“Should Christians celebrate Halloween?”

Posted on October 7, 2012 by Dr. Mike Harmon


 Whether or not Christians should celebrate Halloween can be a very controversial topic. Some Christians celebrate Halloween simply by dressing up in a costume and having fun, seeing it as innocent and harmless. Other Christians are equally convinced that Halloween is a satanic holiday established to worship evil spirits and promote darkness and wickedness. So, who is right? Is it possible for Christians to celebrate Halloween without compromising their faith?

Halloween, no matter how commercialized, has almost completely pagan origins. As innocent as it may seem to some, it is not something to be taken lightly. Christians tend to have various ways to celebrate or not to celebrate Halloween. For some, it means having an “alternative” Harvest Party. For others, it is staying away from the ghosts, witches, goblins, etc., and wearing innocuous costumes, e.g., little princesses, clowns, cowboys, super-heroes, etc. Some choose not to do anything, electing to lock themselves in the house with the lights off. With our freedom as Christians, we are at liberty to decide how to act.

Scripture does not speak at all about Halloween, but it does give us some principles on which we can make a decision. In Old Testament Israel, witchcraft was a crime punishable by death (Exodus 22:18; Leviticus 19:31; 20:6, 7). The New Testament teaching about the occult is clear. Acts 8:9-24, the story of Simon, shows that occultism and Christianity don’t mix. The account of Elymas the sorcerer in Acts 13:6-11 reveals that sorcery is violently opposed to Christianity. Paul called Elymas a child of the devil, an enemy of righteousness and a perverter of the ways of God. In Acts 16, at Philippi, a fortune-telling girl lost her demon powers when the evil spirit was cast out by Paul. The interesting matter here is that Paul refused to allow even good statements to come from a demon-influenced person. Acts 19 shows new converts who have abruptly broken with their former occultism by confessing, showing their evil deeds, bringing their magic paraphernalia, and burning it before everyone (Acts 19:19).

So, should a Christian celebrate Halloween? Is there anything evil about a Christian dressing up as a princess or cowboy and going around the block asking for candy? No, there is not. Are there things about Halloween that are anti-Christian and should be avoided? Absolutely! If parents are going to allow their children to participate in Halloween, they should make sure to keep them from getting involved in the darker aspects of the day. If Christians are going to take part in Halloween, their attitude, dress, and most importantly, their behavior should still reflect a redeemed life (Philippians 1:27). There are many churches that hold “harvest festivals” and incorporate costumes, but in a godly environment. There are many Christians who hand out tracts that share the Gospel along with the Halloween candy. The decision is ultimately ours to make. But as with all things, we are to incorporate the principles of Romans 14. We can’t allow our own convictions about a holiday to cause division in the body of Christ, nor can we use our freedom to cause others to stumble in their faith. We are to do all things as to the Lord.

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“What does the Bible say about eunuchs?”

Posted on October 6, 2012 by Dr. Mike Harmon


 The eunuchs of the Bible were castrated males or those born incapable of reproduction due to a birth defect. The purpose of intentional castration was to induce impotence and remove sexuality. It was a common practice in ancient times for rulers to castrate some of their servants and/or advisers in order to subdue and pacify them. It was especially common to castrate those who tended the royal harem.

In Matthew 19:12, Jesus mentions eunuchs. He says, “There are eunuchs who were born that way from their mother’s womb; and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men; and there are also eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to accept this, let him accept it.” This discussion of eunuchs was in the context of the question asked of Him about whether it is good to marry.

Because Jesus says that some eunuchs are “born that way from their mother’s womb,” some gay Christian groups argue that He was referring to homosexuals. Others disagree, arguing that the Bible’s use of the word “eunuch” refers only to those incapable of sexual intercourse through castration or birth defect, those who choose a life of celibacy and those who perform the work typical of eunuchs though they remain perfectly capable of having sex (and thus receive the title by association). The Bible never uses the words“homosexual” and “eunuch” interchangeably. Furthermore, eunuchs are never referred to in Scripture as being in sin, while homosexuality is universally condemned in both the Old and New Testaments.

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GRIN AND SHARE IT: “Don’t Look Now”

Posted on October 6, 2012 by Dr. Mike Harmon

Don’t Look Now…

A defendant was on trial for murder. There was strong evidence indicating
guilt, but there was no corpse. In the defense’s closing statement the
lawyer, knowing that his client would probably be convicted, resorted to a
trick.

“Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I have a surprise for you all,” the
lawyer said as he looked at his watch. “Within one minute, the person
presumed dead in this case will walk into this courtroom.” He looked toward
the courtroom door.

The jurors, somewhat stunned, all looked on eagerly. A minute passed.

Nothing happened. Finally the lawyer said, “Actually, I made up the previous
statement. But, you all looked on with anticipation. I therefore put to you that
you have a reasonable doubt in this case as to whether anyone was killed and
insist that you return a verdict of not guilty.”

The jury, clearly confused, retired to deliberate. A few minutes later,
the jury returned and pronounced a verdict of guilty.

“But how?” inquired the lawyer. “You must have had some doubt; I saw all
of you stare at the door.”

The jury foreman replied, “Oh, we looked, but your client didn’t.”

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“Should all pronouns referring to God be capitalized?”

Posted on October 5, 2012 by Dr. Mike Harmon


 Many people struggle with this question. Some, believing it shows reverence for God, capitalize all pronouns that refer to God. Others, believing the “rules” of English style should be followed, do not capitalize the deity pronouns. So, who is right? The answer is neither. It is neither right nor wrong to capitalize or not capitalize pronouns that refer to God. It is a matter of personal conviction, preference, and context. Some Bible translations capitalize pronouns referring to God, while others do not. 

In the original languages of the Bible, capitalizing pronouns referring to God was not an issue. In Hebrew, there was no such thing as upper-case and lower-case letters. There was simply an alphabet, no capital letters at all. In Greek, there were capital (upper-case) letters and lower-case letters. However, in all of the earliest copies of the Greek New Testament, the text is written in all capital letters. When God inspired the human authors of Scripture to write His Word, He did not lead them to give any special attention to pronouns that refer to Him. With that in mind, it follows that God is not offended if we do not capitalize pronouns that refer to Him.

If you capitalize pronouns that refer to God to show reverence for His name, fantastic! Continue doing so. If you capitalize pronouns that refer to God to make it more clear who is being referred to, great! Continue doing so. If you are not capitalizing pronouns that refer to God because you believe proper English grammar/syntax/style should be followed, wonderful! Continue following your conviction. Again, this is not a right vs. wrong issue. Each of us must follow his/her own conviction and each of us should refrain from judging those who take a different viewpoint.

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GRIN AND SHARE IT: “Get Some Therapy”

Posted on October 5, 2012 by Dr. Mike Harmon

Get Some Therapy

After a few years of marriage, filled with constant arguments, a
man and his wife decide that the only way to save their marriage
is to try therapy.

When they arrived at the therapist’s office, the therapist jumped right
in “what seems to be the problem?”

Immediately , the husband looked down without anything to say and the
wife started talking 90 miles an hour describing all the wrongs within her
husband.

After 15 minutes, the therapist went over to her, picked her up and kissed
her passionately. Afterwards, the wife sat there speechless.

He looked at the husband who was staring in disbelief at what just
happened. The therapist said “your wife NEEDS that at least 2 times
a week!”

The husband scratched his head and said, “I can have her here on
Tuesdays and Thursdays.”

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“What did Jesus mean when He instructed us to turn the other cheek?”

Posted on October 4, 2012 by Dr. Mike Harmon


 The entire section of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount in which this verse is found can be understood as one where Jesus actually serves to elevate the importance of following Israel’s moral law beyond the letter to the spirit of the law. Much of the material therein complements the nature of His coming characterized by mercy, sacrificial love, and longsuffering toward sinners while at the same time affirming the “last is first” principle upon which the kingdom of God is based. For instance, we are told to go the extra mile for someone who abuses us and to pray for enemies instead of resisting them. All of this can be generally summarized by saying we need to be pure inside and out and should be as accommodating as possible for the sake of a lost world.

To “turn the other cheek,” does not imply pacifism, nor does it mean we place ourselves or others in mortal danger. Like the principle of the eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth in Matthew 5:38, turning the other cheek refers to personal retaliation, not criminal offenses or acts of military aggression. Clearly, Jesus did not mean to negate all God’s laws and injunctions protecting us against violent crime or invading armies. Rather, Jesus is speaking here of the principle of non-retaliation to affronts against our own dignity, as well as lawsuits to gain one’s personal assets (v. 40), infringements on one’s liberty (v. 41), and violations of property rights (v. 42). He was calling for a full surrender of all personal rights.

Turning the other cheek means not to return insult for insult in retaliation, which is what most people expect and how worldly people act. Responding to hatred with love just might grab someone’s attention and afford us a chance to share the gospel. When we respond in a manner that is unnatural, it displays the supernatural power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Jesus was the perfect example because He was silent before His accusers and did not call down revenge from heaven on those who crucified Him.

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GRIN AND SHARE IT: “A Stranger In the Night”

Posted on October 4, 2012 by Dr. Mike Harmon

A Stranger In the Night

A man and his wife were awakened at 3 o’clock in the morning
by a loud pounding on the door. The man got up and went to the
door where an inebriated stranger was standing in pouring rain,
asking for a push.

“Not a chance” said the husband – “It’s three o’clock in the morning!”

He slammed the door and returned to bed.

“Who was it?” asked his wife.

“Just a drunken stranger asking for a push.”

“Did you help him?” she asked.

“No, I didn’t – it’s three in the morning and raining cats and dogs
out there!”

“Well you’ve got a short memory,” said the wife. “Can’t you remember
about three months ago when we broke down on vacation and those
two guys helped us? I think you should help him.”

The man did as she suggested. He got dressed and went out into the
pounding rain. He called out in the darkness, “Hello are you still there?”

“Yes,” came the answer.

“Do you still want a push?”

“Yes, please!” came the reply.

“Where are you?” asked the husband.

“Over here on the swing,” the drunk replied.

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“What does it mean to be unequally yoked?”

Posted on October 3, 2012 by Dr. Mike Harmon


 The phrase “unequally yoked” comes from 2 Corinthians 6:14 in the King James Version: “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?” The New American Standard Version is a little more forthright: “Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?” 

A yoke is a wooden bar that joins two oxen to each other and to the burden they pull. An “unequally yoked” team has one stronger ox and one weaker, or one taller and one shorter. The weaker or shorter ox would walk slower than the taller, stronger one, causing the load to go around in circles. When oxen are unequally yoked, they cannot perform the task set before them. Instead of working together, they are at odds with one another.

Paul’s admonition in 2 Corinthians 6:14 is part of a larger discourse to the church at Corinth on the Christian life. He discouraged them from being in an unequal partnership with unbelievers because believers and unbelievers are opposites, just as light and darkness are opposites. They simply have nothing in common, just as Christ has nothing in common with “Belial,” a Hebrew word meaning worthlessness (v. 15). Here Paul uses it to refer to Satan. The idea is that the pagan, wicked, unbelieving world, is governed by the principles of Satan, and that Christians should be separate from that wicked world, just as Christ was separate from all the methods, purposes, and plans of Satan. He had no participation in them, He formed no union with them, and so it should be with the followers of the one in relation to the followers of the other. Attempting to live a Christian life with a non-Christian for our close friend and ally will only cause us go around in circles.

The “unequal yoke” is often applied to business relationships. For a Christian to enter into a partnership with an unbeliever is to court disaster. They have opposite worldviews and morals, and business decisions that must be made daily will reflect one or the other. For the relationship to work, one or the other must abandon his moral center and move toward that of the other. More often than not, it is the believer who finds himself pressured to leave his Christian principles behind for the sake of profit and the growth of the business.

Of course, the closest alliance one person can have with another is found in marriage, and this is how the passage is usually interpreted. God’s plan is for a man and a woman to become “one flesh” (Genesis 2:24), a relationship so intimate that one literally and figuratively becomes part of the other. Uniting a believer with an unbeliever is essentially uniting opposites, which makes for a very difficult relationship.

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GRIN AND SHARE IT: “Lunch”

Posted on October 3, 2012 by Dr. Mike Harmon

Lunch

The teacher of the earth science class was lecturing
on map reading.

After explaining about latitude, longitude, degrees
and minutes the teacher asked, “Suppose I asked
you to meet me for lunch at 23 degrees, 4 minutes
north latitude and 45 degrees, 15 minutes east
longitude…?”

After a confused silence, a voice volunteered, “I guess
you’d be eating alone.”

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“What does it mean that the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit?”

Posted on October 2, 2012 by Dr. Mike Harmon


 Instructing the Christians in Corinth to flee from sexual immorality, the apostle Paul exhorted: “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). Indeed, God the Father created our bodies, God the Son redeemed them, and God the Holy Spirit indwells them. This makes our body the very temple of the Holy Spirit of God.

Those who do not belong to Christ do not have the Spirit of Christ residing in them (Romans 8:9). Thus, their bodies are not a temple of the Holy Spirit. Clearly, then, the greatest thing we can do for our bodies is to make them into a temple for God’s Spirit. And we do this by placing our trust and faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior. The moment we do this, the indwelling of God’s Spirit takes place (1 Corinthians 12:15). Our salvation is then sealed and guaranteed (Ephesians 1:13-14). The Holy Spirit will then be with us forever (John 14:16), given by God as His pledge of the believer’s future inheritance in glory (2 Corinthians 1:21-22).

As the Holy Spirit resides in us, therefore, we are to honor God with our bodies as they “are not [our] own,” as Paul lamented. We have indeed been bought with a price. And it was not gold or silver or other perishable things by which we were redeemed; it was with the precious, unblemished blood of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:18-19). Ordained by God before the foundation of the world (Acts 2:23), Christ’s blood purchased us out of the slavery of sin and set us free forever. And as Christian’s bodies are God’s temple, we are to use them to glorify God.

If God meant simply to convey the idea that the Spirit lives within the believer, He could well have used words such as “home,” “house,” or “residence.” But by choosing the word “temple” to describe the Spirit’s dwelling, He conveys the idea that our bodies are the shrine, or the sacred place, in which the Spirit not only lives, but is worshiped, revered, and honored. Therefore, how we behave, think and speak, and what we let into the temple through our eyes and ears becomes critically important as well, for every thought, word and deed is in His view. Even though He will never leave us, it is entirely possible to grieve the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30). Instructing the Ephesians to not grieve the Spirit, Paul told them to “get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you” (Ephesians 4:31-32). When we live by the Spirit we will no longer gratify the desires of the sinful nature (Galatians 5:16).

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