The Devil's day

On Saturday our church is having a harvest festival which I’m sure will be a lot of fun and I know several churches that do ‘trunk or treat’ nights. But aside from the occasional ‘hell house’ or ‘reality house’ that’s about all most churches do for Halloween and I think that’s sad. I think we’re really missing out on a great opportunity. And I know a lot of people will say “but that’s the Devil’s day Mr. Jordan.” Without going into a long history of Halloween I’ll make it simple; God is bigger and badder than the Devil so He can have any day He wants and if we want to use Halloween for Him then the Devil can’t say ‘boo’ about it. (One! One Halloween pun! Bwahahaha!).

So to help the cause of claiming Halloween for Christianity I will give you some things you and your church can do this, or next Halloween.

1. Costume contest.

            This is the obvious one invite everyone to come to church dressed as their favorite Biblical character. To see my list of best and worst Christian costume ideas go here. =^.^=

2. Trick or Tithe.                                                                                                           

            Replace the ushers with kids in costumes and replace the offering plates with plastic jack o lantern pales. Who can say no to a cute little ballerina or cowboy? Pastors take note; this might actually be a good permanent change. Want to see giving go up? Replace grumpy old Horace in his grey suit and yellow shirt and tie with darling little Sophie in her pink princess costume. How do you think girl scouts sell so many cookies?

3. Hell

            Seriously we’ve got the scariest thing ever built right in, preach it preacher. And don’t be afraid to use some special effects. Every church has a smoke machine and strobe light somewhere, at least start with that. And a little Stryper ‘To Hell with the Devil’ wouldn’t hurt either.

4. Haunted Church

            Ever been in your church when no one else is there and it’s all dark? It’s creepy. Every church I’ve been in is creepy when it’s empty and the lights are off. So bust out the smoke machine and strobe light again, crank up some Savior Machine and let the madness ensue. Ok so you won’t get the hard hitting message of a ‘Reality House’ but you’ll have kids in church having fun and that’s always a good thing.

5. Testify or Treat.

            Get some parents and kids to dress up and go out into the neighborhood, going door to door. But when they answer the door don’t accept any candy, instead offer some to them. Don’t make it a big ordeal just give them a little goody, maybe slap your church’s info or a verse on it, and tell them “Happy Halloween from Springdale BOOOOOtheran Church” (I love puns).

I know I’m missing some, how else could we use Halloween at church?

Christian Costumes

With Halloween being on a Sunday this year we were trying to decide whether or not to dress our son Alex in his DJ Lance costume before we took him to the nursery at church. We’re heading to parties straight from church so it would be logical. The problem is we haven’t been at our church for a Halloween before and we’re not sure how they handle it. We don’t want our kid to be the only one in the nursery in costume.

Of course it does raise another question; what costumes are appropriate for Christians to wear? Some people would say that wearing a devil costume would be glorifying to Satan and therefore inappropriate for a Christian. However, other would argue that by wearing the costume you are mocking the Devil and in fact showing that he has no power over you. Then again there is the issue of sexy costumes and grotesque or just crude costumes. So where can a Christian turn?

You would think that the easy answer would be to stick to anyone in the Bible (aside from the Devil of course), but that can lead to some touchy areas too so I will give you the five best and worst Christian costume ideas (in no particular order).

Best

1. David – Easy and just about every other person’s favorite Bible character. Just wear a tunic and some sandals. Make a sling out of a shoe string and a piece of an egg carton and make a harp out of and old tennis racquet. For extra points cover your dog in cotton balls and carry him around like a lamb.

2. Angel of Death – Not really sure what he looks like so a black cloak would probably work. If you can manage a light mist and an eerie glow it would help.

3. Jonah and the Whale – Definitely for the more advanced costume makers. It would consist of grey sweatpants leading up to a giant whale’s head with your body sticking out of the mouth from the waist up. Easy winner.

4. Mary – A no brainer for any women who are already pregnant, even if you aren’t just pack some pillows under your robes and you’re good to go. Guys I would recommend staying away from this one.

5. The Centurion – first off it even sounds cool plus you get to dress up like a roman soldier and carry a sword around.

Worst

1. Adam/Eve – Ok so you and you’re husband or wife want to wear matching costumes, I get it. But for everybody’s sake just leave this one at home.

2. Bathsheba – I’m fully aware that Bathsheba did not spend her entire life bathing on rooftops, but showing up as Bathsheba in a bath (I’m strangely reminded of the shower costume from Karate Kid) is just wrong.

3. Lot’s Wife – First of all I’m not even sure how to get that much salt to stick to your body but lets assume you’ve managed it. You’re bound to make an awful mess everywhere you go. And if you live in a more rural area do keep in mind that it is nearly deer season, just be prepared for some very friendly deer.

4. Joseph – There’s a reason your wife keeps trying to throw out that bright plaid robe.

5.  King Elgon – Judges 3:21-25 just read for yourselves and enjoy.

What are some other good and bad Christian costume ideas?

Abraham and Aaron Sorkin

There was a show a few years back called “Sports Night”, I absolutely loved that show. And don’t try to tell me you did too, I know you didn’t because it got horrible ratings and was cancelled after only two seasons. Some people have said that was too smart for TV and they may have been right. That is a good thing since I have tried to base the majority of my philosophy on life around two lines from that show.

1. Napoleon’s Battle Plan

 Casey (Peter Krause) is trying to win over his love interest Dana (Felicity Huffman) but his plan is to simply be in her general vicinity. He claims to have stolen the idea from Napoleon who had a battle plan that consisted largely of ‘show up and see what happens’.

I think this is a fundamental key to God’s plan as well. Often he calls us to do something and we spend so long planning away every detail of it that we get very little actually accomplished. I once went on a mission trip to Indonesia that consisted of little more that showing up and seeing what happened, or perhaps more accurately what ‘seeing what God will do.” It was an amazing life-changing experience to be sure, but I’ll talk more about that another time.

What would happen if we just did what God said, no questions asked and just fully trusted him to take care of the details. Like Abraham taking his family into the wilderness a we would all wander into the wildernesses in our own lives and ‘all peoples on earth will be blessed through you’.

2. The Hungry and the Hunted

Jeremy (Joshua Malina) fails to raise objection to his boss Isaac (Robert Guillaume) for fear of being fired. (Seriously how amazing was this cast? And I didn’t even mention Sabrina Lloyd) Isaac then imparts the following nugget of wisdom concerning leadership “If you’re dumb, surround themselves with smart people. And if you’re smart surround yourself with smart people who disagree with you.” I don’t think Aaron Sorkin (seriously, this show was amazing) came up with that line, but he used it well.

As Christians we often think that we should all get along and be all lovey dovey all the time, but that just isn’t true. If you feel like your brother or sister is wrong you have an obligation to tell them (2 Timothy 4:2). We like it when people tell us we’re doing the right things but what God wants is for us to surround ourselves with Christians who will love us enough to tell us when we’re wrong.

Most of all though one cannot be a leader without followers. When Jesus started His ministry on earth the first thing he did was to go out and recruit some help. So if God could use a dozen knuckleheads to get his Word out how do we expect to do it all on our own? So find others to help you carry out Napoleon’s battle plan, just make sure that they’re willing to tell you when you’re wrong and you may manage to avoid a Waterloo.

I’m writing all this now because I feel God tugging me towards a new ministry. I’ve felt His nudging before but I’ve always managed to reason my way out of it, but not this time. I’m going to keep moving forward. I may fail. I may fall flat on my face, but when I do I will pick my self up off the ground, dust myself off and find that I’m standing exactly where God wants me.

But I’m going to need some help on this journey. I won’t go into all the details now but I’ll be sure to keep posting and if you want more information then send me a message or leave a comment below.

Or at least send me the Sports Night box set.