Wednesday, October 30, 2013

some thoughts on Halloween | nehány gondolat a Halloween-ről

(magyar lent van)




Some people might not like what I'm about to say but let me ask you to just take a minute to consider what I have to say about Halloween.

As a Christian, every year I see different Facebook posts or articles telling Christians to avoid Halloween like the plague. The message is basically "a good Christian doesn't celebrate Halloween because it's a holiday that worships the devil”.

While I’m clearly aware of the origins of Halloween, may I submit that Halloween as we know it is just a commercialized version of what some people think it is? I ask this question because growing up, we always celebrated Halloween & I went trick-or-treating every year. Funny, I didn’t turn out an active Satan worshipper but the pastor of a church who loves Jesus. There is a young man in our church who was an active Satan worshiper and Halloween had nothing to do with it. 

 So what’s the deal with Christians and Halloween? well first let me say that I do believe this, like many other holidays is so over commercialized that now it’s only about profit for companies. 

 that being said let me just ask these 2 questions…

1. why do Christians come down so hard on this one day and show almost total disregard to many of the Satanic attitudes that typify everyday western life? (for example - pride, greed, materialism, self-centeredness, hatred, etc.) Shouldn't we be more concerned about these things on a daily basis than people dressing up once a year and giving kids candy? Why are we making such a big issue out of this one day? Could it be because we know that we should do something about evil and we think if we condemn this one day we can ignore or even partake in the Satanic attitudes that are promoted and so prevalent the rest of the year?

2. If we're so uncomfortable with Halloween, why are we comfortable with celebrating other pagan holidays that have been "Christianized" such as Christmas and Easter? Why is the celebration or lack there of, of a holiday the standard for Christian faithfulness?

Am I saying Christians should celebrate Halloween? Like so many things this is, I believe, a matter of conscience. For years my wife and I have had friends over for “pumpkin carving parties” and every year we’ve enjoyed spending time with family and friends which we would not have otherwise spent together if it were just another day. Now that we have kids are we going to carve pumpkins & celebrate Halloween? Sure. Because as we’re carving pumpkins we can teach our kids something about God. How He takes this seemingly normal thing, puts His hand to work and forms what He wants, then He places His light in it to shine in the darkness. I see the way people carve pumpkins as very similar to the work that God does in the lives of people. 

Are there dangers associated with Halloween? Obviously. But I see the bigger dangers in the every day Satanic attitudes I mentioned above. More people actively worship Satan on a daily basis by putting themselves first in their lives, and I’m not talking about non-Christians here. 

So what should Christians do at Halloween? I know many churches have “Harvest Festivals” or “Fall Festivals”. I think the reason being is because people want to celebrate. People want to celebrate the blessings of God in their lives. I say, “let people celebrate. let people enjoy time with family and friends they love. let people imagine that they are a superhero, pirate, or Darth Vader.” Cause here is how I see Halloween.  When we put on a costume pretending to be someone else, we need to stop and think for a minute how Jesus took upon human flesh to came as a man and took our place on the Cross to die for our sins. We also need to think about how God has placed the light of Jesus in our lives and that He is working in us forming us into His image and that we’re now called to shine our light for Him though our good works. Judging people never shines God’s light, good works do.



So let me encourage you with the words of Jesus, be it Halloween or not, "In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”(Matthew 5:16) 

Vannak, akiknek lehet, hogy nem tetszik az, amit mondani fogok, de hadd kérjelek meg, hogy szánj egy percet arra, hogy végiggondolod, amit mondanom kell Halloween kapcsán.

Keresztényként minden évben látok különböző Facebook bejegyzéseket, vagy cikkeket, amelyek azt  állítják, hogy keresztényeknek kerülniük kell a Halloweent, mint a pestist. Az üzenet alapvetően az, hogy "a jó keresztény nem ünnepli a Halloweent, mert ez egy ördög imádó ünnep."


Bár teljesen  tisztában vagyok a Halloween eredetével, mégis megkérdezném, hogy a Halloween ahogy mi ismerjük, nem csak egy fogyasztható változata annak, amit néhány ember úgy gondol, hogy az ami?  Azért kérdezem, mert gyerekkoromban, mi mindig ünnepeltük a Halloweent és minden évben mentem cukrot-vagy-csínyt túrára. Vicces, de nem lettem aktív Sátán imádó, hanem egy gyülekezet pásztora, aki szereti Jézust. Van egy fiatalember a gyülekezetünkben, aki aktív Sátán imádó volt és a Halloweenhez semmi közük nem volt.

Szóval mi a helyzet a keresztények és a Halloween kapcsolatával? Hát először is hadd mondjam el, hogy úgy látom, hogy ez is, mint sok más ünnep annyira elüzletiesedett, hogy már csak a pénzről szól.

 ezzel együtt,  hadd tegyem fel a következő 2 kérdést ...

1.   Miért támadják a keresztények ilyen keményen ezt az egy napot, viszont teljesen figyelmen kívül hagynak sok más sátáni hozzáállást, ami a mindennapi nyugati világot jellemzi? (büszkeség, kapzsiság, anyagiasság, én-központúság, gyűlölet stb.) Nem kellene napi szinten jobban törődni ezekkel a dolgokkal, mint azzal, hogy az emberek egyszer egy évben beöltöznek, és a gyerekeknek cukrot adnak? Miért csinálunk olyan nagy ügyet ebből az egy napból? Nem azért, mert tudjuk, hogy kellene tenni valamit a gonoszság ellen és azt gondoljuk, hogy ha ezt az egy napot kárhoztatjuk, akkor figyelmen kívül hagyhatjuk azokat sátáni attitűdöket,vagy akár részt is vehetünk azokban, amelyek elterjedtek és egész évben jelen vannak?

    2. Ha annyira kellemetlen a Halloween, akkor miért nem kellemetlen más kereszténnyé formált pogány ünnepek ünnepelése, mint a karácsony és a húsvét? Miért egy ünnep megtartása, vagy nem megtartása  a keresztény hűség mércéje?

     Azt mondom tehát, hogy a keresztényeknek meg kell ünnepelniük a Halloweent? Úgy gondolom, mint oly sok minden ez is lelkiismereti kérdés. Évekig a feleségem és én a barátainkkal "tök faragó partikat" tartottunk, és így minden évben időt tölthettünk a családunkkal és a barátainkkal, amit nem tölthettünk volna együtt, ha az csak egy sima nap lett volna. Most, hogy már, hogy gyerekeink is vannak, fogunk tököt faragni és ünnepelni a Halloweent? Persze. Mert faragás közben Istenről tudjuk tanítani a gyerekeket. Hogyan veszi a kezébe ezt a látszólag hétköznapi dolgot és hogyan formálja azzá amivé akarja, aztán az Ő fényét helyezi bele, hogy a sötétségben világítson. Nagyon hasonlónak látom azt, ahogy az emberek faragják tököt ahhoz, ahogy Isten alakítja az
Vannak veszélyek a Halloweennel kapcsolatban? Természetesen. De nagyobb veszélyt látok a fönt említett mindennapi sátáni hozzáállásokban. Több ember imádja aktívan a sátánt napi szinten azáltal, hogy magukat helyezik az első helyre az életükben , és most nem a nem-keresztényekről beszélek.

Szóval, mit kezdjenek a keresztények a Halloweennel? Tudom, hogy sok gyülekezetben van "szüreti mulatság" vagy " Őszi Fesztivál". Azt hiszem, ennek az az oka, hogy az emberek ünnepelni akarnak. Az emberek meg akarják ünnepelni Isten áldását az életükben. Azt mondom, "hagy ünnepeljenek, hagy élvezzék a családjukkal és a barátaikkal töltött időt. Hagy képzeljék azt, hogy szuperhősök, kalózok, vagy Darth Vaderek." Mert én így látom a Halloweent. Amikor jelmezt veszünk fel és úgy teszünk, mintha valaki más volnánk, meg kell állnunk és el kell gondolkoznunk egy percig azon, hogy Jézus emberi testet öltött, hogy emberként jöjjön el és elfoglalja a helyünket a kereszten, hogy meghaljon a bűneinkért. Azt is át kell gondolnunk, hogy Isten Jézus fényét helyezte az életünkbe, és hogy Ő munkálkodik bennünk, hogy minket saját képmására formáljon és mi arra vagyunk elhívva, hogy a mi fényünk Neki ragyogjon a jó cselekedeteink által. Az emberek elítélése soha nem ragyogtatja Isten világosságát, a jó cselekedetek viszont nagyon is.


Hadd bátorítsalak Jézus szavaival, akár Halloween van, vagy sem: "
Úgy ragyogjon a ti világosságotok az emberek előtt, hogy lássák jó cselekedeteiteket, és dicsőítsék a ti mennyei Atyátokat." (Máté 5:16 )

Thursday, October 3, 2013

some thoughts on Pastor Chuck Smith & the future of Calvary Chapel

this afternoon my Facebook wall began to fill up with the news that Pastor Chuck Smith (the founding pastor and leader of the Calvary Chapel movement) had won his battle with cancer and moved home to Heaven.


though I had only met Pastor Chuck a few times, his life had profound influence upon mine. though I was far from being around at when the Jesus movement began I'm one of the many that felt it's effects. 

When I became a Christian in 1993, the church I was taken to was Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa. At the time I had no idea what Calvary was or who Chuck Smith was. But something "clicked" for me when I went to Calvary. I understood and felt that Jesus loves me.

After becoming a Christian, I had a desire to be at church as often as possible, so as much as I could, I attended every Bible study at Calvary Costa Mesa, both the youth group & the main service.  Now the thing is I knew I wanted to serve the Lord who saved me. 
Interestingly enough, the response by those at Calvary was "ok, go for it!" Little did I know at the time that this was very unusual. Most churches required a seminary degree before one could serve the Lord in the church. Pastor Chuck's philosophy was different (in my opinion Biblical); if someone wanted to serve the Lord then let's let them serve the Lord.

Nothing is more evident of this than when a young 18-year-old applied for missionary support so he could go serve the Lord in Baja, Hungary. Amazingly enough, that young man, along with many others over the years, was approved for financial support to take the Gospel to the Word. 

Since then I've been blessed to call myself a part of the Calvary Chapel family & for the past 13+ years a Calvary Chapel pastor. With Pastor Chuck moving home, I realize how amazing his vision was upon a whole generation of Christianity and many who are serving the Lord because He believed in the call of God instead of a paper saying one was qualified. So this evening I say, "thank you Jesus for the vision & heart you gave to Pastor Chuck to love people & get the Gospel out all over the world!" I know that I am doing what I'm doing because this is part of the legacy of Pastor Chuck; giving young men the opportunity to serve their Lord.

to be honest the question has been floating in the air for a while now of "what's going to happen to Calvary Chapel when Pastor Chuck dies?" it's something I've thought about & talked with others about. Yesterday I was riding the train up to Budapest to preach at Calvary Budapest & I took the time to do some reading in a book that the elders of Calvary Szeged & I are reading together at the moment, "Spiritual Leadership" by J. Oswald Sanders. I just "happened" to read chapter 19 yesterday about "replacing leaders" and I thought about how timely this was for the Calvary Chapel tribe of churches. Let me quote what Sanders said, “A work inspired by God and built on spiritual principles will survive the shock of leadership change and may even prosper as a result”.

  I believe Calvary Chapel IS a work inspired by God and built on spiritual principles. Pastor Chuck is with Jesus, but Jesus is still head of this church & I believe the best days of Calvary Chapel are still ahead of us because of the foundation that Pastor Chuck laid for all of us.

 What Pastor Chuck has taught all of us pastors is the importance of preaching the Gospel to the lost, teaching the Bible, loving the church, and giving people an opportunity to the next generation to take up the baton and run with it.

Thank you for running your race well Pastor Chuck. You will be missed but we will continue the work that the Lord Jesus began in & through you.

very sad yet thankful & rejoicing tonight,


kyle

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

2013 fall update

Dear Friends,

we hope you all had a great summer. let us share with you some of the happenings in our life & ministry here in Szeged.

family news

We were blessed to take part in 2 difference conferences this summer. the first was Central & Eastern European Leadership Conference at the Bible College in Vajta. It was a wonderful week of encouragement & fellowship with many leaders from all over this part of the world. We were super blessed to take some leaders from Golgota Szeged with us.

In August we were blessed to be able to go to the annual Calvary Chapel Missions Conference at The Castle in Austria. Again, a real time of encouragement through the teaching & meeting some new friends who are ministering in different places around Europe & the former Soviet Union.



We had our first real medical issue with our kids. A week ago Zara had an operation to repair a hernia. She was our brave little hero throughout the operation. Thankfully Odi was able to take her to the Children's Clinic in the morning & they were home in the afternoon. She is fully recovered and back in kindergarten. 

As we've said before we'd really like to make a trip back to the States next year, we're still looking at that and hope things work out for us to go.

ministry news

we had a wonderful time partnering with the Baptist church doing outreach in both Szeged & Hódmezővásárhely this summer. We continue to look forward to how God is going to use our partnership for His glory & kingdom in this region. We continue to host a monthly prayer breakfast for local church leaders & pastors. These are always great times to connect with and encourage one another.

as of late I've had a lot of teaching opportunities. Last Tuesday night I was once again invited to speak to the Baptist Youth Group. It's really a youth group for all the Christian youth here in Szeged. There were about 80-90 people in attendance. It's always great to be able to share with the next generation.

as I'm sitting down to write this I've just finished preparing a message that I'll be teaching at Calvary Budapest tomorrow evening as Pastor Phil Metzger will be out of the country. I'm truly honored to be teaching both services there tomorrow night as I talk about "the attitude of gratitude"

on October 20th I'll be teaching at Calvary Subotica. I always love being there & seeing what God is doing just right across the border from us.

On September 15th I began teaching a series through the Sermon on the Mount. This is in conjunction with the launch of 4 cell groups in 2 cities at Golgota Szeged. In our cell group meetings we're focusing on the things that are taught on Sunday mornings and discussing them more in depth.  We're hosting a group in our home and I'm co-leading it with a young man named Gábor. Gábor is a great guy & a future leader in the church and so I'm just coaching him as he leads.

On Wednesday nights we're continuing our journey through the Bible. At our current pace we hope to complete the first English/Hungarian through the Bible teach (which is all available for free online) in the next 6 months!!

This is one thing that I'm really blessed to be doing is coaching / encouraging leaders. Myself & the leaders of Gologta Szeged are getting together on a regular basis to talk about leadership as we're going through the great book "Spiritual Leadership" by Oswald Sanders together.  I'm also blessed to spend time with other pastors in our region & others on Skype. I know that these guys have been blessed by our time together too.

The elders of the church & I agreed that we need a little more direction and oversight in the worship ministry thus we've appointed Odi as the worship coordinator. She is now responsible for organizing the worship schedule and for implementing vision and new songs. Odi has the time, vision, and passion for this so it's a great fit. We're really excited about the changes that are happening in the worship ministry.

Later this month we'll be hosting a 10-day outreach team from the Bible College in Vajta. 7 people will be coming to minister with us. We've got opportunities for them to go into schools for conversational English lessons at schools in both Szeged & Hódmezővásárhely. We're excited to see what the Lord does during these 10 days.

One thing I've been encouraged to do by a couple people is to share some of the things I've learned over the years by writing. So recently I've been sharing my thoughts on different subjects & posting them on our blog here. Some of the posts are in both English & Hungarian because they are things that I'd like to communicate to our church.  So far there has been good response especially on a post I wrote a couple weeks ago with my thoughts on missions & money (http://kyleodi.blogspot.hu/2013/09/some-thoughts-on-missions-and-money.html

There is an exciting possible ministry opportunity opening up for me. should it happen I'll let you all know!

things to pray about

  • for wisdom for Odi as she is leading the worship ministry & for provision for a new guitar
  • for continued blessing upon our friendship with the other churches in Szeged
  • for the 10-day outreach from Vajta to be very fruitful
  • that God would continue to use Golgota Szeged locally and also to reach many who follow us on different social media outlets to get the Word of God to people.
  • boldness in sharing Jesus with people
  • more opportunities for ministry 
  • that God would use me to continue to encourage other ministry leaders & pastors. 
  • for God's continued provision & protection for our family
stay in touch


If you'd like to have more frequent updates about our lives and ministry here in Szeged here are how you can do so...

 Kyle's facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/kyleodi

 Kyle's twitter - @kyleeckhart -  https://twitter.com/kyleeckhart

 Golgota Szeged's facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Golgota-Szeged/136419214162

 Golgota Szeged's webpage - www.golgotaszeged.hu



giving


we know that finances are tight and there are many requests for funding, we'd like to ask once again if you'd prayerfully consider committing to a monthly donation of $20 to support us so that we can continue to minister in ways which we feel will be beneficial for the Kingdom of God in Szeged & our region.

If you'd like to support our ministry monthly or a one time gift you can do so through the following websites...

 Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa (in the pull down menu please select us)

 https://www.easytithe.com/f/?k=6SSHN0DEHB4KG6DH

 Calvary Chapel Vista 

 https://webview.shelbyinc.com/app/04423/Default.aspx?tabindex=1&tabid=17

 here you need to designate your offering to "missions" and in then in the note please say that it's for us.


Thank you!!