Halloween Is Not Christian

You know how weekends are supposed to be relaxing, a way for you to recover from the week?

Well my weekend didn't seem relaxing at all even though I got to spend it in peaceful Pennsylvania. Maybe it's because my work tolerance is very low and I need about three times the amount of time spent working to relax in order to properly recover.

Is that normal?

I just want to sleep in the grass outside somewhere for a few days straight then I'll feel motivated and fresh again...

Anyway, today after church I went to Mrs. Grace Kee's (lady in red) house for lunch. She's one of the new members at church who recently moved here from China. Her husband is currently attending seminary school nearby and their three children Elijah, Hannah and Enoch are trying to adjust to the new environment. The Kee family are Koreans but they are fluent in Chinese because they've lived in China for a while. The children however haven't had much practice speaking Chinese in a while and would rather communicate in Korean.

Mrs. Kee and I have been wanting to talk for a really long time because, well personally I don't know why I was so drawn to her in the beginning, but she told me that she used to work with young adults for Campus Crusade in China and so when she met me she was really glad to find someone in that age group that she was comfortable working with. Not to mention, I'm also one of the only people in church who speaks Chinese.

Sara Park (lady in the middle) is another new member at church and her husband who is a pastor in Korea is also attending seminary school. She's really soft-spoken and always smiling.

Somehow I guess instead of hanging out with lots of Russians I've been hanging out with lots of Koreans instead.

Outside the Korean supermarket today, there was a lot of church activity. There was a church choir performance, people handing out tracts and speaking to strangers about Jesus. The whole place seemed quite lively and reminded me of Glory Presbyterian Church in Singapore during lunch hour.

To the average person, it may seem odd that all these church people are gathering outside the supermarket. However there is really a deeper need and meaning for it.

Today is 31st October, the infamous night of Halloween. All across my school campus you can see students going out in their costumes, ready to get drunk till the wee hours of the morning. In suburban Pennsylvania, little kids and teenagers are going from door to door collecting truckloads worth of candy in their strange outfits.

For us Christians, Halloween is an anti-Christ festival. It is an event which celebrates the devil and the evil powers. Its subtle advertising in movies, songs, etc have made the holiday so popular that many forget the evil roots of this day. As a result, many Christians will celebrate Halloween and may invite unnecessary troubles into their lives.

As we gathered in church today, we were all aware of a spiritual battle being waged in the world, especially so on a day like this. However we all knew that we were all safe under the protection of God's love.

It was very encouraging to go grocery shopping and see that Christians everywhere felt the same way and even decided to speak up for Jesus on a day where people (deliberately or not) were celebrating evil.

While I used to think that donning costumes and going to a party or two on Halloween wasn't a big deal at all, I don't think that's ok anymore.

I think as God's children, we should stay far away from the roaring lion that stalks around, waiting to devour us. I will not expose myself to any subtle deception unnecessarily because that always ends in trouble. I get very sad when I see Christian friends downplay the seriousness of celebrating Halloween. I hope that God will open their eyes to what they are actually doing just as He has opened mine.

Let's keep to the straight and narrow path that leads to life at all times!