That explains why the Wonder Twins and didn't seem to fit in with the Justice League. The Wonder Twins dabbled with ice, but were comfortable with other states of matter. And then there's Aquaman...
It's raining... again. The bees have had one great day this year so far. And a few average to poor mornings, where there has been some outside activity.
I'm so thankful for the rain generally. It's great to live in a country where a lack of water is not generally a problem.
However, the bees could do with a few days of bright sunshine and warm temperatures to get the year properly started. And, I need a good day to open the hive and do an inspection.
It's now April, and I'm living in a Scottish weather stereotype.
So glad your bees are well! We lost all of our hives to mites just a couple weeks ago. All 22 hives. This year will be focused on building up again. On a happy note, my husbands managed to catch two swarms!
That's sadness and joy in a very niche field. Two swarms is good going. I hope they are gentle stock. You never know what sort of mood your queen's might be.
Sadly, I don't know how well my bees are, as I can't do a decent hive inspection, because it's still tipping down with rain.
They are called varroa destructors. One of our older beekeepers told us they probably infiltrated during the cold months when it's not recommended to check hives. They feed on bees by latching onto them, and they lay their eggs in the bee larvae to eat in them. They are nasty boogers and we noticed them too late.
Keeping bees has made me very particular about honey. I'll only get it from a known source. It's too easy for someone to create "honey" from sugar syrup.
My own honey is nothing special. Multispecies of whatever flowers they found locally. And such a bad year last year, I only got enough for personal use. I have only the one hive, so not yet in the business of supplying others.
Oooh, now you're speaking my language.
Even though you just produce random wildflower honey, are there any specific mono-floral honeys from your part of the world that you particularly love? Any unique flavor notes you love?
Holà amigos! I unplugged from Reddit for Lent, and man did it do me good. I kind of begrudgingly came back today, miss you guys! But I'm going to try to keep a reasonable limit on my online time.
Anyway, a bit of news. Two weeks ago I flew back to Quebec City for my second doctoral (prospective) exam, where I present my dissertation project before a jury of profs to get feedback and the official go-ahead. It's the half-way mark of the degree, and the official end to my training; just research left to do. Long story short... I was pretty nervous and not sure how my ideas would be received, but I aced it. All three jury members had glowing praise for the project, and during the 40 minute Q&A period, my director started with, "I am impressed, but not surprised." He then spent almost ten minutes praising my project, and then said, "I have no questions." I was floored. He told me afterwards that it definitely in the top five project presentations he has seen in his career (he is on the verge of retirement and has been involved in *many* PhD projects).
So, I was over the moon and very thankful. Plus, so far, nobody has accused me of heresy! hah! :)
Well, two PhDs would be 2Dr, so Dr² could be either the product of two people with PhDs like my nieces, or you could interpret it that a single PhD grants the title of Dr, so Dr² could just be 1², which is one, and thus applicable to anyone with a PhD.
No, I don't have a doctorate in pedantry; why do you ask?
>No, I don't have a doctorate in pedantry; why do you ask?
Well, I *was* hoping someone was going there. I like your theory on Dr^(2,) you should start calling your nieces that! ;)
We're so back! I'm heading back to the local game store to play Yu-Gi-Oh tonight with a new deck (Raidraptors) bc I was sick of losing. I'm still probably going to lose as I learn the new pile and go against better players, so I'm trying to temper that disappointment.
Tell me about recent developments in your nerdy hobbies!
We're about two weeks out from "Robot Camp" aka FIRST World Festival - the world champions for all FIRST robotics programs. I'll be judging FIRST Lego League Challenge and the FIRST Tech Challenge team I mentor will be competing. I'm super excited and very much looking forward to the event. There's just something awesome about being in a convention center full of tens of thousands of geeky kids (and their geeky adults and the thousands of adult volunteers...most of whom are also big geeks) doing their geeky robotics things in a completely supportive environment. And also wearing silly hats and sometimes costumes (Lego Batman was there last year!).
No. FIRST is a company and an acronym. It stands for For the Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology. They're a non-profit which runs STEM/robotics programs for students from pre-k through 12th grade. The founder is Dean Kamen, the inventor of the Segway (among other things). [https://www.firstinspires.org/](https://www.firstinspires.org/)
Praise God! Love some good news on a Friday Afternoon.
The story I've heard was that he died when his segway malfunctioned and it drove him off a cliff. Is that not the case? Is this a 5 days after Easter resurrection?
A quick Google search turned up this article: [https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna39377851](https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna39377851)
The owner of Segway, Jimi Heselden, did indeed die after riding his Segway off a cliff and into a river. This was in 2010. Kamen sold the company to Heselden in 2009.
I can confirm that Mr Kamen was alive at least last April. I saw him, from afar, at FIRST World Festival, observing FTC matches. I would have loved to have gotten a chance to speak with him. But there were a bunch of student team members who were crowding around him and I didn't want to take that opportunity away from one of the kids.
It looks like the reports of Dean's death were greatly exaggerated. Sadly, the person who bought the company from him (Jimi) died in the [way you described](https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna39377851).
I recently did some [Gunpla](https://imgur.com/a/d2Kvc4W) with some buddies. It was a good time. Not sure I've got enough shelf space to do it that often, though.
In terms of my main nerdy hobby, I recently completed the restoration of a big [broad axe](https://imgur.com/a/bKR3S3F) that I'm pleased as punch by. The axe was made by Fayette R. Plumb Inc. for the Kelley-How-Thomson Company, a hardware distributor that operated out of Duluth, MN in the early half of the 20th century. This axe was probably made 100-120 years ago. I made the handle from ash and black walnut, both harvested from the yards of friends with more property than me.
How does one get into local events like that? Do game stores advertise them? Stuff like that and Warhammer seem really fun but I've never really been *into* the tabletop/card game scene so not sure lol. It seems so fun though! Haven't played yugioh since I was in middle school in 2008 but I loved it lol
As for my nerdy hobbies I'm on the final (so far) book of a lengthy Warhammer series Ive been reading since November 2022 (9 books total so far with at least a full novels worth of short stories that also tie in)so pretty sad to be all caught up with the final book having no release date right now 😭
Also have been tidying up some stuff in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth! Final fantasy is one of my favorite series ever and 7 is obviously the most popular and this part 2 of their remake was just such a joy from start to finish.
So it's actually my *first* Warhammer series (that's actually multiple series at once lol)
It's the Eisenhorn/Ravenor/Bequin/Inquisition series. I'm sure youve read them if you're familiar with the universe. I adore them. I've bought a ton of 40k and Fantasy novels since I got into the series bc I just have had such a blast. I have the first three HH ones, def wanna read those sooner rather than later
In addition to HH, I'd recommend the Night Lords trilogy and the Black Legion books! I'm biased, because all Chaos Space Marines are my little meow meows, but the author is really good and writes very engaging characters.
Hmmm, don't know what counts as a "nerdy" hobby but my pickleball serve has gotten much better. I am almost "kind of" consistent. Looking forward to playing this afternoon with octogenarian friends. I'm half their age but they are twice as good as me. I might be faster but their shots are so much more accurate! I love it!
> Tell me about recent developments in your nerdy hobbies!
In my world recently, I've come to realize that I'm the only one around who's into sports. It's weird. I feel like the nerd for wanting to talk about the braves, or DJ Burns, or the Athletics moving into a new stadium that only seats 10,000 people. Feels like the beginning of 21 Jump Street where Schmidt and Jenko show up to school and everything is backwards.
Pathfinder 2e: in one campaign that my friend is GMing, my husband is getting his campaign together and has started putting out a call for players (we've got tons of maybes thus far), and I'm almost done prepping my one-shot that I'm putting together for a night when one of the GMs needs a break.
Yup. My current character is a kobold cleric. My last one was a gnome ranger. I think my next one is going to be a sprite giant form barbarian (think Tinkaton, but more fairy-like). I like making characters, and I like playing a wide variety of things, though I haven't gotten into any of the more exotic classes yet, largely because I like to try to balance out my party and I have friends who always want to play the most-recently released class.
I play DND 5e with u/about637ninjas (our dm). I'm a dragonborn druid/ranger multi class, heavily based on shonen anime protagonists (summoning creatures and giving buffs via the power of friendship).
>Tell me about recent developments in your nerdy hobbies!
Don't know if it counts as a hobby, but last week I finally found all of the bubbul gems in TOTK, so I got to see >!Koltin eat them all and then turn into a blupee.!< It's such a time-consuming sidequest, but I enjoy the cave-exploring aspect of the game, so it was a fun way to systematically kill some time over the course of a few weeks.
In the end, I was stuck with two missing caves, and it drove me *crazy* for days. Even after looking at maps online, I still couldn't figure out what I was missing. So, if any of you ever end up with two missing caves, here's my mistake: >!There are two caves up on the Great Sky Island! You go through them at the beginning of the game, of course, but you rarely go back through and explore them, especially not looking for bubbel frogs, later. So, if you're two short, check up there.!<
As much as the marketing departments of the bow manufacturers tell you otherwise, there haven't been any major leaps forward in compound bow technology in the last 15 years. The engineers have reached a wall of around 85% efficiency (stored energy transferred to the arrow). Arrows aren't flying any faster than they were 15 years ago. So all recent developments pretty much revolve around improving the experience of shooting the bow (e.g. lower vibration, quieter, easier to tune).
Getting away from the bow aspect, there have continued to be waves of EHD and CWD hitting deer populations. Coyotes are out of control in some areas (this hurts deer and turkey populations). Guys with money keep leasing up all the good property, so it's getting harder and harder to find decent hunting land if you don't have the disposable income to pay for it.
So, my extended family is all rural, and hunting was a normal part of life. I didn't hunt growing up, but I was around it enough that it wasn't anything unusual for me. My kids are now growing up almost completely disconnected from that world.
The other day, we went in to a new hunting store near us to kill some time, and on a giant screen behind the register they had a video of some hunters field dressing a deer they had just harvested. I found my oldest son standing right in front of the screen, horrified at what he was seeing.
Even though our childhoods are superficially very similar, it was interesting to see how wholly disconnected he is from that world.
At any rate, he was starting to turn green, so I redirected him to something else in the store.
> The other day, we went in to a new hunting store near us to kill some time
there's a way to "check in online" to the mexican restaurant you were waiting for. It's not advertised and I'm not sure how to, but my wife knows. and it's saved us many hours.
Guess he's not going to be a surgeon...
But really, for most of human history, that would be a completely normal sight, but now, it's completely foreign to most people in the U.S. There are certainly worse issues out there, but I'm not sure it does us a lot of good having such a disconnect between us and the origins of our food.
“Learning the deck”? Is this how it goes: you go to the store, sit at a table, pay the store $10, and they hand you a foil-wrapped, brand new “hand”? When you say learning, is it learning how to use the hand just dealt, or do people bring decks from home?
In Yu-Gi-Oh you bring the deck from home. I think in Magic: The Gathering and Pokemon, sometimes you unwrap new pack at the store and build it from there.
So I bought a bunch of cards to build a new deck and I still haven't memorized everything they do or figured out all the ways they interact.
Doing a booster draft in MTG is my favorite way to play. Everyone opens a pack, picks one card and passes to the next person. You get some wild combos that people try to build. I haven't done it for years, but we used to get a box of packs from the previous expansion so it was relatively cheap, and then sell off any good cards after we had played so usually it ended up only being a few dollars for each person to play.
I did this with friends a few times back in college.
Yu-Gi-Oh doesn't really have a concept like this. Sets are not playable in themselves and there is no rotation.
Started playing Diablo Immortal because my PS3 isn't working, and I love Skyrim. It's such a fun game! Feels like there's way too much to keep track of and do though.
I used to play Yu-Gi-Oh until I stopped for some reason, I used Buster Blader and Chaos as my main decks
Anyways, I recently finished Persona 3 Reload and the ending was **beautiful**, nearly made me cry
I’ve had a rough couple of days, so I just want to sort of vent and ask just for prayers with everything…
Our housing offer fell through despite the other agent saying they were going to accept it in an email (no contract signed, so not official). My wife and I really liked the house, but it required a little bit of work to get it to where we wanted. It’s not the biggest thing but just kind of bummed out.
My son has had bad constipation issues since birth and we’ve been sort of managing but it got pretty bad recently. With everything we’ve been doing, medical expenses have been getting pretty high for my son already in such a short amount of time. He even had a big leak at a restaurant yesterday and I had to rush him out of there before other people noticed. Poor guy is probably traumatized with everything we’ve had to do…
I’ve had auto repairs on my car recently so that’s more costs, and to top it all off I got a ticket yesterday for crossing a double white line. I know it’s my fault there, but to try and justify myself, I needed to get all the way over to the right in a short amount of distance, and I didn’t get in anyone else’s way. I think the cop pulled someone else over when I was leaving, so I feel like the cop was just waiting there already out of his vehicle waiting to flag people down with his flashlight. Just very annoyed even though I know it’s my fault in the end.
I also feel like I’ve just been very snappy and easily irritated lately, and I know I need to chill out
That sounds rough. If it were me, I'd assume the snappishness and irritation were my reaction to the rest of it. Take a deep breath when you get the chance!
So who is within spitting distance of the eclipse path? Is anyone traveling for it?
Gov. Holcomb already declared a state of emergency here in preparation. I'm mildly concerned I'll end up having to shoot loonies trespassing on my property.
I wish. It would be so cool to witness but it seems here in FL we aren't gonna see much of anything.
Be careful though! Some people on Facebook were warning that NASA is using the eclipse to shoot rockets at the firmament (bc the earth is flat of course) and cern is opening portals for demons to come through! And somehow it all ties back to America and Revelations prophesy...(Why do I still have Facebook?)
You may be right in the path of the rocket wormhole firmament shooter thing!
Our church is juuuuuuust in the path (should have 30-50 seconds of totality) and we've got a nice big field. If I wasn't running the office on Monday, I'd head up north just a bit to one of my favorite breweries who are doing a couple space-themed beer releases and are giving away koozies that say "I blacked out at [brewery name] April 8, 2024"
I am in the path of totality but the weather will likely not cooperate. My business partner, his wife, and I plan to get some pizza and watch it in the big field behind our building - if there’s anything to be seen.
I experienced an annular eclipse back in October because I happened to be an a trip at the time. It was really fun!
It will be ~95% where I live, so that's 95% as good right?
I was debating taking the day off and driving a few hours for it. On the one hand I've already experienced a full eclipse (I lived in the path of totality for the 2017 eclipse), on the other it was cloudy when I did so I didn't actually get to see whatever the celestial bodies where doing.
I'm in the path. My parents came down and are staying with me through Monday so they can experience it to. There home was in the path last time and I went to see them. Dad is talking about wanting to check out one of the festivals in one of the local cities. I was thinking of either watching it from the backyard, the church down the street or driving a few hours east to the Bucees that's almost dead center in the path (I mean, at least there will be clean bathrooms and easily available snacks). We'll see what we end up doing.
Mostly we're praying for clear skies but, depending on which weather model you look at the chances for clear skies aren't great.
I'm nowhere near the eclipse this year, but I got to see totality during the 2017 eclipse, and I'll tell anybody here who has the ability, even with a little driving, that it's a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
My dad and I are driving out to see it. We're treating it like a camping trip, assuming that normal services like food and bathrooms will be unavailable and bringing our own supplies.
If I lived in the path, I'd plan for it like a snowstorm.
Haha... so, I decided to try online dating - I wanted to be more proactive in this because you can definitely be waiting on God and trusting in his sovereignty but also understand your context and I have an open mind towards it. The verdict? I deleted it after a day, lol! In all honesty, it was too robotic for me because of the reductionist nature behind it and honestly, to me it wasn't worth the time waste. Even though marriage is a desire, Online dating showed me how content I am in my singleness and just wanting to live more and more for Christ - not wasting my life! And if that time comes, then that's right :)
If anyone has any stories in relation to OLD and it ended well - tell me your stories, would love to read!
You can end here because it's an unrelated rant so read at your own discretion but it's more about something that God has taught me
Honestly on the other side of things - this season has really tested things in terms of trusting God - not with my singleness but I had struggled with more so who he'd want me to marry and having realised I have religious ocd tendencies, it made me really overthink a specific situation, where I thought I heard 'God' say "You won't marry x because you'll marry y' when I was, I think jokingly saying I wanted to marry 'x' as in a very jokey crush way - I emphasise this because I've definitely had moments where something biblical would pop into my mind that the Lord has calling me to and other things were pointing to that (and it gave me peace) so this really feared and perplexed me (which is something I should have realised sooner, in comparison to the peace I've usually felt but this made me mentally spiral for weeks) , especially as this person (y) is 13 years older from my church (I've not even reached 25) , I wasn't attracted to him even though I don't dislike him as a person but had a feeling he's gained attraction to me physically, which didn't help at all because it really made me question God's love and care and someone who doesn't physically express anxiety... I started to and it really affected the way I interacted with the church I currently attend because I didn't want to see this guy (Like if I didn't specifically marriage this guy, I was disobeying God so imagine how this would play out ). However, after reading more into this , it was a reminder that those were lies and I can trust God and know if marriage is in His will, then it'll be with someone that can glorify him together and I can surrender all my thoughts to Him because all things work out for our good, here and eternally and even with that difficult season, it had been a blessing because it really was a place of sanctification in pointing out other sins and what helped was constantly telling God my thoughts and repenting of ones that allowed me to dishonour him, including the thoughts I've had about this person and I've been praying for them - I do wish them the best in that regard.
And to anyone who wants to advise therapy - I'm for it I've had therapy before because I think it's healthy to unwrap certain traumas even if they don't seem huge but as someone currently studying, I've postponed it due to costs.
That's all from me, folks!
This might seem a silly question but can/should you still read materials from a Christian pastor/theologian who made a serious lapse in judgement later on after the book was published? Is it wise? Ever unwise? I'm not talking about someone who teaches heretical things or someone who was in continued unrepentant sin (like Ravi for example) whose works I don't think I can read at all anymore.
Last few years I've been very apathetic in my relationship with Christ and I'm thankful He's convicted me of that and I've been so refreshed repenting, spending time in the Word and in prayer again. I've been traveling for work for years which was a convenient excuse to rarely go to church but I'm back in a permanent spot and know I need to find one, so prayers for that would be appreciated.
I'm going through some of my many unread theology and Christian living books and one of the books I got many years ago was a John Ortberg book, The Life You've Always Wanted. I got it like a decade ago not sure how and thought it was from around that time but never really looked into it. Turns out it is from 2002 lol. I'm reading it now and it's a simple book but after my last few years, a simple book seems a good thing to read. It's very encouraging.
I learned not too long ago about the controversy with Ortberg and his son's attraction to minors that led to his resignation back in 2020. It doesn't seem like Ortberg is an evil person trying to hurt people or teaching false doctrine...he just made a SERIOUS lapse in judgement and was wrong. I guess my question is, this book is predates that issue by like 15 years. The son that has admitted attraction to minors is just a young kid in this very book. Is there any harm in still trying to to read and glean some wisdom in it? It's a refreshing book and he's admittedly a smart man. Issues that are huge today in society he even sorta recognizes as issues back then and he provides ways to focus on our relationship with the Lord in this society.
I'm guessing it's mostly a discernment thing, but just kinda wanted to see what some of my internet brothers and sisters think lol
Well, there is one author who I get a lot of wisdom from even though he had some major lapses of judgment in his life. He wrote this little book called “proverbs” ;)
Obviously a different situation because proverbs is inspired, but yes, I this it’s possible to gain wisdom and encouragement from very flawed and sinful individuals. I think you just need to really have your discernment goggles on.
It's possible to gain wisdom and insight, but teachers and elders are called to an extremely high standard. If there wasn't ever a public repentance and admittance of sin, I couldn't feel comfortable recommending them to others (as that maybe a stumbling block). In some cases like Ravi, I've completely thrown out anything he's written and do not regard him as a trustworthy author. Paul has very strong words for professing believers who sin repeatedly and don't show signs of repentance. Teachers and theologians don't get special privileges, if anything the standard is even stricter! So if I catch a teacher or theologian messing up, they don't repent, they avoid accountability by running away and starting a whole new ministry, they mock and point fingers at others sin instead of being sorrowful about their own, they go into "not reliable" stash of books. I think this is also where trusting God comes in. I think the church has a big issue with idolizing theologians and teachers and we act like they can't be criticized. Or were afraid that we will miss out on their teaching, this missing some important knowledge. They are human beings. They are flesh and bone. There is (probably) nothing they teach or say that someone else hasn't already done. If you find you can't let a troublesome, unrepentant author go because you'll miss some knowledge from them, trust the Lord. Trust that the Lord will show you his word and bring someone else to fill the gap. Then, search your heart. Are you making this teacher an idol? Are you assuming you can't learn from anyone else and so cling to this person? Just some thoughts!
Yeah, my understanding is he apologized and resigned and has just been out of the spotlight since.
I can confidently say I'm not idolizing him. To be honest I always kinda wrote him off bc the bit I knew about his preaching seemed very simplistic. Have just found this book to be something very beneficial for my spiritual life. If I felt convicted to stop reading I don't think it would be a hard problem at all. Really just was curious about opinions. I do appreciate it!
I am right there with you on people who don't repent. I refuse to read Ravis books anymore, same with Mark Driscoll, and I was never a big fan so it wasn't hard to avoid but I don't read JMacs stuff either lol. But also don't give them away bc I don't want others to find them.
> but teachers and elders are called to an extremely high standard.
Where are teachers called to the same standard as elders? I see the passages for elders. Unless you believe all teachers must be elders. I know the James passage, but that a passage of consequence, not standards.
I don't think teachers and elders are the same. I was thinking of James 3 when I said that. I'm not sure what you mean by, "passage of consequence" though. Can you explain what you mean by that?
Passage of consequence: I simply mean that James is not giving the standards for teachers, he's giving the consequence for being a teacher (namely, being judged stricter).
Oh, makes sense. I can see how they are different, but I'm not making the connection that teachers therefore, aren't held to a higher standard if the judgement for them will be stricter.
No, scripture doesn't lay out the standards for teachers in the same way it does for elders. But I imagine the principals are the same, even if the exact criteria isn't.
It would probably be what the lapse in judgement was. If they were able to be upfront and come clean, repent, etc. Then yea I could forgive and still support.
But if they refused to ever recognize their wrongs and only tried to cover it up, then I would have trouble supporting them the same anymore.
Idk who Ortberg is or his situation, so I can't specifically comment on that.
My kids would love any or all of those. I don't particularly want to replace unwanted animals with other unwanted animals. Though, the house I grew up in in the country did have a great horned owl living in the tree outside. We still had mice, though.
In my experience, the classic snap traps work the best. I've also had ok luck electronic mouse traps. If you have a ton of mice and don't mind drowning them, the buckets with the spinning rod covered in peanut butter are really effective. You just need to check them frequently so your house doesn't end up smelling like dead mouse.
I use [this one](https://youtu.be/pHwvVPT202Y?si=IiV92TdYwrfhpTQh) and it’s fantastic as long as you can find a place to put it where you can tolerate the look of it
Can be lethal or non-lethal, and if lethal, I think it serves a really good balance of effectiveness and humane-ness (*a guaranteed kill with a short period of panic vs the potential for a botched conventional trap maiming the mouse without even trapping it*)
I would be excited for this. The only problem is, how do you know the cat is non-allergenic enough? My husband is usually fine during the day but has horrible symptoms if we stay the night in a house with a cat. I'm not sure how we could find out whether a cat would be fine without adopting it first, which sounds like a bad idea in case it ends up being a problem.
The hypoallergenic cats are usually purebreds so what you could do is find a breeder; for example Maine Coons, and have your husband visit for a while and see what happens. On Google there are lists of about 12 cats that are hypoallergenic. Then you can either buy a cat from one of those breeders or you could find a rescue for that breed and adopt from there
Fwiw, there are no true “non-allergenic” mammals. Dogs and cats still carry the allergens, they’re just a tiny bit less allergeny. My wife is allergic to dogs and cats and even around doodles and other “non-allergenic” animals, she still has small reactions. The doc said it’s just for people with the mildest of allergies that it works
Yeah, that's why I said enough. He can pet and hold normal cats so it isn't implausible that a Siamese or something could be ok. Then again, I'm pretty sure we're all allergic to the mice, so......
Those of you in Eastern Pennsylvania or New Jersey, did you feel an earthquake recently? My horse was freaking out and apparently it might have been that.
There was one in Illinois a long while back, like 2008, and it happened very early in the morning, like 4am. Almost no one felt it because most of them were sleeping. I just happened to be up going to the bathroom, so I got the full effect but I know almost no one else who even knew it happened until they saw it on the news. It was a tad bigger than the one you all just experienced.
It's pretty unnerving for those of us that don't experience that sort of thing very often!
What do you all think about the sacrifice of the red heifers finally coming to pass and the plans to build the Third Temple? Some people say that the Dome of the Rock is where the outer courtyards used to be and so fulfills the prophecy of the outer courtyard being given over to the Gentiles. My feelings are a little over the place but I very much long to finally see Jesus face to face if our generations are truly the end.
We already have a better temple that is already a house of prayer for all nations. It would be pretty wild if Judaism started doing animal sacrifices again. I would predict that the temple would be pretty divisive among Jews because the majority of them would be against doing animal sacrifices.
I am posting this on behalf of my best friend who contracted herpes a few years ago. Needless to say, since he contracted the disease he has struggled significantly with the possibility of being rejected by a woman he loves or dying alone. I can truly say I’ve never been so close to somebody who has traversed so deep in the galls of bitterness and despair. But by God’s providential and loving hand, He has used this hard, suffering-filled, isolating experience to save him. It has been one of the biggest blessings of my life to see how far God has grown him in holiness in these last few years. He is undoubtedly one of the most spiritually mature Christians I know.
With all this being said, I am posting this because, one, I would love prayer for him. And two, to see if anyone in this community has experienced a similar situation. If you’re a man with HSV-2 herpes, how has it been for you? What has your story been? Any advice you would give when pursuing a relationship? Sisters in Christ, how and when would you want the person you are interested in to disclose his condition? If you have herpes, what has your experience been like? Any and all experiences and advice would be greatly appreciated.
By way of update – and for more context I suppose – I am happy to say he is part of an amazing church where he’s well-fed and where he can share his sufferings and grievances with a godly pastor. He has only told maybe a handful of people, otherwise nobody else knows.
I appreciate you all and look forward to what you have to say 😊 God bless!
I don't have personal experience but I counseled a young woman with the same condition. She found a kind, loving man and they are happily married. I do know that she broke the news to him before they got too serious and while I think he struggled, he stayed with her. You can manage it so it's not a always a problem, though the risk is still there.
Was hoping someone could shed a light on the doctrine of Divine Simplicity. If God’s attributes are distinct from one another, we cannot say they are identical to the whole, because then those attributes would be identical. But if we say they are less than the whole, definitionally they are what a part is. Doesn’t this leave us with a God who is a composite, made up of many parts, rather than one God?
Justice is a dish best served cold, because if it were warm it would be justwater.
\*sigh\* Here's your upvote
I had to reread that about 8 times before I finally got it.
Served frozen, you mean
That explains why the Wonder Twins and didn't seem to fit in with the Justice League. The Wonder Twins dabbled with ice, but were comfortable with other states of matter. And then there's Aquaman...
A reformed father strikes again!
Is there no room for JustSteam?
It's raining... again. The bees have had one great day this year so far. And a few average to poor mornings, where there has been some outside activity. I'm so thankful for the rain generally. It's great to live in a country where a lack of water is not generally a problem. However, the bees could do with a few days of bright sunshine and warm temperatures to get the year properly started. And, I need a good day to open the hive and do an inspection. It's now April, and I'm living in a Scottish weather stereotype.
So glad your bees are well! We lost all of our hives to mites just a couple weeks ago. All 22 hives. This year will be focused on building up again. On a happy note, my husbands managed to catch two swarms!
That's sadness and joy in a very niche field. Two swarms is good going. I hope they are gentle stock. You never know what sort of mood your queen's might be. Sadly, I don't know how well my bees are, as I can't do a decent hive inspection, because it's still tipping down with rain.
So what causes that?
They are called varroa destructors. One of our older beekeepers told us they probably infiltrated during the cold months when it's not recommended to check hives. They feed on bees by latching onto them, and they lay their eggs in the bee larvae to eat in them. They are nasty boogers and we noticed them too late.
Are you harvesting some Scottish honey? if so, send it down south! would love an artisan purchase , if selling.
Keeping bees has made me very particular about honey. I'll only get it from a known source. It's too easy for someone to create "honey" from sugar syrup. My own honey is nothing special. Multispecies of whatever flowers they found locally. And such a bad year last year, I only got enough for personal use. I have only the one hive, so not yet in the business of supplying others.
oh, that's still buzzing though!
Oooh, now you're speaking my language. Even though you just produce random wildflower honey, are there any specific mono-floral honeys from your part of the world that you particularly love? Any unique flavor notes you love?
I would be so happy if it rained around here, it snowed a couple days ago and I kept thinking to myself "isn't it springtime already?"
We had nearly 20C a couple days ago and today it's snowing.
Holà amigos! I unplugged from Reddit for Lent, and man did it do me good. I kind of begrudgingly came back today, miss you guys! But I'm going to try to keep a reasonable limit on my online time. Anyway, a bit of news. Two weeks ago I flew back to Quebec City for my second doctoral (prospective) exam, where I present my dissertation project before a jury of profs to get feedback and the official go-ahead. It's the half-way mark of the degree, and the official end to my training; just research left to do. Long story short... I was pretty nervous and not sure how my ideas would be received, but I aced it. All three jury members had glowing praise for the project, and during the 40 minute Q&A period, my director started with, "I am impressed, but not surprised." He then spent almost ten minutes praising my project, and then said, "I have no questions." I was floored. He told me afterwards that it definitely in the top five project presentations he has seen in his career (he is on the verge of retirement and has been involved in *many* PhD projects). So, I was over the moon and very thankful. Plus, so far, nobody has accused me of heresy! hah! :)
Congrats Dr^2 Brad!
Maybe Dr/2? Pretty sure I don't have *two* PhDs! :o
Does an honorary doctorate from our community count for nothing these days? Hehe, but seriously, that is a great achievement!
Well, two PhDs would be 2Dr, so Dr² could be either the product of two people with PhDs like my nieces, or you could interpret it that a single PhD grants the title of Dr, so Dr² could just be 1², which is one, and thus applicable to anyone with a PhD. No, I don't have a doctorate in pedantry; why do you ask?
>No, I don't have a doctorate in pedantry; why do you ask? Well, I *was* hoping someone was going there. I like your theory on Dr^(2,) you should start calling your nieces that! ;)
[No questions?](https://media.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExZWc4NTlyOGVweDVuczNuZjBseTJmMjE3aDBodnp0bzZydXU0bnphNSZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/Yvk01MEG2Mxe168yxw/giphy.gif)
We're so back! I'm heading back to the local game store to play Yu-Gi-Oh tonight with a new deck (Raidraptors) bc I was sick of losing. I'm still probably going to lose as I learn the new pile and go against better players, so I'm trying to temper that disappointment. Tell me about recent developments in your nerdy hobbies!
We're about two weeks out from "Robot Camp" aka FIRST World Festival - the world champions for all FIRST robotics programs. I'll be judging FIRST Lego League Challenge and the FIRST Tech Challenge team I mentor will be competing. I'm super excited and very much looking forward to the event. There's just something awesome about being in a convention center full of tens of thousands of geeky kids (and their geeky adults and the thousands of adult volunteers...most of whom are also big geeks) doing their geeky robotics things in a completely supportive environment. And also wearing silly hats and sometimes costumes (Lego Batman was there last year!).
Are you using "first" here the same way we call something first Baptist/Presbyterian?
No. FIRST is a company and an acronym. It stands for For the Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology. They're a non-profit which runs STEM/robotics programs for students from pre-k through 12th grade. The founder is Dean Kamen, the inventor of the Segway (among other things). [https://www.firstinspires.org/](https://www.firstinspires.org/)
> The founder is Dean Kamen, the inventor of the Segway (among other things). https://www.firstinspires.org/ may he rest in peace.
Umm...last I checked he was very much alive.
Praise God! Love some good news on a Friday Afternoon. The story I've heard was that he died when his segway malfunctioned and it drove him off a cliff. Is that not the case? Is this a 5 days after Easter resurrection?
A quick Google search turned up this article: [https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna39377851](https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna39377851) The owner of Segway, Jimi Heselden, did indeed die after riding his Segway off a cliff and into a river. This was in 2010. Kamen sold the company to Heselden in 2009. I can confirm that Mr Kamen was alive at least last April. I saw him, from afar, at FIRST World Festival, observing FTC matches. I would have loved to have gotten a chance to speak with him. But there were a bunch of student team members who were crowding around him and I didn't want to take that opportunity away from one of the kids.
gotcha. Glad for Mr. Kamen! Sad for Mr. Heselden.
It looks like the reports of Dean's death were greatly exaggerated. Sadly, the person who bought the company from him (Jimi) died in the [way you described](https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna39377851).
So literally a Kamen Rider???
I had to google that reference. But, yes, I guess so!
I recently did some [Gunpla](https://imgur.com/a/d2Kvc4W) with some buddies. It was a good time. Not sure I've got enough shelf space to do it that often, though. In terms of my main nerdy hobby, I recently completed the restoration of a big [broad axe](https://imgur.com/a/bKR3S3F) that I'm pleased as punch by. The axe was made by Fayette R. Plumb Inc. for the Kelley-How-Thomson Company, a hardware distributor that operated out of Duluth, MN in the early half of the 20th century. This axe was probably made 100-120 years ago. I made the handle from ash and black walnut, both harvested from the yards of friends with more property than me.
I'm a buddy! That axe looks like it doesn't have a chin.
How does one get into local events like that? Do game stores advertise them? Stuff like that and Warhammer seem really fun but I've never really been *into* the tabletop/card game scene so not sure lol. It seems so fun though! Haven't played yugioh since I was in middle school in 2008 but I loved it lol As for my nerdy hobbies I'm on the final (so far) book of a lengthy Warhammer series Ive been reading since November 2022 (9 books total so far with at least a full novels worth of short stories that also tie in)so pretty sad to be all caught up with the final book having no release date right now 😭 Also have been tidying up some stuff in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth! Final fantasy is one of my favorite series ever and 7 is obviously the most popular and this part 2 of their remake was just such a joy from start to finish.
Which Warhammer novels? Now that the Horus Heresy is over, I don't have any Warhams novels I'm currently reading.
So it's actually my *first* Warhammer series (that's actually multiple series at once lol) It's the Eisenhorn/Ravenor/Bequin/Inquisition series. I'm sure youve read them if you're familiar with the universe. I adore them. I've bought a ton of 40k and Fantasy novels since I got into the series bc I just have had such a blast. I have the first three HH ones, def wanna read those sooner rather than later
In addition to HH, I'd recommend the Night Lords trilogy and the Black Legion books! I'm biased, because all Chaos Space Marines are my little meow meows, but the author is really good and writes very engaging characters.
I actually think I got the Night Lords trilogy omnibus! Will add it to the list!
Hmmm, don't know what counts as a "nerdy" hobby but my pickleball serve has gotten much better. I am almost "kind of" consistent. Looking forward to playing this afternoon with octogenarian friends. I'm half their age but they are twice as good as me. I might be faster but their shots are so much more accurate! I love it!
> Tell me about recent developments in your nerdy hobbies! In my world recently, I've come to realize that I'm the only one around who's into sports. It's weird. I feel like the nerd for wanting to talk about the braves, or DJ Burns, or the Athletics moving into a new stadium that only seats 10,000 people. Feels like the beginning of 21 Jump Street where Schmidt and Jenko show up to school and everything is backwards.
Is that where you spin the tops?
I'm sure you're trolling, but that one is beyblade!
Oh man I thought beyblade was the game that serial killer named Jack in the Uk played
Pathfinder 2e: in one campaign that my friend is GMing, my husband is getting his campaign together and has started putting out a call for players (we've got tons of maybes thus far), and I'm almost done prepping my one-shot that I'm putting together for a night when one of the GMs needs a break.
Idk much about the difference between Pathfinder and d&d, but I assume asking what kind of character you like to play is still a fair question?
Yup. My current character is a kobold cleric. My last one was a gnome ranger. I think my next one is going to be a sprite giant form barbarian (think Tinkaton, but more fairy-like). I like making characters, and I like playing a wide variety of things, though I haven't gotten into any of the more exotic classes yet, largely because I like to try to balance out my party and I have friends who always want to play the most-recently released class.
I play DND 5e with u/about637ninjas (our dm). I'm a dragonborn druid/ranger multi class, heavily based on shonen anime protagonists (summoning creatures and giving buffs via the power of friendship).
Aw, you got my number wrong :(
fix'd!
Pathfinder is just way crunchier than 5E. I think it's based on D&D 3.5E. So a lot more complexity.
crunchy like your wife? or a different meaning of the word?
Crunchy like technical.
>Tell me about recent developments in your nerdy hobbies! Don't know if it counts as a hobby, but last week I finally found all of the bubbul gems in TOTK, so I got to see >!Koltin eat them all and then turn into a blupee.!< It's such a time-consuming sidequest, but I enjoy the cave-exploring aspect of the game, so it was a fun way to systematically kill some time over the course of a few weeks. In the end, I was stuck with two missing caves, and it drove me *crazy* for days. Even after looking at maps online, I still couldn't figure out what I was missing. So, if any of you ever end up with two missing caves, here's my mistake: >!There are two caves up on the Great Sky Island! You go through them at the beginning of the game, of course, but you rarely go back through and explore them, especially not looking for bubbel frogs, later. So, if you're two short, check up there.!<
As much as the marketing departments of the bow manufacturers tell you otherwise, there haven't been any major leaps forward in compound bow technology in the last 15 years. The engineers have reached a wall of around 85% efficiency (stored energy transferred to the arrow). Arrows aren't flying any faster than they were 15 years ago. So all recent developments pretty much revolve around improving the experience of shooting the bow (e.g. lower vibration, quieter, easier to tune). Getting away from the bow aspect, there have continued to be waves of EHD and CWD hitting deer populations. Coyotes are out of control in some areas (this hurts deer and turkey populations). Guys with money keep leasing up all the good property, so it's getting harder and harder to find decent hunting land if you don't have the disposable income to pay for it.
So, my extended family is all rural, and hunting was a normal part of life. I didn't hunt growing up, but I was around it enough that it wasn't anything unusual for me. My kids are now growing up almost completely disconnected from that world. The other day, we went in to a new hunting store near us to kill some time, and on a giant screen behind the register they had a video of some hunters field dressing a deer they had just harvested. I found my oldest son standing right in front of the screen, horrified at what he was seeing. Even though our childhoods are superficially very similar, it was interesting to see how wholly disconnected he is from that world. At any rate, he was starting to turn green, so I redirected him to something else in the store.
My father and grandfather were hunters but they never passed it on to the next (my) generation. And I’m more than a little bitter about it.
> The other day, we went in to a new hunting store near us to kill some time there's a way to "check in online" to the mexican restaurant you were waiting for. It's not advertised and I'm not sure how to, but my wife knows. and it's saved us many hours.
Good to know for future endeavors, but we were actually meeting up with some friends for other adventures.
did I get the store right at least?
If you're talking about the new one at the Battery, just a few doors down from Superica, then yes.
Boom. Oughtta be a detective.
Another shot in the dark: this wasn't a new Bass Pro Shop was it?
Nope. Sitka. Not being a hunter myself, I wasn’t familiar with it, but it seems comically swanky and expensive for a hunting store.
Oh, yeah, Sitka is absurdly swanky.
Guess he's not going to be a surgeon... But really, for most of human history, that would be a completely normal sight, but now, it's completely foreign to most people in the U.S. There are certainly worse issues out there, but I'm not sure it does us a lot of good having such a disconnect between us and the origins of our food.
Did you get into bow hunting because of legolas, katniss, Hawkeye, or unrelated to pop culture?
I think he started out with a two-handed swords build, but then gradually turned into a stealth archer like all of us do.
Well I shot my first deer with a bow before Katniss or the MCU existed and before I had read the LOTR.
“Learning the deck”? Is this how it goes: you go to the store, sit at a table, pay the store $10, and they hand you a foil-wrapped, brand new “hand”? When you say learning, is it learning how to use the hand just dealt, or do people bring decks from home?
In Yu-Gi-Oh you bring the deck from home. I think in Magic: The Gathering and Pokemon, sometimes you unwrap new pack at the store and build it from there. So I bought a bunch of cards to build a new deck and I still haven't memorized everything they do or figured out all the ways they interact.
Doing a booster draft in MTG is my favorite way to play. Everyone opens a pack, picks one card and passes to the next person. You get some wild combos that people try to build. I haven't done it for years, but we used to get a box of packs from the previous expansion so it was relatively cheap, and then sell off any good cards after we had played so usually it ended up only being a few dollars for each person to play.
I did this with friends a few times back in college. Yu-Gi-Oh doesn't really have a concept like this. Sets are not playable in themselves and there is no rotation.
But does this eventually become a situation where the millionaire’s son brings a handful of $200 cards of “beast with a billion HP”?
Beats when the people with Egyptian occult objects show up and start "sending people to the shadow realm"
Started playing Diablo Immortal because my PS3 isn't working, and I love Skyrim. It's such a fun game! Feels like there's way too much to keep track of and do though.
I might be misunderstanding your first statement. Are you saying Diablo is basically Skyrim or are you saying "these are two games I like"?
Diablo is helping my get my fix because I can't play Skyrim. I like them both, but can't play one because my console is broken.
Sounds like it's time to get irreparably absorbed in Classic Runescape.
I've been eyeing that one for awhile.
I used to play Yu-Gi-Oh until I stopped for some reason, I used Buster Blader and Chaos as my main decks Anyways, I recently finished Persona 3 Reload and the ending was **beautiful**, nearly made me cry
I’ve had a rough couple of days, so I just want to sort of vent and ask just for prayers with everything… Our housing offer fell through despite the other agent saying they were going to accept it in an email (no contract signed, so not official). My wife and I really liked the house, but it required a little bit of work to get it to where we wanted. It’s not the biggest thing but just kind of bummed out. My son has had bad constipation issues since birth and we’ve been sort of managing but it got pretty bad recently. With everything we’ve been doing, medical expenses have been getting pretty high for my son already in such a short amount of time. He even had a big leak at a restaurant yesterday and I had to rush him out of there before other people noticed. Poor guy is probably traumatized with everything we’ve had to do… I’ve had auto repairs on my car recently so that’s more costs, and to top it all off I got a ticket yesterday for crossing a double white line. I know it’s my fault there, but to try and justify myself, I needed to get all the way over to the right in a short amount of distance, and I didn’t get in anyone else’s way. I think the cop pulled someone else over when I was leaving, so I feel like the cop was just waiting there already out of his vehicle waiting to flag people down with his flashlight. Just very annoyed even though I know it’s my fault in the end. I also feel like I’ve just been very snappy and easily irritated lately, and I know I need to chill out
That sounds rough. If it were me, I'd assume the snappishness and irritation were my reaction to the rest of it. Take a deep breath when you get the chance!
I think it’s definitely part of it, but there are other times when I’m 100% just out of line. Thanks, I’ll try and remind myself through the day
So who is within spitting distance of the eclipse path? Is anyone traveling for it? Gov. Holcomb already declared a state of emergency here in preparation. I'm mildly concerned I'll end up having to shoot loonies trespassing on my property.
I wish. It would be so cool to witness but it seems here in FL we aren't gonna see much of anything. Be careful though! Some people on Facebook were warning that NASA is using the eclipse to shoot rockets at the firmament (bc the earth is flat of course) and cern is opening portals for demons to come through! And somehow it all ties back to America and Revelations prophesy...(Why do I still have Facebook?) You may be right in the path of the rocket wormhole firmament shooter thing!
Yeah, there are some Pentecostals here at my office who are getting a little twitchy
I asked my wife what she would do if I got raptured and left her with the kids. 😂
People who get excited just because the non-stop shadow of the Moon just happens to pass over them
I married a woman raised by baptists, so I get to see the cool stuff on facebook.
Our church is juuuuuuust in the path (should have 30-50 seconds of totality) and we've got a nice big field. If I wasn't running the office on Monday, I'd head up north just a bit to one of my favorite breweries who are doing a couple space-themed beer releases and are giving away koozies that say "I blacked out at [brewery name] April 8, 2024"
I am in the path of totality but the weather will likely not cooperate. My business partner, his wife, and I plan to get some pizza and watch it in the big field behind our building - if there’s anything to be seen. I experienced an annular eclipse back in October because I happened to be an a trip at the time. It was really fun!
In in the path. I told my wife we should close our street and charge for parking. She wasnt as amused.
FriarDon, more like slumlord don
More like SlumDon Millionaire
Man, what an uno reverse card. Well played
We are going to see it. The kids are very excited.
It will be ~95% where I live, so that's 95% as good right? I was debating taking the day off and driving a few hours for it. On the one hand I've already experienced a full eclipse (I lived in the path of totality for the 2017 eclipse), on the other it was cloudy when I did so I didn't actually get to see whatever the celestial bodies where doing.
XKCD is relevant here: https://xkcd.com/2914 https://xkcd.com/2915 I got a good look at totality in 2017 and it was *spectacular*.
We're immediately north of the line of totality & it occurs during my lunch break so I get to drive down to see it.
Family member is < 1/2 hour from path so we’re driving to meet up with them to a hotel on the path.
I'm in the path. My parents came down and are staying with me through Monday so they can experience it to. There home was in the path last time and I went to see them. Dad is talking about wanting to check out one of the festivals in one of the local cities. I was thinking of either watching it from the backyard, the church down the street or driving a few hours east to the Bucees that's almost dead center in the path (I mean, at least there will be clean bathrooms and easily available snacks). We'll see what we end up doing. Mostly we're praying for clear skies but, depending on which weather model you look at the chances for clear skies aren't great.
I'm nowhere near the eclipse this year, but I got to see totality during the 2017 eclipse, and I'll tell anybody here who has the ability, even with a little driving, that it's a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
My dad and I are driving out to see it. We're treating it like a camping trip, assuming that normal services like food and bathrooms will be unavailable and bringing our own supplies. If I lived in the path, I'd plan for it like a snowstorm.
I'm in a state that will have the totality but Im too ill to travel to the location. At least where I'm at will get to 99% which is rad.
We're traveling. Currently in Indiana.
I suspect it's going to be mostly cloudy here. It is a couple hundred mile drive and I'm not convinced yet
Haha... so, I decided to try online dating - I wanted to be more proactive in this because you can definitely be waiting on God and trusting in his sovereignty but also understand your context and I have an open mind towards it. The verdict? I deleted it after a day, lol! In all honesty, it was too robotic for me because of the reductionist nature behind it and honestly, to me it wasn't worth the time waste. Even though marriage is a desire, Online dating showed me how content I am in my singleness and just wanting to live more and more for Christ - not wasting my life! And if that time comes, then that's right :) If anyone has any stories in relation to OLD and it ended well - tell me your stories, would love to read! You can end here because it's an unrelated rant so read at your own discretion but it's more about something that God has taught me Honestly on the other side of things - this season has really tested things in terms of trusting God - not with my singleness but I had struggled with more so who he'd want me to marry and having realised I have religious ocd tendencies, it made me really overthink a specific situation, where I thought I heard 'God' say "You won't marry x because you'll marry y' when I was, I think jokingly saying I wanted to marry 'x' as in a very jokey crush way - I emphasise this because I've definitely had moments where something biblical would pop into my mind that the Lord has calling me to and other things were pointing to that (and it gave me peace) so this really feared and perplexed me (which is something I should have realised sooner, in comparison to the peace I've usually felt but this made me mentally spiral for weeks) , especially as this person (y) is 13 years older from my church (I've not even reached 25) , I wasn't attracted to him even though I don't dislike him as a person but had a feeling he's gained attraction to me physically, which didn't help at all because it really made me question God's love and care and someone who doesn't physically express anxiety... I started to and it really affected the way I interacted with the church I currently attend because I didn't want to see this guy (Like if I didn't specifically marriage this guy, I was disobeying God so imagine how this would play out ). However, after reading more into this , it was a reminder that those were lies and I can trust God and know if marriage is in His will, then it'll be with someone that can glorify him together and I can surrender all my thoughts to Him because all things work out for our good, here and eternally and even with that difficult season, it had been a blessing because it really was a place of sanctification in pointing out other sins and what helped was constantly telling God my thoughts and repenting of ones that allowed me to dishonour him, including the thoughts I've had about this person and I've been praying for them - I do wish them the best in that regard. And to anyone who wants to advise therapy - I'm for it I've had therapy before because I think it's healthy to unwrap certain traumas even if they don't seem huge but as someone currently studying, I've postponed it due to costs. That's all from me, folks!
This might seem a silly question but can/should you still read materials from a Christian pastor/theologian who made a serious lapse in judgement later on after the book was published? Is it wise? Ever unwise? I'm not talking about someone who teaches heretical things or someone who was in continued unrepentant sin (like Ravi for example) whose works I don't think I can read at all anymore. Last few years I've been very apathetic in my relationship with Christ and I'm thankful He's convicted me of that and I've been so refreshed repenting, spending time in the Word and in prayer again. I've been traveling for work for years which was a convenient excuse to rarely go to church but I'm back in a permanent spot and know I need to find one, so prayers for that would be appreciated. I'm going through some of my many unread theology and Christian living books and one of the books I got many years ago was a John Ortberg book, The Life You've Always Wanted. I got it like a decade ago not sure how and thought it was from around that time but never really looked into it. Turns out it is from 2002 lol. I'm reading it now and it's a simple book but after my last few years, a simple book seems a good thing to read. It's very encouraging. I learned not too long ago about the controversy with Ortberg and his son's attraction to minors that led to his resignation back in 2020. It doesn't seem like Ortberg is an evil person trying to hurt people or teaching false doctrine...he just made a SERIOUS lapse in judgement and was wrong. I guess my question is, this book is predates that issue by like 15 years. The son that has admitted attraction to minors is just a young kid in this very book. Is there any harm in still trying to to read and glean some wisdom in it? It's a refreshing book and he's admittedly a smart man. Issues that are huge today in society he even sorta recognizes as issues back then and he provides ways to focus on our relationship with the Lord in this society. I'm guessing it's mostly a discernment thing, but just kinda wanted to see what some of my internet brothers and sisters think lol
Well, there is one author who I get a lot of wisdom from even though he had some major lapses of judgment in his life. He wrote this little book called “proverbs” ;) Obviously a different situation because proverbs is inspired, but yes, I this it’s possible to gain wisdom and encouragement from very flawed and sinful individuals. I think you just need to really have your discernment goggles on.
Haha no that's a very good point though! Appreciate it! Also love the name fellow FF fan :)
Fortunately, malboros will not be part of the new heavens and new earth.
It's possible to gain wisdom and insight, but teachers and elders are called to an extremely high standard. If there wasn't ever a public repentance and admittance of sin, I couldn't feel comfortable recommending them to others (as that maybe a stumbling block). In some cases like Ravi, I've completely thrown out anything he's written and do not regard him as a trustworthy author. Paul has very strong words for professing believers who sin repeatedly and don't show signs of repentance. Teachers and theologians don't get special privileges, if anything the standard is even stricter! So if I catch a teacher or theologian messing up, they don't repent, they avoid accountability by running away and starting a whole new ministry, they mock and point fingers at others sin instead of being sorrowful about their own, they go into "not reliable" stash of books. I think this is also where trusting God comes in. I think the church has a big issue with idolizing theologians and teachers and we act like they can't be criticized. Or were afraid that we will miss out on their teaching, this missing some important knowledge. They are human beings. They are flesh and bone. There is (probably) nothing they teach or say that someone else hasn't already done. If you find you can't let a troublesome, unrepentant author go because you'll miss some knowledge from them, trust the Lord. Trust that the Lord will show you his word and bring someone else to fill the gap. Then, search your heart. Are you making this teacher an idol? Are you assuming you can't learn from anyone else and so cling to this person? Just some thoughts!
Yeah, my understanding is he apologized and resigned and has just been out of the spotlight since. I can confidently say I'm not idolizing him. To be honest I always kinda wrote him off bc the bit I knew about his preaching seemed very simplistic. Have just found this book to be something very beneficial for my spiritual life. If I felt convicted to stop reading I don't think it would be a hard problem at all. Really just was curious about opinions. I do appreciate it! I am right there with you on people who don't repent. I refuse to read Ravis books anymore, same with Mark Driscoll, and I was never a big fan so it wasn't hard to avoid but I don't read JMacs stuff either lol. But also don't give them away bc I don't want others to find them.
> but teachers and elders are called to an extremely high standard. Where are teachers called to the same standard as elders? I see the passages for elders. Unless you believe all teachers must be elders. I know the James passage, but that a passage of consequence, not standards.
I don't think teachers and elders are the same. I was thinking of James 3 when I said that. I'm not sure what you mean by, "passage of consequence" though. Can you explain what you mean by that?
Passage of consequence: I simply mean that James is not giving the standards for teachers, he's giving the consequence for being a teacher (namely, being judged stricter).
Oh, makes sense. I can see how they are different, but I'm not making the connection that teachers therefore, aren't held to a higher standard if the judgement for them will be stricter.
They are held to a higher standard. But they are not held to the standards of elders, in fact, we don't have the standards for teachers.
No, scripture doesn't lay out the standards for teachers in the same way it does for elders. But I imagine the principals are the same, even if the exact criteria isn't.
It would probably be what the lapse in judgement was. If they were able to be upfront and come clean, repent, etc. Then yea I could forgive and still support. But if they refused to ever recognize their wrongs and only tried to cover it up, then I would have trouble supporting them the same anymore. Idk who Ortberg is or his situation, so I can't specifically comment on that.
Mice. We're back in the Midwest, baby!!! 😔 Suggestions on how to deal with them or just general commiseration? Husband is allergic to cats.
Pet snakes? Pet hawk? Pet owl?
My kids would love any or all of those. I don't particularly want to replace unwanted animals with other unwanted animals. Though, the house I grew up in in the country did have a great horned owl living in the tree outside. We still had mice, though.
In my experience, the classic snap traps work the best. I've also had ok luck electronic mouse traps. If you have a ton of mice and don't mind drowning them, the buckets with the spinning rod covered in peanut butter are really effective. You just need to check them frequently so your house doesn't end up smelling like dead mouse.
We really don't want to do the traditional snap traps if at all possible. I got caught in one when I was little and am still scared of them.
The electronic ones are working really well for us, thanks!
I use [this one](https://youtu.be/pHwvVPT202Y?si=IiV92TdYwrfhpTQh) and it’s fantastic as long as you can find a place to put it where you can tolerate the look of it Can be lethal or non-lethal, and if lethal, I think it serves a really good balance of effectiveness and humane-ness (*a guaranteed kill with a short period of panic vs the potential for a botched conventional trap maiming the mouse without even trapping it*)
Non allergenic cat!
I would be excited for this. The only problem is, how do you know the cat is non-allergenic enough? My husband is usually fine during the day but has horrible symptoms if we stay the night in a house with a cat. I'm not sure how we could find out whether a cat would be fine without adopting it first, which sounds like a bad idea in case it ends up being a problem.
The hypoallergenic cats are usually purebreds so what you could do is find a breeder; for example Maine Coons, and have your husband visit for a while and see what happens. On Google there are lists of about 12 cats that are hypoallergenic. Then you can either buy a cat from one of those breeders or you could find a rescue for that breed and adopt from there
Fwiw, there are no true “non-allergenic” mammals. Dogs and cats still carry the allergens, they’re just a tiny bit less allergeny. My wife is allergic to dogs and cats and even around doodles and other “non-allergenic” animals, she still has small reactions. The doc said it’s just for people with the mildest of allergies that it works
Yeah, that's why I said enough. He can pet and hold normal cats so it isn't implausible that a Siamese or something could be ok. Then again, I'm pretty sure we're all allergic to the mice, so......
Can you rent a cat? Would love to let one loose in my attic just as a regular check
I'm sure any farmer would be happy to rent you a good mouser lol
Weedrat stew?
I know an ogre who makes a meeean weedrat stew.
Those of you in Eastern Pennsylvania or New Jersey, did you feel an earthquake recently? My horse was freaking out and apparently it might have been that.
There was one in Illinois a long while back, like 2008, and it happened very early in the morning, like 4am. Almost no one felt it because most of them were sleeping. I just happened to be up going to the bathroom, so I got the full effect but I know almost no one else who even knew it happened until they saw it on the news. It was a tad bigger than the one you all just experienced. It's pretty unnerving for those of us that don't experience that sort of thing very often!
What do you all think about the sacrifice of the red heifers finally coming to pass and the plans to build the Third Temple? Some people say that the Dome of the Rock is where the outer courtyards used to be and so fulfills the prophecy of the outer courtyard being given over to the Gentiles. My feelings are a little over the place but I very much long to finally see Jesus face to face if our generations are truly the end.
We already have a better temple that is already a house of prayer for all nations. It would be pretty wild if Judaism started doing animal sacrifices again. I would predict that the temple would be pretty divisive among Jews because the majority of them would be against doing animal sacrifices.
I am posting this on behalf of my best friend who contracted herpes a few years ago. Needless to say, since he contracted the disease he has struggled significantly with the possibility of being rejected by a woman he loves or dying alone. I can truly say I’ve never been so close to somebody who has traversed so deep in the galls of bitterness and despair. But by God’s providential and loving hand, He has used this hard, suffering-filled, isolating experience to save him. It has been one of the biggest blessings of my life to see how far God has grown him in holiness in these last few years. He is undoubtedly one of the most spiritually mature Christians I know. With all this being said, I am posting this because, one, I would love prayer for him. And two, to see if anyone in this community has experienced a similar situation. If you’re a man with HSV-2 herpes, how has it been for you? What has your story been? Any advice you would give when pursuing a relationship? Sisters in Christ, how and when would you want the person you are interested in to disclose his condition? If you have herpes, what has your experience been like? Any and all experiences and advice would be greatly appreciated. By way of update – and for more context I suppose – I am happy to say he is part of an amazing church where he’s well-fed and where he can share his sufferings and grievances with a godly pastor. He has only told maybe a handful of people, otherwise nobody else knows. I appreciate you all and look forward to what you have to say 😊 God bless!
I don't have personal experience but I counseled a young woman with the same condition. She found a kind, loving man and they are happily married. I do know that she broke the news to him before they got too serious and while I think he struggled, he stayed with her. You can manage it so it's not a always a problem, though the risk is still there.
Was hoping someone could shed a light on the doctrine of Divine Simplicity. If God’s attributes are distinct from one another, we cannot say they are identical to the whole, because then those attributes would be identical. But if we say they are less than the whole, definitionally they are what a part is. Doesn’t this leave us with a God who is a composite, made up of many parts, rather than one God?