So, here we are again. That dreaded holiday to born again believers – Halloween.  Should we, or should we not participate?

First, let’s look at the origins of Halloween:

Wiccans love Halloween. So, I thought I would go to a Wiccan website to get the real scoop on Halloween, or as the Wiccans call it – Samhain.

FROM PAGANWICCAN.ABOUT.COM  (Please don’t go to this website. It is so satanic. Just read what is posted in this article to be informed about Halloween and Wicca).

Paganism/Wicca Expert

What is Samhain?:

Samhain is known by most folks as Halloween, but for many modern Pagans it’s considered a Sabbat to honor the ancestors who came before us, marking the dark time of the year. It’s a good time to contact the spirit world with a seance, because it’s the time when the veil between this world and the next is at its thinnest.

So, the veil is thinnest between our world and the next? I guess that means that demonic activity is at its highest. 

Pagan Wheel of the Year

Religious scholars agree that the word Samhain (pronounced “sow-en”) comes from the Gaelic “Samhuin,” but they’re divided on whether it means the end or beginning of summer. After all, when summer is ending here on earth, it’s just beginning in the Underworld. Samhain actually refers to the daylight portion of the holiday, on November 1st.

 “After all, when summer is ending here on earth, it’s just beginning in the Underworld.”  That sounds demonic, doesn’t it?

Around the eighth century or so, the Catholic Church decided to use November 1st as All Saints Day. This was actually a pretty smart move on their part – the local pagans were already celebrating that day anyway, so it made sense to use it as a church holiday.

Oh, did it make sense for the Catholic Church to adopt this pagan holiday?  I suppose so, if the Catholic Church leaders are pagans.

All Saints’ became the festival to honor any saint who didn’t already have a day of his or her own. The mass which was said on All Saints’ was called Allhallowmas – the mass of all those who are hallowed. The night before naturally became known as All Hallows Eve, and eventually morphed into what we call Halloween.

Wouldn’t it be incredible if the Catholic leaders actually picked up a BIBLE and read it?

Honoring the Ancestors:

For some of us, Samhain is when we honor our ancestors who came before us. If you’ve ever done genealogy research, or if you’ve had a loved one die in the past year, this is the perfect night to celebrate their memory.

If we’re fortunate, they will return to communicate with us from beyond the veil, and offer advice, protection and guidance for the upcoming year.

“Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God” (Leviticus 19:31).

Samhain Rituals:

Try one — or all — of these rituals to celebrate Samhain and welcome the new year.        (DO NOT TRY THEM!!!)

Celebrating the End of the Harvest
Samhain Ritual for Animals
Honoring the Ancestors
Hold a Seance at Samhain
Host a Dumb Supper
Honor the God and Goddess at Samhain
Celebrating the Cycle of Life and Death
Ancestor Meditation [1]

Oh, by the way, Halloween is the witches’ “New Year.”  And a Dumb Supper is one where they invite the dead to dine with them.

I think that most of us know that the little children going door to door, trick-or-treating, have absolutely no idea about the origins of this holiday. I would say that most of their parents probably do not know about the evils they are actually celebrating. But those of us who are born again believers in Jesus Christ, and read our Bibles, SHOULD know that Halloween is the most evil day of the year.

We should not be afraid of Halloween, nor fear the evil spirits which are most likely roaming about in droves upon the earth.  But should we give into our secular culture and actually celebrate it?  What does that say to our children about our beliefs?  What does it say to our neighbors who know that we are Christians?

“I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world”  (John 17:14-16).

What then should we do on Halloween?  I can only tell you what my husband and I have done.  We carve a large Cross into a pumpkin with a candle inside. When the children approach our door step, they immediately see the Cross. We have candy for them, but we also have Christian tracts for children.  The kids have come to expect them!

Here is a great source for the children’s tracts:

Living Waters store

For the older children (teenagers) we hand out Kristin Tracts.  See them here:

KRISTIN TRACTS

Last year, a younger sibling of a teenager got ahold of a Kristin tract. He came back to us (we sit outside).  First he said that he liked our Cross in our pumpkin. Then he showed me the Kristin tract that his sister had given to him.  He said to me “She died.”  I was able to tell this little guy that Kristin did die, but that she loved the Lord Jesus Christ with all of her heart – and that when she died, Jesus took her right to heaven to be with Him forever.  A HUGE smile came over the little boy’s face.

We are in this world, but certainly we are not of it.  We are here to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  What an opportunity to share with people who come right up to your door!

For the past few years, Tim and I have kept the lights off in our home and have not given out candy and tracts on Halloween. We are very conflicted about this. We are praying that the Lord would show us what to do. I truly miss giving out the tracts. I wonder how many children and teens were impacted by the tracts when we did give them out.

I pray that the Lord would show us clearly what to do!

Blessings in Jesus

MARANATHA!

From theepochtimes.com

More than 64 storm-related deaths have been confirmed among Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia.

Officer Nate Martir, a law enforcement officer from the Florida Fish Wildlife and Conservation Commission, holds an American flag that was lying on the ground amid debris, while patrolling from a high water capable swamp buggy, in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, in Cedar Key, Fla., Friday, Sept. 27, 2024. AP Photo/Gerald Herbert.

Guthrie said that trailers were already on their way to Taylor County and portions of Levy County, but he emphasized that they were a temporary solution. Florida building code does not allow permanent travel trailer construction in these areas, especially on the beach in Taylor County.

“We want to help you get through that temporary [housing] onto what your permanent housing is going to be,” he said.

Thousands of emergency response missions have been undertaken since Sept. 26, and power has been restored to nearly 2 million customers across the state. On Sept. 27, The Epoch Times reported more than 1.3 million customers were simultaneously out of power. As of 12:30 p.m. on Sept. 28, that number is down to a little more than 425,000.

The governor also confirmed that more than 12,000 miles of roadways have been cleared by more than 800 cut-and-toss crews, and 1,400 bridges have been inspected by 129 inspectors. Major bridges have already reopened, including the Sunshine Skyway and Howard Franklin bridges in Tampa Bay.

However, several roads and areas across the state remain inaccessible, including barrier islands in Pinellas County. Search and rescue missions from Florida’s National Guard, Florida’s State Guard, and local law enforcement are still ongoing.

Other states also received devastating effects from Hurricane Helene. The list of fatalities includes people in Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia.

More than 1 million customers are still without power in South Carolina. Significant power outages had been recorded in the other aforementioned states as well as West Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio.

Historic rainfall of more than 11 inches in less than 48 hours was recorded in Atlanta.

Multiple tornadoes were confirmed in North Carolina, and immense rain and landslides have all but cut off the western portions of the state.

“All roads in Western North Carolina should be considered closed,” the North Carolina Department of Transportation stated on its website. ”I-40 and I-26 are impassable in multiple locations. Travel in this area for non-emergency purposes is hindering needed emergency response.”

Departing flights out of Asheville Regional Airport in North Carolina have been canceled through 4:50 p.m. local time on Saturday.

North Carolina’s Gov. Roy Cooper issued a major disaster declaration request for 39 counties and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians on Sept. 28, specifically requesting federal public assistance and individual assistance in the storm’s aftermath.

The remnants of now-post tropical cyclone Helene are expected to hover over the Tennessee Valley for the remainder of the weekend. source

Pray for those impacted by this monster storm. If you can give toward relief, please consider Samaritanspurse.org. They provide physical relief, and most importantly, the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

From breitbart.com

A six-year-old boy who was abducted from a California park in 1951 has miraculously been found alive more than 70 years later and reunited with his family, who never gave up hope.

It was February 21, 1951, when a woman lured little Luis Armando Albino away from his older brother, Roger, at a West Oakland park by offering him candy, CBS News reported.

The woman, whom Roger said wore a bandana and spoke Spanish to his Puerto Rican-born brother, then flew Luis to the East Coast, where a couple raised him as their son.

Luis’s niece, 63-year-old Alida Alequin, told the Mercury News that the family always held the missing child in their hearts and had photos of him hanging up in their homes. His mother passed away in 2005 “but never gave up hope that her son was alive,” the CBS article said.

Shortly after the abduction, Oakland Tribune articles that the outlet obtained showed that police, soldiers from a local U.S. Army base, members of the U.S. Coast Guard, and other local officials conducted an extensive search of the Bay Area and its waterways.

Roger was interrogated “several times” and always maintained that his younger brother was kidnapped.

Everything began to change when Alequin did a DNA test in 2020 “just for fun” and unexpectedly found a man who was a 22-percent match. She did not receive any response from the man when she reached out, so the search did not immediately continue.

In 2024, Alequin and her daughters again picked up the search by viewing Oakland Tribune articles on microfilm at the local public library. One had a picture of her two uncles, Roger and Luis. This re-ignited her quest to find her missing relative, so she went to the Oakland Police Department with the information that she had found a DNA connection.

“Investigators eventually agreed the new lead was substantial, and a new missing persons case was opened,” reported CBS.

Investigators found the man who tested as a 22 percent match to Alequin on the East Coast, and he provided a DNA sample.

Alequin’s mother provided one, as well.

They turned out to be siblings.

Investigators told Alequin and her mother that Luis had been found on June 20.

“In my heart, I knew it was him, and, when I got the confirmation, I let out a big ‘YES!’” the niece recalled.

“We didn’t start crying until after the investigators left,” she added. “I grabbed my mom’s hands and said, ‘We found him.’ I was ecstatic.”

Luis fought in Vietnam with the U.S. Marine Corps, became a father and grandfather, and served as a firefighter during his life.

Just four days later, the FBI assisted Luis in coming out to California with his family to meet with the ones he lost seven decades ago. He met with Alequin, his sister, and other relatives in Oakland on the first day before seeing his older brother, Roger, at his Stanislaus County home the next day.

Alequin told the Mercury News that her long-lost uncle “hugged me and said, ‘Thank you for finding me’ and gave me a kiss on the cheek.”

“They grabbed each other and had a really tight, long hug. They sat down and just talked,” she said of Luis and Roger’s reunion.

Luis came back out to California in July for three weeks. It was his final meeting with his brother, who died in August.

“I think he died happily,” said Alequin. “He was at peace with himself, knowing that his brother was found. I was just so happy I was able to do this for him and bring him closure and peace.”

Luis declined to speak with the media, but his niece did reveal that he had some memories of being abducted, but it was never explained to him while he grew up in his new home.

“I was always determined to find him, and, who knows, with my story out there, it could help other families going through the same thing,” Alequin told the Mercury News. “I would say, ‘Don’t give up.’”

Oakland police said that Alequin’s own investigation “played an integral role in finding her uncle” and that “the outcome of this story is what we strive for,” the outlet reported.

CBS News added that Oakland police closed the missing persons case, but the kidnapping investigation remains open.

Truly an amazing story!!