Sevice at Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread is a charity food service in Baltimore which serves hot meals to the needy of the city 365 days a year. Our Battalion has volunteered to help with the food service on Saturday, December 19th. The maximum number of Brigadiers we can bring is 10 so sign up early to make sure you have a spot. We will leave Chapelgate on Saturday morning at 8:00 am and return by ~2:30 pm. Please contact Lt. Jeff Lutz at 410-489-7487

Thoughts from our December 1st meeting

Hi gang,
It was great to see everyone sharing their achievement work within their squads last night and I'm encouraged by the progress you are making. The potatoe cannon was pretty cool too! We talked in Council Ring last night about the spiritual fuel in our lives. Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians uses an analogy of food to illustrate our progress toward maturity in our faith in Christ. Milk for babes and solid food for the more mature. When we examine our lives and relationship with our Lord, can it be said that we've remained babes in many ways? The Holy Spirit may be calling you to look deeper at the truths of scripture and to reform your thinking which may have become stagnant. Wrestling with the deep questions in our hearts can bring about new levels of maturity as we seek the truth. The Lord is faithful and will honor those who seek Him (see John 16:4-15). Here are some questions to wrestle with. They all have "Sunday School" answers that you may have heard since you were young but those times have passed and I believe we are being called to something greater. What does the Bible say about;

Who is God? What is my relationship to Him? Do I cultivate that relationship? Does He pursue me? Do I expect Him to make all the moves? Am I a sinner? What is the depth of my sin? Is it really that bad? Who cares, or why should I care, or what makes me care? Do I really live as though I believe? Is there joy in my salvation? Does it influence my life?

As always, it's great being with you guys. If you have other questions you're wrestling with, I'd be happy to discuss them with you.

Blessings,
Capt. Hayden

CMTS Trip Follow Up

Our trip to CMTS a couple weekends ago was a resounding success! Our team of 23 was put to work loading a 40 ft shipping container with hospital beds, a large generator and trailer, two dentist's chairs, huge amounts of clothing, and other medical equipment. The container is bound for Haiti where a hospital is being built. The spirit among our crew was high and everyone worked diligently throughout the day and evening. It was rewarding to see the fully loaded truck head out on its trip to the port. You guys are to be commended for your willingness to give your time and effort in this way and the CMTS staff told me over and over how much they appreciated your diligence in this heavy work. Our prayer is that this equipment will be a blessing to the people of Haiti and a means of furthering the Gospel of Christ in that country.

Blessings,
Capt. Hayden

Service Opportunity!

Saturday, Nov. 28, 2009
Start Time: 8:30am at Chapelgate to carpool or 9am at the Boths
Finish time: 3pm (est.)
Home of: Dan and Pat Both
Chapelgate CSB 6468 has scheduled a work day to serve CSB Chairman Dan Both and his wife Pat. This is an opportunity to bless and encourage them in a tangible way as they recover from heath issues. The work will include, but not limited to leaf raking, tree trimming, loading and unloading for trips to the dump. Please plan on attending and giving any time available.
What to bring:
Bag Lunch and Water
Tools: Work Gloves, Rake, Trimmer, Pruner, Old Tarps, Bow Saw, etc.
Anyone with a truck, that would be willing to come and help with hauling items to the Howard County Dump, would be most helpful.
Contact Gene Siggins for directions or questions: siggins5@msn.com

Notes from November 10th

Hi gang,
Well we've finished Backyard Ballistics and started Small Engine Repair this week. For those who still need to finish off your test (memorizing the verse) you have until next week to demonstrate your mastery to Lt. Tallman. I think we'll start dismantling our engines next week and may get a little grimy so wear something appropriate.

Blessings,
Capt. Hayden

Christian Missionary Technical Services (CMTS) Trip

Mark your calendars for Nov. 20-22 to attend our trip to CMTS for a work weekend at one our favorite ministries. Meet at Chapelgate at 5:00 pm on Friday the 20th and we'll leave asap. We'll be back by 5:00 on Sunday afternoon. Here's what to bring.
Sleeping bag, pillow, toiletries
Work clothes, gloves, boots or old shoes
Clean clothes for church Sunday, Bible
Money for dinner stop on Friday night and lunch on Sunday.
Cost of the trip is $25 which covers our other meals and lodging. Make checks payable to Chapelgate Presbyterian Church.

From October 20th

Hi all,
How have you liked the Backyard Ballistics unit? I think Lt. Tallman and Lt. Clark have done a great job showing us a variety of interesting ways to launch potatoes and other assorted vegetables. Also, I need to give a big shout out to Carl and Anthony for a great presentation of their pneumatic potatoe chucker last week. They went all out and it showed. Great project! Remember, next week we will work on the marshmallow shooters and the next week will be our test so study your verse (Hebrews 4:14-15). Here are some links to websites Lt. Tallman talked about if you've got the urge for a neat home project. http://www.siege-engine.com/ and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jolYDinb_50# Last but not least, here is the link to Lt. Lutz's illustration from his very excellent CR. Let it remind you that it matters very much what we fix our eyes on. http://illusioncontest.neuralcorrelate.com/2009/the-break-of-the-curveball/
Canoe Trip Update: We got tested hard with the weather this past weekend so the canoe trip didn't get completed as we had hoped. But, the area is very beautiful and a great trip so we may plan to do it again in the spring. Stay tuned.

Blessings,
Captain Hayden

From September 29th

Hi all,
We've had two really good meetings the last couple weeks with Lt. Tallman showing us a simple to build but really fun water rocket and Lt. Clark's awesome Tecbuchet. That thing looks almost like an amusement park ride. I could see people being shuffled into the bucket to provide the weight and someone on the business end getting flung into a big net. Don't get any ideas about trying that at home though unless you have parental supervision of course. Anyway, Council Ring's been great too. Seeing Jesus face to face someday is something we sing and pray about but for many, it remains a very abstract thing which was illustrated quite well in the song Lt. Anderson shared with us. We do all want to go to heaven, just not right now. Interesting thought to wrap our heads around. In the mean time, Lt. Adams counciled us to flee from temptation like Sampson did not. Thanks to all who are putting in the time to make this a great year. Remember, next week is dedicated to presenting your progress in your work with your mentors. Lts. and Non-coms, there will be a planning meeting at 12:15 this Sunday. Looking forward to seeing you all soon.

Blessings,
Capt. Hayden

From September 15th

Hi all,
Hope you enjoyed our first "regular" meeting of the year with the first installment of "Backyard Ballistics". I say regular but it was anything but as I can't ever recall, after years of doing this, that we've ever had a massive Nerf gun battle like the other night. That was great and maybe we can do it again. I really like the verses Lts. Clark and Tallman have picked out for us for this course. Hebrews 4:14-15 expresses the truth that while Jesus represents or "advocates" for us perfectly before the Father, he also identifies with us perfectly as well. This is no "long distance" relationship with someone who doesn't know or understand our situation. He's "been there, done that" except without missing the mark like we do! That's good news. Hey Non-coms, get your registration in for the Leadership Advance in October. Everyone, keep your ears open for details about the upcoming canoe trip October 16-18. We need to know who's coming so we have enough canoes. Oh, and crack your book open and work the next step. I'll be glad to talk with you about it Tuesday.

Blessings,
Capt. Hayden

Camp Hemlock Weekend, September 11-13

We had a great time working at Camp Hemlock this past weekend! We helped to clean up the pool area and make it ready for winter and stored all the archery equipment. Then we had guys replacing the roof on Shaw's Shanty and installing drywall in the Staff Cabin. On Sunday we spent some time at the Rock Garden for worship. We spent time in prayer and confession and talked about how we've been set free in Christ. If you've never pondered that great gift, I'd be glad to talk with you about it. Later, we climbed and explored. A great attitude was shown by all and Chief was very pleased with the progress. Thanks to all who participated!

Welcome to CSB Battalion 6468 , '09-'10

Hi all,
I hope you've had a great summer break. As you're preparing to start school again, I hope you're also thinking about participating in Battalion this year as well. My prayer for this year is that we see more clearly God's soverein hand in our lives and that our understanding of the Gospel and love for the Savior will grow. Our first meeting this year will be on September 8th starting at 7:00pm in the gym at Chapelgate Presbyterian Church. I think we have some exciting things planned for the year, some old favorites and some new, that you'll really enjoy. Starting off the year, we'll look at some fun activities from the book, Backyard Ballistics. Then we'll move into a unit on small engine repair (sorry, we're going to remove any excuse for you not to mow the lawn) and then on to SCUBA diving in the Spring. If our plans work out, you'll have the opportunity to experience actual SCUBA diving (with certified instructors in a controlled setting of course). Our weekend outings should be a lot of fun too with service opportunites, canoeing, and backpacking in our plans. In fact, we're going to hit the ground running with our first campout on Sept. 11th-13th. We'll meet at 5:30pm on Friday the 11th and travel to Camp Hemlock in Wardensville, WV to participate in some work projects at the camp. We'll save time for some fun stuff too then return home around 5:oopm Sunday afternoon. We'll provide transportation, two breakfast meals, and Saturday dinner. You bring your camping gear, Bible, pack a lunch for Saturday, and bring some money for a couple of fast-food stops. The cost will $7. If you need some gear, we can take care of that too. I hope you'll be able to join in this first service project. I'm really looking forward to this year and to seeing you all on the 8th.

Blessings,
Capt. Hayden

A Few Thoughts From January 20th

Well, once again I've let too much time slip past without adding a little something new to the old blog. You faithful visitors are going to get fed up with me but I beg your pardon again. A couple of things happened towards the end of the year that are worthy of note the first being another successful trip to Our Daily Bread in downtown Baltimore. A number from our Battalion were blessed to serve meals to the less fortunate of our city and again experience this amazing ministry. Day after day(365 days a year!), hundreds from Baltimore are served a hot meal in a comfortable and dignified setting. The dedicated staff always make this outing a memorable one for us and I marvel at the coordination of volunteers who cook and serve and clean each day. Thanks Bruce for heading this up for us! Secondly, we enjoyed a bit of good natured competition as the squads and adult leaders pitted themselves against each other in a food drive to help a local pantry. You all really worked at it and in the end, collected ~1800 servings of food! I was so happy with your generosity that I didn't really mind that the adults lost the competition and had to provide the goodies and entertainment for our Christmas party. I think you'll all agree the Captain and his Lieutenants should keep their day jobs when it comes to singin but we had some laughs. Third, Sports All-Nighter is coming! Lastly, our new President was inaugurated today and I hope you'll continue to pray for him and our other elected officials as we did the other night. I praise God for those who have stepped up to lead knowing there is an account to be given. I pray you guys will continue to exercise and stretch your leadership skills as we continue in Battalion. The Church and your country needs you.

Blessings,
Capt. Hayden

Backpacking Freeze Out Trip

Wow! It would have been hard to pick a better weekend for our freeze out than what we had January 16-19 on the Appalacian Trail. I found it interesting that many people I talked to before we went would simply shiver and tell me how miserable we'd be. Many just thought we were crazy and said so! I would tell them we weren't going on the trip to be miserable but to experience comfort in a hostile environment by practicing what we've been learning about. The truth is they still thought we were crazy. You know that when someone says you shouldn't do something how it makes you want to do it more? Well that's what I sensed from our intrepid group of eight as we left our cars behind and headed up the trail Friday night. (There's a lesson in how the Law exposes our sin in there somewhere but that's for another time.) Soon we reached our camp and settled in for the night. We learned the temperature dropped to -6F during the night but everyone slept well and when we hit the trail again Saturday morning, it was a balmy +3F. It generally warmed up as the weekend progressed and by the time we hit the hay Saturday night it had reached all the way to 20F. We had a few complain they were too warm that night! So our preparation was good and our fellowship even better as we enjoyed one another's company on the trail. We learned how fast a water bottle will freeze when the temperature is in the single digits and the pleasure of a warm, melty cheese and pepperoni sandwich next to a fire. That's livin!

Blessings,
Capt Hayden