God is good.
Having read many of my dear brothers and sisters in Christ blog posts over the past few weeks about the dangers of "celebrating" the Halloween thing and that we should just stay home and not acknowledge the day in any way... some even under the conviction that a simple fall festival should not even be put on by a church due to the fact that it was just a twisting for us as believers to be able to celebrate the season and not feel guilty about it just to get what we want...
This was one of my responses to just one of the post I read:
"The earth is the LORD’S, and all it contains, The world, and those who dwell in it." (Psalm 24:1), "Just as you do not know the path of the wind and how bones are formed in the womb of the pregnant woman, so you do not know the activity ...of God who makes all things." (Eccles 11:5), "For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything." (Col 1:16-18), "And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they kept right on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ" (Acts 5:42)
Every day belongs to God... even October 31st. I refuse to bow down and let Satan have any claim on anything that belongs to God. Satan takes what belonged to God and perverts it and twists it and makes it crooked... he created nothing.
We as the church are to make straight the way, clear the path in the wilderness... we can't clear the way or shine a light shut in and hunkered down in our homes.
We are to be a testimony and witness to Christ everyday and especially when and where darkness abounds. Those who celebrate this day of darkness as the Day of Darkness do so because they desperately need Christ.
Our church does a fall drama called The Judgment Seat this week and we have had the opportunity to share Christ with over 35,000 people on this day, this season, just because we have refused to give this day over to the enemy...
I personally had the opportunity a couple of years ago at JS to spend over an hour sharing the gospel and the Word of God with two Wiccans who came through our drama... our theme that year was about witchcraft... I would have not had that opportunity if I had of been at home.
In the words of AW Tozer..."It's all about the motive"
Every day belongs to God... even October 31st. I refuse to bow down and let Satan have any claim on anything that belongs to God. Satan takes what belonged to God and perverts it and twists it and makes it crooked... he created nothing.
We as the church are to make straight the way, clear the path in the wilderness... we can't clear the way or shine a light shut in and hunkered down in our homes.
We are to be a testimony and witness to Christ everyday and especially when and where darkness abounds. Those who celebrate this day of darkness as the Day of Darkness do so because they desperately need Christ.
Our church does a fall drama called The Judgment Seat this week and we have had the opportunity to share Christ with over 35,000 people on this day, this season, just because we have refused to give this day over to the enemy...
I personally had the opportunity a couple of years ago at JS to spend over an hour sharing the gospel and the Word of God with two Wiccans who came through our drama... our theme that year was about witchcraft... I would have not had that opportunity if I had of been at home.
In the words of AW Tozer..."It's all about the motive"
October 31 at 8:23am"
You see The Judgment Seat is my church's largest outreach project, financially and in every other way. It consumes our entire church body and we also must have help from our surrounding churches in the area. So it pulls the entire body of Christ together. We had Methodist serving with us, Assembly of God serving with us, and so on.... It was the entire body of Christ pulled together focused on one thing... the exaltation of Christ.
We have chosen not to ignore this day, but to take it and use it for the Kingdom of God. Making the most of every opportunity (Eph 5:16, Col 4:5). This is what we do... and it is by no means to twist this day and use it for what we want. It is for us to be spent for Christ.
Each year our theme is prayed over and the theme for the next JS is usually chosen within weeks of the finished JS. This years theme was domestic violence and the God given responsibility of the father as the head of the household. I cannot begin to tell you the number of kids who came through who were counseled over their home life or lack of. We have a generation of orphans due to absent parents. Fathers who think they can abdicate their headship and mothers who have decided a boyfriend is more important than raising their children alone...
It is indeed heart wrenching.
This year at Judgment Seat we were able to present the gospel to 2088 souls. We know that 38 of those received Christ as their Savior this week. We know that 12 souls rededicated their lives to Christ this week. We know that 7 souls came forward to make sure they really did know Christ this week. Countless others just needed to talk...
These are who we know of because they were so moved they took the extra opportunity at the end to step out of their crowd and come and talk with one of of our counselors... however I don't know of one that came through untouched.
Here is a testimony of one of our visitors... and this is why we, at our church, do what we do...
First Time Visit At The Judgment Seat
Yes, my children dress up and go out to participate in truck or treat's.
No, we do not dress up in the gore, no witches, no vampires, no ghosts, ets.
However this year my ten year old chose to serve in Judgment Seat. She chose changing dirty diapers and helping take care of the workers kids over the candy, over the dressing up, because although we do not forbid the recognition of this day in our home, we don't build it up either.
When my kids hear Halloween, they think Judgment Seat and they can't wait for the day they are old enough to be a part of this amazing ministry to our community!
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