Charles (Chuck) Kensinger

This sounds like a good topic to talk about after Resurrection Weekend. What do I mean by this term? The secular world knows it as Easter. Most Christians do not know the origin of this holiday. When the early church was accepted by the Roman government, they changed the established holidays to be accepted by the followers of Christ.

The spring festival that honored the renewal of life during this season was changed to fall on resurrection day. The name remained the same. It recognized the Roman God responsible for life. It was thought to be appropriate because Jesus’ death and resurrection gives us new life when we accept Him as our Lord and Savior.

The problem I have is that my God does not want me to worship anyone except Him. That is why I refer to the holiday as Resurrection Day. The U.S. government recognizes our separation of church and state and records it as Easter which is considered a secular holiday. It is my faith that requires that I acknowledge it as a Christian celebration.

The book of Hebrews tells us in chapter eleven; verse one what faith is. “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”  My faith allows me to flip on a light switch to turn on lights in my house. When my grandparents were children, they could not do this. Their homes did not have electricity in them.

Today your faith lets you turn on your lights, television, phone, computer, car, and many other things they did not know about. You believe these devices will work and that is a substance that you use daily. That faith is your proof that those things will start when you need them. We were all disappointed when they failed to work.

Jehovah God has never failed me. I hope you can say the same. Life is frustrating enough without those we depend on failing us. But that is life. Jesus is also life. He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” (John 14:6) You can accept this on faith as I have.

Let’s talk more about this book in the Bible called Hebrews. Bible scholars have asked who the author was for years. In college, it was dealt with in a separate class. When I took the class on Paul’s letters the instructor added Hebrews as another class, he taught that was also probably written by the apostle Paul. Some theologians do not agree with this.

I am not a scholar. I am merely a student of Jesus and God’s word to us. I ask Him a lot of questions. Eventually He gives me those answers. Recently I learned that some believe Barnabas, the son of encouragement that was one of Paul’s early Christian friends may have been the author of this letter.

It sounds a lot like what Paul said in his other books. He did not use the style we are used to reading because he did not say that it was from him. This writer does not tell us who this letter is for. It does not read like a letter as others in the New Testament do. It is more expository in nature and begins by pointing out that Jesus was how God chose to speak to us at this time.

These are some of the reasons I believe Joseph called the son of encouragement or Barnabas wrote it. We will continue with more about him and who he was in the church. I think that you will find it interesting and you may learn some things that God has not shared with you before. See you next time.

©Copyright 2025 by Charles Kensinger