Petals from the Basket

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The Course Is Complete!

Stick with us! Joe has a great blog post in the works for The Captain’s Corner, and we’ll be posting that later this week.

In the meantime, all of our efforts have been focused on completing the first online Bible study course, “Introduction to Bible Study.” And we are tickled pink to say that the entire course is now available online!

We’d love your feedback on the introductory course! Feel free to leave a comment on this post or e-mail us via [The name of this blog]@gmail.com. This is a new process for us, so we welcome your helpful, honest reviews!

Click here to view any or all of the lessons
in the “Introduction to Bible Study“ course.
(Click the “Curriculum” tab to view individual lessons.)
By Petals from the Basket | August 7, 2018 | Bible Reading, Events, God-and-I-Time, Ideas, Life Changes, Online Bible Study |

Moving from Bad Guilt to Good Guilt

Earlier this month I had the “difficult privilege” to get to speak to the ladies’ Sunday school class at my church. I call it a difficult privilege because it’s hard to learn the lessons before you have the knowledge needed to teach them to others. It’s a privilege, however, to get to share what God has been and still is teaching me!

The easiest way to share these truths with those who were not in the class that morning is through sharing the recorded session—not because of vanity but because after Joe and I listened to it this morning, he said, “Get it out there!” The recording is approximately 40 minutes.

It is my sincere prayer that you will hear the truths of God’s great grace in action!

Click here to listen to
“Moving from ‘Bad Guilt’ to ‘Good Guilt'”

 

 

 

By Petals from the Basket | July 30, 2018 | Bible Reading, Events, God-and-I-Time, Life Changes |

Apologies and Announcements

Oh my heart. I have no idea why the e-mail went out with an OLD post yesterday. I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience!

Secondly, I apologize for the fact that the Online Bible Study worked for a day and then stopped working. However, that worked in your favor! Here’s how:

To allow you to view this free course in a hassle-free way, we removed the “glitch-causing elements!” Thank you for your patience, sweet e-mails, and even sweeter second and third e-mails to tell me that it wasn’t working correctly on your end of the line!

Soooo….

The announcement is that we think we really are up and running this time! YAY!!!! Enjoy! Seriously, please enjoy this study on WHY and HOW we study the Bible.

Thank you for your patience as we worked out the glitches (most of them human error on my part!) with the Online Bible Study!

After reading the instructions below, click the following link to begin the first lesson of our first course: Introduction to Bible Study.

  1. After reading the material on the “Overview” page, click on the “Buy This Course” button at the bottom of the page. You will not need to create a user name or password for this course since it is FREE! Note, however, that even though you click “Buy This Course,” there is NO FEE! It’s just a “thing” in this computer program to have you click the button in order to move to the next step!
  2. When you click the “Buy This Course” button, you will be directed to the “Curriculum” tab to print the worksheets and begin viewing the first video lesson.

Lesson Two is scheduled to post on July 27; Lesson Three on July 29; and Lesson Four on July 31. In the meantime, feel free to register and begin this FREE course, laying the foundation for the importance of studying God’s Word.

Future courses include:

Choosing to Change when Change Happens

Depending on God when Doubt Surrounds You

Every Single Sunday (designed specifically for those with “no spouse in their house” and those who minister to them or with them)

Studies from The Captain’s Corner

Thank you again for your patience as we work out any future “glitches” in the system along the way. We trust they will be few and far between! We are grateful that you chose to join us for this exciting new endeavor!

Joe and Brenda Henderson

By Petals from the Basket | July 24, 2018 | Online Bible Study |

RE-POST – Destination: Known

The Captain’s Corner

petals-photo-of-joeUPDATE: It’s hard to believe that Joe has written not only multiple posts for “The Captain’s Corner” over the last year and a half, but that he has also compiled them and has published a book by the same name (click here to learn more about his book). I thought it was time to re-post his first entry on the blog just as it appeared on January 5, 2017! (It’s still one of my favorites!) 

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Welcome aboard!

This was my familiar and repeated greeting to passengers boarding our airline flights. Now I greet you, dear reader, and welcome you to the inaugural writing of “The Captain’s Corner.” Yes, welcome aboard!

My goal for the “Corner” is to share life lessons that I have learned—not because I’m superior in example or exceptional in achievement, but because of what God has taught me through His Word.

Thinking of an airline flight and passengers reminds me that life is full of what I call “be sure” situations: “be sure” that the fuel is on board; “be sure” that the right destination is planned; “be sure” that this switch is on or that this switch is off; “be sure” that the flight plan is correct; and the list goes on.

All flights have a destination. The pilot wants the navigation—also known as getting from origin to destination—to be certain so that there is no doubt that the destination will be reached. Be-sure navigation (my own terminology) begins with making a good departure—always starting from a known position.

“If you don’t know where you’ve been, you can’t find out where you’re going” (original author unknown). In a similar way, every life has a destination—a forever living place. That’s why believers need a “be-sure” verse. A be-sure Bible verse provides a specific beginning—a definite departure point for walking with God toward an eternal destination.

During my college years, claiming a be-sure verse put a stop to my doubts of God’s forgiveness of my sins, ending my dependence on what I thought I had to do and helping me to receive and accept what God had already done to give me an eternal destination with Him. My personal be-sure verse is Romans 10:13: “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Because I knew that I had called on His name, I knew that I was saved!

If you have not already done so, you can be certain of your departure point; ask Christ to be your Savior, and He will! A be-sure verse will help to give you the confidence that your destination is secure and that your path is firmly established!

I look forward to our next “flight” here in The Captain’s Corner!

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Our first Online Bible Study will be available next Monday, July 16, 2018! We’re eager to share this Introductory study with you at no charge! Be sure to subscribe to the e-mails (We won’t spam you! You will only receive e-mails from us when a new post appears on the blog. Click here to subscribe.) and/or follow us on Facebook to get the latest updates on new studies!

By Petals from the Basket | July 9, 2018 | Bible Reading, The Captain's Corner |

Have a Seat at the Christianafe (Cris-chee-AN-a-fay)!

This sweet little Idaho boy grew up to be my dad!

As a little boy in Idaho, my father eagerly anticipated each trip to the “Mechanafe” (meh-CAN-a-fay). This “mechanical cafe” in Boise, Idaho, not only offered a wide variety of food; but more importantly to a young, quickly growing boy, there was a lot of it!

Established in 1929,* the Mechanafe was—to bottom-line it—similar to our current-day all-you-can-eat buffets. The difference was that you didn’t have to walk to various stations or slowly trek down a long line to select your food. Instead, the food came to you! As my dad would tell it, the customers sat around a centrally located rotating selection of food options and could simply take the plate of meat, vegetables, fruit, salad, dessert, etc. as it passed by. And they could sit there and keep choosing new plates of food until they were full!

Even in his later years, Dad would get a happy twinkle in his eye as he recalled the joys of eating to his little heart’s (tummy’s) content—for only twenty-five cents, I might add!—at Boise’s one and only Mechanafe!

Matthew 5:6 states: “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.” As I read this verse yesterday, I couldn’t help but think of how Scripture is like a “Christiánafe,” providing us with more spiritual food than we could possibly eat in one sitting and constantly filling us up with the “milk” (see 1 Peter 2:2) and “meat” that our souls need. As Christ’s followers who walk in His steps (i.e., Christians), we need to avail ourselves of the soul-nourishing truths found in His Word.

We don’t have to roam around, looking for answers to questions we face or for the balm that can heal our anxious hearts. We simply need to be seated at the table of Truth (God’s Word—our “Christiánafe”) and anticipate the joy of having our spirits filled!

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To continue this thought of feasting on God’s Word through Bible reading and Bible study, you will want to check back later this week to learn how to take our first Online Bible Study: “Introduction to Bible Study.” This is a FREE course that you can view and study in the time frame that works best for you!

*To confirm the facts as I remembered my father telling them, I found this article regarding the Mechanafe and used it as a source to verify the facts for this post: Mechanafe History.

By Petals from the Basket | June 24, 2018 | Bible Reading, Family, God-and-I-Time, Life Changes, Online Bible Study |