Today marks All Hallow’s Eve, or Halloween as the world declares it. Actually, as the US decalres it – most other countries around the world don’t observe this day as a holiday.

My family (and, by extension, my church family) does not recognize this day as a holiday. Yesterday I sent out three Tweets in a row – and I’ll copy them here.

Tweet number one: ‘Why don’t you do Halloween, Cary?’ Because God says to avoid the appearance of evil.

1Thessaloinians 5:22 “Abstain from all appearance of evil.” That’s pretty clear.

Tweet number two: ‘Our Harvest Festival provides an alternative.’ OK, when are your alternatives for Passover and Ramadan?

Celebrating the holidays of religions that you don’t follow may be “inclusive”” but it makes for misunderstandings from not FULLY knowing what you are celebrating. OK, so you are trying to convert or introduce people to your faith. What about the Jews and the muslims? Why not try to convert them instead of heathens who do not love the Lord but instead are trying to glorify demonic activities?

Tweet number three: ‘There’s no harm in letting them dress up!’ Dress them up all you want but celebrating violent unrepentant death is not edifying.

When my Pastor saw this one on Facebook, he commented “Dress up on October 31st, 30th, or close you celebrate Halloween. That’s the truth.” Very much so, Pastor. Very much so.

TMBWitW sent this to me, via email. She got it from one of her mailing list groups, in this case it was from Vision Forum Ministries:

The Five Scariest Things You Can Do This Halloween

The fear of the Lord is to hate evil. (Proverbs 8:13)

By Doug Phillips

Our country is in the grip of a fear crisis. The tension because of this fear is almost palpable. There is fear over elections, fear over the economy, and fear over hundreds of other issues ranging from the environment to terrorism.

The one fear that America is missing is a fear of the Lord. As a people, we no longer fear God. Because we do not fear God, we no longer hate evil (Proverbs 8:13).

Instead of hating evil, Americans toy with it. We toy with holidays like Halloween that were conceived in evil and that promote the “cute-ification” of evil, whether that evil takes the form of witchcraft, sorcery, ghoulishness, or some other form of malevolent imagery paraded before our children. We laugh at the very things that the Lord describes as “abominations,” and we find ourselves obsessively fascinated by, and attracted to, all things dark.

Yet we do not fear the Lord.

Those who “hate evil” are very scary to a secular society that fears man more than God. They are scary because they dare to declare that there are absolute standards by which society must be governed. They are scary because, if they are successful, industries like Hollywood that make billions of dollars by promoting ungodly fear will lose their influence. They are scary because such people will not be swayed by political candidates who use fear as a tool for manipulation.

With this in mind, I offer you the five “scariest” things you can do this Halloween:

The scariest thing you can do this Halloween is to not make light of evil. Halloween was conceived in evil and has remained a celebration that uses children to promote a fascination with darkness and superstitious fear. Simultaneously, it makes light of things that the Bible describes as evil. Stand against such things, and the world will find you very scary indeed. The fear of the Lord makes men turn from evil (Proverbs 16:6).

The scariest thing you can do this Halloween is to not be fearful. The media wants you to be afraid of everything from overpopulation to global warming. The politicians want you to be afraid of the economy and political instability. God wants you to do what is morally right, trust Him completely, and never be gripped by an ungodly spirit of fear. You can place your trust and hope for this nation in the King of Kings. Jesus said: “And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him” (Luke 12:4–5). Believe this, and you will be light to the world.

The scariest thing you can do this Halloween is to completely skip Halloween and remember Reformation Day. It was 494 years ago that Martin Luther nailed his world-changing 95 Theses to the door of the Wittenberg church. These theses included rebukes to ungodly fear and superstition. 502 years ago, sometime near October 31, a baby named John Calvin was conceived who would dedicate his life to eradicating an ungodly fear of superstitious beliefs and proclaiming the gospel of grace. His emphasis on reformation, revival, and the sufficiency of Scripture had such far-reaching implications for nations like the United States that he has been described by Christian and secular scholars alike as the true founding father of America. The Reformers did something that was very scary to the world of their day. They stood against all forms of dark superstitions which grip the minds and souls of men. It was their emphasis on the fear of the Lord and the wisdom of Holy Scripture that was used by God to liberate untold numbers of men and women. But to remember the Reformers instead of Halloween is very scary to the world. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10).

The scariest thing you can do this Halloween is to refuse to watch or allow your children to watch any of the toxic Halloween and horror films emerging from Hollywood. America’s fascination with ungodly fear has made horror the most popular and fastest-growing film genre among youth. When parents allow their children to toy with this genre, they promote ungodly fear, and they contribute to the fear-factories in Hollywood that prey upon the youth of our culture. Say “no” to Hollywood horror and you will be dangerously scary to the media elite. “Fear ye not me? saith the Lord: will ye not tremble at my presence….?” (Jeremiah 5:22).

The scariest thing you can do this Halloween is to get on your knees as a mother and father and pray that the Lord will send you many children who will fear God, not man — children who will especially shun the glorification of witchcraft, the bondage of ungodly fear, and the “cute-ification” of evil that is promoted through holidays like Halloween. Cultures that toy with evil end up being cultures of death. The Christian response is to be a people of life. That means babies. It means fearing God by honoring His command to “be fruitful and multiply.” It means remembering that the Scripture describes children as a “blessing” and a “reward.” Raise children that fear God more than man, and that will be answer enough to our Halloween-and darkness-obsessed culture; for if you trust God over your womb and commit your children to a holy education, you will be very scary to the modern world. “Come, my children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord” (Psalm 34:11).

Persevero,

Douglas Phillips,
President, Vision Forum Ministries

Let me throw a couple more at you regarding fear and it’s proper place in your life:

2Timothy 1:7 “For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”

Romans 8:15 “For you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but you have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba Father.”

Chat ya later…

Thank you for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, God bless you all, don’t buy or breed cats or dogs while homeless pets die (spay, neuter & adopt a pet, one by one, until there are none), Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

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Good news – visited the Doctor for a follow up (of course, I was wearing a red shirt!) and learned a few things. 1. – Derangement Meniscus can’t really be diagnosed without an MRI or similar scan. That was an educated guess on the part of the Urgent Care practitioner. 2. – from the position I was in, I couldn’t have damaged the Meniscus since the weight was on the patella, and not on the meniscus. (2.5 – meniscus is kinda funny to spell) 3. – chances are I’ve merely popped the patella ligament out of and back into place – a painful process, and fraught with all kinds of pain, but again I heard that icing it was the right thing to do.

I want everyone to know that TMBWitW is the one who convinced me to ice it in the first place. I was just gonna pop some Tylenol for the pain and keep on keepin’ on. Marines are like that. TMBWitW says Marines are stubborn and less than helpful when they themselves are the ones who are hurt. I’ll let you know if I find any evidence to refute that statement.

So – prognosis is good. If I don’t show improvement in the next two to three weeks, while continuing with the elevation/ice/no weight pressure and adding in the occasional flexing routine, then Doc will be bringing in a specialist and tossing me to the MRI wolves. If surgery is called for, we would know then. At this point in time I refuse to believe that I am going under the knife. I know that I will heal or be healed and things will be back to normal before the Christmas and Hanukkah seasons are upon us at the toy store.

Thanks to all who have been praying for me. I am positive that it helped.

Chat ya later…

Thank you for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, God bless you all, don’t buy or breed cats or dogs while homeless pets die (spay, neuter & adopt a pet, one by one, until there are none), Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

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As most of my readers know by know, I managed to mess up my knee. It’s called Derangement Meniscus, and it means the shock absorber between the tibia and the fibula (behind the knee cap, cartilage on the tibia) was traumatized. So far, no one has mentioned the “S” word, and I am hoping to avoid it altogether. Currently treatment involves elevation and alternating ice. Staying off the feet helps. Boss lady is accommodating, assigning things that can be accomplished while sitting down.

Pushing my luck, that is, trying to hurry the healing process, can/will result in permanent injury and surgery. This will greatly reduce my effectiveness when it comes to self-locomotion.

As much pain as this has meant, I realize how lucky I am.

I have two legs.

For the most part, they work like they are supposed to.

I can wiggle all ten of my toes.

Sure, I use crutches for now, but that’s just temporary.

I cannot express my thanks for those members of the armed forces who have given up so much of their lives for me.

Chat ya later…

Thank you for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, God bless you all, don’t buy or breed cats or dogs while homeless pets die (spay, neuter & adopt a pet, one by one, until there are none), Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

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(as always, click on the image to embigify – credit to the ARRA News Service for the cartoon)

Did you hear the news? Obama(THHO) has shortened the time frame before forgiving the balance on your student loan! Yay! HE’S GIVING AWAY MORE OF YOUR HARD EARNED DOLLARS THAT YOU PAID IN TAXES. Wake the hell up, people! He’s giving away MORE MONEY that the GOVERNMENT DOES NOT HAVE. Student loans that have been GUARANTEED by the government – using TAX DOLLARS collected BY THE GOVERNMENT – are going to be FORGIVEN. That means that you and I, the TAX PAYING CITIZENS of this country, are footing the bill for hundreds of millions of dollars in student loans.

And you know the sneakiest part? He’s using this as an obvious play for student votes in the next election. Yes, he’s BUYING VOTES using MONEY HE DOES NOT HAVE to BUY THE VOTE of the impressionable young students.

This country cannot take another four years of being spent into oblivion.

Chat ya later…

Thank you for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, God bless you all, don’t buy or breed cats or dogs while homeless pets die (spay, neuter & adopt a pet, one by one, until there are none), Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

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I hurt something in my knee last night. Put weight on it while on the floor, heard something POP, and spent this morning at the urgent care. I now have an ace bandage wrapped around my knee, an ice pack sitting on it, and a shiny pair of crutches.

I’ve decided that sitting still and watching TV is going to be all the activity I do this afternoon.

Chat ya later…

Thank you for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, God bless you all, don’t buy or breed cats or dogs while homeless pets die (spay, neuter & adopt a pet, one by one, until there are none), Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

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