It's Halloween again. With the annual renewal of "festivities" comes the debate over whether or not Halloween is an evil plot to corrupt our children or a harmless excuse for our kids to rack up on candy. My answer is "yes."

Do my kids rack up on the candy thereby affording their dad the opportunity to "taste test" every morsel for safety reasons? Yes. Do they participate in dress up and Halloween gatherings? Yes. But do we talk about evil, dress evil, celebrate evil or use this day as an excuse to forget Who we live for? No.

This may surprise some but I have no problem with Halloween. In my view, it's just like anything else on this earth...it is what you make of it. Let me give you a for instance: the rainbow. Those of you who are Christ followers know exactly where the rainbow came from. Remember the story of Noah and the flood? God put the rainbow there to symbolize a covenant he made with Noah never to flood the whole earth again. Today, quite frequently, the rainbow is connected to the growing movement of homosexual activists. How come there is not a huge cry from churches to do away with the rainbow? Because we know and understand it's true meaning.

Halloween is what you make it. Tonight, my two oldest children will be "celebrating" by joining with other youth groups across our city for a "Battle of the Bands". This will be held at a local church and will be a great opportunity for them to meet other Christians and celebrate the talents of some of their peers. My two youngest--one dressed as a librarian and the other as a French painter--will be joining my wife and I at a neighborhood gathering. Why? Because my wife and I are looking for opportunities to meet our new neighbors, invest in their lives and make sure all of them have had an invitation to know Christ. I know some friends who have neighborhood cook outs or hand out candy with invitations to church. One family I knew chose not to do any of the above but declared it a family night every year where they would go to their kids favorite restaurants and go see a family movie. My philosophy is...do what you are comfortable with knowing that you only have to answer to God BUT remember, YOU DO have to answer to God.

I know full well there are some who will use this as an opportunity to embrace the evil of this world. I pray for them. But this Halloween, as always, I encourage you to remember that the "trick" in how you choose to celebrate is in knowing the one "Treat" that will bring satisfaction to your family and friends--Christ Jesus. So, whether you load up on Snickers or gather your family for a time of devotion and prayer, today is just another day that the Lord has made. Have fun with it...and Happy Halloween.

Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. Psalm 34:8 NIV