The Quickened

By Lisa A. Castrellon-Pollnow

What do you mean you are my god? I dont believe in God. Why must I choose if you say that I am yours?

Satan watches this human and knows he must tread lightly here. He knows when they dont choose a god, they are his by default. Humans have that choice as long as they are alive. He must somehow get this man to choose him.

Who are you? Jonathan David insists.

You know deep down, Lucifer says quietly.

You just dont want to admit it.

Satan?

What happens when a small church, a well-known medium and the top psychologist in the world, cross paths with the illuminating Word of God? As they delve deeper into mysterious occurrences, they come to realize there is a great war being fought for their souls. The devil is trying hard to keep from being revealed, but will his tactics hold out against the faith of a few believers?

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: May 3, 2012
• ISBN: 9781449748074

Lisa A. Castrellon-Pollnow

Lisa A. Castrellon-Pollnow, although only four feet nine inches tall, exhibits huge stature full of passion and boldness in her first novel. She merges her faith and creative word pictures to paint a story that will ignite and inspire the reader. Lisa is a licensed X-ray tech, lab tech, and medical assistant. She lives in the small, rural town of Beebe, Arkansas, with her husband, Daniel; her mother, Patricia; and their daughter, Andrea, who stays with them when she is home from college.

Book preview

1

And they had a king over them, which is the angel

of the bottomless pit. Revelation 9:11

Sulfuric acid and brimstone are boiling in the pits that surround the throne of the prince of darkness. Lucifer is sitting there, watching legion upon legion call his name and pay tribute as they fly over the vast pits of hell. It is easy to win the masses, you see; the devil has been known for all these millennia to be a lie.

The great deceiver looks over at Apollyon with his deep, red, gleaming eyes full of loathing and disdain and gives a nod. Apollyon, another angel cast down with Lucifer in the great rebellion, is the head over all the legions. Apollyon is only a supporter of Satan. Lucifer, being the head instigator, became the great deceiver, with one third of the angels following him from heaven.

The angels that chose to leave heaven with the devil became the demonic legions: demons and minions serving Satan and causing havoc on the human race.

Lucifer relishes as Apollyon, the demonic hosts, and their demonic minions under them inflict relentless pain upon the human souls he has been able to snatch from God. With every soul the devil gains, he knows he inflicts the deepest sorrow upon his enemy.

He will fight until the end to win a battle that is to be a last stand. The dark angel knows he will never win in the battle against God. Instead, he has decided to unleash all his fury on the human souls in hell and then wage a fight against the human souls, bodies, and minds on earth. Lucifer knows God made man in his image, and because of this, he detests mankind.

The great evil one now begins to stand, enchanted by all the demonic forces basking and paying tribute before him. They all watch as he engulfs himself in flames. He does this on the worst of occasions, when he feels out of control.

The legions consist of demonic hosts, including Suicide, Fear, Hate, Murder, Strife, Un-forgiveness, Anger, Migraine, Lust, and Death, to name a few, with all their minions. The demonic creatures are not human in any form but are menacing, beastly contortions of all that is fearful and unholy.

They all stand over seven feet tall, including the hosts, who are well over thirteen feet. All have sharp, gnashing, razor teeth. Their skins are covered in scales varying in size, texture, and shape from beast to beast. All have talons sharper than any human sword ever forged, and even those are different from demon to demon. The demonic minions are an exact replica of the hosts, except for their strength and the color of their eyes.

The colors of the hosts’ eyes are a deep, gleaming, putrid green, and the lower minions’ are a deep, glowing, rancid yellow. The only other eye color to mention is the blazing orange of Apollyon. The yellow flames surrounding the great evil one grow as he begins to raise his razor-sharp, fiery talons. The devil looks out over the vast pits as every beast falls to the ground in submission, including Apollyon, standing off to his left. Fearful, and with a sudden incursion of silence, they all bow their heads, trembling.

Satan looks out over the extensive crowd with cruel disregard. Lucifer cares nothing for his factions; they are only a means by which to carry out his master plan of destruction for all creation, especially the human life God so loves.

To sever human souls from their heavenly Creator is Satan’s main goal, and he intends to do this with all his might. He couldn’t care less how he uses his demonic forces to do it. With all eyes now upon him, he begins to speak.

There has come to my attention a serious problem we are going to have to deal with. For all these millennia, I have been able to keep the humans uninformed of my existence by keeping the notion that I am a lie.

With these words, some of the legions lift themselves, and with all others cheering and chanting, chaos radiates throughout all the dark, incalculable recesses of hell.

With the devil’s flames now turning from yellow to orange, he begins looking around at the crowd in a most contemptible manner. The demonic forces, seeing this change, immediately calm down to let him speak again.

"There is a church rising up, and though it is small, they know the power of praise and praying in the language of the Spirit and are unafraid to use them. The pastor, Lynn, has faith like a mustard seed, and when he realizes this, he will truly be a force with which to reckon. This man, this human man, is going to give us the hardest fight. He will be a challenge because he knows we have been defeated. Laughter ensues as Satan stands up to quiet the masses. Watch him. He is a threat. The attacks must be in ways he never thought about. We must shake him to his core. If we can shake him, maybe we can get his focus off of us. His wife, Anna, works with a professor, Emma Stalwart. She will be a considerable threat if she is exposed to the spirit world by this church and she finds her true potential as a born-again, Spirit-filled Christian.

"This is where we may have problems. I have a man in place that I am going to use. Many of you familiar spirits know him as Jonathan David. He is a medium that can only hear us at this time, although I plan to allow him to start seeing as well, slowly. He is a skittish fellow. I want him to expose the spirit world to the professor.

It should be easy, you imbeciles! He is her boyfriend. Realize this: you will have to move fast. Pastor Lynn and his wife, along with their church, know and understand the power they hold in their tongues with the name of … Lucifer, almost unable to spit out the next word for fear of having to bow under it, decides to speak it anyway, knowing he must make a vivid enough example. Jesus.

Instantly, with what seems like a sonic boom radiating out from the dark prince’s throne, all the forces of evil, Lucifer and Apollyon included, are thrust to their knees, wincing in the most merciless anguish. Even the souls in the pits are reminded of the eternal life they gave up for their own selfish desires and scream out in their perpetual torment.

Instantly, Lucifer vigorously regrets his decision to say the name of Jesus. He knows the law; it states that every knee shall bow under the name of Jesus.

Now irate, the great deceiver turns from orange flames to a brilliant reddish orange. He inflicts his own excruciating pain onto all the demonic creatures in front of him, then through all of hell itself. His rage shoots like flames, burning many, including Apollyon. Lucifer, now blazing a brilliant orange-red with a hint of blue, pauses for a moment as his rage subsides.

The legions, trembling with unbearable pain, knowing torment may happen again at any moment, decide to step back in silence and hateful reverence.

Punishment here is horrendous, and there is no fighting back. When Apollyon is admonished for the hosts’ failures, he passes it on one hundredfold. The hosts who are reprimanded by Apollyon, in return, are brutally merciless to their own minions. The devil has no favorites, and all merciless, final punishment is given by him. Only once before has the power of the name of Jesus been in hell, and to Lucifer, those three days were more than enough.

Standing, he decides never to speak the name of Jesus again. After a few silent moments of gathering, he begins to speak.

"They also understand the power of praise! I am not willing to lose! Nor will I allow myself to be exposed at this time." With total chaos, all the demonic forces begin to chant and squeal and fly in acknowledgement. Satan allows the masses to continue to worship him as he and Apollyon survey.

So, the devil continues as the demonic forces begin to calm yet again, in order to impede this connection of the professor and church from being introduced, I am now going to allow you to show yourselves in America more than I have ever given you permission to do in the past. Apollyon will guide you in the forms of attack allowed at this time. Go now to the medium, you familiar spirits, and use whatever means you have. It is imperative that he show the professor the sinister, dark, enticing side of the spirit world. Go, and reveal to him our true nature. Give him more power so he will finally choose me and I can use him up!

The demonic forces, thrilled with their new permission, bellow in excitement at the prospect of instigating more destruction than ever before.

Wait! You must know one thing! Instant silence falls over the gathering. Remember, the church you are going to come into contact with knows the power of praise and the name. They also command the angels, know their authority in the Word, and use the prayer language of the Holy Spirit to do it. Your battles with these people will be harder, but I will not tolerate defeat. Use your battle tactics wisely. Come against their weaker loved ones and their selfish desires. But remember, some of them are asleep and, if awakened, will be as great as the pastor, or even greater. Do not forget that two or more of them together can put ten thousand of you to flight! This meeting must be stopped at all costs! You may use any means necessary! Any means! With all hell now breaking loose, Lucifer realizes there will be no turning back.

The dark angel looks around at his forces of evil and sits back down. He nods at Apollyon standing to his left. Excited with the expectation of being able to unleash the limitless terror they have been able to cause in third world countries, all the demonic entities begin to quiet down and wait for their obliterative orders.

Apollyon waves the legions down in front of the throne of the great evil one, gazes into a cauldron pit used to track humans, and unreservedly begins to plan an attack. Lucifer sits on the edge of his seat looking into the cauldron too, waiting to hear the plan. Looking in, Apollyon suddenly sees Pastor Lynn.

Apollyon sees the intense look on Lucifer’s face and cries out.

It has begun!

Satan, taking note, sits erect and pushes his hands on the armrests of his throne as Apollyon continues.

The pastor is alone on the cliff!

With a nod from Satan and Apollyon, Disruption and a legion leave for the first battle in this war. Satan looks back across the cauldron and catches a movement that warrants more attention. In the cauldron, he sees Jonathan David. Without a word, Satan looks over at Fear and the familiar spirits. With one swift move of his blistered talons, he waves them away with a group of Fear’s minions. As they leave, the devil slinks back onto his throne as flames yet again engulf the great deceiver.

2

And that, knowing the time, that now is high time

to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer

than when we believed. Romans 13:11

Michael, Gabriel says, looking out over the cavernous valley and dangling his legs ever so loosely over the mammoth cliff of the gorge. When do you think the created will realize the potential they hold in the power of God and walk in the fullness thereof?

Gabriel, Michael says in a low laugh as he moves his attention from the red vapors radiating up from the pit through a hole in the bottom of the gorge, to Gabriel, looking out across the valley at the humans they were sent to observe.

Gabriel and Michael both see the dark spirits rising up out of the pit of hell led by Disruption and his minions. They rise up in a tornadic tempest of fury, whipping up into the shape of a funnel. Growing ever wider, it moves up out and through the valley until they are all out of sight. Gabriel and Michael look at one another, and before either one can say another word, they catch the glimpse of another tempest flow of demons ascending.

They watch this set closely. Fear leads a group of his minions, followed by a flock of familiar spirits. They know this is the troop they were sent to monitor. They, too, fly up in a cyclone of power and circle out over toward the house of the medium to hover in wait. Michael looks back over to Gabriel and continues their conversation.

They are waking up. Few even know some of their potential now. Maybe not in every area, but some know the power of the Holy Spirit, some the power of praise and even the power of connecting two or more together in agreement.

"I can … together? Don’t they realize how much power is in unison? You know, like when everyone came together in Babel to build the tower to Heaven?

"They would have completed it, too. There was so much power of agreement there that He had to break it apart by causing the humans to speak different languages. They never even realized the potential they had then, and all they did was tap into the power of two or more in agreement. Just think, if they bring themselves back together with the power of agreement, the Holy Spirit, faith, and the name of Jesus to fight the dark one, he would stand no chance!"

Gabriel and Michael look at each other for a moment before Michael begins to speak.

When they begin to fight the evil he unleashes on them every day and realize how he fights, using thoughts and desires, they will understand his fiery darts and how to deflect them with the ‘whole armor of God’. Michael and Gabriel stare at each other, realizing they had both spoken the end of the sentence together.

I think we are going to see the Righteous come forth from this generation. I think this fearless generation will step out and move all of heaven and hell, Michael says looking to Gabriel, who is now standing and looking out across the gorge as the demons hover in wait.

Just be ready. The war comes, Gabriel, Michael says as he gathers himself to stand. We are watching the end of an era. No longer will the church sit silent. They are about to take back with force what is theirs, and now more than ever, we will get to be a part of it because they will be doing everything through faith. Both Michael and Gabriel look up toward heaven and draw their swords.

As they raise them in unison, a ray of light falls onto them, filling them with a measure of strength from above and covering them in a brilliant, glittering white beam. Adjacent to the gorge, a man and a woman are sitting, having coffee on their veranda, when they see a radiant ray of light fall from the sky, illuminating a cliff on the other side of the gorge.

J. D.! Do you see that?

Wow, that is fascinating. I have never seen such a sparkling light, have you?

No! the woman says, looking intently, seeing something moving.

J. D., do you see that?

Yeah, it looks like two men or … something … wow!

How do you think they got there?

I don’t know, but go get the camera! Jonathan David says, standing, hoping to get a clearer view.

Uh, Michael, are we in stealth mode? Gabriel says, looking across the gorge.

I think so, why? Michael says, still basking in the dazzling, glittering