BTLN Recap

Well as you can see the new shirts are here. Make sure you bring your form and money next week so you can get yours.

This week Ryan did our bible study on Leading Courageously. We read the story of Jonathan and his armour bearer in 1 Samuel 14. We saw how to be a good leader we need to have certain attitudes and qualities such as: courage, honesty, humility, faith. We also need to trust God and the truth in his word. Jonathan knew that God wanted to help them but he wasn't sure exactly how. He came up with a plan to trust God and also to let God guide them in their action. If the Philistines told them to stay put that would be God's sign to not attack, if they told them to come up to them that would be God's sign for them to attack. Jonathan trusted the truth that God would help them and direct them, he also had faith that God would give them a sign as to what to do. He wasn't trusting his own abilities or plan of attack. In his words; "Perhaps the Lord will act on our behalf. Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving, whether by many or by few." Jonathan also knew that to do what God wanted them to do they would need to act without telling Saul or the rest of the army. Saul's leadership was not centered on God's will as much as it was on Saul's own will and plans. Jonathan must have suspected that they wouldn't be allowed to leave if they consulted with their superiors.

We talked about how when we lead according to God's will and word that we will often experience others telling us that we are foolish or opposing what we know is right. It takes perseverance, courage, and strength to lead and make decisions in accordance with God's word. Even in Jonathan's case the Israelites who should have know better weren't following God's will.

We talked about Adam again and about how he was the leader in the Garden of Eden but when the serpent came Adam didn't do what he should have as a leader. He was convinced by Eve and the serpent that he would be better off to eat the fruit than to follow God's instruction. Ryan shared a quote from a guy named Robert Lewis that says "The courage to lead with truth rather than surrender to feelings always separates the men from the boys." At Battalion we are all men and have to learn about how to be better godly men. One thing we can work on is leading according to God's truth, not trusting in our emotion or other ideas, trusting God and his truth. We know that will require trust in God, faith that he will help us, humility to know that we don't do it by our own strength, and courage to do things that others might give us a hard time about but we know are right.

The memory verses for this week are four verses from 1 Timothy 4. All of us could read that whole chapter this week. There are some good principles for leading there. I picked out four that I think bring out the main things for our memory verses. The verses are 7, 12, 15-16.

Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity. Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.

We started the night out with Handball this week. Phil and Ryan's team had a couple cherry pickers which allowed the other team to out number them down low and dominate the play. We played a couple rounds of Bulldog after that.

Next week Phil is wrapping up our studies on godly manhood.

Well second week of Battalion, and the second week I brought my camera and didn't take any pictures. Someone remind me next week.

This week was the second of our 4 studies on RALE. This week we looked at accepting our responsibility.

Responsible means: answerable or accountable, for something in your control or management. Also means having the capacity to make moral decisions. Interesting definition. Two things I like about that definition are being accountable for something in your management, and being able to make moral decisions. As men God has entrusted us with lots of things to manage for his purposes and we are responsible to make sure we do that wisely. We are also given the capacity to make decisions, and also to make decisions that will affect others. It is our responsibility to be careful and make decisions wisely.

In squad meetings we read from Ephesians 5+6 which talks about how to live godly lives, as well as how men are supposed to look after their families. We also read from Colossians 3 about the same things, instructions how to live godly lives and how to look after our families. We also read in James 1 that we need to listen to the word of God, but more than that we also need to do what it says. We also read some more about Jesus and how he didn't need to eat because he was doing the work of the Father.

We can see three things that we as men are all responsible for: to live godly lives, to do what God asks, and to love our families.

We learned that as men of God we are responsible to live godly lives. That is a big task and we have to focus on doing the right things every day. That's one place where rejecting passivity that we learned about last week becomes clear. It is definitely easier to not try to live a godly life but God asks us to, so we must.

In James it said "do not merely listen to the word, do what it says". We need to listen to God and do what he tells us to do. We saw Jesus example of being satisfied enough to not eat by doing the will of God. We need to follow his example. What is God's will for your life? For some of us this might mean a certain job or profession. God gave us all talents and gifts to use in a different way to glorify him. All of us will need to work in our lives, we should use what God has given us to be good at what we do. We might also have gifts or talents that are not part of our job and God also asks us to use those to expand his kingdom. That might mean serving and leading in churches, youth groups, Battalions or other things to help others know Christ.

We also see that God tells men to look after their wives and children and to love them, as he loved us. Wow, big responsibility! Again it is easier not to but God tells us to so we need to do it. This is where that capacity for decision making really comes in. Each of us as men have increasing responsibility as we get older. As teens like most of you guys you start to have to make more decisions on your own instead of your parents making them for you, with this comes the accountability of making good choices. In a few years you will probably be almost completely responsible for yourself. Not long after that you will likely be thinking of getting married and then add the responsibility of having a wife to your life. God asks us to love our wives as he loved us, and also to lead them according to God's will. Sometime after that you will probably have kids and the same kinds or responsibilities are added for them

Be obedient to God, work for his kingdom, and love and lead your family, three major things God has made us responsible for. Next week we are going to look at how we can lead courageously.

Sometimes we need courage to reject passivity and accept responsibility, as men we are called to be leaders in our homes, in our churches, maybe at work or even in our communities. Next week we will look at how to be a good leader.

After squad meetings we played floor hockey. It was a pretty good game except for the bad goalie letting in a whole bunch at one end. As the game went on though it seemed to even out. In the end Phil and Ryan lost to a "next goal wins" goal. We wrapped up with council ring and then a good round of Bulldog.

Remember, double points if you do the memory verses this week! Simon and Lucas took advantage last week, everyone else should as well.

This weeks verses are James 1:19-25
My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.

Night 1

Well the first night is done. Great to see everyone after summer. We had 5 new guys from Stockade which was awesome! We also had a bunch of alumni/leaders there which was also great.

In Squad meetings we started the first week of a four week study about being a real man. We read about Adam and how he was in charge of the animals, and looking after the Garden of Eden and everything in it. We saw that when the serpent came to tempt them he was with Eve, but didn't step in to stop the sin. Even though it was his responsibility to look after Even and the rest of the garden he didn't act to protect them. One author said "you fully expect Adam to come running with a garden hoe, cut off the serpent's head, and end this heinous approach of evil." Instead Adam chose to go along with Eve and the rest as they say is history.

We also got to read about Jesus and his incredible example to us of not avoiding responsibility. We read about him just before dying for our sins, he was "overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death". Think about that, Jesus, all-powerful was overwhelmed with sorrow! He prayed that God would let him avoid what he was about to go through. In spite of that fear and distress Jesus finishes praying and rises to meet his task head on. I am sure thankful that Jesus accepted his task and didn't respond as Adam did.

As men, often the hardest thing for us to do, is what's right. As real men, christian men, Jesus asks us to choose his ways over what is easy. He asks us to live our lives dedicated to God and his ways, as Jesus did. Matthew 10:39 says "Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." (emphasis added) Jesus isn't talking about physically dying. Jesus is talking about losing our pride, our ambitions, our priorities, our schedule, our image, and replacing them with his! This is the only way to find out what true life, and true manhood is all about.

Next week Matt is going to be talking about responsibility.

After squad meetings, we played a good round of Bulldog. It was definitely harder with so many guys in the gym. Then we moved on to Murderball. The two Battalion staples, what else would we play on the first night?? Phil's team got their butts kicked in Murderball, I'm pretty sure it was 4-0! We ended with another round of Bulldog. Check out this game of Bulldog!! I think we could give these guys a run for their money.



The verses to memorize for next week are:

1 Timothy 6:11-12 But you man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

Don't forget to pray for Noah this week. See you next Tuesday.

Hawk Nelson!

Hey guys.. Here's an update on Hawk Nelson's new album! This one is the fifth release and revolves around the topic "a need for truth". It was Inspired by Francis Chan’s book Crazy Love.
“Sometimes submerged in a Christian environment, we lose perspective of what Jesus did for us on the cross. We need to wake up and grasp the meaning of what he did; Jesus made something completely unattainable, attainable, and we are called to live in and practice that same ‘crazy’ love." says Dunn (guitarist).

For me the album is sweet to listen to as it sounds sweet, its rock music and has meaning to it. I hereby recommend it...


New music video!!