Monday Can't Beat That Day

Progress continues at a miraculous pace out here at the ranch. We used to wonder what if we get to a point and we have run out of materials to continue what then do we do? Well thank the good Lord that has not happened and so we move ahead at the provided pace. As so many of you have join in to help, this first of it's kind facility will come into reality as a place that God will use to change and improve lives. As we help by giving direction and hands on training to those seeking to improve thier work skills, we also hope and pray that they will find their place in society and relationship to the God that loves and cares for them dearly .

Many of you have said that you are not able to help out as a volonteer but you have held us up in prayer and are constantly calling to up date our prayer needs. Diane, Peg, James, Larry, I, and the board of directors of the Battle River Ranch Camp and the many young men and women that have already benifited from thier time at the ranch are forever grateful to each and everone of you for your generous contribution and commitment to this incredible Kingdom Building Project. We are getting calls from across Canada as to how one can find out more about the ranch.

Once again thank you so much and may the good Lord bless you and keep you as you seek His purpose in your lives. We hope to see many of you this year, either out at the ranch or out on our travels in your area.

Sunday blessing day

Our visit to Regina was another full blessing as we were able to meet with many friends and family and plan a regional motor cycle rally for the end of July. The weekend will include one work day for the ranch ministry as many of the bikers as of yet have been unable to help in a hands on way. We attended Church with our family today at Hillsdale Baptist church and were blessed as we heard a great message on righteousness in action by Daniel and his companions in a situation that he could have easily compromised his integrity but he stood, walked and talked complete righteousness before his God.

I have been told that the reason I am able to speak German so well is because I was raised in a home that spoke only German and I only learned English later on once I was older. Because of this situation when ever I talk German I also think German and so it come very natural and seems easy for me. Now some one that learns German or any other language later in life at a school or were ever will always be translating in his mind and so it will take a lot of time and commitment to get to a point that it will flow easily and some never acquire the thinking part of learning a new language. Often I think our walk with the Lord is this way.

This week end we stayed with a couple that had been raised in Christian homes where the word of God was lived by all their lives and I could see that same ease and assured confidence of their faith. As we spent the evening sharing it was so encouraging to listen and see how they lived and raised their family the same way that they themselves were raised. It was so natural and normal for them as the fruit of their lives is such evidence of the righteousness they lived by and ministered by to so many, that know them in the world that they live in. Now like myself accepting Jesus as my Lord later in life the old man in me messes around the head once in a while and that's why I need to stay as close to God as possible. I wish the righteousness that Jesus gives was easier like some but that's just not the way it is so daily I need to seek God's wisdom and strength for each day to be more like Him.

Thank you once again for taking the time to view our blog.The Battle River Ranch Camp is a non profit organization that is focused on developing trades, life skills and training opportunities for men and women that are searching and find it difficult to get the opportunities needed to develop a productive life skill. Many men and women today have no idea what they could be good at or how to find out their possible skill area or level. We are a faith based training center.

Harold and Diane Stephan left a life filled with addictions and bad choices. Their journey has taken them through different twelve step programs and life recovery through a relationship and healing process with Jesus Christ. If it were not for caring people in their lives that never gave up on them or thought they were a hopeless cause they too would still be lost.

We would love to hear from you and if you feel this is a program and facility that would help you or someone that you know, or you would like to be more involved with a ministry like this or support it financially we would love to talk to you and would very much appreciate your help in what ever way you can.

This is a ministry for those that have a heart and desire to make a difference in the lives of others with the skills and gifts they have been blessed with and have a desire to pass on what they know to the next generation.

You are always welcome to visit and we look forward to your input. This ministry is prayer based, and we pray daily for the needs of others, if you have a need for prayer and not sure where to start give us a call and we will confidentially support and help you in this area. You may not know a lot about God but God knows everything about you and He loves you more than anyone can or ever will.

God Bless You and Your Family!!!

Harold & diane Stephan and

Board of Directors of the Battle River Ranch Camp

Saturday So blessed

The ranch is doing well and all construction is moving ahead on schedule. Please continue to pray for us as we work in this cold conditions that God keep us on top of His purpose not ours.

RIGHTEOUSNESS

I appreciate every ones wisdom about this important word in God's book and I hear what it stands for and over and over I hear what it means but I believe it is an action word if that makes any sense at all.

Now in the biker world a righteous rider or biker is a guy that knows his authority and leadership and has full respect for this. He's also some one with respect for everyone in the group no matter where they are on in the pecking order. His word is his word and is the same for every one no favoritism he treats every one the same. He is some one that every one knows can be trusted and relied on no matter what. His righteousness is evident in everything he does and thinks in life.

The problem is that the English word righteousness does not capture the full essence of the original languages. Basically, righteous means conformity to God's standard of right and wrong.

In English we need to use a different word for the sense of justify, justification in legal cases. However, the original word 'to make righteous' included this legal sense of to justify and complete justice.

There was no separate word for justice. Look in the Bible. When you find the word justice or justify, it will more than often be the same as made righteous or righteousness.

Two Major Words for Justice in Hebrew

There are two main Hebrew root words for justice. The other one (mishpat) commonly used has to do more with the executive aspect of the legal system where decision and procedure is emphasized. Justice is defined by God's standard.

Many of our societal problems seem to stem from this word problem: the separation of righteousness from justice. We see man willing to speak of laws and principles apart from God.

The increasing trend is to adjust the laws to accommodate evil. This is evident in our day with expressions such as 'changing constitution' and 'hate crimes', the latter judge people from motivation rather than actual crimes that can be witnessed.

In today's world, no one is surprised that a person could be acquitted even though guilty. In old language, he is made righteous even though he is not righteous.

Application

The problem has found home in the church. We are increasingly finding God's people willing to separate the Word of God from the reason they do or judge something. They are inadvertently separating themselves from God Himself. We need to get back to God's standard. We need to reject the relativism of today which espouses individual preferences as the foundation for justice. In fact, only God's preferences make a difference.

Friday's Frenzy

RIGHTEOUSNESS --- Why is it so hard to find a solid meaning for this word, as I have searched not a lot of authors have written a lot on this word. In my life that's a word that means what I desire for myself and those I relate to every day. Most of you just probably live it without ever giving a thought but there are those of us or maybe I'm alone in the search and need for the meaning of this important word. If you can help me with this I would appreciate it a whole lot. God Bless each and every one of you.

1. The quality or state of being righteous; holiness; purity; uprightness; rectitude.

Note: Righteousness, as used in Scripture and theology, in which it chiefly occurs, is nearly equivalent to holiness, comprehending holy principles and affections of heart, and conformity of life to the divine law.

2. A righteous act, or righteous quality.

All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.

Isa. lxiv. 6.

3. The act or conduct of one who is righteous.

Blessed are they that keep judgment, and he that doeth righteousness at all times.

Ps. cvi. 3.

4. (Theol.) The state of being right with God; justification; the work of Christ, which is the ground of justification.

There are two kinds of Christian righteousness: the one without us, which we have by imputation; the other in us, which consisteth of faith, hope, and charity, and other Christian virtues.

Purpose

Gaining the correct Definition of righteous or righteousness is crucial to living a godly life.

A godly man is a righteous man.

However, the word 'righteous' is not easily understood.

We are told that the scriptures are "profitable ... for instruction in righteousness," but if asked to define righteousness, we are not able to easily and comfortably do it.

"But flee from these things, you man of God;
and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance [and] gentleness."
(1 Timothy 6:11)

"Now flee from youthful lusts, and pursue righteousness,
faith, love [and] peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart." (2 Timothy 2:22)

"All Scripture is inspired by God and
profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction,
for training in righteousness." (2 Timothy 3:16)

The reason for our unfamiliarity with righteousness is notbecause the Bible hasn't commonly used the word. The Bible uses the word righteous or righteousness more than 600 times! Then where is the confusion? Two sources:

1) Not a cool word

The word 'righteous' is not used because its meaning is not popular. A quick list of synonyms such as virtuous, pure, moral, chaste, ethical and pious reveal that there is not much affinity toward the concept of righteousness in our generation.

How many times do we meet up with these words in our newspapers and magazines? Even more revealing is to hear how many time one hears this word come up among Christians. Is it possible we don't speak it because we don't think it?

2) Translation difficulty

In one sense the translation of the word is easy. There is only one root word for righteousness used in the Bible. The Hebrew word sadak is used in the Old Testament, and one Greek word dikaisune for the New Testament. The Septuagint, a Greek translation of the OT, regularly used this Greek word for the Hebrew word sadak.

The problem is that it is simply not commonly used in our culture anymore. We will trace the three stages of the definition for righteous in the next page.

Thursday A Day of Change

Jerry is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, "If I were any better, I would be twins!" He was a unique manager because he had several waiters who had followed him around from restaurant to restaurant. The reason the waiters followed Jerry was because of his attitude. He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having a bad day, Jerry was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.

Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Jerry and asked him, I don't get it! You can't be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?" Jerry replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, Jerry, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or you can choose to be in a bad mood. I choose to be in a good mood. Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it. Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life. "Yeah, right, it's not that easy," I protested. "Yes, it is," Jerry said. "Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people will affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It's your choice how you live life." I reflected on what Jerry said. Soon thereafter, I left the restaurant industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.

Several years later, I heard that Jerry did something you are never supposed to do in a restaurant business: he left the back door open one morning and was held up at gun point by three armed robbers. While trying to open the safe, his hand, shaking from nervousness, slipped off the combination. The robbers panicked and shot him. Luckily, Jerry was found relatively quickly and rushed to the local trauma center. After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Jerry was released from the hospital with fragments of the bullets still in his body.

I saw Jerry about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he was, he replied, "If I were any better, I'd be twins. Wanna see my scars?" I declined to see his wounds, but did ask him what had gone through his mind as the robbery took place. “The first thing that went through my mind was that I should have locked the back door," Jerry replied. "Then, as I lay on the floor, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or I could choose to die. I chose to live."

"Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?" I asked. Jerry continued, "...the paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the ER and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read 'he's a dead man.' I knew I needed to take action." " What did you do?" I asked. "Well, there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me," said Jerry. "She asked if I was allergic to anything. 'Yes,' I replied. The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, 'Bullets!' Over their laughter, I told them, 'I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead.'" Jerry lived thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude. I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully. Attitude, after all, equals altitude.

Wednesday 's blessings

Thank you once again for taking the time to view our blog.The Battle River Ranch Camp is a non profit organization that is focused on developing trades, life skills and training opportunities for men and women that are searching and find it difficult to get the opportunities needed to develop a productive life skill. Many men and women today have no idea what they could be good at or how to find out their possible skill area or level. We are a faith based training center.

Harold and Diane Stephan left a life filled with addictions and bad choices. Their journey has taken them through different twelve step programs and life recovery through a relationship and healing process with Jesus Christ. If it were not for caring people in their lives that never gave up on them or thought they were a hopeless cause they too would still be lost.

We would love to hear from you and if you feel this is a program and facility that would help you or someone that you know, or you would like to be more involved with a ministry like this or support it financially we would love to talk to you and would very much appreciate your help in what ever way you can.

This is a ministry for those that have a heart and desire to make a difference in the lives of others with the skills and gifts they have been blessed with and have a desire to pass on what they know to the next generation.

You are always welcome to visit and we look forward to your input. This ministry is prayer based, and we pray daily for the needs of others, if you have a need for prayer and not sure where to start give us a call and we will confidentially support and help you in this area. You may not know a lot about God but God knows everything about you and He loves you more than anyone can or ever will.

God Bless You and Your Family!!!

Harold & diane Stephan and

Board of Directors of the Battle River Ranch Camp

Psalm 23 (King James Version)

Psalm 23

¹The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

²He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

³He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

⁴Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

⁵Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

⁶Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

Terrific Tuesday

We are hoping that this week we will see the engineered plans for the lodge to be in place and construction will begin as soon as possible. The weather is cold but we are able to keep going and progress is great thanks to all your prayers .

PRAYER OF GRATITUDE

Even though I clutch my blanket and growl when the alarm rings each morning, thank you, Lord, that I can hear. There are many who are deaf.

Even though I keep my eyes tightly closed against the morning lightas long as possible, thank you Lord, that I can see. There are many who are blind.

Even though I huddle in my bed and put off the effort of rising, thank you, Lord that I have the strength to rise. There are many who are bedridden.

Even though the first hour of my day is hectic, when socks are lost, toast is burned, and tempers are short, thank you, Lord, for my family. There are many who are lonely.

Even though our breakfast table never looks like the pictures in magazines and the menu is at times unbalanced, thank you, Lord for the food we have. There are many who have no job.

Even though I grumble and bemoan my fate from day to day and wish my circumstances were not so modest, thank you, Lord, for the gift of life.

Even though we are not the richest folks around and often wish we had more, thank you Lord for what we have, that we are able to bless you with all that you have blessed us with

Author Unknown