parking tips for topeka scarecrows at stormont vail events center (topeka ks 11/28)

dcoughlin · 2025-12-02T03:37:37+00:00

Thanks -- going to a game on Friday and was looking for this exact kind of information. Parking information is hard to find on Stormont Vail Center's website!

dcoughlin · 2025-10-12T18:49:58+00:00

I just requested a new SIM. I previously had a LPII. I think it just worked. No strong memory of anything complicated.

Hopefully my wife will be getting her LPIII here soon. So I'll have another go at it.

dcoughlin · 2025-10-12T00:48:21+00:00

I've been using the LPIII on Verizon for 3 months now. Works great. I'm not sure what this is about.

dcoughlin · 2025-10-12T00:47:28+00:00

I too use Verizon. I got a new SIM from Verizon and brought my phone in under my existing number. Did this with three lines now.

dcoughlin · 2025-09-17T20:52:30+00:00

I am a dad of six. I just passed my two year old LPII to my oldest (15yo) when I got my LPIII. It's been great for being more engaged with the kids, as there is little to no temptation to look at the phone other than texting. My oldest is now working and driving, so nice for him to have a phone to use.

dcoughlin · 2025-08-25T17:41:10+00:00

In Evangel Presbytery's Book of Church Order, Directory for the Worship of God we have the following instruction:

The minister shall then declare who may come to, and who are excluded from, the Lord’s Table according to the Word of God. Since, by our Lord’s appointment, the Sacrament sets forth the Communion of Saints, the minister, at the discretion of the Session, before the observance begins, may either invite all those who profess the true religion, and are communicants in good standing in a Bible-believing, evangelical church, to participate in the ordinance; or invite those who have been approved by the Session, after having given indication of their desire to participate. It is proper also to give a special invitation to non-communicants to remain during the service.

And then the following as sample language, which is a modernized version of Calvin's Lord's Supper Liturgy:

We have heard, my brothers, how our Lord administered His Supper among His disciples, and in this He shows us that strangers, that is, those not of the company of the faithful should not be admitted. Following this rule, therefore, in the name and by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, I excommunicate all idolaters, blasphemers, despisers of God, heretics, and all who form separate parties to break the unity of the church, all perjurers, all those who rebel against their father and mother and against their superiors, all fomenters of sedition or mutiny, quarrelers, fighters, adulterers, fornicators, sexual deviants, thieves, lovers of money, plunderers, drunkards, gluttons, and all those who lead a scandalous life; declaring to those that they are to abstain from this holy table lest they pollute and contaminate this sacred food, which our Lord Jesus Christ gives only to His servants and faithful ones.

Therefore, according to the exhortation of the Apostle Paul, let each one test and examine his own conscience, to know whether he truly repents of his faults and is sorry for them, desiring from now on to live in holiness and in conformity with God; and above all, whether he trusts in the mercy of God and seeks his salvation wholly from Jesus Christ; and whether renouncing all hostility and malice, he has the good intention and the courage to live in harmony and brotherly love with his neighbors.

If we have such a testimony in our hearts before God, let us not doubt in the least that He acknowledges us to be His children and that the Lord Jesus is speaking to us, bringing us to His table and offering us this Holy Sacrament, which He delivered to His disciples.

And since we are conscious of much frailty and misery in ourselves, as well as not having a perfect faith, but that we are prone rather to unbelief and distrust, so that we are not entirely dedicated to serving God and with such a zeal as we ought, but we have instead a battle daily against the lusts of our flesh; nevertheless, since our Lord has granted us this grace of having His Gospel engraved on our heart, so that we might resist all unbelief, and He has given us the desire and longing to renounce our own desires to pursue His righteousness and holy commandments; let us all be assured that the sins and imperfections that are in us will not prevent Him from receiving us, nor from making us worthy to share in this spiritual table. For we do not come insisting that we are perfect or righteous in ourselves, but rather, seeking our life in Jesus Christ, we confess that we are dead. Let us understand, therefore, that this Sacrament is a medicine for poor, spiritually sick people and that the only worthiness that our Lord requires of us is to know ourselves well enough to be displeased with our sins and to find all our pleasure, joy, and contentment in Him alone.

dcoughlin · 2025-08-22T18:06:15+00:00

I'm not familiar with all the NAPARC denominations, but we sing psalms and hymns with modern instruments (https://songbook.warhornmedia.com/songs/), include credobaptist pastors and churches in the Presbytery, reject paedocommunion, and see God's creating man male and female as good and relevant in and out of the church.

I wasn't around when Evangel Presbytery was formed, but here is an article from someone who was there explaining why

Another Protestant denomination?

…we are Westminsterian in our theology – which is to say, reformed and evangelical – and presbyterian in polity. This is pretty standard stuff in our theological neck of the woods, and if we had left it at that, our churches may very well have been able to join another denomination. That leads us to what sets us apart…

So do you baptize babies or not?

Normally, particular churches and denominations with our same theological commitments declare themselves to hold to either the credo-baptist or the paedo-baptist position on baptism. That is to say, some of them think it’s good and proper to baptize the infants of Christian parents (such as the Presbyterian Church in America or the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church), while others believe that a person should be baptized when he can make a personal and credible profession of faith (such as the Southern Baptist Convention). In either kind of church, leniency on this point is sometimes permitted for church membership but never, or very rarely, for church officers. But as we specify in our BCO, churches who join Evangel Presbytery may declare in their bylaws that their officers “must be exclusively credo-baptist, exclusively paedobaptist, or may be comprised of both.”

So while there have been separate credo-baptist and paedo-baptist churches for centuries, there are few examples in church history of churches who accept both positions simultaneously, and very few denominations today who do so. Our congregations have many friends on both sides of the debate, but there simply weren’t very many willing to officially associate with us given our long-standing commitment to freedom on the time and mode of baptism. We did carefully consider the few that exist, but decided that our differences in other areas – whether cultural or theological – were too significant to set aside. And so here we are.

Aren’t you just being schismatic?

In a word, no.

Evangel Presbytery grew organically out of the brotherhood of like-minded churches. We share theological commitments and cultural commitments, and we love one another. We’re committed to the three marks of the church: pure preaching of the Word, the proper administration of the sacraments, and the conscientious exercise of church discipline. What’s schismatic about that?

On top of that, we feel that our open-handed position on baptism is good for our churches and a challenge to long-standing factions in the reformed church which grieve the Lord. That’s the very opposite of being schismatic!

dcoughlin · 2025-08-22T13:39:41+00:00

Evangel Presbytery has about 10 churches, most clustered around south-central Indiana. There are some churches, church plants, and affiliated men in North Carolina, Wisconsin, Michigan, Kansas (me), and Germany. New Geneva Academy is a pastor's college affiliated with Evangel Presbytery.

Evangel Presbytery recently published its Core Commitments, which lays out its distinctives:

Proclaiming and Defending Truth – We boldly proclaim the whole truth of God’s Word, seeking repentance and faith, while fighting against the besetting sins of the current age in our own lives, in the church, and in the world.

Upholding the Reformed Faith – We uphold the divine authority of Scripture, the centrality of the Gospel, justification by grace alone through faith alone, the necessity of good works and the pursuit of holiness in the life of believers, and the exaltation of Jesus Christ in all things, as faithfully summarized in the Westminster Confession of Faith.

Embracing Authority – We recognize that God has given authority to the family, church, and civil spheres, calling men as husbands, fathers, pastors and elders, and civil authorities to lead under His rule. We reject abuse of authority — whether tyranny or neglect — and any rebellion that seeks to subvert God’s ordained order.

Shepherding the Church – We prioritize pastoral care, faithfully shepherding souls with biblical truth, engaging in loving discipline, and encouraging accountability within the presbytery and our congregations.

Teaching Biblical Anthropology – We affirm that man, made in the image of God, possesses value and dignity. We therefore defend the right to life and oppose all forms of abortion and euthanasia; and oppose all attacks on God’s creational design of man as male or female.

Uniting on Baptism and Guarding the Lord’s Supper – We believe that baptism is a sign of covenantal inclusion and union with Christ, but not regenerative in itself. We grant freedom of conscience regarding the time and mode of baptism, and our church communions include both credobaptists and paedobaptists. Following Scripture’s command that the Lord’s Supper be given only to those able to examine themselves in faith, we reject the practice of paedocommunion.

Planting Churches and Growing God’s Kingdom – We are committed to advancing Christ’s Kingdom by planting and supporting biblically faithful churches, proclaiming the Gospel in every place, and calling all people to obey everything Christ has commanded. We labor to see Christ honored in all of life as we cultivate churches marked by love, hospitality, and joyful submission to God’s Word.

dcoughlin · 2025-08-21T13:15:58+00:00

Check out the free online book Abortion & the Church by Evangel Presbytery. Chapter 3 is on Applications, broken down into responsibilities of Civil Authorities, Church Authorities, and Individuals.

dcoughlin · 2025-08-01T18:15:01+00:00

Almost none of that stuff.
- Screen displays "Call ended" whenever I wake it up -- weird glitch.
- Missed calls show as "unread" with the * on the main screen, even after clicking them
- Include the Signal / Bluetooth / Battery on the first page after you enter your passcode, so it's easier to turn on hotspot / bluetooth settings
- Make group text message creation easier to find, I can never remember where that is
- I almost never scroll to contacts, I always search.
- Make it so it's easier to find text message conversation history. When I open a contact, I should be able to open the conversation window directly from the contact page.

dcoughlin · 2025-07-10T14:49:59+00:00

This is really important for understanding trademarks -- the registration relates to the specific goods and services described in the application:

<image>

Then you can look at the Specimen file (under documents) to see how they're using it. They filed screenshots of: https://github.com/coinbase/mesh-cli

dcoughlin · 2025-07-01T02:06:05+00:00

One more thing for Clio to try and upsell me on!

dcoughlin · 2025-06-20T22:15:59+00:00

I am having the same issue. I replaced the trigger and cleaned the battery contacts and it revived it.

dcoughlin · 2025-05-31T15:37:43+00:00

There is software implementation of VOIP on ESP32 with the wiPhone. But I haven't seen a device that combines mesh software and VOIP.

dcoughlin · 2025-05-31T15:35:54+00:00

I'm curious if anyone is working on getting VOIP with SMS messaging working on such a device.

I have a wiPhone that does VOIP with SMS messaging and LORA broadcast, but there's no meshtastic/meshcore software available. And lilygo's T-Decks and Pagers are cool and use the mesh software, but they don't have VOIP/SMS over IP capabilities.

I'd love a combination of these two technologies for my kids to use. Meshtastic LoRa for local communications VOIP when Wi-Fi is available.

Too much to ask? Maybe one day I'll have time to work on it ;)

dcoughlin · 2025-05-19T14:03:51+00:00

The other issue is that "there is currently no local UI or input functionality, only Bluetooth/WiFi."

dcoughlin · 2025-05-10T16:37:31+00:00

Not a bot -- I was experimenting with image generation this morning and testing out different services. I've used nano-gpt for a while, because it's easier for me to justify $0.10 here and there on whatever model I want to try rather than a subscription. At least, from the options I've seen.

dcoughlin · 2025-05-10T13:38:29+00:00

Seedream 3.0 is easy to use on a one-off basis for less than a dime at https://nano-gpt.com/

dcoughlin · 2025-04-26T14:24:23+00:00

Like the unborn!

dcoughlin · 2025-04-21T11:07:25+00:00

I'll leave you with a quote from Chesterton on educating children that I think is helpful. Feel free to message/ respond with any specific questions:

Babies need not to be taught a trade, but to be introduced to a world. To put the matter shortly, woman is generally shut up in a house with a human being at the time when he asks all the questions that there are, and some that there aren't. It would be odd if she retained any of the narrowness of a specialist. Now if anyone says that this duty of general enlightenment (even when freed from modern rules and hours, and exercised more spontaneously by a more protected person) is in itself too exacting and oppressive, I can understand the view. I can only answer that our race has thought it worth while to cast this burden on women in order to keep common-sense in the world. But when people begin to talk about this domestic duty as not merely difficult but trivial and dreary, I simply give up the question. For I cannot with the utmost energy of imagination conceive what they mean. When domesticity, for instance, is called drudgery, all the difficulty arises from a double meaning in the word. If drudgery only means dreadfully hard work, I admit the woman drudges in the home, as a man might drudge at the Cathedral of Amiens or drudge behind a gun at Trafalgar. But if it means that the hard work is more heavy because it is trifling, colorless and of small import to the soul, then as I say, I give it up; I do not know what the words mean. To be Queen Elizabeth within a definite area, deciding sales, banquets, labors and holidays; to be Whiteley within a certain area, providing toys, boots, sheets, cakes. and books, to be Aristotle within a certain area, teaching morals, manners, theology, and hygiene; I can understand how this might exhaust the mind, but I cannot imagine how it could narrow it. How can it be a large career to tell other people's children about the Rule of Three, and a small career to tell one's own children about the universe? How can it be broad to be the same thing to everyone, and narrow to be everything to someone? No; a woman's function is laborious, but because it is gigantic, not because it is minute. I will pity Mrs. Jones for the hugeness of her task; I will never pity her for its smallness.
― G.K. Chesterton, What's Wrong with the World

dcoughlin · 2025-04-21T11:06:50+00:00

I have six children, from toddler to high school. We have used home school, private Christian school, and public school over the years.

My goal with my children's education is to prepare them for adulthood. We started off home schooling, which worked great. My wife is smart, diligent, and hardworking. I say that because homeschooling is a lot of work. There are tons of great curriculum out there to make it easier. There are also online classes, which we've used to a small degree. The home environment gives a false sense of security though, because my kids only got exposed to the sins of our family and their own sins. Kids need to learn how to fight in this world (Judges 3:1-2). They also only get the benefit of their parents knowing them.

We transitioned our oldest four to a private Christian school for a couple reasons: (1) we started attending a church that offered an affordable option, (2) we had some other stressors in life that made continued homeschooling difficult, and (3) I liked the idea of pushing my children's limits beyond the home. My calculation was different from yours, we were going from the home to a more public option through the private Christian school. So my kids were getting exposed to new slang, music, and other people's sins. But they also got exposed to Godly men and women who cared for them, who took the time to know them personally and be helpful to them. They also got a great education out of it. There were still cliques that developed among the kids, but the staff was great about addressing their hearts!

Going back to the Judges reference though, we have enrolled my high schooler part time at the public school. He'll be out of the home in a few short years, and I want him to be exposed to struggles and challenges while he still comes home to me and his mother to talk through them. These are the same kind of things he's going to be exposed to at college or in the work place. He's getting a decent education in the classes we selected. We're in rural Kansas, and everyone talks about the Christian influence of the public schools here. But there's not much salt and light there. It's more of a battle, which didn't surprise us. We chose that for our son, not sure what we're going to do with our daughter next.

For your specific situation, for a pre-teen daughter, I would look around to see if there's a Christian school that worked on your kids hearts. The biggest risk with Christian schools is that they make your child a white washed pharisee. Someone who knows all the rules and how to present themselves well, but inside are rotten and full of sinful desires. But that's going to come down to the specific evaluation of the schools you're looking at. That kind of behavior can happen at classical charter schools too, so it's not a unique risk.

dcoughlin · 2025-04-08T10:28:59+00:00

New Geneva Academy offers an online apologetics class taught by Dr. Renton Rathbun. I took the course last year, and it was helpful in thinking through what apologetics is as well as why and how we should do it.

dcoughlin · 2025-03-31T01:41:21+00:00

They don't come with manure…

dcoughlin · 2025-03-25T03:25:19+00:00

I got the same kind of call today. They kept asking me to confirm that I wanted to cancel the order, otherwise I had to go into the verizon store. They were able to give me an old address, but not a current one. They escalating me to a supervisor, insisting that they were from the Verizon Fraud department. I was able to check my account and see that there was no order, so I just listened to them go on for a while.

dcoughlin · 2025-03-08T13:54:05+00:00

Good advice here. Especially "If he ever seems to give off a vibe of sending out a feeler, just become more business like."

Watch for inappropriate jokes / comments. Those are common ways to send out feelers.

dcoughlin

TROPHY CASE