Ahhh, it's that time of year again. the time of year when everyone gos and dresses up in costumes of things that dont look real and try to scare each other. The time when you have to buy tons of candy or turn the lights out so trick or treaters won't come. But gasp! This year Halloween is on Sunday! Oh no! What are we gonna do about it? Sit at home and watch Leave it to Beaver re-runs? Nah. Lets do somthing to make Halloween more profitable to God then profitable to Satan.

Okaaaaay, so how do we do that? We tell the kids about Christ. Yay! Lets give them a tract and candy! Okay, tracts are good, but maybe there is somthing more we can do. Hmmm. Let us think. OH! we could have some programs at our church! Hooray! Wait. What if the kids dont want to got to our Church. Hm... Ah! We could put tables out at people from our church's houses! And there, we could tell kids about Jesus! And give them candy!(That will draw the kids) Yay! A great idea!

Anyways, the point of what I'm saying here is, will you let Satan take this day and make it Halloween, or let God get the victory and make it Hallowed eve? Let us praise the Lord and win the more!

Satan only has a day when you give it to him.
Don't let him have that sastisfaction.
Also, don't force your beliefs down little kids' throat, most are probably too young to care and it'll just anger their parents.
Btw, I suggest you check the two paged topic about this already.

Yeah, this is a borderline dupe topic. It could probably slide into the speeches/sermons forum maybe? (considering your 1st post). So I'll move it there.......

Anyway, here's my reply:
1st off, don't be bashing Leave it to Beaver :P . Although Green Acres, Andy Griffith, etc. are better in my opinion.....

Not only do all those things, but maybe have a mini fall festival and invite the neighborhood to your house. In the midst of the fun, games, & candy, present the Gospel.
This guy spoke at my church today about always being ready to share your faith. He asked a few questions:
-"Do you care where all these people who die every day spend eternity (heaven/hell)?"
-harder question: "Do you care enough to do something about it?"

Don't miss this oppurtunity. Also while we're on the topic of evangelism, pray for me to have boldness to talk to one of my friends about Christ. She knows about Christ, but I don't really know if she's actually ever asked Him into her life.

Hey, I just thought of Leave it to Beaver off the top of my head. I acctually like that show :P

To JF: I never said force it down their throats, but I'm sayin dont miss this oppotunity. You will probably only see these kids one time, dont miss the opportunity. The other topic is about getting candy and celebrating Halloween, Not about how we could witness to them.


I'll be praying for you dan, and I'm sure the other members will too.

Can somebody please elaborate to me how dressing up in stupid costumes which wouldnt scare a Grunt from Halo is a day profitable to satan?

-DA

Who said it was?

Well, Jesus said that if you aren't for him, you're against him. So if you're not using the day to be profitable to God, who's it helping? Satan.

What about grey areas? Is the bible all black and white? could you please provide evidence that shows the bible considers activities other than christ-sharing to be satan-pleasing? for example, if I'm working on a physics paper for class, am I being sinful, even though I'm gaining knowledge?

It depends on how you plan to use that knowledge. Using the day to be profitable for God doesn't mean you stand all day on a street corner and preach a sermon. I mean, I spend a lot of time gathering info, because I'm trying to write a couple of Christian books. Is gathering the info wrong? No. I'm going to use it to God's glory. But what if I take that info and somehow use it to hurt someone? That's not right.

Your missing the point, methinks. What if you collect the info not to glorify God or hurt someone....Or does not glorfying God automatically hurt people some how....?

-DA

Well, God wants you to use what he's given you. And if you're using the mind he's giving you, that CAN be glorifying Him. It doesn't necessarily have to be, but it can be, if you choose that.

Good point.

You can use anything for the glory of God, even Halloween. If we go and tell others bout Christ on Halloween, we are making it profitable to God. If you sit and do nothing, THEN, satan has won. He cant take you from God, but he can try to make you ineffective.

You can milk cows to the glory of God (random example). The main thing is your motives. Anter Kagal hit it right on the mark. If you're not doing something for God, even if your not trying to "hurt" someone, Satan's won that battle by stopping you (even if you don't know it) from doing what God wants.

About your quote:
No, the Bible is not all "black and white." There are areas that it doesn't touch on more or less b/c some of the issues weren't the same as now. BUT from studying the different parts of the Bible and praying, you can get a pretty good idea of what's right and what's wrong. And guess what? It's not necessarily the same for everyone (excluding the big stuff i.e. lying, stealing, killing, anything it specifically talks about). People are at different stages of maturity in Christ. Also a person's past plays a big role too. For example (hypothetical):

This guy was a hard core Satanist and Halloween was a day he REALLY used to worship Satan. However, one day, he becomes a Christian. (I won't get n2 a long story here). The next year, Halloween roles around again and his Christian friends invite him to go trick-or-treating with them (harmless right?).

I'll leave you hanging and finish in a little bit. I have to go & win finals at Regionals for swimming. :P

Well it depends. If you have a job, you are thus prevented from becoming a missionary, but you can still witness in your work area. I Wouldn't give Satan any credit when you sin, it's your own Sinful Nature (The Flesh) that quenches the Spirit.
What has Satan won when you are just doing things for fun? Remember God created certain things for our pleasure and benefit.
We have a calling to witness but, all work and no play makes Tom a dull boy. :P

~R-A2~

As long as you don't sin. Hah, great youth group memories. playing lasertag from midnight to 7 AM.

Sure, that true, but if you NEVER tell anyone about Christ, or having fun take time with God away from you, then it's wrong. There should be a balance between witnessing and playing, make sure you dont tip the scale the wrong way.

I don't mean everyone has to go out and become a missionary. That's not what God's called everyone to do. And I'm not talking about when we commit a specific sin necessarily. What I am saying is that God gives us oppurtunities all the time, and if we don't use them (which has happened to all of us), Satan's accomplished one of his main goals: to hinder the work of God and the spreading of the Gospel.

Anyway, back to my example (sorry it took so long to get back. after regionals, I was about 60 miles off shore fishing the next day):
To recap:

His friends are fine with Halloween, BUT he knows what it was to him before. He's trying to move on from his previous life and to grow spiritually. So in his case, Halloween wouldn't be a good thing to celebrate b/c it's still a big stumbling block to him.

Working on a physics paper can be pleasing to God b/c you are using the mind He gave you. The greatist scientistsin the world, such as Newton, were Christians and did their research for God.

In 1 Corinthians 10:31, Paul writes, "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."

I know God hasn't called everyone to be missionarys (sp?), I also said that in my post, God calls us to witness to our neighbors etc.
I see what you mean, in your earlier post though your postulate was a bit broad: " If you're not doing something for God, even if your not trying to "hurt" someone, Satan's won that battle by stopping you (even if you don't know it) from doing what God wants."

What if you're just having fun with your friends, or maybe just played videa Games. Where do you draw the line between not doing something for God and just having plain old fun?

Sorry, I wasn't clear. I don't think that there really is much of a "neutral" zone. I mean if eating and drinking aren't neutral, what is? I see what you mean, but you can be doing what God wants by just hanging out with your friends or playing video games or something like that. God's fine with "just having plain old fun." Jesus had fun with his disciples. He went to parties. Sometimes he just "chilled" on the lake fishing with his disciples. But he did it all for God; he was never out of His will. When these things start to get bad and stray away from God's plans is when we start choosing them over other things that He's called us to do. Remember, God can use ANYTHING.

1 Timothy 4:4- "For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving."

No problem, I see your point, I was just wondering what you meant exactly. I agree that whatever you do you should do for the Glory of God, it's just hard to tell whether you're doing it or not. :)

~R-A2~

Well Halloween went well for us, great worship, and a lot of tract and Good News spread out. How about you guys?

It was fun! One thing though *gasp* we went ToTing with our friends. Who are btw Christians. I dislike the harvets festival's at a local church that holds them. You get 1 piece of candy at each station (it's exactly the same as ToTing except it's in a church, and they're stingy!) and you have to be below 11 to even particitpate!
Read Romans 14 and the other halloween debate topic, there is an interesting story that was posted.

~R-A2~