Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey - Ep 1257 | Demonic or Christian? How Believers Should Approach Halloween

Starting point is 00:00:00 Is it possible to redeem Halloween and use it for God's glory or should Christians just opt out entirely due to demonic activity and pagan origins? We will explore all of this today on today's episode of Relatable. By the way, if you don't subscribe, please subscribe on YouTube on Spotify, on Apple Podcasts. Some of you might watch it and not realize that you don't subscribe, but when you subscribe, it really helps us out. And so make sure that you are subscribe to Relatable on all channels. This episode is brought to you by our friends at Constitution Wealth. Christian investors are often shocked to learn that their portfolios include companies supporting causes that go against their faith. And this is why we should trust Constitution

Starting point is 00:00:42 wealth. They screen investment so your money isn't propping up agendas that conflict with scripture. Visit Constitutionwealth.com slash Alley for a free consultation. That's constitutionwelf.com slash Allie. Hey guys, welcome to Relatable. Happy Wednesday. Hope everyone is having a wonderful week so far. Today, we are going to talk about Halloween. This is a question that I get all the time every year. How should Christians think about Halloween? There are a lot of competing opinions and narratives about whether Halloween is a pagan ritual that Christians should have no part of, or if there is a way to redeem Halloween, or is Halloween actually Christian? in origin and we have talked about this. I think every year probably that Relatable has been around.

Starting point is 00:01:37 It was last year I believe that we talked to the guys from Coltish and they study this kind of thing, talk about it a lot. And so we talked about these different competing narratives. And I just want to give you a summary of not only the history of Halloween, but also my perspective on it. And what the Bible says about it also we're going to talk about satanic ritual abuse. Satanist view this day and how this might inform the Christian perspective on Halloween. So let me play you some of the conversations going on on TikTok, some opinions that are out there that might have even informed your opinion on Halloween. Here's not one. Don't stop supporting Halloween. Like, I shouldn't even have to say this as a Christian or a follower

Starting point is 00:02:21 of Christ, but that just shows how many people are not in their word and can't recognize witchcraft for what it is. So I challenge you guys to get in your work. word and ask the Lord to reveal to you what Halloween truly is and how it's demonic. Because y'all see these angels of death and all these skeletons and all this and that y'all just think it's for fall. That's not, no, fall is pumpkins and leaves and, no, that's not fall. It's witchcraft. Well, she's absolutely right that the Bible prohibits witchcraft.

Starting point is 00:02:51 I've actually talked to people who identify as Christians who tell me that they can be a Christian witch. Well, that's like saying you can be a Christian atheist. practicing witchcraft in sorcery was punishable by death in the Old Testament. And that's not to say that we have to have the same punishment today here in the United States, but Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever, Hebrews 138. So how God felt about sin in the Old Testament is the same way that he feels about sin today. And the severity of trying to channel power through demonic forces and through the dead,

Starting point is 00:03:28 using mediums to communicate to the dead. God still prohibits that for Christians today. That is a form of idolatry. And it is massing with a very real power that we don't want to mass with today. So I agree with her that Christians should have nothing to do with witchcraft. I agree with a lot of what she says there, that Deuteronomy passage that you saw there on the screen. If you're watching this, references the evils of witchcraft and that kind of demonic activity.

Starting point is 00:03:58 However, the debate still stands of whether Halloween always and perpetually represents those things and whether or not Christians can play any part in it at all. Here is another TikToker articulating this position, Sot too. I don't know why people still celebrate Halloween. It's widely known that it has demonic origins. Why are you dressing your little children up as demons and devils and thinking that's okay? Then on top of that, you teach children in schools to stay away from strangers who try to give you candy. But on Halloween, you let them go door to door to strangers' house to get candy. You are confusing your kids.

Starting point is 00:04:32 Honestly, we should throw away the concept of Halloween. Nothing about it is holy and nothing about it is meant for children. Don't blame me. It's science. So on that confusion piece, because I think that's a fair thing to explore, we've got another mom who is like, you know, I think that this kind of gives conflicting messages to our kids. And this probably represents maybe what a lot of you feel. Sot three. All right.

Starting point is 00:04:54 I think I'm finally on board with. thinking Halloween is demonic and we're done celebrating after enough prayer and research and I've heard enough okay we're we're not celebrating okay that being said I do feel like there is a place for like trunk or treats or like letting them dress up or have treats but for fun I don't I don't what that looks like yet. But I feel like there's a place probably for something like that. I'm sure that that is how a lot of you feel. And I think that that is kind of a fair feeling to have that tension of I want my kids to be able to have fun, but I don't want to celebrate a day that is demonic. So here's the question. Is Halloween demonic? Does it have exclusively pagan and

Starting point is 00:05:50 demonic origins? So as I said, there are varying narratives and opinions on this. I thought desiring God John Piper's ministry did a good job of summarizing what is believed to be the history of Halloween. So here's what this article says. The origin of Halloween is a bit murky, but it likely has its oldest roots in ancient pagan Celtic festival of Sowan. So that's spelled Sam Hain, but in Celtic, it's pronounced Salwin when the Celts of Ireland, Britain, and northern France celebrated the end of harvest in the beginning of their new year on November 1st. They believed that on the last night of the year of their harvest year, October 31st, the spirits of the dead would haunt the living so they would leave food and wine on their doorsteps to appease and ward off

Starting point is 00:06:36 spirits. If they had to leave the house, they would wear masks to fool the ghouls. In the 9th century, Pope Gregory moved All Saints Day, this was a Catholic holiday from May 13th to November 1st. We don't know why, but it is believed that maybe his purpose was to subsume the Celts, Sowan Festival. And this, of course, it's believed that it succeeded in doing that. In the Middle Ages, vigils were commonly held the night before high church feast days. So it was natural that one be held on the eve of all saints day, which would be, of course, October 31st. And this became known as all hallows Eve. Halousis or Helosis in Old English, that is the old English word for saints, or as the Scots pronounced it, Halloween.

Starting point is 00:07:27 So young people dressed up in costumes for fun on Halloween that emerged in the 16th century Britain. That was also called guising, kind of like disguising. These, it says this article said, these fun lovers would go house to house singing, reciting poems, or telling jokes in exchange for treats. The tradition of trick or treating, as we know it began essentially as a revival of guising among Irish and Scottish immigrants in late 19th century North America and was fully embraced by American pop culture by the end of 1940s. So it's actually like pretty recent that we have been

Starting point is 00:08:03 celebrating Halloween in this way. So from this perspective of the origins of Halloween, how we practice Halloween today is certainly a convergence of the ancient Catholic, or not ancient, but I guess you could call it ancient many centuries ago. The Catholic practice of holding vigils and going house to house and the pagan practice of putting treats out on your front porch to ward off spirits. And then it has, of course, evolved into what it is today. And we'll look at the modern revolution or evolution rather in just a second. Let me pause and remind you that if you did not make it to share the arrows or even if you did and you want to replay that awesome day, my Christian Women's Conference,

Starting point is 00:08:48 then you can subscribe to blaisTV.com slash alley. get $40 off your subscription. And you can subscribe to Blaze TV. You get access to all Blaze TV subscriber exclusive content. And you get access to all of Share the Eros this year and last year. It would be fun for you to get a subscription or maybe you go in on a subscription with your friends and you can all have a watch party. That would be super fun.

Starting point is 00:09:11 You can watch a little bit now, a little bit next week. That's the beautiful part of having this on demand. So go to blazTV. com slash Allie. That is available today. It was supposed to be available Monday, but then our server was down, and so we weren't able to get it out. So blazedTV.com slash Allie, watch your The Aeros today. Also, let me tell you about WeHeart Nutrition, just one of my favorite sponsors, because they're one of my favorite companies, period.

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Starting point is 00:10:32 It really is just a win all around. Go to Weheartnutrition.com. Use code Alley for 20% off your order. That's weheartnutrition.com code Alley. So there is kind of like a modernization of Halloween that has happened over the past. couple centuries, and it varies a little bit depending on what continent you're on. But if you look at, for example, early 16th century Britain, there was a practice known as souling, which was kind of a mid-evil tradition where poor people and later children went door to door on All Saints Day

Starting point is 00:11:14 begging for soul cakes in exchange for praying for the souls of their deceased relatives that they believed were stuck in purgatory. And so there's been like a lot of superstition and a lot of varying beliefs that have been intertwined with Halloween over the years. You have some sources saying that Halloween in the U.S. traces back to something called Guy Fawkes Day, November 5th, imported by immigrants celebrating the 1500s gunpowder plot with bonfires masks, pranks that blended with arriving, soling and guising customs that we already talked about by mid-century. So this is the,

Starting point is 00:11:54 you know, the kind of the 1940s that we talked about, 1950s, Halloween and America became this like wholesome Norman Rockwell-style kids holiday. For example, we know the classic cartoon. It's the great pumpkin,

Starting point is 00:12:09 Charlie Brown. And then, of course, America's love for capitalism kind of amplified the commercialization. of Halloween, the entertainment attached to it, and then of course the selling of candy. And we love any good reason to have fun and celebrate. But certainly over the past several decades, it has become darker and darker. As evil and horror movies, they make a lot of money.

Starting point is 00:12:35 And people have really kind of adopted this like personality, I think, of trying to be as scary and haunting as possible. There's also kind of like a sexualization that has. has been intertwined with Halloween, it seems, over the years, certainly the sexual revolutions of the 60s and the 70s, the new sexual revolution of the probably, I would say, 2010s until now, there has been an increased intertwining of not just very, like, promiscuous promoting costumes, but there's also an aspect of gender bending, an aspect of subversion, of gender norms.

Starting point is 00:13:19 There is, I would say, a big intertwining of pride and LGBTQ pride with Halloween as, again, people are kind of pushing back against sexual norms through their costumes and through their celebrations. And so it does seem that Halloween is particularly vulnerable to the societal sins of the day and like the spiritual state of the day. it just kind of takes on the form of society's ills and those end up being amplified and celebrated. There is also this aspect of true Satanism, which really does exist. And there's not really one definition of what Satanism means, but it does exist today.

Starting point is 00:14:05 It's existed in many forms for at least decades, if not centuries. Of course, witchcraft has existed for many millennia. but this Satanism as an organized religion, it looks like, I guess you could say just a group of people who they might actually worship Satan as a deity. They might worship multiple pagan gods or they might be atheists who just like to be a part of something or who believe in whatever values Satanism has. they might be witches, they might be wicked people. I think it describes people with all kinds of anti-God, anti-truth, anti-goodness, anti-love ideas that again want to be part of something

Starting point is 00:14:54 kind of coherent. And there is such thing as satanic rituals. There is such thing as satanic ritual abuse. In fact, you should go back and you should watch my episode with Jack Marino. and we will put the link in the description so you can go back and watch that with the rise of the new age movement and the commercialization of things like psychics and mediums, tarot cards, all of that. And by commercialization, I mean people like Taylor Swift making light of that, glorifying that, singing about some of that kind of stuff, we have seen a desensitization to the evils of that kind of sorcery and that has real not only spiritual and mental and emotional consequences,

Starting point is 00:15:39 but physical consequences, as we saw with the testimony of Jack Marino. And it was amazing. Christ rescued her so dramatically out of that. But we need to understand that Halloween can actually amplify some of the psychiatric disturbances of people who were either victims of satanic ritual abuse or who were just traumatized by the fear and the just depravity that some people like to showcase on Halloween. And I found this article from 1991. This is a Washington Post article about psychiatrists observing their patients with multiple personality disorder on Halloween specifically. Okay, so here's what the article says. Patients with multiple personality disorder in PD exhibit bizarre behavior in which personalities with distinct histories and voices

Starting point is 00:16:35 called altars emerge from a host personality under the influence of severe stresses. The illness is believed to arise most often as a defense against child abuse that is typically sexual and physically painful. So this is not typically something that someone is born with. This is a defense mechanism that the mind is using to try to forget about the trauma of being abused as a child. So very, very sad. The article goes on to explain the victim often develops an altar that is immune to pain, which emerges under such circumstances affording the host a form of protection. MPD is part of the family of dissociative disorders, of which PTSD is seen in many combat veterans is the most notable example. Of the 12 patients

Starting point is 00:17:21 in the hospital today, this article says, this is according to Bruce Leonard, a psychiatrist, who treats child abuse victims in the Columbine Psychiatric Center. He says of the 12 patients in the hospital today, six are having trouble with memories related to Halloween. He added that a former patient was flying to Colorado from her home in Michigan yesterday to spend Halloween in the hospital. Although she has had problems around Halloween before in recent weeks, she has been physically threatening her psychiatrist in Michigan as they get closer and closer to Halloween.

Starting point is 00:17:53 Bennett G. Braun, another psychiatrist in this particular field at Rush North Shore Medical Center outside Chicago said patients become increasingly suicidal, increasingly agitated. We're in the phase for it right now as they approach Halloween. Five of his hospitalized patients are reliving Halloween trauma. He is keeping another patient with a history of satanic cult abuse in the hospital until the holiday is over. Bron said that he also hospitalized a patient. This week, of course, this is back in 1991, largely as a preventive measure. A middle-aged woman who claims childhood participation in rights involving human sacrifice last year, last year she attempted, I think I might have left out a word when I copy and pasted this,

Starting point is 00:18:39 but last year attempted suicide on Halloween. He said about 20% of MPD patients, this article says, claimed that their childhood abuse involved organized satanic rights. Although few psychiatrists treating these patients today deny their patients have a history. of child abuse, there's great debate about whether the satanic event actually occurred or are fantasy grafted onto recollections of more conventional abuse. So we don't actually know if they actually endured satanic ritual abuse or if it had something directly to do with Halloween, although some of them seem to be able to cite specifically what happened to them on Halloween, or if this is a symptom of their psychiatric problems. But I think it's an interesting phenomenon.

Starting point is 00:19:25 And I do think that we should give more weight to presenting very scary, gruesome, morbid things to children before they have the ability to be able to understand it. I think we need to understand that their brains are extremely malleable, that they can be very affected by things. And I'm not saying that seeing a skeleton is going to make them land in a psychiatric hospital. But I simply don't think it's funny. And I don't think it's lighthearted to scare children and to present them with things that celebrate death and darkness and fear.

Starting point is 00:20:05 I do think that you are setting them up for some kind of trauma. And I don't think that you're making them tougher. I don't think you're making them immune to fear. I actually think that you are building a paranoia and anxiety and them from an early age. And I think we do need to take that seriously, like no matter what you're viewing. view is on Halloween. We need to take that really seriously. I saw a couple years ago we were trick or treating and well, I kind of just gave away how I feel about that. But we'll talk about that more in a second. But I, there was, we avoid all the houses with the scary stuff. And I saw

Starting point is 00:20:44 at one house, there was like this teenager and he was in a coffin and he was popping out of the coffin and scaring the little kids that were coming to the front door. And I saw that happen. And I saw that happen and I literally said something to the person that opened the door because this teenager pops out. He's dressed up all scary and he's in this coffin and this little three-year-old boy dressed up in his little Paw Patrol costume starts screaming crying and they're laughing. And I'm like, dude, that's not cool. That's all he said. I said, that's not cool because it's not. But also it's the parents' responsibility to protect your kids from that kind of evil. I'm just saying it has a real effect. All right. We've got more to say about this.

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Starting point is 00:22:51 Halloween is the highest day on the satanic calendar. It, it, is also the night of the year where there is the most human sacrifice on the whole planet. If we look at it in a, let's call it the popular culture aspect first, many people think Halloween is about candy and it's about dress up and, but they don't question the meaning behind us. In a neighborhood or an area, there's houses, there's homes that celebrate Halloween. That whole perimeter becomes one big situation. ritual for that whole nighthood.

Starting point is 00:23:29 Okay, so I appreciate his perspective and obviously he has a personal experience on that, but I just want to give us the Christian perspective on all of that. Because while I obviously believe that evil is real, that satanic power is real, Ephesians 2 calls Satan the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all once walked according to the passions of flesh and we're by nature children of wrath. So that exists. That is happening right now. There is a domain of darkness that exists. Ephesion 6 tells us that there is a spiritual war waging right now in every moment that is not primarily political or cultural, but is spiritual. There are evil

Starting point is 00:24:14 spiritual principalities at work, and we should acknowledge that and we shouldn't minimize that at all. But I also kind of want to push back against this idea that as Christians, we are inviting Satan into our neighborhoods or into our homes or into our children's lives by living next to someone that celebrates Halloween or decorates for Halloween, giving our children, you know, giving our children candy or allowing them to like walk by any kind of Halloween. decoration. And I'm not even saying that that's exactly what that guy was saying in that particular video, although I do think there are some implications of that there. But I have seen that before. I have seen different content creators saying that by participating in any kind of celebration on this day, you are inviting the demonic into your life. And I just want to encourage you that as a Christian, you are protected from that, that you cannot be possessed. by a demon, that demons are not going to come into your home, that you don't have to sprinkle

Starting point is 00:25:27 holy water or anoint your house with oil in order to protect yourself from demonic activity, because you as a Christian have the Holy Spirit living in you. And I just want to read you this, Galatians 313 through 14. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. For it is written, curse it is everyone who is hanged on a tree so that in Christ Jesus, the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentile so that we might receive the promised spirit through faith. And so that curse of darkness, that curse of sin was laid upon Jesus. And we can trust that if by grace through faith, we have been saved in Christ, that we are protected from that curse, that we are indwelling with the Holy Spirit. Our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit. And we have the power of God

Starting point is 00:26:19 within us and we are protected from that darkness. Colossians 1.13 through 14, he has delivered us, this is Jesus, has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. So we are in the kingdom right now, not in a future time, but we are in the kingdom of his beloved son. That doesn't mean there is no effect of sin in our lives. That doesn't mean we don't live in a fallen world. That doesn't mean that we don't get sick. That doesn't mean that we don't sin ourselves. Doesn't mean that nothing bad can happen to us. But spiritually, we are protected by Christ. First John 1-7. But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus, his son,

Starting point is 00:27:04 cleanses us from all sin. So we are cleansed and we are protected. And also, again, James 5, the prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. And we cannot assess. sign too much power and too much authority to the demonic realm and two material objects. I think that there is a lot of superstition, even among Christians, surrounding Halloween and surrounding all sorts of material objects. And the irony is, I actually do think that there is a witchcraft-esque mentality among a lot of Christians when it comes to like the rituals that they try to employ to protect themselves from the evils of Halloween and the evils of demonic activity. We should be able to discern between light and darkness, evil and goodness, and also understand

Starting point is 00:28:01 that we as Christians who are indelved by the Holy Spirit are protected, okay? And that we walk in victory and in strength with Christ because we have been saved. and we just don't need to assign too much meaning and too much power to the demonic even as we recognize that it is real. So how do we, in my opinion, approach Halloween? So the first thing I would say is that we take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but we instead expose them. Ephesians 5-7, Therefore do not become partners with them, the sons of disobedience, as verse 6 says,

Starting point is 00:28:47 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light, for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true, and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them, for it is shameful even to speak of the things they do in secret. And then the rest of the chapter is great, too. you should continue to read it. One part says, look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise, making the best use of the time because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be foolish,

Starting point is 00:29:20 but understand what the will of the Lord is. Don't take part in debauchery. Be filled with the Holy Spirit, making melody to the Lord in your heart. Philippians 4 talks about dwelling on only that which is worthy of praise, only that which is righteous and good and holy and lovely. and reminds you of Christ. So I think that no matter where you land on Halloween, this is true, not only on October 31st, but on every single day, that we are to take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness. We should not glorify evil. We should not be entertained by evil. We should not allow our children to be entertained by evil. So our children, they have seen the Halloween, the Halloween decorations in different parts of our neighborhood.

Starting point is 00:30:12 And they have started some really good conversations. At least our older two are at the age where we can have those conversations. And they're asking, why does this person have a fake cemetery? Why does this have a person have like a stabbed zombie in their yard? Why does some people have skeletons? Why do we not do those things? And we could have the opportunity to say, we don't celebrate death. We don't celebrate darkness.

Starting point is 00:30:38 We don't celebrate people getting hurt. We don't celebrate dying. We want love and we want light and we want goodness. And our oldest is as to those people not know God. And, you know, we don't necessarily know the answer to what is going on in the hearts of people that are celebrating that kind of morbidity. But we can pray for them. And we can talk about why we as Christians live differently and why we don't. glorify that kind of evil. Deuteronomy 18 10 through 12 says there shall not be found among you anyone

Starting point is 00:31:12 who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens. So divination, like going to psychics was put on the same level as burning your child at a child's sacrifice or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer. So that's someone who inquires of the dead for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord. And because of these abominations to Lord your God, the Lord your God is driving them out before you is so important for God's people to be holy, to be sanctified, to be set apart. And God knew that idolatry and witchcraft and messing around with satanic things is so bad for our bodies and our hearts that he shows us in the Old Testament. This is not going to be something that's among my people.

Starting point is 00:31:57 different verses in Leviticus and the rest of the law books repeat the same things. And then in the New Testament, First Thessalonians 522 abstain from every form of evil. Ephesians, actually we just read Ephesians 5, 7 through 11 take no part in unfruitful works of darkness. Now, the question is, is there a way to celebrate what is considered the Christian origins of Halloween? and is there a way to celebrate it today in a way that glorifies God, in a way that does not expose our children to darkness intentionally? And, you know, some people, especially Catholics, would say you should be celebrating All Saints Day. I think a lot of Catholics, not all, would probably also say that like celebrating some parts of Halloween is okay,

Starting point is 00:32:51 but our focus should be on the Saints and the Margers that had been celebrated throughout Catholic. history. And then others, of course, would say both Protestant and Catholic that you shouldn't celebrate it at all, that there should be no trick-or-treating. There should be no candy. And that all of that is partnership with darkness. And my perspective is that you can totally not celebrate Halloween. Like, I think that that is a legitimate stance to take. And I think that if that is the decision that you want to make as a family, and if you have godly reasons for doing that, not paranoid reasons for doing that, as in like you think that doing that is going to like possess your child or possess your home

Starting point is 00:33:42 with some kind of demon, but you're just like, you know what? I just don't even want my kids to see that kind of thing. And candy is bad for them. I think that's totally fine. I do think that there is a way for Christians to do parts of Halloween in a way that glorifies God and does not celebrate darkness. And I'll get into that in just a second. Let me go ahead and pause. I tell you about our next sponsor for the day.

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Starting point is 00:35:05 So go to Everylife.com slash women. When you use code Alley 10, you'll get 10% off your order. Everylife.com slash women, code Alley 10. There is a popular quote that always goes around, and it's a tribute. to someone named Anton LeVay, who is a real person, who's the founder of like the modern day church of Satan. And the quote says, I want to thank every Christian parent who's allowed their children to celebrate Halloween once a year. But that's entirely fabricated. There is no evidence whatsoever that Anton LeVay actually said that. And a lot of people use this as the basis for not

Starting point is 00:35:43 celebrating Halloween at all. But that's just not true. You may have other reasons not to celebrate Halloween, but I don't think that that is one of them. And just remember this, that cultural authorities, that satanic authorities do not have any power over the Christian, their opinion and their experiences, their perspective on things, their practices, they don't have to determine what Christians do. Christians are in the business of redemption. Christians are in the business of bringing glory to God. For the Christian, there is no day that's off limits. There is no. no day that is not holy. There is no day that is even holier than another day. For the Christian, every day is the Lord's. This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Starting point is 00:36:33 That is not just true of November 1st or December 25th or Easter. It is just as true on October 31st as it is on any day. Every single day is the Lord's. There's no superstition or more demonic authority on one day over another day. So Christians should not operate out of, well, what is this Satanist want me to do or not do? What does this pagan guy say about the significance of this day? Christians use every opportunity to glorify God and to advance his gospel and disciple his children. And I believe that there is a way to do that on Halloween. Here's my perspective, this is what I grew up with, and this is what we are now passing down to our kids. So my mom would not let us celebrate anything scary. She wouldn't let us dress up as anything

Starting point is 00:37:29 evil. I wasn't allowed to dress up like a witch or dress up like anything scary. We weren't even allowed to put like spider webs in the windows. I always wanted to decorate more in like, I don't know, some kind of not seriously ghoulish way, but just, I don't know. some kind of way for Halloween growing up because I thought it was fun. And she just always said, no, like we're just going to celebrate fall. And we'll put pumpkins on the porch and all of that. But we're not going to do anything scary. But then she would also use the opportunity, and she still does this today,

Starting point is 00:38:04 to share the gospel with our neighbors. It is such a rare opportunity that we have to get all of these people, many of them not Christians, showing up to our front door and taking something from us. and they're going to, they're going to take the candy that we give them. So it is an opportunity. My mom has shown me to redeem what could be a day that celebrates darkness, could be a day that's dominated by people with dark and evil intentions, and bring the light of the Lord into it.

Starting point is 00:38:36 Bring the gospel message into it. You can tie a gospel message around the Snickers bar or whatever healthy alternative that you want to give people. You can put it in a little bag. My mom basically puts a little gospel tract like with her candy and she sits on the porch and she hands out the candy and sometimes she talks to the parents, shares the gospel and we've kind of like joined her in that effort. She also makes these really cute signs.

Starting point is 00:39:05 I've always told her she needs to sell these signs. She doesn't. But these really cute signs that have like little Halloween characters on them, but she'll use a Bible verse like whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved. And she has all these little puns like that using scripture and using like cute fall or maybe little Halloween costume characters. And she puts these banners in her front yard. And I think that's a really cute way to say, okay, whatever Satan means for evil,

Starting point is 00:39:40 God is going to use it for good. And we are agents of his goodness. We are agents of his beauty. We are the aroma of Christ. So how can we use trick-or-treating to our advantage? Like how can we use this day to advance the gospel of Christ? I actually don't think, even though I do think that it's a legitimate choice for you to just opt out of the day entirely, I'm not sure if that's the best choice.

Starting point is 00:40:05 For my opinion, it's not. I don't know if the Benedict option when it comes to Halloween is actually the best choice. I wonder if retreating and allowing the darkness to dominate in our neighborhoods is the best option for the Christian. Like, what if we pushed back against the darkness with as much light and truth as we possibly could? That is the option that I take. And yes, we do allow our kids to dress up in fun costumes. We do allow them to go to like a select few houses and get some candy. We don't do anything crazy.

Starting point is 00:40:41 We don't do scary movies. We don't do anything like that. And like I said, it's an opportunity to have conversations about how Christians live differently. And there are even going to be people who call themselves Christians who indulge in that kind of stuff. And we'll talk about that too. And it's a good opportunity to show your kids that it is okay and expected for Christians to be weird in the secular world, for us to be different for the right reasons. But also to not be scared.

Starting point is 00:41:16 I don't want them to be scared of Satan. I don't want them to be scared of like demonic powers and paranoid in that way. I think that there is a healthy fear of that. But there should also just be like a repudiation of that. And like an authority, a Christian authority that we give our children when Christ lives in you, that he who is in you, is more powerful and has already overcome he who is in the world. So like we want our children to walk in light and hope and victory and truth.

Starting point is 00:41:49 And that even goes for October 31st. So again, I think there's a way to do it. I think there's a way to redeem it. I think there is a way to push back against darkness without opting out entirely. And while still acknowledging that the demonic does exist and that maybe this is a high holiday for the satanic church, but like we don't have, we don't have anything truly as Christians like to fear for that. So there is a lot of nuance here. There is certainly a level of Christian liberty here. And I'm sure that this will make some people mad. But this is how we have

Starting point is 00:42:27 chosen to approach it. And I just really appreciate how my mom approached it growing up. And that is what I hope to adopt. Now something that we didn't do growing up that we do now, at least to an extent some years have been more all out than others. I'm going to try to do more this year than I did last year. And that is celebrate the reformation. Now my Catholic friends who are listening to this, you do not, you will not agree with our celebration of the reformation. And we won't get into all of it today, but we're going to get into some of it. What the reformation is on October 31st and why we celebrate the reformation, why we teach our kids about the reformation in the car this morning. I was talking to our oldest about the Reformation.

Starting point is 00:43:11 And she already knows. So asking her some questions, who was Martin Luther? What did he do? What was going on that was wrong? Does money get you into heaven? Do good works get you into heaven? No, no. And so it's a good back and forth.

Starting point is 00:43:26 It's a good opportunity to talk about what the gospel really is when we celebrate the Reformation. So I'll get into that. Let me go ahead and pause. Tell you about our next sponsor. I know we just did an ad read, but I got a couple more sponsors than I I want to make sure that I tell you about all of them. And my next sponsor for today is Patriot Mobile. Patriot Mobile is America's Christian conservative wireless provider.

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Starting point is 00:44:52 Okay, so what is the Reformation? Why do we celebrate it in this Ducky Home? Why do so many Christians around the world celebrate the Reformation? Well, if you don't know, and I was not raised learning about this at all, I think maybe even Catholics probably learn more about the Reformation and Martin Luther, not for Impost. perspective, negative perspective growing up, than a lot of Protestants do. I was raised Southern Baptist, very thankful for that upbringing, learned so much about the Bible and Bible memorization

Starting point is 00:45:19 and apologetics, but I didn't know anything about the Reformation. Not until college, and I started reading my ESP study Bible, and I learned what like reformed theology is. It was when I was an adult that I learned how important the Reformation is, this recovery of the gospel. So Martin Luther nailed his famous 95 Theses to the Wittenberg Church Door in Germany on October 31st, 1517. He was not trying to start a revolution. He wasn't even really trying to start or thinking he was going to start this widespread reformation. But he posted the 95 problems he had with current practices in the Catholic Church at the time. And he wanted to stay a Catholic. He believed a lot of things that Protestants today don't believe about Mary and the Pope. And so he wanted to stay a Catholic. He believed a lot of things that Protestants today don't believe about Mary and the Pope. And so he

Starting point is 00:46:07 was a good Catholic monk. But he had a problem with a lot of things that were going on. One of the problems that he had was the practice of indulgences. It was popular at the time because the population could not read. They didn't know what the Bible says. Many of them couldn't understand Latin, so they didn't even understand what was going on in the mass at the time. And so the religious leaders in that era had full authority to be able to tell them, yeah, this is how you get to heaven. And this is what the Christian message is all about. And if you pay us some money, then we will spring the souls of your relatives from purgatory. And that will give them some credit to get into heaven, which of course is horrible, spiritual and monetary extortion. And so not true. It has no basis in

Starting point is 00:46:53 Christian reality, no basis in the Bible at all. And Martin Luther saw this. And he was like, well, this is not good. And this is not what the Bible says. And then the rallying cry of the Reformation became, really kind of at the start, unbeknownst to Martin Luther was Sola Fide or by faith alone, that we cannot earn our way to heaven, we cannot pay our way to heaven. It's not through good works. It's not through our donations. It's not through our mass attendance. It's not through anything we do.

Starting point is 00:47:24 But Ephesians 2 says, by grace through faith you have been saved. And this is not your own doing. Not a result of works so that no one can boast over and over again in that passage. it reiterates that. Of course, we see that in Colossians. We see that in Galatians. We see that over and over again in the New Testament. And even in the book of James when it says, what it says, faith without works is dead. That is not a repudiation of by grace through faith. That is saying that your works are activated by your faith and that your faith is a prerequisite for your works. Your works are not a prerequisite for your salvation. In fact, in Ephesians 210, we read that after that passage,

Starting point is 00:48:09 by grace through faith, you have been saved, that you may walk in the good works that God prepared for you beforehand. And so the good works are actually a product of our faith, again, not a prerequisite for it. And so that was Luther's rallying cry. And it was so important for him that Christians were actually able to understand the gospel for themselves. And to do that, they needed to be able to read the Bible. And so he worked very hard. He had to run for his life from the Catholic Church, excommunicated him and of course wanted his life in many ways. And he worked very hard in hiding to translate the Bible, translate the Bible from the original Hebrew and Greek into German. And when that happened, that was the wild fire of the Reformation.

Starting point is 00:49:03 Once people could read the Bible for themselves, once people understood the gospel, once people understood like what it means to actually be saved, it went so far beyond Martin Luther. And a lot of people will say, well, it's caused all this division. You've got all of these denominations now. Well, first of all, that 32,000 number for the denominations, that's not even true. That's like every single tiny iteration of every denomination. There's really like 12 different denominations. And by the way, there are a lot of disagreements and different parts of the Roman Catholic Church as well, even if they are not officially different denominations. But division that is for the sake of truth is not necessarily bad. It is the nature of

Starting point is 00:49:49 liberty. Like the fact that we have all of these varying states, who have different state constitutions and different state laws and different ways of doing things, that is a product of the liberty of America separating from England. And yet it has been a huge net positive because in our pursuit of liberty, we have also recovered the goodness of inherent rights that have been given to us by God. And so division might be the product of liberty, but the truth that comes from the freedom that individuals have had to seek the scriptures for themselves, it is worth it every single day of the week. And I would say that even the Roman Catholic Church has benefited from the products of the Reformation, which has been the study of Scripture.

Starting point is 00:50:40 I don't think any Roman Catholic can deny that today Roman Catholics know more about the Bible than they used to, that there are more Bible studies and more seriousness of studying scripture. on than there used to be in the Roman Catholic Church. You should go listen to my episode on with stage steel on her show about that. She was raised Catholic and she would say today she knows nothing about the Bible. She would say that. Those are her words. And that she wishes that she was raised reading scripture. And it's totally different from the evangelical experience.

Starting point is 00:51:15 It's like, I mean, it is Bible, Bible, Bible from preschool. Oana, every single kind of like Bible blast. What was the competition that we used to have? Oh, I thought chief related, bro, was in here. Was it called sword drills? Did someone say sword drills? Sword drills. Oh, yeah, sword drills where we would like have to have competitions for who could find

Starting point is 00:51:39 the book of the Bible facets. So so different than the evangelical upbringing. And a lot of that is the product of the Reformation, this emphasis on knowing scripture. and the authority of scripture. It's not that we don't believe in the authority of the local church or that theologians can teach us nothing. It's not that we don't care about unity at all.

Starting point is 00:51:57 It's just that God's word is the only infallible and inerrant source that we have. And even though we're fallible and we won't always get every interpretation right, again, that liberty to seek the truth by reading the Bible for ourselves has been an incredible positive because it's showed people what the gospel really is. And this is Luther's desire to refocus the church on salvation by grace through faith alone. He said, God receives none but those who are forsaken, restores health to none but those who are sick, give sight to none but the blind and life to none but the dead. He does not give saintliness to any but sinners nor wisdom to any but fools.

Starting point is 00:52:35 In short, he has mercy on none but the wretched and gives grace to none, but those who are in disgrace. Therefore, no arrogant saint or just or wise man can be material for God. he do the work of God, but he remains confined within his own work and makes of himself a fictitious, ostensible, false, deceitful saint, that is, a hypocrite. In other words, you don't earn your salvation. God is not proud of you because you've done all of these good things to merit his love. That is actually the distinction of Christianity versus every other religion in the world. Every other religion in the world tells you how to get to God. Christianity is distinct because it says you can't make your way to God.

Starting point is 00:53:16 You can't climb up this mountain. That is why God embodied human form came down to earth to save us. That is why we read that we are dead in our sin. Can a dead person save himself? Can a dead person give an indulgence to spring a sinner out of purgatory? Can a dead person clean himself off and make himself acceptable? No, of course not. We are made alive by grace through faith.

Starting point is 00:53:41 That is the gospel that was recovered. through the Reformation and we are still living in the light of the Reformation today. And I am so incredibly thankful for that. So yes, absolutely. We celebrate that in our homes. And there are lots of kids books about the Reformation and Martin Luther on Amazon. I can't vouch for all of them. We have a couple, I think, what is the ABCs of the Reformation, which are really good. And I just encourage you. If you're like me and you were not raised learning about the Reformation, I think that it's really important for we as Christians to know church history. And that's not where church history starts. I think it's really important to read the church fathers and to understand the whole

Starting point is 00:54:22 history of the church. But certainly as Protestants, like we need to know why we believe what we believe. I actually have on my necklace right here. I've got the five solas, which was really like the motto of the reformation. Sola scripture alone. Sola Fide, faith alone. Sologratia, grace alone, solace Christus Christus Christ alone, and solely day of glory alone. Sometimes you'll see me say SDG, and that's what I mean, solely day of glory for God's glory alone. And it was said like this, by grace alone through faith alone, in Christ alone, according to scripture alone, for God's glory alone. And that's what I have on my necklace along with the cross and the heart in the middle. And that should still be our rallying cry, I believe as Christians today. So there are so many ways to

Starting point is 00:55:09 redeem this day of October 31st without fear, without paranoia, without superstition that can actually look closer to witchcraft than someone who is sharing the gospel with their neighbors on Halloween. I've just got a couple more things to say. Let me go ahead and tell you about our last sponsor for the day. It's Constitution wealth. I only partner with companies that I know will serve you well. And that's why I'm so excited to talk to you about this new move, that Constitution wealth is making. These are the advisors that many of you know and trust that are helping you make investments that align with your biblical values. They are merging with a company called Worth Point Wealth Management. This is awesome news because you are getting the same trusted team and same values aligned approach that you've come to expect.

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Starting point is 00:56:31 You should carefully review Constitution wealth's disclosures at Constitutionwalth.com to understand all material risks, conflicts of interest, and fees, all investing involves risk, including the risk of loss. This is a paid endorsement, and I am not a client of the firm. Okay, so here are just a few things to kind of close us out. Christians can create more, quote unquote, holy days, celebrating Christ's victory, reclaiming calendar time, rather than seeding it to pagans. This is such an important point. We don't have to seed anything to the demonic. We don't have to seed anything to pagans. And remember, every day for the Christian is holy, because, you know, we don't have to seed anything. because we have the Holy Spirit living in us. Hebrews 11 talks about all the people of God

Starting point is 00:57:17 in the Old Testament who lived by faith and what they accomplished through God because of their faith. And so he lists several heroes. And then in verse 33, who through faith conquered kingdoms enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escape the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept our lease so that they might rise again to a better life and then others endured persecution by faith. This is what Christians can accomplish by faith, not because we are strong, but because God is strong. That is the power that is within us every day because

Starting point is 00:57:57 the Holy Spirit living in us. We don't want to fall into fearful avoidance and therefore refuse to push back against darkness. Matthew 28, 19 through 20, go therefore and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the father, the son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. Also, we need to prioritize family discipleship and family worship. We need to explain to our kids Christ's supremacy over evil, choosing non-occult costumes, non-demonic costumes, and obviously avoiding all kinds of demonic activity and remembering that he has transferred us from the domain of darkness into the kingdom of light. 1 John 4 4 says little children you are from God and have overcome them for he who

Starting point is 00:58:46 is in you is greater than he who is in the world. We should also disciple our kids when it comes to the reality of darkness and evil. Proverbs 226 tells us train up a child in the way he should go. Even when he is old, he will not depart from it. And we should also realize that the trauma that comes from Halloween for some people is real. Decisions surrounding this, they require humility, they require wisdom, and they do, as I said, have a level of liberty. James 1-5, if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given to him. Let convictions form through the Holy Spirit, not just your impulses, not what you're seeing on TikTok, not what I'm saying or what anyone else.

Starting point is 00:59:35 else is saying we should be engaging culture to glorify God and reclaiming it. Romans 14, 5 through 6, one person esteems one day is better than another, while another steams all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind, the one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. So every day should be observed in honor of the Lord to glorify him in everything we do. And in many ways that will look the same no matter who you are, but in some ways, depending on where God has placed us and our own convictions that may look different to a degree. That's not to say everyone is right or every choice is equally right. We don't believe in relativism, but we do believe that where the Bible is not explicit,

Starting point is 01:00:23 that there could be good faith disagreements among Christians, but we should unite, that we do not fear Satan. We only fear God and that we walk in holiness with him in us. uprightness with him and seek to evangelize and to glorify God in everything we do, both inside our homes and how we teach our kids and also how we engage our neighbors. All right, that's all we got time for today. We will be back here on Friday.

Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey - Ep 1257 | Demonic or Christian? How Believers Should Approach Halloween

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