With over a billion dollars spent almost every year at Halloween it's surprising that more people don't seem to know what they're celebrating. People assume the fun of carving ugly-faced pumpkins, entering haunted houses, trick or treating, and playing divination games is harmless, but is it?
Well, sure.
Oh? Well what are your really doing when you celebrate Halloween.
Um... funny costumes, collecting free candy, and scaring people?
Halloween's origin comes from the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in). This Celtic festival was a day in which the Celts believed that the spirit world met and mixed with the natural world and that the souls of the dead returned to haunt. Things like trick or treating and costumes aren't as innocent as they appear. The Celts would dress up like demons and witches to try to confuse the evil spirits. They would build big bonfires to frighten the demons away. They did food offerings to try to stay on the "good side" of the evil spirits. Poorer folks would go door to door begging the richer people for "soul cakes" and in return they promised to "pray" for the person. Bobbing for apples was also among their activities. They would mark one of the apples and it was believed that whoever got that apples when bobbing, was the next in line to get married. They "played" divination games, but they did it in earnest. Theses people were in mortal fright of the demons and evil spirits that controlled their lives. And the legends go on, but I'll end there for now. The ancient church tried to "Christianize" the festival into a holiday to remember the martyrs, but they adopted a lot of the pagan activities. They celebrated one day later on November 1st, and called it, All Saints Day. But regardless if you think you are celebrating Halloween (a pagan holiday) or All saints Day, are your activities and actions backed up by the Scriptures? God told the Israelites to NOT adopt the customs and rituals of the gentiles (pagan) peoples. Did it work for Solomon? Here's the answer;
"But
king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of
Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and
Hittites: Of the nations concerning which the Lord
said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither
shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart
after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love....and his wives turned away his heart." 1 Kings 11:1-3.
"Thus saith the Lord, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them." Jeremiah 10:2.
Galatians 4:8-11 "Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods. But
now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn
ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again
to be in bondage? Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain."
But here's the good news. Jesus said in John 8, "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin." If we have Jesus Christ in our hearts we're free! We don't have to live in fear and bondage like those who do not believe. And if we believe, why celebrate a holiday that came to be, from fear, superstition, evil, and darkness?
Perhaps you disagree with the above points or think those Scriptures are irrelevant to today's world (I would respectfully disagree with that thinking) but if you do feel that way, then maybe consider the following thoughts at a minimum: some people may have really tight budgets and can't afford candy; some people may not wish to participate--but if they live in a common trick or treating neighborhood ,what kind of awkward position are you leaving them in? Does it teach your children good manners? Should you celebrate a holiday where black cats aren't safe outdoors?
Please take some time to think about what, and more importantly, who you're celebrating.
Thursday, October 31, 2019
Saturday, October 26, 2019
A Brief Look at Moses
The story of Moses leading the children of Israel through the dessert to the Promised Land is a familiar one to Christians, but as I was reading in the book of Exodus recently I was thinking about how many details in the beginning of Moses' life I often read over without thinking too much about because they are familiar.
We know that Moses' parents feared the Lord (Hebrews 11:23) and that they taught their children to do likewise.
In verses five and seven of chapter two we see that Moses' sister was obedient and watchful. She protected Moses by thinking and acting quickly and offering to help Pharaoh's daughter find a nurse, knowing her mother would gladly be the nurse for her own son and would be able to give Moses a good foundation in the first few, but very important and teachable, years of his life. Many children raised in good Christian homes have gotten saved at a very young age because their parents were faithful and careful to start teaching them at a very young age--some even before the child was born. Children learn far faster and at younger age than people like to admit. I've seen a video of a two year old quoting the 23rd Psalm. Start early and be consistent. (No charge for the extra "rant")😃
In verse six we are told that Pharaoh's daughter wanted Moses as her own child even though he was a Hebrew child--and her dad had decreed that all male Hebrew babies were to be killed. God miraculously spared Moses' life.
Though the position of Pharaoh's daughter's son had given Moses the opportunity to be highly educated we read in Hebrews 11:24-26 that Moses, "When he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward.
As we read on, reading Acts 7:19-44 at the same time, we learn that Moses was a well educated man that was "mighty in words and deeds," that he was a "full forty" years old when "it came into his heart to visit his brethren the children of Israel, that he apparently already knew that God was going to use him to deliver the children of Israel and supposed they knew too, but "they understood not," and when things didn't go as he expected and his people rejected him, he fled.
(Clarke says on verse 13 of Exodus chapter two, "Two men of the Hebrews strove together - How strange that in the very place where they were suffering a heavy persecution because they were Hebrews, the very persons themselves who suffered it should be found persecuting each other! It has been often seen that in those times in which the ungodly oppressed the Church of Christ, its own members have been separated from each other by disputes concerning comparatively unessential points of doctrine and discipline, in consequence of which both they and the truth have become an easy prey to those whose desire was to waste the heritage of the Lord.")
Forty years later Moses sees the burning bush and talks with the angel of LORD who tells him that he (Moses) is to deliver the children of Israel, to which Moses replies, "Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?" God's response takes the focus off of Moses and puts it back on obedience to God who sent him. "Certainly I will be with thee." God then promises Moses that, "When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain," and God never breaks a promise.
When Moses asks God what name he should give the children of Israel for God, He gives Moses a name heretofore not known, but definitely one that the Jews would recognize later. (See John 8:58) He also gives Moses a name for Himself that even the heathen knew--Jehovah Elohim--LORD God: The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Exodus 3:15 And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.
Of course the story goes beyond this, but this is where I'll end for now with just a few concluding thoughts. In Moses we see a type of Christ: He was chosen by God to deliver His people (when both Moses and Christ were born the leaders of the countries they were born in were having the male babies killed), he was rejected by his own people, went to the Gentiles, married a Gentile bride, came back to his own people and was accepted this time, delivered his people from slavery, was a mediator between God and the people, and led his people to the Promised Land.
(Moses also told the Israelites, "A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; Him shall ye hear." Acts 7:37)
When we read or think about Moses (and many other Bible characters) it seems that their lives were filled with many big decisions--and some of them were--but it's the little decisions that we make every day that shape and determine who we really are. You don't get to the "big" decisions without first making the "little" ones.
"He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much." Luke 16:10
We know that Moses' parents feared the Lord (Hebrews 11:23) and that they taught their children to do likewise.
In verses five and seven of chapter two we see that Moses' sister was obedient and watchful. She protected Moses by thinking and acting quickly and offering to help Pharaoh's daughter find a nurse, knowing her mother would gladly be the nurse for her own son and would be able to give Moses a good foundation in the first few, but very important and teachable, years of his life. Many children raised in good Christian homes have gotten saved at a very young age because their parents were faithful and careful to start teaching them at a very young age--some even before the child was born. Children learn far faster and at younger age than people like to admit. I've seen a video of a two year old quoting the 23rd Psalm. Start early and be consistent. (No charge for the extra "rant")😃
In verse six we are told that Pharaoh's daughter wanted Moses as her own child even though he was a Hebrew child--and her dad had decreed that all male Hebrew babies were to be killed. God miraculously spared Moses' life.
Though the position of Pharaoh's daughter's son had given Moses the opportunity to be highly educated we read in Hebrews 11:24-26 that Moses, "When he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward.
As we read on, reading Acts 7:19-44 at the same time, we learn that Moses was a well educated man that was "mighty in words and deeds," that he was a "full forty" years old when "it came into his heart to visit his brethren the children of Israel, that he apparently already knew that God was going to use him to deliver the children of Israel and supposed they knew too, but "they understood not," and when things didn't go as he expected and his people rejected him, he fled.
(Clarke says on verse 13 of Exodus chapter two, "Two men of the Hebrews strove together - How strange that in the very place where they were suffering a heavy persecution because they were Hebrews, the very persons themselves who suffered it should be found persecuting each other! It has been often seen that in those times in which the ungodly oppressed the Church of Christ, its own members have been separated from each other by disputes concerning comparatively unessential points of doctrine and discipline, in consequence of which both they and the truth have become an easy prey to those whose desire was to waste the heritage of the Lord.")
Forty years later Moses sees the burning bush and talks with the angel of LORD who tells him that he (Moses) is to deliver the children of Israel, to which Moses replies, "Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?" God's response takes the focus off of Moses and puts it back on obedience to God who sent him. "Certainly I will be with thee." God then promises Moses that, "When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain," and God never breaks a promise.
When Moses asks God what name he should give the children of Israel for God, He gives Moses a name heretofore not known, but definitely one that the Jews would recognize later. (See John 8:58) He also gives Moses a name for Himself that even the heathen knew--Jehovah Elohim--LORD God: The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Exodus 3:15 And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.
Of course the story goes beyond this, but this is where I'll end for now with just a few concluding thoughts. In Moses we see a type of Christ: He was chosen by God to deliver His people (when both Moses and Christ were born the leaders of the countries they were born in were having the male babies killed), he was rejected by his own people, went to the Gentiles, married a Gentile bride, came back to his own people and was accepted this time, delivered his people from slavery, was a mediator between God and the people, and led his people to the Promised Land.
(Moses also told the Israelites, "A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; Him shall ye hear." Acts 7:37)
When we read or think about Moses (and many other Bible characters) it seems that their lives were filled with many big decisions--and some of them were--but it's the little decisions that we make every day that shape and determine who we really are. You don't get to the "big" decisions without first making the "little" ones.
"He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much." Luke 16:10
Monday, October 21, 2019
Quote: Trust God's Leading
He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Yea,
though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no
evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Psalm 23:3-4
Saturday, October 12, 2019
God's Blessing & A Woman's Glory: Long Hair
Women
having long hair is something I am passionate about, and if you know me,
you know I have really long, very thick, healthy hair, but before you
think, "Oh dear, here's an extreme view on this subject," let me add
that I don't think hair has to be as long as mine is to qualify as long.
In the Bible we're told that it's a woman's glory to have long hair and a shame to a man. I don't think it would be mentioned in the Bible so clearly if God just meant for women to have "longish" hair.
1 Corinthians 11:15
But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering.
So if we accept from Scripture that women are supposed to have long hair, then isn't saying that long hair is too much to deal with similar to saying, "Doing what's right is just too hard, so I think I'll stop?"
The Bible never says
that obedience to Christ is always going to be fun or easy, but that
shouldn't stop us from obeying. Christ was fully human when He was
tempted in the wilderness and I'm sure the temptation to eat something
was great, but He didn't stop resisting just because it was unpleasant.
Aren't we glad?! 
Consider also Revelation 9:8 "And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions." There is obviously a distinction here between the hair of males and females.
Just because your long hair isn't easy to take care of doesn't mean you should cut it short. Again, I don't think a woman's hair has to be equal in length to mine (or Heather's) to qualify as long, but I do believe women's hair should have a very definite distinction from men's.
May you be challenged today to view your hair as what it truly is: a gift, a blessing, and a true treasure from God. Embrace God's special gift and learn to love it.
So blessed,
Sharon
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