Joe and I are thrilled to share with you that over the course of the last month and a half, God has enabled me to complete a Bible study book for women that is now available on Amazon! Choosing to Change when Change Happens is a 7-lesson Bible study book for women, following the life of Moses and his journey toward a greater knowledge of God. To God be the glory!
Click on the book cover below to order your copy or to read more about the book.
Early in my walk with God (through faith in Jesus Christ as my personal Savior), I was challenged by Scripture and good preaching to serve God. I was also exhorted to consider that all ground is sacred ground for the believer. We are all in full-time Christian service, wherever we may be or in whatever we may do.
In my career, I relocated both as a single person and as a married man with a family to various flying bases—Indiana, New Jersey, Washington, DC, Pennsylvania, and more. In each of those moves, I always found a church “home” first—a Bible-preaching church where we could serve God with our time, treasures, and talents. Once I knew that there was a good church in the area, I looked for a house that we could call home.
We who have a personal relationship with Christ are often pictured in the Scriptures as sheep. Because sheep need a shepherd to lead them and a flock to be a part of, I made certain that my church selection included both a good preacher/pastor (shepherd) and a good Christian fellowship of believers (the flock).
I have served my local church by cleaning the church building, singing in the choir, playing my flute, teaching a couples’ Bible class, serving as a deacon, etc. It seemed that if I was not flying an airplane, I was serving God at church.
But church is not the only place where we can serve God. Our sphere of influence can extend way beyond our local church setting.
Think of your workplace. Are you the same person on the job as you are at church? Consider how you do your job. Do you perform your work fervently, cheerfully, helpfully, and completely?
Colossians 3:23 (NKJV): “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men.”
1 Corinthians 10:31 (NKJV): “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”
I loved every minute of my career with the airlines. Another crew member once asked me, “Why are you so enthusiastic about this job?”
My reply? “I love this job.” My goal was to let my love for my job and my love for my Savior be reflected in how I did my work.
Our conduct on the job will serve as an example of Christlikeness through our attitudes, actions, and thoughts. You can be ready to give an answer to all who may ask you (as I was asked), “How is it that you are so different?”
1 Peter 3:15 (KJV): “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.”
Jim Elliot, martyred missionary for Christ, said, “Wherever you are, be all there.” So be in full-time Christian service wherever you are and in whatever you do.
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Joe Henderson, Brenda’s husband, is a retired international airline captain and now blogs in
“The Captain’s Corner” on a regular basis.
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Today my wife, Brenda, sat in a very special seat—aboard a Boeing B-29 bomber (“Fifi”). In a similar seat, her dad, Ben Strohbehn, flew twenty-six missions as a flight navigator during the Korean Conflict. Brenda was tearful as she looked around the small navigation compartment. The dedicated Commemorative Air Force staff and crew comforted her over her tears of remembrance. “It happens all the time,” they said. The Commemorative Air Force flies and maintains this vintage bomber—one of only two in flying condition—to educate people about the sacrifices of those who have fought for our country and its freedom.
Likewise, God’s Word has many admonitions to us, as children of faith in Christ, to remember God and His works on our behalf. It reminds us, in times of prosperity, to remember all that He has done for us. Deuteronomy 4:9 admonishes us: “Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons.” Similar admonitions to “beware, lest you forget” are found in Deuteronomy 6:12 and 8:11–18.
In the New Testament, Christ instituted the Lord’s Supper to help us remember that He sacrificed His very life to pay the penalty for our sins. “And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19).
Remembering Christ’s sacrifice helps us appreciate our salvation so that our gratitude and thanksgiving are more readily expressed to God. Additionally, remembering His sacrifices for us reinforces our motivation to “serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear” (Hebrews 13:28), and our service for God is strengthened. Finally, remembering our Lord’s sacrifices on our behalf “proclaims the Lord’s death till He comes” (1 Corinthians 11:26).
Just as my wife was overcome with gratitude for her father’s sacrifice through his service in the military, as Christians, we must be grateful for and never forget the sacrificial love of our wonderful Savior!
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Joe Henderson, Brenda’s husband, is a retired international airline captain and now blogs in
“The Captain’s Corner” on a regular basis.
Would you like to receive these posts in your Inbox? 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.
This was to have been an announcement that The ABCs of T2:3 — Integrating the Names, Character Qualities, and Attributes of God with the Principles of Titus 2:3–5, my ladies’ Bible study book, was ready. But it’s not. And it’s going to be a long time—if ever—before it is ready.
Change happens. Not only is that a true statement, but that was the title of a recent four-week ladies’ Sunday school class at my church. Little did I know how things would change when the pastor’s wife called and asked me to teach one of those weeks. I was to choose a Bible character from whom we could learn lessons on change and prepare a thirty- to forty-minute lesson. I was free to choose the person as well as my approach to the lesson.
God put, as Joe (my husband) likes to say, a “fire in my belly” from the very minute I began working on the lesson. I chose Moses and initially planned to look at all the changes in his life: bulrushes, burning bush, plagues, Ten Commandments, etc. My goal for my study time in the mornings was that I hoped to saturate my mind with all of the events, their correct order, and the changes God walked Moses through.
But God changed my thinking.
The more I read in the Bible (starting in Exodus 2 with Moses’s birth and ending in Deuteronomy 34 with Moses’s death), the more the facts did not jump out at me. Instead, I was struck over and over again by Moses’s growing knowledge of–and relationship with–God as he saw God working in each of the changes he was going through. Oh. My. Heart. There was that topic that I love so well: “Knowing God!” I began to see that the more we know of God and the better we know Him, the more we can choose to change how we view the changes that come into our lives. The lesson (and therefore the study times) took a drastic turn toward the personal and the practical!
After I taught the lesson, I was speaking with Joe about the fact that I had put in so much study time and had gathered so much material that I probably could have taught a whole series of lessons just from the life of Moses. As I began to pray about it over the next few days, I knew what I needed to do. I needed to set aside thoughts of publishing the “Titus” study and focus on pouring my heart and efforts into providing the Moses study for other ladies to use. When I tossed the idea out to Joe, he enthusiastically supported the idea and has greatly encouraged me in “gittin’ her done” these last few weeks. The goal has been to just power-write and take the passion burning in my heart and put in on paper ASAP!
So it thrills me to no end to share what God has done and is doing and to tell you that very, very soon, Choosing to Change when Change Happens, a seven-lesson Bible study designed for use in either personal or group study, will be available! I have again chosen to use an on-demand self-publishing service, in part so that I can keep the cost down for those who purchase the study. Hence, the quick turnaround option.
Until then, stay tuned!
My husband’s friend Ken is a godly, hardworking man with a heart of gold, and his heartfelt joy (even in the midst of difficult situations) can make even the gruffest of men break into a grin. He loves to chop wood in his free time, and Joe and I envy his multiple, evenly chopped stacks of firewood! Ken originally hails from Kentucky, and his Southern drawl is definitely on the “twang” end of the spectrum!
Several months ago now, Joe was talking to Ken on his way out of church. As the conversation was ending, Joe said, “God is good, Ken.”
Without skipping a beat, and in his wonderfully authentic Southern twang, Ken replied, “Joe, He just can’t he’p it.”
Sometimes we wonder in amazement…
…that a holy, perfect, all-knowing God could love us. But it’s His nature. It’s who He is.
…that the wise, powerful, creator of the universe could care about our simple needs and our desires. But it’s His nature. It’s who He is.
…that the merciful, grace-giving, wonderful Savior could forgive the sins we feel are unforgivable. But it’s His nature. It’s who He is.
“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever” (Psalm 136:1, ESV).
“For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations” (Psalm 100:5, KJV).
“Thou art good, and doest good; teach me thy statutes” (Psalm 119:68, KJV).
“The Lord is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made” (Psalm 145:9, ESV).
“For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you” (Psalm 86:5, ESV).
Because of His steadfast love for us, because He sees the big picture, because He is a good God, what He does—even when it might not seem like it from our human viewpoint—is always good.
After all, my friend, “He just can’t he’p it.”
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