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!
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!
Labels: Halloween, Witnessing
posted by The House Of Truth @ October 24, 2018
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