Tonight is Halloween. Originally the Holy Day (yes, it used to be a Holy Day) was called All Hallows’ Eve – the night before All Saints Day, which occurs tomorrow on November 1.
All Saints' Day (also known as Hallowmas, the Feast of All Saints, or Solemnity of All Saints) is a Christian celebration to honor all the saints in Church history, known and unknown. It is celebrated by the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion, the Methodist Church, the Church of the Nazarene, the Lutheran Church, the Reformed Church, and other Protestant churches.
I searched the internet for information about the martyrs who’ve died for their faith. Currently across the globe, more than 200 million Christians are threatened because of their faith. One report notes that there have been more Christian martyrs in the 20th and 21st centuries than in the preceding 19 centuries — going back to Jesus Christ’s time on earth.
One of my favorite stories of the martyrs to be commemorated tonight and on All Saints Day tomorrow is of the forty Roman soldiers, known as the Forty Brave Soldiers for Jesus. You can listen to their story in song here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXgEzauXUdc&t=109s
Halloween was NEVER about ghouls and ghosts and witches and goblins – creatures which are the enemies of the Second Person of the Trinity. Halloween was originally about Christian devotion to Jesus Christ, and a commemoration of those giants of faith -- many of whom were martyred for their faith, on whose shoulders we stand today.
How I wish, oh, ESPECIALLY in this day of rapidly growing apostasy and a turning away from Scripture – how I wish every Christian, and every church in America that claims the title of Christian, would encourage their congregants to remember our forefathers in the faith in more honorable ways than many will do tonight.
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