The History of Halloween

“Halloween’s origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in). The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago, mostly in the area of Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern France, celebrated their new year on November 1st—this day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts believed that the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31st, they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth.  During this Holiday, Celtic priests gave comforting predictions for the future to help get the people through the long, dark winter. Celts wore costumes with animal heads and skins and sat around fires burning crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities, hoping for nice warm fires during the winter months.” (History. Com 2020) 

By 1000AD, the Church attempted to exchange this Celtic Holiday with a Christian one, so “on May 13, 609 A.D., Pope Boniface IV dedicated the Pantheon in Rome in honor of all Christian martyrs, and the Catholic feast of All Martyrs Day was established in the Western church. Pope Gregory III later expanded the festival to include all saints and martyrs and moved the observance from May 13 to November 1.” (History. Com.)   

Eventually, the “Great Potato Famine” of the 19th century caused many to leave Ireland and come to America. They brought many of their cultural ideologies and superstitions, which became a part of American culture.   

Here at Still Waters Community Church and School, we believe whatever can bring CHRIST JESUS glory should be. In other words, we take ground and return it to our King. Having a party in the fall is a marvelous idea. Therefore, we took Halloween and turned it into the Hallelujah Party and placed it at the feet of JESUS. 

            Our first step was to give this holiday a new name, “Hallelujah,” which has been used for centuries. It is a combination of two Hebrew words, “hallel,” meaning praise, and the second part, “Jah” or “yah,” which means the LORD, so it is rendered in English: PRAISE THE LORD! We then decided to reclaim the night by ensuring our costumes would celebrate the creation’s beauty and be funny and not scary.

Law-obeying citizens should have the right to free speech and guns and, therefore, be able to defend their homes, neighbors, and country against those who want a nation that cannot protect itself. In every case, it is a person with a gun that stops a person with a weapon who is killing people. In most cases, the gun was obtained illegally because those who kill don’t keep the law. In other words, if you are successful in taking away guns from those who obey the law, the only ones who will have guns are those who do not. Therefore, we will be at the mercy of those who do not care about the law and will, therefore, be able to kill at will with no one able to stop them, like in many other countries. This is why millions of people come to America.

Those young people at Still Waters Community Church have seen other countries, or their parents are from many different countries and are aware of the many blessings of living in the U.S. For those who haven’t been outside the U.S., we, of course, plan to make sure they go to other countries to help them know how blessed they are to live in the U.S. We attempt to address the propaganda that is spread by the left-wing media owned by the Democrats.  The Democrats claim they can take away all guns, you know, just as they did with drugs. Of course, they can’t, and no one can take away all drugs or guns except GOD, and HE will set all things right at HIS return. For now, we must defend the innocents as Scripture prescribes.  We see time and time again in Scripture Israel attacked and its efforts to stand before ELOHIM and march out to defend their country.

The most important is what did JESUS think about having weapons? The scripture, “sell your cloak and buy a sword,” comes from the Bible, specifically Luke 22:36. In this verse, JESUS advises HIS disciples to acquire a sword, even if it means selling their cloak. The LORD knows this is a dangerous world and that having a sword could mean the difference between life and death. At the time, the disciples would have only owned a small knife to cut nets and fish for dinner. But JESUS knew that the world is filled with profound evil, and we would need something to defend our family and friends against the evil that would attempt to kill. Therefore, HE advised them to now carry a sword, which would be the equivalent of an AR-15 today. It is what the Roman soldiers carried: the top army in the world at the time. I DO NOT BELIEVE that JESUS told us to take up a sword to be violent but to defend against violence, as we witnessed what happened in Georgia this past week. A person with a gun stopped a killer with a gun. Think for a moment what might have happened if there was no law-obeying person with a gun there to defend? Just how many more people would have died?

Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith stated that the gunman, armed with an “AR-platform style weapon,” began shooting around 10:20 a.m. Smith mentioned that the shooter, identified as Colt Gray, was quickly confronted by off-duty deputies who were paid by the school and immediately surrendered.

 We must realize that we cannot find true “safety” or “peace” anywhere except in JESUS and HIS word. The beauty of HIS creation starts with knowing HIM and HIS will in our lives; the same goes for safety and peace. We are a new creation in HIM and have nothing to fear unless we love the world more than we do HIM because then we do not deserve HIM or the safety and peace only HE can bring.

1 John 2:15-17, TLV

 15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the FATHER is not in him. 16 For everything in the world—the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, and the boasting of life—is not from the FATHER but from the world. 17 The world is passing away along with its desire, but the one who does the will of GOD abides forever.