Washington Tour - Day 2

On the second day we visited a bunch of places in Philadelphia. We started off at Christ Church. Christ Church was attended by many of the founding fathers. George Washington visited there, Benjamin Franklin, and many others. Charles Lee and John Forbes, Generals in the Revolution and French and Indian War, respectively, were also buried there, along with Robert Morris the financier of the Revolution.

Walking to Christ Church

The Steeple at Christ Church

Listening to the tour at Christ Church

After Christ Church we went to Carpenter's Hall.Carpenter's Hall was the sight of the First Continental Congress. Washington was a delegate to that Congress. My father talked about Washington as a politician in front of the building.

Speaking in front of Carpenter's Hall

After Carpenter's Hall, one group went to Christ Church Burying Ground. Benjamin Franklin and Benjamin Rush are buried there. My father spoke on both of those men there. After that and lunch we went to Independence Hall. Independence Hall during the Revolution was called the Pennsylvania State House. It was used as the sight of the Continental Congresses. It was there they signed the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. After Independence Hall we visited the Liberty Bell.

A grave of an forgotten soldier.
This grave of a Revolutionary War soldier had either sunken into the ground or been broken off

Liberty Bell

Independence Hall

Then I gave a speech on the battles of the Revolution up to Trenton where we went the next day. My father talked about why the Constitution is distinct from other Constitutions. Then we walked to the Tomb of the Unknown Revolutionary War soldier. There we talked about how the soldiers went for days without food, marching many miles and all of the sufferings that they went through to give us freedom.

Speaking on the battles

Washington at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Washington Tour - Day 1 Early Life

Washington Tour - Day 1

We left Wake Forest last Monday at 4:30 AM. After trying to sleep on the bus for a few hours, we stopped for an opening breakfast. My father and I gave some introductory speeches there.

Opening Breakfast

After breakfast our next stop was Washington's Office in Winchester, VA. There we split into two groups and one heard my father talk about Washington's early life while the other went through the office. Washington used this building as a office while he was the commander of the Virginian troops during the French and Indian War. He also surveyed this area when he was sixteen, and my father was encouraging young men to be about serious business at a young age to redeem the time for the days are full of evil.

Half of us in front of a statue of Washington as a surveyor

My father speaking about Washington
Next we drove to Jumonville Glen in southwestern Pennsylvania. This is where Washington started the French and Indian War by attacking a party of "ambassadors." I talked about the battle, and we walked around the area.

Driving through Pennsylvania

Climbing on the rocks 

Then we drove a few minutes to Fort Necessity, where Washington fought the French who were sent out to avenge Jumonville's death. Because of the poor choice of location for the fort, after just a few hours Washington was forced to surrender. 

Me speaking at Fort Necessity
A reconstruction of the small fort he built

After leaving Fort Necessity we drove to the hotel in Pottstown, PA. We arrived there after midnight, so it was a very long day!


Washington Day 1 - Washington's Office



Our first historical stop of the day was Washington's Office in Winchester Virginia. He used it as his headquarters during the French and Indian War. My father addressed Washington's early life and some of the lessons we can learn from it.

Washington Day 1 - Fort Necessity



Our next stop was Fort Necessity. After Washington's victory at Jumonville Glen, the French came and surrounded Washington in a small fort that he built, Fort Necessity. After a short battle, Washington surrendered for the only time in his career.

Washington Tour Preorder





Preorder is now avaliable for the Life of Washington Tour! We will be doing DVDs, CDs and MP3s and audio and DVD sets. Click here to order them. If you are in the Wake Forest area, use the code PICKUP to deduct shipping. You can also pay with cash or check, just . Here is a first cut of a short scene from the DVDs:



View the video on Vimeo.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial



View in HD on Vimeo.

Here is a video clip from the Franklin Roosevelt Memorial that we took last week. Thanks to Stephen Breagy for editing this.

Family Reunion - Day 3

On Wednesday we went to Washington DC again. We started out touring the Supreme Court which was pretty interesting, and then we walked around for a while trying to find our car. After moving the car we went to the Postal Museum, which showed a lot about the history of the US Postal Service. After that and lunch we walked over to the Library of Congress. There they had Thomas Jefferson's complete surviving library set up in a display. They also had two very old Bibles. After walking around the capital and seeing some of the monuments we drove over to the Alexandria train station to pick up Nic Ruiz who came up to video with us later in the week. His train was over an hour and a half late, but that was good because we got there an hour late. Right across the street from the train station was the George Washington Masonic Memorial, so we walked over there and took some pictures of it.

Supreme Court

Library of Congress
Capital Building

After picking Nic up we drove over to Arlington National Cemetary. We went through there really quick but we saw President Kennedy's grave, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and Robert E. Lee's house. For diner that night we went to Gadby's Tavern in Arlington for my Grandmother's 80th birthday and my grandparent's 54th anniversary. Washington celebrated some of his birthdays at Gadsby's Tavern. After dinner we decided that we would go back to the monuments at night when they were less crowded. We went to Jefferson, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, George Mason and Lincoln Memorials. Later we will put up a video from some of those.

Masonic Memorial
 

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
Dinner
Jefferson Memorial
Washington Monument

Battle of Cannae - 2226 Years Ago Today

Hannibal

2226 years ago today Hannibal defeated the Roman army almost twice his size at the Battle of Cannae. Hannibal commanded his men in the center of the line to fall back as the Romans attacked, which meant that eventually his army formed a semi-circle around the Roman forces. The Romans were defeated, and almost annihilated. The Romans are estimated to have lost 48,000 men, almost twice the number of Americans who were killed during the War for Independance.




Because of the incredible victory, Cannae has become synonymous with a complete and total victory. General Dwight D. Eisenhower, supreme commander of the Allied forces in WW2 said, "Every ground commander seeks the battle of annihilation; so far as conditions permit, he tries to duplicate in modern war the classic example of Cannae."

Learn more about the battle here.

Washington Tour Audio Formats

Before we start preorder for the Washington Tour, we want to know whether you would prefer MP3 or CD. You can vote in the poll below. Thanks!





If this is not working, try the direct link here.

Family Reunion - Day 2

Washington Monument
Today we walked around Washington DC. We started out at 6:30 because we wanted to go up the Washington Monument to prepare for the Life of Washington tour we are going to do, but to get tickets you have to get there really early. After getting tickets we ate breakfast and came back and went up. After losing a few pocket knifes, we made it to the top. There are some really good views. Here are some pictures:

View of the capital from Washington Monument
View from Washington Monument with the WW2 memorial in the foreground and Lincoln Memorial in the background
After the Washington Monument we walked arround to different monuments including the World War II Memorial, Signers of the Declaration of Independence Memorial, Lincoln Memorial and more. Here are some pictures.

The WWII Memorial
Washington Monument reflected in a pool at Constitution Gardens

Lincoln Memorial

After that we went on a tour through the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. That is where they print all the fiat money. The tour was interesting and we were surprised they mentioned the fact that the money has no real value. They would not let you take pictures inside. Next we went to the National Museum of American History. It was a pretty good museum, but it was really big and we could not see nearly all of it. We went to the part on military history. They have lots of artifacts there, and one that was interesting to me because I am studying the French and Indian War was Lt. Col. Adam Stephen's coat, who was Washington's second-in-command during that war.

Lt. Col. Adam Stephen's coat

Atlanta Roadtrip Stop

Here are a few pictures from the NCFIC Atlanta Road Trip stop from a few weeks ago. We went there with a  total of 21 people from Hope Baptist, and all of us plus the Bradrick family stayed with one very hospitable family, that none of us had ever met before.





Cowpens Battlefield


A few weeks ago we visited Cowpens Battlefield  with friends from church on our way to the Atlanta NCFIC roadtrip stop. It was one of the most important battles in South Carolina of the American War for Independence. General Daniel Morgan made a stand there against the British troops who were chasing him under the cruel British commander Tarelton. Since most of his troops were undisciplined militia, he put them out in two lines in front of the Continentals. He told them to fire just two shots and then they could run. That is just what they did, and the British became disordered in the pursuit. The Continentals retreated as well due to a misunderstood order, but as they ran they suddenly turned and opened fire on the British. Many British fell, and the militia came and surrounded them. The Americans won the day. The British suffered 300 killed and wounded, and over 700 prisoners. The Americans lost less than 150. This victory was important because it encouraged the Americans that they were able to beat the British.
The British troops charged across these fields


A Cannon at the Battlefield like the ones the British would have used




The monument at the Visitor's Center
We will try to post a video from the battlefield soon.

Family Reunion - Day 1

Yesterday night we drove up to Washington D.C. for our grandmothers 80th birthday and a family reunion. Today we went to Great Falls, VA for a picnic.My mother used to go there as a child when she lived outside of Washington D.C. Great Falls is a series of waterfalls on the Potomac river. We learned that George Washington surveyed there and helped build a canal that he believed would help with trade to the western frontier. It was very beautiful, and we got to climb on some rocks by the river. After that we went to the new Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. It had a lot of famous planes, such as one of the bombers that dropped an atomic bomb on Japan.





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Blogging the Reformers: Jean Merle D’Aubigné

D'Aubigne

Jean-Henri Merle D'Aubigne was born on August 16th 1794. He lived in Geneva, where the great reformer John Calvin had lived 250 years before. But by the 1800s Calvin's reformation was gone and had been replaced by Unitarianism and other heresies. He was saved while studying for the ministry, and was ordained in 1817. In 1817 on the 300th of anniversary of the Reformation he visited Wartburg Castle where Martin Luther was kept. There he decided that he eventually wanted to write a history of the Reformation. He was a preacher in Hamburg and Brussels until 1831 when he returned to Geneva. There he assisted the establishment of a reformed theological seminary in Geneva. He was professor of Church History there for 41 years until his death. He was a great preacher in Geneva and was one of the leaders of the the reformation there. While he was in Geneva he wrote his two major books on the Reformation, a five volume History of the Reformation of the Sixteenth Century and an eight volume History of the Reformation in Europe in the Time of Calvin. He traveled all over Europe to study the original source documents. These books were very important in the history of the church. “For the first time, the Reformation, with all the various and boundless benefits which it has conferred upon the world, is beginning to be, in some measure, comprehended by mankind.” 1 A historian wrote that his writings “had a wider circulation, at least in the English translations, than any other book on church history.”2 D’Aubigne’s writings are still a great way to learn about church history. You can buy them here.

Geneva Today

1 J. H. Merle D'Aubigne, The Life and Writings of J. H. Merle D'Aubigne – The History of the Reformation in the Sixteenth Century (Harrisonburg, VA: Sprinkle Publications, 2001) volume 1, p. XV
2 http://www.visionforum.com/hottopics/articles/2005-04-14_001.aspx

Hummingbirds

Here is a short video of some hummingbirds on the feeder behind our house.