Halloween, or Reformation Day?
I personally don't celebrate Halloween. Since Jesus came to give us life and light (guidance) in this world, I can no longer in good conscience participate in a holiday that celebrates death and darkness (and every evil thing conceivable). Here in Detroit folks use it as an excuse for vandalism the night before Halloween, calling it "Devil's night", despite the fact that the night belongs to (and exists because of) God. So on October 31, I encourage people to celebrate something better - "Reformation Day."On Oct 31, 1517, Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses - a list of abusive practices in the Catholic church that needed reforming in order to bring the church into alignment with the teachings of Jesus. On that day, a darkness that had hovered over the world since before the middle ages began to lift, as error was exposed by the truth of scripture. So October 31 should not be a celebration of darkness. It should be a celebration of what the light of Jesus' truth can accomplish to bring mankind out of spiritual darkness. September 11 2001 showed us clearly that it matters what a person believes; on this day, terrorists who believed they were doing the right thing caused thousands of deaths. No longer can we casually argue that it's ok to embrace wickedness and darkness, pretending there will be no negative consequences for doing so.
because the neighbors throw in a few tootsie rolls for the kids?Few in our culture distinguish between good and bad anymore. When I was 5 yrs old, I attended kindergarten at a Presbyterian church. I can still remember the teacher dressing up for Halloween as a witch with tall pointy black hat. I suppose her version of the Bible must have suffered misprints in those scriptures that condemn the practice of witchcraft. Today, over 30 years later, the Presbyterian church has much greater problems than the acceptance of witchcraft, and have moved beyond the acceptance of homosexual "ministers" to actually debating the redefinition of marriage as described in Genesis. When we take things that God created, such as gender and marriage, and give ourselves permission to redefine them, we find ourselves on a slippery slope. The next step will be a redefinition of what is human, and we find we are not far from allowing relationships between humans and farm animals. A future health care act may very well require employers to grant health coverage to a person's animal "spouse".
Can you imagine what the world would be like if everyone yielded to the light of God and followed God's ways, and accepted the historical fact that he sent his son, Jesus Christ, to earth to die and to be raised back to life? He was not raised to life like a Halloween horror movie full of zombies and half-decomposed bodies walking around. Jesus was resurrected in power and honor. If everyone followed God's ways, nobody would have ever heard of AIDS. There would be no rape. No violence. No war in Iraq. Twin towers would still be standing. No road rage, or self-centered drivers cutting you off. No lead in children's toys. No infidelity. No internet porn. People would find fulfillment in heterosexual marriage, negating the temptation to decide to engage in homosexual or lesbian "sex". Folks would look out for one another, instead of living for 35 years only two houses away from neighbors they never talk to. God's ways are right. They are life and light, and I will celebrate and embrace them instead of Halloween. And I will continue what Martin Luther started 490 years ago - a fight for the truth. Because what we believe really does matter.
Happy Reformation Day! And feel free to use the template above to carve your own pumpkin. Here's the instructions!
