Haunted House…Haunted World

You went trick or treating - right? Do you remember how excited you were as you put together your pirate/ghost/Teletubbie/Toy Story/Barbie costume and prepared your appetite for a boatload of candy and a sugar coma? And walking around the neighborhood to the sights and sounds of graveyards, spider webs, and pumpkin-filled porches? My personal favorite decoration is the witch that smashed into the tree…but that’s just me.

So what’s a person to do when you’re past the appropriate trick-or-treat age because you can now grow facial hair or the people giving out candy might mistake you for a mom? Well, you can find a costume party and go as something genuinely terrifying like Lady Gaga, or you can do what millions of teens shell out a good chunk of change to experience: a haunted house.

I don’t mean a real one, but one of the thousands that are professionally designed to thrill and chill you as you walk through each room. You find out quickly which of your guy friends can take the spooky environment, and which ones scream like little girls even though they are 6’4” and 220 pounds. Yep, personally witnessed that one at a haunted house called “Frightmare.”

Have you ever wondered if any of that haunting stuff is real? In most of the Halloween attractions it’s obvious that we have a lot of makeup and actors who didn’t get a part in  

Paranormal Activity, but is there anything inside you that believes that there is an unseen world of spiritual beings that are just as real as the intense screeching you hear from the groups of girls at the haunted houses?

And…if it is real, should that impact the way we live our everyday lives? Think about it, if I gave you a pair of glasses that allowed your eyes to pull back the curtain that hides the paranormal dramas being played out all over the world, what might change about your worldview?

Guess what? Those “glasses” actually exist. They aren’t physical frames, rather they are spiritual lenses—and once you put them on, it becomes the filter by which you see everything. Are you ready to see things differently? Then meditate on this passage for a minute:

A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.  Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil.  For weare not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6:10-12).

In other words, this world is haunted. Not by ghosts or ghouls, but by “evil rulers and authorities in the unseen world”—i.e., Satan and his host of demonic spirits. Although they are invisible to our physical eyes, the war they wage is as real as it gets.

And what is this war all about? Simple. in a word...souls. Satan haunts and hunts this world with a two-fold strategy. First, he wants to deceive, distract, and if he can, destroy any man, woman, and child who is fighting for the cause of Jesus Christ by sharing the gospel message every chance they get. Basically, he wants to trip you up so he can shut you up—then your witness will be worthless.

Second, Satan has organized his army to keep people who haven’t trusted in Jesus Christ for salvation from hearing the good news. He uses the media, technology, and the pursuit of power/pleasure to drown out the plea from our Heavenly Father to find an authentic and fulfilling life in serving and loving him.

When you keep these facts in mind and wear your “glasses” as you go about your day, it really feels like you are walking through a haunted house. Around each corner is an opportunity to face the enemy and courageously move forward with your mission despite his attempts to frighten or discourage you. You see your friends who don’t know Jesus in a different light—they are trapped and they are targets…you have the most powerful message of freedom in the universe.

I totally *get* that people go to haunted houses for the rush and the fun, but I invite you to take on this haunted world. Pray each morning that God would cover you with his armor, and that you would find opportunities to boldly share his love and the gospel message.
There’s no admission charge. And the thrills you’ll get from pulling people out of the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of light will make your journey through this life more exciting than you can imagine.

Flashpoint: Ignite Into Action

The Halloween season definitely presents a great opportunity to bring up spiritual topics. Talk to your friends about whether or not they believe in an unseen world, and what it consists of. Pray for God to open a door to talk about the real nature of that world, and why it is critical that we trust in Christ.

Accelerant: Feed the Fire

Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them 
 (Mark 4:15).

The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.
(Romans 16:20).

If you forgive anyone, I also forgive him. And what I have forgiven—if there was anything to forgive—I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake, in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes 
 (2 Corinthians 2:10-11).