Portrait Of A Man: John Calvin

John Calvin was born 500 years ago today, at a time when France still produced real men. He was originally a Catholic, having been sent to the finest universities to study with an intent on joining the priesthood. While completing his education, he was converted to Christianity through the work of his cousin, Olivetan, and his exposure to the teachings of Martin Luther. Like all church fathers, he was heavily influenced by those who had gone before him. Calvin's writings are filled with doctrines taught by Luther and especially Augustine.
In 1536, he sought to travel to Strasburg, France, but was forced to make a detour to avoid the armies of the Imperial and French forces which were maneuvering near there.
In God's providence, he ended up at Geneva, Switzerland. Calvin intended only to stay the night, but a friend of his, William Farel, implored Calvin in very forcible terms, to remain in Geneva.
He was eventually given the pulpit, and the great work of reforming the town began.
Unfortunately, the corrupt town leaders had Calvin and Farel thrown out after they refused to serve the Lord's table to unrepentant individuals.
Martin Bucer, another important reformer, asked Calvin to come preach in Strasbourg and after some argument, Calvin agreed.
Meanwhile, Geneva was in trouble.
A Catholic cardinal named Sadoleto had sent them an letter inviting them back to the Roman Catholic church. Sadoleto's letter was so eloquent that none of the leadership could refute him. So they called on Calvin to defend them. In return for his defense, they would allow him to establish the church unhindered.
After a series of letters, Sadoleto relented.
The work now began in earnest. Many reformed scholars from all over the world came to study under Calvin. John Knox later said that Geneva was the closest thing to the New Testament church that he had ever seen.
Throughout his life, John Calvin was a busy man, from writing books, his most well known Institutes of the Christian Religion was edited at least four times, to organizing missionary trips to Brazil. He has come under extreme ridicule regarding his actions in the execution of Michael Servetus. Servetus was a Roman Catholic who denied the doctrine of the Trinity and was promptly declared a heritic by both the Catholics and the Reformers. When Servetus suddenly dropped in on Geneva, he was instantly arrested. After a thourough trial, he was condemned to be burned at the stake. Contrary to popular belief, John Calvin not only refused to lead the trial, but he strongly dissaproved of burning Servetus at the stake.
After a lengthy illness, he died in Geneva on May 27th, 1564, after serving the Lord faithfully for many years.
He is one of the most influential men in the history of the world.

Farm Update, Part 2

Well, a lot of our produce in coming in now, we have beans coming out of our ears. The corn is tasseled, the squash and cucumbers are coming in, and the tomatoes are about to turn red.

(Those empty beds formerly had kale growing in them.)

Corn

Our mother rabbit had five more babies several weeks ago... it's amazing how fast those things produce!!!



Several weeks ago, we went fishing for the first time this year. The Lord blessed our efforts and we caught 12 Largemouth Bass and 1 Brim in about an hour and a half.

Fun Times!

The Family We Destroyed

Some of y'all have perhaps heard of the TLC show "Jon and Kate plus 8". We were able to see a few episodes of the show during a vacation last year. It seemed like perhaps secular culture was so shocked by the Duggar family that they wanted to see a snazier version of them.
Enter the Gosselins.
Apparently, they are Christians, thought this is not evident on the show. The parents were constantly arguing with each other and we thought originally that this was a publicity stunt. One of our family dinner table discussions was the antithesis between the Gosselins and the Duggars.

There seem to have been several problems with the show, that should have been red lights to the parents. CNN reports that the Gosselins are paid approximately $50,000-$75,000 per episode of "Jon & Kate Plus 8."
Eight little kids, I can only imagine, is a HUGE drain on the parents time and energy, but as life became more and more complicated, they discovered that they had enough money to hire someone to take care of the kids so they could go on tours. Then they discovered they had enough money to hire lawyers so they could divorce.

While if they had just been left alone in their own corner, this former family could still be a Godly example to their community, instead of another statistic, showing that lots of kids are a burden.

The Alabama Governors Race

This one is going to be interesting.

As most of you know, I am politically conservative so I won't be wasting time by discussing the Democratic candidates.

The current candidates, to the best of my knowledge is:
1. Tim James
2. Kay Ivey
3. Roy Moore
4. Bill Johnson
5. Bradley Byrne
6. Tony Petelos
7. Robert Bentley

Alot of folks, huh?

This post will mainly focus on Tim James and Roy Moore, but here is a brief synopsis of the other candidates.
Kay Ivey- is the current state treasurer. It should be pretty easy to see why she won't get my vote.
Bill Johnson- director of the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs. He is closely associated with Bob "Spongebob Taxpants" Riley, as his campaign manager in '02 and a member of his cabinet, a fact that does not recommend him.
Bradley Byrne- former state senator and educator.
Tony Petelos- Mayor of the fifth largest city in the state, Hoover. Has a reputation for inovation, for example, the city's municipal fleet runs on biomass fuel (oh, please).
Robert Bentley- is in his second term in the legislature. He is a successful dermatologist from Tuscaloosa, and served on the 2008 Republican National Platform Committee.

I think everyone is aquainted with Roy Moore, the former Chief Justice who was removed from office after refusing to take down the Ten Commandments monument. Moore is very sharp. He has large portions of the Bible and the Constitution commited to memory. This is a great weapon to have in one's arsenal. However, he is perhaps too abrasive and I think it was this abrasiveness that cost him the governor's race last time. He would be a fantastic Chief Justice or "Ron Paul" type person in congress, but not as governor.

Tim James is a "politicker". Despite that, I believe his heart's in the right place. His family was one of the greatest supporters of Judge Moore during his troubles, and James is going to get my vote. He's a staunch conservative and will make a fantastic governor.

However, I could be wrong.

I felt the same way about Riley once.

She's Still A Girl

I fondly remember a scene from the Andy Griffith comedy No Time For Sergeants when he and his buddy are approached by a female in uniform. Being higher ranked then they are, she proceeds to dress them down. While Andy's buddy, Ben, converses with the woman, he stands there dumbfounded, barely able to salute. After she leaves Ben, astonished, asked "what got into you?" Andy asks what a woman was doing on the air forces base. Ben explains that she was a captain and that they were supposed to salute her just like they were to salute a male superior. Andy vehemently states that he didn't see a captain, but a woman.

Apparently, there are still some guys that can't tell the difference...

When Brigadier General Michael Walsh repeatedly answered the questions of Senator Barbara Boxer with , "Yes, ma'am," and "No, ma'am," during Senate hearing Tuesday, she stated:

"Could you say 'senator' instead of 'ma'am?' It's just a thing. I worked so hard to get that title. I'd appreciate it."

Now, I'm by no means surprised by this, I do find it sad.

Mr. Rick Williams of the Old Virginia Blog muses that his reply should have been:

"Actually ma'am, my mama taught me to use that term since I was knee high to a grasshopper. It's just a thing; as you say. And, though I mean no disrespect, I value her instructions and what she taught me more than I do your position or the opinion of this body. In the South, we consider ma'am a courteous and respectful term. Actually, with all the scandals associated with the Congress and the fact that this legislative body has a lower public approval rating than an ax murderer, most folks where I come from consider the term "Senator" pejorative. That means low-down, ma'am. Come to think of it, perhaps Senator does fit you better."

Natural Fly Spray....Suggestions?

Please forgive my lack of posts! We're still getting used to a new schedule, buying a new van and getting the old one ready to sell, so posting will be sporadic in the next several days.

Ok, now down to business. We were checking on our cow the other day and noticed there were 10-12 of those nasty, big ol' honkin horse flies on her. This is in addition to the 2-3,000 (it seemed like) regular flies.
In the past, we've tried using plain vinegar and vinegar mixed with the Essential Oil sage. We are currently using a product called Hi-Yield, it's VERY concentrated and not natural at all.

So I just wanted to ask all y'all with milkin' critters, what do y'all use?

A Boyd Family Landmark

Over twenty-five years ago, before dad met mom, he began work for the Jefferson County (AL) Tax Collectors office.
About five years later, my parents were married and two years later, I was born. With the arrival of the rest of my siblings, and as we grew older, our parents began to seek guidance as to the best method of education for us. Through the teaching of the Welch family, whom many of you know, my parents felt led to homeschool us. As they took this step of faith, many other questions came up like, what is the role of the father in education?
As they examined these issues, the Lord, working through people like Doug Phillips, brought my parents to the conclusion that my dad needed to come home, to take the leadership of our family. At this time, he had been working at "the county" for about fifteen years and had what most people would consider a "sweetheart deal" through benefits, etc.
After many years of prayer, and the Lord opening door after door, my father was able to retire two weeks ago, and begin working on our family business as an independent contractor.
I'm sure to many people, the choice to leave such a steady job, especially considering the economic situation, seemed like a crazy idea!

I'm sure I don't know the half of what my dad and mom went through emotionally, but it's a great testimony to me that God has been faithful to provide for my family so far and we trust him to provide for us in the future. I have even more respect for my parents than before, just from watching them work through this prayerfully and I look forward to the impact that this will have on future generations of Boyds!

Who'd Have Thought?...

...One year ago, when B. Hussein Obama won the Democratic nomination, that he'd win? I certainly didn't. I thought perhaps a member of the Republican party would pull it off. "After all, our nation is still really conservative. "
Then McCain was nominated and it got worse. Palin became his choice for vice president and the decision was narrowed to a liberal and a liberal. The thing that really burned me up, was all of the Christians that threw their support to McCain, and lost their reputation. Guys like Dr. Dobson and Doug Wilson.
Fortunantly, there were some leaders left, like Pastor Morecraft and Doug Phillips. Their example is a lesson to us all: don't settle for anything less than the standard set in God's word.

I'm actually kind of glad that B. Hussein Obama was elected. His radical views have shocked many Americans into the Second Millenium. If McCain had been elected, imagine how many Christians would have just rolled over and gone back to sleep? Automobile industries are now government or foreign owned. Banks are next.
And yet our leader seems to think he has it all under control.

I don't know what God has in store for our country, but I can't wait to find out. It's going to be really exciting!

First Blast Of The Trumpet

Archbishop David Beaton was a Scottish Cardinal who lived from 1494-1546. Heavily involved in political matters, he was constantly embroiled in conflict with Henry VIII, the king of England. This was mainly on account of Henry's strong support of the Anglican church, while David was a Catholic.
Beaton was also known for his persecution of Protestants. The first two martyrs of the Scottish reformation, George Wishart and Patrick Hamilton, were murdered under Beaton's orders.
Wishart was an elderly gentleman who had gained much support from the Scottish population, so much so, that the Scots rose up against Beaton's tyrannical rule, stormed his castle of St. Andrew's, and killed him on this day in 1546. One of the leaders of that group of men was a man who was very close to Wishart and had served as his bodygaurd. He was none other than John Knox.

Through the blessing of God on the work of men like Wishart and Knox, Scotland became the Godliest nation on the face of the earth, much like America once was. Scotland has had the greatest impact on any nation since ancient Israel and without the Scottish Reformation, there would be no English Reformation. Without the English Reformation, America would not have been the city on the hill that she was for the first 200 years of her existence.

"Peace For Our Time"

On this day in 1934 Neville Chamberlain became the prime minister of Great Britain.
Chamberlain was born near Birmingham in 1869. His father was an influential businessman and politician with a colorful career, and probably mentored his son's future career in politics. Both father and son hailed from the Liberal party originally but Neville later switched to the conservative party.
Now, British politics are extremely confusing, so I will attempt no explanation of that here. To the best of my knowledge, the British Liberal party at the time was comparable to our Democratic party.
After serving as the Lord Mayor of Birmingham, in 1915, he determined to run for prime minister in 1916 and was elected at the age of 45. Over the course of the next several years he became the leader of the conservative party. Although he was a conservative, his policies were somewhat influenced by the liberals. A good modern example would be John McCain.
As the troubles developed that would result in World War II, Chamberlain took a very liberal position on it. He was committed to peace at all costs.
As Adolf Hitler invaded Austria and demanded that the Sudentenland be given to him, Chamberlain was forced to take action. He and the French Prime Minister met with Hitler and Mussolini in Munich and formed the Munich Agreement. Essentially, this agreement allowed Hitler to have the Sudetenland and parts of Czechoslovakia if he would be a good little boy and not invade any more countries.

Chamberlain returned to England, saying:
" I believe it is peace for our time [emphasis added]. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts. And now I recommend you to go home and sleep quietly in your beds."

The naivety of this statement is astounding. Hitler's aggression should have been a huge warning sign, and he was telling his friends to go to sleep quietly?
He never understood that there are things worth defending through fighting and killing. However, Britain had enough and Chamberlain was asked to resign to make way for the Big Stick himself, Winston Churchill.

We can take Chamberlain's example as a warning... never drop your guard. Our fore bearers did this and it resulted in the War of Northern Aggression, and ultimately, the fall of America as a Christian nation.

No matter what our leaders say to try and calm us down, we always remain vigilant for any encroachment on the crown rights of King Jesus.