This is the sort of stuff that drives me crazy. Philip Ryken is a good, solid reformed guy but here he goes way astray, speculating as to what the star the Magi saw really was. He comes to the conclusion that it was Jupiter, because Jupiter represents royalty or some such nonsense. Perhaps God, the God who created the world by His sovereign decree created the light specifically to be seen by and followed by the Magi. I guess I think He could do that, and wouldn't be constrained by the orbits of the planets. Why do we seek scientific or naturalistic explanations for things that Scripture is silent about. What does God see fit to reveal to us? That a star or light led the Magi to the King of Israel. That should be adequate to satisfy our curiosity.

These are my kids (except the standing little girl with dark hair between the two boys, she is my neice Alexa). Not much smiling going on, but at least no one is crying!

One of the most disturbing trends I see is the unquestioning acceptance of Mitt Romney by so many conservatives. Governor Romney has two strikes against him in my book, the first being that up until recently he has been a RINO, a Republican In Name Only, like most non-New Hampshire GOPers. He is charging to the center as fast as Hillary, and believes it about as much. The other is that he is a mormon, something I know a little bit about. It is distressing that so many people who are "Christian conservatives" are willing to turn a blind eye to his mormonism, whether out of ignorance of mormon doctrine or pragmatism I am not sure. Probably a little of both. Regardless, if he is nominated as the GOP candidate, he will have a hard time garnering support from the theologically aware Christians and will go a long way toward seeing a very beatable Hillary win the White House.