A HALLOWEEN STORY:link - Halloween Origins and Customs . . .

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Halloween is just around the corner sooo I thought I would put this article up re the subject; written by Rev. James Smith, from J. Thomas Plumleys post.

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. Now this is really scary! . THE HISTORY OF HALLOWEEN

. . Three hundred years before Jesus was born, a civilization of people called the Celtics lived throughout the British Isles, Scandinavia, and Western Europe. They were a common group, much like many segments of society today, but they were controlled by a secret society of priests and pagans called the Druids. The Druids believed in the immortality of the soul, worshipping and serving the demonic "god of death"-- Samhain. . These satanic priests literally controlled people's lives through the mechanism of fear and human sacrifice, and much death, disease and destruction came upon the Celtics as a result of the Druids and their practices. . Each year on October 31st, the Druids celebrated their pagan god, Samhain. The "Festival of Samhain," more accurately called "The Festival of Death," was officially known, and is still recognized today by all satanists, occultists, and devil worshipers as the eve of the new year for witchcraft. . Anton Lavey, author of The Satanic Bible and high priest of The Church of Satan, says there are three important days to satanists: 1) Their birthday, 2) April 30th, and 3) THE MOST IMPORTANT DAY-- HALLOWEEN. Lavey says it is on this night that satanic, occult and witchcraft powers are at their highest potency level, and any witch or occultist who has been having difficulty with a spell or curse can usually achieve success on October 31st because Satan and his powers are at their best that night. . October 31st, Halloween, is the eve of the new year for witchcraft. The World BookEncyclopedia says it is the beginning of all that is "cold, dark and dead!" When you send your little children out to go "trick-or-treating" you're actually teaching them to celebrate all that is cold, dark, and dead! .

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TRICK OR TREAT

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The Druid priests would go from house to house demanding all sorts of strange foods for their own consumption and to offer later to "Lord Samhain" at "The Festival of Death." If the village people would not give them the foods demanded they would speak a demonic curse over the home, and legend claims that someone in that family would die within the year. Thus you have "trick-or-treat"! The Druids would carry with them a large turnip, which they had hollowed out on the inside and carved a face on the front, to represent the demonic spirit they depended upon for their power and knowledge. This spirit is called "a familiar spirit". (See Acts 16:16-18) . The turnip, lighted by a candle from within, was used as a lantern for the Druids as they went from house to house at night. Now, it was believed by the Druids that their familiar spirit would inhabit these turnips and assist them in carrying out the spells spoken over the homes and lives of those refusing the Druids' demands. . When this practice came to America in the 18th and 19th centuries, turnips weren't that prominent, but we did have a vegetable native to this country that was soon substituted for the turnips. That's right the pumpkin. The name given to the spirit which inhabited the turnip was "Jock," and upon arriving in America it became "Jack, who lives in the lantern" or Jack-O-Lantern". As you can clearly see, there is NOTHING Christian about Halloween. It is today what it has always been-- a day dedicated to the devil. .

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HOW DID IT GET INTO THE CHURCH?

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When Constantine became Emperor of Rome, he made a law declaring Christianity (which was Catholicism at this particular time in history) to be the official state religion. Having been recently converted by a tremendous martyr of that time, Constantine was zealous in his new found faith and demanded as emperor that everyone become a Christian or face the penalty of death. This was the old "throw them to the lions" that the Christians had been facing for years. Well, you can imagine what happened. The churches were flooded with pagans. Not converts, but rather pagan people forced to join the Catholic Church or lose their lives for defying the Emperor. . As this happened, the priests and especially the Pope faced some serious problems. These people were bringing all their pagan practices and ideas into the church including "The Festival of Samhain". They demanded that this festival remain a part of their lives. Since the church was unsuccessful in getting the pagan practices out of the people, it was decided to sanctify some of them. Especially this October 31st ritual called "The Festival of Samhain". . In the 9th century the Pope declared a new day to be celebrated by the church on November 1st, called All Saints' Day. This day is in honor of all the martyred saints of the church, and October 31st became the eve of All Saints' Day. Now, the church contended, the people could still have their festival on October 31st because November 1st was a holy day. . The Mass said on All Saint's Day is the "All Hallowmass" and over the years the evening before became known as: All Hallow's Eve-- All Hallowed Eve-- All Hallow E'en-- and finally Halloween. But, the problem was that nothing changed. The people didn't lay down their pagan rites and worship of demons for this "new eve" established by the church. They didn't have prayer meetings or worship services to thank Almighty God for the saints already gone. What it was in the beginning, it now still is. Halloween is a day that honors and promotes all that is cold, dark and dead. . When you start making preparations for a "Halloween Party", you don't go to the store and purchase pictures of Joan of Arc, the disciples of Jesus, or any other Christian saint. You look for ghosts, witches, black cats, ghouls, etc. Halloween is a day for devils- -not saints. What the Pope attempted to do in the AD 800's backfired, because in making "All Hallowmas" holy, Halloween became recognized by the church as a religious holiday, and nothing could be further from the truth. In reality, all Halloween is and ever will be is "The Festival of Samhain", the Lord of Death. Halloween has no roots in the Church, but is firmly rooted in the occult, witchcraft and satanism. . Doreen Irving, who was the ruling witch of Western Europe and the British Isles and was the mistress of the high priest of Satan over that same area, is now a professed Christian. She says, "If Christian parents had any idea of what Halloween really is, they wouldn't even mention the word around their children.

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WHAT SHOULD OUR POSITION AS A CHRISTIAN BE?

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The most common complaints about anyone taking a stand against Halloween is: "You're trying to take all the fun out of little children's lives," and "You're trying to make something out of nothing because we don't believe in that stuff." Now listen! Just because you don't believe in something does not mean that it's not real. . You might know some people who don't believe we've ever landed a spaceship on the moon. They believe that those television pictures are just made up. Does that change the fact that man has walked on the surface of the moon? Of course not! Facts are facts regardless of what some people choose to believe. Just because you don't visualize Halloween as "really" demonic and as something dangerous to your life does not keep you or your children from Satan's intended desire which is to instill FEAR! DEATH! DESTRUCTION! in people's minds. Think about it. What is Halloween besides fear, horror, ghosts, witches, goblins and devils? . Just because you don't "worship Satan," does that give you the right to train your children to serve him one night out of the year in the name of "fun"? That's what we do if we allow our families to participate in common Halloween practices. The Bible says, "Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it." How can we righteously instruct our children in the ways of Halloween when everything about Halloween is of the devil? The Bible says, "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." It further states, "Perfect love casteth out fear." Does Halloween cause our children to be at peace, or does it cause them to become terribly afraid? Many will remember going through the "house of horror" at the Halloween carnival at school or church when growing up and the fear that gripped them as they felt and heard all kinds of mysterious things? As adults today, maybe it's funny to some, but to a little child it's terror that causes nightmares and very unpleasant memories when alone or in the darkness of night. . The Bible says, "Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: 'I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people. Therefore come out from them and be separate,' says the Lord, 'touch no unclean thing and I will receive you. I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters,' says the Lord Almighty." Why should Christians not honor Halloween? Because it is paying homage to the devil! It's the spirit behind Halloween which makes it wrong.

. "Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them."

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"Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord, and abhor those who rise up against you? I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies. Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."

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"Anyone who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins."

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"The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

. If we really desire to honor the Lord in our lives and family, then we must teach our children concerning the truth about Halloween, and provide them with an alternative to "trick-or-treating". Don't just take away the bad; give them some Biblical replacement that will honor the Lord instead of honoring the devil. God desires for children of all ages to have enjoyment, but "fun" at the expense of serving the devil is not really enjoyment at all. .

"LEARN NOT THE WAY OF THE HEATHEN" (Jeremiah 10:2)

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Check this post on Halloween link: http://truthsvessel.blogspot.com/