Convince Me There's A God!

This is part 5 of a series by a journalist and former atheist who has catalogued some of the evidence which had a major role in convincing him that God truly does exist:

http://faithandselfdefense.com/2013/11/06/convince-me-theres-a-god-archaeology-5/

Should Christians Be Keeping The Sabbath?

My Case For Halloween

Halloween has come and gone, but not without the concerns of a few well-meaning Christian friends and family members who simply cringe at the idea of our children dressing up and partaking in the Halloween festivities.  I am thankful for family and friends that care about our children enough to raise concern, and it does spark some very important questions about Halloween that every believer must ask themselves...

What are the origins of Halloween?

There really is something about the phrase "All Hallows Eve" that sounds a bit spooky, isn't there? Why is that?  Do we even know what that phrase means?

All Hallows Day ("Hallow" meaning Holy, and "Hallows" referring to the Saints), otherwise known as All Saints' Day has been celebrated by the Catholic Church since the fifth century, honoring the martyrs of the church - those who died for their faith in our Lord Jesus, including his disciples and the apostles of the early church.

Now, according to God's calendar, each day begins and ends at sundown, so when the sun went down on the evening before All Hallows Day, the celebration would begin with a feast, just as it did on the evening before all other Holy days.  Christmas Eve is one example of this which has remained with us over the centuries.  The evening on which All Hallows began was not surprisingly known as All Hallows Even ("even" being the term from which our more familiar "evening" or "eve" would later be derived).  In those days, "even" was often contracted to "e'en", and that's where we get "Hallow E'en", or "Holy Evening" as modern English would phrase it.

When I first began to research, I was very surprised to learn that the origins of Halloween were completely rooted in the church.  I never knew that Halloween was truly a Christian holiday.  It was originally a celebration of great men and women of faith, which became an indirect celebration of death, and began to evolve from there into the seemingly spooky night which we now think of when we hear "All Hallows Eve."

So...  Should Christians Celebrate Halloween?

Even though it is a couple days past, I am still rethinking my approach to Halloween as a Christian family, and I'm sure many Christian parents are in the same boat as I am, wondering to themselves, "did I do it right this year?" or "what will I do differently next year?"

Many Christians do object to the traditional Halloween celebrations, and I think it is important to remember that each Christian's walk with the Lord is unique, and I don't believe that there is one correct answer in this particular case.  What is right for your family may not work for my family and vice-versa.  This is a freedom afforded to us by our loving Father...

The Believer's Freedom

23 "Everything is permissible"--but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible"--but not everything is constructive. 24 Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others. 25Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience, 26 for, "The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it." 27 If some unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat whatever is put before you without raising questions of conscience. 28 But if anyone says to you, "This has been offered in sacrifice," then do not eat it, both for the sake of the man who told you and for conscience' sake-- 29 the other man's conscience, I mean, not yours. For why should my freedom be judged by another's conscience? 30 If I take part in the meal with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of something I thank God for? 31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. 32 Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God-- 33 even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved.

I gather a few things from this passage of scripture.  First of all, if a Christian family celebrates Halloween, All Saint's Day, Harvest Festival, Reformation Day, or doesn't celebrate at all, I think it is best to respect that family's decision, as I am sure that they have prayed about their decisions and have good reasons for their celebration or lack thereof.

Afterall, the only truly important question is "does this family believe that Jesus Christ is the son of the Living God who became a sacrifice once and forever for all mankind?"  If they do, then they have been set free from your judgement and mine.  They will be judged by The Lord, and whatever multitude of sins they have accrued will be covered by the blood of the Lamb.

So now that we know we are free to celebrate Halloween, we have to ask ourselves: Is celebrating Halloween beneficial?  If so, to whom?  Does it cause other believers to stumble?

Every family must answer these questions for themselves, but as for my family, we find that Halloween traditions offer invaluable opportunity to teach our children about important tenets of our faith.

The Benefits Of Carving Pumpkins

We carve pumpkins with positive imagery and light candles inside of them, placing them on our porch to shine as bright lights in a dark world.  This is a great way to spark discussions with your kids about the Light of the world, and what it means to be ministers of that light.

These were our pumpkins this year!  The one on the left is mine.  It depicts Jonah praying inside of the belly of a whale.  My wife carved a beautiful swan in the center, and I helped my daughter carve a happy smiling jack 'o' lantern, for which she decided the shapes we would use.

The Benefits Of Dressing Up

We dress up on Halloween.  It is fun!  It is creative!  It is special and creates memories!  But most importantly, it is another amazing opportunity to speak with your children about being a light in a dark world!  On Halloween I walked by an elementary school and I couldn't help but smile at all the children dressed as Mario, Link, Batman, Ironman, Buzz Lightyear, and other fun characters.  I realized that my child would be going to school with all these children who are dressed up and having the time of their lives, and it would all be happening whether she is dressed up or not.  I thought to myself, "Do I really want to isolate her and risk damaging her confidence and self-esteem?"

There were however a few children who were dressed as much darker characters... zombies with bloody clothing and guts spilling out of their abdomen, horror masks featuring mutilated faces, demonic characters, and the like.  It was a bit depressing, but I realized something else.  If I forbid my child from dressing up, she will still be playing on the playground with these demons, mutilated monsters, and eviscerated zombie guts, only what message would I be sending her?  That our family stands for neither good nor evil?  That it is best to sit on the sidelines where it is safe?  Furthermore, will she have to face these issues already lacking in confidence and self-esteem because she is different than the other children?

Keep in mind, these are only the thoughts running through my head as I watch the children playing on the playground, and I am no psychologist.  This is just the way I see it, and it may be off.  The point is that this is how I personally came to the conclusion that my children would dress up for Halloween each year, and furthermore, that they would only be aloud to dress as some kind of positive character such as a superhero, a crimefighter, or something funny perhaps which would elicit laughter and smiles. As long as it represents good; or brings light, love, or joy to the world, we are golden.  This is possibly the most incredible opportunity I have ever had to get through to my daughter about the reality of good and evil in a way that is practical, directly applicable, and that really truly matters to her.  I certainly do not want to miss the opportunity to send my children off to school as a force for good in a world which so often celebrates evil.

These are my crime-fighting Children, Sophia (4) and Phin (1):

The Benefits Of Trick Or Treating

Candy is the best when you are a kid!  My daughter doesn't even like candy for the most part, yet she is still sooo excited that she is able to collect candy from kind strangers who are just giving it away for free!  This is yet another amazing opportunity to speak to your child about God's love and life which is given freely in a way that he or she can really relate to and truly care about.

The Benefits Of Handing Out Candy To Children

This year, I put a sign up with our candy bowl on the front porch which read something like this:

"God gives life freely!  We give candy freely!  Happy Halloween and God Bless!"

This is a great opportunity to get kids thinking about God's love, and to help them understand that it is not something they have to earn.

The Benefits of Community

We have lived at our current place for over a year, and we have great neighbors who we often talk about "doing something" with.  They have two children who are roughly the same age as ours, and we truly have wanted to get together with them for quite some time, but both of our families have been incredibly busy over the past year, and it just never quite happened... until Halloween!

We took our children trick or treating together early and then we went out to dinner together.  It was wonderful, and we really built on our unfortunately neglected friendship with a great family of non-believers.  This Halloween was a great starting point of a hopefully long and fruitful friendship with our neighbors!

The Benefits Of Bad Behavior

This year, someone stole our candy bowl along with all of the candy, right off our front porch while I left it unattended for only a moment.  For the rest of the night, my daughter had a great opportunity to see the consequences of evil firsthand.  She watched as her father apologized to hoards of children, saying, "I'm very sorry, but we have no more candy!  Our entire candy bowl was stolen and now I can't give you any."  Let me tell you, she asked me questions about this event for hours!  It really affected her, and not in a negative way.  After it all processed, she was so excited and so proud to tell me with such confidence, "Daddy!  God doesn't want us to steal things!  He wants us to leave things where they belong!  When we steal things, it makes people sad.  God wants us to be helpful to everyone and not steal!"

Who Does All This Really Benefit?

I believe we can change the tide of Halloween!  Just as Halloween began as a Christian holiday and evolved into a holiday that many Christians fear, I believe we can take it back as the day when Christians shine the brightest through the darkness.  I believe that Halloween can benefit the church as a whole.  I believe it can benefit our children by teaching them life-long, practical and applicable lessons about their faith.  I believe that it can benefit families by encouraging more conversations about our faith.  I believe it benefits the community as a whole by strengthening the presence of the church on a day which has come down with a bad reputation.  I believe it can benefit our non-believing members of the community and provide wonderful opportunities for outreach.

That's Great And All... But Halloween Is Just Too Scary And Evil For Me!

For some, it may be difficult to get around the fact that there is just too much ugliness and evil going on!  There are children walking around in unpleasant, violent, and downright evil costumes!  Teenagers are taking the opportunity to wreak havoc and run amok in the streets, unsupervised and unrecognized! Not to mention the real-life witches, evil-doers and satan worshippers that are sure to be performing wicked rituals and summoning evil spirits on this strange night, right?!

These are all valid concerns, but if one clears their mind of the fear and the rhetoric to approach the issue with a clear head, one will realize that whatever evil there is in the world does not rest for 364 days only to come out one night of the year.  Evil is all around us every day.  Even if Halloween were a night full of evil, should it really make a difference to a Christian?  Are we to fear evil?  Are we to shrink in the face of wickedness?  After all, we bear the name of our King, and he has already defeated evil, has he not?  Let's look at what scripture says about fearing evil...

"Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you."  Luke 10:19

"But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one."  2 Thessalonians 3:3

"When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him."  Isaiah 59:19

"For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship.  And by him we cry, "Abba," "Father."  Romans 8:15

"Therefore submit to God.  Resist the devil and he will flee from you."  James 4:7

...and that is my case for Halloween.

God Bless!

Recommended Educational iPad Apps For Children

Inaugural Blogural

Introduction

Family life can be a tricky thing these days; raising children to become bright lights in a dark world, cultivating your marriage in a field of temptation, leading by example while the enemy tries to lead astray...

In all of our struggles, it is easy to forget that our Lord has already defeated the enemy.  All we must do is remain steadfast as ambassadors of Christ here on earth until the end of the age!

Therefore, let us "encourage one another and build each other up," as Paul instructed the Thessalonians!

The purpose of this blog is to do just that; to connect with other members of the body of Christ, and to encourage one another and build each other up as we navigate this life and await the arrival of our King!

"Who Is This Guy Anyway?"

My name is Patrick Patton.  I married my high school sweetheart Andrea in 2005, and we now have two children together, Sophia (4) and Phin (1).

Christmas 2012

I am a Christian and an avid student of the Bible, as well as an artist, fiction writer, singer, song writer, and musician - paramedic by day and artist by night.  My wife and I are members in an alternative rock band called Oh My Land, and music is a big part of life for our family.

Disclaimer: Our music has not always been entirely family-friendly, and some of our older material does feature occasional explitives and adult subjects.  I don't attempt to hide the song writing of my youth.  Instead, I see the changes in my song writing over the years as a testament to what God has done in my life!

"What's A Thylacine?"

Thylacine

The Thylacine, aka Tasmanian Wolf or Tasmanian Tiger is a relatively recently extinct marsupial native to Australia, Tasmania, and New Guinea; the last known proof of their existence being a video taken in 1933.  The main cause of its extinction is thought to have been intensive hunting by humans.  The Thylacine has always symbolized in my eyes the killing off of something beautiful that God created.  When I look at what's happening in the world around us every day, I can't help but feel like we are killing off one of the most important things that God created: Love.  Love is so often replaced by less noble acts of ambition, lust, self-preservation or pride; be it in family life, in the workplace, in the media, or in the political arena.  Love is what the Thylacine has come to represent for me.  There are definitely times when I feel our love is dead and buried, or at the very least endangered.  It can be easy to get discouraged, but when I take a step back, I realize that this is far from the truth.  You don't have to look too hard to find that love still shines brightly through the darkness of this world.

"So... Why Is This Guy Blogging???"

Recently, my home Bible study group embarked on a week-long fast.  Not a true fast, but a partial fast in which we ate only fruits and vegetables, and drank only water.  This fast was based on Daniel's fast as recorded in the Book of Daniel, hence the name, "The Daniel Fast."

During this time, I spent more time in the word each day, more time praying each day, and more time speaking with others about my faith than any other time in my life.  Throughout this fast our group's focus was to ask God for guidance in regard to our home Bible study group, and I received a clear answer in the form of a persistent tugging on my heart to venture out of my living room and into the Christian community.

I had already been searching for ways to reach out and encourage fellow members of the body of Christ, and this new urgency I was feeling really put a fire under my feet.  I brainstormed a bit, but it didn't take long before it hit me.  Blogging seemed like a very natural fit, since I have always enjoyed writing (though it has typically been fiction), and with blogging being a large part of my wife's job, I have a bit of a mentor close by.

"What Does He Have To Say???"

My hope is to bring my experiences in marriage, parenting, music, arts, and Christian life to the table in an effort to encourage and edify the church, as well as to personally connect with other members of the body of Christ.

I will also be posting anything interesting and inspiring which I come across as I scour the web as it pertains to family life, faith, or the arts.

Another goal I have is to eventually feature fresh perspectives in the form of guest bloggers in the future.

"Cool.  So How Do I Contribute?"

That's your best question yet!!!  Please get in touch with me if you have any questions, comments, or contributions, or if you think I should feature something on my blog!  You can feel free to leave comments in the comments section or email me: patpatton@gmail.com