Today is Reformation Day!

Today is reformation day! A huge piece of our Christian heritage is celebrated on this day - do you know what happened on this day in 1517?


On October 31, 1517, a priest and monk named Martin Luther nailed the 95 theses to his church door beginning the Protestant Reformation. What does that mean to you and me?


Martin Luther was a Monk and Professor. He had studied the Bible thoroughly and had devoted his life to knowing God's truth. But as he studied he began to see the flaw of the Pope and his teachings specifically over the sale of indulgences.


On Halloween or the eve of All Saints Day Martin Luther posted on the church door the 95 Theses or 95 reasons why we are justified by faith and grace alone and not by works that the church was requiring for forgiveness of sins.


On All Saints Day the church had a large festive occasion where hordes of pilgrims would travel to the church to receive indulgences. What is an indulgence? It's when you pay money to the priest to have your sins forgiven. So Luther was posting a very long list of why this was wrong - from here a huge firestorm broke out and with the birth of the printing press the list was printed, passed out and the protestant reformation began.


It is good to remember two things today - 1. I am thankful for the men who have gone before us who have fought for the truth of God's word. 2. We are not saved through any good works but solely on the work of Christ on the cross. We are saved through faith alone, by grace alone, through Christ alone to the glory of God alone! Rest in this truth.


Walk with the King!

Children's Poems That Go With Pumpkin Carving

As you are carving your pumpkins tell your children and grandchildren these stories:

The Pumpkin Prayer

Lord, open my mind so I can learn new things about you.

(Cut off top of pumpkin)

Remove the things in my life that don’t please you. Forgive the wrong things I do and help me to forgive others.

(Remove the guts)

Open my eyes to see the beauty you’ve made in the world around me.
(Cut open eyes)

I’m sorry for the times I’ve turned my nose at the good food you provide.

(Cut out nose)

Let everything I say please You.

(Cut out mouth)

Lord, help me show your light to others through the things I do.

(Light the candle inside)

Amen.
By: Liz Curtis Higgs

Here's another similar story that I found on the blog Lamp Unto My Feet. Tell your children this story as you carve your pumpkin together:

"God picks you from the patch, brings you in, and washes all the dirt off you may have gotten from the other pumpkins. Then he cuts the top off and scoops out all the yucky stuff. He removes the seeds of doubt, hate, greed, etc. Then He carves you a new smiling face and puts His light inside of you to shine for all the world to see."

Walk with the King!

A Christian View On Halloween

Should I hand out candy to the little princesses and knights who come to my door or leave my light out? Should I consider the evil history of Halloween and not participate or should I allow my child to dress up as Minnie Mouse believing it's "innocent" fun? These questions my husband and I debated once we became parents.

I grew up in a home where we trick-or-treated and passed out candy every year. Then my oldest sister had children and they chose to not participate in Halloween because of the evil history and I fully respected that. Then my middle sister had children and they chose to allow their kids to wear costumes to a fall festival at their church rather than participate in the neighborhood hand out. And I respected that. And then along came my children - there were three choices - the 2 my sister's chose or the option of fully participating in the neighborhood trick-or-treat. What should we do?

Since the Bible does not give a clear mandate "thou shalt not participate in passing out candy or dressing up as minie mouse on October 31st" - this is an area of Romans 14 - called liberty, conscience or a grey area.

Now I know that someone who believes this is black and white will pounce on me and say it is wrong and will even have some verses to support their choices. That is because your conscience does not allow you to participate due to past history with the occult, research you have done on halloween, scriptures you believe apply to October 31st or because you are submitting to your husband in this matter. I sincerely respect your decisions and just want to share my convictions as one of 3 options. I am not trying to persuade anyone to change their opinion - but rather just answer the question:

Dear Courtney - "Do your children dress up for halloween and how do you handle the issues that people have with Christians participating in these activities?"

Yes, my children dress up for halloween and we participate in the neighborhood trick-or-treating. Let me say up front - I despise the skeletons, witches, ghosts and other vile things that go with Halloween. My neighbor has these displayed in their front yard right now - and I do not enjoy it - at no other time of the year would these things be socially acceptable.

That being said - if my children dress up in harmless innocent costumes we believe it is acceptable. One reason is because we live in a neighborhood where the neighbors drive straight up their driveways and into their garages. We have little contact with them and never has a neighbor knocked on my door and asked for anything except on this night, once a year.

Another reason is because I love having my lights lit to the hilt on Halloween displaying hospitality to the sweet neighborhood children that again - we rarely see...


And finally it has been a great training ground for our children - for example - the vice of greed - warning them to not be greedy when they take the candy, reminding them to say thank you, to be patient while they wait in line at the doors for candy, to compliment others on their interesting costumes and to simply be friendly, approachable and loving to others. Oh yes, and to explain in simple terms the dark side of halloween - it reminds them that there is an enemy that is real - he does exist.

Our neighborhood has a pizza party after the trick-or-treating and we have attended in the past and really connected with people. One of my pastors has had BBQ's at his house on this night - again using this opportunity to connect with those in his neighborhood. I do not see this as a night where the gospel will go forth - but I do see it as one small step towards a better connection.

So that's what we do - but like I said - I believe this is a matter of conscience so do not follow my lead here - follow your husband and the Holy Spirit. Pray and do what God lays on your heart this Halloween.

(By the way, the most hateful comment I've ever received came on a post from last October titled - "Witches, Wizards and Ghosts" -click here to learn more about what God's word says about these things.)

Walk with the King!

A Halloween to Remember

Today is reformation day! A huge piece of our Christian heritage is celebrated on this day - do you know what happened on this day in 1517?

On October 31, 1517, a priest and monk named Martin Luther nailed the 95 theses to his church door beginning the Protestant Reformation. What does that mean to you and me?

Martin Luther was a Monk and Professor. He had studied the Bible thoroughly and had devoted his life to knowing God's truth. But as he studied he began to see the flaw of the Pope and his teachings specifically over the sale of indulgences.

On Halloween or the eve of All Saints Day Martin Luther posted on the church door the 95 Theses or 95 reasons why we are justified by faith and grace alone and not by works that the church was requiring for forgiveness of sins.

On All Saints Day the church had a large festive occasion where hordes of pilgrims would travel to the church to receive indulgences. What is an indulgence? It's when you pay money to the priest to have your sins forgiven. So Luther was posting a very long list of why this was wrong - from here a huge firestorm broke out and with the birth of the printing press the list was printed, passed out and the protestant reformation began.

It is good to remember two things today - 1. I am thankful for the men who have gone before us who have fought for the truth of God's word. 2. We are not saved through any good works but solely on the work of Christ on the cross. We are saved through faith alone, by grace alone, through Christ alone to the glory of God alone! Rest in this truth.

Walk with the King!

Courtney

http://www.womenlivingwell.org/

Witches, Wizards and Ghosts

My daughter Alexis - age 3 1/2, was given two coloring books with these titles - "Witches and Wizards" and "Ghosts, Ghosts, Ghosts". Hmmmmm...the lady who gave them to her is so kind and I did not realize the titles until we were in the car driving away. Alexis of course loved it and was so excited to get home and get to work coloring. I on the other hand had a predicament!

Are witches and wizards and ghosts innocent fun at Halloween or should I tell my children they are "bad"? Does it really make a difference?

According to wikipedia - a 'wizard' is one who practices magic or sorcery. A 'witch' is one who practices witchcraft and sorcery. So what does God's word have to say about witches and wizards?

Exodus 22:18 is pretty frank! It says "Do not allow a sorceress (witch) to live." That's pretty straightforward I think.

Deuteronomy 18 says "Let none among you be found who practices sorcery, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist who speaks to the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord." And Galatians 5 warns those who practice witchcraft will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Then there's the ghost part and wikipedia says a ghost refers to the spirit and soul of a deceased person or to a demon. In Matthew 12:24 Satan is called the prince of demons. God's arch enemy uses the demons to do his evil work.

So, back to my predicament, what did I do with the coloring books? Trust me you won't be impressed. I told my daughter that I needed to throw the coloring books away because they were not pleasing to God. Poor Alexis fell into a heap of tears on the floor. Feeling badly I thought I would compromise - I gave her just the stickers of witches and wizards (about 30) and threw out the books. Then I proceeded to explain in more detail why the stickers are not pleasing to God - and she happily ran off to get a piece of paper to stick them to. Now if this were the end of the story I would not have blogged this because it's embarrassing that I caved in under pressure.

Moments later Alexis came back with her paper all done - but there were only about 5 stickers on her paper and they were only of squirrels and trees and pumpkins. I said "Alexis are you done?" She said "ya mommy, those other stickers are bad. I don't want to use them, they don't please God. Throw them away." I sighed with relief. My 3 year old's conviction was stronger than mine! Thank goodness.

My prayer for her is my prayer for you also - Walk with the King!

Courtney

http://www.womenlivingwell.org/