There are two events upon us and each one can pull us into involvement, opinion, decision making, and action…now not everyone is engaged in these two occasions, but with each one we need to know what’s behind these events. Whether we realize it or not these two events have a significant impact on our culture and people’s live.

The first is called Día de los Muertos The day of the dead…Every year, on November 1st (All Saints Day) and 2nd (All Souls Day), something unique takes place in many areas of Mexico and now in parts of the United States, especially in border cities: Day of the Dead festivities. The holiday's activities consist of families welcoming their dead back into their homes, and visiting the graves of their close kin. At the cemetery, family members engage in sprucing up the gravesite, decorating it with flowers, setting out and enjoying a picnic, and interacting socially with other family and community members who gather there. In both cases, celebrants believe that the souls of the dead return and are all around them. Families remember the departed by telling stories about them. The meals prepared for these picnics are lavish. Gravesites and family altars are profusely decorated with flowers, and adorned with religious charms and with offerings of food, cigarettes and alcoholic beverages. Because of this warm social environment, the colorful setting, and the abundance of food, drink and good company, this commemoration of the dead has pleasant overtones for the observers, in spite of the open fatalism exhibited by all participants, whose festive interaction with both the living and the dead in an important social ritual is a way of recognizing the cycle of life and death that is human existence.

In some homes families create an altar and decorate it with items that they believe are beautiful and attractive to the souls of their departed ones. Such items include offerings of flowers and food, but also things that will remind the living of the departed (such as their photographs, a diploma, or an article of clothing), and the things that the dead prized and enjoyed while they lived. This is done to entice the dead and assure that their souls actually return to take part in the remembrance.

Behind the scenes: The original celebration can be traced to many Mesoamerican native traditions, such as the festivities held according to the Aztec calendar from July 24th through August 12th. It was in this month that the goddess, Lady of the Dead presided and rituals were dedicated to her to honor lost children and then the adult deceased. This all stems from the ancient indigenous peoples of Mexico who believed that the souls of the dead return each year to visit with their living relatives - to eat, drink and be merry. Just like they did when they were living…

What does God’s word say about those who die? What happens to believers and what happens to non-Believers? Every believer is destined to live beyond the grave, no doubt about that. The bible teaches the spirit separates from the body at death but lives on.

Ecclesiastes 12:7, “Then shall the dust [out of which God made man's body] return to the earth as it was, and the spirit shall return to God Who gave it.” (AMP)

Hebrews 9:27, “And just as it is destined that each person dies only once and after that comes judgment…”

Now for the believer his soul will go to be with Christ to await the resurrection and glorification of his or her body at His return.

I Corinthians 15:50-54, “What I am saying, dear brothers and sisters, is that flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. These perishable bodies of ours are not able to live forever. But let me tell you a wonderful secret God has revealed to us. Not all of us will die, but we will all be transformed. It will happen in a moment, in the blinking of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, the Christians who have died will be raised with transformed bodies. And then we who are living will be transformed so that we will never die. For our perishable earthly bodies must be transformed into heavenly bodies that will never die. When this happens--when our perishable earthly bodies have been transformed into heavenly bodies that will never die--then at last the Scriptures will come true: "Death is swallowed up in victory.” (NLT)

II Corinthians 5:8, “We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.” (NIV)

Philippians 1:21-23, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose. But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better.” (NASB)

What happens to a believer when he or she dies, they are with Christ, in heaven. Now what does the scriptures teach about unbelievers.

One passage Luke 16:19-26, “Jesus said, "There was a certain rich man who was splendidly clothed and who lived each day in luxury. At his door lay a diseased beggar named Lazarus. As Lazarus lay there longing for scraps from the rich man's table, the dogs would come and lick his open sores. Finally, the beggar died and was carried by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried, 23and his soul went to the place of the dead. There, in torment, he saw Lazarus in the far distance with Abraham. "The rich man shouted, `Father Abraham, have some pity! Send Lazarus over here to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in anguish in these flames.' "But Abraham said to him, `Son, remember that during your lifetime you had everything you wanted, and Lazarus had nothing. So now he is here being comforted, and you are in anguish. And besides, there is a great chasm separating us. Anyone who wanted to cross over to you from here is stopped at its edge, and no one there can cross over to us.” (NLT)

The destiny of unbelievers is hell. Now, do the dead come to visit us? No, not according to the bible…Is this really a harmless holiday? What message is it communicating to others if we participate in the festivities? I report you decide now that you know what’s behind the event and what the word teaches.

In the post conquest era Spanish priests tried to coincide the Day of Dead with Dia de Todos Santos which is the Christian holiday of All Hallows Eve. This was a vain effort to transform the observance from a sacrilegious event to a Christian celebration. The result is that Mexicans now celebrate the day of the dead during the first two days of November.

That brings us to our second event, Halloween…Another event of fun and celebration. Halloween today means ghosts, goblins, and witches, people decorate their yards with tombstones and caskets—dress in their favorite costume. And many think of it as harmless fun. Trick or Treating was certainly nothing that I thought of as evil. Collecting and eating candies was mere fun & enjoyment for me as a child. The act of receiving candy on Halloween and dressing up in your favorite costume may indeed be harmless, but what is behind it?

Let’s take a look at the history of Halloween… The Celts lived more than 2,000 years ago in the area from Great Britain to Germany. The Celtic Vigil of Samhain, named after their God Samhain, the lord of the dead, is the source of the present day Halloween celebration. Their new year began on November 1st. They believed that Samhain gathered all the souls of those who had died in the past year. These souls had been confined to the bodies of animals to atone for their sins. They were then sacrificed on October 31st. We as Christians tried to institute a Christian alternative. It was the Christians that coined the name, "HALLOWEEN."

Actually the church had 3 holidays

1.All Hallow’s Eve Oct 31st and

2.All Hallows Day (November 1) to honor dead martyrs of the faith

3.All Souls Day was on Nov 2nd and was a day of prayer to move people from purgatory. Unfortunately these Christian events have not last-----but the evil celebrations continue strong.

Satan loves Halloween because it glorifies evil.

Satanists believe that Halloween is a night when demons & the Devil are given special powers. This night is recognized as the beginning of the witches’ year…Evil people pray for the dead on this night…Sacrifices are made---animal and some claim human sacrifices as well.

October 31st by itself, dressing up in costumes, eating candy is not evil in itself. However, what is important here is that we know the origin, its meaning & purpose…and what the devil, the church of Satan think about the day and what part we will have with this event…what opinions do we hold, what decisions will be made based on our understanding and how will we be involved in this occasion, what action will we take.

I want to be clear, Halloween does not have a tradition and history that is in any way, shape or form, in line with Scripture or the Christian faith. What does the word teach?

Philippians 4:8-9, “And now, dear brothers and sisters, let me say one more thing as I close this letter. Fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned from me and heard from me and saw me doing, and the God of peace will be with you.” (NLT)

As believers we are to put into practice Ephesians 5:8-11, “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.” (NIV)

However, this is a good opportunity to present the gospel which offers eternal life. Let’s “turn on the light” of God’s Word with an alternative that could take people one step closer to a relationship with Jesus? Romans 12:21 encourages us to, “not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (NIV)

These two events, the Day of the Dead and Halloween have something in common: your involvement or lack of involvement will either restrain evil or encourage it.

God wants us to engage our culture not ignore it. We cannot as Christians live in a bubble. Yet we need to fully understand, contribute in and use caution in each of these events. And they provide a great bridge to share the gospel.

I Corinthians 10:31, “Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God

God Bless, Pastor Alex Garcia