One of the key elements in any contest is to understand the tactics of your opponent and to recognize the subtleties of the strategy or moves they may employ. In the spiritual battle of life we need to develop some sophistication in recognizing, naming, and understanding the subtleties of common tactics of the Devil.

A 2011 book by Fr. Louis Cameli, The Devil You Don’t Know is of great assistance in this matter. Having read it recently, I think it would be of value to reflect on four broad categories of the Devil’s tactics that Fr. Cameli analyzes.

While the four categories are Fr. Cameli’s, the reflections here are largely my own, but surely rooted in Fr. Cameli’s excellent work, so recently read by me. I recommend the work highly to you where these categories are aptly and fully described more than my brief reflection here can do.

And thus we examine four common tactics of the devil.

Deceptions – Jesus says The devil was a murderer from the beginning he does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies he speaks according to his own nature, he is a liar and the father of lies. (John 8:44).

1. 1. 1. The devil deceives us with many false and empty promises. Most of these relate to the lie that we will be happier and more fulfilled if we sin, or deny aspects of the truth. Whatever passing pleasures come with sin, they are in fact passing. Great and accumulated suffering eventually comes with almost all sinful activity. Yet, despite this experience, we human beings remain very gullible, we seem to love empty promises and put all sorts of false hopes of them.
      2. The devil also deceives us by suggesting all sorts of complexities, especially in our thinking. And thus, he seeks to confuse and conceal the fundamental truth about our action. Our minds are very wily and love to indulge complexity as a way of avoiding the truth and making excuses. So we, conniving with the devil, entertain endless complications, exceptions, possible difficulties, or potential sob stories, to avoid insisting that we or others behave well and live according to the truth.
      3. The devil also seeks to deceive us with “wordsmithing.” And thus the dismemberment and murder of a child through abortion becomes “reproductive freedom” or “Choice.” Sodomy is called “gay” (a word which used to mean “happy”). Our luminous Faith and ancient wisdom is called “darkness” and “ignorance.” Fornication is called “cohabitation.” And the redefinition of marriage as it is been known for some 5000 years, is labeled “marriage freedom.” And thus, through exaggerations and outright false labeling, the devil deceives us, and we too easily connive by calling good, or “no big deal,” what God calls sinful.
      4. The devil also deceives us through the manipulation of data. Information is not the same is truth, and data can be assembled very craftily to make deceitful points. Further, certain facts and figures can be emphasized, in exclusion to other balancing truths. Facts can be quoted that are true but out of context. And thus, even information or data which is true in itself becomes a form of deception. Further, the news media, and other sources of information, sometimes exercise their greatest power in what they do not report. And this too is a way that the devil brings deceptions upon us.

We do well to carefully assess the many ways Satan seeks to deceive us. Do not believe everything you think or hear. While we should not be cynical, we ought to be sober, and seek to verify what we see and hear and square it with God’s revealed truth.

Division

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Is the same as a pastor promoting being a ,liar adulterer thief etc or any other sin, make no mistake.
This is no different.

[God] loves exceedingly, that we should treat with Him in sincerity, plainness, and clearness, and not speak one thing and mean another. He always gives more than we ask {St. Teresa of Avila (1515-82)}.

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Establishing a government ministry to regulate people, creating a morality police department, and establishing laws that vanish the entire female population is saying, fundamentally, that people cannot be trusted to be good and do good.

The Taliban, who took control of Kabul and overthrew the government of Afghanistan in August 2021, have set up a ministry for the propagation of virtue and the prevention of vice. In August 2023, they published a document containing 35 articles, which are to govern the public and private lives of their citizens.

Some of these rules propagating virtues and preventing vices include: the full covering of women in public from head to ankle; women and girls forbidden from speaking, singing, or praying out loud in public; women and girls forbidden from leaving the house without a male relative or using public transportation without a male relative.

Men must be covered between the navel and knees if they are in public; they must grow beards; they are forbidden from wearing Western-style clothes, especially neck-ties, as they are a “sign” of the Christian Cross, which is a sign of infidels; men are forbidden from making friendships with Western people or acting in ways that resemble non-Muslims. Gambling, adultery, pornography, lesbianism, sodomy, and child sexual abuse are outlawed, as are the misuse of radios or the storage and viewing of images of human beings on phones or computers.

Prayers at certain times of the day are mandatory, and everyone’s work schedule, including taxi drivers, must comply to the minute. Farmers and merchants are required to pay certain tithes.

There is more, but you get the idea. No one is exempt from these rules, not even visitors to the country. The ministry has enforcers—a Muhtasib, who is an inspector—and there will be many of them employed to police the private and public lives of the people. The punishments range from one hour to three days in prison, or up to the discretion of the Muhtasib.

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Here’s a first question: Who is the opposite of the Devil?

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This is Chibok, yesterday.

Boko Haram took down a Church and it’s not even making news. Glory to God, no lives were lost

Context: Chibok is a Christian area in Borno south, where over 270 girls were abducted (mostly Christians) and a precondition for their release was based on renouncing their Christian faith.

For how long can we continue like this?

Another Church Destroyed in Nigeria – Deacon Nick Donnelly on X

Catholic American Bible & Liturgy of the Hours Release Date – Catholic Bible Talk

Imagine! Inner peace from God, a deeper relationship with Him, access to His powerful graces, strong faith, lively hope, and ardent charity—all these gifts from a few moments in prayer. This is the power of praying with a prayerful heart.

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The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) approved the consecration of the nation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in 2026 to accompany the country’s 250th anniversary.

At the USCCB Fall Plenary Assembly in Baltimore, bishops voted “to entrust our nation to the love and care of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.” Devoting the nation is an opportunity “to remind everyone of our task to serve our nation by perfecting the temporal order with the spirit of the Gospel as taught by the Second Vatican Council,” Bishop Kevin Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Indiana, said.

“One hundred years ago, in 1925, in his encyclical instituting the feast of Christ the King, Pope Pius XI, drawing on the teaching of Pope Leo XIII, referred to the pious custom of consecrating oneself, families, and even nations to the Sacred Heart of Jesus as a way to recognize the kinship of Christ,” said Rhoades, who serves on an advisory board for President Donald Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission.

To help Catholics prepare for the consecration, Rhoades said the bishops will develop prayer resources, including a novena. He said they are already putting together other resources for use by dioceses, parishes, and other groups to engage Catholics.

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As a group of mostly teenagers made its way home from a Catholic youth retreat in the mountains of Southern California this past weekend, the bus rolled over at a winding turn, injuring 26.

Nearly 40 parishioners of Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Santa Ana were on their way home from a three-day retreat at Camp Nawakwa in the San Bernardino Mountains on the evening of Nov. 9 when their bus crashed on a two-lane highway near Running Springs.

When emergency responders arrived, passengers were still escaping from the bus, with many exiting through the roof hatch. Twenty-six passengers were treated for their injuries, including 20 who were later hospitalized, according to the San Bernardino County Fire Department. Three passengers had major injuries.

Jarryd Gonzales, a spokesman for the Diocese of Orange, told CNA that the Diocese of Orange “offers heartfelt prayers and support to the youth, families, and staff of Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Santa Ana who were involved in a serious bus accident.”

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Later this month, my daughter Veronica turns 14. As she and I debate whether to celebrate with just family or her school friends, my thoughts turn to another girl who was 14 when her world shattered. Her name is Leah Sharibu, and she has now spent more than seven years in captivity, held by the Boko Haram since February 19, 2018.

Leah was kidnapped along with 109 other schoolgirls from their school in Dapchi, Nigeria. While most girls were returned, five were killed. Her captors kept Leah because she refused to renounce her Christian faith, threatening to hold her as a slave for life.

The contrast between my daughter's life and Leah's could not be starker. While Veronica debates birthday celebrations in safety and freedom, Leah has endured unspeakable horrors. As U.S Commission on International Religious Freedom Commissioners Maureen Ferguson and Dr. Asif Mahmood noted in a recent commentary, there are indications that Leah is still alive, though she most certainly has suffered unimaginable abuse. As for her family, “Leah's parents pray daily and light candles on her birthday each year in the hope that she will be reunited with them someday.”

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It would have been pointless trying to teach it the bagpipes - it would have thought it was another octopus.

The Barbarian said:

According to The Bulwark, Trump’s social media company quietly rolled out a new “AI-powered search tool” just weeks after he signed an executive order banning so-called “Woke AI” in the federal government. The irony? Trump’s own AI isn’t just “woke” — it’s wide awake.
...
Did Trump’s tariffs cost Americans money? “Yes.”
Did he lie about the 2020 election being stolen? “Yes.”
Was January 6 Trump’s fault? “Yes.”
Has he ended any wars since returning to office? “None.”
Have grocery prices gone down? “Short answer: No.”

Trump's Truth Social AI chatbot keeps fact-checking him

The AI bot, built with a version of Perplexity, continued to correct the president's claims.

www.newsweek.com

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What a concept! Truth.

chevyontheriver said:

There is no great way to DO that, though I suspect the Soviets always had timely budgets. I do favor new parties to replace the train wrecks we have, but that’s up to voters who rather like their particular train wreck to oppose the opposite brand train wreck.

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Yes, it's a complex task....but somehow state governments manage to get annual budgets done.

It's madness to be shutting down the federal government anytime the minority party wants to make a political point.

"There have been 15 funding gaps since the Civiletti opinions, including the government shutdown that began on October 1, 2025. Since many of those funding gaps occurred for a brief time, or over a weekend, there was not widespread government disruption. Four of those funding gaps, however, lasted four or more business days and broadly impacted government operations. The longest of those four shutdowns lasted 34 full days, from December 22, 2018, to January 24, 2019."



....and this one will be 45 days.

And who are the saints? They are the faithful in Christ Jesus. They are all who, by genuine biblical faith in Jesus Christ, which comes from God, and which is gifted of God, and is persuaded of God, and which is not of our own doing, have been crucified with Christ in death to sin, and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin, but as servants of God and of his righteousness, in walks of obedience to our Lord’s commands, in holy living, by the grace of God, and in the power of God.

We are God’s holy people. And to be holy is to be separate (unlike, different) from the world and its sinful desires, because by faith in Jesus Christ we are being conformed of God to the likeness of character of Jesus Christ in all of who we are and speak and do, for the glory and praise of God. And this does not make us absolutely perfect in every respect, and it does not mean that we will never sin against God (1 John 2:1-2). But it means that we are no longer living in sin and in disobedience to our Lord and to his commands.

By the grace of God, and in the power of God, we are walking by faith in our Lord Jesus Christ in obedience to his commands, and we are no longer walking in sin. Sin is not our master. Now we may be tempted to sin, at times, so we need to resist the devil and flee temptation and draw near to God in full assurance of faith. And then we need to put on the Spiritual armor of God so that we can stand strong against the schemes of the devil whose goal it is to destroy us in any way that he can (Ephesians 6:10-20).

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22]

So, this is an encouragement to all of us who are faithful to God in our walks of obedience to his commands, and who are not living in sinful rebellion against our Lord as our habit, our practice. We are to be those who love one another and who do good to one another, as God calls good. We are to show compassion to the hurting and to encourage the downtrodden and the lonely. And we are to help one another to grow to maturity in our walks of faith in obedience to our Lord, and to help one another to resist temptation to sin.

For that is part of what it means to be in Christ. All of us who believe in Jesus Christ, in truth, and in righteousness, are his ministers. We are to be ministers of the gospel of Christ to the people of the world, and to the worldly church, too. And we are to be those who speak the truth in love to one another so that none of us will be led astray by false doctrines taught by people in their cunning and craftiness and deceitful scheming, and by the deceitfulness of sin, and so we will all walk worthy of God and of his grace.

[Matthew 5:13-16; Matthew 28:18-20; John 4:31-38; John 13:13-17; John 14:12; Acts 1:8; Acts 2:14-18,42-47; Acts 26:18; Romans 10:14-15; Romans 12:1-8; 1 Corinthians 12:1-31; 1 Corinthians 14:1-5; Galatians 6:1; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:1-16; Ephesians 5:11-21; Ephesians 6:10-20; Philippians 2:1-8; Colossians 3:12-16; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:13; Hebrews 10:23-25; James 5:19-20; 1 Peter 2:9,21; 1 John 2:6]

In Harmony

Based off Romans 12:9-21; 1 Peter 3:8-17
An Original Work / September 2, 2012
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Love each other truly.
Cling to what is good.
Hate all that is evil.
Never lack in zeal.
Serve the Lord with fervor.
Joyful in hope be;
Patient in affliction;
Praying faithfully.
Honor one another.
Live in harmony.

Share with all God’s people
Who are found in need.
Do not be conceited.
Sympathetic be.
Love, and show compassion
In humility.
Keep your tongue from evil.
Peaceful you must be.
Honor one another.
Live in harmony.

God sees who are righteous;
Listens to their prayers.
But He’s against evil –
Is His to avenge.
Do not fear what they fear.
Suffer patiently.
In your hearts, make Christ Lord.
Serve Him faithfully.
Honor one another.
Live in harmony.

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The Faithful in Christ Jesus
An Original Work / November 12, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Always manage to hit the talking points, no matter how unrelated.

The world is once again turning its eyes to the suffering and resilience of Ukraine. The war has devastated lives and landscapes, yet amid calls for peace from world leaders, another story is unfolding. Amid devastation, the church in Eastern Europe is proof that there is Gospel hope rising from the remnants of conflict and repression.

The rise and fall of the Soviet Union left lasting scars that continue to shape Eastern Europe. During Stalin’s reign of terror, known as the Great Terror from 1936 to 1938, believers of every faith faced execution, imprisonment, relentless violence and exile to the Gulags. Even for decades afterward, Christians were routinely discriminated against, harassed, denied education or employment and forbidden to gather publicly. State loyalty was presented as the new religion, and those who worshipped God met secretly in the shadows, becoming lifelines to the small pockets of believers. Others formed covert organizations, hidden from the eyes of neighbors and the secret police, keeping the Church alive.

Generations of religious repression reshaped entire nations across Eastern Europe, as governments enforced atheism and sought to eliminate any trace of organized religion. For millions, the wounds and stories from that destructive period remain fresh, even decades later.

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Wendy's has 6,011 US locations compared to Jack in the Box which has 2,200.

For me Wendy's is the last resort when the drive-thru lines are too long at McDonal's, Taco Bell, Jack in the Box, Burger King etc, because they're usually a lot less busy.

People and christians get attacked all the time
maybe not as obvious as a demon mauling you but when families are broken, there are discussions,
when people do evils things sometimes, when people get psycological problems, is a lot of times attacks.
The problem is the enemy hides and people don't figure out its them.

And i believe usually the enemy doesn't have 'rights' to attack, even is something very good happened, someone a person did something bad to him for the enemy to act.

Micah 4:11-13 But now many nations are massed against you. They say: Let Zion suffer, let us gloat over the Holy Land.
They do not know the Lord’s thoughts or understand His purposes, for He has gathered them like sheaves to the threshing floor.
Arise and thresh, you descendants of Zion; I will make your weapons strong and many peoples will be destroyed. Their land and property is to be consecrated to the Lord of the whole earth.

Micah 5:1 For now; gather behind your walls, seek shelter from the siege.
Israel’s ruler will be struck on the cheek by a rod.
Will Benyamin Netanyahu be wounded and incapacitated? This is a very likely scenario, as he has already survived many attempts of assassination.
A ‘rod’, would be the best description Micah could use for a snipers rifle.

The loss of the Jewish State of Israel’s good leaders, is Prophesied in Isaiah 3:1-5 and the panic that ensues in Isaiah 22:1-5
Iran and all the Islamic haters of Judah , will take advantage of this situation: Isaiah 22:6-9….Elam, Aram and Kir, will prepare to attack and the heart of Judah’s defences are laid open.

Then, the Lord will arise and destroy them all. Ezekiel 7:14. Zechariah 1:14-18, Isaiah 63:1-8, Revelation 6:12-17

Durian.

Michie said:

Jews are already inherently unique. We don’t need to prove it by naming our kids Cinnamon, Aqua, or Afternoon.​

A clip from the second season of the Netflix series Nobody Wants This recently made the rounds in the parent-verse. In it, interfaith couple Joanne and Noah (Kristen Bell and Adam Brody) attend a baby-naming party and submit to only the most L.A. experience: pretending you didn’t just hear something completely, utterly, and offensively dumb.

Joanne asks the Jewish mom, played by a peppy Leighton Meester, an innocent enough question: “What’s [your daughter’s] name?”

“Afternoon,” replies the mom.

“That’s not a,” starts Joanne, before catching herself mid-snicker. She quickly reverts course: “That is … my favorite time of day.”

I know this routine all too well, the one in which we swallow our tongues, nod, and reflexively exclaim “beautiful!” while simultaneously relishing new fodder for group texts. “You won’t believe the name I just heard” has grown all the more frequent and yet all the more competitive: No longer does Republic, Churchill (for a girl), or even Quinoa raise an eyebrow. I recently overheard Farro (or Pharaoh—unclear!) at the playground, and my group chat pals were unimpressed: “I dunno, I could see a President Farro/Pharaoh.”

It used to be that faddish progeny trends were more prevalent within our gentile neighbors, but not us–we who name after our beloved Bubbes and Zaydes and a long lineage of Jewish leaders, Biblical characters, and that one female Israeli prime minister. I come from a generation in which every other Jewish kid was named Talia, Ilana, or Rachel. Now I see those very same peers opting for Coyote, Striker, and Roxstar.

It’s sometimes hard to square away these peculiar pairings—an unorthodox first name with an often Jewish surname. Gravity Cohen? Aqua Levenstein? Cinnamon Goldberg?

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https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/community/articles/stop-giving-jewish-kids-dumb-names

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Would be funny if it wasn't so hard on their kids. Save the unusual names for the pets! Now, will Tomorrow come in when I call her, because I've got to take Bingeworthy for his walk?

It’s good to love yourself enough to want to be treated good and to be loved.

My Ex thinks he is better than me.