observations.  All Saints Day and Samhain were both moved to the first day of November.  Most of the practices of Samhain were done during the night time portion, that began at sunset on the last day of October.  So, those practices were continued on "All Hallows Evening", better known as Halloween.

(Imbolc was moved to the second of February, and became "Ground Hog Day".  Beltane was moved to the first of May, and became "May Day".   Lughnasadh was moved to the first day of August, and became "Transfiguration Day" or "Lammas" (a contraction of "Lamb Mass").)

So, most of the customs that people associate with Halloween came from Samhain.  In order to understand better what is wrong with Halloween, we need to examine those practices in their original context.

On Samhain, it was believed that it was easier to come in contact with the Aos Si, which are Spirits of Lies (devils aka demons aka unclean spirits aka gods), than any other time of the year.  (Some of the Aos Si were also called Fairies, because they appeared in the form of "fair" (beautiful) young women, usually with wings.)  These spirits were greatly feared, especially the Horned God.  It was also believed that the souls of the dead would return to their homes on this night.  (People would set out plates with food for them at the table, and keep a seat open for them by the fireplace.)  Lastly, people were concerned, that the dead would seek revenge on this night, for any perceived injustice that they had faced in life.

For these reasons, a number of practices developed for the celebration of Samhain.  Most of these practices are commonly carried out on Halloween today.  Here are some of these common Halloween practices derived from Samhain, and their original purpose:

1.  Decorations and costumes

People dressed up like ghosts, dead people, and the like, to disguise themselves from the souls of the dead.  In order to keep the souls of the dead away from their homes, they disguised their yards as graveyards, in the hopes that the souls of the dead will be confused.  They often used other emblems  of death, like coffins, skeletons, and skulls, to make the scene more convincing.

2.  Bonfires

Originally, the Druids would build a wicker man around a human sacrifice on Samhain, and set it on fire to appease the Spirits of Lies known as the Aos Si, especially the Horned God.  This practice was banned by the Romans, and then the False Church of Rome, but continued for centuries in remote areas.

Later, the practice was changed to setting fires where the bones of the recently departed were burned.  They would gather around these bone fires for protection from the vengeful souls of the dead, and the Aos Si.  The words "bone fire" was later contracted to form the word "bonfire", which people still gather around on Halloween to this day.

3.  Jack-o-lanterns

Carved turnip lanterns were originally used to ward off the Spirits of Lies known as the Aos Si.

After the False Church of Rome recast Samhain as All Hallows Eve, these carved turnip lanterns came to remind people to pray for the release of their loved ones from Purgatory.  The faces of these carved turnip lanterns were carved to show the torment that those in Purgatory were experiencing, until someone arranged for them to be released.

These carved turnip lanterns were much later called "Jack-o-lanterns".  This name came from a myth about a thief named Jack, who was forced to wander the Earth at night after death, with an ember from Hell in a carved out turnip as his lantern.  So, these carved out turnip lanterns first became known as "Lanterns of Jack", or "Jack-o-lanterns" in 1837 AD.  Jack-o-lanterns were first brought over to the United States by Irish immigrants around that time.  The first known case of one being carved from pumpkin was in 1866 AD.

4.  Trick or Treat

Food was also set as offerings for the Spirits of Lies known as the Aos Si, and as refreshments for the souls of the dead.  Originally, Druids in their hooded outfits that hid their face, would collect and eat these offerings, because it was believed that these Druids were possessed by these spirits and souls on Samhain.  

If the Druids were not pleased with the offering for some reason, they would paint a hexagram (a six-pointed star in a circle) in blood, sometimes human, on the door of the house.  This was supposed to mark the house as cursed.  This was known as putting a hex on a house.

When a hex was put on a house, it meant that the Aos Si, and the vengeful souls of the dead, would bring wrath upon it.  One of the inhabitants would usually die that night, supposedly from the curse, but usually it from was poison, or an "accident" carried out by the Druids.

Sometimes, the Druids would mark an individual person with a hexagram in blood on their chest.  This was supposed marked them as cursed in the same manner.  This was known as putting a hex on someone.

When a hex was put on a person, they usually did not live until morning, unless they managed to escape.  One reason was that their neighbors would hunt them down and kill them, often by stoning, to appease the Aos Si, and the vengeful souls of the dead.  This sacrifice was thought to protect the community from the wrath of these spirits and souls on Samhain, especially the Horned God.

After the False Church of Rome recast Samhain as All Hallows Eve, this practice of putting out food to appease the Aos Si, and the vengeful souls of the dead, and putting hexes on houses and people, were replaced with new customs derived from the old customs.

Instead of food being placed outside of each house to be consumed by hooded Druids, people wearing disguises to conceal their identity, would go from house to house to eat soul cakes, carrying turnip Jack-o-lanterns.  Those who ate the soul cakes, would then pray for the souls of those dear to the owner of the house, who were in Purgatory.  Those who did this were known as guisers or soulers.

Any house that did not offer soul cakes to the guisers or soulers, was subject to dreadful pranks, that replaced putting a hex on a house or person.  These pranks were typically annoying, like having their outhouse tipped on its door when occupied.  Sometimes the pranks were damaging to property, but not harmful to people, like setting an unoccupied outhouse on fire.  These pranks were attested to as an old practice on All Hallows Eve among the Scots and Irish in 1780 AD.

By 1895 AD, guisers had expanded from praying for the souls in Purgatory in exchange for soul cakes, to accepting treats and money, in exchange for NOT carrying out a Halloween prank on the occupants.

Like Jack-o-lanterns, another wave of immigrants from Ireland brought this form of extortion to North America.

The first known case of guisers in North America were children in Canada in 1911 AD.  The first known instance of guisers asking for treats in North America was in 1915 AD.  The first known case of guisers in the United States was in Chicago in 1920 AD.  This practice of guisers demanding treats and money to NOT carry out a Halloween prank, was first called "Trick or Treat" in Canada in 1927 AD.

This term did not appear in the United States until 1934 AD.  It was not well known in America, until a major publication wrote about it in 1939 AD.

It was then popularized throughout America by candy makers in California.  Of course, an entire industry for creating Halloween costumes also emerged, mostly in cities with large populations of newly arrived Irish immigrants.  Halloween then became the commercialized holiday that many people know it as today. 

5.  Halloween Games

The Celtic and Germanic tribes used hazel nuts in games of divining a good match between unmarried men and women on Samhain.  They believe that the Spirits of Lies known as the Aos Si, would show them, whether or a match was good, through the roasting of hazelnuts.  One person would grab two hazelnuts.  They would then name one after themselves, and the other after their desired spouse.  They would then lay both nuts next to each other on the edge of a fire pit to roast.  If one of the nuts moved away from the other one as it roasted, then it was taken as a sign from these spirits that the match was a bad match.  However, if the nuts remained still until they were roasted, then it was a sign from these spirits that it was a good match.

Then the Romans introduced the apple tree to Celtic Lands, as a symbol of Pomona, the goddess of fruit trees.  They also introduced various games involving apples to the Celtic and Germanic tribes that they conquered.  These games were also meant to give signs from Pomona, about who to marry.  These apple games were soon incorporated into Samhain celebration for the same reasons as hazelnut games.

The most popular of these apple games was bobbing for apples.  The first unmarried person to bite into an apple and remove it from the tub with their teeth, had been selected the Aos Si to get married next.

Another variation involved biting an apple suspended on a stick with a candle on the other end.  The first to bite the apple had been selected to get married.  However, anyone who got hot wax from the candle on their face, was thought to have been marked by the Aos Si to remain single for the next year.

People would also peel an apple into one long peeling, and toss the peeling over their shoulder.  They would then look at the shape of the apple peeling to see if appeared to form a letter.  If it did, then this was thought to be a message from the Aos Si, revealing the first letter of the name of their future spouse.  There were similar games involving dropping egg whites into boiling water, or molten lead into cold water.

The introduction of glass and mirrors by the Romans brought about scrying on Samhain, as another means to determine a future husband.  Unmarried women were told, that if they sat and stared into a mirror on Samhain night, then the Aos Si would show them their future husbands in the mirror.  However, if the Aos Si showed them a skull instead, then they were being shown that they would die before marriage.

Long before the Romans came, the Celtic and Germanic people would place stones, each representing the person who laid it, in the shape of a ring in the pit, where the wicker man was burned on Samhain night. The next morning, they would check to see if any of the stones had moved from their original position.  If a stone had moved, they believed that the Aos Si had shown them, that the person who laid the stone would die before the next Samhain.

After the wicker man was outlawed, they did the same in the bonfire that was burned.  

There were many other similar divination games played on Samhain.  These were often games of chance, like hiding objects in a cake, and giving guests pieces of the cake.  The object that the person found in their slice of cake, was supposed to convey a message the Aos Si about their future.

Another variation was the cake walk, where small cakes containing the objects were given to players, based on which square they were standing on when the game ended.  The players walked from stone to stone in a circle until a predetermined event occurred, like the wind blowing out a candle.  This was event was a sign from the Aos Si, that the players were aligned with future events.

Some of these games, like apple bobbing and cake walks, remain popular today at Halloween parties.  However, at modern Halloween parties, there are often other games and events for consulting with the Aos Si, and the souls of the dead, in a more direct way.

6.  Witches, Wizards, Seances, and Ouija Boards

Among the Celtic and Germanic people, witches were originally women, who were allegedly sexually involved with the Horned God.  They would often meet together naked in a secluded place in the woods to give themselves over as a group to the Horned God.  The Horned God would allegedly come to them in form of men.  These men were called wizards or warlocks.

The children that were born to these witches and wizards, were often sacrificed to the Horned God.  The women would also eat them as part of a marriage supper that they were sharing the wizards, who were possessed with the spirit of the Horned God.  They also were known to do the same with orphans that they captured.  They would drink their blood as well.

So, they were said to be "married" to the Horned God.  They did this to gain secret knowledge and power.  Among these powers were supposedly the ability to fly from place to place on brooms, and to cast spells. 

People would pay witches to curse other people, usually with a spell of some sort.  Sometimes, people would seek them out to cure them of various ailments.  In all cases, there was always some sort of process that the witch, and sometimes the people seeking their help, had to go through to get the desired results.

Often this process involved eating things that crawled on the ground, like toads and spiders, cooked into potions in a large caldron, along with shedding human blood.

Witches and wizards were often hated and feared, but they were allowed to continue because of the services that they provided.  They were believed to be able to communicate with both the Spirits of Lies known as the Aos Si, and the souls of the dead.

In fact, on Samhain, it was believed that witches and wizards could allow the souls of the dead to take over their bodies, so that people could speak with those who had died.  In like manner, it was believed that the Aos Si could also take over their bodies, so that they could speak through them to tell people their future.  Since they could act as a communication conduit for the souls of the dead, and the Aos Si, they came to be called "mediums".

Once the Romans brought an end to the "marriage" of witches to the Horned God, witches and wizards became known for being familiar with the Aos Si.

These witches and wizards were not possessed by these spirits most of the time, but rather these spirits were thought to possess the black cats, bats, rats, crows, and similar creatures that they kept as pets.  These pets were called the familiar of the witch or wizard, on account of the familiar spirit that possessed the animals.

After the Romans introduced glass, these mediums also began using crystal balls for scrying.  They would see visions given to them by the Aos Si, whenever they stared into a crystal ball.  The vision might involve the future, or provide guidance for an important decision.

Witches and wizards also had procedures for contacting the souls of the dead, including seances.  In a seance, they led people in creating an atmosphere that was supposedly welcoming to the souls of the dead.  The souls of the dead would supposedly then speak through the leader of the seance, and sometimes through other participants.

Witches and wizards would also receive messages from both the Aos Si, and the souls of the dead, using a "talking board", that was similar to a Ouija board.

After the False Church of Rome merged Samhain into All Hallows Eve, the witches and wizards, who had went into hiding, would say that they got their messages and visions as a result of praying to the "Saints".  This allowed them to continue their ancient practices in a new way.

In all cases, Samhain was seen as the optimum time to communicate with both the Aos Si, and the souls of the dead.

Many of these same practices are still carried out today as part of some Halloween parties.

7. Halloween foods

Before the Romans came, roasted hazelnuts, honey, wheat kernels, and small cakes were the primary foods associated with Samhain.  All of these things were offered to the Spirits of Lies known as the Aos Si, in some manner.

The hazelnuts and wheat kernels were roasted at the edge of the fire pit where the wicker man was burned as a sacrifice to the Aos Si, especially the Horned God.  The honey was often heated at the edged of this fire pit and hardened into a candy similar to toffee.  The small cakes were likewise baked in the fire that consumed the wicker man.

Hazelnuts were thought to be the means for the Aos Si to impart wisdom to the eaters on Samhain.  Roasted wheat kernels were shared with the souls of the dead on Samhain, by eating some of the wheat kernels, and leaving the rest out for the souls of the dead.  The small cakes were usually made with ground wheat kernels, hazelnuts, and honey.  The small cakes were used to foretell the future on Samhain.

After the Romans introduced the apple tree, apples were added.  Due to the connection with Pomona, apples were thought to connect people to the Aos Si, and the souls of the dead, on Samhain.  Apples candied by being placed in heated honey, became part of Samhain.

Also, bonfires replaced the fires where the wicker man was burned, as the means of cooking the traditional foods of Samhain.

Also, as the Romans brought an end to cannibalism among witches and wizards, sweet treats in the shape of human body parts appeared.  Drinks that resembled blood in color were added as well, to remember the blood that the witches and wizards drank in toasts to the Horned God.

After the False Church of Rome brought an end to witches, treats were added that looked like spiders, worms, and the like, that the witches had used in making their potions.

After the False Church of Rome created All Hallows Eve, the small cakes of Samhain became soul cakes.

After sugar was introduced during the Crusades, the honey was replaced with molasses, and the new hard candy hardened at the bonfires, became known as bonfire toffee.  Also, full sized Halloween cakes, decorated with symbols of death like graveyards and skulls, were added.  These Halloween cakes were made to remind people that the Aos Si, and the souls of the dead, were among them on Halloween.

Soon, cinnamon was added to the melted sugar that the apples were dipped in, to create cinnamon apples.  These cinnamon apples were bright red, as a reminder of the blood that was shed in sacrifices for Samhain.

The spread of foods from the New World, and the introduction of Halloween to North America, brought more changes to the Halloween menu.

After Jack-o-lanterns began to be made from pumpkins, instead of turnips, roasted pumpkin seeds were added.  Also, pop-corn allowed caramel corn to became another food made with a roasted grain kernel and melted sugar, that had largely replaced honey.

Roasted sweet corn (maize) replaced roasted wheat kernels.  Peanuts also became a popular alternative to hazelnuts.  Apples were wrapped in caramel and rolled in peanuts.  This was similar to the apples being candied in honey at a bonfire, and then coated with hazelnuts.

Then the California candy industry started creating candies, shaped like things associated with Halloween, like Jack-o-lanterns.  After the California candy industry succeeded in popularizing Halloween across the United States, then other candies, like chocolate bars, began being marketed in Halloween themed packaging and shapes.

8. The Horned God

The Horned God basically was man-like from the waist down and goat-like from the waist up.  The Horned God was considered the opposite of Woden (called Odin by the Norse), the Spirit of Lies that is the inspiration for Santa Claus.

The Horned God was greatly feared by the Celtic and Germanic peoples, because they believed that the Horned God had the power of death.  The Horned God did not just have the power to bring death to an individual, but to bring death through famine, drought, and disease to the entire community.

The Celtic and Germanic peoples were in bondage to Druids, witches and wizards, through their fear of the Horned God.  They believed that the Horned God had to be appeased on Samhain night.

If a young virgin girl was selected to become "married" to the Horned God, but refused to do so, then she was tied to a stone table and stabbed through the heart.  Any man, who was perceived as having dishonored the Horned God in some way, was burned to death in the wicker man.  Most of the human sacrifices made on Samhain night, whether by burning someone alive in the wicker man, stabbing them through the heart on a stone table, or stoning them to death, were sacrifices to the Horned God.

The community made these sacrifices on Samhain night, because it did not want the Horned God to blame them for any slight.  Samhain was the night when the Horned God was to be appeased and celebrated.

The Horned God was considered the father of all of the Spirits of Lies known as the Aos Si.  The Horned God was basically what they called the Father of Lies (HaShatan aka Satan Aka The Devil).  In fact, most pictures of the Father of Lies found in the lands of Celts and Germans today, were inspired by ancient descriptions of the Horned God.

Samhain was created to honor and worship the Father of Lies, in the form of the Horned God.

In like manner today, the Father of Lies is honored on Halloween by people exalting his work of bringing death.  As Halloween has spread across America, many other emblems of death and the Horned God, from other cultures have been added to Halloween.

Along side the ghosts and skeletons, there has been added mummies, vampires, zombies, ghouls, and other undead creatures.  Witches and wizards have been joined by witch doctors, fortune tellers, shamans, and psychics in contacting Spirits of Lies.  Druids have been joined by undertakers, executioners, axe murders, serial killers, and cannibals.  Yards decorated as graveyards are accompanied by houses decorated as the scenes of the most gruesome murders, as well as torture chambers.  Jack-o-lanterns have been joined by emblems of the Horned God, like pentagrams (an upside down five point star in a circle).

Halloween is a celebration of death and the Father of Lies.

When these facts about Halloween are examined in the light of the Book of Truth, it becomes very apparent what is wrong with Halloween. 

Halloween is wrong because its practices are reflections of the practices of Samhain.  Samhain was wrong for so many reasons.

Samhain was wrong because it was created by the Druids.

People are not to determine the times based on observations of the sun, moon, and stars (Leviticus 19:26).  People are not to allow observers of times, like the Druids, to set times for them to carry out evil (Deuteronomy 18:12-14).

Samhain was wrong because people pretended to live among the tombs.

The Children of Lies (those who disobey the Father of Truth because they do not love Him) dwell among the graves, and eat vile things cooked in caldrons (Isaiah 65:2-4).  They use tombs for decorations, and honor graveyards (Matthew 23:27-31).

Those possessed by the Spirits of Lies live among the tombs (Matthew 8:28).  Living among the tombs is a sign of being possessed by a Spirit of Lies without restraint (Mark 5:2-4).

Turning your dwelling place into a graveyard, is like going into the wilderness to make an offering of human blood to the Spirits of Lies (Mark 5:5-9).  Living in a graveyard, is like meeting with Spirits of Lies naked in a secluded place in the woods (Luke 8:27).

Samhain was wrong because people sacrificed other people in fires, and burned the bones of the dead in fires.

People are not to sacrifice people in fires to a horned god like Molech (Leviticus 18:21).  (Molech had the head of a bull and the body of a man.)  Burning the bones of the dead in a fire, is a sign of judgment that belongs to the Father of Truth alone (Amos 2:1-3).

Samhain was wrong because it used enchantments, like Jack-o-lanterns, to ward off evil spirits and the souls of the dead.

People are not to use enchantments of any kind, including Jack-o-lanterns (2 Kings 17:17).

Samhain was wrong because it used extortion of the worst kind.

The Father of Truth plainly does not want people using extortion, like the Druids threatening to put a hex on anyone, who did not give them what they wanted (1 Corinthians 6:9-10).

Samhain was wrong because it used games of divination.

People are not to use divination of any kind (Deuteronomy 18:10).

Samhain was wrong because of witches and wizards.

People are to destroy the secluded places in the woods where witches and wizards are "married" to the Horned God in acts of harlotry (Exodus 34:12-16).  The Father of Truth is against witches and wizards for slaying their own children as sacrifices to the Horned God, which were conceived in the marriage bed of the Horned God (Isaiah 57:5-7).

People are not to make sacrifices to Spirits of Lies, like the Aos Si (Leviticus 17:7).  They are not to make sacrifices to Spirits of Lies, like the Horned God (Deuteronomy 32:16-17).  The are not to sacrifice their own children to Spirits of Lies, like the Aos Si and the Horned God, because this will bring the wrath of the Father of Truth upon them (Psalm 106:37-40).

People are to have no regard for people with familiar spirits, nor seek after the services of wizards (Leviticus 19:31).  Those who do so, become enemies of the Father of Truth (Leviticus 20:6). 

People suffer, when witches are allowed to live (Exodus 22:18).  People are to stone to death, those with familiar spirits, as well as wizards (Leviticus 20:27).

People are not to allow witches, wizards, people who talk to familiar spirits, or people who talk to the souls of the dead, to live among them (Deuteronomy 18:10-11).  Those who do these things, are provoking the Father of Truth to anger (2 Kings 21:6).   Those who do these things, are committing great evil in His eyes (2 Chronicles 33:6).

The Father of Truth will destroy all witchcraft (Micah 5:12).  Those involved in witchcraft will not live in His kingdom (Galatians 5:19-21).

Samhain was wrong because of the food.

Food is not to be given for the dead (Deuteronomy 26:12-14).

People are not to drink blood when they eat meat (Genesis 9:4).  The blood is to be poured out on the ground like water (Deuteronomy 12:16).

People are not to drink potions made from vile things in secret (Isaiah 66:17).

People are not to eat things offered to the Spirits of Lies, like the Aos Si (Acts 15:29).  They are to not eat these things, nor drink blood (Acts 21:25).  They are not to have a feast with Spirits of Lies like the Aos Si (1 Corinthians 10:20-21).

Samhain was wrong because it celebrated the Father of Lies and death.

People are not to worship the Father of Lies (Matthew 4:8-10).  The Horned God is a form that the Father of Lies took on (2 Corinthians 11:14).

The Children of Lies love death (Proverbs 8:36).  Their walking in the ways of the Father of Lies will bring them death (Proverbs 11:19).  Death is the work of the Father of Lies (Hebrews 2:14).

Death came upon people from sin (Romans 5:12).  Sin came from the Father of Lies (1 John 3:8).

Halloween is wrong because it is a reflection of Samhain.

The Children of Truth are no longer part of the wickedness celebrated by Halloween (1 Corinthians 6:9-11).  These wicked things of the past have passed away, and they are to live a new life (2 Corinthians 5:17).  It is not right for them to keep a holiday, which has been set up to remind them of the practices, that they have been called to forsake and forget (Philippians 3:13-15).

The Man of Truth came down from Heaven and overcame the darkness (John 1:1-5).  The Father of Truth sent him to deliver people from the darkness (Colossians 1:12-13).  The Father of Truth has called the Children of Truth out of darkness and into His marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9)!

The Children of Truth have left off walking in darkness to walk in the light (Isaiah 9:2).  The Man of Truth has led them out of darkness into light (Matthew 4:16-17).  The Man of Truth has taken them out of the darkness, to free them from the power of the Father of Lies (Acts 26:18).  They have cast off the works of darkness to live in the light (Romans 13:12-14).

The Children of Truth no longer have anything to do with the darkness, that comes from the Father of Lies (2 Corinthians 6:14-16).  They no longer live in their former darkness (Ephesians 5:6-8).  They no longer have anything to do with the shameful things, which are done secretly in darkness (Ephesians 5:11-12).

The Children of Lies continue to walk in the darkness, while the Children of Truth walk in the light (John 3:19-21).

The Father of Truth sent the Man of Truth to go into the grave to conquer it (Isaiah 53:8-10).  He was placed in a tomb after dying on a cross (Matthew 27:58-60).  He came out of that grave victorious over death (Matthew 28:5-9)!

Death could not hold the Man of Truth captive (Acts 2:22-24)!  He died to destroy death, so the Children of Truth could be free from the Father of Lies, who enslaved them through the power of death (Hebrews 2:14-15)!

The Children of Truth began having victory over the grave, right after the Man of Truth came out of the grave (Matthew 27:52-53).

The Father of Truth will break the power of the grave over the Children of Truth (Psalm 49:14-15).  The Father of Truth has promised that death will be swallowed up in victory (Isaiah 25:8-9).  The Father of Truth has promised to ransom the Children of Truth from the grave, and redeem them from the power of death (Hosea 13:14).  The Children of Truth will rise again to everlasting life, when death is swallowed up in victory, and the grave has no more victory (1 Corinthians 15:52-55).

The Law of Truth (Law of Truth) will keep the Children of Truth from death (Proverbs 13:14).  The fear of the Father of Truth will keep them from death (Proverbs 14:26-27). 

The Father of Truth will deliver the soul of the Children of Truth from death, and keep them alive in times of famine (Psalm 33:18-19).  He will deliver them from death, and will not allow them to go hungry (Proverbs 10:2-3).

The Children of Truth have passed from death to life (John 5:24).

Those delivered by the Man of Truth from the Spirits of Lies, are to no longer act like they live among the tombs (Mark 5:15-16).  Those who are no longer possessed by Spirits of Lies, are to show everyone that their dwelling place is not a graveyard (Luke 8:35-36).

The Children of Truth should not make any space in their lives to the Father of Lies (Ephesians 4:27).

So, the Children of Truth should not be observing a sugar coated rehearsal of the wickedness of Samhain.  They have no business being part of a memorial to the sick and twisted practices of Samhain.  The last thing they should be celebrating is a holiday honoring the Father of Lies.

They should not act like they are the living dead, who do not know the Father of Truth.  They should no longer to act like they are enslaved by the monster within, which causes people to do terrible things.  They should no longer to be wearing a costume, pretending to be part of the Children of Lies.

They should be like Saint Patrick, and have nothing to do with anything that came from the Druids.  They should recognize that Halloween is like Ash Wednesday.  They should follow the example of The Mensch Who Killed Christmas, when it comes to Halloween.  They should observe the Feasts of Truth instead, like those who wish each other "Happy Firstfruits!".

They should show people that they are the real deal.  They should let people know, that the friendly ghost that they are familiar with, is the Spirit of Truth (Ruach HaQodesh aka The Holy Spirit aka The Holy Ghost).  They should be helping people to escape the Chamber of Horrors, that awaits those who remain in the darkness.

They need to tell people, to come into the House of Truth, and demonstrate that they have been given power over the Spirits of Lies, like the Aos Si (Mark 16:15-18).  They need to tell people, that the Man of Truth has been victorious of death and the grave (Romans 1:1-4).  They need to tell people, to surrender their lives to the Man of Truth, because they believe that His Father gave him victory over death (Romans 10:9).  They need to tell people, that the Father of Lies has no power over those, who come into the House of Truth (James 4:7)!

Come into the House of Truth!







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Friday, October 28, 2016

The Friendly Ghost

Can people really be friends with a ghost?

When I was a kid, I used to watch a cartoon after school called, "Casper The Friendly Ghost".  In this cartoon, Casper was the ghost of a young boy, who did not like scaring people, unlike the ghosts of his three teenage brothers.  All that poor Casper ever wanted from people, was to be their friend, but they were invariably scared of him.  It did not help, that his three older brothers went out of their way to scare anyone, that Casper tried to befriend.  In the end of each episode, Casper would manage to become friends with some family, by saving them from some sort of trouble.

The backstory of Casper was unclear, and changed from time to time, as is common in works of fiction.  Originally, Casper was a young boy who died from some disease - possibly pneumonia, after a day of sledding.  There was not any explanation of how his three teenage brothers died, although an accident brought on by their own mischief, is hinted at, when you piece together bits and pieces from various episodes.

(The episodes were not really episodes of a series originally, but were really shorts. Shorts are short films, that were played while a feature film was being loaded, or during intermission, when the second part of a feature film was being loaded.  These shorts were then re-marketed as a series of episodes, after the last short was made in 1959.  For this reason, there is no consistent story line.)

In later episodes, Casper was explained as not really being a ghost, despite the name of the series.  A ghost is the spirit of someone who has departed from this life, but the writers decided that Casper was not the spirit of a boy who had died.  They decided that he was a spirit, because his parents were spirits.

Also, Casper had a tendency to befriend an entire family.  In one episode, a woman became so familiar with Casper, that she tried to treat Casper like her own son.  So really, "Casper The Familiar Spirit", would have been a more accurate title for the later episodes.

Casper was just one way of introducing a generation to the concept of being friends with a ghost, or familiar with a spirit.  This was also a common theme in a variety of Disney movies and the like.  There were also grown up shows that featured people who were familiar with spirits, like "Bewitched", and "I dream of Jeannie".  This theme of friendly ghosts and familiar spirits has continued to this day in various ways in all forms of media.

So is there any truth to any of this?

Like all things, the way to get to the truth of the matter, is to consult the Book of Truth (The Bible).

Is there any such thing as a ghost or a spirit?  

There is such a thing as a ghost or a spirit.

Every human being is a spirit that lives in a body (Job 32:8).  Their spirit can interact with the Father of Truth (YHVH aka God aka THE LORD) (Proverbs 20:27).  A spirit is not the body of a person (Luke 24:39).

A human being cannot keep their spirit in their body, when it is time for their body to die (Ecclesiastes 8:8).  The Man of Truth (Yeshua HaMashiach aka Jesus Christ) committed his spirit to the Father of Truth, when his spirit left his body to become a ghost (a disembodied spirit) (Luke 23:46).  When the spirit leaves the body of a person, then their body dies (James 2:26).

Is there really such thing as a friendly ghost or a familiar spirit?

The spirits of people, that are still in their bodies, cannot really be friends with the spirits of people, that have left their bodies, for they have no means to form a relationship with each other.

When the Children of Truth (those who obey The Father of Truth because they love Him) died, then their spirits used to go to an underground paradise, where the spirit of Abraham (Abram) went to, when he died (Luke 16:20-22).  When the Man of Truth died and rose again, he took all of those spirits, which had been held captive in that underground paradise, with him to Heaven (Ephesians 4:8-10).  Since that time, whenever any of the Children of Truth die, they go to be with the Man of Truth in Heaven (Philippians 1:21-23).

When the Children of Lies (those who disobey the Father of Truth because they do not love Him) die, then their spirits go to Hell, while their bodies are buried in the ground (Luke 16:22-24).

The spirits of those who have died, cannot talk to those who are still alive, unless they are put back into their bodies by the Father of Truth (Luke 16:27-30).

So people cannot even talk to the spirits of people who have died, unless the Father of Truth decides to send the ghost of a Child of Truth, to deliver a brief message of judgment from Him (1 Samuel 28:11-19).  The Father of Truth can also send the ghost of one of the Children of Truth, for a brief visit, to encourage another Child of Truth to carry out His will (Luke 9:29-31).

Should people befriend ghosts, or become familiar with spirits?

Since the spirits of people, that are still in their bodies, cannot form relationships with the spirits of people, that have left their bodies, then they should not befriend ghosts, or become familiar with spirits, because those ghosts or spirits can only be imposters.

The Father of Truth commands, that people have no regard for those, who have a spirit that they have become familiar with, because such who are friendly with so called ghosts, will cause others to become defiled in His sight (Leviticus 19:31).  Anyone, who follows after those, who have joined themselves to a familiar spirit, becomes an enemy of the Father of Truth (Leviticus 20:6-8).  The Father of Truth commands, that those, who have joined themselves to a familiar spirit, or are friendly with so-called ghosts, should be put to death (Leviticus 20:27).  Those, who have joined themselves to a familiar spirit, and those, who claim to talk to the ghosts of people who have died, a necromancer, are part of the religion of His enemies (Deuteronomy 18:9-12).

Those, who have joined themselves to a familiar spirit, are really being friendly with spirits of lies (devils aka demons aka unclean spirits aka gods), when they talk to a friendly ghost (1 Samuel 28:9-13).

Those who have a familiar spirit, or talk to a friendly ghost, are in league with spirits of lies, and not mindful of the Father of Truth (Deuteronomy 32:16-18).  Those who consult them, have replaced His Ministers of Truth with those, who are in league with spirits of lies (2 Chronicles 11:14-16).

No one can be familiar with spirits of lies, and be friends with the Father of Truth (1 Corinthians 10:20-22).  These so-called friendly ghosts are only interested, in getting the Children of Truth to leave the House of Truth (1 Timothy 4:1).

Is there any ghost that people should befriend, or any spirit that should people become familiar with?

Yes, there is friendly ghost, and a spirit that people should be familiar with, which is the Spirit of Truth (Ruach HaQodesh aka The Holy Spirit aka The Holy Ghost).

The Spirit of Truth is the one spirit, that all people should be familiar with (Numbers 11:29).  People should be familiar with the Spirit of Truth, so they can do what is pleasing to the Father of Truth (Ezekiel 36:26-27). 

For this reason, the Man of Truth had to be familiar with the Spirit of Truth, so he could do what was pleasing to the Father of Truth (Isaiah 61:1-3).  The Spirit of Truth is the ghost, that he befriended (Acts 10:38).

So the Man of Truth wants the Children of Truth, to be familiar with the Spirit of Truth, so they can do what is pleasing to the Father of Truth (John 14:15-17).  He wants people to be familiar with the Spirit of Truth, so they can be in league with his Father (John 16:13-15).

The Spirit of Truth is a ghost, because this is the spirit that the Man of Truth left on this Earth, after he died (John 7:39).  The Spirit of Truth is the ghost, that the Father of Truth wants people to be friends with (John 14:26).

The Father of Truth is the one, who brings the Spirit of Truth into the lives of people (Exodus 31:1-3).  The Spirit of Truth is only interested, in bringing people into the House of Truth (1 John 5:3-6).

How can people meet this friendly ghost, or become familiar with this spirit?

They meet this friendly ghost, when they come into the House of Truth, and become more familiar with this spirit, as they continue to live in the House of Truth.

They must come into the House of Truth to meet this friendly ghost (Acts 2:37-39).  They will become familiar with this spirit, as they continue to live in the House of Truth (Romans 8:8-10).

People can only come into the House of Truth, by being born again into the family of the Spirit of Truth (John 3:5-7).  They must come into the House of Truth, by giving control of their lives to the Man of Truth, because they believe, that his Father called him up from the grave (Romans 10:9).

Come into the House of Truth!













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Saturday, October 22, 2016

The Real Deal

Are you the real deal?

Every October in America and else where, people dress up in costumes, and pretend to be someone or something that they are not.  Most people find it fun to do so.  Especially for Halloween.

Sometimes people dress up as a fictional character of some sort.  Sometimes they dress up as a historical person that they admire.  Sometimes they dress up as someone who is in some occupation, that they wish that they could do.

One of the most popular occupations, for people to play dress up in America, is the cowboy.  This was so popular, that when I was a kid, kids would often go to the dime store, and buy cowboy costumes, that featured things like cowboy hats, cowboy clothes, and the ever popular six-shooter.

Most adults found it amusing to watch kids dress up as cowboys, and run around pretending to ride horses.  They would pretend to do cowboy things like round up cattle and have rodeos.

On the ranch that I grew up on, we took it a lot further.  We had a small pen for calves, and we would get on the back of those calves, imagining that we were riding a bull.  We would try our hands at roping calves.  We had shoot outs in the corral.  We were not just trying to be like cowboys, that we saw on TV or in the movies.  We were trying to be like our Uncle Ken.

When first we met Uncle Ken, we were in awe of him.  He met us wearing his cowboy hat and chaps, with his lariat in hand, while sitting on top of his reddish brown quarter horse, named "Wildfire".  He sat tall in the saddle, with his rifle in its saddle holster.  Uncle Ken may have only been five foot three inches tall to other people, but to us, he was ten feet tall.

You see when it came to being a cowboy, our Uncle Ken was the real deal.

The real American cowboys that we knew growing up, were not like those in the movies.

They were hardworking and honest.  They were patriotic but distrustful of the Federal government.  They were only in pursuit of one woman - their wife.  They were law abiding.  If they gave you their word on something, it was more sure than a signed contract was among people, who lived in the cities.  They went to church on Sundays, and worked on the other six days of the week.  They loved coffee and iced tea, but had no use for liquor.  They had nothing but disdain for tobacco products.  They sought peace with their neighbors, and took care of each others work, whenever one of them fell on hard times.  They were ever conscious of the fact, that the Father of Truth (YHVH aka God aka THE LORD) saw everything that they did.

The Hollywood cowboys in the movies were often nothing like them.  These so-called "cowboys" were always drinking alcohol in the saloons, smoking cigarettes in saloons, gambling in the saloons, consorting with prostitutes in the saloons, and getting in fights in the saloons.  In fact, it seemed like saloons were the center of their lives.

Any work these Hollywood cowboys did was just to get money to spend at the saloon.  The bad guys would rob trains and the like, to support their saloon habit.  The good guys would go after the bad guys, to collect reward money to support their saloon habit.  The saloon was their church.

These Hollywood cowboys wore the same clothes that real cowboys like Uncle Ken wore, but those clothes were only costumes.  Uncle Ken and our neighbor Chester Thurman, another real cowboy, called people who wore cowboy clothes, but did not live the cowboy lifestyle, "dime store cowboys".  They called them that, because they were no more the real deal, than kids who bought cowboy outfits at the dime store.

So-called "urban cowboys" were definitely not the real deal.  They were imitators of Hollywood cowboys, and not real cowboys like Uncle Ken.  It takes a lot more than wearing cowboy clothes, and listening to cowboy music, to be the real deal.

Uncle Ken and Chester Thurman were the real deal, because they actually worked with cows.  They were in the cattle business.

They wore cowboy hats to protect their heads from the sun and rain, while they were out taking care of the cattle.  They wore cowboy boots to protect their legs from snake bites, and to get into the saddle more easily.  They wore chaps to protect their legs, when they rode through brush to bring a stray steer back into the herd.

They rode horses, so they could move around the herd.  They used their lariats to lasso calves, that they needed to medicate and the like.  Their saddles were not just seats for them to sit in while they rode their horses, but also served as an anchor for the other end of their lariats, that they kept tied to the saddle horn.

They would camp among the herd at night in calving season, to protect the herd from coyotes and the like.  They carried rifles to dispatch any varmint that threatened the herd.  Real cowboys would yodel, sing, and play their guitars at night, to keep the herd calm.

They worked together to help each other with their cattle business.  They would talk about the price of cattle, and when was the best time to take their cattle to market.  They would discuss what grass they should sow for hay in the spring, so the cattle would have food the next winter.

Cattle were at the center of their lives.  That is why, they were the real deal.

We wanted to be like Uncle Ken, because he was the real deal.

He taught us how to ride a horse and lasso cattle.  He taught us how to jump from a horse and wrestle a steer to the ground.  He taught us how to tie up a calf.  He taught us how to wear cowboy clothes and how to shoot a gun.  He took us to rodeos and explained how each event was scored.  If we had been able to do so, then we could have grown up to be cowboys like Uncle Ken.  He taught us everything that we needed to know, to be the real deal.

You see, it is living the life, and not just wearing the clothes, that makes someone the real deal.

The truth is people do not limit themselves to pretending to being someone or something, that they are not, to special events during the month of October.  This is a year round occupation for many people.

Like actors pretending to be cowboys, they dress up for the part, and say the right words, but they are not the real deal.  They are only putting on a performance, that is intended to please their audience.  They have perfected their charade to point, that many people cannot tell, that they are not the real deal.

In America, the most popular thing for people to pretend to be, but are not, is one of the Children of Truth (those who obey The Father of Truth because they love Him).

They may call themselves by names like "Christian", or "Messianic".  They may wear "Christian" clothes, like tee-shirts that identify them as Christians.  They may wear "Christian" jewelry like a necklace with a cross, or a WWJD bracelet.  They might even wear the same cloaks, aprons, and handkerchiefs that Paul the Jew (Shaul aka Saul aka The Apostle Paul) wore.  They might be careful, about what is on their head

They may give the Father of Truth one day a week, and attend church every Sunday.  They may even congregate with the Children of Truth on the actual Sabbath, because they have figured out who changed the Sabbath to Sunday.  They may realize that it matters what they eat.  They may even keep the Feasts of Truth.

They may have perfected their charade, but when it comes to actually being one of the Children of Truth, they are not the real deal.

You see, it is living the life, and not just wearing the clothes, that makes someone the real deal.

The first step to knowing if someone is the real deal, is knowing what is a Christian.  The real deal is someone who follows in the footsteps of the Man of Truth (Yeshua HaMashiach aka Jesus Christ), just like Paul the Jew did (1 Corinthians 11:1).

What does it mean to follow the footsteps of the Man of Truth?

It means to obey the commandments of the Man of Truth, because you love him (John 14:15).  Those who walk in the footsteps of the Man of Truth, obey his commandments (1 John 2:6-8).

The is no way to love the Man of Truth, without keeping his commandments (John 14:21).  There is no way to be a disciple of the Man of Truth, without keeping his commandments (John 15:8-10).  There is no way to be a friend of the Man of Truth, without keeping his commandments (John 15:14).  There is no way to know the Man of Truth, without keeping his commandments (1 John 2:3-5).

Keeping the commandments of the Man of Truth, means obeying what he called the greatest two commandments of the Law of Truth (Torah aka The Law) - to love the Father of Truth above all else and to love other people as much as you love yourself (Mark 12:29-31).  Those who obey his commandment, to love the Father of Truth and other people, are the real deal (1 John 4:20-21).

Those who love other people, keep the commandments of the Man of Truth (John 15:17).  Those who love other people, keep the commandments of the Law of Truth (Romans 13:8-10).

Those who keep these commandments, show that the Spirit of Truth (Ruach HaQodesh aka The Holy Spirit aka The Holy Ghost) is living in them (1 John 3:24).  Those who keep these commandments, walk in the same love and truth, that the Man of Truth walked in (2 John 1:4-6).

Those who walk in love, by spending their lives on others, are following after the Father of Truth, in the way that the Man of Truth did (Ephesians 5:1-2).  Those who love the Children of Truth, like the Man of Truth did, do what is pleasing in the sight of the Father of Truth (1 John 3:22-23).  There is no way to be the real deal, without obeying the commandments of the Father of Truth (1 John 5:1-3).

Those who are the real deal, love the other Children of Truth as much as the Man of Truth loved them (John 13:34-35).  Those who are the real deal, love the other Children of Truth enough to lay down their own lives for them (John 15:12-13).  Those who are the real deal, love the other Children of Truth enough to give up their own stuff, to take care of the needs of the Children of Truth (1 John 3:16-18).

Those who love other people, seek to bring honor to the other Children of Truth, instead of themselves (Romans 12:10).  Those who love other people, share what they have with the other Children of Truth (Romans 12:13).  Those who love other people, associate with the other Children of Truth, regardless of their social status (Romans 12:16).  Those who love other people, look out for the welfare of the other Children of Truth, like the Man of Truth did, and not just their own welfare (Philippians 2:3-5).

Those who are the real deal, fulfill the commandment of the Law of Truth, to not take revenge (Leviticus 19:18).  Those who are the real deal, obey the commandment of the Man of Truth, to even love their enemies (Matthew 5:44-48).  Those who are the real deal, show love to their enemies, by doing good to their enemies (Luke 6:32-35).  Those who are the real deal, show love to their enemies, by doing their enemies good, even when their enemies have done them evil (Romans 12:17-21).  Those who are the real deal, see everyone through the eyes of love (1 John 2:9-11).

Those who love other people, fulfill the commandment of the Law of Truth, to not stay silent when they see others sin (Leviticus 19:17).  Those who love other people, obey the commandment of the Man of Truth, to do all that they can to turn others from their sin (Matthew 18:15-17).  Those who love other people, hate everything that the Father of Truth calls evil, and love everything that He calls good (Romans 12:9).  Those who love other people, will even hate sin enough, to let the Father of Lies (HaShatan aka Satan Aka The Devil) destroy the health of the sinner, in order to cause the sinner to repent of their sin, so that the spirit of the sinner will not be destroyed for their sin (1 Corinthians 5:1-5).

So the real deal are those, who do not hate people with the worst kind of hatred, by doing nothing to keep them from perishing in their sin. The real deal are those, who love people too much to let them perish in a burning house, without warning them to get out.  The real deal are those, who love the love people caught up in homosexuality, enough to warn them that they will perish, if they continue to live like they were married in Sodom.  The real deal are those, who are not just wearing a costume, but are love people enough to risk their jobs, in order to bring people into the House of Truth.  The real deal are those, who love people so much, that they realize that bringing people into the House of Truth, is all that really matters.

Love for the Father of Truth and other people is at the center of their lives.  That is why they are the real deal.

Are you the real deal?

No one can be the real deal, unless they are first come into the House of Truth by being born again (John 3:3-7).  People can only become the real deal, after they come into the House of Truth, because the love of the Father of Truth has to be put in their hearts by the Spirit of Truth (Romans 5:5).  People become the real deal, when they come into the House of Truth, by making a commitment to obey the commandments of the Man of Truth, because they believe that the Father of Truth raised him from the dead (Romans 10:9).  Whenever people come into the House of Truth, then they are able to obey the commandment of the Man of Truth to love the Father of Truth, and other people, with the help of the Spirit of Truth, because they become like the Man of Truth - and he is the real deal (1 John 4:13-17)!

Come into the House of Truth!









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