Please
come in........
We won't slam the door on you!
Fall
is already here. The seasons change and we can see God's Majesty
and Power.
We see the leaves change and fall from the trees. Birds have
started to fly
south for the winter and yes the northerner are coming right
behind them.
Halloween
comes in the fall. If you have children you will have to make a
decision on how you will spend that evening.
How you will
spend October 31st?
There are a number of options for you to consider.
Hear are just a few ideas:
Decorate your
home for "Fall"
Find a local
Church that is having an alternative celebration and
attend.
Some Churches
have a Bible Character Dress Up Contest. Wanda shared
some of the costume ideas she has used for her daughter. "My
Church has gone to a "Fall Festival" theme and
my children dress in "Christian"
costumes. And oh how they enjoy trying to be
creative. Here are some of their past ideas.....the
parable of the woman who lost one piece of silver.
(my daughter had a long dress on, broom, candle, and coin
purse). Another was Sarah when she was old and
pregnant. (she had gray hair, a big belly).
Pharaoh's Daughter (dressed in purple, with lots of
shine, she had a basket with a baby, and lots of
make-up). These are some of the ones I can
remember."
Volunteer to
help with the games and activities at the church
Turn off all
your lights and hide - not recommended
Buy some
Christian Tracts and candy and share your faith with
others.
You could
also give out small New Testaments or a "Daily
Bread" free devotional booklet with your candy.
Christian Bookstores have great bookmarks and pencils
just to name a few items you could hand out IF you choose
to leave your lights on.
Why not start
a NEW family tradition for October 31st in your family?
You can have a family meeting and make the plans for the
special evening. Choose some FUN & CREATIVE things to
do as a family. Maybe even have a Board Game Marathon.
Give each member of the family a special responsibility.
Each one of you can do something to plan, prepare and
take part in, for your special evening. Family times are
too often rare or non existent. Bake some cookies and
make some popcorn the old fashioned way. Have some FAMILY
FUN. Next year you can have the 2nd Annual Family Fun
Night. You can't have the "first annual"
because if you think about it, it really has to be the
second time to be "annual".
Have a
celebration with a theme. How about Christian Heroes and
Martyrs? It was on October 31, 1517 that young Martin
Luther nailed the Ninety-Five Theses to the door of the
Wittenberg Church and lit the fire of the Reformation.
How about a Bible Quiz or charades game. Or bring out the
Bible Board games like a Bible Trivia game.
How about a
missionary evening? Choose the country where you have a
Missionary that your church supports. Then use the
country to help you choose the food you make and the
decorations. You can even have people wear clothing or a
hat to go with your theme. Why not make it a potluck
dinner? You make the entree and others can bring dessert
and side dishes. You are only limited by your own
imagination. Why not contact the missionaries by email?
Ask them to send you some information or links.
Pray for
others! Pray for the Lord to bring in the Harvest. Have a
Bible Study and Prayer time with others or by yourself.
Use &
share the history of Halloween information with others
Here is a
current email about what one Christian Family is doing:
"Annie, I happened across your page while doing
research for our annual "Jesus is Lord of halloween
too" party...we are a family who celebrated
halloween for many years until God changed our
lives. For the past 3 years we have chosen to
celebrate Jesus instead. I would like to share with
you some of the things we do at our
"party". The children spend the afternoon
attaching candy to tracts or bookmarks (whatever we can
afford that year) to hand out the trick or
treaters. After the tracts are done, we carve
pumpkins with crosses or the name of Jesus or any other
Christian symbol. We do dunk for apples, we also
play all sorts of silly games, some include "finish
the bible verse" and "bible trivia." My
kids have told me that they have more fun praising Jesus
on that night than they ever had "trick or
treating" God bless you and your pages! Mrs. F"
From a recent
visitor: Our church, East Brent Baptist (not that it
matters because there are NO denominations in Heaven), in
Pensacola, with about 5,000+ members, has Judgment House
for the two weekends around Halloween. That is
where Tour guides (me!) and a group of people (usually
limited to 15-18) move from room to room where, in each
room, actors/actresses stay and reenact the same scene
for each group. There is always a message about
choices and their consequences and there is always a
message about Jesus and loving Him. We always end
up in Heaven with Jesus delivering His message through
the actor. Isn't it nice to be able to go to
"heaven" so many times during the season??!! We
have a ball! My whole family is involved in some
way. Our sons are actors and my husband is in
technical, and we thoroughly enjoy participating.
It's amazing what can come from a Judgment House because
just recently, some people made it their business to
"find" me to tell me that (not really) because
of me taking them through, not once but twice, TWO years
ago, they came to East Brent because it was a
"walking" church, not just a
"talking" church and they were saved!
Praise GOD! Of course, it was NOT me, but the Lord
at work in their hearts! I was just the instrument.
Tract passing tips - This will help you if
you decide to give out tracts for Halloween.
Christian Tract for
Halloween - Quote from her
site: "I developed this tract to be handed out with
Life Saver or Gummi Saver
candy to trick-o-treaters when they come to your house on
Halloween. ..."
Site traffic is heavy so you may need to try more then
once to get to it.
Dear Annie,
This is a second time I have visited your pages and I
have really enjoyed all of them! We live in a small town.
Tonight being Halloween, we will be at our Baptist church
for "trunk or treat", that's when
everyone opens up the trunks of their vans or SUV trucks
and hands out candy to children. We also have little
games for the kids to play. In the surrounding areas,
many churches will be having Fall Festivals as
alternatives to Halloween! I have other suggestions about
how to bring the Bible into this holiday. There are many
stories about how Jesus raised the dead and casts out
evil spirits and these aren't scary stories with blood
and gore! I also try to tell my kids that there is one
Spirit, that is not a spook or floating apparition, like
in many tales and movies. It's the Holy Spirit! God sends
his Holy Spirit to us, as a Comforter, (John 14:26),
which is very comforting to know! We can see that in the
final days, the devil will be thrown into the lake of
fire and no longer be able to deceive the world, (Rev.
20:10). Well Annie, I see that my e-mail is becoming too
long but I hope God will keep blessing you and your web
sites! I will be back to visit again
sometime! In His Name,
Rachel
NEW
- Use this halloween as an opportunity to Share Jesus
with others! Memory
Cross Halloween Tracts
can be handed out with Candy at your home and at your
church's Fall Festival Party. Check
out the tools that they have to
help you to reach others for the Lord this year! It's
simple and easy but will have a huge impact and change so
many lives for the Lord!!
There
are so many ways to share your faith with others all the year
round.
Don't miss an opportunity to be obedient to the Lord. The time is
just too short.
These are just
a few ideas for you to consider. You of course may think of some
more yourself. Use your creative side and your imagination. Pray
and ask the
Lord to decide how you and your family will spend October 31st.
What
is an ALTERNATIVE anyway?
The Dictionary defines
ALTERNATIVE this way:
Main Entry: 2alternative
Function: noun
Date: 1624
1 a : a proposition or situation offering a choice
between two or more things
only one of which may be chosen b : an opportunity for
deciding between two
or more courses or propositions
2 a : one of two or more things, courses, or propositions
to be chosen b:
something which can be chosen instead <the only alternative
to intervention>
Entry
Word: alternative
Function: adj
Text: Synonyms: substitute -1, alternate,
backup, surrogate Related Word
equivalent, proxy, replacing; exchangeable,
interchangeable; makeshift,
provisional, tentative
Entry Word: alternative
Function: n
Text: Synonyms: choice 1, ||druthers, election, option,
preference, selection
Related Word attainable, contingency, possibility
You can find a
lot of links about alternative ideas for Halloween on this page
of mine: Annie's Halloween Links Page
"And
whatsoever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord
Jesus
giving thanks to the Father but by him."
~Colossians 3:17~
Always be
WISE. Seek the Lord in prayer for His direction.
"But
sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and bereadyalways
to give an answer to
every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you
with meekness and fear:"
~1 Peter 3:15~
A Chick Tract Trick or
Treat TREATby my friend Jennifer! She has
shared a simple
practical and easy way to share the plan of salvation with others
during
the halloween evening.
