I have a book with some thoughts from stoic philosophers that I look through occasionally. The Stoics weren’t perfect, and the extremes of some of their thinking were off. But the best of them did not fit many of the stereotypes we read. One of them, Seneca, is often thought to have been a friend of the Apostle Paul, and ancient letters they supposedly exchanged are out there, but most good accounts hold that the letters are fakes.
That said, something I read this morning caught my eye. By one man’s translation, Seneca once wrote “There is no vice which lacks a defense.” The rest of the quote goes into how it is easier to tackle bad habits early in life instead of later, and that would be a great post for another time. But this is the part that grabbed my attention, and it is very biblical.
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Our Inaugural Podcast!
/in Podcast/by Wallace Smith & John RobinsonGreetings! We’re excited to kick off this podcast! While we have a few demo recordings under our belt, this is the first official podcast to go public. It’s a weird one—mainly us talking about the podcast and how we hope to serve you with it. We also invite you to send us your thoughts, and we’d love to hear from you. We’re working on a form or something so you can give us that feedback—until then, you can email either of us using the super-secret ministerial email address format. (Not actually secret, though still super: first initial + last name + [at] + lcg.org. Forgive the weird formula: I’m trying to prevent the bots from spamming us…) We hope you enjoy this different-but-sincere first podcast outing and are looking forward to future episodes!
God’s Complicated Book
/in Uncategorized/by Thomas WhiteEvery once in a while, when I asked my mom a question about the Bible, she would think for a minute, and give me an answer that sort of made sense to me, but not really. I would respond with another question, and she would go “Hmmmm” for a second, before saying, “I’m not sure, honestly. We might have to ask a minister about that one.”
That used to startle me—and frustrate me a little, too. “What?! Mom doesn’t even know?! But she’s supposed to be the Bible genius! She went to Ambassador College! They were supposed to teach her everything! What madness is this?!”
Read moreGreat animated video: Is the origin of life already solved?
/in Uncategorized/by Wallace SmithCredit to Mr. Weston, who pointed me to this video. I love this channel and its videos, but I did not know this one was out.
When you hear people spin tales of how life began as a mix of chemicals somewhere a long time ago and how that is totally, totally, totally believable and that it has even been shown scientifically how it is possible, you can discard such smoke and mirrors. This well-done little video demonstrates why you should ignore them because the science does not say what too many claim it says…
Read moreSome Thoughts on Reputation
/in Uncategorized/by William LongBefore I was in the ministry, I worked for an online retailer. During my first year-and-a-half at the company, I managed the customer service department. We hired mostly young people in their late teens and early twenties. For many of them, it was their first job after finishing high school or college.
Over the course of hiring for the various customer service positions, I received many resumes. Some were creative and others were simple records of education and previous experience.
Read moreA lesson from my bonsai tree (well, the pot)
/in Uncategorized/by Wallace SmithHe Who Is Cursed To Kill All The Plants learns a little something from an innovation in the pot of his bonsai tree…
“There is no vice which lacks a defense…”
/in Uncategorized/by Wallace SmithI have a book with some thoughts from stoic philosophers that I look through occasionally. The Stoics weren’t perfect, and the extremes of some of their thinking were off. But the best of them did not fit many of the stereotypes we read. One of them, Seneca, is often thought to have been a friend of the Apostle Paul, and ancient letters they supposedly exchanged are out there, but most good accounts hold that the letters are fakes.
That said, something I read this morning caught my eye. By one man’s translation, Seneca once wrote “There is no vice which lacks a defense.” The rest of the quote goes into how it is easier to tackle bad habits early in life instead of later, and that would be a great post for another time. But this is the part that grabbed my attention, and it is very biblical.
Read moreDid you know Living Ed is on Spotify?
/in Uncategorized/by Your Friendly Neighborhood EditorsWhile Living Education is out there at lcgeducation.org, ready for you anytime you are, a lot of members aren’t aware of a tiny slice of LE is out there on Spotify, as well. Mr. Ken Frank’s “Digging Deeper” recordings are available as a podcast on Spotify, where you can follow them and add them to your own library. We know Spotify is a popular music and audio resource for teens and families alike, and we thought you’d want to know. Head out there and check it out! The embedded link below will either show the most recent upload from LE or the one that was most recent when we first embedded it. Frankly, we’re still figuring out the “posting” thing. Regardless, there should be a “Follow” button at the very least, and if you want to see the Spotify homepage for the whole show, instead of just one episode, you can click here. We hope you’ll give it a listen, and thank you, Mr. Frank and the LE team, for putting these out here for us!