For "Scripture Sunday:"
History Channel The Real Story of Halloween Part 1 of 3
"This gives a good description of the history as well as explain how the leaders have changed what and when people worship and celebrate."
History Channel The Real Story of Halloween Part 2 of 3
History Channel The Real Story of Halloween Part 3 of 3
All in the name of commercialism!
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Does Halloween Reveal a Dangerous Pretender?
"Today, you can become rich and famous if you write books that glamorize or promote witchcraft and demonism, like the Harry Potter books. They are runaway bestsellers for children that focus their minds on wizardry, magic, witchcraft, demonism and Satanism.
Through these books, millions of our youth are taught to entertain the occult world, as if it were simply fun and educational. In Old Testament times, a person would be stoned to death for promoting divination or any other kind of demonism. We live in a day when good is evil and evil is good.
Did you know that the ancient professing Christian church allowed non-Christians to keep their heathen festivals in order to fill their pews (The Two Babylons , Hislop, p. 93)? They found it impossible to turn them away from their festivals (ibid). Hence we have Halloween.
Druidic superstitions honored the festival of Samhain (i.e., summer's end), which included wandering souls, ugly demons, headless "Jacks" or Jokers (a symbol of Satan), ghouls, ghosts, goblins, witches, mummies and other symbols of death, now naively transferred to the modern observation of Halloween.
The ironic thing about Halloween is that it reveals a great pretender—Satan the devil—who promotes his deceptive counterfeits on humankind, incognito and with impunity. Yet God says that his days are numbered; his judgment nears. Could Halloween help symbolize Satan's view of his future judgment, by proxy, perversely applying his fate to us?
What's God's view of Halloween? "Do not learn the way of the Gentiles; do not be dismayed [terrified] at the signs of heaven, for the Gentiles are dismayed at them" (Jeremiah 10:2). God opposes Halloween because it blinds humankind from His truth (Matthew 13:15). Why do two billion Christians observe it?
Halloween doesn't even pretend to be Christian; it unapologetically promotes Satan's evil design against humans: He wants us dead. Ironically, Halloween unmasks Satan as a misanthropic liar (John 8:44). Satan tries to appear as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14), another Jesus with another spirit and another gospel (ibid, v. 4). Halloween is Satan's quintessential holiday that openly mocks gullible humanity before God. (Revelation 12:10)." From: http://www.ucg.org/blog/does-halloween-reveal-dangerous-pretender/
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Halloween and Christianity
"Halloween a day celebrated around the world when people dress up in costumes, collect candy from neighbors and have parties, but do you ever take time to think about the origins of Halloween? Most people don't think twice about participating in it saying "It's all in fun" or "Its not evil to me", but is this so called hallow evening really so innocent?"
Uploaded by KJTheTruth
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Halloween: Should Christians Celebrate It?
Origin of Halloween
The Celtic festival of Samhain is probably the source of the present-day Halloween celebration. The Celts lived more than 2,000 years ago in what is now Great Britain, Ireland, and northern France. Their new year began on November 1. A festival that began the previous evening 
It seems costumes of animal heads and skins played a part in their celebration, as well as fortune telling using the remains of the animals that were sacrificed. So how did this gory pagan holiday become associated with Christianity?
Many of the customs of the Celts survived even after the people became Christians. During the 800’s, the church established All Saints’ Day on November 1. … The people made the old pagan customs part of this Christian holy day” (ibid.).
Halloween: A celebration of evil
In spite of its marketing as innocent entertainment for children, Halloween remains a celebration of evil, not a fitting holiday for Christians to celebrate." From: http://lifehopeandtruth.com/life/plan-of-salvation/holy-days-vs-holidays/halloween/
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Samhain: The Original Halloween
"Some time ago, a friend of mine told me that he did not feel comfortable celebrating Halloween, even though he enjoyed attending a “harvest festival” his church held year on the evening of October 31.
So, what should Christians think about Halloween? What is the origin of the holiday? Is it merely a harvest festival? Should Christians celebrate this holiday, as a harvest festival or as something else entirely? Or should we be wary.
Human sacrifice, often by fire, was a common practice of the Druids during Samhain. During this festival the Celts would dress in various costumes and dance around large bonfires which were thought to ward off wandering spirits. Jumping through the fire could thus be seen as a way to enhance communication with the spirit realm, as well as to “strengthen and purify” those who jumped through it (J. A. Macculloch, The Religion of the Ancient Celts¸ 261).
How does an ancient Celtic costume party around a bonfire relate to us today as Christians? Does dressing up in Halloween costumes in our modern era have any connection to this ancient pagan festival?
Yes, we can see Halloween’s close ties to Samhain, a pagan harvest festival involving idolatry and human sacrifice. As such, it is something that God makes clear His people should never celebrate (Deuteronomy 18:10–12). Jesus Christ cast out demons who possessed and tormented human beings (Matthew 8:28–33). By contrast, Satan has deceived most of mankind into thinking Halloween is harmless or even Christian (Revelation 12:9) and in doing so has influenced people to call “evil good and good evil” (Isaiah 5:20)." More at: http://www.tomorrowsworld.org/commentary/samhain-the-original-halloween
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Is the Devil Real?
"People are increasingly ignorant or dismissive of the notion that there is a being called Satan. When Jennifer Senior recently interviewed U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia for New York magazine, she was taken aback when Justice Scalia said, “I even believe in the devil.” She reacted as if Justice Scalia’s belief in evil were strange and arcane.
So, what is the truth? Is there evil? Is there a devil? If so, who is responsible?
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The Devil depicted in The Temptation of Christ, by Ary Scheffer, 1854.
The Bible discusses the subject of evil and lays the blame at the feet of a supernatural being God calls the devil and Satan. It may shock or mystify you that an all-powerful God would tolerate an adversary that is evil. But if you look deeper into this enigma, some startling facts are uncovered.
The Scriptures tell us in the book of Ezekiel that Satan was not created to be wicked and evil. Rather, God first created an angelic being named Lucifer in perfect splendor and goodness, who eventually turned into a perverse and evil enemy of everything God stands for." More at: http://lifehopeandtruth.com/speaking-of/is-the-devil-real/
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The program on WGN TV this morning:
Dabbling With Demons
"Fallen angels and evil spirits have been a source of fear and fascination. Do demons really exist? Isn't it time you knew?"
Transcript at: http://www.ucg.org/beyond-today-program/satan/dabbling-demons
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On This Day:
Quakers executed for religious beliefs, Oct 27, 1659:
"William Robinson and Marmaduke Stevenson, two Quakers who came from England in 1656 to escape religious persecution, are executed in the Massachusetts Bay Colony for their religious beliefs. The two had violated a law passed by the Massachusetts General Court the year before, banning Quakers from the colony under penalty of death.
The Religious Society of Friends, whose members are commonly known as Quakers, was a Christian movement founded by George Fox in England during the early 1650s. Quakers opposed central church authority, preferring to seek spiritual insight and consensus through egalitarian Quaker meetings. They advocated sexual equality and became some of the most outspoken opponents of slavery in early America. Robinson and Stevenson, who were hanged from an elm tree on Boston Common in Boston, were the first Quakers to be executed in America. Quakers found solace in Rhode Island and other colonies, and Massachusetts' anti-Quaker laws were later repealed.
In the mid 18th century, John Woolman, an abolitionist Quaker, traveled the American colonies, preaching and advancing the anti-slavery cause. He organized boycotts of products made by slave labor and was responsible for convincing many Quaker communities to publicly denounce slavery. Another of many important abolitionist Quakers was Lucretia Mott, who worked on the Underground Railroad in the 19th century, helping lead fugitive slaves to freedom in the Northern states and Canada. In later years, Mott was a leader in the movement for women's rights."
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Avalanche buries homes in Iceland, Oct 27, 1995:
"An unusually large avalanche buries homes and kills 20 people in Flateyri, Iceland, on this day in 1995. This disaster was the second deadly avalanche in the region that year.
Ten months earlier, on January 17, the small fishing village of Sudavik had suffered a devastating avalanche in which 16 residents lost their lives. The incident illuminated the dangers of living in historically avalanche-prone areas. As winter began the following October, high winds in the West Fjords prompted evacuations across the region. Hundreds of electric poles were snapped by the winds and on October 26, an avalanche of snow, ice and rocks crushed and killed a herd of 18 horses in Langidalur. Later, another slide destroyed a storage building in Sugandafjor.
Residents remained on high alert on the evening of October 27. At 4 a.m., a deafening roar was heard above Flateyri as a huge avalanche crashed down the mountain above the town. Snow and rocks buried 17 homes, only one of which had been thought to lie in an avalanche danger zone. Local residents immediately attempted a rescue effort, which proved extremely difficult in the darkness with all landmarks erased. The would-be rescuers had trouble remembering where each buried home was actually located.
In the meantime, several victims were able to dig themselves out from under the snow. United States military helicopters and the Icelandic Coast Guard arrived with 600 rescuers and dogs specially trained to locate buried people. Eventually, 20 people were pulled out alive. One woman was saved after being stuck completely motionless for eight hours. The last survivor to be found, an 11-year-old girl, was rescued 11 hours after the avalanche. It took two days to locate all the bodies."
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Yesterday:
Wendy wasn't going to call for her usual Saturday phone call as she would be at The Texas Renaissance Festival.
This would give me more time to get ready for church and take Misty for a longer walk, until an un-computerized neighbor came over to visit. A relative of hers had taken some pictures of them when they were here, emailed them to me, and she wanted to see them. She loved the pictures, but my printer's ink is coming out all funny greeny colors, so I won't be able to print them out for her until I get new ink. I should have asked her to postpone her visit to another time.
It was a mad scramble for me to get ready, and I had to leave with wet hair to pick up Jay. Jay was ready, so we went to church.
Brother Jeff blowing the ram's horn. There were several more families there that I hadn't met before. One family was visiting from California for The Feast of Tabernacles which is being held in Trinity, TX, and came to our little church for the Sabbath. The songs of praise were great, as usual. Then the prayers for different people in need.
The Bible readings were Exodus 34:10-17 and Numbers 29:12-40, which are about keeping The Feast of Tabernacles, and then Exodus 38:18 – 39:20.
The sermon was about the Second Resurrection. Luke 14:13-14 "But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just.” More at: John 5: 25, John 6:39-40, 1 Corith. 15:16-27, 40-53, Rev. 20:4-6 and Isaiah 26:19.
The potluck was tasty, all organic meats, meatloaf, lasagna, BBQ brisket done in a huge crockpot, lots of salads and veggies. Jay didn't eat any salad or veggies, no wonder he is sick so many days.
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