Thinking ahead to Halloween
OK, I have some potentially exciting news.
It’s that I am trying to do something new here on my blog by uploading a video to post tomorrow. The video is of my testimony which I gave as an interview on Christian TV here in London.
As some of you may have read here before, my road to committing fully to God came as a result of being involved in the occult when I was in my late teens. As I became more heavily involved I started to develop extreme levels of fear and anxiety, which had a terrible effect on my life at the time.
The reason I’m trying to post this tomorrow is because it’s Halloween. As background, I have to say that when I was a kid I used to love dressing up and trick-or-treating around our neighbourhood, and would never have given anything deeper a second thought.
To be honest, had I not experienced the occult in the way that I did, I still may not have thought any more deeply about Halloween now, and may have still just seen it as a bit of harmless fun.
But after coming out of the occult, and into relationship with God, He showed me His thoughts about occult practices which are throughout the Bible; in particular that these practices are “abomination” to Him (Deuteronomy 18:12). This is a strong word, and it means that God hates, loathes, detests and is repulsed by these practices. He is really not neutral about it.
Not only did that help me to realise what spiritually dangerous territory I had been treading through my past involvement, but it also became relevant for me regarding things like checking my horoscope in the paper, watching certain programmes on TV, and also, my thoughts on Halloween.
My understanding is that Halloween has its roots in an ancient Celtic festival called Samhain. It was believed that on this night the divide between the human world and supernatural world was at its weakest and that it was possible for the spirits of the dead to return and bring harm to the living. One way that these harmful “tricks” could be avoided by these spirits was by leaving out “treats” in the form of food and drink.
This evening was also an opportunity for people to commune with the spirits to foretell the future. It is believed that the devil himself was also called upon to tell people about their future.
The Bible clearly tells us that God does not want us to practice such things as fortunetelling and divination, so I question then whether it’s a good idea to join in with Halloween when part of its history is understood to have involved these.
For me, I see that Halloween is marked by beliefs and activities that go against God’s Word and offend Him a lot. Because I want to please Him, my decision is to part ways with the event. I love the way The Message puts this verse where God says to us, “Don’t link up with those who will pollute you. I want you all for myself. I’ll be a Father to you; you’ll be sons and daughters to me” 2 Corinthians 6:17-18. And where Paul says,”… dear friends, let’s make a clean break with everything that defiles or distracts us, both within and without. Let’s make our entire lives fit and holy temples for the worship of God” 2 Corinthians 7:1.
The other reason I have chosen not to go along with Halloween is definitely a result of my past experiences of the occult. It really affected me, and I know that as harmless as it may seem, the supernatural realm is real, and my hope is that by posting my testimony it may make others think again when it comes to Halloween.
After saying all of this, there is a possibility that we won’t be able to pull it off from a technical point of view. We’re going to look at uploading it tonight ready for tomorrow, but at the moment there are glitches – eek. So I can’t promise it’ll be a success, but either way, hopefully this post has been helpful at putting forward my own take on Halloween.
But I am hopeful, so if you’re interested, do come back tomorrow to see the interview!
yes,i do want to see it! i think its so cool you got to give your testimony on television. =)
Praise you JESUS! I cannot wait to see it!! I know of a young man that reently came out and is not saved by grace…I have dabbled as well..but they kicked me out..I often wondered if that was God, and if the simple prayer of my childhood was apparent to them. I used to joke about it, now I just say Thank you Jesus! love you Princess!
that’s awesome birgit. What an awesome testimony you have. I’d love to hear more about what you went through/ where you came from… how/when God pulled you out. look forward to seeing the video! :) love,
Birgit you are the real deal! Can’t wait to see it, and love your testimony. God pulled ya out of the muck….thank you for being transparent..Love you!!!
Thank you so much for sharing B. As a kid, I went trick or treating and dressed up but I don’t remember the exact perception I had of Halloween of growing up because I grew up in a Muslim home and I believe they are indifferent to the spiritual connotation behind Halloween. I do believe that it is not something to be celebrated though and that we can find alternatives to kids getting candy and having fun. Not sure the dressing up part is ‘bad’ necc depending on how you dress up for example my godson’s daycare had a little costume party and he was dressed up as a doctor. It was during the day and it was harmless. I think its important to teach our kids the history, significance and the balance in how to respond to traditions surrounding halloween. Love you; hope all is well.
Oh my goodness, I can’t wait!
R
Thanks, Birgit! I just read this to my daughter. We’ve had this discussion for years and since college I’ve chosen to not celebrate Halloween. (Well, I’ve said this on another post so won’t go into it again here.) My experience is much the same, although my “dabbling” in the occult occurred as a child — what we thought were harmless seances (in church!!!).
Anyway…hope y’all can get the video to play. Love you.
[...] In case you didn’t see yesterday’s post, this is an interview I gave on Revelation TV about my testimony. It’s about my past involvement in the occult, the effects this has had on my life, and my conversion experience where God supernaturally intervened and revealed Himself to me. If you would like to know more about my reasons for posting this today, on Halloween, please do take a look at yesterday’s post here. [...]
Halloween - TV Interview « said this on October 31, 2008 at 9:37 am
Hi Sarah, yeah it was so fun, and such a blessing to be able to share what God’s done :).
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Hi darla, how amazing that God’s hand was upon you, keeping you safe, I love that! love you too :).
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Hi Randi, I am so thankful to God for what He has done, I dread to think what would have happened without Him, He is so good. Love and blessings.
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Hi Debs, love the way you put that – “out of the muck” – so true! It is so true that He comes to bring us life, and to bring more abundantly (John 10:10). He is so amazing. Love you too.
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Hi G, thanks so much for your thoughts here. Like you, I didn’t consider the connotations of Halloween growing up, and just enjoyed the dressing up part and the sweets. I agree, that it’s great to give children fun alternatives. I’ve heard of churches holding parties on this date where children get to dress up as angels, bible characters etc and sometimes go out into the neighbourhood ‘giving’ sweets as they go. Some of those ideas sound good, and hopefully families have just as much fun. Lots of love to you.
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Hi Roxx, hope you enjoy it, bless you :)
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Hi Michelle, I relate to your experience, about being a believer and going to church, but not realising God’s view of dabbling in the occult. I’m so thankful that He drew me out. And good news! We did get the video up, yay! God bless you and your family, love you.
It is truly amazing the unique path that God leads us each on.