This link is a pdf of Mars Hill Church‘s October newsletter from a few years back. There’s a great article on Halloween by Pastor James Harleman. He explains that everything we’ve been told about the satanic origins of the holiday isn’t necessarily true. Not that he finds much good about Halloween in general, either, but as Christians we should be making our decision regarding whether to celebrate or not as informed people, not just because we’ve heard “this-and-that” from “so-and-so”.

“One of the most interesting anecdotes I found in researching the history of Halloween is that the one activity many churches do engage in at replacement events like church “Harvest Festivals” is perhaps the one most easily linked to paganism. Bobbing or “Ducking” for apples was actually a divination ritual related to love and fertility.”

“As Christmas and Easter have overrun and co-opted various trappings, however, there is for Christians a clear, central focus on Jesus’ incarnation. Halloween may not be inherently evil, but it also has no central, specific focus on the Lord we love. Whether we see Halloween as pagan practices, Catholic traditions, or good old American, candy-coated commercialism, none of these offers great inspiration
to participate.

At Mars Hill Church, we don’t believe in the deities worshipped by the Celts or the rituals used to appease or
summon them. We do, however, recognize that there are evil spirits that confuse and lead people astray from relationship with the one true God. We recognize that the Bible calls all Christians “saints” and don’t believe in the Catholic extra-biblical concepts of sainthood or purgatory. Many of the ideas and rituals that have contributed to the Halloween mish-mash aren’t congruent with our beliefs. However, setting aside times to remember or honor those we love that have passed away (hopefully to be with our Savior Jesus) is
not a bad idea. On a less somber level, wearing Spider-man costumes, making funny faces on vegetables, and engaging in neighborhood activities where one can both give and receive hospitality is not something we oppose. Fictional fantasy tales of monsters and elves – even scary ones – are not wholly inappropriate either, whether punctuated on this particular weekend or sprinkled throughout the year in classic tales from authors including Tolkien and Lewis.

We regard Halloween as a second-hand issue and ask that every Christian examine their response to the modern-day Halloween celebration in our culture.”

“For those who have shunned Halloween because they were simply told it was evil, or for those who have participated and never bothered to weigh its appropriateness, your pastors would encourage the employment of godly wisdom, discernment, and a sense of our shared mission as Christians. Our abstinence
or participation in regard to Halloween should not be derived from fear, misinformation, or pressure but rather from a sincere love of Jesus; every response to our culture and its festivals is a way to point to the God we love and serve.

Lastly, for parents, don’t forget that gluttony is a sin. Careful not to force your kids to learn the hard way: lying on an altar of plastic wrap and tin-foil, holding their bulbous stomachs. If you participate in Halloween, it might be the perfect time to introduce the concept of moderation.”

The Halloween article is on page 14, and there’s also more great reading if you’ve got the time.

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A List of Praises
Anne Porter

Give praise with psalms that tell the trees to sing,
Give praise with Gospel choirs in storefront churches,
Mad with the joy of the Sabbath,
Give praise with the babble of infants, who wake with the sun,
Give praise with children chanting their skip-rope rhymes,
A poetry not in books, a vagrant mischievous poetry
living wild on the Streets through generations of children.

Give praise with the sound of the milk-train far away
With its mutter of wheels and long-drawn-out sweet whistle
As it speeds through the fields of sleep at three in the morning,
Give praise with the immense and peaceful sigh
Of the wind in the pinewoods,
At night give praise with starry silences.

Give praise with the skirling of seagulls
And the rattle and flap of sails
And gongs of buoys rocked by the sea-swell
Out in the shipping-lanes beyond the harbor.
Give praise with the humpback whales,
Huge in the ocean they sing to one another.

Read the entire poem here.

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Disney’s irresistible talking puppies return in a heartwarming holiday adventure on Blu-ray with theater-quality picture and sound! Take a fantastic journey with your beloved Buddies to the magical world of the North Pole! Join Budderball, B-Dawg, Rosebud, Buddha and Mudbud in this classic Christmas tale that will have you believing in miracles. When Puppy Paws, the feisty son of Santa Paws, forgets the true meaning of the season, it’s up to the Buddies to remind him that the true meaning of Christmas spirit is about things you can’t wrap in a box or tie with a bow. Unleash a stockingful of Christmas cheer for you and your family with this fun-filled film, featuring never-before-seen bonus materials. It’s sure to be a holiday classic – especially in Blu-ray High Definition.

Noah’s review: Santa Buddies is probably the cutest of all the Buddies movies, because Tiny looks just perfect and had the perfect voice.

Jonathan’s review: It was a cute and very good movie. Everyone who watches it will think it’s great.

Josiah’s review: The Buddies series is a cute series. My favorite one was Snow Buddies cause I liked the cute little Husky – it was my favorite character. What I think is funny about Santa Buddies is that they call the dog catcher Mr. Scrooge.

Santa Buddies is available now on DVD.

Disclosure: Santa Buddies was provided to me by Click Communications for the purpose of review. The above link is an Amazon Affiliates link. If you click the link and subsequently purchase anything, I receive a small percentage.

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Laura Carrot’s Christmas stocking might be empty this year because her dad is in danger of losing his job. While Larry thinks a letter to the North Pole should fix the problem, Bob knows what will really help…and tells the story of a little boy named Nicholas who made a discovery in Bethlehem that changed Christmas forever. But what did Nick learn and how can it possibly help Laura and her family? Find out as the Veggies discover the true joy of giving to others – at Christmas time and throughout the year!

The kids and I have been celebrating Christmas a bit early – at least in our DVD choices lately. We haven’t watched a Veggie Tales DVD in a long time, and I was a bit concerned the kids might have grown out of the funny, music-loving Veggies. They still seemed to enjoy this simple story, though, and I enjoyed the message that it promoted. This year’s Christmas will be one of the most difficult in a long time for a lot of people, thanks to our current economy. What better time to remember what Christmas is really about – and to learn that we can make Christmas a bit better for others by giving of ourselves.

Veggie Tales: St. Nicholas – A Story of Joyful Giving is available now on DVD. The DVD special features include: Give This Christmas Away, a music video featuring Matthew West and Amy Grant; a sing-along with Larry; a discussion guide; and a family activity.

(Disclosure: Veggie Tales: Saint Nicholas – A Story of Joyful Giving was provided to me by Special Ops Media for the purpose of review. The link in this post is an Amazon Affiliate link. If you click on the link and then purchase something, I receive a small percentage.)

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~ No improvement on the financial front – enough said. Oh, and my van – which is our most reliable vehicle and the only one with a fully functioning heater – is in the shop today. Praying very hard that it is something easy and cheap to fix.

~ I switched Natalie to The History of US by Joy Hakim for her US history. She’s liking it much better. I’m dealing with the lack of review exercises/exams by having her write a summary paragraph after reading each chapter. So far, so good.

~ Kevin and the kids carved pumpkins last week, but two of them have already had to be thrown away. We had a very early freeze in our neck of the woods, and the result was mushy pumpkins.

~ Our butterflies have completed their life cycle, and the butterfly habitat will be put away until spring. This has been one of Jonathan’s most favorite birthday presents ever!

~ The kids are extremely excited to attend the Harvest Party at Grandmamma and Papa’s church tomorrow night. They always bring home bags and bags of candy.

~ And now, in the “here’s my excuse for not blogging hardly at all next month” category: I’m doing NaNoWriMo. For those of you unfamiliar with the acronym, it stands for National Novel Writing Month. The idea is to write a 50,000 word novel. In a month. That amounts to 1667 words a day. So, needless to say, blogging will be at a minimum until November is over. I’m excited but terrified, too. But at least I’ll be able to say I tried, right? Michelle did it last year, and it didn’t kill her. Natalie is doing it, too – but her goal is 7,000 words. Michelle and her kids are doing it, too, so at least we’ll have company.

I guess that catches everyone up. Anyone else out there doing NaNoWriMo? Please let me know – and tell me your user name – so I can add you to my writing buddies list.

Have a great Halloween!

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