So What About Other Things?

October is the month of Halloween, and all the scary movies abound on tv, and the kiddos get costumes and grownups have dress-up parties to have fun.  Is it wrong? Is it just part of the fun, not meaning any harm?  Well that depends on what you do and why!  Having costume parties and trick or treat are not going to harm anyone's soul outright.  Yet for impressionable minds of the young, is it a good idea to encourage them about ghosts, spirits, vampires, zombies and such?  Have we as parents invested any time in teaching them who Jesus Christ is and what He did for us? Do they know about God?  Yeah we probably did that...we are good parents right?  However, have we considered the things that we do not realize "snare" us into wrongful beliefs and can actually invite "bad" spirits into our lives?

With the internet and movies and books being so widely available to the masses of people in our time--there do exist "unholy voices" in the world.  How are we to discern what is right and good from that which is not?  I am aware that many good folks have given up on outright Christianity because of the perceived failures of humans who have tarnished the Name of Christ...yet they desire to do good and be decent people!  They seek a "religion" that works for them.  Religion is a belief system and form of worship....so it doesn't have to necessarily be called Christianity.  Satanists have a "religion".  These are extreme opposites yet both have a religion and form of worship.  Then there's the "middle ground".  This is the place where all sorts of things are mixed together to form a set of beliefs and style of worship...it is of no denomination...therefore it seems to bring more freedom to the soul....but does it?

There are those who worship God in the form of nature and that claim deities to Mother Earth, Father Sky, and The Great Spirit.  They actually have a great deal of respect for the world, the universe, and their fellow man...aren't these things good? Yes they are in a practical sense...yet, have they considered...those are more than one spirit?  Where is Jesus in them? Is He one among many?  Many Christians are actually saying that Wicca is compatible to Christianity in principle.  The good done in any religion is good.  God wants us to respect and value the elements, the earth, the universe, and our fellow man.  The Native American spirituality is classic example of  mixing old and new and not seeing anything wrong with it...it sounds good and does good....I know, I used to participate in it...it was a great way to worship God without the hypocrisy I saw in the Church....but when I thought about how many spirits were invoked...I realize, there is only One I need--the Holy Spirit who comes from the Lord Jesus Christ...there is no other Name under Heaven by which man can be saved.  It is His Spirit...not many.  The sky is of God but is not God. The earth is another of God's wondrous creations that we must respect...but it is not God.  There is only one Creator.  Therefore Christians who are seduced by these "spiritual" forms of worship--don't realize they are calling on any "other" spirits.  God says in His Commandments that HE is a jealous God....HE doesn't want to share us with any other entities!  He loves us enough to die for us!

The subject of the occult is another avenue of confusion.  New Age Spirituality sounds good, but are Christians who say Christ is the only way, aware of taking..."another way"?  Psychics, tarot cards, tea leave readings, palm readings, mediums, "white" witchcraft (which does no harm to another because they believe that harm comes back 7-fold or 3-fold..depending on which you adhere to), crystals, chakras, channeling, karma, stages of light, energies, horoscopes, etc...are all forbidden to the Christian. Why? They invoke "other spirits".  They open doors to deception, to oppression or even possession of other spirits.  How many bad things have happened to Christians, their loved ones, or what kinds of suffering do they endure--that may have been caused by dabbling in places where they ought not?  All of these sound intriguing, some are just forms of our entertainment, others actually give us a sense of "knowing"....satan tricked Eve by being subtle...by asking an innocent question to which which she didn't think through clearly.  She had everything!  She had the Divine Life within her...she walked with God!  There weren't any sickness, death, fear, guilt, worry, nothing we all suffer now--until she cursed herself, Adam and all of humanity.  Nothing happened to her at first....so she shared with Adam.  Just because we don't see or feel any negative things at first....doesn't mean our "dabbling" won't cause some misfortune to our lives or our offspring.  How many diseases, troubles, bad luck, depressions, mental illnesses, etc...could be caused from our hypocrisy by "adding to our Christianity"?  God is a forgiving God.  He will forgive our sins when we confess and turn away from doing them again.  However, the physical issues that came from them may remain...sin has caused our bodies to die and decay....yet thru Christ our souls live on...and one day in our future...our bodies will be restored.  Until that day, we all die.

We don't need the full moon to appreciate and thank God for His earth, His sky,  or for praying for ourselves and others.  Christians don't need to know what is "on the other side and how our loved ones are doing".  Followers of Christ do not need "powers" of divination to make decisions or to predict the future.  And as for obtaining Heaven, we are promised that through Christ Jesus!  One does not gain entrance into Heaven through any other way....the Scriptures say the Jesus declared, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life and no one comes to the Father except through Me".  (John 14:6)

So to those who claim salvation in Christ Jesus, be not deceived or carried away with other forms or other voices.  Be careful what you say, listen to, and think through what these things mean.  The reason for the Scriptures and the Creeds are to state outright what is that perfect will of God for us.  Some Christians have said that they think, what we say and do only have power if we give those things "power" by believing.  An example of a good luck charm or a voodoo doll or horoscope can only have effect if you truly "believe" and give it power.  Then why does Jesus say, "every idle word we shall give account for"--unless you water down His Word...to make it mean whatever you want it to?  Why did God forbid divination in the Old Testament? Then they claim, the Old Testament isn't relevant now that we have the new...then are the 10 Commandments no longer needed?  Now  can we change the first one...and have many gods?  Be careful brothers and sisters, the days are evil, that you not be seduced by things that are not good for you and your loved ones that may have....ill effects now...or later...or forever!  God bless and keep each of you in His Light and in His Truth through His Only Begotten Son...Our Lord Jesus Christ!