The morning after Halloween, Satan’s signature was still evident in the neighborhood where we live. The photo above, which I took just a block down the street, features a graveyard in the front yard, along with a glowering ghost and the Grim Reaper. Nearby were political voter signs, some for senate candidate Kyrsten Sinema, who in 2009 invited a coven of witches to an antiwar protest so they, in her words, could “dance and stay in touch with the earth.” During another protest, she joined a group of witches in a “pagan’s circle” to “sing and spiral.” What kind of politician summons the assistance of witches and then endorses ads trashing her opponent, a former fighter pilot who risked her life for her country? That’s not a political endorsement, but you make the obvious spiritual connection!
Remember Sabrina the teenage witch of Archie comics fame? The sorcerer of Riverdale has now gone way over to the other side of evil. In a new Netflix series, “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina,” the 16-year-old witch signs on with Satan. She undergoes a “dark baptism” (her face is anointed with blood) and sells her soul to the devil. Kiernan Shipka, the actress who plays the role says of her character, “Her fearlessness and her passion to fight for what’s right is inspiring to me. I’m happy to see that teenagers are being portrayed on television as individuals and smart.” Smart? What kind of Hollywood parallel universe is she living in, calling her blood-covenant surrender to Satan “smart?” Since when has it become intelligent to bow before the devil and invite demons to enter with an occult baptism?
America has a Halloween hangover, a bender that seems to last all year long. Today it’s not enough to parody the devil with a red tail and pitchfork. The Ruler of Darkness has gone beyond such cartoonish imagery to brazenly inspire the kinds of foolishness I’ve just detailed—celebrating demonic death in suburbia, enlisting witchcraft to win elections, and promoting the idea that a teenager selling her soul to Satan is a feminine hero for adolescent women. America’s Halloween hangover has our society stumbling drunk on its way to hell, and the spiritual collapse of our nation. The only hope is a bold encounter with the Gospel that challenges the devil and his demons head-on with the blood of Jesus and the power of His name.
An encouraging word: GOD EXTENDS HIS MERCY TO YOU
“I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, an insolent man.” That self-description is brutally and painfully honest.” Imagine a politician saying that today with any sense of contriteness. These words of 1 Timothy 1:13 were spoken by the apostle Paul. Such self-confession was not to glorify his past sin, but to emphasize the greatness of God’s mercy. Few of us, no matter how bad our past, have been as evil as Paul. And he might have added the word “murderer,” for his killing of Christians. If you’re feeling a little down on yourself today, I doubt you have a past as bad as that of the man whose writings fill the New Testament letters. If Paul obtained God’s mercy, as he says later in that verse, so can you.
