Preview of “Satan’s Worst Nightmare”

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This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.      Psalm 118:24

I am in the final stages of my latest book, Satan’s Worst Nightmare. I am awaiting the final cover design, some endorsements, and contributions for the final chapter where there will be other people’s perspectives and memories of the production that presented the gospel to our community every Halloween Night for fifteen years.

I’d like to share with you a portion of one of the early chapters, when the inspiration first hit. The rest of the book is about the outreach, its evolution (pardon the expression), the trials and tribulations, answered prayers, lessons learned, and the faithfulness of God as He took a handful of “nobodies” and used them for His glory.

                                                     Not-so-hallowed Eve

As a Christian I have almost always been uncomfortable with Halloween. As far back as my early college days (as a normal college student, not the “will-this-ever-end?” years of working at staying certified) I was hearing about the evils of celebrating this unholy day. Some were saying it was rooted in Wicca, others pointed out that for Satanists it was one of their highest (un)holy days, and why would any God-fearing Christian want to take part in pagan rituals associated with witches, corpses, and evil spirits?

Some pointed out that it was actually “All-Hallows Eve,” the day before All Saints Day, but I failed to see the connection between the saints of God and skeletons and zombies demanding treats from their neighbors and vandalizing the property of those who didn’t comply.

Various churches had celebrations, benignly labeled “harvest parties,” and advised the parents that their children should be dressed in “nice” costumes. But invariably there would be at least one visitor dressed in something “icky,” and the adults would be left with the dilemma, whether to compromise and allow the evil influence, or kick the visitor out and leave the impression that Christians are not a very friendly bunch.

One Halloween alternative was proposed by a speaker at a women’s conference. She told us that to make sure their children had fun and didn’t regret missing the parties too much, her family started their Christmas shopping on October 31. I thought how hard it was for my children to wait for Christmas, even starting around Thanksgiving. A two-month wait would be agonizingly impractical for our family.

When Ben and Joanna were little, I did conform a little to the traditions, keeping the costumes benign and taking the tykes only to the homes of friends. The first year Joanna was aware of the costume idea, she insisted on being a refrigerator, and we had a good time covering a cardboard box with shiny white contact paper and decorating the front of it with pictures of food from magazines. I then added a cardboard “door” that opened and closed `over the collage, which we appropriately adorned with children’s drawings and report cards, stuck on with “magnets.” What I hadn’t factored into the planning was the difficulty of getting the small refrigerator into and out of the car as I drove her around town to my friends’ homes, a task made more difficult by the fact that I was at the time eight months’ pregnant with Ben.

In the ensuing years Joanna and Ben always came up with some creative ideas, such as an ear of corn, a crayon, and a turtle, for which we made use of Ben’s flying saucer before the snow began to fly.

Halloween then was a time of church “harvest parties,” cute costumes, and having Christian tracts on hand to give to anyone who came to our door on the big night. As we lived on a busy street with very few children, there were always ample treats leftover at the end of the evening, and I could breathe a sigh of relief as I turned out the lights and handed the bowl of sweets to the rest of the family, happy that I could avoid the questionable holiday and its accompanying guilt for another year.

                                                  The “AHA!” Moment

Years later, when Joanna and Ben were too old to trick-or-treat, and Kelly, our third child, was still a tiny tot, I was driving to the home of Kelly Tucker, my prayer partner, for a prayer walk, and something got on my last nerve…

As I made the trip from Port Huron to St. Clair, everywhere I looked there were symbols of death – tombstones, skeletons half buried in the ground, mummies, fake corpses hanging from trees, and of course the ever-present “Grim Reaper,” all draped in cobwebs, (My house has enough of those, thank you.) and creeping spiders, rats, and other vermin.

As Kelly opened the door, I blurted, “If Christians celebrated life half as much as the world celebrates death, we could really make an impact!”

I don’t think Kelly had any idea what I meant by “celebrating life” – I certainly didn’t. But she caught the fire in my eyes and the passion in my voice and declared,

“Let’s do it! We can use my yard.”

Prayer: LORD, we know that You are the Creator, the Source of everything good. Thank You for giving us inspiration and letting us share the pleasure of creating. As we keep our eyes fixed on You, continue to fill us with the inspiration for fresh new ways to tell the world the greatest story ever told, in Jesus’ name, Amen.

 

 

 

Published by seekingdivineperspective

I am a forgiven sinner and adopted child of God, seeking to see life from His perspective - as opposed to the world's flawed perspective - and living my life accordingly.

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34 thoughts on “Preview of “Satan’s Worst Nightmare””

  1. I am happy that your book is coming to fruition. I feel the same way about the Oct. 31 day. A few years ago , our local hospital hung grotesque Halloween decorations all over, even above the emergency room doors.
    I complained to the lawyer for the hospital board. I threatened to organize the citizens and complain the the hospital was guilty of ” the intentional infliction of nervous shock” ( a legal term). The “decorations” were removed, and did not reappear. May the Lord continue to give us holy boldness as we work for him. God bless you. 🤗

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    2. Good for you and thanks for being resistant to what’s wrong going on around us each day. I’m a firm believer in the adage by Edmund Burke, “The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.”
      I fought my own workers comp case after firing the lawyer because the system was too rigged or biased. Now I battle my Deep State corrupt Crony/Nazi State government for violating my 5th Amendment right, with abhorrent lack of due process, while they as the proverbial bull in the china shop infringed on my Life, Liberty and pursuit of property.” I pulled the case out of the biased State court and will be now trying the US District court! Sadly I have to say that I’ve come to the conclusion over the last dozen years that this world is ruled by Satan who is proving he has the upper hand with most humans who are too secular and pagan in their beliefs and lifestyles! I see us as humanity at the place we were back when Moses’ came down from the mountain with God’s commandments to see the people were now worshiping a gilded calf. We are so in need of the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus because I see this as being too far gone. I hope I’m wrong and miraculously the human race can get hold of itself before it’s too late! But, the eight dark years of Obama with all of the subsequent social deterioration and lack of respect or morals that he promoted is deeply ingrained in so many people it seems. Look at the Dem party and the insanity that rules these minions in the House and Senate!
      Lawrence Morra

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      1. According to Scripture, humanity will never “get hold of itself.” But until Jesus comes back, we are called to shine His light. There is still a “remnant” He is calling to be His people. The devil would love for us to spend our lives focusing on everything that’s wrong with this world, but we need the “divine perspective” to rise above it and do what God calls us to do. “Better to light a single candle than curse the darkness.”

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      2. seekingdivineperspective,
        Oh I’ve been doing what he called me to do all of my life I believe but in recent years it’s all been ugly and mean; me against the world, so if you think you detect failure or a compulsion to succumb to the evil of this world by going off the rails you are reading me wrong! I don’t sugar coat as much as I used to or speak a lot of fluff to then insert a talking point. I say it like it is and don’t want to waste time because all these evil bastards in my midst almost killed me a couple of times on the job and out of it through their network of Deep State political beast corruption and what some would even call the Illuminati. Most of my life from boyhood to manhood I was always more involved in worrying about others close to me than myself and suffered for it many times. It all shaped me and still I would worry about those I love before self and lay down my life this second for my friends that deserve protection. You want to discuss sacrifice we can do that anytime, I lived it! Now I fear nothing on this earth or anywhere in the universe of the material or spiritual worlds and that includes Satan himself because I know he is a wimp coward POS with supernatural powers and high intellect that God gave him to begin with. I trust in the Lord and only fear Him who is the maker of all things and has the final say in all things as well! I fear His judgment upon me! I haven’t been playing any cookie cutter church debates or goodie two shoes flights of fancy, I’ve been deep in the crap up to my chin and had to fight my way out by my lonesome, each time God made sure I got the last minute help or wisdom I needed to rise ABOVE IT ALL AND ALL OF MY ENEMIES which are many! Hang tight and be cool I fear nothing and intend on going the distance even if it kills me trying! To me nothing is better than that, expect making it to Heaven!
        Lawrence
        PS when I mention humanity getting hold of itself I only mean slow down its deterioration from all reason and wisdom that it is now locked into, in aviation terms a “GRAVE YARD SPIRAL,” when the aircraft ceases to function as it was designed, losing all lift and will fall from the sky like a rock! I wanted to be a military jet fighter pilot but color perception issues precluded that possibility; so I went to a private aviator college for a time and tried to circumvent my dilemma, but it turned out it was better to not bother with any of that!
        Lawrence Morra

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      3. I absolutely agree with you regarding Edmund Burke. I’ve spent a lifetime fighting corruption at many levels. God gives us discernment, and shows us where we need to speak up. And He empowers us. I am perpetually optimistic. Things may seem grim, but God is in control.

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      4. Fantastic Sally, I believe you are true to the Lord’s will from all I hear you saying here and in other postings. I’m still basically the optimistic happy go lucky “as my uncle Gus used to call me” guy from childhood, but in later life I found myself being targeted and attacked by very nefarious political partisans that did great harm to my life and health; but I thank God again that I had the good genes to begin with to see me through it all because I could have died; as well as the gift from God of brain power to fight my own workers comp case in a very rigged system against the worker. Then after such an assault and struggle I was again targeted by the government overreaching and damaging my property not allowing me full “due process” under the law to take place, causing permanent damage to my property which I now again have had to take on the system fighting them in court alone with of course the only one who matters, Jesus, to guide me. I see that evil has increased exponentially in our modern times and presently this is something I would never have thought possible growing up and even a decade or two ago. I now have a health issue that won’t clear up because of medical negligence which was most likely intentional by nefarious design or extreme negligence but the system was too corrupted and going to protect the guilty cronies and not me; so that is one battle I lost and I have permanent repercussions to deal with probably for the rest of my life. Anger won’t get me anywhere except add to the grief and tragedy, so I ask the Lord to help me fight the battles He wants me to and walk away from those that are best left to others! But it is a very twisted world now and we all live in severe danger and uncertainty; but we have to do like you say be as optimistic as we can while letting Him guide us on to paths of righteousness!
        I’m sure you know this simple prayer which sums up all we are saying here nicely; “God grant me the serenity. To accept the things I cannot change; Courage to change the things I can; And the wisdom to know the difference.”
        God Bless You and Yours!
        Lawrence

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  3. Congratulations on your upcoming book. I too get so disturbed by all the Halloween decorations and the willingness with which every so easily participates in it. Over here in Australia we are a bit more subdued than the US I guess. But our churches here started having ‘light parties’. Celebrating life and quite a few children attend.

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    1. Hi Perth Girl, I had the impression that Australian government was getting a bit too socialistic and that the country on whole was more secular or moving toward paganism. Has there been some awaking overall there to the Lord and how twisted the man-made system has become in recent years? Let me know anything you like I hope you are better off there than I thought I know I’m sick and tired of the wicked ways of our Democrat party and some of the two-faced Republicans screwing the public over good! seek me out with any opinions or ideas you have! God Bless You and Yours!
      https://lawrencemorra.com/2019/07/05/do-you-think-this-is-a-joy-ride/

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  4. “Light parties”! I’ve never heard of those, but they sound great!

    P.S. We came up with the title “Satan’s Worst Nightmare” because as we were preparing for our first outreach (pointing to the Resurrection) I quipped, “Satan scares plenty of people – we’ll show what scares HIM.”

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  5. The book info sounds exciting.
    The beginning definitely draws the reader in. Well done.
    Kelly sounds like a great friend that is ready for anything.
    What did you guys end up doing? Or did you just laugh it off?

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  10. Congratulations on this amazing accomplishment! I pray this part goes quickly, easily, and the book is received well everywhere! Can’t wait to hear about the release info! I might need to pick your brain when my time rolls around.

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  12. Thanks, America On Coffee. (I started to use your initials, but didn’t want you confused with a politician.)
    By the way, my name is Ann (or “Annie” if I’m with old friends or singing country music.) Welcome to Seeking Divine Perspective. 🙂

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  14. Congrats on your book, it sounds like it will be excellent!!
    I enjoy Halloween for the autumn celebration part but I’m not a fan of kids dressed up as zombies etc and front yards being turned into play graveyards…creepy!
    The refrigerator costume, I love that idea!!
    Great post Ann!

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