All… Holy saint’s… night!

On By LeneInJapanIn anxiety, Chasing Jesus

13d3f4f10e98973e.jpgOh boy, am I ever going to be unpopular after this…!!
Best to apologize in advance if I step on a pinky toe… Sorry!

Each year I have the internal struggle, whether or not to whip up a post about that festive night of the year where people, adults and kids alike, dress up to look horrible (?!!??)…
You know, that night when “scary is good and fear is fun”?

God gave us free will and I love that He did. We have choices…
My choice is to not celebrate Halloween.
Okay, so you do, but at least the costumes are cute and the pumpkin is smiling – yeah? Take a slice of moldy bread and smear on a nice thick layer of peanut butter and it looks really good – but the bread is still moldy.54eba640e0b89_-_halloween-mason-jars-luminaries-boo-xln.jpg
Sorry – couldn’t help squeezing that one out…

Yep, I can almost feel someone slapping my face now “How dare I – who do I think I am”… I’m a nobody. Pay no attention to me… after all, it’s still your choice.

halloween-party-spread.jpg
Why not join in the fun? So many Christians all over the world enjoys the party of All hallows eve and it’s Catholic too!?! I know many Christians who does celebrate it and often because “why take the fun away from the kids?”

 

Yeah – that’s where my internal struggle begins.

Honestly, it freaks me out. Just the look of the decorations gives me the creeps… which in turn is actually the main idea, right?
Or maybe I’m wrong… But if it creeps me out, does it come from Jesus?

I have no intentions of digging into the Celtic “Samhain” or the Catholic church’s “all saints day”. If you have the interest, there’s about a million websites out there all speaking for or against Christians celebrating Halloween.

pv_week
Since when are scared kids fun: Top FEAR pics of the WEEK? Seriously??

– But for me, simply gazing at the Halloween I see around me:
It’s creepy, crawly, monsters, zombies, ghosts, goblins, witches, sorcerers etc. Pumpkins with frown or smiley face and all that simply tells me:
This is something odd and scary. Then I see kids dressed up in anything between princesses, superhero’s and zombies and they learn that this scary stuff is fun.

It’s not fun. It’s scary. Fear is not fun and fear is not from the Lord!

Dwelling on the Lord… I can’t find any place in the Bible where the Lord says I should celebrate (or pray to) His dead saints nor dress up like something only the evil one would do anything, to make us wear.

What I do have are Bibles where it repeatedly states in various ways:

kids-halloween.jpg.gif
A smiling devil?? Yeah, something’s wrong here!

“Do not have anything to do with sorcerers… evil… darkness…” etc. Want the verses? Try Ephesians 5:8 and 11, Galatians 5:19-20, Deuteronomy 18:9-13 and I’m sure there’s more.
Halloween, as far as I can see, does not celebrate anything that has to do with God. Because only good things comes from God. When we try to make scary costumes fun, we are teaching the kids exactly that. Is that really good? pure? holy? kind?

Halloween is not a celebration given to us by the Lord God and that’s why I’m the “evil mom” who places the huge burden upon my daughter’s shoulders, to say NO when her friends in school want her to celebrate Halloween! – Praise Jesus, for He gives her the strength to speak up and say no.
Gosh, I’m so proud of her!

the-philippians-4-8-filterI know that my opinion about Halloween is strong, but I do respect those who chooses to celebrate it anyway. That’s not really any of my business. However, I will choose to ignore or delete any comments to this post which may indicate a longing to change my mind…
So, if I have stepped on your toes, I’m sorry. But I really really really do not like anything that has anything to do with Halloween or the celebration of it
That’s me…
But I still love you! May Jesus Bless you all and keep you safe from evil all the days of your lives. Amen.

42 thoughts on “All… Holy saint’s… night!”

  1. I totally agree. I hate Halloween! I have to say when my kids were young we did trick or treat. I guess I didn’t have enough conviction to day no. We do not participate now, we leave the light off and do not give out candy. All the decorations creep me out too. Then we wonder why young children have fears and Nightmares of monsters and evil things.

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    1. Just a half inch of an open door and the devil will creep in! He has no mercy and I think many forgets that. Thanks for stopping by. It was good to hear your voice 🙏🏼 Gods blessings to you.

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  3. I liked this friend! It’s really good. I couldn’t help but chuckle about the moldy bread and peanut butter 😉

    I am definitely one who has never given it much though. I’ve given Santa Claus more thought in regard to my kiddos than I have Halloween. I can’t disagree with anything you have here. Maybe it’s time I rethink some of this.

    Scary stuff aside, the part of Halloween that really breaks my heart is how many girls use it as an occasion to basically wear lingerie to parties and go house to house. It’s sad. It’s like, I put on this mask and I can be someone different, I can indulge in that one sin that I don’t indulge in 364 days of the year. It’s sad to my heart. They are worth more than that, the beauty they image God in is worth more than being trashed out one day a year. Not that guys aren’t trashing themselves on Halloween as well, because they definitely do. But my daughters will not be doing that. That’s one to put up on Song of Virginity!

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    1. Yeah… why don’t you write that one, as I don’t know much about halloween in the US and never celebrated it in Denmark – my point of view is solely from outside in, and here in Japan where miniskirts are daily sights throughout the year – including snow days!
      Santa claus… that’s one I haven’t given much thought! Don’t use him much in this household though 😉

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      1. Well, I might take you up on that one come next September/October. Oh that’s too bad. I really would love for all girls and women to know their worth as image bearers of God’s beauty. They don’t have to show off to get attention. They already have captivated God’s Son’s heart and are the apple of his eye.

        We use Santa as a story and we ask our kiddos if they are choosing to believe in the santa story each year and then they tell us what they want to do with it. I don’t think it’s as big of a deal as some people make it, but that’s just my personal opinion. I don’t have a built out theology on it or not. I saw some of your Christmas dolls (I’m assuming) you put up on FB. Is that a Danish tradition or just your family tradition? We start putting our Christmas stuff up the day after Black Friday (so two days after Thansgiving here in the States). I’m excited!! 🙂

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      2. I just can’t imagine what black Friday is…??
        The Christmas dolls (FB) are a gift from my uncle when I left for Japan. They are 60 cm tall so quite big. Scandinavia uses “pixies” and not elfs… and yes, I decorate with many of them. Just haven’t gotten there yet 😉

        All I know about Santa is that in the dark middle ages in Italy there was a Catholic priest dressed in black named St. Nicolas and on the Christmas eve he walked from door to door offering gifts (literally foods) to kids. Then Coca-cola came around, dressed santa in a red suit and slam bam; Santa was born… I personally don’t have a beef with Santa. Santa springs from something good. As long as my kiddo trusts Jesus, I’m good 😉

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      3. Pixies, really? That’s super cool! It’s elves here, we like to keep it in the Tolkein vein around, we like our elves.

        I agree with what you said there about St Nicolas and as long my kiddos trust Jesus, we’re good. That’s all we need. If they wanna choose to believe in the santa story, go for it. It’s fun. Plus I get to eat the milk and cookies! I mean, er, Santa does 😉

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      4. I’ll put some photos out of our little pixies here… We decorated for Christmas today so it’s all out now, except for the tree 😉
        I like elves – and Tolkien, though reading him gets a bit heavy at times 😉

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      5. That’s fun!! Can’t wait to decorate ourselves. I DID get my first back of Christmas Blend at Starbucks yesterday and it’s super yum. Btw, is Starbucks a big thing in Tokyo?

        Whoa, hold on there…Tokien is heavy? Ok, I mean his stuff is like a thousand words per page, BUT it’s like stepping into a magical world. I actually have had this tradition myself since I was in high school that I read Lord of the Rings every Thanksgiving to Christmastime. It’s fun 🙂 I have wonderful memories being snuggled up next to a warm fire under a big blankie reading Tolkein and drinking coffee while snow comes down outside. That’s my fave 😉

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      6. Oh how I love me some gingerbread latte from Starbucks! My ultimo FAVE!! Yes, starbucks is a big deal here in Japan but they have sharp competition…
        For me… well… yeah, Tolkien is heavy reading. I don’t actually read english all that fast 😉 Besides, I like historical novels if not Christian living type of reading, besides the obvious choice of reading the Bible – he he. But coffee, fireplace, blankie and snow sounds hot! 😉

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      7. Hey I’m at Starbucks right now!! Drinking a Christmas blend coffee and…well talking to you haha! And doing some Greek. Good times 🙂 so tired I could drink a gallon of coffee and it wouldn’t be enough. gingerbread latte is goodstuff! I love the peppermint mocha too, that’s yum! I like to make mine a peppermint white mocha.

        OK fair enough. Tolkien is heavy reading for native speakers, let alone Danes 😉 oh yeah, snow and fireplaces, that’s on of my fave parts of winter! Love it!

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      8. Really, you’ve never heard of it? Black Friday is a pretty big deal. It’s basically a time when the stores here have massive sales. It usually starts late evening Thanksgiving, or early morning the day after (like 3am). It’s crazy too. Youtube Black friday and you’ll see some CRAZY videos of people going CRAZY over stuff. It’s the epitome of humanity’s desire of stuff. lol. Ok, so seriously, my mom and wife have gone the past couple years, but they usually go early Friday morning to get a couple things and they’re gone for an hour or two just to get a couple deals. But it’s becoming a tradition where people eat thanksgiving dinner at like noon and spend the rest of the day at Best Buy or Target or Kohls waiting in the parking lot until they open. In fact, some of my family used to spend the night in the parking lot at an electronics store waiting in line with a tent until the store opened at like 3am. WOW. I love Thanksgiving time way too much to do that. I’ll pay the extra 200 bucks for whatever I don’t need (or I’ll just not buy it), I’m spending that day and the next day at home, in my jammies, drinking coffee and eating turkey by a warm fire 🙂

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      9. Are you serious? THAT’s black friday?? Gee… I had something like a memorial day in mind… and then it turns out to be a complete shopping shock! I’m literally rolling of the floor laughing out loud now! That is hilarious (and a little tragic, but…)

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  5. spiritualsignposts

    You are totally right Lene, thank you for your post. If only more people thought seriously about what they are getting involved with. But Jesus has, can and will overcome the darkness!

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    1. Amen to that – He already has! But unfortunately I wonder if that is why many Christians think they can celebrate a festival like halloween… Anyway, thanks for commenting. It’s encouraging to me. Many Blessings.

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  7. I love the honesty in your post as this is what God is calling me too. When my top 5 were very young we did not do anything. Then we trick or treated a little, then we participated in harvest festivals and lastly we trick or treated again for a year or two with my two youngest. Halloween has always disturbed me yes I hate it. I don’t want to nor like to celebrate it. All my kids are past trick or treating this year and I am so thankful I can put this holiday behind me. Thanks for posting this. The Holy Spirit has been pointing out how we are adapting to our culture as the Isrealites did so this confirmation of what He has been getting across was timely!

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  8. Good for you! Don’t violate your conscience before the Lord just to be able to fit in.

    We don’t celebrate Halloween, either, and our kids were generally repulsed by the public decorating schemes from a very young age.

    The really disturbing thing to me is that our (US) culture seems to have adopted the
    idea that it should be Halloween nearly every day. The influence is very widespread.

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    1. Thanks for stopping by! I can’t really speak for US culture, but I can say that here in Japan Halloween seems to be bigger than most other “holidays”, including their own cultural/religious celebrations. And that scares me…

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  9. Lenae

    I just wanted to stop by and thank you for liking my post! Loved your post! Its amazing how God’s word can change your view of things! I can remember not too far in the past, I used to love Halloween, now it really rubs me the wrong way. I hope your week is well.

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  10. Thank-you for sharing this post, you are absolutely right about Halloween. We live in a physical and spirit world and all those creepy monsters and Hocus Pocus stuff attracts the spirit world and they attach themselves to those who invoke their names. An analogy is prayer, when you pray and you invoke the name of God and Jesus to help you, they listen and work on your behalf, similarly with spells and names of monsters you are invoking them. Here’s an old post that I have on Halloween. BE WARNED!!!! https://fathergodlovesyou.com/2016/03/17/the-enemy-comes-to-steal-your-joy/

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  12. You aren’t alone here! I have always struggled with this particular “holiday,” and am even (to some degree) alone in my family with it. My husband’s views are a little different than mine, and my kids range somewhere in between the two of us.

    Still, I wrote on this topic a few years ago on my old blog. It may still be active — I don’t know: https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8705204663520321048#editor/target=post;postID=4380672403735541726;onPublishedMenu=overview;onClosedMenu=overview;postNum=40;src=postname

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    1. The link isn’t active, so can’t open the page. Sorry.
      My husband is a bit the same – “It’s just a kids party!!”. We disagree each year, but he accepts that our daughter doesn’t do halloween. He’s a good guy 😉

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