BTLN UPDATE - THE 25TH BATTALION OLYMPICS

Congratulations to Joshua Martens! Josh is the 2019 Battalion Olympic Champion! In the five events Josh finished with three firsts, one second and a fifth place finish for a total of 30 points! After finishing second last year, Josh was able to win it all in 2019! Josh's 8 point margin of victory is a new Btln Olympic record! The previous record was 5 points. (Derek Taylor, 1999/00 - 5 point margin of victory) (Devin Chursinoff, 2007/08 - 5 point margin of victory) Danny finished second this year and Jonathan finished in third!

This year we had 28 competitors in the 25th Battalion Olympics! Anthony and Colton were both first time event winners. Anthony winning Basketball and Colton winning Football Toss! Josh won the other three events, winning Box Hockey for the second year in a row and winning Arm and Bench Wrestling for the first time!


25th BATTALION OLYMPICS (Final Scores for the top three)

(#1) Joshua Martens - 30 - OLYMPIC CHAMPION
(#2) Danny Macmaster - 22
(#3) Jonathan Martens - 21


ARM WRESTLING CHAMPION
Joshua Martens

BASKETBALL CHAMPION
Anthony Scow

BENCH WRESTLING CHAMPION
Joshua Martens

BOX HOCKEY CHAMPION
Joshua Martens

FOOTBALL TOSS CHAMPION

Colton McNevin


Congratulations to all the winners!


THE CAPTAIN

BTLN UPDATE - SERGEANT INDUCTION NIGHT

Congrats to Joshua Martens, the 32nd Sergeant of Btln 3739! Josh officially became Sergeant this Wednesday night at Btln! Ben Jepsen (2006), Jason Hayashi (2007), Luke Martens (2018) and Isaac Holitzki (2019) were there to present Josh his Jersey! Josh is the 20th Sergeant to receive his jersey.

Congrats also to Anthony on his third Helmet of the Btln Season! Josh was there at the end with Anthony, battling it out for Bulldog supremacy! This week it was Anthony's turn to take the Helmet! 

Last year on Sergeant Night we played Mike. Without planning it, and by random chance this year we played Mike again on Sergeant Night. There were quite a few guys that had never played Mike, making it more exciting this time around! The scores were close for the first half of the game, but at the end it was Ben's team pulling away and winning big! Ben's team were + 22 on the last round!

Mike Final Scores

Ben's Team - 70

George's Team - 56

Jason's Team - 53

Coady's Team - 44

This week we looked at Moses in our Bible study.

God saved Moses from dying when he was a baby (Exodus 1) because he had a special plan for Moses' life. 

Exodus 3:7-11   The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”

But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”

God wanted Moses to lead the Israelite people out of Egypt and to free them from slavery. Moses' didn't think that he was capable of doing what God had asked him.

Exodus 4:1-17   Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?”

Then the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?”

“A staff,” he replied.

The Lord said, “Throw it on the ground.”

Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. Then the Lord said to him, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.” So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. “This,” said the Lord, “is so that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has appeared to you.”

Then the Lord said, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” So Moses put his hand into his cloak, and when he took it out, the skin was leprous—it had become as white as snow.

“Now put it back into your cloak,” he said. So Moses put his hand back into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored, like the rest of his flesh.

Then the Lord said, “If they do not believe you or pay attention to the first sign, they may believe the second. But if they do not believe these two signs or listen to you, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the river will become blood on the ground.”

Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.”

The Lord said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”

But Moses said, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.”

Then the Lord’s anger burned against Moses and he said, “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and he will be glad to see you. You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do. He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him. But take this staff in your hand so you can perform the signs with it.”

Moses was filled with doubt in himself. Moses was also doubting God. God offered to help Moses speak, gave him signs to show the people and even sent Aaron (Moses' brother) to help. In the end, Moses did go to Egypt and helped free his people from slavery. Moses needed to realize that God was going to be with him along the way to help him! God also helps us in our daily lives. God has things that he wants us to accomplish and he will help us as well! We just need to trust God and believe that he will help us do great things for him!

BTLN UPDATE

Congrats Jaxon! This is Jaxon's first Btln career Helmet! The final round was between Jaxon and Aiden. Jaxon gained about five more yards on the last round to take the win and the Helmet! First time Helmet winners are the best! Congrats Jaxon!

This week we played Handball for only the second time this year. Most times when we play Handball, we use two Murderballs. This week we had so many guys that we added a third ball! Two balls is hard for the goalies, but when we add a third, it is total chaos for the goalies! In the overtime Ben's team dominated, winning 3-1!

This week our Bible study focused on the life of Joseph. Ben took the lead this week, guiding us through the story of Joseph.

Genesis 37:17-28   Joseph went after his brothers and found them near Dothan. But they saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him.

“Here comes that dreamer!” they said to each other. “Come now, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we’ll see what comes of his dreams.”

When Reuben heard this, he tried to rescue him from their hands. “Let’s not take his life,” he said. “Don’t shed any blood. Throw him into this cistern here in the wilderness, but don’t lay a hand on him.” Reuben said this to rescue him from them and take him back to his father.

So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe—the ornate robe he was wearing— and they took him and threw him into the cistern. The cistern was empty; there was no water in it.

As they sat down to eat their meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were loaded with spices, balm and myrrh, and they were on their way to take them down to Egypt.

Judah said to his brothers, “What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood.” His brothers agreed.

So when the Midianite merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for twenty shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt.


Joseph's brother plotted to kill him, but changed their minds, and decided to sell him into slavery instead! After being sold into slavery, Joseph was falsely accused of attempted rape and was thrown into prison. (Genesis 39:1-23) It looked as if God had forgotten about Joseph. Through an amazing set of circumstances, (that only God can set up) Joseph (with God's help) interpreted a dream for Pharaoh. Pharaoh then put Joseph in charge of all of Egypt!

Joseph's brothers went to Egypt to buy food because there was a famine in the land. Through another amazing set of circumstances, they had to ask Joseph for permission to buy food. At first they didn't recognize Joseph, until he revealed himself to them!



Genesis 45:1-7   Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all his attendants, and he cried out, “Have everyone leave my presence!” So there was no one with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers. And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard him, and Pharaoh’s household heard about it.

Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still living?” But his brothers were not able to answer him, because they were terrified at his presence.

Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me.” When they had done so, he said, “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will be no plowing and reaping. But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.

It would have been easy for Joseph to get his revenge on his brothers, but instead he showed them compassion! Somehow, Joseph knew that God allowed the bad things in his life to save the lives of his entire family! This is the kind of compassion that we all need! This is the kind of compassion that God shows to us! Like Ben said, "Joseph never complained when things were going wrong in his life."  We can't always see the big picture like God does, but we know that he is still in control!

THE CAPTAIN

BTLN UPDATE - G*I*T*D BASKETBALL

Congrats Josh! This is Josh's third Helmet of the Btln Season! Josh has moved into sole possession of first place in the race for Winston! Aaron was there at the end with Josh, finishing second for the first time! Aaron will eventually win if he puts in the huge effort like he did this week!

This week we played G*I*T*D Basketball! It is visually pleasing and a lot of fun to play! The game was evenly matched, but Reese took over in the overtime, scoring two of three baskets for his team! Team Green winning in the overtime 3-1!


This week our Bible study was about Jonah.


Jonah 1:1-5   The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.” But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord.

Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship.

God asks Jonah to go to Nineveh, and instead Jonah disobeys and tries to run from God.

Jonah 1:11-12   The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, “What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?”

“Pick me up and throw me into the sea,” he replied, “and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.”

Jonah 1:16-17   Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm. At this the men greatly feared the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows to him.
Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

God saves Jonah with a big fish, and gives him a second chance to do the right thing!

Jonah 3:3-5   Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very large city; it took three days to go through it. Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, proclaiming, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.

Jonah 3:10   When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened.

Jonah 4:1-2   But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry. He prayed to the Lord, “Isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.

Jonah should have been rejoicing that God was gracious and compassionate! God had given him a second chance, why wouldn't he do the same for the people of Nineveh?

Psalm 130:3-4   If you, Lord, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand?
But with you there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, serve you.

Ephesians 4:32   Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

We should be thankful that God is gracious and compassionate with us! We should also be kind and compassionate to others because of what Christ has done for us!

THE CAPTAIN