The Doctrine of Halloween according to Lynn (Mom) Snowden

My mom and I have often discussed the hotly debated subject of Halloween. Christians are very divided on the issue. She has clearly explained her position on Halloween from the Bible and from her experience. To let you know, we see eye to eye on the issue. I think you will find that she has something of a gift for writing--I wish I got her gene (oh well).

What God Taught Me - A Few Golden Nuggets

As Halloween is approaching again there has been much discussion in the Christian circles about do you are don't you celebrate Halloween. Many years ago I watched a video that explained what Halloween meant and how the pagans developed and used Halloween to their Satanic pleasure. It was to say the least disgusting and because of that knowledge I made a decision that we would not - as a family - be celebrating. This was a center point for me for a few years and I spoke openly and bravely about it. Yet, even in that process God began to teach me many things and I have listed three of the most important to me and I hope they minister to you as much as they did me.

1) Pagan rituals are followed all over the place in our world today. For instance - did you have bridesmaids? That too was a pagan ritual - read up on it! There are things that we in our world do today that all took place and began as pagan rituals each and every one of them to glorify Satan. I don't think we can decide which ones are better and which ones are worse - pagan is pagan just as sin is sin.

2) To live as holy and acceptable to God means we put away the things of the world and take on Christ. We sin, but are we justifying it? Are we as disgusted with our current state in our fleshly body as we are in the practice of Halloween or other pagan ideas? Do we gossip? Do we look down on others as tho we are superior? Do we lie and cheat (even in the small things like packets of sugar!!!)? Do we put the needs of others before ourselves? Do we look at our sin as more disgusting that the sin we see in someone else that offends us? Do we work towards unity or towards division? Do we reflect fruit in Galations 5 by the flesh or by the Spirit? These things are more important to God than if we dress up and knock on someones door and say trick or treat! I can't imagine standing at the throne of God and defending my sin by saying - But Lord . . . I didn't do this and I didn't do that - and when He says . . . . You spoke ill of my people, you took delight in division, and your pride wouldn't allow you to hear the voice of rebuke - DEPART - so you showed the world that you stood against pagan ideas - DEPART - I don't know you.

3) God is Sovereign. No matter what Satan tries to do - he is only capable with what God has ordained him. Satan HAS been defeated - the victory HAS been won and we are to delight in that. If our focus of Godly living gets thwarted by focusing on battles that are already won then Satan does have the upper hand. What do I mean by this? Do I mean have a hay day and do whatever you want cuz bottom line the battle is won? Heavens NO!!! If God has revealed to you the nature of something that He wants you to be faithful in - such as the celebration of Halloween then by you not following that - it results in sin. BUT If God doesn't reveal that same thing to me and it is not an essential of the faith then is it sin for me? NO! It is all about being faithful to what God has called you to, not what he has called someone else to, but yourself. We must remember always that the battle that was won gave us victory and we have been given the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy and nothing shall by any means harm us. HOWEVER, we are not to rejoice in this that the spirits are subject to us, but rather rejoice that OUR NAMES ARE WRITTEN IN HEAVEN. What do I mean by this? I mean that we are called (Psalm 37:4) to delight ourselves in the Lord. We are told in Luke to rejoice that our names are written. We are told in Matthew to preach the gospel to the ends of the earth and THEN the end will come. God gives us straight up commands of what we are to do with our time and our talents - further his gospel - stand firm in the faith - and present ourselves as holy and blameless. No matter how hard we try to fight the darkness it will always be here. We can either fight it, or we can allow our light to shine and hope that by shining that light the darkness fades. People desire to be around those that have something they want. People have an inate desire to be happy joyous and free. When you emulate that there is a desire to be around you and others try to glean that from you. That is how churches grow - that is how the gospel is spread. When the fruit of the spirit is shining and being demonstrated in the human being it is a natural magnet to the lost. There is no progam and there is no class that can be more successful at this than the fruit of the spirit.

All of this to say - that is what God taught me! Again, I don't celebrate Halloween - but I know many that do - and that is their choice. If they ask me I will tell them. I find it no different than drinking alcohol. To some it is a sin, and to others in moderation and not crossing a line it is not. God didn't want me playing holy spirit - He had that covered!!! Jim (my husband) likes to hand out candy - he LOVES it when the little kids come to the door and he gets great enjoyment out of it. I stay in the other room and let him enjoy himself! For those that let their children partake in Satanic stuff I pray for them and hope that God will reveal to them how He wants them to live and deals with them accordingly - but for me - He has told me in his word that I'm to love them. Thats it. And if I read and meditate on His word I will know how to do that not only according to His Will, but to bring Glory to His name!