How to Ruin Halloween

Ken AshfordGodstuffLeave a Comment

Ua83218250Joel Stein (shorter):

Why can’t Halloween be all about demons and Satan, rather than about scantily-dressed nurses and pirates?

Actually (and predictably), there is a Christian right backlash against the whole demonic thing as well.

Over at Pat Robertson’s CBN you’ll find an entire page dealing with Halloween, complete with godly advice guaranteed to ruin the holiday for the kids:

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.

How to do this?  Well, CBN writers have come up with this oh-so-fun Halloween game:

Use M & M’s candy to help focus your family’s prayers of intercession for others.

Sure.  Um, okay.  ‘Splain me that, Lucy.

Say:

  • For every green M & M you chose, pray for your spouse (present or future) or some other significant person in your life. This is a great way to get kids thinking about what qualities they want to find in a future mate. Encourage them to pray for this person’s safety, spiritual and physical growth, and so on).
  • For every red M & M you chose, pray for a member of your family by name (a parent, son, daughter, brother, sister, grandchild, niece, nephew, cousin, aunt, uncle, and so on).
  • For every orange M & M you chose, pray for a teacher in your life (a co-worker, a professor, a pastor, a Bible study leader, a child’s school teacher, a mentor, or another teacher).
  • For every yellow M & M you chose, pray for one of your neighbors (a neighbor near your home, an office-mate, a person whose desk is near yours at school, or a neighbor close to your church).
  • For every dark brown M & M you chose, pray for a leader in your life (a politician, a local businessperson, a celebrity, a member of your church’s staff, the President, or another leader).
  • For every light brown M & M you chose, pray for Christians in other countries.

Of course, you can seriously screw up this game by buying those new pastel-colored M & M’s.

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Over at Crosswalk.com, they’ve come up with other ways to ruin Halloween for your kids:

Some churches and schools reserve a portion of the parking lot for "Trunk or Treat." The kids can be in one safe place and load up with candy served from open car trunks. At our church we’d have to use the side doors from all the minivans. Organize a community outreach such as a "Harvest Festival" with food, games, and gospel skits or messages. Invite your neighbors and kids’ sports teams. If you are comfortable allowing your kids to wear a costume, encourage them to dress up as Bible characters. Learn the character’s story together and use it as a witness to those who might ask, "Who in the world is Elijah ?" Avoid scary costumes and those that don’t honor God.

C’mon, kids.  We’re going to a parking lot to play "Trunk or Treat!".  Yaaaaaaaaay!

But remember, Halloween isn’t just for the kids.  It’s also for the unborn, who are — God tells us — people, too.

So why should they be left out?  Thankfully, they’re not.  Now the unborn can celebrate Halloween, too, with —

Halloween costumes for the unborn!!!

Fetus_halloween

Yaaaaaaay!