NOVEMBER WRAP AROUNDS #2-2001: REVELATIONS-End Time Revelations-Don Love Ministries-doweknow studies Revelation, Rapture, Tribulation, End-time beast, etc.

TRENT WROTE:

Welcome to the 58th Christian letter. This devotional is intended to be used as a personal study tool. However, it is not wise to take man's word for anything, so check all things with your own Bible.

Verse of the week: "For you, O God, tested us; you refined us like silver." (Psalm 66:10)

Thought of the week: Holding silver in a hot flame refines it by burning away all the impurities. When the silversmith can see his image in it, it's been completely refined. Can Christ see His image in you?

Halloween

Let's put our ideas aside and really look at what Halloween is by examining its practices, traditions, and possible good points.

Halloween is not rooted in Scripture, well, not God's Scripture anyway. Some Satanists and some groups associated with witchcraft do observe it as one of their holy days. Not all of them, but many of them. There are thousands of covens and satanic groups known to exist in the U.S.; however, it is unknown how many have kept their rituals and sacrifices secret. After all, the members look and act just like normal people and do not advertise. Satanists are almost as blind as Christians in some instances. In my research I found that most Satan worshipers don't believe in Satan. They are more humanists than anything. It reminded me of Christians who don't believe in Christ's words when He speaks of Satan and hell. That is some of them…the ones who are truly into witchcraft and Satanism, though, sacrifice children, rape, recruit children, and do things that would not be allowed in horror films. I've heard parents say that if anything scary like that happened, their child would tell them. Sadly, this is not true. If a five-year-old boy is forced to witness a real execution and told that if he does not follow Satan, or if he tells anyone, mommy will be next…I guarantee that you'll never find out. Halloween, in this perspective, is indeed evil.

Many Christians do see Halloween as a pagan, Celtic, or a satanic holiday. Many more will say, "As long as I don't celebrate the same way they do then I'm fine. If my children dress as demons or if I give into those who are dressing this way then we are indeed celebrating Halloween wrongly. But I will celebrate Halloween justly. I'll hand out tracts. After all, more tracts are handed out on Halloween than any other time of year and it sure is easy to do. Or maybe I'll go to the church's celebration tonight. I'll just use Halloween for good purposes." Well, do we try this with other celebrations, like orgies? Then why would we do this on Halloween? Witnessing can be done every day and should be. We should not need a holiday like Halloween to do good things like pray, go to church, or witness to kids. Christians should avoid practicing Halloween but not in a way that we appear evil ourselves. Calmly, and humbly, say that you believe in God's word and care not to partake. We'll be reading His Word very shortly.

Then there are the traditionalists who allow their children to dress up and go door to door demanding candy. It may not be satanic, but it certainly is unintelligent. The main excuse for celebrating this day is candy. Simple, use the money you'd spend on gas, flashlights, costumes, jack-o-lanterns, the likes, and go out and buy some fine candies. Just don't eat too many. However, concerning the phrase, "trick or treat," what the kids are really saying is, "Give us what we want, or we will trick you." The trick usually involves vandalism, and sometimes, much more.

Black cats, spiders, bats, and strange people are indeed God's creations so please do not hate them because of Halloween. This goes against everything that Jesus taught about loving our enemies in Matthew 5:43-48. Sometimes Christians end up acting more like Satan than pagans do.

I've read so much on the subject of where Halloween came from and found, to no surprise, nothing but contradictions. So let's just look at the Word, see what it says about holidays of this nature, and save some time.

"Consider the people of Israel: Do not those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar? Do I mean then that a sacrifice offered to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord's table and the table of demons. Are we trying to arouse the Lord's jealousy? Are we stronger than He?" (1st Corinthians 10:18-22)

"But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." (Joshua 24:15)

"They cried out to the LORD and said, `We have sinned; we have forsaken the LORD and served the Baals and the Ashtoreths. But now deliver us from the hands of our enemies, and we will serve you.'" (1st Samuel 12:10)
"The LORD your God will cut off before you the nations you are about to invade and dispossess. But when you have driven them out and settled in their land, and after they have been destroyed before you, be careful not to be ensnared by inquiring about their gods, saying, "How do these nations serve their gods? We will do the same." You must not worship the LORD your God in their way, because in worshiping their gods, they do all kinds of detestable things the LORD hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods. See that you do all I command you; do not add to it or take away from it." (Deuteronomy 12:29-32)

Are we to imitate demonic practices or Yehoshuah the Messiah? Oh, how much we hurt Christ's heart when we choose carelessly. Christians! You must discern good from evil and make a decision that glorifies God. What would that be? The answer is one of the most overlooked and greatest blessings ever given. Pray...for everyone.

Did you know: If Christ were standing next to you right now, you'd be afraid of nothing. Today in prayer, know that Christ is always near. Take courage in the Lord and give Him any fears that you may have.

Ponder this: If we plant weeds, we will reap weeds. If we plant fruit, we will need to pull some weeds. --Trent

B'ANN WROTE:

Trent, I do not agree with some of your writings but this one will go up. This would fit the "cute little devil" ideology that many Americans have today. I feel that we do not celebrate Halloween in the heavy, frightening way it was originally intended. I'm not sure why our forefathers thought it was important to do Halloween. It is really a "prankster/trickster" type thing in the U.S. similar to the "Anansi" stories from Africa. Remember, we are not in a Theocratic government and if we never had to make a choice as a Christian, it would be a dull world. Halloween was very serious and destructive when I was a young girl, but it too, like the church, has mixed and mingled with the world and gotten "modernized". These are good ideas that you shared.

Christ loved a good party. In fact He is going to give the biggest party of all when the Church is "raptured". He attended a wedding and we surely know that today the institution of marriage has very few roots in the church even though people still use the church for their ceremony. The sanctity of marriage was probably even less during His days upon earth because He came to a world that had gotten so far from God that He had to be a "Supreme Sacrifice". He would probably go to these Halloween festivities and try to tell a parable in order to get His message across. Churches still use this holiday for fund raising but it is now called "fall festival". What can I say!!! I find that my heart is big enough to love everyone that doesn't think like I do. It is my prayer that everyone would come to know the Christ of Calvary as I do; but I can't lead them to Him if I have a critical, derogatory spirit.

When I read your writings, I get the feeling that you have a very unhappy Jesus. But I cannot see Jesus being burdened or unhappy, for He did his job and came forth victorious over sin and the grave. He is now resting at the right hand of the Father until He comes back to earth with His army of saints.

Acts 2:
32 This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.
33 Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.
34 For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand,
35 Until I make thy foes thy footstool.
36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made the same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.

Jesus said "it is finished" on the cross. He did His part in the plan of redemption and fulfilled the Promise made to the saints of old. What is not finished is the "love" we are supposed to "shed abroad" to everyone. We do not have time to rail and accuse Satan. He is a defeated foe. It would be a very unwise person that would concentrate, day after day, hour after hour, upon a foe that was already defeated. The person would be so obsessed with telling about the defeated one that there would be no time left to tell about the next planned victory, the next foe to be conquered, John 3:16… A few years ago, in my Christian walk, a wise man named Dr. Gyland said, "Don't even name the things of Satan." He taught that we have a limited span of time on earth and we need to use that time to brag on Jesus. We know that the negative is there, the news reports tell this every day, hour after hour. We need to leave the reporting of the negative to them and start offsetting it with the "Good News". My husband always says that it isn't hard to see dirt if you are always looking down. We need to "lift up our eyes unto the hills from which cometh our help" and set our affections on things above. Here is a good positive message.

Romans 5:
1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;
4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope:
5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.
8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
11 And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.
12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
13 (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.
14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.
15 But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.

18 Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.
19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ ourLord.

I'll leave you with this Scripture:

Philippians 4:8
Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

Below is Trent's response to our response and our responses to his response to our response.
TRENT'S REPLY:

I read your reply to my letter that you posted on your site. Here are my comments on it.

Christ attended weddings but nowhere in the Word or in His life did He give any indication that He was ok with taking over, or even associating, with such holidays as Halloween. It's no wonder why people do not take Christians seriously when we go back on His Word. You say that it is now called a fall festival but I wonder how changing the name of Halloween makes it better. I too, love those that are dressing and acting as the world tells them to do, but I am to be in this world, not of it. If I have hatred so no one will hear His message or the folly of following the world thinking it will take me to Christ, then I have failed to minister.

"You have an unhappy Jesus" ...I laughed when I read this. I do not have a different 'Jesus' than any other Christian.

Satan's greatest trick to date is making Christian not believe he is still alive and well. I must ask you.... if the devil is dead, as some have said with a very self-satisfied smile, who then since he died, is doing his work all the while? You think that I am obsessed about Satan and his evil. I am uncertain how you could have come to this conclusion. You say, "Lift up your eyes unto the hills from which cometh our help"... help from what if Satan is defeated? I am wondering if you know what was done when Christ died for us. He defeated death, Satan's power gained by our sin, which is eternal separation from God, so that whoever believes will be saved. Let me ask you now a question that you will not be able to answer without destroying your doctrine. If you believe the world will end tomorrow, will you buy groceries for next week? The same applies here, if you believe that Christ's Word is true, then why would you go against His teaching by practicing Halloween…in any manner. Minister to children...but never in the same manner the foreigners (those in this world) do. If you can find any Scripture saying that we do not need to protect ourselves from Satan by seeking after God, through His Son, through His Spirit, and that it is ok to minister in the way of the world (something Christ never did), then let me know and I will listen. "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings" (1 Peter 5:8-9)

My hope and my prayer is that you do not wish to be blind to what Scripture says and will see the truth before you do one of the most horrible sins, and that is false teaching. Please e-mail me back after you have sought His counsel through prayer and His Word...not man's. Very sincerely, Trent

"Consider the people of Israel: Do not those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar? Do I mean then that a sacrifice offered to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord's table and the table of demons. Are we trying to arouse the Lord's jealousy? Are we stronger than He?" (1st Corinthians 10:18-22)
"But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." (Joshua 24:15)

"They cried out to the LORD and said, `We have sinned; we have forsaken the LORD and served the Baals and the Ashtoreths. But now deliver us from the hands of our enemies, and we will serve you.'" (1st Samuel 12:10)

"The LORD your God will cut off before you the nations you are about to invade and dispossess. But when you have driven them out and settled in their land, and after they have been destroyed before you, be careful not to be ensnared by inquiring about their gods, saying, "How do these nations serve their gods? We will do the same." You must not worship the LORD your God in their way, because in worshiping their gods, they do all kinds of detestable things the LORD hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods. See that you do all I command you; do not add to it or take away from it." (Deuteronomy 12:29-32)

B'ANN WROTE AGAIN:

First of all, my children have never celebrated Halloween. I gave them an alternative. I believe Jesus brought an alternative to a world full of people like those you feel are practicing heathen deeds. The other day my grown daughter was visiting her friend who said her family had to buy a pumpkin to make a Jack-O-Lantern. My daughter said, "We eat ours!". Every year about mid-October, I purchase a huge pumpkin. I make pies. One year I made 37 and put them in the freezer. My little children thawed out, heated, and covered with whipped topping, those pumpkin pies during October and November. We didn't teach them against Halloween. We just didn't make it into something special by attacking it; and it is not a part of their culture now that they are grown. This was what I meant when I said that Jesus would present an alternative that would create another set of memories. My kids have very good memories of October and November. That Jesus would go among people that celebrate non-religious holidays/events is a fact. He addressed this in these Scriptures.

Matthew 11:
18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a devil.
19 The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children. What do people do on Halloween which comes once a year? They pretend to resurrect goblins, ghosts, Frankenstein, Casper the friendly ghost, witches, black cats, bad luck signs, etc. Keep in mind that this occurs only once a year. They say, "Oooooooh" or "eeeeek" a ghost is here!!!" or some such nonsense. What do we Christians do? Everyday, almost hourly, perhaps minute by minute we say, "Ooooooh!, Eeeeeek! The Devil is here. Satan is alive and well on planet earth. The devil will lead you astray!" or some such declaration. We constantly resurrect a defeated foe. At least the people that celebrate Halloween only do it once a year. Perhaps, occasionally, witches or goblins might be mentioned outside the holiday. Do you get my drift?

Are there people that say they practice witchcraft or have a coven? Yes, they say they do. Are there people that say they are devout Christians that we publicly see involved in sex sin that probably astounds the coven? Yes. Are there church members that are involved in inappropriate acts, day after day, that makes the whole world cringe? Yes. For instance, the weddings of today, and the resulting divorce rate, are performed at the rate of hundreds an hour. These false vows, at celebrations done in the church, are much more damaging that a celebration done once a year. Most children usually forget Halloween until it occurs the next year, and would probably forget it entirely if the parents and the department stores did not stock up on Halloween items. A little child that is born to parents, who celebrated a marriage in the church, witnesses fighting, strife and heartbreak when the home breaks up. So, maybe we need to stop "straining at a gnat" while swallowing a camel" and get to the root of the problem.

Satan is a defeated foe! The Bible said that Jesus bruised his head. This leaves him mentally deficient. He cannot be creative, initiate life, or reason out a concrete plan. He can only "ride on the coattails" of human habits such as drinking, smoking, cursing, woman chasing, bar hopping, etc. He has to operate in a repetitive action, something done over and over in the same ol' unending cycle. I submit to you that when people get up and talk about the power of the devil, over and over, in an unending cycle, that they are helping him establish a pattern/habit by which he can operate. Satan operates on our fears, feelings of unworthiness, despair, hate, wrath, emulations, seditions, …Jesus operates in peace, restoration, hope, love, charity, pure speech, submission…When the church finally realizes that satan is in subjection to the Lord Jesus, then, we can rise up in the power we should be exercising. As long as he is of equal power to Christ, in our minds and beliefs, then we cannot go past his "bigness." Sin is like a spider web. Its chains are no stronger than the strands of the web but we can't stand the "icky" feeling as we try to walk through the web. But once the web has been broken, the person is free. Satan operates in our thoughts which in turn put bondage in our souls. (Soul is our personality, emotions, like/dislikes…). Jesus operates in our Spirit which generates freedom.

Rom 16:20
And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ [be] with you. Amen. My use of "Look upon the hills from which cometh our help" refers to help in the positive, not negative. Positive such as wisdom to know how to raise our children; how to approach our neighbor with a Spirit convicting word, not a soulical guilt trip; how to overcome when our children are attacked by the same germs that attack the whole world system; how to remain calm in a storm; how to remain financially stable without being greedy; how to give our children viable alternative in a world that is full of body destroying habits...Habits are human choices. Only after we make a deliberate choice to embrace a habit can Satan come in and "take a free ride." We do the thought process/decisions that starts the path to sinning. Satan doesn't have to practice sin. He has already been judged as sin incarnate. He just loves to cuddle up to sin when we do it.

James 1:
13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:
14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. I have the feeling that you would like to "give me a good scolding/upbraiding" for your Jesus. He doesn't need you to fight for him. He needs you to love for him. He doesn't need us to condemn for Him. The world is condemned already. The condemnation can only go away when the "light" is given. Study upon these things. Jesus was never against things, He was always for things. And remember the Scripture:

John 3:
17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

Philippians 4: 8
Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. You state that you have the same Jesus as other people. However, it seems you can stand before Him and say, "Lord, I'm glad I am not like those other people." I can't. I am a sinner saved by Grace and I in turn feel the need to have Grace toward others. May we repent, you and I, and fall on our faces and say as Christ did, "Father forgive them for they know not what they do?" Then, we need to cover this multitude of people that has not been evangelized, taught, sought, wept-over by a church that is supposed to be the "light of the world." We close the doors of our churches and doors to our hearts to anyone that we consider unpure. But it was for such "unpure" beings that Jesus died and that the Church is called to love and evangelize. How big is our cover? Jesus' cover was large enough for the whole world. May the Lord enlarge our Spiritual borders/cover to encompass in our uplifting all the downtrodden everywhere. Too big a task? No, not if it is undertaken in prayers that are made in our "closets," and from a broken, contrite heart.
1 Peter 1: 22
Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:

1 Peter 4:
1 Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;
6 For this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.
7 But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.
8 And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.
9 Use hospitality one to another without grudging.
10 As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
11 If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

DON WROTE:

Let me begin by addressing your statement that you have the same Jesus as everyone has. Granted, that is so if they have a living faith in Christ Jesus and what He did for the world on Calvary; but that is not true as to our understanding of Who Christ is. When Jesus was ministering and doing miracles in the midst of the people, He said "According to your faith be it unto you" (Mt. 9:29b); for He knows all too well that we all have different degrees of faith. Likewise, we all have different understandings of Who and What Christ is and we release or limit His presence and power in our lives accordingly. Consequently, if you have a Jesus who walks around with a rod in His hand, ready to bring it down on the one who falls short (If that is your concept of Him), then you have an "unhappy Jesus" who makes you to live in heaviness. But if you perceive Christ to have a sense of humor, and if you envision Him enjoying our enjoyment of His gifts, etc., then your Jesus can set your feet to dancing and put a "bubbling" of joy in your soul. For me, it is hard to relate the unhappy Jesus with the Jesus who said, "If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed" (John 8:36).

As to your borrowed stance that Satan is alive and well on the planet earth, Scripturally, nothing can be further from the truth. Oh, his activities have been limited to the earth, and those activities are further limited by the will of man, but I have no inkling of how you arrive at the idea that he is "well." The Bible declares him to be a doomed individual who has damned his own soul and who is awaiting the fulfilling of his sentence: i.e., his incarceration in hell for the 1,000 years of the Kingdom Age and his everlasting confinement in the Lake of Fire where he will know torment for ever and ever. Any human who knew for certain that such a fate awaited him would surely be a candidate for the "psycho ward." In the meantime, God is using Satan as a tool to force men and women to make their choices in the valley of decision in which we have been placed. My understanding of the Bible makes Satan (Lucifer, the fallen angel) a creature of free choice who chose to oppose the very God that gave him life and freedom of choice. So, in a sense, Lucifer is an embarrassment, a "zit" on the face of creation, if you will. How human-like and unfortunate it is that so many preachers concentrate on this "zit" and ignore the "Beauty" of heaven and the wonders that God has made for us in this life.

You quote I Peter 5:8-9 which in context reads:

6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
9 Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.
10 But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.
11 To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. Granted, this verse is worded to get our attention and to put us on guard; but it should be read in its entirety. This Scripture is not saying that the believer should quake in fear at the devil. It is saying that the devil is seeking whom he MAY devour indicating that he can only touch the believers who give him permission—either directly or indirectly. The Bible does give us examples of believers who fell into the devil's snare. For example,
Acts 4:
32 And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common.
33 And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all.
34 Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold,
35 And laid them down at the apostles' feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need.
36 And Joses, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, (which is, being interpreted, The son of consolation,) a Levite, and of the country of Cyprus,
37 Having land, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles' feet.

Acts 5:
1 But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession,
2 And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles' feet.
3 But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?
4 Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.
5 And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things.
6 And the young men arose, wound him up, and carried him out, and buried him.
7 And it was about the space of three hours after, when his wife, not knowing what was done, came in.
8 And Peter answered unto her, Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much? And she said, Yea, for so much.
9 Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out.
10 Then fell she down straightway at his feet, and yielded up the ghost: and the young men came in, and found her dead, and, carrying her forth, buried her by her husband.
11 And great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things.
_________
I Corinthians 5:
1 It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife.
2 And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you.
3 For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed,
4 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,
5 To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
6 Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? If you'll take note, you'll see that in both of these instances, although the immediate results of these believers who had fallen prey to the devil were fearful, the final result was good. That is, in the first instance, although the lives of Ananias and Sapphira were cut short because they had allowed Satan into their hearts, the believers who took all of this in learned a valuable lesson—i.e., you don't mock God. In the second example, the believer's life was cut short because of his persistent perversion in the flesh so that his rebellion would be dealt with in this life and not carried forward into the next. We should also note, however, that the devil is not charged with the sins of these individuals. For sure, he tempted them, but it was their decision and their judgment. And by the way, for sure, Satan is a "zit" on creation, but he wasn't created a zit, he chose to be one on his own.

The examples of Satan's activities in the church that I've just quoted were given for the first Church. (Remember, it would be several years before the New Testament would be compiled.) But for the Church down through the age, the Apostle Paul left us a warning.

Galatians 6:
7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. In both instances above, Satan had the power to bring forth death only because the errant believers had given him an opening. This being the case, how do we shut the door to Satan?

James 4:
6 God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. So, we are to resist the devil. But how do we do this? With our intelligence? With our determination? By our own might? Well, we are to incorporate all of these factors, as we draw closer to God, but never in futile efforts to resist the devil as though he has to listen to us. Even the angels do not take it upon themselves to rebuke Satan with accusations. It takes quoting of God's Word under the unction of the Spirit to remind Satan of his limitations.

Jude 1:9
Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee. It is only as we draw nigh unto God and speak with the unction of the Spirit that the devil has to obey our words.

Did not the Lord Jesus give His Church power over the enemy? Yes. But that is a qualified yes. When Jesus was giving His disciples their harvesting instructions, He said "...as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you." And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said: "Receive ye the Holy Ghost: (John 20:21-22). How did the Father send Jesus? He sent Jesus forth having the Holy Spirit without measure, doing nothing of Himself, but only those things given to Him of His Father. Therefore, we are not to resist the devil by ranting at him with a loud voice or by playing "mind games" with him, but by refusing to consider him or to give him place and by drawing nigh unto God in the time of our need. In fact, in our walk of faith, we are not even to consider any obstacles to the promises given us by God. Father Abraham is our example in many of the things of faith and Paul referred to him in this great passage of faith from the Book of Romans.
Romans 4:
16 Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,
17 (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.
18 Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.
19 And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb:
20 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;
21 And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.
22 And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. So, is Satan alive and well on planet earth? I don't think so. Satan lives in the spiritual realm, and the definition of being spiritual dead is to be cut off/separated from God. To me, the devil fits this description. And as I already said, I don't consider him to be "well." I think that the depths of his depression must be horrible and that he's been stomped on the head so many times by Bible-believing, Spirit-filled Christians that he must be brain damaged. But is Jesus alive and well on planet earth? That is a definite yes!!! And do I waste time by telling people about His saving grace, and about His love for them that took Him to the Cross? I don't think so. Shame on a preacher that wastes his time and the time of his listeners complaining about the devil and making him a legendary creature with powers that he does not have. As we have to say over and over. It is Jesus we are to lift up if we are to have God draw people to Himself (and not to us). God will not honor any teaching or preaching that lifts up Satan or magnifies him out of proportion.

I am not answering this WRAP to win an argument, but to bring a problem to the attention of those who love the Lord and who want to serve Him. Before I became a Christian, as a child, I had fun on Halloween; and as I grew older, I enjoyed seeing children having fun on that holiday. Oh, some abused it, but they would have abused most anything. Being dead unto God in my trespasses and sin, when I enjoyed Halloween, I was not doing so to anger God. In fact, I can't say for sure now, but I probably thought that there was benefit in children making light of the goblins and spooks that they sometimes thought to be under their bed or in the dark. I can say that had some religious person told me that I was worshipping Satan, goblins, and evil spirits, I would have wondered when they had let him out. For sure, such a one would have turned me off so that I would have had no use for his "witness" or for anything he had to say. CHURCH, THE LORD JESUS DID NOT CALL US TO STRAIGHTEN OUT THE WORLD, BUT TO SHARE HIS LOVE!!! A HOPE IN A VERY PRESENT JESUS IS THE ONLY THING THAT CAN STRAIGHTEN THINGS OUT! What a sin it is to waste what little time we are given squabbling over something as nonsensical as Halloween, when we could be answering the Great Commission. It's our job to bring the lost to Christ and the believer to the Bible. If we'll do this, the Lord Jesus is more than able to lead the believer in the paths of righteousness.

To me, it is not the job of the minister/preacher to teach people how to look like a Christian, but how to be one. Perhaps these words from a song that the Lord gave to our family can best explain my view:

I don't want to tell you how to live
but let me tell you Who died for you
Jesus is His name, He's the Son of God
And did you know that He cried for you... Granted, the ideal situation for everyone is to be raised in a Bible-believing, Spirit-filled church where God is allowed to do His work and the children can see something that make them want to give their lives to Christ instead of fleeing to the world. But such churches are rare. So, let me finish by saying that, although in the Lord I love the Church dearly and have given my life to its service, again I consider myself fortunate not to have been raised in most churches. At least, not in those churches where I would have had the bondage of the law hammered into my head twice on Sunday and again on Wednesday for good measure. I thank God that He found me on the hillside and that He has been and is still trying to set me FREE! I also considered myself to be blessed that I wasn't raised in a church where the devil is so lifted up and given place in the pulpit, that, in effect, every Sunday becomes a "Halloween."