It's another beautiful day in Tennessee. Debbie and I rode bikes again this weekend to cooler temperatures and observed a deer darting into the woods and an armadillo foraging among the crisp, fallen leaves.

As the season transitions outside, work on The Persistent Road moves to another phase inside. The proofreading editor has completed his engagement, and I'm laying out the interior of the advance reader copy (ARC) so I can pitch it to prospective pre-publication endorsers and review services. It's encouraging to see progress on what has sometimes felt like an endless project.

On another front, I purchased some equipment to produce audiobooks for our earlier titles. It's an exciting time to be learning new skills, such as editing audio and a deeper dive into interior layout.

For you Middle Tennesseans, here's a reminder that I'll be at the Middle Tennessee Author's Circle booth at Pumpkinfest in downtown Franklin on October 29. Please  join in the fun event, drop by our booth, and say hi. I'm looking forward to connecting with the public again.

Photo by Melissa Mullin on Unsplash

Our walk began innocently enough but soon took a dark turn. “In this building the night before she was to marry a much older man, a 17-year-old woman hung herself.”

Our tour guide then embellished some phenomena cited by later inhabitants: a slamming door, a shimmering light, and eerie sounds in an otherwise empty dwelling. Her captivating stories enchanted eager tour participants and compensated them for their money.

Throughout the tour, Debbie and I heard similar stories with words such as spirit, energy, paranormal, and psychic. This wasn’t what we’d signed up for.

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necromancy (nekrəˌmansē)

• the supposed practice of communicating with the dead, especially in order to predict the future.
• Similar: sorcery, (black) magic, the black arts, witchcraft, wizardry, the occult, occultism, enchantment, divination, demonology, voodooism, voodoo, hoodoo, witchery, witching, spiritualism, spiritism, thaumaturgy, theurgy

Seem farfetched in today's world? Think again.

The evidence is all around us. Psychics, witchcraft, channeling, Satanism, and the like.

As an online coach for people struggling with life, I've chatted with several individuals who are in bondage to witchcraft and other schemes of the devil, which are often referred to as the occult. Counterfeit forms of spirituality have hijacked their victims' innate desire for a spiritual connection to our Creator.

Who doesn't want to know the future? And by any means possible.

The desire to know what's up ahead in life could prevent disasters - or maybe heighten anxiety. It could also stonewall exercising faith in the One True God.

The way out? Renouncing what is of the devil and not of God, and turning to the only One who knows the future. But the insidious lure of the occult can be captivating. It brings a feeling of empowerment, which can make turning away difficult.

Hallmarks of the counterfeits are confusion and lust for power. There is power there, but nothing good comes of it. It's unworthy of celebration.

Let's hope this year's Halloween celebrates the delight of children receiving free candy and the innocent fun of masquerading their dreams rather than everyone's nightmares.

[definition courtesy of Google]

“Do not turn to mediums or necromancers; do not seek them out, and so make yourselves unclean by them: I am the Lord your God.”

-Leviticus 19:31 ESV

People around us, particularly adolescents, need to hear wise counsel on the occult. As Halloween approaches, who in your sphere of influence needs to hear these verses? Invite the power of God's Word to do its work in their lives.

“There shall not be found among you anyone who . . . practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord.”

-Deuteronomy 18:10-12a ESV

“He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”

-I John 4:4b ESV