The Philippines is literally full of churches of all sorts of denominations. Originally it was overwhelmingly Catholic since the island was colonized by the Spanish (hence various Spanish named towns, monasteries etc). I quickly took the following shot in transit, which tells you how much Christianity has some impact on the culture— you wouldn’t find road signs like this one in the U.S. Even the mountains are semi-tropical and there are many many beautiful flowers, trees etc. The hospitality at... Read more

For some long time now, the A.G. Seminary in Baguio in the mountains of the Philippines has been asking me to come and give lectures there. [Note some images are large and must be clicked on to see them properly vertical] We had finally worked things out, or so we thought and then the Taal volcano erupted big time, and it’s located only 37 miles south of Manila where the international airport is. Still, I had agreed to go, and... Read more

Coffee, it seems was first invented as a drinkable hot beverage in the monasteries in Ethiopia when monks got Yergasheva beans from the goat herds. The technology then was passed around the monasteries in the Mediterranean, creating various permutations, for example Cappuccino is named for the Cappuchin monks who came up with that variation. Here below is a very interesting recent scientific study of the health benefits of coffee, if drunk in moderation and without a ton of additives. See... Read more

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Lyle Mays was asked to do a soundtrack for a Biblical film, called Moses the Lawgiver….. I found this on You Tube… Enjoy BW3 Read more

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During the beginning of this month, we will be looking at Patrick Mitchel’s fine book, The Message of Love and having a dialogue with him about it. To whet your appetite, below is a sample page, to begin to give you the flavor of things to come. Read more

In the past several years, there has been marked criticism of the Academy that oversees Motion Pictures for a lack of diversity or inclusion on a whole variety of fronts. Probably partially in over-reaction to that criticism, the Korean film Parasite (in Korean with subtitles) not only received the Oscar this month for best international film, it also won the Best Picture Award, an unprecedented double prize. Previously at Cannes it had also won the Golden Palm award. In my... Read more

At first I thought the owner was a nature lover. I was out jogging and all I could see from a distances was images of frogs…. but then, on closer inspection, this ancient Lincoln had this license plate….. This is BW3, and I approve this message!!! Read more

“Before telling Moses his Name, God prepares for doing so by saying, ‘I will be who I will be’ (Exod. 3.14). God is the one who freely determines who he will be. He is not the God of Israel because he, as it were, finds himself that. Rather he freely chooses to be Israel’s God and commits himself to Israel. That was then [at the burning bush]. Now God says ‘I will be gracious to whom I am gracious and... Read more