BTLN UPDATE

 

Congrats Max! This is Max's fifth Helmet of the Btln Season! There are eleven nights left in the 2013/14 Btln Season. Can Max be caught? Will Max tie or beat Zach's record of eight Helmets in one Btln Season? Can't wait to find out!

 

We played the Btln Trifecta for the first time this year! We started with Murderball. It was a best of five, my team winning three straight! The second leg of the Trifecta was Handball. We were playing to seven and my team had an early 4-0 lead! But Ben's team stormed back winning 7-5! We finished with Extreme Bulldog. My team had John Van in the middle and Ben's team had Nathan Klassen. In the end it was Jake Hachey for my team that outlasted everyone, giving my team the 2-1 victory in the Btln Trifecta! Love the Trifecta! I wish we could play it more often!

 

In Bible study we continued our miniseries "Strange and weird stories from the Bible". This week we looked at Balaam and his talking donkey. (Numbers 22:1-41, Numbers 23:1-12)

 

Numbers 22:2-6  Now Balak son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites, and Moab was terrified because there were so many people. Indeed, Moab was filled with dread because of the Israelites.

The Moabites said to the elders of Midian, “This horde is going to lick up everything around us, as an ox licks up the grass of the field.”
So Balak son of Zippor, who was king of Moab at that time, sent messengers to summon Balaam son of Beor, who was at Pethor, near the Euphrates River, in his native land. Balak said:

“A people has come out of Egypt; they cover the face of the land and have settled next to me. Now come and put a curse on these people, because they are too powerful for me. Perhaps then I will be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land. For I know that whoever you bless is blessed, and whoever you curse is cursed.”
 

King Balak heard how God had helped the Israelites. Balak realized that he needed supernatural help, so he asks Balaam to curse the Israelites. Balaam wanted to curse the Israelites because of greed, but he knew that he couldn't curse the Israelites if God wouldn't let him.

Joshua 24:10  But I would not listen to Balaam, so he blessed you again and again, and I delivered you out of his hand.

Deuteronomy 23:5  However, the Lord your God would not listen to Balaam but turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the Lord your God loves you.

In the end Balaam blesses the Israelites, but not before he was rebuked by his donkey.

2 Peter 2:15-16  They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Bezer, who loved the wages of wickedness. But he was rebuked for his wrongdoing by a donkey—an animal without speech—who spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.

If God would not let the Israelites be cursed then we can be sure that he will do the same for us! But He (Jesus) lives to bless us!

Romans 8:31  If God is for us, who can be against us?

Ephesians 1:3  Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.


Winterslam 9 next week at Btln!

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NEARLY 80,000!

 

 

That's right we have almost reached 80,000 Visitors here on the blog! And just like in the past we will be giving away an iPod!  If you are a member of the Btln 3739 Nation and you see 80,000 visitors on the counter on the blog and you can prove it(Take a picture.) then your name will be entered into a draw for the iPod. There might be only one person that will see 80,000 or it could be a few guys. All of the guys that see 80,000 and can prove it will have their names entered in the draw. (We will need your proof before or on the day of the draw.)(The counter is either on the side of the page or on the very bottom of the page, depending on which web browser you are using.)

Battalion Headquarters History

September 20 2006 - Blog is started by Ben.

April 18 2008 - Blog hits 10,000 visitors.

February 3 2009 - Blog hits 20,000 visitors.

November 3 2009 - Blog hits 30,000 visitors.

May 20 2010 - Blog hits 40,000 visitors.

February 10 2011 - Blog hits 50,000 visitors.

December 8 2011 - Blog hits 60,000 visitors.
October 23 2012 - Blog hits 70,000 visitors.

Good luck to all and thanks again for visiting the blog!

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BTLN UPDATE - MIKE NIGHT!

 

Congrats Landon! First Helmet of the Btln season for Landon! Chocolate never tastes better than after winning a Yorkie in Bulldog! Not sure if Landon shared any with his brother Dylan. It is so tough to win in the second half of the Btln season, things are going to tighten up in the Winston standings!

 

Shirt of the week goes to John Van!

 

This week was Mike Night at Btln! Always good times! There were a few bumps and bruises, but nothing to be worried about! After all we are men at Btln! The smiles say it all! So many lead changes early on, but really not that close at the end! Thanks to Ben for taking all the pictures!

 

Mike final scores

Jonathan's team - 38
Luke's team - 30
John's team - 27
Max's team - 25

This week at Btln we looked at a couple of stories. We looked at the story in (Joshua 10:5-14). In this story God caused the sun to stand still in the sky! In the other story (2 Kings 20:1-11) God caused a shadow to move backwards! In each of these stories God actually stopped the earth's rotation! And in the second story after he stopped the earth he even spun the earth backwards!

Why is this important to us? This proves that God is still in control of his creation! The laws of nature that God created are still in place, but don't apply to God!

Colossians 1:15-17  The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

God is still the Creator and the Sustainer of life!

In the second story God adds fifteen years to Hezekiah's life!

2 Kings 20:4-6  Before Isaiah had left the middle court, the word of the Lord came to him: “Go back and tell Hezekiah, the ruler of my people, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will heal you. On the third day from now you will go up to the temple of the Lord. I will add fifteen years to your life. And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for my sake and for the sake of my servant David.’”

God gave Hezekiah an extra fifteen years of life and wants to give us eternal life! This is the super hero that the world is looking for! God is far more powerful than Superman and doesn't have any of the limitations that any of the comic book super heroes have! (God has no Kryptonite!) And God is real!

Titus 3:4-7  But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.

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BTLN UPDATE

 

Congrats Josh! Second Helmet of the year for Josh! Josh is back in the hunt for Winston! John Van was there at the end with Josh, but fell just short. Nice work guys! It looks like Bulldog will be intense until Last Night!

 

We played Handball this week and somehow the teams ended up being very lopsided. Ben's team was up 12-7 when we rebooted, and then won the second half of the game 3-1. After winning last week I was back to my losing ways this week.

 

In Bible study we decided to look at an awesome but strange story. In Ezekiel 37:1-14 there is a story called "The valley of dry bones". In this story God shows Ezekiel a vision. God shows Ezekiel a valley full of dry bones. God tells Ezekiel to prophesy to the bones. As Ezekiel prophesies to the bones God puts the bones back together, attaches tendons, puts skin on the bones and breathes life into the bodies of the slain!

 

This story tells how God will the give the nation of Israel spiritual life and bring them hope in the future!

 

 

Ezekiel 37:14  I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land.

This story was written to the nation of Israel, but is there anything that we can learn or apply to our lives? God is the only one that can give spiritual life and he wants to give us this life! We are all just as spiritually dead as those dry bones!


Ephesians 2:1,5  As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, but because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.

What else can we learn? God chooses to use the saved (Like he used Ezekiel) to help him spread the good news to those who haven't heard or accepted it yet!


2Corinthians 5:20  We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.

Ezekiel 37

The Valley of Dry Bones

37 The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. ² He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. ³ He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”

I said, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.”

⁴ Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! ⁵ This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. ⁶ I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”

⁷ So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. ⁸ I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.

⁹ Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’” ¹⁰ So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.

¹¹ Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’ ¹² Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. ¹³ Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. ¹⁴ I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.’”

MIKE NIGHT next week at Btln!

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WINSTON UPDATE

 

 

It is one week into the second half and still no Winston Update! Well here it is! Max had a big lead early but the race for Winston has tightened up lately! Can Max hold onto his lead? Will John or Luke catch Him? Is David going to make a late charge? Can't wait to find out!

 

WINSTON STANDINGS

MAXWELL NICHOLSON - 4 Helmets and 1 Major
JOHN VAN - 3 Helmets and 1 Major
LUKE BOSCHMANN - 3 Helmets
DAVID BARNEY - 2 Helmets
JOSH RIDSDALE - 1 Helmet
JONATHAN FOJT - 1 Helmet
NATE KLASSEN - 1 Helmet
NOAH MAKORTOFF - 1 Helmet

 

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BTLN BIRTHDAYS - JANUARY

 

Birthday time again! There are so many pictures of Owen, Jason and Max! These guys have all been around for a long time! Good friends and good memories! Happy Birthday and may God bless you again this year!
 

Galatians 5:1  It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.



JEREMY FEDDERSON - January 2
COURTNEY FRIESEN - January 4
JASON HAYASHI - January 10
MAXWELL NICHOLSON - January 10
OWEN SPISAK - January 23
GEOFF MARTENS - January 31

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BTLN UPDATE

 

Congrats David! Everybody do the Barney! (How these things start I will never know!) Second Helmet of the year for David! Shirt of the week for David as well! Jonathan was there at the end with David, but just missed getting his second Helmet!

 

We played Murderball this week and for what feels like the first time this year my team finally won! The curse is over! ;)  It seems like forever since my team won the majority of games in one night. The final score was 3-2!

 

In Bible study this week we talked about contentment.

 

1Timothy 6:6-8  But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.

 

Hebrews 13:5  Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

 

Philippians 4:12-13  I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

 

Most people struggle with contentment and after Christmas this feeling seems to grow. Lack of possessions, disappointment in friends and family can leave us feeling empty. Paul tells us that if we have food and clothing that we should be content! The key is that we need to know that God will never leave us or forsake us and that through Christ we can do anything!

 

Philippians 4:4-7  Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

 

If we go to God for help then we will have the peace of God and will be able to rejoice in the Lord!

 

 

Week one of the Second Half is in the books!

 

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8TH ANNUAL BTLN ALUMNI

 

So sorry that this is so late! Alumni Night is a night that is one of my favorite nights of the year! I never leave feeling disappointed. Like I told Ryley, I could be happy being a fly on the wall, just watching all the guys having a good time.

 

Four years ago we started handing out the Sergeant Jerseys on Alumni Night. This year it was Ryley's turn to receive his jersey.  I just never get tired of looking back at the wonderful history that we have at Btln 3739! So proud of Ryley! He is the kind of man we want to show to the boys that are a part of Btln right now! (And to the rest of the world!) The world likes to honor men that are good at playing sports like hockey, football or baseball. But for some reason they still want them to be good men as well. (Hello Pete Rose.) We want to honor and follow men that are following Christ.

 

1 Corinthians 11:1  Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.

 

We played 10 games of Murderball! My team losing 7-3! It was first to seven wins. So much fun, you really don't have to be careful with so many big guys!

 

After a picture we played Bulldog and this year we started with Maxwell in the middle and ended with Owen as the winner! Congrats Owen! Few guys intimidate me like Owen! I wasn't going to sacrifice my body to stop him!

 

Once we were done at the gym we moved to Jepsen's to do some more visiting. Thanks again to Bruce and Katie!

 

Can't wait till next year!

 

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