Our God Focus during Halloween

There are many decisions Christian families need to make about how they are going to participate in the things of this world. One of those decisions for us has been Halloween. I appreciate all the discussions and articles and sermons and such there are out there that offer guidance and advice on the topic. I thought I would share with you one that matches pretty closely how we treat this time of the year. In case you're wondering, we do dress up in costumes (although no witches, gouls or goblins and such) and we do trick or treat. Our little guy is only 2, but we have already started to explain it the way we feel led by God to do. And that is to bring God into everything we do and everything we see others do... because He is there, He is everywhere! God doesn't hide from Halloween. Nothing makes Him back down. I'm not saying that those dear Christian families who choose not to participate in anything Halloween haven't made the right choice for them. But for us, we've chosen to teach what it is about. Yes, there is bad out there, there is such a thing as evil and evil doers... but NOTHING can harm you when you have God on your side. Good has triumphed over evil because God is all powerful and all loving, all knowing, all seeing, everywhere and in everything... He is always with us and always acting on our behalf to conquor evil.

Here's an excerpt from the article (you can find the whole article below):
"Too, rather than “hide” in the face of evil, we should unabashedly and boldly create an alternative that is positive and uplifting; that celebrates good over evil and the triumph of God over Satan. We need to provide an environment that also makes room for heaps of fun while using the day as a “teachable moment” to celebrate God’s protection, provision and purpose for our lives."

My parents always gifted me with honesty about what was in and of the world. The good, the bad and the ugly. It wasn't in their parenting style to avoid or ignore. And I am thankful for that. If they had tried to shield me from something such as Halloween instead of giving me a firm foundation of hope in, love for, and confidence in the wonderful safe feeling of God's protective power and ability to defeat all evil... my imagination would have gotten the best of me!

So we talk about the harvest and visit pumpkin patches and farms. We celebrate God's creation! We dress up in fun costumes and pretend to be a firefighter, a puppy dog or Mushu the dragon from a disney movie. We attend fall festivals at Church and play games and eat yummy treats. And we visit our neighbors and friends on the 31st to show off our costumes and graciously accept yummy treats! The whole time, talking about how blessed we are that God's light always triumps over the darkness of this world.

Here's the article in full... it's a nice history lesson too.
I hope this helps shed a little "light" on the topic for you!
in HIM,
Jaimee
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HALLOWEEN
Should Christians Celebrate Halloween?
By Pastor Eric WattGuest Writer
CBN.com – What about Halloween?
Should you and I be involved in the celebration of Halloween?
Finding the answer to this question has been an interesting journey in itself. I interviewed several people and then researched what many leading Christian writers, authors and spokesmen have written about the subject. I also searched various websites like http://www.christianitytoday.com/, http://www.family.org/, and http://www.cbn.com/ to read what others might be saying. What I found was an agreement on the origins of Halloween, but a mixture of recommendations about allowing our children to participate in this super-charged media driven holiday.
The origins of Halloween are Celtic in tradition and have to do with observing the end of summer sacrifices to gods in Druidic tradition. In what is now Britain and France, it was the beginning of the Celtic year, and they believed Samhain, the lord of death, sent evil spirits abroad to attack humans, who could escape only by assuming disguises and looking like evil spirits themselves. The waning of the sun and the approach of dark winter made the evil spirits rejoice and play nasty tricks. Believe it or not, most of our Halloween practices can be traced back to these old pagan rites and superstitions.
But what about today? Perhaps we can still learn from history. In the fourth century, Christians attempted to co-opt the holiday by celebrating the lives of faithful Christian saints the day before Halloween. This was a conscious attempt to provide an alternative and re-focus the day away from ghouls, goblins, ghosts, witches and other “haunted” experiences. Since that time many Christians have decided to allow their children to dress in more “innocent” costumes of pumpkins, princesses, Superman or as a cowboy. Part of this is due to the simple reality that in today’s Western culture it is nearly impossible to “avoid” Halloween.
Just before reaching a conclusion on the subject, I was struck with the thought that I ought to further my search and find out what Wicca, the official religion of witchcraft, has to say about Halloween. Perhaps they viewed the day as a simple fun and innocent neighborhood activity?
“Shock” is the only word to describe what I found. Halloween is a real, sacred day for those who follow Wicca. In fact, it is one of two high and holy days for them. The Celtic belief of spirits being released is current, along with the worship of Samhain (the lord of death) – both are promoted as something to embrace on that day. There is no question in my mind that to those who believe and follow the practices of witchcraft, Halloween represents an opportunity to embrace the evil, devilish, dark side of the spiritual world.
So after discovering this, what is a reasonable conclusion? As Christians you and I are placed in this world to be a light in a world of darkness. There is no lasting benefit to ignore a holiday that exists around us, but it also does harm to celebrate Halloween as it has originated and grown over the centuries.
My suggestion? Christians should be teaching their children (age appropriately) that:
there is a spiritual world filled with goodness from God and evil from Satan (Eph. 2:1-10);
life with Christ has power over darkness (I John 4:4); and
those who celebrate Halloween either are unaware of its roots, or are intentionally promoting a world where evil is lauded and viewed as an ultimate power.
To counter the evil influence of Halloween, we need to join together and celebrate the reality of the heroic efforts of Christian saints over the evil in their day. Many leaders in the past -- and present -- have fulfilled the mandate of destroying the works of the devil through their sacrificial commitment to Christ and His Kingdom.
Too, rather than “hide” in the face of evil, we should unabashedly and boldly create an alternative that is positive and uplifting; that celebrates good over evil and the triumph of God over Satan. We need to provide an environment that also makes room for heaps of fun while using the day as a “teachable moment” to celebrate God’s protection, provision and purpose for our lives.