Since the Lord's saving me I've never felt right about celebrating a demonically inspired pagan "holiday". I know we have freedom in Christ, however we are also cautioned to not use our freedom as a license for sinning. Putting a "Christian Face" on it by dressing Trick-or-Treaters as Esther or Jesus doesn't get my vote either, because it attempts to Christianize a pagan festival no matter how you slice it.
Some think the answer is having a "harvest festival" at church, so that the children can have fun in a safe environment and thereby won't be deprived of candy, fun, and games, as if those were the most important things children should learn to base their lives on, not that I'm against "fun" or "games", etc., but how many Christian families even know that the day we celebrate as "harvest festival" or "Halloween" , on the 31 of October in 1517, Martin Luther posted his 95 thesis protesting the abuse of indulgences by the Roman Catholic Church?
To celebrate this pivotal time in history, let's not "celebrate" with pumpkins and ghouls and witches, but instead turn our hearts in prayerful remembrance of what the reformers went through to bring light to the world that was darkened by an almost Christian religion.
R.C. Sproul has an excellent series on this topic. I hope you will have the wisdom to take the time to listen to these lectures. These videos are packed with information, including some facts about Luther that surprised me, and helped me let go of some popular myths about this wonderful man.
The embeded link below will continue through all 10 videos, but if you desire to watch them separately, you can find them here:
Youtube link to Luther and the Reformation
Some think the answer is having a "harvest festival" at church, so that the children can have fun in a safe environment and thereby won't be deprived of candy, fun, and games, as if those were the most important things children should learn to base their lives on, not that I'm against "fun" or "games", etc., but how many Christian families even know that the day we celebrate as "harvest festival" or "Halloween" , on the 31 of October in 1517, Martin Luther posted his 95 thesis protesting the abuse of indulgences by the Roman Catholic Church?
To celebrate this pivotal time in history, let's not "celebrate" with pumpkins and ghouls and witches, but instead turn our hearts in prayerful remembrance of what the reformers went through to bring light to the world that was darkened by an almost Christian religion.
R.C. Sproul has an excellent series on this topic. I hope you will have the wisdom to take the time to listen to these lectures. These videos are packed with information, including some facts about Luther that surprised me, and helped me let go of some popular myths about this wonderful man.
The embeded link below will continue through all 10 videos, but if you desire to watch them separately, you can find them here:
Youtube link to Luther and the Reformation
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