Southern Discomfort Ben Witherington III Southern Discomfort chronicles the trials and tribulation of Masey Bumgarner, recently widowed, who returns from her summer vacation to discover that her town, Pineville, North Carolina, has decided to pave a four-lane highway through her front yard . . . without her permission or even sufficient advance notice. After consultation with her pastor, she decides to contest the location of this project in court. Along the way, her lawyer and his detective discover all sorts… Read more

One of the sad parts of teaching graduate students, is though many are bright, only a few can write well (by which I do not mean only a few can write the word ‘well’). So Weird Al’s now famous video ‘Word Crimes’ is mandatory viewing in my view…. BW3 Read more

Of the now some five Lyle Mays solo lps, the first two which emerged in 1986 and 1988, and now have been reissued, tell an important tale of just how big a contribution Lyle made to the real early peak of the Pat Metheny Group (think Still Life Talking, Offramp, Letter from Home, etc.). The first of these lps, which is simply self-titled has an all star cast of musicians on it including Alex Acuna and the great Bill Frisell… Read more

Q12.BEN: It seems obvious enough that the Pastorals do call leaders and others to both good service of their fellow Christians, and to not be greedy. You give us various examples from Xenophon and elsewhere about how people sought the priesthood of Artemis for material gain, and I don’t doubt that. For the wealthy that was not always a primary motive, they were more looking for honor and publicity, and performing ‘liturgies’ to increase their honor rating. But there is… Read more

Here’s part of an interesting article from the website sciencealert.com with a remarkable testimony about a secular Jew who suddenly had a vision of God while they were testing his brain, since he was epileptic. See what you think. BW3 Thanks to alert reader James for the referral to this site— http://www.sciencealert.com/neuroscientists-have-recorded-the-brain-activity-of-a-man-at-the-exact-moment-he-saw-god —- This week, Israeli researchers report how a patient experienced an intense religious experience while undergoing treatment for epilepsy, causing him to ‘see’ and converse with a figure… Read more

(picture courtesy of our Louisville Courier Journal). Muhammed Ali, born Cassius Clay in Louisville Kentucky, was a remarkable boxer, and an even more remarkable human being. A charismatic personality, Ali, named after the famous Egyptian Muslim (who is memorialized in a Cairo mosque named Muhammed Ali Mosque). Ali was many things to many people. I am on record as not liking boxing. I really don’t like watching people pummel each other, but Ali was an artist in the ring who… Read more

Here’s a fine post by my friend Timothy George. There lived in the town of Assisi a man whose name was Francis. . . . In him we can contemplate the excess of God’s mercy: he brought the good news of peace and salvation to all, like a true Angel of peace.” Thus Bonaventura, the official biographer of St. Francis, introduced his readers to one of the most popular and attractive figures in medieval Christianity. In his own lifetime, though,… Read more

Thanks to the Faithlife/Logos folks for the use of this cartoon. BW3 Read more

It was the Who who said ‘Hope I die before I get old’. Abandon hope Roger and Pete— ya’ll are certifiably old. Any band that celebrates 50 years of touring, or even 40, involves oldsters. And then there was Dylan Thomas who advised ‘do not go gentle into that good night, rage, rage against the dying of the light’. Neither of these approaches have much to do with growing old gracefully. Some folks take the ‘carpe diem’ approach– ‘gather ye… Read more

Today is the day Ann and I were married in S. Hamilton, Mass. in 1977. It seems like an opportune moment to reflect on some ‘famous last words’ none better than those of Jesus— ‘Father into thy hands I commend my spirit’. See in what peace a Christian can die. ~~ Joseph Addison, writer, d. June 17, 1719 Waiting are they? Waiting are they? Well–let ’em wait. In response to an attending doctor who attempted to comfort him by saying,… Read more