Regionals
Camille (red decided) and Gabe (camo decided) each win second place in forms. Gabe also got third place in sparring.
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Updates from November, 2007 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
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Franck Barfety
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Franck Barfety
Happy Halloween from America!
I haven’t listened to Hank Hanegraaff for some time, since my car radio has been dead for quite a few years now but I remember agreeing with his perspective on Halloween. This year his organization’s website has a couple paragraphs on his take on the matter.
Today is “all Hallows Eve,” or you are probably familiar with the term Halloween. Every Halloween we get so many questions about Halloween. People want to know whether they should participate in Halloween, accommodate Halloween, or whether we, as Christians, ought to vigorously denounce Halloween. To answer those questions it’s always helpful to have a little history or perspective on Halloween. A lot of people don’t even know where Halloween came from.
If you look the background of Halloween, it’s rooted in the ancient Celtic feast of Samhain. The Druids believed that on the eve of Samhain the veil between the present world and the world beyond was pierced, releasing demons, witches, and hobgoblins en mass to harass the living. In order to make themselves immune from attack people would disguise themselves as witches, devils, and ghouls to attempt to ward off evil spirits. They would also carve grotesque-looking faces on gourds illuminated with candles, and they would try to placate the spirits with a variety of treats.
I think we can also learn a lot from the early Christians and how they responded to Halloween, because on October 31st, the eve prior to All Saints Day, they would designate this day as a spiritually edifying holy day on which to proclaim the supremacy of the gospel over the superstition of ghosts. So, “all Hallows Eve,” from which the word Halloween is derived, was an attempt, an overt attempt on the part of Christianity, to overwhelm the tradition of ghouls with the truth of the Gospel.
Today Halloween is predominately pagan, but there still is a silver lining. Like our forefathers, we can choose to celebrate “all Hallows Eve” by focusing on heroes of the faith who were willing to stand for truth no matter what the cost. We might also use today as an occasion to introduce our children to great classics or to the quintessential victory over ghouls and demons and death which is found in 1 Corinthians 15, the great chapter on resurrection. You ought to read that chapter today with your children before they go to bed, because in the end the trick is to treat Halloween as a strategic opportunity rather than seeing it as a time of Satanic oppression. If you want more information there’s a Perspective I did. It’s called “Halloween: Oppression or Opportunity.”
Me, I just love KitKats, especially free ones. But my lovely wife tells me not to steal Gabe’s or Camille’s while they’re asleep because they love them too. So I’ve had to resort to mini Milky Ways and Twixes.
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Pumpkin Patch
We went out to DeSoto, KS to play outside and found this pumpkin patch. Kids rode the hayride and pet some farm animals. We bought a pumpkin. Life is fun in America when the seasons change. The trees are starting to turn beautiful colors. I smell the fresh air and I love being here. More pics:
Pumpkin Patch -
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Regional Taekwondo Tournament
Camille and Gabe competed in a Taekwondo tournament this weekend. Gabe did very well with a strong form and awesome sparring (Gabe is on the right in red gear, against a kid a few inches taller than him, as you can see here). Camille won first place in forms.
More Photos:
Regional Taekwondo Tournament -
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Green Eagle Belt
Gabe earns his Green Eagle belt in ATA Taekwondo. -
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Spooky Cave
Andi and I were looking at old videos of the kids and found these cute videos of Gabe:
Date: 01/27/04
Date: 02/07/04
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Jefferson City Tournament
Gabe receives first place for his awesome round kick.
Camille wins first place in forms. Watch the video below:
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