BTLN BIRTHDAYS - FEBRUARY

It is the last day of February and I am finally getting this Birthday post done! So many good men, so many good pictures and so many good memories!


1 John 4:9-11   This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.


Happy Birthday and may God bless you again this year!

HARRY TOURNEMILLE - February 2
DYLAN WARWARUK - February 2
ANDREW NEUFELD - February 6
DESHAWN DENNIS - February 11
GEORGE KOZUB - February 13
TIM FEENSTRA - February 14
BEN JEPSEN - February 14
JUSTIN BEKKER - February 17
RILEY LEIGHTON - February 20

 

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WINSTON STANDINGS UPDATE

It has been a long time since the last Winston Standings Update. There have been eleven Helmets and two Majors since the last update. I don't know if we have ever had such a close race! So many guys still have a legitimate chance to win this year! There are seven more Helmets and two Majors left in the 2016/17 Btln Season. It looks like we are going to an amazing finish to the Btln year! Congrats to all the Helmet winners and good luck to all!


WINSTON STANDINGS
TYSON TILLER - 3 Helmets
JAKOB BOSCHMANN - 3 Helmets
PHOENIX THOMSON - 2 Helmets and 1 Major
DYLAN WARWARUK - 2 Helmets and 1 Major
KEEGAN KENYON - 2 Helmets
LUKE MARTENS - 2 Helmets
DESHAWN DENNIS - 2 Helmets
JACOB SPETA - 1 Helmet and 1 Major
KAYLON SIEBEN - 1 Helmet
ALEX ST ONGE - 1 Helmet
DANE VOIKEN - 1 Helmet
CALEB HIEBERT - 1 Helmet


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BTLN UPDATE - MIKE NIGHT

Congrats Sergeant! At one point earlier in the night it looked like Tyson was going to be down and out, but he somehow managed to keep his knees off the floor and was able to make it to the wall! Three or four rounds later Tyson had earned his third Helmet of the Btln Season!

This week was Mike Night at Btln! Mike Night is always one of my favourite nights of the year. We use a lot more balls than we ever did before, giving us higher scores. In the past scores were between 20-40, now we had one team over 100! Jason's team had a big lead for most of the night and it looked like no one else had a chance to catch them. With all the balls in the last three rounds Devin's team overcame a nearly 20 point deficit to win by two points!

MIKE NIGHT FINAL SCORES
Devin's Team - 101
Jason's Team - 99
Cam's Team - 86
Ryley's Team - 82


In Bible study our topic was God's Eternal Encouragement.

2 Thessalonians 2:16-17   May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.

Romans 15:4-6   For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.
May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In these first two passages Paul tells us that we can get eternal encouragement from the Scriptures and from God himself! Think about that, we can have God's eternal encouragement, that is amazing!


Romans 1:11-12   I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong— that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.

Hebrews 10:24-25   And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

God also uses other believers to encourage us. This is why it is so important for us to spend time together studying God's Word!


Acts 4:36-37   Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means “son of encouragement”), sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet.

Barnabas is a great example of a believer displaying God's eternal encouragement! Check out his story in the book of Acts!



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BTLN UPDATE

Congrats Deshawn! This was Deshawn's second Helmet of the Btln Season! Deshawn sacrificed a shirt for the win, but it was worth it! Dane and Luke were there at the end looking for another Helmet, but this time it was Deshawn with the win!

This week we played Stickball for only the second time this year. It seems like every time that we play Stickball the game gets better. I guess the guys have learned the rules and are now figuring out the strategy. This was probably the closest result we have ever had playing Stickball. I will have to figure out how we will do extra innings in case of a tie. Ben and Alex have been on the same team every time we have played Stickball and they have never won until this week! Congrats to Ben and Alex's team!

Stickball Final Scores
Ben's team - 7
Cam's team - 6
Jason's team - 5
Ryley's team - 5


In Bible study our topic was Spiritual Warfare.

2 Corinthians 10:3-5   For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

Ephesians 6:10-13   Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

We are at war with everything that is against the knowledge of God. It is clear that our enemy is not the people of this world. Our enemy is the devil and the spiritual forces of evil. These passages explain that our weapons and armor are not of this world.

Ephesians 6:14-17   Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

God has provided everything that we need to "Fight the good fight". He has given us truth, righteousness, the gospel of peace, faith and the word of God.

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



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BTLN UPDATE

Congrats Jakob! This was Jakob's third Helmet of the Btln year! With his third Helmet, Jakob has the lead in the race for Winston! All the usual suspects were there at the end with Jakob, but this time Jake would not be denied!

This week at Btln we tried combining two of favourites games to mix things up a little bit. We combined Murderball and Handball, I think that we will call it Murder-Handball. The object of the game is to be the first team to score ten goals. Most of the Murderball rules apply, except that team members that have been caught can throw balls back to their team members that are still playing. In the first game that we played, my team dominated. The second game had the same result as the first, my team taking a two game lead. Ben's team figured out the strategy and fought back to win the third game. My team winning the night 2-1! I think that Murder-Handball worked well, we will definitely be playing this again in the future!


In Bible study our topic was Love.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8   Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.

This passage tells us that love is patient and kind. This is a very different love than the love that the world is trying to sell us. Love that protects, trusts, hopes and perseveres is the kind of love that we all need! The question is, where can we get this love?

1 John 4:7-11   Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

In this passage we learn that (1) Love comes from God, (2) God is Love, (3) God showed his Love by sending his only Son to die for us and (4) that we should Love each other because God Loved us!

Ephesians 3:17-19   I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

God's sacrificial love that sent his only son to save us from our sin is so great that it is beyond understanding!

Romans 8:38-39   For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

This last passage lets us know, that we cannot ever be separated from this great love of God!



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BTLN UPDATE - WINTERSLAM 12

 

 

Congrats to Dylan! Dylan Warwaruk is the Winterslam 12 Champion! Dylan is the second Winterslam Champion to win in back to back years! (Steven Feenstra was the Winterslam Champion in 2008 and 2009.) Can Dylan complete the Winterslam hat trick next year and win three in a row? Can't wait to find out!

There were 28 guys at Winterslam 12! We had 12 Lightweights and 16 Heavyweights. There were three bouts in the first round of the Lightweight Division. In the second round we put the three winners from the first round back in the ring to find our winner! The last two left in the ring in the Lightweight Division were Max Becker and Uzzie Cochran. For the first time ever we went "Ropes Down" for the Lightweight final. Ropes down gives everyone a chance to see what is happening and gets everyone involved. Without the support of the ropes, the final never lasts long. Both guys wanted it bad, but in the end it was Uzzie forcing Max to the ground for the win! Congrats Uzzie!

First Round Winners
Max Becker
Uzzie Cochran
Logan Cunningham

Final Two
Max Becker
Uzzie Cochran

Lightweight Champion
Uzzie Cochran


In the Heavyweight Division we had four bouts in the first round. In the past, there has almost always been the dreaded group of death. (Think World Cup of Soccer.) The group that has more than one of the favourites to win Winterslam. This year the groups were very even, there was not an easy route to the Winterslam Heavyweight Final. In the Heavyweight Final, three of the four finalists were also in the Heavyweight Final last year! Jakob, Dylan and Phoenix were all in last years final! Keegan joined them in his first Heavyweight final. The final two were an instant replay from last year. Jakob and Dylan were battling it out again for the Belt! These two are creating quite the rivalry! When we got down to the final two, we went ropes down so that all the guys could watch. The final battle lasted longer than expected and the result could have gone either way, but in the end it was Dylan pushing Jakob to the ground for the win! Congrats to both Dylan and Jakob! Both can be very proud!


First Round Winners
Jakob Boschmann
Keegan Kenyon
Phoenix Thomson
Dylan Warwaruk

Final Two
Jakob Boschmann
Dylan Warwaruk

Heavyweight Champion
Dylan Warwaruk


Thanks to Ben, Jason and Devin for all your help! It would be impossible without you!



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