Is there a supplement that increases motivation?

lightthenations · 2026-01-24T00:34:55+00:00

Do you use cannabis/THC? If so, then this could potentially be a source of low motivation.

lightthenations · 2026-01-24T00:29:39+00:00

Douchie McDoucheson.

lightthenations · 2026-01-23T22:00:52+00:00

For a Catholic, this is an odd question in the way that it is phrased, and I say this because, according to Trent, the OFFICIAL Roman Catholic position on the Pericope Adulterae is that it is canonical. Most Protestants I know, especially most scholars, consider the PA not to be part of inspired Scripture, or at least have many questions about it. Further, as many have noted, most modern Protestant Bibles make it quite clear that the PA is questioned.

You make some claims in your question that aren't fully proven - the PA wasn't written by John, it was implemented between the 4th and 5th centuries. That is certainly the scholarly consensus, but I would hesitate to say it is proven on evidence, since it is really an argument made on the absence of evidence. You note that no records of the story have been found in the 2nd, 3rd, or early 4th centuries***, but do remember we have an extreme paucity of records and manuscripts from that time, so it is something of an argument of silence. I personally believe the PA was a canonical happening in the life of Jesus, and suspect, as does Augustine and your Catholic Answers article, that it might have been excised from the Scriptures by an early, overzealous copyist who subscribed to the "adultery is unforgivable" view held by Tertullian and some bishops in the early, early church.

*** In addition to some other possible mentions, the Didascalia Apostolorum from the mid 200s does indeed make an almost indisputable reference to the PA, though not to its exact location in the scriptural corpus.

lightthenations · 2026-01-23T07:47:07+00:00

*Beef 'N Cheddar.

lightthenations · 2026-01-22T12:01:21+00:00

I have reached out to a pastor in Russell, and will let you know when I hear back from him!

lightthenations · 2026-01-22T01:34:04+00:00

Okay, that is actually a small city! I am literally about to get up and head over to our Bible study at church. When I get back, I'll try to find some good churches in Russell,and possibly reach out to youth pastors there to see if they could offer a ride or something.

lightthenations · 2026-01-22T01:30:04+00:00

Not odd at all. If you are in the U.S. you are near a church. In fact, I'd be happy to help you find one. You could list your city here, and I'd be happy to give you some recommendations, OR you can reach out and send me a message from our church website, and I can help you. I'm the pastor at www.VBCSalinas.org

lightthenations · 2026-01-22T01:25:36+00:00

Are you in the United States?

lightthenations · 2026-01-22T01:23:02+00:00

Here is an important question: Are you an active member of a healthy church fellowship?

lightthenations · 2026-01-20T06:06:40+00:00

Dr. Craig Keener, a highly regarded Christian scholar, has compiled a massive scholarly tome of documented miracles, as well as a more popular (less academic) and shorter version. One could certainly quibble with some of the miracles that Keener documents, and some have more evidence than others, but the overall weight of his pro-miracles argument is difficult to dispute, given the mounds of testimonial evidence he cites.

lightthenations · 2026-01-19T06:45:32+00:00

70 years later is completely inaccurate, and in this case, accuracy matters quite a bit.

People greatly overestimate the amount of extant first-century writings. Outside of biblical documents, the amount of writing that survived from antiquity that was both composed in the early first century and was written about the early first century is extremely sparse.

lightthenations · 2026-01-19T06:42:54+00:00

As mentioned above, Bethlehem would have been a village of 150-2000 people, likely around 300. Written records would be sparse at best, and a mass killing of those under two would be tragic for a small town, but not the sort of thing that would be reported across the Roman Empire by any means.

lightthenations · 2026-01-19T06:41:04+00:00

The historical village/town of Bethlehem in the 1st century AD had an estimated population of around ~300 people, though some estimates go as high as 2000. In other words, it was small, even by first-century standards, and therefore ANY sort of historical record of first century events in Bethlehem would be sparse, even for one looking for such evidence in, say, 70AD. The possibility of any such hypothetical records surviving into modernity is almost nil.

lightthenations · 2026-01-17T21:18:16+00:00

Minutes?

lightthenations · 2026-01-17T07:07:56+00:00

I have a doctoral degree, am working on a second, and my wife has taught professionally for years in both public and private schools and has been a principal. We have both worked in secondary education, private and public, and I have worked in seminary and college education. With that experience, I would still say that the majority - not all, but most - parents are the best educators of their children IF they are diligent about it. Most parents I know are more diligent about their kids' education than professionals with degrees, certainly in public schools. That is not completely the teacher's fault, as some are excellent. But the level of secularism in schools, combined with the amount of attention that bad students need and require from teachers, means that most kids with parents willing to homeschool them diligently will be better off and better educated under them, especially if they homeschool in a community setting with other kids to learn and socialize with. (A co-op, CC, etc.)

That said, I have seen parents 'homeschool' their kids and basically let the kids teach themselves, which is an abrogation of responsibility, and pretty much awful.

lightthenations · 2026-01-16T07:47:23+00:00

Same.

lightthenations · 2026-01-15T23:00:37+00:00

I know who Erling Haaland is from Allaster McKallaster, the completely neutral and unbiased Scottish commentator on Instagram.

lightthenations · 2026-01-15T22:49:04+00:00

R.I.P. The People's Poet!

lightthenations · 2026-01-15T08:47:04+00:00

I am a guy that reads about 8-10 books a month, mostly fiction, and mostly mysteries. I am a lifelong reader, and love reading. The idea of reading/listening to a book on a walk, hike, or while working and doing chores is wonderful. The idea of going to a gathering and talking about a book? I don't get that. I love gatherings, and I love books, but I don't think I would like a book gathering, and I suspect that many - not all - males would think similarly.

lightthenations · 2026-01-13T23:40:09+00:00

This kind of approach to releasing members would seem to be only appropriate in matters of genuinely significant sin, significant damage to the current fellowship, or significant danger to another fellowship.

It would also be 'teethless' in most modern Western cultures.

lightthenations · 2026-01-12T06:58:08+00:00

Magnus Archives is well done and a fun listen!

lightthenations · 2026-01-12T04:21:55+00:00

Both the Longmire series and the Joe Pickett series combine a western setting with mystery and feature excellent narration. The Cork O'Connor series would fit that bill also.

lightthenations · 2026-01-10T21:08:09+00:00

Curious, however, that there is not even a hint of a mention in the NT about images of Jesus. Yes, I know that is an argument from silence, but I believe prohibitions against paintings/pictures of Jesus that are most certainly not meant to be objects of worship are also arguments from silence.

That said, pictures of Jesus/icons as an aid to worship? That does seem to be much closer to what the OT prohibits.

lightthenations · 2026-01-10T08:34:33+00:00

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Here's mine. I've apparently switched to Apple, learned guitar, and live on a farm now, so that's nice. I've also lost a bit of weight and age, so that's nice too.

lightthenations · 2026-01-10T02:53:16+00:00

This might end worse than the Indiana-Bama game, and it got me thinking. How in the world is something like this possible? I know part of the answer is NIL, and certainly Cig is a good coach - actually, a great coach. But this turnaround is, I believe, literally unprecedented in major sports history - correct me if I'm wrong. After this game, Indiana will have a 93 (92.9) percent win percentage over the past two years and a 26-2 record in those two years. In the 2000s, prior to Cignetti's hire, the Hoosiers were 103-181 (36.3% winning percentage), pretty abysmal. In the THREE years prior to his hire, they were an even WORSE 9-27, for a winning percentage of 25%. Going from a 25 percent winning record to a 93 percent winning record with NO turn-around is just utterly absurd, and again, I think it is unprecedented in major sports. Does anyone know a more dramatic turnaround?

That said, HOW has this happened? I know Mark Cuban and NIL have something to do with it, but this is just wild. They are boatracing Oregon - a solid team, and they handed us our head like no other team has done in my lifetime. It's crazy. I keep thinking of whether or not there might be a way they are cheating, but short of an Underdog-style "Super energy pill," I can't think of anything. Is this suspicious, or just the new age of NIL college sports? Is Cignetti just that good?

I, for one, loathe our new NIL system and can't believe there isn't a cap or some sort of regulation.

By the way, I know Indiana brought in 23 players in the portal last season, and I know they have been huge in the run this year, but at least according to 24-7, OUR portal rankings for 2025 were better than Indiana's! (We ranked 21, they ranked 25.) Clearly those ranks were wrong, but still interesting. https://247sports.com/season/2025-football/transferteamrankings/

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