Once again, Halloween is here, and I find myself thinking about the divide within the Church regarding this holiday. There are those which say that Halloween is something which no Christian should have anything to do with; Pyromaniacs even go so far as to say that it's "another religion's holiday." I myself have always enjoyed Halloween - getting dressed in a costume, going around getting candy from strangers; what's not to like? - and even the spooky atmosphere. I enjoy the horror genre, even though I'm kind of a snob about it (and I have no interest in the recent subgenre nicknamed "torture porn"). However, while I continue to enjoy Halloween and probably always will, I can see their point.

Team Pyro brought up another interesting point: when churches have "Halloween alternative" events, they call it "Harvest Festivals" or something similar. Now, despite the fact that these are entirely non-agrarian communities for the most part, what's strange is that it seems to be either forgotten or swept under the rug that October 31 is, in fact, the day that Martin Luther nailed the 95 Theses on the door of a Wittenberg church: The Festival of the Reformation, or Reformation Day. This is something churches should be trumpeting!

The local PBS showed the movie "Luther" (the recent version with Joseph Fiennes) over the weekend. It isn't bad; the costumes are fantastic, and they get the story of what happened across well, even if it isn't incredibly dynamic. But it was a reminder of what the Church was before the Reformation. Secular-minded leaders, deep corruption, clerical offices sold for political position, the doctrine of grace withheld, and the Bible itself kept out of the hands of commoners. It's a tragedy that so many Christians (myself included) let their Bibles sit on the shelf and collect dust, waiting for a preacher to tell them what it says, rather than picking it up daily and devouring it. People's lives were destroyed, people were killed, to give us those Scriptures in a language we can understand.

Marilyn and I have discussed in the past what we might do as far as Halloween is concerned if we have children. I don't recall the exact details, but I remember reaching some sort of compromise, perhaps involving telling the stories of specific martyrs, if not outright dressing like them. Because I love the costumes. It's also a nice time to be reminded that while death is always before us, we have nothing to fear from it, because Jesus has conquered it. Through Him, we will outlive death.

In any case, have a happy Halloween, if you're in a position to do so; more importantly, remember what Martin Luther and those who came before and followed after did in the service of our King, and what they surrendered for His Name's sake. Thank God for them all.