Rock Mountain Live 10.24.25

You ever notice how churches get real creative around Halloween? Like, we can’t just say “Halloween Party.” No, it’s gotta be “The Harvest Hallelujah Fall Family Festival Extravaganza of Non-Spooky Fellowship.” Because nothing says “we’re not celebrating Halloween” like kids in costumes eating candy under a banner that says NOT HALLOWEEN.

So, in this episode of Rock Mountain Live, Gavin and I are joined by Mike Stevens from Union Hill, and we’re counting down the Top 7 Ways Churches Try to Make Peace with Halloween. Spoiler alert: they don’t. But they sure try hard. It’s like watching your grandpa learn TikTok—painful but oddly inspiring.

We also found some bad church signs. And I mean bad. You’ve seen the kind—like “Too hot to sin, come inside where it’s cool!” or “Don’t let worries kill you—let the church help!” These are real signs, people. Somewhere, a pastor approved that. Probably right after the third potluck of the week. I’m convinced there’s a secret committee of church ladies meeting in the fellowship hall with a dry erase board labeled “Pun Ideas That Might Save a Soul.”

Then we sober up a little—because apparently, that’s what Christians have to do—and head into Isaiah 28. It’s this rich, beautiful text pointing to Christ. And we’re like, “Oh right, we’re supposed to learn something too.” It’s one of those moments where you realize God was saying something deep the whole time you were just laughing about candy corn theology. And believe me, Isaiah 28 will humble you faster than realizing the “Christian mosh pit” at the youth group lock-in was a bad idea.

Finally, we dig into Ephesians 4, where Paul reminds us that living the Christian life actually takes effort. Wait, what? Effort? I thought grace was free! It is—but apparently, sanctification isn’t a spectator sport. It’s more like CrossFit for the soul, except no one’s posting your progress on Instagram. By the end, we were all convicted, encouraged, and still wondering if it’s okay to let our kids dress as Bible characters at the Fall Festival. Spoiler: we decided yes… as long as nobody comes as the serpent.