The celebration of Halloween is becoming more and more popular nowadays, but Pastor Ben Godwin of the Goodsprings Full Gospel Church says Christians must resist what is popular in today's society and condemn the pagan practices being observed.
"It's a tricky balance for Christians to be in the world without conforming to it," he wrote in an article for Charisma News.
But Godwin said "if we imitate the world, we lose our distinction; if we isolate from the world, we lose our influence. Christians need to engage the culture if we expect to make an impact."
Godwin clarified that he is not a killjoy, and would never condemn the fun act of dressing up as a cartoon superhero and collecting candy. However, he said Christians cannot deny the dark aspect of Halloween.
"The downside is Christian kids feel like they are missing out. Thankfully, many churches offer alternatives such as trunk-or-treat or fall festivals that provide wholesome fun and safe candy zones to keep kids off the streets," he said.
Without proper monitoring, Christian kids would be bombarded with a tsunami of horror movies featuring vampires, witches, zombies, monsters, cannibals, and serial killers, Godwin warned.
Evil is being glamourised these days, leaving the door to demonic influences open. "Abstain from all appearances of evil," he urged. "Sin, like art, starts by drawing a line somewhere! It's an odd contradiction for Christians to dress their kids up as creepy characters they try to teach them not emulate."
And contrary to popular belief, Godwin said there's no such thing as a "good witch." Witchcraft is controlled by evil forces, and there is no way that can be good.
"Christians have no business dabbling in any form of witchcraft: horoscopes, crystal balls, séances, Ouija boards, Dungeons & Dragons, pentagrams, tarot cards, palm reading, spells, fortune telling, mediums, channeling, divination, sorcery, black magic and so forth," he said.
Godwin understands that man has an inexplicable, magnetic attraction towards evil. But those who love God should use the Bible as their filter and clean their lives of all the false beliefs and deceptions.
