I have to confess. I don't like halloween.
However, as a Christian, I am told not to "isolate" my faith. I am also told not to become part of the world that rejects Christ and God's Word, the Bible. We are to "insulate" ourselves from the darkness of evil, but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't boldly proclaim the Gospel of Christ with non-believers. Our Great Commission calling is to influence the world and we are to infiltrate the world with the Gospel of Christ.
I take this night as a subtle opportunity to witness to others. As the children choose their big candy bars from the bowl, I place a "Lord of the Rings" or "Tower Power" tract into their bag and tell them that it is something that they can read later.
In past years, I have seen some of the tracts torn up and/or thrown on my driveway the next day. But that's O.K. Most of them end up going home with the children and who knows where sharing the Gospel of Christ in this way might lead?
When they say, "happy halloween", I respond with, "have fun, be safe, and God bless."
There goes the doorbell again!
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3 comments:
Hi Thomas,
Over the years, halloween has turned into such a dark 'holiday'. It is no longer just the innocent "All Hallows Eve" of my Catholic upbringing.
In fact, two days before, my daughter and I went into a costume store and there was a young man with a large satanic symbol tattooed to his calf. I suspect that you might laugh at this, but I believe there is an evil being known as satan influencing people towards evil and wrecking havoc in this world. Seeing that tattoo, representative of evil, reminded me of the recent horrendous murder of a lawyer's wife by a 16-yr.old boy who was involved in satanism. Gave me the creeps to see a teen boy in my town showing allegiance to such evil. It's not a harmless 'stage' that they go through when indulging in activity sanctioned by the prince of evil and lies.
On to a better subject.
Wow Thomas, I'm impressed that you will be on a panel speaking to (high school age?) students about EVILution! Haha...j/k. There are facts about evolution that are not denied by either Creationists or IDeists. It's mostly the extrapolation of the evidence of micro-evolution (e.g. change within a species) into the unfound and totally lacking realm of macro-evolution (e.g. no transitional fossils ever found to show evolution from one species to an entirely different species), that we see as bogus.
ID is currently an hypothesis that I think students should be exposed to. What's the harm? The errors in evolution (a.k.a. icons of evolution) have been going on for about 150 years now? Why not inject some new life into the subject of origins?
O.K. Here is the entire post as it appears on my message board. Good luck! You'll need it...
Questions for Evolutionists
By Dr. Hovind
If you think evolutionists have all the answers, try a few of the following questions on 'em.
Creation Science Evangelism -
The test of any theory is whether or not it provides answers to basic questions? Some well-meaning but misguided people think evolution is a reasonable theory to explain man’s questions about the universe. Evolution is not a good theory — it is just a pagan religion masquerading as science.
1. Where did the space for the universe come from?
2. Where did matter come from?
3. Where did the laws of the universe come from (gravity, inertia, etc.)?
4. How did matter get so perfectly organized?
5. Where did the energy come from to do all the organizing?
6. When, where, why, and how did life come from dead matter?
7. When, where, why, and how did life learn to reproduce itself?
8. With what did the first cell capable of sexual reproduction reproduce?
9. Why would any plant or animal want to reproduce more of its kind since this would only make more mouths to feed and decrease the chances of survival? (Does the individual have a drive to survive, or the species? How do you explain this?)
10. How can mutations (recombining of the genetic code) create any new, improved varieties? (Recombining English letters will never produce Chinese books.)
11. Is it possible that similarities in design between different animals prove a common Creator instead of a common ancestor?
12. Natural selection only works with the genetic information available and tends only to keep a species stable. How would you explain the increasing complexity in the genetic code that must have occurred if evolution were true?
13. When, where, why, and how did
a. Single-celled plants become multi-celled? (Where are the two and three-celled intermediates?)
b. Single-celled animals evolve?
c. Fish change to amphibians?
d. Amphibians change to reptiles?
e. Reptiles change to birds? (The lungs, bones, eyes, reproductive organs, heart, method of locomotion, body covering, etc., are all very different!)
f. How did the intermediate forms live?
14. When, where, why, how, and from what did:
a. Whales evolve?
b. Sea horses evolve?
c. Bats evolve?
d. Eyes evolve?
e. Ears evolve?
f. Hair, skin, feathers, scales, nails, claws, etc., evolve?
15. Which evolved first (how, and how long, did it work without the others)?
a. The digestive system, the food to be digested, the appetite, the ability to find and eat the food, the digestive juices, or the body’s resistance to its own digestive juice (stomach, intestines, etc.)?
b. The drive to reproduce or the ability to reproduce?
c. The lungs, the mucus lining to protect them, the throat, or the perfect mixture of gases to be breathed into the lungs?
d. DNA or RNA to carry the DNA message to cell parts?
e. The termite or the flagella in its intestines that actually digest the cellulose?
f. The plants or the insects that live on and pollinate the plants?
g. The bones, ligaments, tendons, blood supply, or muscles to move the bones?
h. The nervous system, repair system, or hormone system?
i. The immune system or the need for it?
16. There are many thousands of examples of symbiosis that defy an evolutionary explanation. Why must we teach students that evolution is the only explanation for these relationships?
17. How would evolution explain mimicry? Did the plants and animals develop mimicry by chance, by their intelligent choice, or by design?
18. When, where, why, and how did man evolve feelings? Love, mercy, guilt, etc. would never evolve in the theory of evolution.
19. How did photosynthesis evolve?
20. How did thought evolve?
21. How did flowering plants evolve, and from what?
22. What kind of evolutionist are you? Why are you not one of the other eight or ten kinds?
23. What would you have said fifty years ago if I told you I had a living coelacanth in my aquarium?
24. Is there one clear prediction of macroevolution that has proved true?
25. What is so scientific about the idea of hydrogen gas becoming human?
26. Do you honestly believe that everything came from nothing?
After you have answered the preceding questions, please look carefully at your answers and thoughtfully consider the following questions.
1. Are you sure your answers are reasonable, right, and scientifically provable, or do you just believe that it may have happened the way you have answered? (Do these answers reflect your religion or your science?)
2. Do your answers show more or less faith than the person who says, "God must have designed it"?
3. Is it possible that an unseen Creator designed this universe? If God is excluded at the beginning of the discussion by your definition of science, how could it be shown that He did create the universe if He did?
4. Is it wise and fair to present the theory of evolution to students as fact?
5. What is the end result of a belief in evolution (lifestyle, society, attitude about others, eternal destiny, etc.)?
6. Do people accept evolution because of the following factors?
a. It is all they have been taught.
b. They like the freedom from God (no moral absolutes, etc.).
c. They are bound to support the theory for fear of losing their job or status or grade point average.
d. They are too proud to admit they are wrong.
e. Evolution is the only philosophy that can be used to justify their political agenda.
7. Should we continue to use outdated, disproved, questionable, or inconclusive evidences to support the theory of evolution because we don’t have a suitable substitute (Piltdown man, recapitulation, archaeopteryx, Lucy, Java man, Neanderthal man, horse evolution, vestigial organs, etc.)?
8. Should parents be allowed to require that evolution not be taught as fact in their school system unless equal time is given to other theories of origins (like divine creation)?
9. What are you risking if you are wrong? As one of my debate opponents said, "Either there is a God or there is not. Both possibilities are frightening."
10. Why are many evolutionists afraid of the idea of creationism being presented in public schools? If we are not supposed to teach religion in schools, then why not get evolution out of the textbooks? It is just a religious worldview.
11. Aren’t you tired of faith in a system that cannot be true? Wouldn’t it be great to know the God who made you, and to accept His love and forgiveness?
12. Would you be interested, if I showed you from the Bible, how to have your sins forgiven and how to know for sure that you are going to Heaven? If so, call me.
__________________
Christine
See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. Colossians 2:8
The eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth to show Himself strong to those whose hearts are fully committed to Him. 2 Chronicles 16:9
Here's an article that backs up my reasons to dislike halloween and everything evil that is typically associated with it!
Bizarre Culture
Sometimes it's not that the teens are dumb, per se, but they are easily influenced into thinking something is "cool", when in actuality, it is dangerous. There have been psychological studies done that the brain functioning (hope that's the correct word to use) of children are not fully developed until they reach age 21! This is only one of a variety of reasons why I (personally) don't think that the 'teaching' of homosexuality is appropriate for K-12 children. But that is another subject for another time, perhaps.
Your link to a tract gave me an idea. I googled for a link to a site that described the tracts I had given out this year.
Take a look. Lord of the Rings
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