The HCOS WeeklyVol. 2 Edition 5

Occultus: Part OneAn ArticleBy Deanna Burmatoff

It’s getting nearer to that time again. People are eagerly decorat-ing their front lawns with ghosts and pumpkins, while children put the finishing touches on their cos-tumes. Department stores are rapidly multiplying their stock of candy and chocolates. Yep, it’s Hal-loween.

Being raised in a “strict” Christian home, I was never allowed to par-ticipate in the Halloween activities at school. Colouring pages were al-right, but anything more than that was discouraged. At first, I didn’t understand why I wasn’t allowed to do what my friends were doing. As I got older, I had a bit more free-dom to make my own choices, so I went along with the crowd. Then I started to see the real face of Hal-loween; it wasn’t all just candy and fun. There was a darker, supernat-ural side to it.

Some would argue that Christians should be active on Halloween,

and I agree. I do think Christians could use this holiday to witness to other people, and should glorify God and have fun with other Chris-tians on this day, just as any other day. But I just hope Christians don’t get caught up in the fun and candy and forget about one of the main themes of Halloween: occult. Because this is really, really serious.

The occult is real, and it is alive even today. Especially today. For those of you who don’t know, “oc-cult” comes from the Latin word “occultus”, meaning "clandestine, hidden, secret". It means “things which are hidden or secret”, or “to cover up or hide”. Occult is any at-tempt to gain supernatural knowl-edge or power apart from God. The occult will kill spiritually, just as the AIDS virus will kill physically. The AIDS virus disguises itself as harmless and tricks a cell into ac-cepting it. It later reveals itself, and attacks. The occult works in a simi-lar way.

The Bible has a lot to say about the occult. Deuteronomy 18:9-12 says, ““… never sacrifice your son or daughter as a burnt offering. And do not let your people practice for-tune-telling, or use sorcery, or inter-pret omens, or engage in witchcra", or cast spells, or function as medi-ums or psychics, or call forth the spirits of the dead. Anyone who

does these things is detestable to the Lord. It is because the other na-tions have done these detestable things that the Lord your God will drive them out ahead of you.” It says these things are detestable in the Lord’s sight. Pretty serious stuff.

Leviticus 19:31 also says, ““Do not defile yourselves by turning to medi-ums or to those who consult the spirits of the dead. I am the Lord your God.” God is reminding us that He is our God; we have no need to turn to other spiritual activities.

There are many instances where occult events are mentioned in the Bible (2 Kings 21:6; Acts 8:4-25; Acts 19:18-20; 1 Samuel 28; Exodus 7:8-13, 22; 8:7,18,19; Acts 16:16-19, etc.). But that doesn’t make the oc-cult a good thing; on the contrary, God is showing us examples of the evil done back then and how we can counter it when it occurs today. Of course, we might not be

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able to visibly cast out demons, but we can earnestly pray for peo-ple who have been ensnared while making sure we ourselves don’t fall into the same trap. And we can help other Christians stand up for Christ through prayer and fellow-ship.

Just as a disclaimer: this article wasn’t meant to cause arguments, but to inform people about the truth. The world is a dark place, and we as Christians are to be the light of the world (Matthew 5:14). In order to shine out to the fullest, we must have a better understand-ing of certain things, so we can em-pathize with people as we try to witness to them and share with them the love of Jesus.

“I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope He has given to those He called—His holy people who are His rich and glorious inheritance.”

Ephesians 1:18 NLT

(Keep your eyes open for Part Two, coming soon.)

TBH With Jubs

Self Appreciation/Recognition

A Humanitarian ColumnBy Jubilee Chiu

To be honest, people o"en don't give themselves enough credit. In fact, we are so caught up in our flaws and weaknesses that we for-get just how wonderfully God cre-ated us. We are talented, beautiful, intelligent, humorous, compas-sionate, noble -- you name it! De-spite popular belief, recognizing

your qualities and being thankful for what you are blessed with is NOT equal to pride.

+ God uses our talents and quirks to reach out and touch others' lives in some way.No talent is too insignificant for God to work with! O"entimes, God uses our personality to touch the lives of people around us in ways we’ve never thought of. Stay true to yourself! (This is a tricky topic which requires another TBH in it-self.)

+ Realizing that you are a very special, valued, loved and pur-poseful human is ultra important.Never let your flaws and weakness-es dominate and blind you from seeing your great qualities. You are enough. You are worth it. You are so loved. You are beautiful inside and out.

Catie Prendergast once said, “We cannot expect someone else to love us if we do not love ourselves. We need to be committed to who we are. We need to support all our hopes and dreams. We need to be-lieve we are funny if we want to make someone truly laugh. We have to learn how to take care of our-selves before we let someone else try. We need to know what we want out of an argument before we start bickering. We need to listen to our-selves. We need to take a deep breath and listen. We have to have confidence.”

Sometimes, we can be our own worst enemy. We have to learn to love ourselves before we can love anyone else. Understand that we are imperfect, but that’s what makes us unique. Embrace being different (I’m not saying you should embrace your flaws -- that could go off on the wrong tangent) and let your personality shine through! Confidence is beautiful.

+ Learn to give and accept compli-ments.God didn't create us to watch us beat ourselves up, or act vain.

As humans, it’s in our nature to crave appreciation and love. That’s completely normal and healthy! Someone wise on the internet said, "Butterflies can’t see their wings. They can’t see how beautiful they are, but everyone else can. People are like that." Voicing a small com-pliment could brighten someone's day instantly and boost their confi-dence. You never know how much impact a small compliment could make.

However, it’s important that we know where to draw the line be-tween genuine compliments that builds someone up, and flattery, which makes the other person be-come negatively self aware. Chew on this -- your best friend got a new shirt and it’s fabulous. You tell her “Wow, that shirt is really flat-tering on you!” versus “Daaaaang girl, boys are gonna be dropping like flies!” Do you see where I’m go-ing with this? People have become so shallow. Most compliments are actually flattery, and they are so grossly overused AND underused that it barely has any value any-more. Complimenting in such a way that causes the person to fo-cus on material, vain things is

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A Drawing by Deanna Burmatoff

Word Search by Melody Brocke

Autumn

1. AUTUMN2. CRANBERRIES3. FALL4. FROST5. LEAVES6. TREES

Verse of the Week

By Megan Ferguson

“Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you he will never let the righteous be shaken." - Psalm 55:22

October has seemed like a month of sickness and death. It’s very de-pressing. I personally know at least 3 people that have cancer or had surgeries for cancer. As well as the conflict with ISIS and the Ebola crises I start to wonder why God does this. It’s a dark time right now but you have to remember there is light in the darkness; hope where there appears to be none. Talk to God about your sadness. If you hold it all in it’s a fast downhill slope.

I know this is a bit cliché, but talk to Jesus like he’s a friend. In the same tone, and the same way, us-ing the same words as you would with a friend. Take time to ‘hang out’ with Jesus and tell him your worries. Trust me, it’s worth it!

wrong, in my humble opinion. This brings me on to my next point.

+ Acknowledging your awesome-ness does not involve comparing yourself to others and looking down on them, or acting superior.When I plead you to learn to love yourself, I am by no means giving you a license to be the queen bee. Loving yourself isn’t flaunting your social status, looks, wealth, power, etcetera. It’s embracing who you are, and presenting the best ver-sion of you! Have you ever consid-ered how ridiculous it is to com-pare yourself with others and judg-ing them, knowing that we’re all unique and great in our own ways? Think about that. Just because someone else isn't as talented as you are at something doesn't mean they are a lesser human.

+ Think about your belief -- your philosophy, if you will. You really see how much purpose you have in life as a Christian!This is true for me: my goal in life is to be a living example of a child of God, a salt and light to the people around me. I'm constantly doing my best to look out for others and help them whenever and wherever I can. Maybe one day someone will come up to me and ask why I'm different. Wouldn't that be amaz-ing, to be able to share the gospel with someone simply by living as a light? I think it's worth it.

I challenge you to take at least one thing away from this TBH, and put it into practice this week. I would love to hear from you about how putting these little tips into action has worked out for you! Feel free to post comments on Ning, the Fo-r u m s , S k y p e , o r b y e m a i l (hcosweekly@outlook.com).

Until next time! || Jubs ||

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Who Is Worthy - by Joshua Wlodarczyk

art by Joshua Wlodarczyk

Super Comics

Editor's Note

For this edition, Josh decided to go head-on with the topic of super-heroes. The coloured comic was taken from the new extended trail-er for Marvel's Avengers 2: Age of Ultron. Not only did Josh give us a superhero-themed comic this week, but he also submitted a drawing about the DC Comics TV show Arrow. He did an absolutely fantastic job this week, and we can't wait to see what he comes up with next edition! If you'd like to send him a prompt, a funny home-schooler story or stereotype you may have, or simply some com-ments on his work, please write an email to Josh at hcosweekly@out-look.com. Thank you!

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Free-Falling

A Batman FanfictionBy Jazzannah Green

Jason stood at the edge of the building, the crisp air filling his lungs. The moon could be seen faintly through the clouds above, and the stars were twinkling merri-ly as Jason became lost in thought.

"Come on Jace, you can do it. Just try, you know you want to. You've been working on this for weeks!"

Nightwing was standing beside him, and Jason nodded slightly. "I know, it's just kind of daunting. I haven't tried it like this before, from this high up. I've always been close to street level."

Rolling his eyes slightly, Dick shoved Jason's shoulder lightly. "I'm gonna push you if you don't go first." He mock threatened, and Jason stuck his tongue out at his older brother.

"Fine, fine."

Taking a deep breath, he stepped over the edge, spreading his arms out and dropping into a free-fall. The wind rushed past him, ruffling his black hair and causing his heart

Procrastination:

Just Do It

An ArticleBy Jennica Wlodarczyk

Over the past twelve years of my schooling experience, there has been one thing ingrained into me more than any other academic fact. (No, it wasn’t that flashcards are essential to life. My parents tried to get me hooked on those, but it didn’t work. Sorry, parents.) I have heard multitudes of people – students and teachers alike – say that procrastination is the deadli-est evil that a student can face. You know what I’m talking about, right? Procrastination? It’s that feeling you get when you really don’t want to do your English homework, or when a new episode of Arrow is far more appealing than the math lesson you’ve been as-signed to complete. (I’m so not speaking from experience right now; why would you think that?) Most students have taken hard blows from procrastination over the years, and the cycle is still con-tinuing. While it is nice to take short breaks from our work during a long, hard day of essays, each and every one of us is capable of break overkill. This is – you guessed it – a way that procrasti-nation can tear us down and get us behind in our classes.

You might be thinking to yourself, “Geez, she’s pretty caught up on this whole procrastination thing. Isn’t there some way I can avoid (or defeat) this terrible foe?” Well, there is a way to get over procrasti-nation. The answer is simple, and easier than you think. If you find yourself stretching out deadlines, avoiding responsibilities, or skip-

ping your physical activity require-ments, the best way to stop pro-crastination is to simply take a hold of your goals and complete them. That’s right. Like the Nike company has been saying for years, “Just do it.” Procrastination is all about skirting your problems until they become even bigger problems. The best way to prevent your algebra assignment from be-coming a mountain is to get on it fast – while the information you need is still fresh in your mind – and work on it with a positive atti-tude. If you’re going to “just do it”, make sure that you’re doing it with a smile. It may sound corny, but keeping yourself happy while fo-cusing actually reduces stress lev-els, thus causing you to get your work done both better and faster.

So, am I saying that procrastina-tion is an evil monster that needs to be defeated? Yes. Am I saying that you have all it takes to defeat it? Yes. All you need in order to beat procrastination is a persever-ant attitude, a promise to stay off the internet until your work is done, and possibly someone to be accountable to in case you need a pep talk in between essay para-graphs. It is important to realize that we are only human, and need the help of others in certain areas. Even so, it is our responsibility to take the initiative drive that we all possess and use it to get our work done well. For these next two weeks, I challenge each and every

one of you to take into considera-tion all that I have written here. We all have the strength to overcome procrastination: we just have to believe in ourselves and make the choice to give it all we’ve got. I be-lieve that this is possible, and I be-lieve that you are completely able to face the deadly evil called pro-crastination and knock it to the ground.

Just do it.

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to pound loudly in his ears. The ground slowly started coming clos-er, and thirty feet above the pave-ment Jason whipped his grapple gun out, twisting midair and shooting at one of the nearby buildings.

His heart leapt into his throat as the ground came closer, and there was a hard tug on his arm that was holding the gun before he swung into the air. Flying. He was almost literally flying.

A grin broke out onto his face, and he let out a whoop of excitement before retracting the grapple cable, letting himself fall as close as twenty feet before pulling up again.

"You've got it, Jay-bird!" Nightwing shouted with excitement, as he ran across the roo"ops, keeping in pace with Jason.

"This is epic!" Jason shouted back, before letting himself fall again. He closed his eyes, letting the wind blow past him as he fell again and again, the adrenaline coursing through his body. When he finally stopped, he landed on a nearby roof top and almost tumbled off, his whole body shaking.

"You okay bro?" Nightwing had run up to him, and Jason put a trem-bling hand up, catching his breath.

"Y-yea, I'm fine. But that was freak-ing awesome!" A grin grew on Nightwing's face, and he clapped Jason on the shoulder.

"Told ya! That's sort of what the trapeze is like. But this is more free, less control. This is usually how I let my anger loose; it might work for you too." He paused for a moment, and then asked hesitant-

ly "Just, please don't kill yourself or anything? Because Bruce would have my head if you got killed from something I had taught you."

Jason smirked, and answered "Al-right. I won't purposely kill myself with this."

Taking a running start, he jumped off the edge and tumbled through the air, a content grin on his face.

S.P.A.S.Q.

Smart People AnsweringStupid Questions

A Comical Advice ColumnBy Jazzannah Green and Deanna Burmatoff

Question: If I look at photos of the sun, will I go blind? ~ BlindedAnswer: No, you'll only go blind if you stare at one thing for too long. You know how you start seeing that object everywhere? It's not because you've been cursed. It's because you're starting to go blind. That object will over-take all your vision, and soon you won't see anything but that. Blindness.

Question: I swallowed an icecube whole, and I haven't pooped it out yet? Is it stuck or something? Please help, I'm really scared. ~Stuck IceAnswer: Yes, this is a very critical condition... your ice cube has de-constructed into H2O. Very serious if not treated immediately. You must eat something, anything will be fine, and drink a glass of water. The whole glass. Then wait about, oh, 20 minutes or so, and then go relieve yourself. In the washroom, of course. And voilà! No more ice-cube! And you'll feel much better, too.

Question: Why is Math so stupid? ~Frustrated.Answer: Well, it likes to be difficult. It takes pity on you when you're younger, and as you grow older it presents its self with harder and harder questions, to challenge you. It only has your best interests in mind.

~Doctors I. Jones and H. Quinzel

Ninja Invasion

A 100 Word Story ChallengeFor Knights of the Pen

By Jubilee Chiu

My eyes flew open. They’ve come for us again.

Who are they, you ask? Well, they’re thieves – ninja thieves. Why they’ve targeted my house for a while now, I do not know. All I am sure of is that I must keep them out and protect my family. I’m ex-perienced with this particular group of ninjas; they tend to at-tempt invading my home by forc-ing doors and windows open. How-ever, this is of no help to me, as I’ve always had an indescribably dreadful gut feeling that windows and doors are of no match to them. Although I’ve won the past few attempted invasions, there was no telling how this one would play out.

I’ve just discovered a fridge-like door in my parents’ closet, and it had no lock.

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Student

Photo

GalleryA Photography Contest Notice

By Jennica Wlodarczyk

This week, both of the submitted photographs were taken by Dean-na Burmatoff, who is a Grade 11 HCOS student as well as a valued member of the HCOS Weekly. The photo submissions in the HCOS Weekly are a great reminder that there is a So You Think You Can Photograph Contest taking place on the NING this fall. Entries are to be fall-themed, and will be judged by Jenessa Joy Klukas and Lara Merz. There are Amazon gi" card prizes awaiting winners in both high school and elementary divi-sions of the contest. If you'd be in-terested in showing off your pho-tography skills while simultane-ously entering a contest for an Amazon gi" card, this is the con-test for you! There is a limit of three entries per person, and there is still room for plenty more sub-missions.

As a secondary note, if you'd like to submit your pictures, articles, sto-ries, or art to be published in the HCOS Weekly, shoot an email to me at hcosweekly@outlook.com. We are always looking for well-written articles and great content to join our pages. Enjoy this edition, and have a great day!

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compiled and submitted by Genevieve Ward

Weekly LOL