Halloween.....

Halloween.... I have a hard time with Halloween...we are bombarded with costumes, candy, decorations, gruesome haunted houses, movies, etc. etc. etc...from late summer to the actual "holiday" and then Everything is quickly reduced to sell and forget ....making way for sugar highs, dentists, Fall, thanksgiving and a secular Christmas... We have had so many bad things happen in the world lately, I don't need reminders through Halloween scenes in my neighborhood..I sound grumpy, I know...just not my thing... There is such hope, wonder, light, color that I don't want it over taken with the darkness of the Halloween stuff...so we have fall festivals, pumpkin patch parties to cover over the blackness...all of which are fun, great church activities, outreaches......and wonderful alternatives....so thank you to those who are creative and work on these things... Thank YOU for the Light that overcomes the darkness.....the victory through Christ over death... Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings. 1 Peter 5:8-9 NIV 1 Samuel 28 [Full Chapter] In those days the Philistines gathered their forces to fight against Israel. Achish said to David, “You must understand that you and your men will accompany me in the army.” David said, “Then you will see for yourself what your servant can do.” Achish replied, “Very well, I will make you my bodyguard for life.” [ Saul and the Medium at Endor ] Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had mourned for him and buried him in his own town of Ramah. Saul had expelled the mediums and spiritists from the land. . 2 Kings 9:22When Joram saw Jehu he asked, “Have you come in peace, Jehu?” “How can there be peace,” Jehu replied, “as long as all the idolatry and witchcraft of your mother Jezebel abound?” 2 Chronicles 33:6He sacrificed his children in the fire in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, practiced divination and witchcraft, sought omens, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the eyes of the Lord, arousing his anger. Micah 5:12I will destroy your witchcraft and you will no longer cast spells. Nahum 3:4all because of the wanton lust of a prostitute, alluring, the mistress of sorceries, who enslaved nations by her prostitution and peoples by her witchcraft. Galatians 5:20idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions Deuteronomy 18:9-11New International Version (NIV) Occult Practices 9 When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. 10 Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, 11 or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead.