The Reformation 500

Wow! We have returned from beautiful Boston, where we spent the first week of July celebrating and learning about our Reformation heritage. This year being the 500th anniversary of John Calvin's birth, Vision Forum hosted a huge celebration called The Reformation 500.

You might be wondering why the event was held in Boston. This beautiful city was chosen because of the great amount of American history which took place there. What does this have to do with the Reformation and John Calvin? A lot!

Without John Calvin, America would not be the same. His clear expounding of the Christian religion, of family, law, and freedom was used by our founding fathers in their fight against English tyranny. As Christians, we have an amazing heritage. For centuries, our ancestors and spiritual fathers were persecuted, tortured, burned, hanged, and drowned for their rejection of the Roman Catholic church. We now have freedom, but only because those who came before fought, both in prayer and with weapons for this freedom.

In England, France, the Germanic states, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, and basically all over Europe, the Roman Catholic church was the recognized state religion. And then, something happened. Courageous men and women arose, and showed the abuses of the church. Bold Bible translators such as William Tyndale enabled the common man to read God's Word, and to see the wrong practices of the Roman Catholic church.

However, Catholics didn't take kindly to this rejection of their teachings. Bloody persecutions, in some cases exterminations, were practiced, and yet the "new learning" grew. This new learning, as it was termed at first, what we now know as the Reformation, was actually going back to old principles, established through God's Word before the Roman Catholic church twisted and perverted the Christian religion.

Over the next weeks, I will be posting pictures and writing about both the Reformation 500 event and the Reformation itself. To view tons of beautiful pictures, visit Mr. Phillip's blog. You may see some pictures of reformers who showed up for the event, such as the two below.

Reformation 500!

This year, July 1-4, some exciting things are happening in Boston. Christians from all over the country are gathering to celebrate the 500th birthday of John Calvin. We'll be learning not just about Calvin, but about the Reformation as a whole, which provided a basis for this country and our founding fathers' principles. My family and I are going, and I hope to see you there! Below is a short video from Vision Forum which encapsulates the experience.





~John

Tax Day at the Alamo

On April 15, 2009, Texans gathered in front of the Alamo.  An orderly crowd, 16,000 strong, formed in front of the aged landmark holding signs and protesting two things: unlawful and ever-increasing taxation, and the Socialistic leanings of our government.  Many held signs, such as "You stole my future" and "This is Texas, not Tax-us".  Speakers taught on our Constitutional rights and how they are being violated.  We were exhorted to wake up out of apathy, and to become more active in contacting our representatives, and most importantly, on voting for those who will up-hold the Constitution.

A Colombian immigrant passionately declared why she came to America; the land of liberty and opportunity.  Terri Hall of TexasTurf.org, shared her passion to keep toll roads out of Texas.  She also raised the pressing issue of the Trans Texas Corridor, a super highway being built through the US, connecting Mexico and Canada.  The highlight of the evening was the speech by Mr, Douglas Phillips of Vision Forum Ministries.  He made clear that the only way this country can return back to former days of prosperity and liberty, is by recognizing  that we need to repent, turn our hearts back to God, and return to Biblical principles.

You can download his entire speech free from Behemoth.com by going here.

~John

Thank you for Swag Bucks!

Thanks to everyone who has signed up under us for Swag Bucks!  For those of you who don't know what this means, let me explain.  SwagBucks.com rewards you for Internet research.  Incorporating search engines Google and Ask.com, they reward for searches with "swag bucks".  These can be redeemed for all kinds of prizes, such as Starbucks and Amazon gift cards.  (We've gotten several).  If you're interested, go here to learn more!

And the winner is...

The winner to the giveaway of "Let Freedom Ring" is (drumroll please). . . Eliza28!

Congratulations Eliza28!  Please send us your address at hornhappenings@gmail.com so that we can get your album in the mail post haste!

Thank-you to everyone else who entered in our giveaway.  Stay tuned for more possible giveaways and (hopefully) interesting posts.

~John

Last day to enter!

Today is that last day to enter our giveaway of "Let Freedom Ring".  All entries must be made by 12:00 P.M. today, so hurry and place a comment!  The winner of the random drawing will be announced tomorrow.

~John

Listen to Free Music

Recently we became aware of an Internet project called Pandora Radio. It's an easy-to-navigate site where you can create different "stations" for artists or songs that you like. Then it plays other songs that are similar in style, instruments, etc. We've been enjoying listening to songs that sound like those of favorite composers, especially while doing dishes.

Pandora is completely legal! Artists actually pay Pandora for their songs to be played, as it provides advertising for their other musical works. As you might expect, we can't endorse all the music (not even close) but you're pretty safe because all the stations are of your creation. If you don't like a song, simply give it a thumbs down, and it will know you don't like that particular style. (Technology is crazy, isn't it?) Anyway, it's a pretty neat source. Go here to check it out.

~John