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My Budget Planner - Personal Budgeting Software

2009-04-22T09:26:00.000-07:00

My Budget Planner - Personal Budgeting Software

2009-01-19T20:25:00.001-08:00

The Story of Halloween

2008-11-05T05:41:00.000-08:00

As our children get ready to go "Trick-or-Treating" let us learn a little about the day "Halloween." Therefore, we will depart from our usual message to take a look at a pagan holiday, that changed because of Christianity, and thus became a Holy Day that is still observed in some Denominations still today!

Therefore we will look at a ancient pagan ritual, that is still practiced today. It's original name was "Samhain," however we know it as "Halloween."

"Samhain" began at sundown on October 31st and extended into the following day. According to the Celtic pagan religion, known as Druidism, the spirits of those who had died roamed the earth on "Samhain" evening. This night was much feared by
the Celtic people, and they sought to ward off the spirits with offerings of food and drink.

The dark side of this event was the fact that the Celts built bonfires, at so called sacred sights, and sometimes performed rituals involving HUMAN and/or Animal Sacrifices, to honor Druid gods. "Samhain" was abandoned only when the people converted to Christianity during the very early middle ages.

Now during that period of time the Church often incorporated modified versions of ancient pagan rituals in order to win over converts. For example, Pope Gregory IV successfully replaced "Samhain" with All Saints Day, which fell on November 1, thus
the evening of October 31 became known as All Hallows' Even, which was later shortened to Halloween. All Souls Day, as it is known as today, is a Holy Day in the Roman Catholic, and Anglican Churches, honoring those who have passed away.

Some aspects of this ancient pagan tradition thought to be incompatible with Christianity, were linked with folk beliefs about evil spirits. In British folklore, small magical fairies became associated with Halloween mischief. The jack-o-lantern, originally carved from a turnip, originated in medieval Scotland.
A small candle would be put into the turnip, that had a scary face carved on it. This was to be lit at night and displayed to scare off evil spirits which they feared roamed about that night.

Between the 15th & 17th Centuries, Europe was seized by a hysterical fear of witches, who were thought to ride flying brooms and to assume the form of black cats. Thus the images of witches and black cats soon joined other European superstitions as symbols of Halloween.

In the 19th & early 20th Centuries, young people often observed Halloween by perpetrating minor acts of vandalism, such as overturning sheds or breaking windows. Beginning in the 1930's, Halloween mischief gradually transformed into the
modern ritual of trick-or-treating, though some still choose to perform acts of vandalism on Halloween still today.

A final note, is the fact that Halloween is the high holy day of the satanic church. So it still bears a very dark side indeed, even today!

References: (Encarta Reference Library 2008, and the Encyclopedia Britannica 2006.)

"The Silver"

2008-10-25T17:15:00.000-07:00

"Silver"
Malachi 3:3 says: “He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.”

This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God.

One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study.

That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn’t mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining Silver.

As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest so as to burn away all the impurities.

The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; then she thought again about the verse that says: “He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver.” She asked the silversmith if it was true that He had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined.

The man answered that he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.

The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, “How do you know when the silver is fully refined?”

He smiled at her and answered.

“Oh, that’s easy, “ “When I see my image in it.”

If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that God has his eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you.

“Life is a coin. You can spend it any way you wish, but you can only spend it once.”