Some archaeological information comes from uncovered Pictish hoards (prior to safe-deposit boxes and banks, a method used to protect valuables was to bury them; inevitably, some remained unclaimed). Brooches and dress-pins have survived from these hoards. The absence of grave-goods, indicating that the Picts did not think much of the practice of burying valuables with the dead, “presumably has implications for their pagan concept of death” (Nicoll 25).
Small painted stones used as charms, distinctively Pictish, have also been found.
For an exhaustive bibliography and a small over-view of the Picts, as well as a continuation of the information on this page, check out A Pictish Panorama: The Story of the Picts and a Pictish Bibliography, edited by Eric H. Nicoll, printed by Pinkfoot Press in 1995.
Taken directly from:
http://www.eons.com/groups/topic/1111219-Picts?page=1 (website no longer operational)
Click here to continue reading the novel
Chapter 28, Footnote 1:
The “still small voice”:
It would be wonderful, albeit terrifying, if we could hear the very voice of God with our own ears. Though God certainly reserves the right to speak with an individual in that manner, He has made it clear that we would have the counsel (what Brent is encountering at this moment), companionship, and friendship of the One that Jesus called the “Comforter” or “Advocate” (John 16:7). Also, Jesus said, “But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you” (John 14:26).
The Holy Spirit, living within us, may prompt you to do something; He may put a check in your spirit so as to prevent you from doing something, but He may also, when you are quiet in your spirit—while enjoying or pressing into His presence—whisper something to you. In that moment, you recognize the words, but you know that you didn’t hear them audibly; you just know that the Lord has spoken to you (1 Kings 1:11-13). That is the “still small voice” of God. I find it interesting that God, Himself, tells us to “be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10).
It is my personal opinion that the Lord speaks to us often through His still small voice, but we are so caught up in distractions that we often don’t hear what He has to say.
But if you put aside distractions in order to hear, or call on Him to speak and actually listen, you may just find that the voice of the Holy Spirit will calm your fears or give you strength or even move you to do a good work.
If you are willing to spend enough time with God—in relationship, not in “doing” or “not doing”—you can become sensitive to His voice. You will also be at an advantage in your walk with Christ.
When dealing with situations that require that you “test the spirits to know whether they are from God” (1 John 4:1) you must first know the voice of your Shepherd. If you recognize His voice, you’ll know when the Enemy is trying to trap you.
Click here to continue reading the novel.
Chapter 32, Footnote 1:
Praying in the Spirit:
This is an arena of prayer that is greatly misunderstood by many in the Body of Christ. It has been mocked by opponents and sometimes misused by those who believe in this gift from the Holy Spirit. Let’s first make some things clear: First, the New Testament church made evident and purposeful use of this gift as documented in Scripture. Second, Scripture does not say that these gifts have ended. On the contrary, Paul makes it clear that “until the perfect comes” the gifts of the Spirit will persist.2 We do not live in the perfect time, yet. And my guess is that we won’t until, at the very least, the Millennial Reign of Christ. That said, there is Scriptural basis for all of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. Third, if the gifts that are received, such as the gift of praying in the Spirit, come as a direct result of asking the Holy Spirit to give them, then how can anyone dispute that they are gifts from God? As Jesus said, “What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?”3 You can trust the Father, through the Holy Spirit, to only give what is a benefit to you. Fourth, and finally, praying in the Spirit is very similar to, but not the same as, speaking in tongues.
The gift of praying in the Spirit is talked about by Apostle Paul. He mentions the ability in no less than three of his letters, to the believers in Rome, the churches at Corinth, and the churches in Ephesus. Obviously he wanted this gift to be utilized widely and often. “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.” “For if I pray in tongues [or a tongue], my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful. What am I to do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also; I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also.” “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.”4
Does Paul make this sound optional? Why would Paul speak this as a necessary component to the believers if God was going to just strip it away sometime after the believers of the First-Century church died off? The answer is that God didn’t remove the gift. Rather we moved away from the gift with corruption in the church that lasted for generations, disallowing Christians to even know what was said in the Scriptures.5
Paul wasn’t the only one of the church fathers to teach it. Jude also made it clear that this was an important practice when he said, “But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit.”
For those who think that praying in the Holy Spirit is in your modern-day English, re-read what Paul said to the Corinthians. He said that “if I pray in tongues, I don’t understand what I’m praying.” That means that he wasn’t praying in any earthly language that he understood. And it would be impossible for him to pray in a human language that he had never learned. So, what is the answer to that? Pray in the spirit (without human understanding) and pray with my mind (with human understanding). The same goes with praising God in song! How about that?!
This gift has to be asked for from the Holy Spirit. Some teach that it only comes from the laying on of hands, but I won’t limit God in this respect. Ask for the gift, and if you attend (or find) a church in which this gift is practiced, ask the believers there to pray for you to receive, first, the baptism in the Holy Spirit, which is step one to receiving the gift of praying in tongues.
Practical Usage:
If you feel a burden from the Holy Spirit to begin praying, or maybe you just have a situation weighing on you but are unsure about how to pray, just launch into your gift of praying in the Spirit (praying in tongues). Keep praying until the burden subsides and you feel at peace. Sometimes you’ll know in your mind what to pray, so pray in English (or your native language). Don’t think that only one or the other type of prayer is best. Use all the tools that the Lord gives you.
Click here to continue reading the novel.
Chapter 39, Footnote 1:
Discerning of Spirits:
The Apostle Timothy speaks to a need for Christians to be alert to false doctrines: “Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons … For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suite their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.”6 We live in the times of which Timothy prophesied. Because of that, God has given us another gift that comes from the Holy Spirit called discerning of spirits. This very specific gift is not given to everyone in the body of Christ. Each believer is given his and her ministry gifts as the Lord sees fit.7 Let me qualify the previous two sentences by saying that while the “gift” is not given to everyone, the ability to discern whether some
thing that is being done is good or evil must first start with studying and getting to know thoroughly the Word of God. This is essential to anyone’s growth as a Christian.
The actual gift of discerning of spirits gives the individual the ability to know, without seeing, whether another individual is being influenced by either the Holy Spirit (because the Holy Spirit would obviously recognize Himself and His own works) or by a demonic spirit. This gift is valuable in that it can allow a person to sense that something is wrong even when nothing has happened in the physical world to make it evident.
Click here to continue reading the novel.
Chapter 39, Footnote 2:
Words of Knowledge:
Here we have yet another gift from God the Holy Spirit. This is a gift or a happenstance that can occur out of the blue. Suddenly you have insight into another human being or a situation. But with knowledge comes responsibility. God may speak into your spirit that a certain individual is going through a certain circumstance. Don’t think that God gave you that tidbit of knowledge so that you can sit on it. God is not a gossip! If He speaks a word of knowledge to you, pray about what you’ve learned. Ask the Lord if He wants you to approach the individual that He spoke about. Maybe He wants that person to know that He cares, and speaking to that person about something you should have no knowledge about may be the key that opens the door. It may be that a person is going through a difficult time and has no way of knowing if he’ll make it through. God may want you to just let that person know that God sent you to speak comfort to him; that he’s not forgotten.
The point is that God can use this gift however He wishes, but you’ve got to be willing to ask for, and operate in, this gift.
Click here to continue reading the novel.
Chapter 39, Footnote 3:
The Strongman:
Here is the being that causes the possessed or oppressed to be unable to rid himself of the demons. Jesus spoke about this spirit and is recorded in three of the four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, and Luke.
Jesus had just cast out a demonic spirit that was causing a man to be unable to speak. Jesus cast out the spirit and then was quickly accused by the religious leaders of the day of being in league with the devil in order to have such power over demons. Jesus made it clear that the only way that the house (the inside of a man) could be cleared out of demonic influence is to first get rid of the strongman (who could also be the lone demon causing the problem). This demon sets up shop and “protects” his host from any other intruders, except those allowed in by the host and the strongman. Jesus went on to say, “But when one stronger than he attacks him [the strongman] and overcomes him, he [Jesus or the one using the authority of Jesus] takes away the armor that he [the strongman] trusted and divides the spoils.8
Once the strongman is eliminated, the remaining “spoils” can be divided. To me this means that the other demons within the host can be cast out after the armor/strength of the strongman is eliminated. That person can now have the peace that he or she has been seeking. But there is a warning that Jesus gave. He said that if the house is left unoccupied after the strongman is cast out, that demon will come back to check on his old “home.” Understand that demons are under strict command by other demons of higher rank. Losing a host to the Enemy [Jesus Christ] is not tolerated. The strongman will come back to see if that individual made a decision to accept Christ or not. If the Holy Spirit now dwells within the individual, the strongman cannot re-enter. However, if the strongman comes back and sees that the individual did not invite Jesus to reside where the strongman once did, that demon will re-enter and will set up shop again, and will invite even stronger beings than himself to reside within the host, as well. This creates an ever worse situation than before the strongman was originally cast out.
When doing deliverance, the team must first be assured of the individual’s desire for Christ prior to the act of deliverance. Otherwise it is actually more compassionate to leave the person in his current state. It’s best to lead the individual to salvation first, then do deliverance, but in some cases in which the demons within the individual hold great sway, at least get some sort of acknowledgment from the host that he (or she) wants to have Christ. Otherwise the entire event could be, at best, pointless; at worst, far more dangerous.
Click here to continue reading the novel.
Chapter 39, Footnote 4:
Demonic hierarchies:
There is much speculation on the exact structure of the demonic hierarchy. Some scholars believe that it is very similar to that of the angels. Others hold that the demonic structure of command is far more complex; after all, it is a kingdom of beings that cannot be trusted. Many demons have been relegated to an unimportant “imp” status; demons that hold little influence over other demons outside of their own low rank.
The Bible does speak to command levels of demonic forces, though. Paul deals with this in his letter to the churches at Ephesus. He writes, “For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”9
During my research into how best to describe this hierarchy, I found a website that got into a lot of terrific detail about demonic rankings. The owner of the site dutifully sought out the meanings of certain words in the Greek and Hebrew to make sure that proper defining of roles was included. I’ve put the link to that site below. Understand that all websites are subject to the owner’s removal at any time.10
It is believed that “Principalities” hold the second-highest ranking within the demonic kingdom, second only to Satan. Below Principalities are “Powers and World Rulers of Darkness.” I believe that these Powers include “Powers of the Air.”
Paul goes on to mention “Spiritual Wickedness in Heavenly Places.” It’s possible that this is not so much a classification of class, but rather the whole of the demonic realm, including the weakest of impish demons.
Satan is portrayed as a god (a false one), a prince, and a king in Scripture. But there is One who is greater, who, in fact created all of the angelic realm in which Satan and his minions exist. It is He, Jesus, who is the True God, the Prince of all princes, the King of all kings, and the Lord of all lords. He reigns as the Second Person of the Godhead, who is supreme commander of all that exists.
Click here to continue reading the novel.
1 ‘Multiple Personality Disorder - Demons and Angels or Archetypal aspects of the inner self,’ Dr. Haraldur Erlendsson ©Haraldur Erlendsson 2003
http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/pdf/erlendsson_01_jun_03.pdf
2 1 Corinthians 13:8-10
3 Luke 11:11-12
4 Romans 8:26; 1 Corinthians 14:14-15; Ephesians 6:18
5 Jude 20-21
6 2 Timothy 4:1, 3-4
7 1 Corinthians 12:10
8 Matthew 12:22-29; Mark 3:21-27; Luke 11:14-26
9 Ephesians 6:12
10 battleinchrist.com/principalities_powers_world_rulers_of_darkness_spiritual
_wickedness_in_spiritual_warfare.htm (visit site here)
W. FRANKLIN LATTIMORE is a graduate of Kent State University, with a B.A. in Political Science. His former involvement in the occult as a teenager was the springboard for writing the Otherealm Saga. Now a committed Christian, his books are written as a wake-up call to those dabbling in, curious about, or heavily active in witchcraft and other “spiritual” activities. His books are also designed to educate Christians on their position and authority in Christ and their responsibility to make Jesus known to their communities, while possibly taking some risks to do so.
Frank is an active volunteer in his church and in his available time enjoys hiking, biking, ziplining, fishing, riding roller coasters, target shooting, and eating crispy BBQ wings. He makes his home in Central Ohio.
Biography Photographer: Christy Brothers
Christy Brothers Photography - Columbus, OH
sp;
W. Franklin Lattimore, Deliver Us From Darkness
Deliver Us From Darkness Page 31