This one was really on my mind, and I was reminded of a Bible verse: “Be angry and sin not.” I’m not sure where it came from, but I remember hearing it from another brother.<\/p>\n
The thing is that I see all these costumes. You have the girl costumes which are skimpy and you have the gory costumes for boys. It sickens me, Jeff! The thing that I hate the most is the witch thing. If only people knew what real witches and Satanists do! They sacrifice people, Jeff, and the world refuses to believe it! I stormed out of the store only to see a barrage of pumpkins and little girls talking about what they were going to wear.<\/p>\n
OK, either I’m starting to see more from God’s perspective or things are getting more perverse. Jeff, I honestly wanted to take a hammer and destroy the pumpkins and designs. Forgive me, but is this wrong?<\/p>\n\t
The verse you were trying to remember says, ““Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil<\/em>” (Ephesians 4:25-26). James says something similar: “So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God<\/em>” (James 1:19-20).<\/p>\n Yes, it is wrong to destroy pumpkins because it does nothing to alleviate the problem. Destroying pumpkins belonging to other people, which can be used to make some wonderful pies, doesn’t do a thing for inappropriate dress or behavior. You can’t force people to do what is right, you have to convince them that certain behaviors are wrong and there is a right way to behave. And you have to set the proper example.<\/p>\n Remember what Paul said, “And why not say, “Let us do evil that good may come”? — as we are slanderously reported and as some affirm that we say. Their condemnation is just<\/em>” (Romans 3:8). Destruction of other people’s property is wrong. It doesn’t matter if you imagine good coming from it or not, it remains wrong.<\/p>\n “For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe<\/em>” (I Corinthians 1:21).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n It may be slower, but it is more effective and lasts longer.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: This one was really on my mind, and I was reminded of a Bible verse: “Be angry and sin not.” I’m not sure where it came from, but I remember hearing it from another brother. The thing is that I see all these costumes. You have the girl costumes which are skimpy and you…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[342,200],"class_list":["post-40537","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-holidays","tag-violence"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":40534,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-you-do-it-all\/","url_meta":{"origin":40537,"position":0},"title":"How do you do it all?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 6, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: This is a vast site, Jeff. I still think it's crazy how you're a preacher and yet you answer most of these questions. How do you do it all? Do you like, take turns answering questions, or do you devote an entire day answering things? Whatever you do I'm\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":62121,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-about-using-bulletins-published-outside-the-congregation\/","url_meta":{"origin":40537,"position":1},"title":"What about using bulletins published outside the congregation?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 9, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi Jeff, I pray for you and for your ministry in answering all of these questions. You have helped so many people in understanding the Scriptures. Thank you! What does the Bible teach about congregations utilizing evangelistic tools such as \"House to House Heart to Heart\"? If I'm understanding\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":92700,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-a-christian-study-demonology\/","url_meta":{"origin":40537,"position":2},"title":"Should a Christian study demonology?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 20, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good day Jeff, I have a question concerning demonology. Is it right for a Christian to study demonology (operations of demons), considering that fallible men teach this area of study? Shouldn't we rely on the information the Bible provides us with? Thanks. Answer: The Bible is our only source\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":58191,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-if-someone-has-no-good-qualities\/","url_meta":{"origin":40537,"position":3},"title":"What if someone has no good qualities?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 21, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi Jeff, I was looking again over your sermon \"Ten Rules for Improving the Church,\" and one point states: \"Consciously look for the good qualities in every brother or sister in Christ. When you think of a brother or sister, make a mental note of the good points each\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":63940,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/my-job-requires-lying-and-embarrassing-people-to-get-them-to-pay-their-loans\/","url_meta":{"origin":40537,"position":4},"title":"My job requires lying and embarrassing people to get them to pay their loans","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 9, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi Jeff, Hope you're doing well. I'm in a dilemma and in need of some guidance and counsel. I work in a loan company for close to 2 years.\u00a0I'm a loan officer there but the job is affecting my spiritual life.\u00a0 The job requires I give people loans and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":42962,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-i-let-my-children-watch-ghostbusters\/","url_meta":{"origin":40537,"position":5},"title":"Should I let my children watch Ghostbusters?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 5, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Jeff, I have kind of maybe a silly question here, but here it goes. One of my kids (a 7-year-old boy) has an interest in the Ghostbusters. I use to watch those movies on TV in the past when I was a kid. They were heavily edited back then,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40537","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40537"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40537\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40537"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40537"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40537"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}