Reforming Our Thoughts of Halloween - Pastor Jeff Pennington

     "Halloween" is a contraction for All Hallows’ Eve.  "Hallow” is a form of the word “holy.” In the Lord's Prayer we pray, Hallowed be Thy name -- “May Your Name be holy, sanctified, set apart.” The word “saint” has the same meaning as "hallow."  In the Church calendar, November 1 is All Saints' Day. It is not a day to worship saints but to celebrate the victory that saints have in their union with Christ. Many great hymns rejoice in this victory, eg. “Faith of our Fathers,” “The Son of God goes forth to War,”  “For all the saints.”

     The Festival of All Saints reminds us that Jesus has finished His atoning work, but He still has work for His Church on earth to do. He struck the decisive blow on the cross (John 12:31-33; Col 2:14-15; Heb 10:12-14), but He is working through His Church “in the mopping up operation (Matt 28:18-20). Thus, century by century the Christian faith has rolled back the demonic realm of ignorance, fear, and superstition” (Jordan).

     In God's creative order a day begins the preceding evening (the evening and the morning were the first day). The Church imitated this in its calendar so that All Saints' Eve (Hallow-even) begins the festival of All Saints' Day (Nov 1). “The concept, as dramatized in Christian custom, is quite simple: On October 31, the demonic realm tries one last time to achieve victory, but is banished by the joy of the Kingdom. What is the means by which the demonic realm is vanquished? In a word: mockery. Satan’s great sin (and our great sin) is pride. Thus, to drive Satan from us we ridicule him. This is why the custom arose of portraying Satan in a ridiculous red suit with horns and a tail. Nobody thinks the devil really looks like this; the Bible teaches that he is the fallen Arch-Cherub. Rather, the idea is to ridicule him because he has lost the battle with Jesus and he no longer has power over us. Thus, the defeat of evil and of demonic powers is associated with Halloween.

     “For this reason, on October 31, 1517, Martin Luther posted his 95 theses (challenges) to the wicked practices of the Church to the bulletin board on the door of the Wittenberg chapel. He picked his day with care, and ever since Halloween has also been Reformation Day” (Jordan) Luther understood from the Scriptures that the Church in his day needed reforming, sanctifying. The Gospel had been corrupted. The Church officers had become tyrants. The congregations had become ignorant and left out of participating in the Lord's Service of Worship. Luther proclaimed the Gospel that we are saved by Christ alone, by grace alone, by faith alone, to the glory of God alone (solus Christus, sola gratia, sola fide, Soli Deo Gloria). He taught that the Church has authority, but not infallible authority. Scripture alone is the ulimate and only infallible rule for the faith and practice of the Church (sola Scriptura). Luther was accused of being a heretic for these teachings. His defense was: "Unless I am convinced by Scripture and plain reason - I do not accept the authority of the popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other - my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. God help me. Amen."  

    Luther also took his battle beyond the flesh and blood of the wicked Church leaders to the principalities, powers and rulers of darkness of this age (Eph 6:12). He seriously mocked the devil: “I resist the devil, and often it is with a fart that I chase him away.”  He also wrestled with our ancient foe by fleeing to Christ: “So when the devil throws your sins in your face and declares that you deserve death and hell, tell him this: "I admit that I deserve death and hell, what of it? For I know One who suffered and made satisfaction on my behalf. His name is Jesus Christ, Son of God, and where He is there I shall be also!” 

     Therefore, despite what the popular death culture has done with Halloween, we should not forget that originally Halloween was a Christian custom to mock our enemy, that old dragon, and to rejoice in Christ's victory which has become the victory of all saints. Furthermore, we can celebrate Reformation Day, for Christ who is sitting at the right hand of God the Father, is “restraining and conquering all His and our enemies” (WSC 26), and He is “renewing us in the whole man after the image of God, enabling us more and more to die unto sin and live unto righteousness” (WSC 35). He is also reforming His Bride corporately. Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word (Eph 5:25-26).  How does Christ do that? Through His saints. He who sits in the heavens laughs; Yahweh ridicules them says Psalm 2. Let us join in His holy laughter, and mock the enemies of Christ on October 31. So, have a Happy Hallow eve, all ye saints. Get a group of your friends together and have a Reformation Day party. Sing “A Mighty Fortress is our God.” Watch the Luther video. Eat some treats; the trick is on the devil! 

     Pastor Jeff Pennington

Sources for further reading:

Open Book Newsletter Concerning Halloween by James B. Jordan,  August 1996

http://www.biblicalhorizons.com/open-book/no-28-concerning-halloween/

Westminster Shorter Catechism with Scripture Proofs

http://www.reformed.org/documents/index.html?mainframe=http://www.reformed.org/documents/WSC_frames.html

Image by Klipsie

Turn The Other Cheek

"You have heard that it was an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I tell you the truth do not resist and evil person. If someone strikes you of the right cheek turn to him the left one. And if someone sues you and takes your tunic let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go with them one mile go with them two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you."

Matthew 5:38-42

Have any of you been in a situation where you had something hurtful happen to you?  I know I have. It's hard isn't it? It hurts and you want to hurt them back. The hard part is being able to turn the other cheek.  I find it hard myself, so if you think it's hard to do that, you're not the only one.

I’d like to share a true story with you that I got from a Ravi Zacharias podcast about a man who turned the other cheek.  It is about a Christian professor and a Muslim professor in a Muslim college.  I don't know the names of either men, so I'll just call the Christian professor Chris and the Muslim professor Aasif.  So, Aasif did not like Christians that much.  He was talking to his Muslim students at a school assembly one day about how Christianity is the most dumb religion in the world and how all Christians are hypocrites.  Well, Chris was there listening like he normally did, and he stood up and told Aasif that the things he was saying weren't true.  Aasif asked Chris join him on the stage in the front of the room and then slapped him hard across the face and said, “Turn the other cheek.”  He expected Chris to slap him back or say something, but that didn't happen.  Aasif wasn't sure what to do about Chris’s lack of response, so he quoted the Bible again and said, “'If man takes your shirt, give him your cloak as well.' Give me your pants.”  Chris stood there for a moment then turned to the audience and said, "Forgive me for what I'm about to do," and then took off his pants and handed them to Aasif.  Again, not expecting this response, Aasif just stood there for a few minutes before walking off the stage.  The next morning, when Chris was walking to his office, he found a bunch of the students lined up to apologize to him for the behavior of Aasif during the assembly and wanting to know more about Christianity.

I shared this story because I see it as an example of turning the other cheek, courage, and humility.  You might be thinking, "This is hard," "I can't do that," or maybe "I'll look weak if I do that."  Well, I need to tell you something -- life is hard and it is not all about looking strong.  It is about what you do for your Maker (God) and how you serve Him.  Turning the other cheek is hard, I’ll give you that!  It requires courage and humility as the story showed us. Turning the other cheek is something we are called to do as Christians (Matthew 5:38-42).

Another example of turning the other cheek can be found in Matthew 27 in the Bible after Jesus was betrayed and captured. The soldiers were mocking Jesus and slapping him, but he didn’t hit back or return an insult.  He just sat there and let them do it.  It may seem odd to you, but you actually get a strange satisfaction when you don’t fight back like it says in Proverbs 25:22 "In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head, and the Lord will reward you".  My advice to you is to pray and ask God to help you if you struggle in situations like this, because He can strengthen you and help you through the power of the Holy Spirit.  He will always be there for you and He will always help you, though not necessarily in the way you want or expect.

My challenge to you now is to turn the other cheek when something hurtful happens to you.  Pray daily that your life will be a testimony of God’s love and grace.  

     Chipper

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Why Bad Things Happen

"For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God" Romans 3:10

      Destruction, death, violence, and war can be put under the subject or debate of why bad things happen. As a demonstration of the law of cause and effect, and a result of Adam and Eve's rebellion, sin came into the world and began to spread. Sin brought with it death, destruction, decay, and anything else that wasn't of God. Sin had become a spiritual tendency or "bad habit" for all of mankind, except Jesus, of course. Since sin was permanently in humans (and effected all living things in the world), it began to affect and show itself through their actions immediately. Throughout the history of our existence, violence, war, hatred, lust, rebellion, death, destruction, etc. have been a part of our home (Earth). Sin's destructive effects are recorded within our history books.

      Because of these things, people have begun to question God's being. From a human perspective (note that I've said human), it seems God permits evil to run wild. Many have been kept from accepting Christianity because sin and evil mocks our deepest human longings for love, justice, and security. Any philosophy or theology that would command a hearing, including Christianity, must address the question of why God allows evil.

      God is God. He's the Creator of the universe, and has been proven to exist (see some of my other articles). He can do whatever He wants when He wills it. But God is also both just and loving. He has His reasons for allowing evil, and plan a to abolish it. But because He is God, we have no basis to demand that He play by our rules and understanding. God gave us these two things: freedom or free will. Freedom was created by God. Humans perform the acts of freedom. We execute our God-given freedom and are responsible, therefore, for the consequences of our choices. This is demonstrated when Adam and Eve disobeyed God after He specifically told them what they could and couldn't eat, and what would happen if they did. Then they suffered the consequences of their choice, as a result.

  

      We're humans, and we have a limited understanding. Our failure to perceive legitimate reasons for evil's presence doesn't mean God is angry or legitimate reasons don't exist. Evidence from God, and the Bible, shows that He's not capricious or vengeful. Until God wills it, the reason for why God allows evil and bad things to happen may not be known specifically, but through reading the Bible, we know it's all for good. Even, and especially, when we don't see it.

     Haiku

Sources: Answers to the World's Toughest Questions Passport by Charles R. Swindoll and Insight for Living, The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren, and the Bible.

Government in the Bible

Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. For he is God’s servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience. This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.”¹

            As we near the elections this fall, you may hear tons of political arguments, mudslinging or endorsements of the candidates running this year. Many of us have frankly become sick of politics and don't want to respect our government officials (present or future) or take pride in our government system. However, this is not the right attitude. Romans 13:1-7 teaches us about God’s purpose in government and design for a righteous and God-fearing nation. Government authorities are established by God and are his servants, so they have an obligation to serve God, but we also have an obligation to honor them, because in doing so we honor God.

            As citizens and Christians, nothing should stop us from honoring God, even if it is honoring our leaders. That is our responsibility in life: to glorify God. As God establishes all authorities and calls them his servants, he expects us to honor them. As we heard earlier in Romans, honoring our authorities is honoring God. Jesus goes further to say “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s”².

            The government also has duties to serve God: it should not restrict freedom of religion, but it should not forsake its foundations in Biblical Christianity. George Washington said, “It is impossible to rightly govern a nation without God and the Bible.”³ One might argue that you can still have a nation that is happy with its laws, but that doesn't mean that the laws are righteous, since righteousness comes from God.

            Romans 13:4 illustrates how the government can serve God by serving the people of their nation. The government’s duty is to follow God’s design for balance between anarchy and despotism, which is somewhat like Ronald Reagan’s ideal government: “Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves.”⁴ The Bible also talks numerous times about God’s love for the poor, saying that “those who oppress the poor show contempt for [God]”⁵.

            In the Biblical design for government, a nation will prosper. Psalms 19:7-11 says that God’s laws and statutes are perfect and trustworthy. If we follow such laws, how trustworthy and close to perfection could our country be! Serving God and serving our country come hand in hand. Look around yourself. What does your country need that God can't provide or instill? God is peace. He is love. He is faithful. Follow His example of good. Honor Him by honoring His earthly deputies­­ – our leaders and authorities.

     Justin Gummi

“Our country is not the only thing to which we owe our allegiance. It is also owed to justice and to humanity. Patriotism consists not in waving the flag, but in striving that our country shall be righteous as well as strong.”⁶

¹Romans 13:1-7, NIV 1984 

²Matthew 22:21, Ibid.

³George Washington, http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/g/george_washington.html

⁴Ronald Reagan, http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/4967-government-exists-to-protect-us-from-each-other-where-government

⁵Proverbs 14:31, NIV 1984

⁶James Bryce, http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/j/james_bryce.html

Image by Justin Gummi

Salt and Light

You are the Salt of the Earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness… it is no longer good for anything. You are the light of the World. A city on a hill cannot be hidden, neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl… In the same way, let your light shine before men so that they may… praise your Father in Heaven.

Matthew 5:13-16

Conformity is a popular trend in today’s culture. If you are different in a way that is not accepted you are shunned, ridiculed and disdained. But God has called us to a standard of difference, of nonconformity.

Let’s talk about salt. Salt is a strong seasoning that is used to flavor various foods and as a preservative. Christ calls us ‘The Salt of the Earth’. We are to season the world around us. We are to change the ‘taste’ of our surroundings. But, we are not to be changed to the ‘taste’ of our surroundings. If you dissolve salt in water, the salt is in the water, but it does not become water, it is still salt. When the water is boiled, the salt will remain and the water will be gone. But what happens when salt becomes bland? “It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.” If we are not salty, we will not bring glory to God or please his palate. But how does salt lose its saltiness? First off, this scripture is not saying you can lose your salvation, but you can lose your ability to flavor the world for Christ. Salt is a very resilient compound, you can’t make salt disappear. But, as a flavoring, salt can be washed away, diluted and covered up. Danger comes to the Salt when it is not pure and mixed with other things. We need to be filled with the seasoning of Christ and not dabble in the sins that will wash out our flavor.

What about light? Let’s start with the historical context; this was a period when there were no light bulbs, no electricity and no gas lamps. You had your candle, your fireplace and the sun. One solitary candle isn’t going to do much against the darkness that surrounds you on a moonless night; similarly, you can’t face the darkness of the world with only John 3:16 shining out on the world (though it is a good place to start). You have to be the city. You have to have so much of Christ, of His word, and of the Spirit, shining through you, that it is impossible to miss. The City on the Hill is a beacon, a homing signal, a guide to the lost. When the Psalmist says, “Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path,” we see that the Word is to be the guiding light to our lives.

            But what about opposition? In Luke 1:5 we see that “The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.” The fallen world cannot understand the light that Christ gives us – Ephesians 4:18 “They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts” – and people fear what they do not understand. When we shine our light, we need to “proclaim the truth in love.” But this doesn’t mean we should dilute our saltiness, or put our lamp under a bowl. We need to proclaim the truth. Did you know that if you eat something that is too salty, you can actually kill your ability to taste salt? Also, if you shine a flashlight in someone’s eyes, it can permanently injure their eyes. So, the question is, how do we find the balance between dilution and over flavoring? The key is ‘in love’. Not ‘in niceness’ but in a genuine concern for the eternal state of everyone you proclaim the truth to.

Have you ever gone swimming in the ocean? The water is so salty that it leaves salt on your swim suit. Similarly, when we meet unbelievers we should be so salty that we leave our saltiness on them. We should be so full of Christ that when we meet unbelievers, we should swell up like a wave and drench them in the Love of Christ. Have you ever seen a lighthouse? Its light shines off of the coast into the dark seas, guiding lost ships to a protected bay, or warning them of the dangerous and deceitful shallows and reefs. We should be a lighthouse, housing the light of Christ and shining it out onto the dark, turbulent waters of the world, guiding the lost and wandering into the eternal safety of the Bay of Salvation, and warning them of the dangerous reefs of sin.

Leaping Lizard

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