BATTALION 3739 ALUMNI NIGHT

 

That's right, it is almost time again for Alumni Night! Can't believe that this will be the sixth time! Like in years past we will be meeting at the church to play some Murderball and Bulldog. It is always good to see the guys together again! Can't wait!

Who is invited? If you are in grade eleven or twelve or if you are a Btln Alumni member.

December 27th at 7:00 p.m. in the church gym.

THE CAPTAIN

BTLN UPDATE - THE 3 B's!

 

 

 

The Three B's is always a very different night and I guess that is why it is so much fun! We started the night with Burgers, Beans, Bacon and Barq's and a few games then moved outside for Bulldog(The guys were a little unsure at first But By the end were Begging for more!) John Van outlasted and out muscled everyone to win his second Helmet of the season! Congrats John! We then moved Back downstairs to make the draw for the iPod! We had eleven names Before Wednesday night and then Aaron Friesen showed up Bumping our number up to twelve! The first name we pulled was Josh Ridsdale But he was unaBle to prove to us that he had seen 60,000 so we pulled a second name and Aaron was our first runner up. We are going to give Josh a chance to prove that he saw 60,000 and if he cannot then we will give the iPod to Aaron.(Next time we will ask for proof Before the names go into the draw.)
After the draw it was time for the Bonuts and once again they were amazing! Eighty Bonuts disappeared real quick! Before we knew it the night was over and time to go home! It was another amazing night at Battalion 3739!

Thanks to Jeremy, Kerri, Julie and Mom for all the help with the food!
Thanks to everyone who helped clean up, your help does not go unnoticed!

Next up on the Btln agenda, the sixth annual Btln Alumni Night on DecemBer 27th!

THE CAPTAIN

BTLN PREVIEW - BARBECUE AT THE THREE B'S

 

 

That's right, it's time again for the Three B's! What are the Three B's? They could Be any of the following, BarBecue, Burgers, Bacon, Beans, Barq's, Bulldog, Battalion, Ben Jepsen and Bonuts! Any three of these would make for a party!(Especially Ben Jepsen!) If you are unsure of what Bonuts are then you had better be there Wednesday night to find out!

RememBer, Battalion is like Heaven, there is always room for one more! So Bring a friend!

"Come hungry, leave happy!"(Dan.D)

THE CAPTAIN

BTLN UPDATE

 

With the blog reaching 60,000 visitors this update is late, a good problem to have! First off, Congrats to Hammett on his second Helmet of the season! Few have taken a bigger beating to win the Helmet! Jordan was so out of it after Bulldog that he didn't even realize that he had won! (The pain isn't as bad after a win!)
The guys started the night with some floor hockey which is unusual at Battalion, but is nice for a change. Harley was playing hockey and he turned his stick into a Box Hockey stick the hard way.(He broke the blade when the stick hit the wall and had the but end of the stick in his gut! It knocked the wind out him!)
This week in the Bible Study we read the Christmas story.(Luke 2:1-20) This gave us a chance to look at our Saviour in our series "Entrust to Reliable Men".
It is interesting to look at Jesus' humble beginning. He was born in Bethlehem instead of in Jerusalem(The Royal City.)was born in a barn, first slept in a trough, and had his birth announcement given to shepherds rather than to priests or kings. Why would God do this? He wanted to give up absolutely everything for us!

Hebrews 2:9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

He was made a little lower than the angels but is now crowned with glory and honor! He is no longer the baby in the manger! When Jesus appeared to Paul on the road to Damascus his(Jesus')glory blinded Paul!(Acts 26:12-15)

Philippians 2:5-11 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death - even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

This passage is a perfect summary of Jesus' life. His humble life began in the manger and ended in his death on the cross. His glory began at the cross when he defeated sin and death and continues with his exalted position in the heaven!

Switching gears now, Murderball was long overdue so we finally got our chance this week! Jeremy and Joe's team destroyed Ben's team. The final score was 5-2 I believe? I was on Ben's team, it feels like it has been a while since I have won, getting tired of losing!(The score is now Jeremy 6 and The Captain 4)

Next week is the final night of 2011, The Three B's!!!

THE CAPTAIN

60,000!

 

It looks like we are going to have the biggest draw for an iPod that we have ever had! So far I have heard from 11 guys that saw 60,000! That's huge! It shows the support that you guys have given over the years, it is truly overwhelming! We will hold the draw this Wednesday at the Three B's. Thanks again for all of the support!

Names in the draw

Luke Boschman
Blake Chursinoff
Tim Feenstra
Cody Harp
Ryley Heppner
Nate Klassen
Nathan Klassen(The Klaw)
Joe Kraftchick
Maxwell Nicholson
GeRRald Nicholson
Josh Ridsdale

Good luck to all!

THE CAPTAIN

60,000 VISITORS FOR THE BLOG?

 

 

The blog is at 59,830 visitors as I write this post, only 170 away from 60,000! Who would have thunk it? The blog was started in September 2006 by our own Ben Jepsen and now a little over five years later we are about to top 60,000! Amazing!
Like we have written on here before, we would like to thank everyone who supports the blog! Thanks to everyone who visits the blog!
As a thank you we will again be giving away a 8GB iPod Nano! How can you win the iPod? If you are a member of the Btln 3739 Nation and you see 60,000 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 60,000 or it could be a few guys. All of the guys that see 60,000 and can prove it will have their names entered in 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.)

By the way this could happen real quick!

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.

Good luck to all!

THE CAPTAIN

SWITCHFOOT AT CREATION 2012!

 

I checked the Creation 2012 web site and Switchfoot will be there again this year! Definitely one of my favourite bands! Creation now has Switchfoot and Newsboys for 2012!

Only 224 days until Creation 2012! Can't wait!

THE CAPTAIN

BTLN BIRTHDAYS - DECEMBER

 

December is the month that we celebrate the birth of our Saviour! This makes December extra special for a lot of people. Even better when you also have a birthday in December! This month I figured we could use a passage that predicted Jesus' birth.

Isaiah 9:6 - For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

MIKE TRAINER - December 4
KEVIN HAYASHI - December 9
DEVIN CHURSINOFF - December 10
DANIEL TRESHAM - December 18
DYLAN ZORN - December 19
LUKE BOSCHMAN - December 19
CALVIN PETERS - December 21
STEPHEN LAWRENCE - December 23
JEREMY MARTENS - December 28
ZANE LAWSON - December 31

Happy Birthday and may God bless you again this year!

THE CAPTAIN

17TH BATTALION OLYMPICS

 

 

 

 

The Battalion Olympics have always been one of my favourites and tonight I was again reminded why it is such a good event! The guys all moving from one event to another, the strategy and the good competition make the Olympics amazing! Adding Bench Wrestling(It is a Btln classic like Box Hockey!) to the original four events was a good idea, it changed strategy and added a little uncertainty.
Tristan, GeRRald, Harley and Zach were all close halfway through the night but in the end it was Zach winning his second career Battalion Olympics! (Zach joins Courtney Friesen, Aaron Friesen, Justin Bekker and Ben Jepsen as two time winners of the Btln Olympics!)Congrats Zach! I will never forget Zach's reaction after he was announced as the winner, it was classic! (He was pumped and rightly so! It reminded me of Jason Hayashi's reaction in 2006 when he won the Royal Rumble.) Thanks to everyone who came out and competed! Thanks also goes out to everyone who helped set up and tear down!

17TH BATTALION OLYMPICS Final Standings
Zach - 22 (#1)
Tristan - 19 (#2)
GeRRald - 18 (#3)
Cody - 17
Daniel - 16
Nathan - 16
Harley - 15
Josh - 14
Ben - 14
Dylan - 13
Dartagnan - 13
Max - 12
Landon - 12
Luke - 11
John - 11
Jonathan - 11
Nate - 11
Skyler - 10
David - 10
Mitch - 10

ARM WRESTLING CHAMPION
Zach Gobbett

BASKETBALL CHAMPION
Luke Boschman

BENCH WRESTLING CHAMPION
Cody Harp

BOX HOCKEY CHAMPION
Zach Gobbett

FOOTBALL TOSS CHAMPION
Daniel Tresham

Congratulations to all of the winners!

THE CAPTAIN

BTLN OLYMPIC PREVIEW

 

 

 

 

This is a look back at last years results(2010/11), just to give you an idea who might be the favourites for this years Battalion Olympics. Dalton and Chris are both gone but Zach(2009/10 Btln Olympic Champion) and Jordan are both still here. This year we have added a new event, bringing the number of events up to five. The new event is Bench Wrestling, it is a Btln 3739 classic that goes back to the Perley school days and possibly even back to when Battalion was at Hutton.(Not many guys can remember that far back!) A fifth event could change the strategy of winning the Battalion Olympics! A new chapter in the Battalion Olympics begins!

Good luck to all!

THE CAPTAIN

BTLN UPDATE

 

Congrats Nathan! This is Nathan's second Helmet of year!
This week we played S*A*M, it is optically trippy.(I love it!) Murderballs that glow, glow sticks on the center and back lines and every guy in the gym wearing a glow stick, it is awesome!(Thanks Sam!) Ben's team took it to Joe and Owen's team beating them 3-1.(It was an old fashioned beat down!)(Thanks to Jeremy who was rotating the balls in and out of the game charging them up with the black light.)
In our continuing series "Entrust to reliable men" We shifted our focus to David and the story of David and Goliath.
(1 Samuel 17:1-51) It is amazing to think that even though Goliath was over nine feet tall and was carrying a spear with a spear head that weighed fifteen pounds that David was not afraid!(David was a teenager!) David did not challenge Goliath because he wanted the King's reward, he challenged Goliath because he had defied God.(1 Samuel 17:45) David's confidence came not because he had killed lions and bears but because he had God on his side.

1 Samuel 17:36,37 - "Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine."

Our confidence should always come from knowing that we have God on our side!

Philippians 4:13 - I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

1 John 4:4 - You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

We also read Psalm 51, David's response to God's rebuke after David sinned with Bathsheba. We are all sinners saved by grace, it is how we respond after we have made a mistake that determines what kind of man we are.

Psalm 51:4 - Against you, you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge. Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.

Psalm 51:12 - Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

David knew that he had not lost his salvation, he had lost the joy that came from God's salvation because of the sin in his life. He needed God to restore that joy!

GeRRald was in the middle for Bulldog and he had this attack strategy. GeRRald didn't wait for the guys to run to him, he ran at them and took them down.(It worked well!) In the end it was Zach and Nathan. Zach was trying to take his fourth Helmet of the season and a three Helmet lead into the Btln Olympics but Nathan prevailed taking his second Helmet of the season! Again congrats Nathan!

Next week is the 17th Battalion Olympics! Make sure that you are early!

THE CAPTAIN

BTLN PREVIEW - S*A*M

 

That's right we will be playing S*A*M at Battalion this week! S*A*M is visually amazing and a whole lot of fun to play! S*A*M, that's entertainment!

Btln 3739 more fun than you can handle all on your own!(So share it with a friend!)

THE CAPTAIN

CREATION 2004 PICS!

 

Both Owen and Ben found pictures from Creation 2004 and brought them to me on Sunday! These pictures are Golden! I love finding pictures that we figured were lost! We had some of these pics but others I have never seen before. Creation 2004 was the beginning for Btln 3739 at Creationfest. I count myself fortunate to have been a part of that trip, good music, good friends and good memories!

Creation 2012 is only 209 days away!

Just went to the new Creation web site and they haven't announced any artists but they have videos from some artists. It is an interesting list. (They may be adding Third Day and losing Switchfoot.)

Skillet - Hero
TobyMac - Tonight
Third Day - Lift up your face
Newsboys - Born again
Chris Tomlin - I will rise
Red - Death of Me
Tenth Avenue North - Love is here
Family Force 5 - Dance or die
Brandon Heath - Give me your eyes

Creation East has the same list only it also has Owl City - Fireflies

THE CAPTAIN

BTLN UPDATE

 

 

Week eleven of the 2011/12 Btln season is in the books! First off, Congrats to GeRRald on his first Helmet of the season!
This week we started the night with a game of fumble, it is always good for a few laughs. George had a couple Red Bulls to start the evening and let me tell you, it did not help his reflexes, he fumbled the ball more than anyone.(Not that I can say much, I was nearly as bad as George!)
Later in the evening we played a game of Handball. We were going to play the Btln Trifecta but Handball took so long that we decided to leave the Trifecta for another night. Joe's team had a 6-4 lead but let Ben's team come back and win 7-6! (I was playing on Joe's team and Jeremy was on Ben's team. The score is Jeremy 5 and The Captain 4.)(We also played a round of Fire-Fever-Flood)

Joe had the Bible study this week and he had us looking at Moses in our year long series "Entrust to Reliable Men".(All of these O.T. characters that we have been looking at are right up Joe's alley!) (Exodus 2:1-25, Exodus 3:1-22, Exodus 4:1-31)(Where do you stop with the story of Moses?)

Joe pointed out how God had a plan for Moses' life beginning when he preserved his life as a baby right through to the end of his life when God buried his body! Joe told us that God also has a plan for our lives! Who else would you want to plan your life? He will never make a mistake or forget anything in his planning!

Joe also talked about how even though Moses wasn't perfect God used him in a mighty way!(In the beginning Moses didn't think that God could or should use him. (Exodus 4:10 Moses said to the Lord, "O 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.") God will use us even though we don't have it all together.(Just like Moses!) In the end after Moses' life was over God's word says this about Moses,

Deuteronomy 34:10 Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, who did all those miraculous signs and wonders the Lord sent him to do in Egypt-to Pharaoh and to all his officials and to his whole land. For no one has ever shown the mighty power or performed the awesome deeds that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.

Hebrews 11:24-27 By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king's anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible.

The night ended the way it always ends, with Bulldog! Luke started in the middle and he battled hard to take down the guys! After some help from the bigger guys everyone was down and out except GeRRald! Nice work GeRRald!

THE CAPTAIN

BTLN MEMORY WORK

 

Traditionally we start the Memory work in the second half, but a couple of the younger guys have been anxious to get going, so I wasn't going to tell them that they couldn't start memorizing! So with this in mind, here is our Memory Work list and let's get started!

Creation 2012 is only 216 days away!

THE CAPTAIN

BTLN UPDATE

 

Congrats to Luke on his first ever Helmet! How was that Yorkie? Chocolate never tasted better right? Earlier in the night Luke told me, "I'm going to win Bulldog one of these times" little did he realize it would be that night!
This week Mike 23 was on the agenda. Mike 23 is a blast to watch,(Thanks Mike!)(I wish that I had remembered to take some pictures.) there are balls flying everywhere! The scores jump around a lot, we use the larger murderballs(1 point), the large exercise balls(2 & 3 points) and a Zorb(10 points). Jeremy tried to get Joe's team and Aaron's team to help him defeat Ben's team.(Why are they all scared of Ben?) Ben's team was loosing bad until we introduced the Zorb to the game, then when the other three teams were fighting for the Zorb Ben got his team to collect all of the other balls! (It was brilliant!) By the time the other teams realized what was going on it was to late, the round was over. Ben's team battled back but it wasn't enough as the game ended. The final scores were,

Jeremy's team - 20
Ben's team - 19
Aaron's team - 10
Joe's team - 4

This week in the Bible study we had a look at Isaac in our continuing series "Entrust to Reliable Men".
(Genesis 26:1-6 & 26:12-30) Isaac was living in the land of the Philistines. The Philistines became jealous of Isaac's wealth and power. The Philistines filled in Isaac's wells and stole the other wells that he had dug. They also asked him to move away. Finally the Philistines came to him,

Genesis 26:26-30 Meanwhile, Abimelech had come to him(Isaac) from Gerar. Isaac asked him, "Why have you come to me, since you were hostile to me and sent me away?" He answered, "We saw clearly that the Lord was with you; so we said, "There ought to be a sworn agreement between us" -between us and you. Let us make a treaty with you that you will do us no harm, just as we did not harm you but always treated you well and sent you away in peace. And now you are blessed by the Lord." Then Isaac sent them on their way, and they left him in peace.

Can you imagine it? They said "We saw clearly that the Lord was with you." Will people say the same thing about us? It would be amazing if people would look at us and say "Clearly the Lord is with you!"
Because of the way Isaac treated the Philistines, his life became a witness that God was working in his life!

Bulldog was quick this week, Jordan was in the middle and he was picking off all of the bigger guys. It was impressive! In the end it was between Luke and Stevie. It looked like Stevie was going to win and then Luke got a final surge forward that moved him past Stevie's forward progress! Congrats Luke!

Battalion 3739, so much fun you can't handle it on your own! So share it with a friend!

THE CAPTAIN

WINSTON STANDINGS

 

After a Btln Major(The Royal Rumble) we usually update the Winston Standings. Things have been a little crazy so this is a week late. Last year Zach didn't get his first Helmet until the second week of November and he still ended the year with 5 Helmets!(Only one behind Chris who was the Winston Champion.) This year Zach has 3 Helmets and 1 Major going into the second week of November! Who will step it up and challenge Zach for the title?

WINSTON STANDINGS
ZACH GOBBETT - 3 Helmets and 1 Major
STEPHEN LAWRENCE - 1 Helmet
NATHAN KLASSEN - 1 Helmet
JORDAN HAMMETT - 1 Helmet
DARTAGNAN BUTCHER - 1 Helmet
JOHN VAN - 1 Helmet
DANIEL TRESHAM - 1 Helmet

THE CAPTAIN

BTLN BIRTHDAYS - NOVEMBER

 

Not many guys having birthdays in November, but the quality of men is certainly at a high level! Dan Trithardt, Devan England and Nathan Ball are three Legends of Battalion 3739!(Mitch is just starting his journey in 3739!)

Colossians 3:1-3 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.

Our lives are now hidden with Christ in God! Where else would you want your life hidden! What a beautiful truth!
May God bless you again this year and Happy Birthday!

MITCH BRON - NOVEMBER 6
DAN TRITHARDT - NOVEMBER 9
DEVAN ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 19
NATHAN BALL - NOVEMBER 20

THE CAPTAIN

BTLN UPDATE

 

 

Congrats to Jordan on his first Helmet of the Btln season!

This week we played Murderball, and after beating Jeremy and Joe's team in the first game, Ben's(I was also on this team.) team got beat the next five games. The last game was a marathon, it seemed like it wasn't going to end, but in the end the result was the same as the previous games, a loss for Ben's team. After this week the score is now The Captain 4 and Jeremy 4.
Ben led the Bible study this week and had us looking at Noah in our year long series "Entrust to Reliable Men".
(Genesis 6:9 - Genesis 9:17)

Genesis 6:9 - Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God.

What an amazing resume! Noah was righteous, blameless and he walked with God! If only these same things were said about us!

Hebrews 11:7 - By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

What a daunting task to build the ark!(The ark was 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high.) But Noah doesn't question God, he just believes and gets to work. If only we would believe God and get to work like Noah!

We missed Bulldog last week because of Wrestling so it was good to get back at it! With Zach in the middle the game didn't take long, Jordan outlasting everyone to take the Helmet and the Yorkie! Congrats Jordan!

Congrats again to Zach and Luke for their wins at the Rumble!(They are holding gift certificates from D.Q.)

THE CAPTAIN