Cotton Ivy was the Commissioner of Agriculture for the state of Tennessee from 1989-1995.  The building in the picture is named after him:  the L.H. “Cotton” Ivy Laboratory at Ellington Agricultural Center in Nashville, Tennessee.

Once when I was a student at the University of Tennessee Martin, Cotton Ivy asked me and a few of my friends if we would like to go to church with him one night.  We said yes, and he drove us to a Pentecostal church in Kennett, Missouri.

I had never been to a Pentecostal church before and had no idea what to expect.  (I grew up Presbyterian.)  The small building was packed with people.  Cotton led my friends and I down to the front row.

To begin the meeting, the preacher stood up and passionately quoted a Bible verse:  The God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly.  Then…