Should Christians Celebrate Halloween?

 
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What is the purpose behind celebrating Halloween? Halloween has it’s roots in the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, where people lit bonfires and wore costumes to scare off spirits. In the eighth century, Pope Gregory III made November 1 as a time to honor saints. Of these two “holidays”, the culture of the Celtic festival of Samhain has over time persisted. The true roots of Halloween started as a pagan festival, and Christianity has not affected it’s traditions in any noticeable way. Christmas and Easter on the other hand are, at the heart, Christian celebrations but often in today’s culture our society at large has and is attempting to secularize these holidays. Christians feel comfortable with these two holidays, despite how the world celebrates them, because they know the real root and meaning behind them and can celebrate them as such. Can believers convincingly do the same with Halloween? In addition, Halloween so openly flaunts death, demons, and darkness- the very things that Jesus entered our world to conquer. Should we as believers feel comfortable celebrating the things Jesus defeated?

Perhaps some might attempt to pair halloween with “meat offered to idols” (1 Corinthians 8) and thus say that those who would choose to abstain from Halloween are the “weaker brother”. It could be argued that if one were to participate in Halloween activities because it’s easier than doing something else, or because everyone else is doing it, or because surely there’s nothing wrong with it, or because there hasn’t ever really been much thought put into it- then perhaps that person might have the weaker faith. Maybe it is better to pair Halloween to what Paul said in 1 Cor. 10:23 “All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things edify.” If we choose to participate in a Halloween activity, may we be very mindful of how we are profiting (or diminishing) God’s Kingdom.

 

Dads / Kids Jiu-Jitsu now available

We're excited to present to you a new program for dads and their kids that will be kicking off on Monday, September 17th.  If you have kids that like to wrestle with you, or you have been looking for a no-cost self defense program, or you are simply looking for a way to build a stronger relationship with your child(ren), then this Jiu-Jitsu program is for you! 

We will be learning 10 playful exercises geared for kids ages 2-12, each with 3 levels, built on the core principles of Jiu-Jitsu. The program methodology directly correlates to positive parenting skills. Our goals in utilizing this program include: strengthening our relationship with our kids, building a base for self confidence in our kids, connecting with others in the area, learning some insightful parenting skills, and having a lot of fun!  

The program will be held on a weekly basis, Monday nights from 6:15-7:00pm. Each week we will be learning a new game, via a short video clip, and then we will play the game - each dad with their child(ren).  The link below shows one of the fun games.  

Please contact us if you are interested and/or have any questions.  

 
http://www.GracieBULLYPROOF.com In the Bullyproof program, there are 10 Gracie Games and 33 Jr. Combatives lessons. The Gracie Games are designed to get your child hooked on playful aspect of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, and the Jr. Combatives lesson are designed to get your child ready for the bully.