The truth is more terrifying than fiction.....

**some of this blog is  a repeat of last year's**

It's that time of year again.

I love this time of year.  The colors are changing, there is a crispness in the air and there is just a sense of change.  It is also the season of caramel apples, hayrides, bonfires and haunted houses - Halloween.

I used to look forward to Halloween years ago, before I found Christ.  It was a time to whip out my make-up and woochies (latex prosthetics) and see how gruesome and demonic I can make myself.  To give you an idea of my life before Christ some of the things I dressed up as was - Reagen from the Exorcist and Matt dressed up as the priest, another year I wore a noose with a carved "x" on my forehead with a shirt that read "God's busy, can I help you?" with a picture of the devil, one year Matt went as the devil....well, you get the idea.

Then as Halloween approached the year I got saved, I was conflicted.  It always meant something evil for me.  I had dabbled in black magick and yes, they do hold 'all hallows eve' in high regards like Christians do with Christmas.  However, I thought we are given such a tool to minister because this is the only time of the year that the world comes to us!

So the year we were saved, a local church hosted "Final Exit".  It was a 'haunted house' that took you through the life of a teenager starting with her death and how she ended up in the casket.  It showed how Satan and demonic forces had their hands in every aspect of her life. It was so phenomenal we went numerous times and they finally said we didn't have to pay the $8 admission any more - "Just keep bringing people", they said.  We wanted everyone to experience this.  Then at the end you witnessed hell, Jesus crucified then people are there praying for you.  It is a scare the 'hell out of you' experience, literally.

So I began to think how Halloween can be an asset to the Christian community. 

A lot of Christians frown on this day.  They say it is 'the devil's day' or that it is evil.  While Halloween does originate from pagan and Celtic cultures (as does Christmas and Easter, but no one frowns on the warm fuzzies those give us), it has never been a 'devil's day'.  It isn't like Satan is sitting back and waiting for October 31st to unleash his wrath on humanity - he has done that since the Garden of Eden.  So as the Christian community we want to shut our lights off and pretend to not be home as people come to our doors looking for a goody treat.  They come to....OUR DOOR.  Do you see the opportunity we have to minister?

In Psalms it says "This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it."  It doesn't say yesterday, tomorrow, Easter, Christmas, Halloween....it says THIS is the day.....we should wake up and say THIS is the day, everyday!  Why do we want to give the devil more than he deserves?  Why do we just hand over a day and say "here ya go, it's your day."?  The devil doesn't own ANY days......they are all a gift from God.

The Bible says we are to be the light to a dark world.  So then why do we shut off our lights and cower in our homes afraid someone is going to ring our doorbell expecting candy?  Why aren't we turning on all our lights, getting the best candy, printing out some tracts about our church and our God and sitting on our steps with a smile and a hand-out?   Why aren't we being a light on a day that the world has perverted???  Why are we hiding when the world needs us the most?

Our church has been doing our annual "Fear Factory and Maze of Darkness" since October 19th.  Last Wednesday was youth night and we had 189 youths and adults go through our production, causing us to go 2 hours over. We had 129 salvations.  Did you hear me....129 new souls are going to celebrate heaven with us. We took something that was meant for bad and turned it for good.  Take that, Devil!

There have been some controversy about what we do.  They say we are celebrating an evil holiday and we are running a haunted house.  Yet, those people are the ones that won't even come check it out before making their assumptions.  Ours is NOT a haunted house.  Will you get scared?  Oh, most definitely.  First you enter our "Dormitory of Knowledge" where they get a glimpse of what will happen after Christ comes for His bride....from a unique perspective.  Then you will enter an 1800 square foot maze that is complete darkness - representing your life without Christ - walking in darkness.  Then you enter our Fear Factory where you are submerged into an interactive experience of a post-rapture world.  In other words, you get to witness our interpretation of a world after Christ has come and raptured his church. Everything is taken directly from scripture and we even give educational material showing where it can be found.  We are ministering to a world in a way they relate to.  It is Halloween...they want to be scared.  We scare them, however we do it in a way that shakes them up and makes them think about their relationship with Jesus Christ.  Is it radical?  Perhaps.  Although, some of us need a radical shake-up to realize that we need Christ.  I know I did.

Jesus stepped into the world and when he taught, he taught on their level.  If he was talking to farmers, he used parable about the vineyard and the wheat.  If he was talking to the merchants, he would speak on camels and oxen.  He didn't ignore them; he RELATED to them.  Then once he created that connection, he spoke of the Father.

Do I judge or condemn those that choose to not participate in Halloween activities?  Absolutely not.  However, do not judge me because I do.

One more night left - tomorrow....Halloween. The Bridge, Rensselaer Indiana, $6 to go through both.  Let us scare the hell right out of you - literally.

And you, my blog readers, get a sneak peak of a few of our first pictures from the inside of Fear Factory!   Let's just say many come into the Fear Factory laughing and joking to mask their nervousness but when they step into the world we have created, there is nothing but silence. 

"And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands"  -Revelation 20:4 

^" During those days people will seek death but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them." -Revelation 9:6

======================================================

What are some people saying about FF/MoD?

“I was able to go to Fear Factory in Rensselaer with Paul, my girls and our youth group last night. Our family has never been there before and Alexis and Olivia were too scared to go through once we there. It's based on the Book of Revelations. They did an awesome job and I am so glad I was able to go. We had some great conversations on the way home about the end times and what's at stake for all of us. I encourage anyone who hasn't been there to check it out.”
--Gary R., Remington

  “Kudo's to the Bridge in Rensy, and all the hard work they have done for the Fear Factory and Maze of Darkness!!” 
--Paul D., Remington

 “Bree had an Awesome time last night!!!! I'm glad she got to go!!!”

--Ann B., Remington

“Fear Factory was so much fun!” 
--Paige W., Brookston

“Epicness!”

--Jordon D., Remington

“Scary night” 
--McKenna S., Remington

“It is actually a really great ministry that you all do! Keep it up”
--Logan W., Francesville

“Nice job!  I was terrified!” 
--Emily K., Remington

“Fear Factory was AMAZING last night!”

--Davey M., Rensselaer

“We delivered and you guys knocked it out of the park. pretty fun” 
--Micah R., Francesville

“OMGosh, you guys got me!  Especially at the end, I didn’t see that coming.” 

--Riley E., Wolcott

“The FF and MoD was awesome! 
--Zak G, Lowell