My Cursory Halloween post

I wanted to respond to and post responses from my first Halloween post. What you find below is the original post with a couple of responses and then my response or follow up to it all. Please enjoy and join the conversation:
I like Halloween. Carving pumpkins is one of my favorite activities. I think Halloween is mostly what we make of it. I like watching my kids dress up and get candy. It’s too much fun for us Christians to ignore!

Kinda like Easter. The Easter bunny is just as insidious as jack-o-lantern if you ask me. Plus with Easter you don’t get to carve a pumpkin.

I know the history and how Halloween evolved, but I don’t dwell on that. I focus on the fun of it. I use it for my own good.

What do you think, should a Christians avoid Halloween?

RE: Interesting take bro. At the risk of sounding too dogmatic let me give an opposing view. This is one that Darcy and I have chosen to apply Eph. 5:11 to. Although it might be fun for some, this night torments others. It's just hard for me to celebrate a night that there are actual sacrifices and real rituals going on. I've been challenged that if I really want to practice something on this night it probably should be praying for those tormented with demons and demonic practices. Somewhere there is someone that has a real name that is suffering demonic oppression.
Now that that is out of the way....you know that I love you and we think ALOT alike. This is just something that Darcy and I choose to abstain from because of personal convictions. Maybe its been because of the direct demonic activity that we see on the rez? For us, this is a conviction that is most certainly a "non-essentail" for Christians and we quietly let the holiday pass without "preaching" to our friends. I believe that there are great Christians on both sides of this one. I also understand that we walk a fine line sometimes. Being "in the world, but not of the world" sort of thing. As you know, I'm one that is comfortable being in a bar reaching out, I listen to secular music, etc, etc. So yeah, I'm a hypocrite in many areas. I guess that's the beauty of swimming in God's grace....
Thanks for asking the question. If you (or anyone else) is interested in hearing the sermon that changed my view on the holiday back in 1999. Go here http://bit.ly/aO7I8S

JP: I was with Ron...until Christ did something new in my heart. A "Mission" if you will...here are 2 blogs I wrote about what God did last year...
http://redeemedbeautifulmess.blogspot.com/search/label/Missional%20Halloween
KR: I LOVE the swimming in God's grace:) we all have so much to learn and so far to go really huh? ONE day we will all be 'perfected' but until then we can strive to be and live all He has called us too.. (i'm stealing the swimming quote btw, thanks)..I am with Mr. Ron,(even tho Polk is my bbestest buddy)..I believe we do not need to partake of the evil deeds of the darkness and we have an entire year to reach out and LOVE our neighbors..I do not have to provide a substitute of fall festivals or 'biblical' costumes for my kids..I do not give them 'carrots' to smoke as a substitute for cigarrettes..evil is evil and I do not need to condone it or think my kids are missing out.. my kids can dress up ALL the time, they can have a treat all the time...if we truly know and understand what the Enemy is up to on his 'day' then I'm again w/Ron we'd be on our faces praying for the children who will be sacrificed today..the 'fun' appearance of Halloween is a great cover up for the horrificness going on behind the scenes..please do not hear what I am NOT saying, I do not have all the answers and I am not all knowing..these are JUSt my families convictions based on what we believe the whole of God's word has shown us..and YES, I am passionate about it..there are many things we as believe s have bought into as they subtely get 'the ok nod' from the church and we have no clue how very far from His mark we have drifted..like Easter, Yes Eli it has Pagan roots as well!! aahhh!!!..this can get me off on the rabbit trail of many other things like Birth Control and dating and lots of other things we 'do' now that the world has slowly crept into the church..instead of us RUNNING SCREAMING INTO the WORLD with HIS HOPE and how WE should be changing their 'stuff' instead of vise versa !! So, all that to say..more..:) one of my former pastor's sat by a 'warlock' on a plane, (unknowingly to the warlock) and shared all about how they pray for the destruction of Pastors and they DO consider Halloween their High Holy Day and they do a whole lot of really BAD stuff on Halloween on purpose.. and they are amused that 'we' Christ followers celebrate the day with them cuz they sure atren't celbrating Christmas or Easter with us! (and they aren't out trying to 'evangelize' us on those days..interesting/scary stuff..ANYWAYS..I am SOOOO VERY FAR from who I know I am supposed to be.I am not sitting in judgement on what anybody else does on that day..we are individually responsible for what we do with Truth ya know..again, like Mr. Ron, I miss the mark all the time...I KNOW I do things still (sin) that I desire to NOT do BUT just not enough quite yet to 'give it up' or maybe I do thoings that other Christ followers consider sin, like oh..I spend money on eating out while every 6seconds a child starves or dies from treatable disease..so, I will continue to swim in God's GRACE and try to figure out daily how I can walk in the Light with a God who recklessly pursues me and you...btw just a few years ago i thought 'people' like me were wayyyy to extreme and a little nutty and legalistic...NOW, I feel like I am free to honor my God by NOT participating in a day that I know grieves His heart..( I love the time the new church brought togather all the 'witchcraft junk' etc and burned it or whatever.. would that we were so brave now...man, I'd have to burn a lot that i bet God consiers NOT of the Light ya know????/...until next time, forgive my rambling and my lack of 'smarts' I'm just a wife/mom 'on the road to beautiful'...LOVE YOU GUYS!!!! (not grammar or spell checking..) peace & everything is grace!!!
Happy Martin Luther day btw!!!!!!
KR: oh let's all get back to HIs Holy-days (all the God feasts and festivals) that He put in place as ways to remember and know Him. He never told us to stop!!!...oh what kinda craziness would that be...go research it!!! His Holidays are sooo much better than the one's we have created, and they would be a way to draw unbelievers to Light!!! whoooo hoooo! let's get radical for Him!!!! ok, I'm done..again, forgive my typos!!..still swimming in grace!
Eli Westfall: I want to respond to everyone. Just know that, but it will not happen tonite. I will offer a response tomorrow.
KR: no response needed for me...i 'throw up' what i'm thinking and then...well, i'm off to something else BUT in parting..know that the bottom line for me is that we are each living 'it out' in ways we are at peace with or wrestling through daily/yearlyand God knows our hearts...love you all!
So, after having considered all of the thoughts above, I sit here listening to the sermon that my buddy Ron has suggested I hear.
My response and follow up post:

I should share my evolution of Halloween...

As a child we did Halloween just like everyone else. I have only been to one haunted house ever. We never indulged in the scariness of it all, just the costumes and the candy.

Then, my first ministry in bible college I was at a church that wanted to have a haunted house at the church. When I said I didn't want to do a haunted house, I was chastised and this began the end of ministry there. It was at this time, I began to research and find the history and know what Halloween was all about. I was appalled when I learned what was the real story behind Halloween. So, I began to resist and not celebrate or do anything for Halloween. And then as time passed, so did my convictions against Halloween. Around that time we also had kids.

I feel like Halloween is a very tough place for us as Christians. More so than other holidays that have been taken over or have attempted to cover pagan holidays. I mentioned Easter as one of them. The Easter bunny drives me insane. Calling that Sunday, Easter drives me crazy!! It's Resurrection Sunday, not Easter.

I suppose in some ways, I have turned my frustrations that were previously reserved for Halloween towards Easter. I say that, but I still allowed Easter baskets. In the long run, Easter doesn't have the roots that Halloween does.

I agree, much of what we know Halloween to be is of demonic origin. My aim with Halloween is to allow my children to enjoy themselves on this day, like any other. We had a fall festival that was a blast. It occurred on Halloween, but I wanted to have it on another day. Having said that, I feel like offering what we did on Halloween was a great success. I said that I didn't want to have it on Halloween, but in the end I felt that having it on Halloween was the best time to have had it.

Maybe, a Halloween alternative on Halloween is actually a good idea. Who would have thought that? My new approach to Halloween is to offer an alternative, not just embrace it nor ignore it. How that will play out each year, I don't know.

Any further thoughts?