At eleven years old, Calvin Rust's father handed him the keys to the family's tractors and made him a deal: pay for the water, cover the hay, fix what you break — and keep what you earn. By thirteen he was clearing $25–30k a year farming alfalfa. At twenty-four he has started, run, and sold multiple businesses and now builds custom homes in Idaho's Treasure Valley through Blue Ridge Construction, alongside B Line, the cash-flow side of the operation.

This is the first in a new series: conversations with young men taking ownership where God has placed them — learning, building, and carving out something durable for their families.

In this episode:

• The deal Calvin's father made him at eleven — and what it costs a parent to trust a kid with a hundred-horsepower tractor
• How the alfalfa money bought the framing company's tools outright in 2020 — each rung of the ladder funding the next
• "Go find someone who's where you wanna be" — and offer to mow their lawn for thirty minutes of their time
• Making real money young without talking like you know everything
• Chunk revenue vs. cash flow: why he runs two businesses instead of one
• Phones, screen time, and raising kids who can use the tools business runs on without being owned by them

Find Calvin and Blue Ridge Construction:

• X (personal): @calvin_rust
• Instagram: @brc__builders
• TikTok: @brc_framers
• YouTube: Blue Ridge Construction

In Idaho's Treasure Valley and need a house built or a shop framed? Those are the front door.

Know a young builder? If you know a young entrepreneur making his way and willing to share what he's learned, send Nathan a DM and make the introduction.

Nathan joins an Iron Tavern men's community call for a deep conversation on martial skills — the physical disciplines every Christian man should cultivate alongside his spiritual ones. Drawing from 14 years in Army Special Operations and his church security ministry, Nathan lays out a balanced framework: spiritual readiness first, physical capability second, and the wisdom to know when each applies.

The conversation covers the theology of violence through the lens of Westminster Larger Catechism Question 135 (duties required by the sixth commandment), Raymond Ibrahim's historical work on Christian-Islamic conflict, the definition of biblical meekness ("having a sword, knowing how to use it, and leaving it sheathed"), practical training for families, and how to structure church security teams with honest skill assessments. Nathan's core message: master the basics, start small, include your family, and never let the pursuit of tactical perfection keep you from starting.

Resources Mentioned:

• Two Swords of Christ by Raymond Ibrahim
• Finish by Jon Acuff
• Atomic Habits by James Clear
• The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis
• Westminster Larger Catechism Q135
• Tactical Household
• Reformed Evangelical Seminary — Church Security Course
• Three Guns Every Dad Should Own — Free PDF at tacticalhousehold.com

Outline:

00:00 — Introduction: What are martial skills and why they matter

03:00 — The two swords of Christ — theology of when to use force

05:00 — Spiritual protection, situational awareness

09:00 — Finding a church community with trained men (Genesis 14:14)

11:00 — The biggest threat to your family is sin, not external violence

14:00 — Balancing training investment with your wife as a sounding board

17:00 — Westminster Larger Catechism Q135 — the spiritual undergirding

19:00 — Courteous words or hard knocks — meekness vs. weakness

22:00 — Practical training: habit stacking, dry fire reps

25:00 — Nathan's background: Rangers, Special Forces, 12 combat deployments

29:00 — Historical context and defending physical space

33:00 — Covenantal responsibility: protection as a man's duty

40:00 — Raising sons and daughters with grit

44:00 — When is martyrdom the right response vs. armed defense?

52:00 — Turning the other cheek — insults vs. physical violence

54:00 — Church carry posture and layered security teams

1:00:00 — Deterrence, humility, and the danger of arrogance

In January 2022, I recorded myself praying over a decision to pursue buying 63 additional acres adjoining our family's 20-acre property. I asked God to expand our borders — a real Prayer of Jabez, not the bumper sticker version.

Four months later, we sold our duplex in Southern Pines for $775k (bought it for $165k), rolled every dollar into the land through a like-kind exchange, and had nothing left to build with. No house. No cash. Just faith and a vision for something multi-generational.

Five years later, I'm sitting in the home office of the house we're building on that land. This episode is the raw, unedited prayer from 2022 and what happened after. If you're trying to build something bigger than yourself — for your children's children — do it in prayer and without doubting.

Outline:

0:00 — Introduction: Revisiting a prayer from January 2022

1:00 — Why I'm publishing our five-year journey

1:45 — The 63 acres: survey stakes and a text to the landowner

2:45 — Praying the Prayer of Jabez — expanding our borders

3:30 — Trusting God when the math doesn't work

4:15 — "I am a character in a story He is writing"

4:50 — The prayer (raw, unedited)

7:00 — Amen — and what happened next

7:45 — Sold the duplex: $165k → $775k in equity, January to May

8:30 — Rolled 100% into 34 additional acres, zero left to build

9:30 — Years of waiting — the construction business used the land

9:50 — Spoiler: sitting in the house on that land today

10:00 — Do it in prayer and without doubting