>For Libby's birthday, I bought her a fleece-lined corduroy coat. Even though she has very little fur on her underside, she hasn't seemed to mind the cold weather. But when the temperature plunged to zero, I broke out Libby's new coat.Longsuffering Libby was patient while I put it on her. And she didn't try to … Continue reading >Libby’s Winter Coat

>The following essay appeared in the July 28 issue of The Outlook and can be viewed at Reformed Fellowship's website, but I wanted to post it as a blog entry since it is so timely for this advent season.When I rise on clear mornings, the dark pre-dawn sky is pierced by the beauty of a … Continue reading >Morning Star

>The October 29 issue of Christian Renewal contained the following article, which I wrote about a new catechism project in the URCNA. First United Reformed Church of Chino, CA, is undertaking a monumental task: creating a coordinated catechism curriculum for grades five through twelve.“It was because there was no up-to-date coordinated catechism curriculum on the … Continue reading >Catechism Project

>A very nice surprise came in my mail recently: the published copy of Christ and the Future by Dr. Cornelis P. Venema. This is an abridged version of Dr. Venema's excellent work, The Promise of the Future, which deals with eschatology (doctrines regarding the last things). Both books have been published by the Banner of … Continue reading >Christ and the Future

>We went deer hunting when Iowa's first shotgun season opened on Saturday. Dave and a friend who hunts with us filled their tags on Saturday. I didn't.Dave went out with me yesterday morning for moral support. I saw two, shot one, but didn't bring it down. I've been mentally beating up on myself ever since. … Continue reading >Deer Hunting

>Just when I'd begun to think Libby was a big dog, she starts acting like a puppy again.Libby turned one year on November 13 and I realized that she hadn't had any accidents or chewed on anything prohibited for some time. I began to feel as if I could trust her and thought, "You know, … Continue reading >Puppy Syndrome

>I went outside this evening and got a couple more shots of the moon and our two brightest stars, Venus and Jupiter, which are still fairly close together.

>As the stars came out last evening, the crescent moon appeared close to our brightest stars, Venus and Jupiter, which were at their closest proximity in the sky.I took a few pictures, which didn't turn out very well since one really needs a better quality camera and a tripod for this sort of thing, but … Continue reading >Star Show

>I confess: Last year's winter turned me into a grinch. Sometime in February, I began to think of winter as the "long dark tea time of the soul" (thanks to Douglas Adams who coined the phrase and wrote this book). With snow on the ground since Thanksgiving and four major ice storms that brought down … Continue reading >Winter Grinch

>One of my pet peeves is hearing Thanksgiving referred to as "Turkey Day." That's worse than "Happy Holidays" and almost as bad as "X-mas."Such terms seem to be efforts to avoid acknowledging God as the reason for celebrating these holidays. I've heard arguments that the "X" in "X-mas" represents Christ; however, even though some people … Continue reading >Thanksgiving and Giving Thanks