Trick or Treat

Let’s get a little controversial…..just a little. I’m not a big fan of controversy.

Halloween. Yes or No? Good or bad?

I’ll start with how I was raised. My family didn’t really have a problem with it, as long as it was done in a pure or fun way.

Growing up, I dressed up as everything from David the Giant Killer (with a sling !), Luke Skywalker, baseball player, Superman, and Rocky Balboa. We would trick or treat down our street and occasionally we’d hop in the car and go to another neighborhood.

My parents actually think of it as a witnessing opportunity. They would and still do pass out witnessing tracks with the little bags of candy.

We carved pumpkins.

Did we celebrate Halloween as a holiday? Sort of, but more than anything we enjoyed a day that was geared towards kids and candy. Even in the 80’s it was sort of innocent.

I remember conversations my parents and their friends would have about Halloween. It’s a pagan holiday. How can you celebrate it?

Their response was basically there is nothing wrong with it, at least in the way we participated.

We weren’t devil worshipping. We weren’t participating in evil.

Their biggest worry at the time was people messing with the candy and if we got enough Almond Joys or Mounds bars.

Even as a kid, the monsters that seemed to be lurking on Halloween were ghosts and goblins, with an occasional smiling skeleton, witch or vampire mixed in. People laughed at them more than anything else. As a product of the 80’s, we started to see the Jasons, Freddy Kruegers, and Michael Myers starting to pop up. Back then, that was pushing the limits.

It’s amazing how things change in 20-25 years.

It still seems fairly innocent for kids, but I was just reading how even the young girls are wearing racy costumes these days.

I guess I’m talking more about the 18-40 year old group. People seem to embrace the evil these days. Or they push the limits for their costumes. Creativity is defined by how edgy you can go. This means perverted, evil, off-color costumes are becoming the norm.

Dressing up as a nurse isn’t the same as it was 20 years ago. Dressing up as a maid isn’t the same as it was years ago.

Or people go all out evil.

Now the evil that people dress up as comes straight from the pit of hell. And why not, that’s what people see in the horror movies these days. It’s not longer Frankenstein or Dracula.

Its demons, devils and mutants that want to kill and destroy.

Hmmmmm. I know someone else who looks to kill and destroy.

I never liked the fear factor of Halloween. I never went to haunted houses growing up. It wasn’t so much the being scared or not wanting to be scared. I have always thought of it as stupid.

It was probably because I knew 2 Timothy 1:7 “God has not given me the spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind.”

It was probably because I knew 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.”

So my question is, if God doesn’t give us the spirit of fear, and doesn’t want us to think on such things, why do we?

Can I go beyond Halloween and into horror movies? Why would anyone, let alone a Christian want to watch these things? We let the Friday the 13th, Halloween and Nightmare on Elm Street and similar corny horror movies fly in the 80s. It was gore, but silly and over the top.

Horror movies today are pure evil. It’s almost like Satan himself created, directed and produced them. Yet for some reason, people flock to see them.

If God hates evil, why don’t we?

Let’s go another step, shall we? We’re living in a society that is trying it’s hardest to remove God from it’s culture. More and more, we are being told how we can’t celebrate God or his holidays. And we go along with it.

But Halloween is one of the fastest growing holidays. People don’t just carve pumpkins anymore. They go all out. It’s sad when there are more decorations for Halloween than there are for Christmas. But we go along with it.

And like I said before, they celebrate evil and rationalize racy, evil costumes as fun for a night.

Let’s see. If we go along with the removal of God from culture, and we go along with the celebration of something that is fast becoming entirely anti-God, how soon before God is out of everything we do?

But if Mom Allen reads this, thanks for making Halloween like I remember as a kid. The bowls of candy. The orange and black everywhere. The cider and donuts. The silly looking skeletons, spiders and witches. The tombstones with funny inscriptions.

That was fun. That was Halloween.

The Company We Keep

Thanks Hood. The trouble with having a creative friend like Nate is that they can somehow manage to compliment you and poke fun at you at the same time. I also end up getting dragged along (although willingly) in some of his creative ventures, like this blog. But I guess that's the price of friendship right?

I'm the kind of person that places a lot of importance on my friendships. Because of that, I often find myself thinking a lot about my friends. Not in a, "I wonder what they're doing right now" kind of way. But really, thinking about them. Who they are as people. The people, and experiences and circumstances that have helped to make them who they are. And ultimately, what impact do they have in my life? And what impact am I having in theirs?

I've been very blessed in my life not only to have a great family, but to have great friends. I really believe that in order to reach your full potential, it's important to surround yourself with people who will encourage you but still challenge you; support you yet correct you when needed. A scripture that Nate and I often like to quote is Proverbs 27:17 "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another". That pretty much sums up our friendship. We've learned to be encouraging and challenging, supportive and correcting. And to have the occasional laugh at each other's expense. It's the people around us that will help to keep us "sharp".

Most people would probably say that they keep "good" company. That their friends are "good" people that they get along with and enjoy hanging out with. And that's fine. But the question that I always ask is, am I keeping "the right" company? Are the people around me people who are pushing me forward towards my goals or are they holding me back? I want to surround myself with friends who can be iron for me and I want to be able to be iron for them as well. My goal is to have a greater positive influence on the my world than it has on me. It's a pretty lofty goal, I know. Sometimes I feel like I'm making an impact, other times I don't. Either way, it's a start.

What about you? Are the people that you keep close to you having a positive impact on your life? Are you having an impact on the lives of your friends?

I guess what I'm really trying to say is that, if you want to stay sharp, find some iron. Because ultimately, who we are and what we are is all just a reflection of the company that we keep.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you

John Mack.

John Mack, New Haven-ite, Princetonian, THEE cornerstone of a Princeton track dynasty, Chicagoan, and all around good guy, has agreed to be a contributor to thefrontpew.

I don't have a picture of his mug yet. He's my brother from another mother, so we don't really look alike.

But we do share a mutual Godly perspective on things. He, like myself, is a pastor's kid. So he's a natural to give his view from the front pew.

Our fathers have been friends for probably 20 years, as pastors in the village of New Haven and probably knew of each other back in their New Haven High School days. The two of them have been very influential in the village and school as pastors. They are men we are both proud of.

And they are both men who have big dreams for us. Ironically, our dreams may be bigger than the ones they have for us.

John and I have discussed the chances of us following in our fathers footsteps. It could happen. But like John so eloquently put in a sermon of his, he may want to bulldoze his dad's building and build a bigger one.

That is after John has been commisioner of the Big Ten, mayor of Chicago, and my vice president.

We have discussed many topics over the last 8 years or so. Actually, how long is it, John? But together we think we can solve hunger, world peace, and probably 60% of the sports franchises.

We have talked about writing a book together for awhile. We haven't gotten far on that yet, but this blog could open up the door for such things. Personally, I'm looking forward to this.

John, the floor.....blog is yours whenever you like. Hopefully you and your fans will check in and many people will get to see the view from the front pew.

Together, maybe can move people from the back of the church into the seat next to us or the pew right behind us!