There's no doubt about it: fall is my favorite season of the year. There is something about the changing leaves, the nip in the air, the sound of marching bands and cheering crowds that excites me. The fair comes to town. You step outside and find that you need to wear a sweater, or you may need to put a log in the fireplace, but it's not yet time to wrap the pipes or break out the snow chains. It's a time when a warm cup of apple cider, a cozy blanket, and a good book are all you need to make a lazy Saturday morning perfect.But there is one thing I definitely do not like about fall. It starts with the sudden deluge of candy in the stores. Soon the garish costumes appear. After awhile, the pumpkins show up, and jack-o'-lanterns scowl at you from every porch and mailbox. Bats and vampires, witches, ghosts, mummies and monsters greet you at every turn. Before you know it, the streets are lined with bright orange jack-o'-lantern trash bags. Horror movies fill the airwaves. Evil roams the earth, and it makes my flesh crawl.
When I was little, it wasn't that way for me. I loved dressing up in costumes, I enjoyed the bazaars, and of course I wanted the candy and other goodies I got when I went "Trick-or-Treating." And I loved scary movies and TV shows. "Dark Shadows" and "Bewitched" were my absolute favorites. My friends and I played with Ouija boards, and we played a fortune-telling game called "Kabala." I read my horoscope faithfully. And I thought Halloween was just a really fun holiday.
It was not until I went away to college that I learned what Halloween really is. I suppose I should thank John Carpenter and his "Halloween" movies for that. Without them, I probably never would have researched Halloween, All Saints' Day, the Druids, Samhain, or the origin of "Trick or Treat" and the "jack-o'-lantern." What I learned horrified me. It terrified me because I did not know that I had literally been dancing with the devil all my life. I did not know the danger in which I had placed my immortal soul.
Now it saddens me each year to see the pumpkins come out. It reminds me that there is real evil in this world, but there are still multitudes that do not see it. People say there is no devil. Satan is just a mythical character created in the minds of religious zealouts thousands of years ago. They say Halloween is just a harmless tradition. I fear for them because they don't know and they don't want to know.
Satan is real. He is the original "master of disguise" (II Cor. 11: 14). He's an expert at hiding in plain sight. He's been at it a long time, and he and his minions have honed their craft through the ages. Part of the reason he's so good at his trade is that we as believers have not been on our job.
We are, since the beginning of time, engaged in spiritual warfare (II Cor. 10: 3-5). From the time of Adam and Eve and the Serpent up to the present, Satan has been on the attack (II Cor 11: 3). His unholy hordes of demons have fought against the Lord and His heavenly host and waged war against God's creation here on earth.
What is worse, though, is that Satan, military strategist that he is, has actually come behind enemy lines and placed his "plants" in strategic places within the body of believers(II Cor 11: 13-15). They come in the person of false teachers and preachers. These false prophets were present during Christ's earthly ministry (Matt 23: 27-28), and Christ said that such false prophets, even false Christs, would be present in this day (Mark 13: 22-23; I John 4: 3). These people look good, sound good, do good things, have booming ministries, and even perform miracles and healings. But they are counterfeit. They are as phony as a $3 bill.
The Bible says that false teachers will deceive people because people will be too busy with the pursuit of self (Mark 13: 22, II Tim 3: 1-5). That is why the Bible also exhorts us to arm ourselves with spritual armor (Eph 6: 10-18). We are warned to be wise (Matt 10: 16, Eph 5: 15-16), vigilant (I Peter 5: 8), informed (II Tim 2: 15), and wary (I John 4: 1-4).
We are responsible for educating one another and our children about the existence of the enemy and the reality of evil. Evil is not just a philosopical concept, and Satan and his demons are not simply the work of overactive imaginations.
We live in perilous times. We all watch the news and we know these things. But are we aware of the more subtle dangers all around us? "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer" and "Sabrina, the Teenaged Witch" are our children's heroes. They flock to movies like "Harry Potter" and watch TV programs like "Charmed." They read New Age material and they are told that God is not God...God is a mystical, benign "higher power," and if they just tap into that power, they can elevate their "god-selves" to a higher plane. Eventually things change, and the signs are not so subtle anymore. They hang crystal pendants and magic charms from the ceiling, decorate their rooms with gargoyles, dragons, and wizards, even paint the walls black, but we don't notice. They get pentagram tattoos and jewelry, put on Goth makeup and don black clothing, yet we shrug it off and call it a "phase." They burn incense and black candles, play with tarot cards, and listen to music about murder and suicide, but we don't object because after all, "they're just kids." They learn and recite incantations while playing Dungeons and Dragons, not to mention the things they learn from the Internet and from video games like Mortal Kombat.
I know what you're thinking. These things only happen in the homes of "other" people. "Good" kids don't engage themselves in such perversions. But we cannot assume that "good" kids are completely immune to the influences of evil. We need to know that they are in danger, too. I know...I was one of the "good" kids.
You and I cannot afford to be nonchalant about what is happening in the world. The prince of the power of the air is busy, and he is on the alert for any portal, any little crack in the door by which he can enter and corrupt our minds and the minds of our children.
A friend sent me a poem a few months ago. It made me cry, then it made me think. I hope that you read it, and I hope that you do some thinking. I hope you pray. Then I hope you suit up. There's a war going on, and God is looking for a few good men and women to join the battle. We can win (I John 4: 4), but only if ALL saints fight.