On Sunday night, our church is having a "Trunk or Treat" activity for the children.
Since I'm nearly 70 YO and never had any children at all, and don't really know what a "Trunk or Treat" is, I probably won't be going.
I'm pretty well handicapped due to the stroke I had 4 years ago, plus it's really hard for me to drive at night.
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I'm not that much into celebrating "holidays" any way, since what the world calls a "holiday" used to, in some way, be considered a "Holy Day"--In fact, that's where we got the word "holiday," personally I don't see how a person can consider so-called "Christian 'Holidays'" like "Christmas" which supposedly is the birthday of Christ. My issues with this so-called "Holiday" are:
1) God's Word never tells us to observe December 25 as Jesus's "birthday." Why spend all the $$$ for something the Bible no where tells us to do so?
2) If Christmas is the birthday of Jesus, shouldn't all our gifts be given to the one whose birthday we're celebrating? I don't recall Mary or Joseph giving their son any presents, nor do I see people today giving the person whose "birthday" it supposedly is any birthday presents.
3) Much of this celebrating of December 25 as Christ's "birthday" is in contradiction to what the Bible tells us about the events surrounding His birth, e.g., the pagan astrologers we call the "wise men" didn't show up at a barn-like structure we falsely call a "manger."
The "mangers" weren't wooden structures built out in the open like we so often see in people's yards, or, even worse, in front of church buildings--many of which claim that they strictly adhere to the truth that's found in God's Word!
Well, if those churches knew much about how sheep were stabled in Christ's day, they'd have cave-like affairs in their yards, not some open-faced barns.
And what about the so-called "'Wise Men' from the east" that we read about in Matthew 2:1 -12? They certainly weren't your ordinary "know-it-all's." Quite to the contrary, as Spiros Zodhiates, Th.D., writes in his massive 1,500+ page The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament in his entry on page 935 the following about the Greek word that our English Bibles translated as "wise men," we read the following:
magos Magi, the name for priests and wise men among the Medes, Persians and Babylonians. Great, powerful men. Magi specialized in the study of astrology and enchantment, and thus were known as enchanters, magicians who specialized in using dangerous drugs as a means to cast enchantments either on themselves or on their wealthy Babylonian or Persian clients.
As astrologers, they were interested in observing the skies in order to draw up horoscopes for these influential clients--some of which were powerful men who possessed satanic powers (Think of the "magicians" in the court of the Egyptian Pharaoh who challenged Moses by duplicating some of the plagues as is recorded in Exodus 8.) that they often employed in the practice of their pagan religions.
Exactly how these magi determined that this "star in the east" (Matt. 2:2b) would lead them to "The King of the Jews" isn't clearly indicated in the Bible, but this particular heavenly body was not a common, ordinary star since it not only led them first to Jerusalem, but then also to Bethlehem, some 6 or more miles from King Herod's court.
Where did this star finally lead them? Not to some barn-like structure, but to a HOUSE, which I've never seen in all the almost 70 years I've been on old terra firma.
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So much for "Christ's Mass." I could write more on what the so-called Santa Claus had to do with the pagan observation of Saternalia, from which we really got the festival that's observed on December 25, but since the OP asked about the satanic observance on the eve of "All Saints' Day," a/k/a Hallowed Evening [as in "Hallowed {"Holy"} be thy name" (Matt. 6:9, Luke 11:2)], or Halloween, let's try to figure out what a born again Christian should do about it.
My resources indicate that at some time in the distant past when the RCC "ruled' Europe and much of the Near East prior to the "Great Schism of the East" in 1054, the RCC had more "saints" to observe than there were days on its liturgical calendar.
In order to justify keeping the days where the more popular saints would still be observed, e.g., St. Valentine's Day in February or St. Patrick's Day in March, but still keeping the number of "Saints," it was decided that there would be a sort of generic day in which all the "saints" would be observed.
This became "All Saints' Day," and it would be held either on the last day in October or the first day in November.
The eventually the evening before "All Saints' Day" took on a life of its own, similar to the evening of December 24--"Christmas Eve."
Since all of the saints were considered to be "holy," the evening of "All Saints' Day" eventually became known as "Hallowed Evening," or, its contracted form, "Hallow'een."
Not to be outdone, the occultists devised an alternative to this "Hallowed Evening."
They would parade around dressed up in their masked form of "saints" who'd go door-to-door that night scaring the wits out of the common folks and demanding that, if the owner of the house didn't hand over a good portion of newly harvested crops (i.e., to "treat" them), the masked invaders would proceed to do some wickedness to the homeowner's property (i.e., "trick" them). Thus the ultimatum "Trick or Treat" was developed.
By the time of, say, the early 20th century, more and more families were moving off their farms and into the more urbanized cities. However, their custom of Halloween still lingered on as it does today, but with some of its satanic trappings still with us today--the masks being the most popular.
So, should a Christian participate in this holiday? IMHO, I'd say it's up to the individual or family. For me personally I don't....after all, I'm almost 70 YO, handicapped, and have trouble driving at night.
OTOH, the HOA for my townhouse development said that if I want to hand out candy, etc., to my little visitors, I can leave my outdoor lights on.
That's what I do, but I also include a Bible tract or two that's age appropriate that gives them the Bible verses on how to trust Christ as their Savior.
