Because of Christ's sacrifice, we are to take hold of what God offers, accept His grace and work toward becoming mature in Christ. The concept expressed is the synergy between human effort and divine grace in the process of salvation. It emphasizes that humans play an active role in seeking and working towards their salvation,yet it is ultimately God's grace and guidance that enable and empower individuals to fulfil His will. This understanding reflects the belief in a cooperative relationship between human agency and divine intervention in the journey towards spiritual growth and redemption. Abstaining from worldly pleasures is not merely about disciplining the body but also about purifying the mind, for the fullness of the fast will not only curb the wickedness that is our fleshly desires but also dispel erroneous thoughts that spring from within. A heart untainted by misconceptions undergoes a genuine and rational purification in preparation for the Paschal Feast, where the profound mysteries of our faith converge.

2 Orange school board conservatives ousted by recalls with LGBTQ+ policies at the center​

Voters in the city of Orange appear to have ousted two conservative school board members who had spearheaded policies widely opposed by advocates for LGBTQ+ youth in a recall election viewed as a local bellwether for the culture wars in education.

The fiercely contested recall election in the Orange Unified School District intensified with the board majority’s approval in the fall of a parent-notification policy requiring educators to inform parents when a student requests “to be identified as a gender other than that student’s biological sex or the gender listed on the birth certificate or any other official records.” [The policy passed 4-0 after the three opponents on the board walked out in protest.]

A legal battle over the issue is playing out as California Atty. General Rob Bonta pursues a court challenge of such policies enacted by a handful of conservative-leaning school boards

The two Orange Unified board members — Rick Ledesma and Madison Miner — gave farewell remarks on Monday at what was likely their last board meeting.

Ledesma, a veteran school board member, and Miner, a newcomer, were warriors who took high-profile, aggressively conservative stands in front of cheering audiences of the like-minded. Their supporters included some district parents, but many attending the board’s most raucous meeting in September were religious conservatives without children in public schools, including some from well outside the community.

Opponents of the recall included conservative religious leaders and their congregants from inside and well beyond the community, as well as local charter school supporters and Republican officials.

--

Orange County has historically been a very conservative corner of California -- home turf for Nixon. Currently it's more purplish, and the last two presidential elections went against Trump I believe. But still a lot of solid conservative religious roots. A similar story is being played out in Huntington Beach, which is MAGA central for the OC, where a movement led largely by older residents is pushing back on what they see as creeping fascism in city government.

Yes, you can fight city hall. Huntington Beach retirees are waging a revolution​

Protect Huntington Beach — a revolution led by retirees — is waging a spirited fight against what the group sees as a City Hall attempt to screen, and perhaps ban, library books with sexual content, reel in Pride flags and suppress voting rights.

Former Huntington Beach Mayor Shirley Dettloff, who’s almost 89, didn’t hesitate to join the resistance.

“We’re really the people who built this city, and we’re proud of what we did,” Dettloff said. “And this new council is diminishing all that we worked for.”

As mayor, Dettloff said, she was co-author of a human dignity policy after reports of a skinhead presence in Huntington Beach. But in September, the council voted 4-3 to remove references to hate crimes from the policy, and it added a line saying the city “will recognize from birth the genetic differences between male and female...”

I guess you could say I'm in part time ministry as I lead a Bible Study, sometimes give a message in church, and am active in several other ways. Not only preaching/teaching, but writing, and doing volunteer work, all of which I'm thankful to the LORD for the opportunities and give Him all credit.

That said, I notice in many ministries a lack of fire, and the LORD wants to bring back that fire, and that thunder that was instrumental in revivals and many true conversions during the awakenings at various times.

"Is not my word like as a fire? saith the Lord; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?" - Jeremiah 23:29

The Word must be preached with PASSION, and the unction & anointing of the Holy Spirit, not the dead letter. We must earnestly contend for the faith once delivered unto the saints, standing up for the True Gospel, and proclaiming Salvation through the blood of Jesus Christ and His Cross, by grace through faith, and repentance, of which if there is no repentance, there is no fruit, and therefore one is still LOST!

It's time to cut out all the silly little things that have been adopted and adapted into the church, that have detracted from the faith of many: all the little things of the world, and the glittery stuff of Laodicea especially, and the pride, and pomp, that goeth before destruction, the haughty Spirit before a fall, and turn to God in prayer on our knees and on our faces, confessing our sins, and confessing the sins of the Church - YES, the church, which often has forsaken the way of Christ for a way that does not profit spiritually, and does not save the soul, in many a case.

The ministry needs to stop watering down their messages, using corrupted Bibles that sound like mush, using feel good messages that tickle itching ears, and promoting a Gospel of compromise with the world. Awaken those who are sleeping, seek the LORD while He may be found: Almighty God shall shake up His church, and move within it, as in all the 7 churches of Revelation, who were warned but a two of them, and were cautioned to hold on to the things that were of God, and to repent of the wicked things that were not.

"See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:

Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.

And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.

Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:

For our God is a consuming fire." - Hebrews 12:25-29

For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
— Romans 8:5-8

When it comes to regeneration, there are two arguments. Or at least two that I know of. One is that we believe, and then are regenerated, and the other is that we are regenerated and then believe. I think the above passage makes a clear argument that we cannot believe prior to be regenerated. The reason is that faith or belief is something that pleases God. Being obedient to Christ’s command is something that pleases God. I also think that believing the gospel and being obedient or things that must be done in the spirit and not in the flesh. And the reason is, as the above passage says, we cannot please God in the flesh.

If the only way to pleaseGod is to be in the Spirit, then the argument would be that one must be in the Spirit before he or she can be obedient to Christ’s command to believe and repent.

"1984" is the name of a work of fiction. Its author is George Orwell (deceased). It is the story of a man living in a totalitarian state, called Oceania. A state that re-writes history, redefines words, controls all of the media, oversees everything and everyone all of the time, ruthlessly controls every thought and every action and every emotion and every facial expression and every bit of body language. In short from a free man's perspective Oceania is doubleplusungood but for those inside its influence Oceania is the salvation of humanity.

George Orwell intended his work to be a warning against Soviet communism, but he also intended it to be a warning against the tendency to control others by the use of force. J R R Tolkien also wrote a book, it is called "The Lord of the Rings" and it too is a warning against the tendency to control others by the use of force. Tolkien's book offers a gospel message of societal salvation by means of destroying the means of forcing others to submit (unwillingly) to control.

Now, what I am wondering is if Christianity is always or only sometimes on the right side of this existential question? In this question I intend "Christianity" to be understood of churches and denominations here on Earth.

When we believe in Jesus Christ with God-given faith in him, it is not just so that we can have our sins forgiven and so that we can go to heaven when we die. The reason that Jesus died on that cross was so that we could die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness. It was so that, by God-persuaded faith in him, we would be crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness.

[1 Peter 2:24; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Ephesians 4:17-24].

So, all these people who are telling you that no works are required of you at all, and that God does everything, and that you do nothing other than to “believe,” which is rarely biblically define, they are lying to you. Yes, we are not saved through human effort. I agree! Yes, our faith, the grace of God, and our salvation are all gifted to us by God and they are not of our own doing – not of the will nor of the flesh of man. But that also means that we do not get to define what that faith looks like. God does. His word does!

[Hebrews 12:1-2; Ephesians 2:8-10; John 1:12-13; John 6:44]

So we need to know that Ephesians 2:8-9 is followed by Ephesians 2:10 which says, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” And Titus 2:11-14 lets us know that the grace of God, which is bringing us salvation, trains us to renounce (say “No!” to) ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives. For Jesus Christ “gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.”

And we also need to know that Jesus Christ said that if anyone would come after him that he must deny self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin and to self) and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to our old lives of living in sin and for self, we will lose them for eternity. But if for the sake of Jesus we deny self, die daily to sin, and follow him in obedience, then we have eternal life in him. For he also said that not everyone who calls him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING the will of God the Father.

[Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23; Galatians 5:16-21; 1 John 3:4-10]

So, when we read instructions in the Scriptures written to the body of Christ, the church, which are intended for the church of all generations, we are not to dismiss them just because they don’t fit with a particular theology which is telling you that God requires nothing of you other than some innocuous “faith” in him, which is of yourself because it is not according to the Scriptures. All throughout the New Testament we who believe in Jesus are being instructed in what we are to stop doing and what we are to be doing.

And these instructions are not optional. They are to be taught as required of God, not as mere suggestions or recommendations (see Colossians 3:5-11). So, when we are instructed here to put on compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, etc., this is what we are to do, not in our own strength, and not of the flesh, but in the power of God as being led by the Spirit of God. But we are first of all to put off all that is earthly in us – sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, evil desire, idolatry, and the like.

But so many people are following a false gospel message which is an adulterated version of the true gospel which is giving them the impression that how they live will not alter their relationship with the Lord and that it will not impact their salvation and eternal life. Just not biblical! And so we have a massive amount of people here in America professing faith in Jesus Christ and heaven as their eternal destiny who are still living for self and for the flesh and who are still walking in sin and not in obedience to the Lord.

But we are to be people of God who are putting off the flesh, who are dying daily to sin and to self, and who are putting on love and compassionate hearts and kindness and humility, and who are forgiving one another, and who are loving one another with agape love which prefers what God prefers. And what God prefers is all that is holy, righteous, morally pure, upright, honest, faithful, and obedient to God and to his commands. So we will do for others what is for their spiritual good and not just to please them.

So, yes, the word of God is to be dwelling within us, not just in our intellect, but as part of who we are and of what we do. We are to be daily putting that word into practice, which is for us who are followers of Christ. And then we are to be teaching the word of God to one another, and we are to be admonishing one another in accord with that word. And we are to be spreading the truth of the gospel to the world around us. We are not to be living for ourselves doing whatever pleases us, but what pleases God.

[Matt 5:13-16; Matt 28:18-20; Jn 4:31-38; Jn 13:13-17; Jn 14:12; Acts 1:8; Acts 2:14-18; Acts 26:18; Rom 10:14-15; Rom 12:1-8; Rom 15:14; 1 Co 12:1-31; 1 Co 14:1-5; Eph 4:1-16; Eph 5:17-27; Php 2:1-8; Col 3:16; Heb 3:13; Heb 10:23-25; 1 Pet 2:9,21; 1 Jn 2:6]

Broken and Contrite

An Original Work / May 13, 2012

I come before You, Lord, my Savior,
With humble heart and crushed in spirit.
I bow before You, I implore You,
Heal my broken heart, I pray.
Love You, Jesus, Lord, my master,
You are the King of my heart.
Lord, purify my heart within me;
Sanctify me, whole within.

Oh, Lord, I long to obey fully
The words You’ve spoken through Your Spirit.
I pray You give me grace and mercy,
Strength and wisdom to obey.
Father God, my heart’s desire,
Won’t You set my heart on fire?
Lord, cleanse my heart of all that hinders
My walk with You, now I pray.

Oh, Jesus, Savior, full of mercy,
My heart cries out for understanding.
I want to follow You in all ways,
Never straying from Your truth.
Holy Spirit, come in power,
Fill me with Your love today.
Lord, mold and make me;
Your hands formed me;
Live Your life through me, I pray.

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Genesis 6

1Now when men began to multiply on the face of the earth and daughters were born to them, 2the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they took as wives whomever they chose.

3So the LORD said, “My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days shall be 120 years.”

4The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and afterward as well—when the sons of God had relations with the daughters of men. And they bore them children who became the mighty men of old, men of renown.

Well first we must find out who the sons of God were.

Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among us job 1:6

So the sons God were Angels.

There were 200 fallen Angels who landed on Mount Herman that day, this is Mount Herman today.



In order to carry out its mandate, UNDOF maintains an area of separation, which is over 75 kilometres (46.6 miles) long and varies in width between approximately 10 kilometres (6.21 miles) in the centre to 200 meters (0.12 miles) in the extreme south. The terrain is hilly and is dominated in the north by Mount Hermon, which is the location of the globe’s highest permanently manned United Nations position at an altitude of 2,814 meters (1,75 miles).


What does the UN know that we don't ?

WHAT IT MEANS TO FOLLOW CHRIST IN NORTH KOREA:​

Christians are sent to prison and labor camps, where they are starved, overworked and tortured. The government’s requirement that all North Koreans act as informants applies even to families, as children are taught to spy on their parents from a young age. Therefore, North Korean Christians must be extremely careful in what they say, what they do and even how they pray. When a Christian is discovered, the government punishes the entire family in order to encourage reporting on family members. Despite the threat of persecution and heavy social pressure, Christians in North Korea hold firmly to their faith. Christian and secular analysts estimate that about 30,000 Christians are currently suffering in prison and labor camps.

ACCESS TO BIBLES:​

Owning a Bible or even portions of Scripture is extremely risky in North Korea. Nevertheless, bold Christians work to bring God’s Word to the North Korean people, few of whom have ever had access to Scripture because of the regime’s unceasing efforts to restrict access. Most of North Korea’s underground Christians have found that memorization is the safest and most effective way to keep God’s Word.

Voice of the Martyrs – Praying for Persecuted Christians in North Korea

VOM's Global Prayer Guide was created to help you pray more specifically for our brothers and sisters in Christ who risk rejection, imprisonment and even death as they obediently serve the Lord on dangerous and difficult mission fronts.

www.persecution.com

(Last night at Bible study we were discussing how the seed gets spread around the world, and one young man said his church has missionaries in S Korea that they pray for all the time. I said it's possible they might even reach North Korea, because the South Korean believers sometimes floated scriptures on balloons the North calls "propaganda balloons" However, then South Korea stopped the balloons 2 years ago!

"However, in 2020, the South Korean government officially passed a bill to criminalize the flying of propaganda balloons toward North Korea, despite criticisms by activists that the attempts of improving ties with the North with such a ban would suppress the freedom of expression for South Korean citizens. The 187 lawmakers who supported the bill pledged that the new legislation was passed to avoid unnecessarily provoking North Korea, to ensure the safety of people living near the border and secure stable relations with the North. Under the new law, anyone flying leaflets, auxiliary storage devices or money towards North Korea without government permission is punishable by up to three years in prison or 30 million won (approx. $27,730) in fines."

North Korean Defector Indicted in South Korea for Floating Propaganda Balloons — Crossing Borders - Helping North Korean Refugees and Orphans

In 2020, the South Korean government officially passed a bill to criminalize the flying of propaganda balloons toward North Korea, and in 2021, a North Korean defector was indicted for sending helium balloons towards North Korea. Park Sang-hak, an outspoken North Korean defector-turned-activist bec

www.crossingbordersnk.org

Now let's not ask if anyone is still flying balloons with Bibles & scripture. I also heard someone floated scriptures in bottles also, in hopes they wash up on N Korea's shores. Definitely ALL of this deserves much prayer, and ultimately this prayer, "EVEN SO, COME LORD JESUS!" - Revelation 22:20 )
Amen

I'm just reflecting on this complicated issue with my sister-in-law and relating it to an episode of a sitcom I used to love. Long story short, two of the main characters are married, the wife had an absentee father who is trying to reconcile with her and her husband naively invites him to Thanksgiving. After realizing her dad still hadn't changed enough, if at all, the husband kicked him out and went to find his wife who had left in anger. He tells her family's a privilege not a right, and her dad has to earn it.

Do you guys think that conflicts too much with the Church's teachings on marriage and family?

Reason I bring this up is my wife is trying her best to guide her younger sister who's unmarried, pregnant, and her boyfriend who's 11 years her junior isn't indicating any movement towards marriage. We would let this play out more on it's own and stay out of it if we didn't see all of the stress that his actions are putting on my sister-in-law and thus, presumably, the unborn baby. At first we were encouraging them to get married because we thought that'd be best for everyone, but we laid off that a long time ago and now my wife is wrestling with telling her sister she ought to leave this guy. She doesn't want to create a situation like her own kids were in where their parents weren't together, but she also sees the father's lack of "stepping up" or "manning up" and worries about how it could affect her sister and her unborn niece's health. Especially when her sister has a history of mental health problems.

I started thinking that the father/boyfriend is acting like he doesn't have to act cause she's already "stuck" with him, which led me to me remembering that line from the show.

I'm probably way off base from a Catholic standpoint but if I am then it really seems like a no-win situation.

G7 warns Iran not to support Russia with ballistic missiles​

G7 leaders on Friday urged Iran not to send ballistic missiles to Russia.
“We are extremely concerned about reports that Iran is considering transferring ballistic missiles and related technology to Russia after having supplied the Russian regime with UAVs, which are used in relentless attacks against the civilian population in Ukraine,” the statement said.
The G7 called on Iran not to deliver missiles, and said there would be consequences if they did.
“Were Iran to proceed with providing ballistic missiles or related technology to Russia, we are prepared to respond swiftly and in a coordinated manner including with new and significant measures against Iran,” the statement said.
A senior official in the U.S. administration said the country had not yet seen confirmation that missiles have moved from Iran to Russia, but noted that negotiations between the countries have been advancing.
The official reiterated that measures would be taken against Iran if it supplied Russia with missiles, including a potential ban of flights by state-owned Iran Air into Europe.

Ukraine war updates: Russia heads to the polls; 20 dead in Odesa after Russian missile attack

Russians head to the polls on Friday in a presidential election that is all but certain to grant President Vladimir Putin a fifth term in power.

www.cnbc.com

(Escalate, escalate. Notice nothing at all seems to be going in the opposite direction of peace? The wars grind on, and when someone gets low on supplies, other nations pick up the slack. Except it almost seems calculated that Ukraine doesn't get enough to hold a stalemate, let alone win. Zelensky messed up by not looking way down the road, thinking his western allies would supply him with the means to beat Russia and drive them out, including the delusions of grandeur about driving Russia from Crimea as well.

Luke 14:31-32,
"Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand?
Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace."

2022, Ukraine had approximately 700,000
Russia was 2 million personal, and 1.15 million troops.
But we also have the population pool: Ukraines of 39.7 million to Russia's 143.44 million in 2022

Ukraine gambled on foreign help, but only got enough to keep the war going, not make any significant headway to any sort of victory.

Please pray for me, I'm worried a brother in Christ is angry with me and I'm not sure why.

Had a really bad day, hurting right now mentally and physically. So depressed I can't even pray or get out of bed. Please pray for me.

Yemen’s Houthi terrorist group has obtained a new hypersonic missile and upgraded its current arsenal with warheads, Russian state media RIA reported on Thursday.

Citing an unnamed Houthi official, the terrorist group told RIA that they had tested a hypersonic missile “with high lethality” and are planning to add it to their arsenal.

“The group’s missile forces have successfully tested a missile that is capable of reaching speeds of up to Mach 8,” the official said, adding that the weapon runs on solid fuel; Yemen intends to begin manufacturing it for use during attacks in Krasnoye. Arabian Seas and the Gulf of Aden, as well as against targets in Israel.

Mach 8 is the equivalent of 9878.4 per hour. The US-based Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance categorizes a hypersonic missile as a missile that can “travel faster than Mach 5 [3800mph] and have the capability to maneuver during the entire flight.”

The unnamed official also reportedly claimed that the group had been upgrading their northern-based stock of missiles and drones, modifying them to have explosive warheads. ”

(OK, where did they get it from? Iran? Russia? Iran does have the Fattah Missile since last year [Farsi for Conqueror] that is hypersonic)

No Labels candidates can be announced soon per this article late yesterday:

Continuing of thread from Virtual Meeting of No Labels Common Sense Party with ?Haley Later This Week with cleanup of voting choices in this thread where you are at now.

What are your thoughts, comments, or updates of the No Labels party moving forward you come across?

Halo there,

for severeal years now I get vibrations through my feet when God wants to tell me something in the same moment with visions and thoughts put into my soul. So I did not take it serious at first but than I got it that God got angry about that so I started to obey.

for 16 years now I am in a secret relationship with an christian orthodox monk (we did not get sex yet), he comes to visit me secretly and we just hug and kiss and talk on my couch or I visit him in the monastery. Everytime earlier I spoke about marriage he always said I would demand to much. Until two weeks ago. God sent me signs through my feet and through visions to obey Him and to talk about marriage to my secret monk love again. And this time he did not feel under pressure. In the contrary he asked in every detail how do I expect our life together. And all the time he was playing with his feet with my feet. He did not feel under pressure at all. But there ist this one problem. God told me earlier through his signs that Jesus will come to me in the year 2027. And now God tells an other story of my life. So I am sitting here and waiting if my beloved monk will decide to move into my appartment with me together and to seek marriage at a "protestant"/evangelical church with me together.

Any tips how I can survive this hard time? Are ther other women who are secretly in love with an catholic priest or orthodox monk?

I really do not know if I really have a chance or I made myself stupid again.

Thanks for reeding. Prayers welcome! This is the love of my life! And he also wants children with me together.

• November 13–22, 2023: Additional 1000 rockets and mortar shells launched at Israel, amounting to more than 10,500 since the beginning of October, with the rate of failed launches that fell in the Gaza Strip and the sea back to 10%.

10,500 rocket attacks on Israel in less than 60 days. Rocket launch sites based in schools, Hospitals and neighborhoods -

Read here additionally -


Every one of those attacks were on civilian population centers - hospitals, homes, schools, market places -

The Palestinians have been offered and rejected a two state solution




They do not want peace - they want the destruction and elimination of the Jews -




They have been offered a two state solution numerous times - always rejected - they don't want compromise - they don't want peace - they want the destruction of Israel.

“Donald Trump is pursuing and articulating an agenda that is at odds with the conservative agenda that we governed on during our four years. That’s why I cannot in good conscience endorse Donald Trump in this campaign,” Pence said on Fox News, in a stunning repudiation of his former running mate.

“As I have watched his candidacy unfold, I’ve seen him walking away from our commitment to confronting the national debt. I’ve seen him starting to shy away from a commitment to the sanctity of human life. And this last week, his reversal on getting tough on China and supporting our administration’s efforts to force a sale of ByteDance’s TikTok,” he added.

I could not decide whether to put this here or in ethics, but how do you feel about the fact that in many places a landlord may (legally) refuse to rent to those who rely on section 8 housing? This is so long as section 8 is the only reason they cannot use section 8 among with a protected class, but they may have a blanket policy to not rent to anyone who relies on a section 8 voucher for rent.

Sen. Bernie Sanders and Senate Democrats cited advances in artificial intelligence and automation Thursday in their argument for a bill that would mandate a 32-hour federal workweek.

“Despite massive growth in technology and worker productivity, millions of workers in our country are working longer hours for low wages,” Sanders said after gaveling open a hearing of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.

“The sad reality is Americans now work more hours than the people of any other wealthy nation,” the committee chair and Vermont independent said later."

Exodus 20:9-11
Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:

But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:

For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

Yes, they involve evil beings in the spiritual reality.

Does it work every time?

No. Satan is not omnipresent. when someone is practicing witchcraft somewhere on this planet, Satan might not even know about it. His resources are finite. He needs to allocate them effectively. The demons are just not always present when invoked.

Some people are more open to spiritual manipulations than others, e.g., Balaam and the fortune-telling slave girl in Acts 16:16. Others are difficult for demons to penetrate. Though the demons are there, they fail to communicate with the difficult witch.

Satan is not omniscient. When you ask an established witch a question, her associates/evil spirits may not know the answer.

Satan is not omnipotent. The witch and her evil associates can try to make something happen and it doesn't because of circumstances.

Finally, the good spirits may stop the evil spirits. This is spiritual warfare.

Banishing Rituals:

A banishing ritual is often performed at the beginning of a ceremony in order to rid the ritual area of negative or unwanted energy or entities that may interfere with magick or unbalance energies that will be raised or summoned during the ceremony. Most magical paths prescribe a banishing ritual of this type prior to any spellwork or magick of any sort.

Click to expand...

That's when the witch wants to get rid of the good guys.

How to get rid of an evil (voodoo) curse?

Proverbs 26:2b

2 Like a sparrow in its flitting, like a swallow in its flying, a curse that is causeless does not alight.

Click to expand...

If you are innocent, the curse will not work.

You have been born of the Spirit/Paraclete. The peace of Jesus dwells in your spirit.

Isaiah 41:

13 For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, “Fear not, I am the one who helps you.”

Click to expand...

Romans 12:

21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Click to expand...

Luke 6:

35a But love your enemies, and do good.

Click to expand...

Romans 12:

19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.

Click to expand...

If you need to participate in spiritual warfare, contact your local church.

In a sweeping move expected to reduce the cost of buying and selling a home, the National Association of Realtors announced Friday a settlement of landmark antitrust lawsuits by agreeing to pay $418 million in damages and eliminating rules on commissions.

In November, a federal jury in Missouri found the NAR and two brokerages liable for $1.8 billion in damages for conspiring to keep agent commissions artificially high. The NAR had pledged to appeal the case, but other brokerages settled.

This settlement opens the door to a more competitive housing market. Realtors could now compete on commissions, allowing for prospective buyers to shop around on rates before they commit to buying a home.