Author: Charles (Chuck) Kensinger

A writer most of my life. A retired purchasing manager that has worked in sales, management, food service, pet supplies, manufacturing, and many other areas. A born-again believer in The Lord Jesus Christ who attempts to be more like Him every day. Fiction selections are bylined Chuck and non-fiction bears my given name of Charles. Enjoy what God allows me to create.

Give the gift of improbability

December 15, 2025

Once again, the Missouri Lottery is running commercials with the tag line of “Give the gift of possibility.” Keep in mind that I would rather have the money you spend on this. Read the disclaimer on the ticket telling what the odds are. If you give me the few dollars you would spend, I will put it in my IRA, and in a few years, it will be worth something.

I like to remind players of the lottery that this is a self-imposed tax. I was happy when you voted for this many years ago. I am also pleased each time you approve a gambling issue on the Missouri ballot. It never costs me anything and may keep the legislators from increasing my taxes.

I have purchased lottery tickets when the prizes have increased to multiple millions of dollars. I believe God blesses me. He has given us prizes in drawings. I’ve never won if I had to pay for the chance to win. There is a difference between what is possible and what is probable.

Your probability of winning these games is in the millions to one. You are more likely to be hit by lightning or by a satellite falling out of orbit. If you want to give me a gift, then give me the money. Once, I was in a family gift exchange where our suggested limit was ten dollars. I received a gift that I knew had only cost one dollar. I felt cheated. At least at the end of the day, I had something.

When the receiver scratches off a losing card, they are not the only losers. You have lost the respect and possibly even the friendship of not just the person you gave it to. You may also offend everyone who hears what your present was.

I know that some of the scratcher’s cards cost more than a few dollars. I’ve been told that ten- and twenty-dollar tickets are given as gifts frequently. That makes it ten or twenty times as bad because you gave the money that you could have given to me to the government.

May I suggest that you burn that bill and put the ashes in an envelope with a note stating that before you burned it what it would have been worth. I think I will start making some gifts like this and keeping them with me, and when I open a gift with a lottery ticket in it, I will hand them my gift. When they thank me, I will return the sentiment.

I have participated in gag gift exchanges before. If you haven’t, the idea is to give something humorous or of little to no value. This would be a perfect time to give lottery tickets or envelopes with burned paper and a note that tells them you burned a one-hundred-dollar bill. These will both bring a laugh, rather than a groan.

©Copyright 2025 by Charles Kensinger

Christmas is the Ekklesia

December 13, 2025

God gave me this for you this Christmas. I am not a poet. He gave David and others the songs they sing. This is the one He gave me for you.

Christmas is not just one day.

It should be in me every day.

How can I do that?

Can I put You in my heart?

Will I keep You from the start

of each day?

It is the gathering together,

The Ekklesia,

Is the gift that Jesus gave me.

Not for one day. For all my life.  

Where do you gather to touch others’ lives?

Your church is where I return,

As often as I can.

They know me as the Savior does.

They love me because

You tell them that is who You are.

Christmas is not Santa,

Or a tree, or lights.

It is your Church.

©Copyright 2025 by Charles Kensinger

Trekking to Christmas (Part two)

December 11, 2025

Jeremiah 31:15 is another verse that predicts events of the birth of the Messiah. It mentions Rachel weeping for her children. This is fulfilled in the massacre of the children under two years of age mentioned in the gospel of Matthew. We will discuss this more when we reach that passage.  This is the aftermath of the visit of the astrologers.

Biblical prophecy often speaks to the current time and to a future where the interpretation is slightly different. This is the case in Hosea 11:1. it appears to be discussing the fact that Israel was brought out of Egypt by Jehovah and is going to be sent into exile from the Promised Land. In the New Testament, the story changes and the one coming from Egypt is Jesus, the actual Son of God. Joseph was told to take his family there in response to Herod’s coming attack on the children of Bethlehem.

Micah 5:2 is the source of the prophecy that tells that Messiah will be born in Bethlehem, but it tells more if you read on. Bethlehem was still a small village like in David’s day. It is now much larger but still considered a village. The one to be born there is from the distant past. Not a bad description for someone who is fully God and completely human. 

During King David’s time on the throne, he was told by the prophet Nathan that Jehovah would reward him with the Davidic Kingdom being eternal. 2 Samuel 7:16 is where you will find this promise. Even when the kingdom of Judah was destroyed the prophecy held true.

In the book of Luke, we are introduced to Zacharias and his wife Elisabeth who wanted a child and were unable to have one. While serving in the Temple a messenger from Yahweh delivers the news that they will have a son, and his name is to be John.

John is the one that we know who came before Jesus. His father is told that he will be the Elijah that was predicted. Being an old man he has difficulty believing this message. I hope I will have an easier time believing in the Lord when He gives me this kind of good news. I might not be better than this Levite.

In Luke chapter one in the twenty-fifth verse Gabriel, the messenger that we saw earlier, goes to a girl named Mary. The message to her is that she will also have a child. His name is to be Jesus which is the Greek for the Hebrew name Joshua which means Yahweh is Salvation.

The birth of the baby is shown in Luke chapter two. Remember that the prophecy told of the birth in the town of Bethlehem. This is the boyhood home of King David. The prophets never told us about the manger that the baby would be laid in after He was born. The swaddling clothes is another detail that was not written about earlier.

Did you notice that the shepherds are spoken of in Luke but not the wise men. Matthew tells us about them. Chapter two talks about their visit to King Herod. He knows nothing about a newborn king. He is interested. This new baby is a threat to him. Notice that the number three is not even mentioned.

As you read further you see the number three applies to the gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh that they brought for the baby. When they meet Mary and Jesus they are now staying in a house. There are no shepherds, no stable, and no sheep, or other animals.

These are astrologers that represent a king. They are not kings. They follow the signs of the stars. That is how they knew about Jesus. God wrote His birth in the heavens years before man was even created. That is the kind of God I want to believe in and worship. How about you?

©Copyright 2025 by Charles Kensinger

Trekking to Christmas

December 9, 2025

Let’s look at the story of Christmas as recorded in both the Old and New Testaments. The life of Christ is first shown in Genesis and continues throughout the Bible. We will read the prophets that predicted the coming of Jesus and what they said about him, and then proceed to the gospels that tell how these prophecies were fulfilled.

Our trek through the birth of Jesus begins in the little book of Malachi. In chapter 3, verse 1, a messenger is to be sent before the Lord comes. Then, in chapter four, verses five and six, he says that Elijah will be that messenger sent to bring the hearts of the children back to their parents. In Luke 1, we will see this fulfilled in John, who is called the baptizer.

Let’s walk back to Isaiah 7:14 and read the prophecy that a virgin shall give birth to a son. The fact that a woman who had never been with a man sexually could have a baby is amazing to all of us. His name is “God is with us.” The virgin birth is critical for this to come to pass. The child must be God and man. God in soul and spirit, and man in body. To be a man, He must have a mother and father. God is His father and a human woman His mother.

Isaiah 9:6-7 is one of the most quoted prophetic passages about the Messiah. A male child will someday be born. He shall be our ruler. He will be wonderful, and a counselor, or it could mean he will become a wonderful counselor. We all need counsel at some point. He will also be God and will be mighty. In addition, He is our Father, but not an earthly father. This father always was and will remain forever.  He will bring peace as we allow him to rule in our lives. He will take over David’s throne in Israel but will expand it to the entire world. Jehovah God has guaranteed this and will see that it comes about.

When we look at Matthew and Luke and the story of Jesus’ birth, we will read the lineage of Joseph and Mary. Isaiah 11:1 says that David’s kingdom will be cut off.  Judah was still in existence at that time. Later, it was conquered by Babylon and mostly destroyed. When Nehemiah and Ezra tell us about the Israelites returning to their homeland, they have no king. The Medes rule them. Isaiah encourages them by stating that a branch will grow from this stump, meaning a new ruler will someday come from the Israelites. This was the man we call Jesus Christ, who is the Jewish Messiah.

We read Malachi’s prophecy about the predecessor to the Messiah. In Isaiah 40:3-5, we are told he will straighten the path for God’s ultimate messenger. The glory of the Lord will be seen by everyone. What do all these words mean? John is coming to guide us in becoming the kind of people who will accept the gospel of Jesus Christ.  We read John’s words and can see how the Baptizer’s ministry was crucial to many of the disciples of God’s son, choosing to accept Him. The plot thickens.

Stay tuned, and we will continue with the rest of the story and go through to the birth of the baby that will change the course of the world. I hope you join me in a couple of days.

©Copyright 2025 by Charles Kensinger

Today still lives in infamy

December 7, 2025

December 7, 1941, was the day that Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, was bombed by the Imperial Navy of Japan. Eighty-four years is a long time. My parents recalled this day every year and the speech that President Roosevelt made.

There are many days that we recall. For my daughters’ generation, it is September 11, 2001. For the Baby Boomers that are my generation, it is November 23, 1963, which was the day President Kennedy was assassinated.

The days we remember should not be just those horrible days that we recall from the past. They should be the days that we hold near and dear to our hearts. This is why we celebrate birthdays and anniversaries. I am sure that there are days that you like to remember in your life.

The days my brothers and sister, and I graduated from high school were highlights for our parents. Neither of them made it past the eighth grade. I was the first of us to complete my college degree. Later, one brother received his diploma in computer science, and our sister took a teaching certificate after her five children were almost out of the house.

All three of our girls have B.A.s, and one has her master’s, and another is finishing up her master’s program. Five grandchildren have completed high school, with the sixth due to move on in her education in the spring. The weddings of our girls were special times, and we celebrate the births of twelve grandchildren each year.

Veteran’s Day and Memorial Day are also dear to our family. Cindy’s oldest brother died in the Vietnam Conflict, and her other brother, a nephew, my Dad, and her oldest brother all served.

Today, we do not expect another attack from a country that we thought was our friend as we did in 1941. It is possible. Then, again, most US citizens never expected it. The military was warned and did not give it credence. Who knew Japan would do that?

Who knew terrorists would fly airplanes into skyscrapers? It had been years since a President was assassinated in 1963. President Trump seems to attract would-be assassins like honey attracts flies. With all the shootings of private citizens, would we even be shocked if a political figure were killed? Violence of all kinds is rampant these days.

Do not worry about what tomorrow may bring. Today has enough worries of its own. Let’s all remember this as a day when we pulled together, just as we have on other days that live in infamy. Thank you to our military personnel who fought these battles and continue to do so today.

©Copyright 2025 by Charles Kensinger