Halloween...fun or asking for trouble ?

I don't believe Christianity should be a religion of "can't" but there still has to be lines we Christians do not cross.......

http://www.history.com/content/halloween/real-story-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 in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern France, celebrated their new year on November 1. 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 on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31, they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. In addition to causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought that the presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future. For a people entirely dependent on the volatile natural world, these prophecies were an important source of comfort and direction during the long, dark winter.

To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities.

During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other's fortunes. When the celebration was over, they re-lit their hearth fires, which they had extinguished earlier that evening, from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter.

By A.D. 43, Romans had conquered the majority of Celtic territory. In the course of the four hundred years that they ruled the Celtic lands, two festivals of Roman origin were combined with the traditional Celtic celebration of Samhain.

Video: The haunting History of All Hallow's Eve (Halloween).
Video: Timothy Dickinson tells the intriguing tale of why we celebrate Halloween, and it's evolution from Samhain, an ancient Celtic Harvest Festival.
The first was Feralia, a day in late October when the Romans traditionally commemorated the passing of the dead. The second was a day to honor Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. The symbol of Pomona is the apple and the incorporation of this celebration into Samhain probably explains the tradition of "bobbing" for apples that is practiced today on Halloween.

By the 800s, the influence of Christianity had spread into Celtic lands. In the seventh century, Pope Boniface IV designated November 1 All Saints' Day, a time to honor saints and martyrs. It is widely believed today that the pope was attempting to replace the Celtic festival of the dead with a related, but church-sanctioned holiday. The celebration was also called All-hallows or All-hallowmas (from Middle English Alholowmesse meaning All Saints' Day) and the night before it, the night of Samhain, began to be called All-hallows Eve and, eventually, Halloween. Even later, in A.D. 1000, the church would make November 2 All Souls' Day, a day to honor the dead. It was celebrated similarly to Samhain, with big bonfires, parades, and dressing up in costumes as saints, angels, and devils. Together, the three celebrations, the eve of All Saints', All Saints', and All Souls', were called Hallowmas.

Gossip

(Taken from
http://www.wolfeborobible.com/gossip.html)

The Christian who gossips doesn't really care about others, especially the ones they're gossiping about. They really care more about themselves. They just want to have juicy information to attract others to themselves. The apostle Paul said in Philippians 2:3, "Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. 4, Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others."

Paul also said in Romans15:2, "Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification." Only words of edification, building up should come out of your mouth as Paul also teaches in Ephesians 4:29, " Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers."


Only Good words!

Only Encouraging words!

NO tearing down words!

If you're a gossiper, would you want other people gossiping about you? Do you want others telling things that are not true, or completely true? Do you want your sins publicized by others? I'm sure you're saying, NO! You see, none of us would want someone else to be gossiping about ourselves. Jesus teaches us in Matthew 22:39 "And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'" Wow! That means if I don't want people gossiping about me, I shouldn't do it either!

Do You Have Integrity ? Are You Sure ??

There is no better test of a man’s integrity than his behavior when he is wrong.


Integrity involves the three R’s: Respect for self; Respect for others; and Responsibility for all your actions.

Theodore Roosevelt said :"To educate a man in mind but not in morals is to educate a menace to society."

Integrity is the integration of outward actions and inner values. A person of integrity is the same on the outside and on the inside. Such an individual can be trusted because he or she never veers from inner values, even when it might be expeditious to do so. A leader must have the trust of followers and therefore must display integrity.

Honest dealings, predictable reactions, well-controlled emotions, and an absence of tantrums and harsh outbursts are all signs of integrity.

So.........I ask again.........Do you have intergrity ? Are you sure ?

Took the plunge

I now have a facebook account...ugh.....lol

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/profile.php?id=776180339&ref=profile

BE KIND

FRIENDSHIPS

*sigh*

Why do friendships have to be so hard to maintain.
Personally I have very few close close friends....and I know why......I do not do well with high maintenance relationships ! So, when a friendship becomes full of drama - it's done, or when it becomes one way - it's done, when talking is done behind my back - it's done.

Does this make me a bad person ? Maybe.
But it is my life and I wish to enjoy it as I only have one :p

I'M BAAAACK !

Vaca was relaxing.......wish it were all summer lol. Thank you GOD for the nice weather :)

V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N !

Yup ! Going to be on vacation all next week so I've been praying for some bits of sunshine and warm weather....lol.

SO........don't expect any posts until I get back.

Behave yourselves ROFL.....I know I won't ;-)