HALLOWEEN! Harmless? or Hazardous??

The History of Halloween

CELTIC NEW YEAR October 31 is the most important day in the satanic year. It marks the Celtic new year, and is always at the end of the growing season, thus it became the "Festival of Death." On this day, the god of the Celtics was to have called up the spirits of the wicked dead who had died during the past year.

At the same time, other evil spirits arose and went about the countryside harassing the people. On October 31, the Celtics expected to be harassed by ghosts, evil spirits, and demons; and it was no fun and games to them! They would light bonfires to guide the spirits to their own town and to ward off evil spirits.

A Bible Treasure Hunt

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Use Bible verses to create a fun and exciting Treasure Hunt! The Bible talks a lot about "treasure." Just a few Scriptures that mention treasure are as follows:

Matthew 6:21 "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

Matthew 13:44 ""The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field."

2 Corinthians 4:7 "But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us."

1 Timothy 6:19 "In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life."

Everyone loves to find the treasure! Following are some ideas of how to take the fun of a treasure hunt and teach a wonderful Bible lesson as well.

Find the Clues

We've used this type of treasure hunt as a family. Instead of taking our kids "Trick or Treating" on Halloween, we chose to create a fun treasure hunt for them not only to find candy treats, but also Biblical treats.

We gave them one clue to begin. I love rhyming clues, so I made up several; I've also use Scripture clues that are fun. The first clue led to the second, the second to the third, and so on. The final clue led them to "the treasure" - a load of candy along with several "treasure Scriptures."

Our kids loved it and certainly never felt "left out" when it came to having fun and getting treats. We were able to take a day the Lord has made and rejoice in it while also celebrating the light of His life.

Scriputre clues can be written out or for a Bible drill activity, just give them the reference and have them look the Bible verses up.

Sample Scripture clues:

* Matthew 6:19: "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."

["Keys" - leave next clue either where you keep your car keys or on the piano keys if you have one.]

* Matthew 7:8 "For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened."

["Door" - leave the next clue on the front door.]

* Psalm 69:2: "I sink in the miry depths, where there is no foothold. I have come into the deep waters; the floods engulf me."

["Sink" - leave the next clue in the kitchen sink]

* 1 Kings 17:9: ""Give me your son," Elijah replied. He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his bed."

["Bed" - leave the next clue under a bed]

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These are just a few of the many possiblities; think of other words around your house and look up a Scripture to go along with them using a condordance. Crosswalk offers a great online concordance.

Other ideas may include: bath, book, screen (for computer screen), pillow, sheets, cup, dish, etc. The possibilities are endless

Rhyming clues may be a bit harder. I tried to weave in Bible truth with each one too.

Samples:

* Jesus died for you and me,
For life everlasting, He's the "key." (by car keys, piano keys or computer keyboard)

* A new song to the Lord I will sing,
Find the next clue by something that can "ring." (telephone)

* He'll wash our sins as white as snow,
Look for something that can really grow. (a houseplant)

Okay, I'm not the greatest at poetry; you get the idea though.

The clues for the treasure hunt don't have to be long. I usually just think of a word I want to use for the clue (key, ring, grow) and then go from there building a clue to rhyme with that word. It's really fun once you get started, and the kids love it! Also, try having students search the Bible using clues to find answers with these Bible Treasure Hunt puzzles. 

Scavenger Treasure Hunt

A scavenger treasure hunt can also be a lot of fun. Participants look up the Bible verse reference and then search for the object mentioned. When all objects are collected and returned, the treasure hunt reward is given.

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For a printable Bible activity, try using the following "Books of the Bible Scavenger Hunt":

Can you find the names of 25 books of the Bible in this paragraph? This is a most remarkable puzzle. Someone found it in the seat pocket on a flight from Los Angeles to Honolulu, keeping himself occupied for hours. One man from Illinois worked on this while fishing from his john boat. Roy Clark studied it while playing his banjo. Elaine Victs mentioned it in her column once. One woman judges the job to be so involving, she brews a cup of tea to help calm her nerves. There will be some names that are really easy to spot...that's a fact. Some people will soon find themselves in a jam, especially since the book names are not necessarily capitalized. The truth is, from answers we get, we are forced to admit it usually takes a minister or scholar to see some of them at the worst. Something in our genes is responsible for the difficulty we have. Those able to find all of them will hear great lamentations from those who have to be shown. One revelation may help, books like! Timothy and Samuel may occur without their numbers. And punctuation or spaces in the middle are normal. A chipper attitude will help you compete. Remember, there are 25 books of the Bible lurking somewhere in this paragraph.

Click here for answers... 

More Books of the Bible puzzles...

Or here's a printable scavenger hunt that can be used with children using rhyming clues or use it with Bible verses for older children or a youth group scavenger hunt activity.

Have fun!!!

http://www.creativebiblestudy.com/treasurehunt.html

THE TRADITION OF HALLOWEEN

THE TRADITION OF HALLOWEEN

Many Christians do not realize that certain traditions that are celebrated in the world have evil origins. Just because our society partakes in certain activities does not make them acceptable for Christians. We must look to Christ and His Word to see if the traditions of this world are good or evil.

Mark 7:13 says, "Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye."

One very evil tradition is the celebration of Halloween. No Christian should partake in the activities of this holiday, nor should they allow their children to do so. We can discern the evil of this day by taking a look at the festivities that are associated with its celebration. Children are dressed as witches, goblins, ghosts, little devils and fortune tellers. All these are representatives of Satan's kingdom. Games played at carnivals promote fear in children as they are ushered through spook houses and horror rooms. Skeletons, black cats and bats represent death and darkness. No carnival is complete without the gypsy who tells fortunes. Satan has gained man's approval to celebrate his day by simply making it a tradition that seems like a fun day. The opposite is true, however, as more damage and harm are done on this day each year than any other holiday. Children are taught to go door to door chanting "trick or treat." It is unchristian to demand a gift under threat of playing some trick. Police are on the alert for juvenile vandalism and caution parents to be watchful.

Satanists celebrate this as their high holy day and even offer human sacrifices to the devil. Until recently, most Christians have not questioned this traditional celebration, but rather have gone along with it by even bringing Halloween parties into the church. The earliest Halloween celebrations were not held by the early church, but the Druids in honor of Samhain, the Lord of the Dead, and his demons, whose festival fell on November 1. Halloween actually means "holy or hallowed evening." (According to the Roman calendar in which days began at midnight, the evening of October 31 was the eve before the hallowed day; hence Halloween or All Soul's Eve was kept throughout the ancient pagan world.).

It can also be called All Hallows Eve because it is the day before All Hallows' or All Saints' day, a holy day in the Roman Catholic Church, Episcopal Church, the Church of England and the Greek Orthodox Church. This festival honors all martyrs, known and unknown, who have died for the church. During the time of Constantine, these two holidays were merged in an attempt to Christianize the heathen. The church could not prevent these heathen practices, so they thought "taming'" them would be the answer. They were, of course, not to worship their gods on the church's All Saint's day. However, as it is with all compromises, soon the evil overrode the good, and hence we still honor these heathen practices by celebrating Halloween.

As parents you have a responsibility not to allow your children to be exposed to these evil celebrations. What might seem to some as innocent children's games is a "little fox" that can open the door to satanic influence and even demon possession in some cases. Children can be tormented with a spirit of fear that can come through this involvement that stays with them throughout their lives. It also introduces children to witchcraft, making it easier for them to become involved in cults and occultic activities. When children are taught it is alright to play with the things of darkness, it does not give them the repulsion and resistance that they need to stand against greater Satanic involvement. When the things of Satan are taken lightly, as games and fun, it sets our children up to accept evil rather than to resist it. This "little fox" is not only spreading evil to children but has been a curse for the church and our nation as well. As Christians, we should spread the word to others about the evil tradition of Halloween.

Eph 5:6-12 says, "Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. 7 Be not ye therefore partakers with them. 8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: 9 (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)10 Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. 11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. 12 For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret."