Batt and Robin

Batt and Robin are Christians, Patriots, Teachers, Scientists, Artists, Authors and Travelers

Author Archives: harrisrl1998


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August 31: Trusting in God

Rick shared his teaching called Trusting in God. He reviewed two Hebrew words for trust – batach and chasah. Batach is trust – lean on, to trust, to be confident, and is used with that meaning in Proverbs 3:5. Chasah is also trust – where you take refuge, flee for protection, confide in, trust, an are confident as in Psalm 34:8. He said that when we trust in God we can claim His promises. Rick presented five.

  1. To supply all our needs, (II Corinthians 3:4-5)
  2. Protection so we can live without fear, (Psalm 56:3-4, 11)
  3. Guidance in our personal walk and service, (Psalm 119:105)
  4. Peace in our lives, (Isaiah 26:3)
  5. In our prayer lives, (Psalm 55:17, 22)

In his teaching, he presented more verses to illustrate how we can trust in God and claim His promises. Download it from our website. Visit our page on Preaching, Teaching and Healing for more Word. We had several fellow believers around the table with us last night. Here is a snapshot of us as we preach, teach and heal.

Rick.robin
Liz.Ray
Trish and Ashford
Christine. walter

We are headed out to a weekend of Christian Fellowship. More about it next week. Let me close with Psalm 103: 1-5 – Bless the Lord…


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Battman’s Seashells* are now Revealed on our web site

Triplofusus giganteus growth series

Rick has been helping others for a while to identify their shells. He wanted to share some of his collection. Now we have our own site, BattandRobin.com where you can check out pictures of shells in his collection. They are grouped into Gastropods, Pelecypods, and Cephalopods. Each group is organized loosely in order of families. Each picture is labeled with the scientific name, the common name, locality data, and size. To enjoy this selection of his collection, follow the links below to his pictures.

Battman’s Seashells              Gastropods                     Pelecypods                        Cephalopods

Check out the rest of our site, we have our travels, our biblical research teachings, and other stuff. Follow us and you will receive updates as more stuff is added. Rick is planning to add pictures of fossils,and gardens in the sometime future.

  • – Some shells names and family membership are subject to change without notice. Those pesky researchers are continually updating the taxonomy. Isn’t that what science is about, changing as new evidence emerges.


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August 24 Bible Fellowship – Trusting in the Lord

Last night, our bible fellowship started with a meal. We had, mahi mahi, conch, roasted vegetables and quinoa salad. Yum. Our appetites satiated, we dove into the Word, filling our spiritual appetites.

Christine taught on the topic, Trusting in the Lord. She had recently read Hebrews in the Message Bible and it gave her more understanding on how to trust and rest in the Lord. She presented a detailed examination of Proverbs 3:5 and 6. She shared about Hezekiah who trusted in the Lord. From the Word, she showed us several example of what we have when we trust in the Lord. Our conversation reminded Rick about his research and found he has 13 teachings on Trust. So, next week he is sharing on the word trust in the Hebrew. There are two main ones, batach and chasah.

From listening to an online teaching, I wanted to follow up on Psalms 16:11. Thou will shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore. We took out the concordances and worked through the verse. See my write up on this and on Christine’s sharing at our web site: Preach, Teach and Heal: The Evolution of a Christian Home Fellowship.

What I’m loving in our fellowship at the table, is sitting with our bibles and concordances and digging into the word. A real 2 Timothy 2:15 moment. We like being self-governing, and self- supporting. Come, join us next week.


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New aspect of our blog and site: Battman’s Seashell collection

syrinx 27 inchshell collector 50 years apart

Rick has been collecting seashells for a long time. His grandparents started him off with a bag of shells and the Golden Nature Guide to Seashells when he was five. He is pictured here 50 years apart, seven and 57. Do you think he is holding the same Nautilus? Since moving to Florida, he has invited shell collectors to view his collection. He also is active on Social Media, answering a variety of questions regarding shells. He is sharing the column he writes for a local shell club, “Shell of the Month.” You can find them on his page Worldwide Seashells: Battman’s Collection. watch this page for upcoming albums of his collection.


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Being Reconciled back to God

August 10, 2017

Welcome to our fellowship. Tonight we had our first virtual attendee. We set up Face Time, put the iPad on a tripod and scooted our sister in Christ right up to the table. Sometimes, we love technology. Once again we gathered around our table for the Word. Rick shared on our ministry of reconciliation. Reconcile is about change.

We spent a lot of time in II Corinthians 5, and Romans 5. Rick explained the three Greek words translated “reconcile” both verb and noun usages. We examined the scriptures where this word is used. He clarified, I Corinthians 3:9 – For we are labourers together

We must remember to speak the Word, for people to hear. (Romans 10:12-15) When they believe and change – they get reconciled back to God. Download Rick’s complete teaching from our website, Preach, Teach and Heal: The Evolution of a Christian Home Fellowship.


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Bible Study – August 3, 2017

Here it is, time for bible study in our home. I spent some time cleaning the house for our guests. Tonight we had folks over early for a spaghetti dinner. After we shared our meal, we cleaned off the table, got out our bibles and our sister in Christ shared on Living Sanctified. John 17: 14-19, Romans 12:1 & 2, and I John 2:15-17 were just a few of the scriptures we studied. We learned that sanctification comes from believing two things, as it says in Romans 10:9 and 10, “ 9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. It’s not works, not prayer, not lots of complicated tasks. We also learned that sanctification is a starting point on our walk with God and our Lord Jesus Christ. We need to grow up into the Word, and then reconcile others to God. You can download Christine’s complete teaching from our page, Preach, Teach, and Heal: The Evolution of a Christian Home Fellowship. 

We also uploaded more of Rick’s teachings. you can download, read and share research based teachings. They are: Communion, Pentecost, Philippians Chapter 4, and Romans Chapter 8. Enjoy. Please Like our page and follow us. More next week.

 


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Christian Fellowship in the home.

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Yesterday we began a Bible study in our home. As it evolves, we want to keep you posted of our journey. This is a first for us. We have visited many people in their homes, in several states and even in Australia and New Zealand. What a delight when people welcomed us. We have taught in many different homes as well. Now we are doing the same in our home. Robin shared on What is our Identity in Christ in a Home Fellowship. You can read a longer version of her sharing at: Preach, Teach and Heal: The Evolution of a Christian Home Fellowship

In Summary: We are looking to learn more about Christ, as it says in Matthew 11:29, 30, Take my yoke upon you, and lean of me: for I am meed and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. (KJV) or Keep company with me an you will live freely and lightly (Message Bible). We want to carry that yoke, in our homes, sharing, learning, researching the Bible with others. Jesus Christ taught his disciples, practical ways to have fellowship in homes. He preached, he taught, he healed and ministered in homes. See Matthew 8:14-17. He broke from tradition, where all teaching was done in the Temple on the Sabbath. After the day of Pentecost, the number of believers grew (see Acts 2:41) and they taught in the temple and from house to house.


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Food, Glorious Food

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Food, Glorious Food is the title of a song in the musical “Oliver Twist”. It encapsulates our five-week journey in Australia and New Zealand. Both countries have their own blend or style of the presentation of meals that is unique. Not Fusion, nor French, but an amalgam of the sights, sounds and smells of the beaches of New Zealand or the outback of Australia. We had a variety of different meals, including “bush tucker.” Meals were presented in an elegant setting, by confident and competent servers. What stands out it us are two meals, very different from each other and equally memorable. Both were at Uluru, Ayers Rock, in the middle of Australia.

The first evening in the Ayers Rock Resort complex, Rick, was our chef, was in charge of cooking our meat selections. Robin took care of the salads. What was our meat selection? Rick had kangaroo, crocodile, barramundi and emu. I stuck with the emu sausages. We used an outdoor bar-b-que and with other diners and cooked our meat. We sat family style and enjoyed a rare opportunity to fix our own food.

The next evening, began with a camel ride to the site of our outdoor sunset meal. We were greeted with champagne, and caused a flurry of photographs as we arrived and were helped off our camels. We sat family style. Our table included a ship pilot from Hong Kong and a family from Singapore. Our buffet meal consisted of bush tucker and a variety of more familiar items. As the sun set, we were entertained with Aboriginal dances, and then a star party. We all saw the southern cross and were invited to look at planets through a telescope.

As much as we love traveling, sometimes the constant need to find a place to eat becomes trying. Robin is a diabetic with accompanying dietary restrictions. We managed: we did our own breakfasts – from foraging for appropriate foods, to thinking up alternatives to plates and bowls. Lunch and dinner where enjoyed as we found places, often in the lobby of our hotel, or a search for goodies along the way. Sometimes we were surprised at our meal, sometimes not. Yet always, the service was always stellar.

What was the fall out – or weight gain – about 20 pounds between us.


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Beach Day, August 12, 2014- -Tarpon Beach, Sanibel Island

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Beach Day

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Robin grew up in Southern California, just as the school doors closed, the beach busses expanded their routes. We were able to head to the beach and come home again without Mom’s Taxi. This was just fine for our mom. June, July and August were times to work on our beach volleyball, snorkeling, body surfing, beach combing, reading, and sit and dream –dreams of the future. Most days were sunny, lo 80’s, with an onshore breeze picking up in the afternoons. Sometimes we walked along and picked up bottles and cans to recycle. Our limited budget made recycling a good idea. It often paid for the next beach day’s bus fare.

Fast forward to 2014, Sanibel Island, Florida’s Gulf Coast. You will often find us on our summer holidays between teaching semesters at the beaches in Florida. Now we drive Rick’s Red Ranger: too much stuff for the bus. Our fossil collecting gear is mixed in with our snorkeling, beach combing and other stuff. We mix research with beach walking. Last Tuesday we were hoping for calm seas, light breeze and sunny with a bit of clouds. As you can see from our photo series, we were disappointed. After all we are in Florida’s rainy season. July, August, and September temperatures stay in the high 90’s and the high humidity makes it feel like it’s over 100+. And then there are the storms. They are best watched from an air conditioned high rise, from many miles away.

We are ever hopeful for a great beach day. Our diligence is often rewarded with small shell treasures. Robin is happy when she finds a wentle trap, Rick, a few perfect fighting conchs or an alphabet cone. Often, we point out a dolphin pod, or several pelicans as our treat. Tuesday’s beach combing was short. Rick started taking pictures of the incoming storm. By the time it hit the beach, everyone including us had left for safer grounds. The sea was rough, the wind strong and the rain was heavy.

Maybe next week?

 


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Starting our summer travels out right: Be prepared.

It seems like everyone we see at the airport these days is pre-checked in. They use their phone, iPAD, computer or pre-printed electronic boarding passes and check in. Most people come to the airport ready to drop off a bag and head to security. It saves time and sometimes a few dollars for using the online check in procedures.

Then there are those who arrive at the airport, not quite ready for travel, as the two groups of people ahead of us in line before our first leg of our summer trip to Australia and New Zealand. The first couple was going to Bombay. They discovered that not all their bags would go for free. Each of their second bags was going to cost them $100. They had their tickets, yet didn’t plan ahead in packing. With nervous looks at each other, they turned away from the ticket counter.

Next in line, was a young man from South Korea. He was going to Sydney, AU like we were. The agent asked him if he had his visa. He said he had applied on line for the electronic visa. When she asked when, he said a few hours ago. She couldn’t verify it and could not issue his boarding passes.  He turned away sadly to check his computer.

We were next in line. Rick handed the agent our copy of the visa authorization with our passports.

Passports? √

Visa authorization form   √

1 bag each and each under 50 pounds. √

We were checked in as far as Los Angeles, CA, where we would change to Quantas for our international flight. Our bags, however, were checked all the way to Auckland!

Here are five points for low stress, high success, at the beginning of an international trip.

1 Do your homework.  Find out what your destination site’s regulations are. Comply.

2. See if you need a visa and apply for it at least a month before your flight.

3. Use a bathroom scale before your flight to weigh your luggage. Our trip included 9 more air flights, so we bought a hand-held luggage scale. Some flights had different weight allowances! We found our scale at our local automobile travel agent. We had a lot of fun distributing poundage between our bags and backpacks as our trip unfolded.

4. Arrive at the airport early. We booked our taxi in advance. The company we use is always early and the drivers are interesting people. Or save more by having a friend drop you off. The small gift you bring back for them will more that pay for itself.

5. Enjoy the extra $$ in your wallet. You might buy the special chocolates you love, or a Chicago style hot dog if it you fly through O’Hare and enjoy your flight.

I guess growing up as a Girl Scout and embracing the motto. “Be Prepared,” saves us time and money during our travels.