practices such as witchcraft. The most important celebration for witchcraft practitioners was known as the “Black Sabbath,” which occurred on October 31st. It was that feast that gave us witches on broomsticks, black cats, skulls, and pumpkins. Early in the life of the church, there was a movement to honor the lives of certain church leaders and martyrs of the faith. Over time, they came to be called “saints.” Eventually, there were more saints than there were individual days to honor them. The solution seemed to be to consolidate the remembrance of all of them into one special day called “All Saints’ Day” on November 1st. This was an apparent attempt to coincide with the ancient festival of Samhain. A day that started out as simply a remembrance of the saints progressed to a reverence for the saints and finally ended in a worship of the saints. The night before evolved into “All Hallows’ Eve” and eventually to “Halloween.” So, what is a concerned Christian parent to do in the face of this history and such strong cultural pressures from friends to observe Halloween today? This requires an annual call for godly creativity to come up with positive alternatives for children. Here are some suggestions. First, do some Bible study with your children on what God says about dabbling in any occult practices. Next, try a fall festival with games, costumes, refreshments, and a good movie. If your children still like to dress up, substitute costumes that honor the demonic realm for ones with no negative connotations. Decorate your home with colorful, seasonal fall decorations. If you carve a pumpkin, give it a smile or a happy face. Tape a positive Gospel tract to the candy you give out. As Christians, let’s be done with ghosts, witches, vampires, and monsters! Let’s leave that to the prince of darkness. And as Christians, we must focus on Jesus Christ, “the light of the world” (John 8:12).
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