Bible Trekking – Page 2 – Charles (Chuck) Kensinger

Spiritual fruit

March 10, 2026

Can I tell you that I do not mind being called fruity, if you are referring to the fruit of the spirit? These are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. As a Christian, this is how we should measure ourselves. Don’t fall into the trap of being judgmental. It is easy to do.

Galatians 5:22 begins with love. It is interesting that Paul also includes patience as the first attribute of love in First Corinthians 13 when he defines Agape’ for us. Kindness is also included in that list. I think he is trying to tell me something. Patience and kindness are important. We should not ignore the other parts of love. No envying, rudeness, selfishness, irritability, or resentment are also part of how God loves us.

Joy and peace are two words to look at more closely. Happiness is fleeting. Joy is also temporary if we let it be. Fruitful joy is hard to accomplish without Holy Spirit. Joy does not mean that you never have a bad day. When things are not going your way, joy lets you realize that things will become better. We let our minds betray us into thinking that our life is bad when it is just life.

Peace also can elude those who work without Him. It is not the absence of conflict. It is the presence of love and joy. Do you accept what the Lord has given you? Paul tells us to give thanks in all things. (1 Thessalonians 5:18) He also states in Philippians 4:11 that he has learned to be content. Notice the use of the word learned. Contentment is something we must also train ourselves to have.

Patience is the most difficult thing for me. “Lord, give me patience and give it to me now, it is what I usually pray. That prayer may miss the mark. Be careful about asking for it. His answer will continually test you. Patience is hard because we live in an instant society. We have our phones with us and can call, text, or check the internet thousands of times a day. I grew up at a time when we did not even have a home phone.

We all know how to be kind, good, and gentle. These may need to be tweaked by the Spirit. Follow His guidance, and you will arrive quicker. Again, these need to be intentional. We know what to do; we just need to be reminded to do it all day long. Practice it, and it will become as automatic as breathing or your heartbeat.

Self-control is another tough one. Notice that the word control follows self, indicating who should be in control. For Christians, we can hand this job over to Holy Spirit, if we will let Him take leadership of our lives. That becomes easier the more you do it.

I desire that you all become fruitier as I try to do the same. I mentioned judgment earlier. Let’s avoid that and try for discernment. (1 Corinthians 12:7-11) This is one of the gifts of the Spirit. You cannot have these gifts if your spirit is still dead. A relationship with Jesus is needed for the rebirth of your spirit. (John 3:1-21) After you start that relationship, the fruits will appear if you cultivate them.

Being

March 4, 2026

Moses was standing there in the wilderness talking to a bush. Imagine if you walked up on this scene. I know what I would think. This man has been in the sun too long. He has completely lost it. And yet, he was talking to the creator of the universe.

Hard to conceive of a bush being the presence of the almighty God. He tells us He is omnipresent. As they say of Chicken man, “He’s everywhere. He’s everywhere.” The bush should have been consumed by the fire that attracted his attention. He stood there and a voice came from the fire and said to take off his shoes because he was standing on sacred ground. The presence of Yahweh is holy.

Moses asked who he should tell people it was that had sent him. “I am that I am, has sent you.” He has always been, He is, and He will always be. Got it? Probably not. Descartes said, “I think, therefore I am.” God just said that He was.

No explanation, just go and get my people out of slavery and tell them that the I Am sent you. He exists. God is not dead. God is not an imaginary concept of the human mind. Jehovah has always existed. Religion may be the opiate of the people and yet, there is a supreme creator God.

Yahweh is another way to say I Am. It is another Hebrew way of saying being. It is a simple way of stating that He was, is, and will always be. He cannot die, but He was born as a human being and was named Jesus by His Earthly mother.

Years ago, one of my nephews asked me, “If God made everything, who made God?” My answer was not an easy one. I had been warned by my brother that his son would be asking this question. I prayed and thought about what I could say. On that day, I still did not have an answer until I replied to him.

“God has always existed. That is what makes Him God.” That is how I responded. That is what I Am means. Until that moment when I answered the question, I did not get it. Now I do. When someone asks you about this, use that answer. God gave it to me, and I am giving it to you.

For those of you that do not believe that Jesus is God let me explain. The Christ said, “I and the Father are One.” (John 10:30) He also said, “I am the good shepherd.” (John 10:11) “I am the Door.” (John 10:7) “I am the bread of life.” (John 6:35) And the reason He was crucified was because he told the Jewish leaders He was the Messiah. (Matthew 26:64) He said, “I Am.”

Think about this for a little while. Jehovah has always existed. He is. Read the Bible. I could give you many more examples than the ones I have included here. I will save those until another column. When I finish “Cosmic Flatulence” and “The Inedible Credible Egg” you can read them.

Tools

March 1, 2026

I’ve used a lot of them in my life. This is the first in a series of columns that are on these useful instruments. Anthropology tells us that these are signs of creatures being humanlike. Genesis does not bother to tell us when the wheel or other tools were invented.

Fire is another tool that Moses did not see fit to discuss. Much has been written about it. I’ll talk more about it another time. When I saved this file, I had to put it in a category, and I chose the Words file. They are one of my favorite tools.

The thought that sparked this article was my splitting maul. I know many of you are not familiar with this apparatus. I purchased mine over thirty years ago. We had moved onto Talmage Street to the second home that we owned. It had a wood stove in the family room.

These were invented by Ben Franklin. The wood stove, not the splitting maul. Our stove was not a Franklin type, but it was efficient enough to supplement the heating in our four-bedroom, two-bath house. I am probably incorrect when I say Ben invented the stove. He developed the Franklin Stove. I also probably need to be more specific about wood stoves.

In the nineteen-eighties I saw a picture of a wood stove that was only good for one use. It was not safe. It was made of wood. I am talking of a steel unit designed to burn wood. Today I split wood to fuel our fireplace in our current home. This is considered a luxury item in today’s standards.

Before gas, coal, or central heating, it was common in every structure. Our first load of wood was purchased by my mother. It came cut and split. Have you seen those small bundles of wood at grocery and home stores? They usually appear in the fall. Those are for apartment dwellers that have a fireplace for decorative purposes.

Some of my friends began bringing us cut logs for our stove. It must be sacked and cured to burn properly. I cover mine with a tarp to keep it relatively dry. It was not long before I became aware of our need for a device to split the larger logs. That is when I purchased my maul. You can split with an axe, but it is not as efficient as a triangular head mail.

I learned this from my travels as a salesman at the time. Some of my customers sold these items in many designs and styles. I even called on one plant that manufactured stoves, which stocked assorted accessories for the stoves. I discussed the splitting mauls with the salesmen at these companies and discovered one that I thought was best for me.

It has a heavy triangular steel head welded to a steel handle with a cushioned grip. Buying it was the easy part. Learning how to use it properly has taken me many years. The best way that I have discovered is to place the log to be split on a shorter log. You raise the maul and allow the weight of the head to propel it down with the aid of gravity.

The trick is to hit the end of the log in a spot that will split. This takes trial and error with each different log. That first winter after I had my maul, I learned the best time to split wood was when it was frozen. The fibers are more rigid and separate more easily at twenty degrees Fahrenheit or less.

I am sure many of you wonder why I just wasted your time explaining all of this. That is the thing about all tools. Some of us use them, and others care less about those they do not need. Is that how you treat people? I hope not.

I don’t always understand

February 25, 2026

“I trust His ways, but I do not always understand them.” It is a line by John Ritter as Reverend Matthew Fordwick in the Waltons TV series from the 1970s. This is from season 1, episode 24, where Olivia is diagnosed with polio. This series is set in the 1930s, during the Great Depression. Polio was a devastating disease at that time that had no vaccine available to protect the population.

Reverend Fordwick comes to visit Mrs. Walton in the early days of her illness and is questioned by Grandma as to the seriousness of the disease. She replies that she thought he was a man of God. His reply is one that I, as a minister, have used myself. I have also stated when asked why God allows or causes things to happen that I am in sales, not in management.

I’ve worked in sales and management for different companies. In a position where my job was to convince customers to purchase products, there were some questions I could not answer. When I was a store manager, it was my responsibility to always answer a client’s questions to the best of my ability. I did my best in both situations.

There were times when customers would not like my decisions about how to solve a problem. I had superiors whom they could refer to. On more than one occasion, I gave the names and contact information to the complainer. Not once was I overturned. This was not the case in every management position I occupied.

I do not understand why God created human beings. I know, I’ve heard the preachers say that He needed someone to love. He already created dogs and cats. They are more lovable than most people. My cat is on my lap at this moment, and the dog is next to Cindy.

Yes, sometimes the dog doesn’t do what he is told to, but the cat never follows orders. And unlike children, you cannot beat her into submission. She’s too fast. Turn around, and she is gone, and you will never find her.

I do not understand why, when He loved us so much, we must take care of the animals. Why weren’t they created to work for us and let us lie around all day and sleep? Put a bowl of Chex mix on the table with my insulated cup of iced tea, and I’ll be fine. No one is required to take me outside or clean my litter box.

If I were God, I would . . . have really botched things up. I don’t even know what my wife wants for Christmas. How would I keep the seas from flooding the shores and tell the birds and the butterflies when to fly south? Maybe I should just accept that He knows best and let Him stay in charge. Especially in my life.

City Utilities

February 24, 2026

Yes, once again, I am speaking about local events here in Springfield, Missouri, where I live. We are the third largest city in our state and the largest of all the Springfields in the U.S. If you think I am incorrect, check the last census. I’m not like the President; you can check your facts to prove me right or wrong.

A company seeking to provide battery storage for our utility company may be denied access to property near my home. There are infrastructure and groundwater contamination problems that their proposal does not address. This company does not have a lot of experience here in our country.

C.U. still needs a cost-effective solution for expanding its services as our area grows even more. I would like to make a suggestion. Would it help to eliminate about twenty percent of your consumers from your grid? Not just drop them as customers, but change them to suppliers of energy.

Some areas allow or even encourage users to install solar and wind generators on their property. These can be businesses or homes. They can invest in the equipment to produce and store energy, and electric companies purchase the surplus that they generate. If five percent of your local users become suppliers, that might be a large part of solving this future problem.

There is a house down the street from us where a previous owner had a turbine and solar panels. Unlike some homes, his panels were raised on a frame that would allow him to point them at the sun as it traveled through the sky. I always wanted to stop and ask him about these devices and never took the time.

Both technologies have improved over the years to a point where they are more efficient than they once were. Remember, I am speaking from sixty years of experience. I am a novice in my knowledge of how it works, not in the fact that it is useful.

On a recent trip, Cindy and I saw wind turbines in a hay field, and at other times we have seen the arrays of solar panels. I have also observed businesses and homes installing these devices on their buildings and properties to supply their electrical needs. I watch commercials about storage units that can be attached to maintain independence from electrical grids in power outages.

Let me mention factories that I called on, which had waste materials that they used to power generators to supply the requirements of not just the plants, but the neighborhoods around them. I’ve been at Evangel University’s and School of the Ozarks power stations and seen how these operate.

One of my customers in the 1990s made loads of money designing and building generators for those who wanted to be prepared in case the dire predictions associated with computers at the turn of this century came true. I spoke with him shortly before he retired to a farm where his family was ready to survive no matter what happened after December 1999.

I am making these statements to spark interest by our utility suppliers in encouraging individual investments as a way of increasing their power supply. Long-term contracts and government assistance might be used to reduce the costs for everyone involved.

Do a little research and explore the feasibility of these options. I failed to mention the methane plant I saw where a sawmill had dumped sawdust and woodchips for decades. This plant had been powering electricity for one community for over a year when it was pointed out to me late in the last century.

Jesus was sent to redeem us

February 10, 2026

Do you know this? You do not need anyone’s help? That’s alright that you believe that. Jesus said that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. He came to this planet as a baby. That is what Christmas is about. Some do not realize who He is and what He did for us.

He had to come as a baby and live a life like we do. We are children, teenagers, and young adults just as Jesus was. He did nothing to deserve the death penalty except tell the religious leaders of the day that they had it wrong. They were messing up worship, the Sabbath observance, and countless other practices. This was why they wanted to kill Him.

They were not honest enough to come right out and say, “We do not like you, so you must die.” When He asked them why they wanted to kill Him, they ignored the question. He told His followers that the leaders were going to kill Him, and they argued with Him or pretended they did not understand.

Redemption means that a price was paid. The wages of sin are death. Jesus gave us the gift of life. He died for us. All you must do is accept that gift and allow Him to show you how to live the life He has now given to you. When I did that years ago, I thought it was easy. I still do.

One of the complaints that followers of other religions have against the Jesus way of doing things is that the gift is received before you’re required to show a changed life. This is one of those true receive now, change later plans. When I am told someone is not good enough to accept Christ, I tell them that none of us are. That is why He came.

Jehovah’s method of redeeming mankind is often thought of as cruel. A man had to die for others. Many religions, including Judaism, sacrificed animals. God allowed this so that one day, when these creatures were being murdered, He, Himself, would be the ultimate sacrifice.

You cannot call me sadistic if the person who gives himself to you is the one who required it. That is not sadism, that is grace. Who else would make a rule requiring your execution for what you are doing and then take the punishment for you? “A Tale of Two Cities” has nothing on Him.

Are you familiar with trading stamps? Mom collected Green Stamps. This was back in the 1960s. I am bringing this up because we would take those to a redemption center to exchange them for merchandise. Jesus turned himself in to buy you back. I hope you understand how important this is.

Where did I see them?

February 4, 2026

You are watching videos, TV shows, or streaming a movie. It doesn’t matter what decade the film or program was made in; they all have faces that we have seen before. During the 1960s, this was a favorite game for dad and mom when they were watching with us

Dad always pointed out the wagon master on “Wagon Train” and Ronald Reagan as the host of “Death Valley Days.” That was before Mr. Reagan became the President of the United States or even the Governor of California. Mom could tell us which actors had been on a soap opera.

My wife and I have been saying this for years. In the 1970s and 80s, we watched “The Love Boat,” an anthology series where almost every former TV and movie star could be seen. I’m sure some of these cost them twenty or thirty dollars, and the big ones as much as a grand. No one got rich except the advertisers.

This was in the days of T and A. Look it up on YouTube if you do recognize that entertainment term. There were many bikini-clad women, if that gives you a clue. Who was on it?

Captain Stubing was played by Gavin MacLeod, and we remembered him as Murray from the “Mary Tyler Moore Show.” Doc was from “Get Smart” and was played by Bernie Kopell. He played a recurring CAOS Agent.

When it comes to the weekly guest stars, the most common were Monty O’Grady and the Love Boat Mermaids, which included Terry Hatcher and others. They appeared in nineteen shows. We know Terri from Lois and Clark and Desperate Housewives, but she began as a mermaid.

Monty began his career in the “Our Gang” series and was a bit player on shows like Charlie’s Angels, Columbo, Little House on the Prairie, Gunsmoke, and many others, and in movies from the 1920s through the 1990s. Don’t look for him in the credits. He is usually a minor character, like a waiter or passenger, which is the part he played in twenty-one episodes of The Love Boat.

Remember Marion Ross, who played Mrs. Cunningham on Happy Days. She became the captain’s wife and was on fourteen episodes. Florence Henderson was on board ten times after she left The Brady Bunch. Charo, Rue McClanahan, Erin Moran, and Connie Stephens each made it nine times.

Patti MacLeod, the ex-wife of the actor who played the captain, was on eight times. Bert Convy, Linda Evans, Carol Channing, Robert Reed, and Donnie Most sailed seven times. Some remember Peter Graves, Milton Berle, Michelle Lee, Lisa Hartman, Ethel Merman, Richard Cline, and Jimmy J.J. Walker, who also portrayed many different characters.

Am I boring you with all these names? Dick Van Patten, Don Adams, Mellissa Sue Anderson, Sonny Bono, Vicky Lawrence, and Tom Bosley may be more familiar to you. Do you get the idea? They booked many different age groups of former and future celebrities.

You may recognize Betty White, Harry Morgan, Harvey Korman, Loretta Switt, Debbie Reynolds, John Astin, Jamie Farr, Cesar Romero, Jayne Wyatt, MacLean Stephenson, Dawn Wells, Bob Denver, Patty Duke, Lorne Green, Will Geer, Mark Harmon, Rich Little, Jim Stafford, Donnie Osmond, Shirley Jones, Janet Jackson, Gene Kelly, Tom Hanks, Frankie Avalon, Michael J. Fox, or Hayley Mills.

If none of these people sound familiar, check back with me later. We’ll discuss some other series where I will drop some more names that I think you will recognize. Some programs begin stars while others remember their careers like Ricky Nelson.

Becoming your parents

February 3, 2026

You’ve seen the commercials. An insurance company tells us that young homeowners are in danger of becoming their parents. Is that such a bad option? I remember the first time I looked in my bathroom mirror, shaving one morning, and saw my Dad staring back at me.

Over the years, I have noticed many of Mom and Dad’s habits and mannerisms that I have picked up. There are some that I try not to emulate. Dad would cross his feet when he sat watching TV. Mine are currently crossed as I work on my laptop.

One of the things in these commercials is the friendliness and ability to speak with others. I have friends whose children have these attributes, except their parents do not. If it is offensive to you for someone to be outgoing, maybe you need to rethink why.

Another scene in these ads involves the homeowner encountering a celebrity. They do nothing embarrassing other than, once again, being friendly. Indeed, this man is not portrayed as knowing how to take a selfie with his phone. The famous man shows him how to change the camera view.

Some of these early spots have obnoxious actions. Pushing food onto guests as they leave a party when they do not want it. Stopping drivers as they go down the street and blocking traffic. Telling others how to do everything from grilling to starting a campfire, or what to order at a restaurant.

These are annoying habits that some have. Blaming your parents for being this way is insulting to those of us who have children who are now homeowners. I am proud of the ways my kids turned out. My sons-in-law tells dad jokes. My daughters and grandchildren even tell my old stories.

I consider imitation to be the greatest form of flattery. These kinds of copying of others might be considered creepy by some. We are led to believe that this behavior is unintentional. We all have pet peeves. Friends or family do things that agitate us. Having a therapist make a living by criticizing patients is probably against their professional rules.

It is a good thing that the part is played by an actor, and these are not based on true stories. Many things we see on TV and in movies show rude or annoying behavior. The problem comes when a project shows illegal activity as perfectly acceptable.

Noah’s Ark

January 18, 2026

by Billy Brandi Hayes

The most terrifying detail about Noah’s Ark isn’t the size of the flood. It is the design of the boat.

If you look closely at the blueprints God gave Noah in Genesis 6, He was extremely specific.

He gave the exact length, width, and height. He specified the type of wood and the pitch to seal it.

In my little years, I have never thought of this!

But God left out one crucial component.

There was no steering wheel, no sail, and worse still, there was no engine. Think about how scary that is.

Noah was building a massive vessel to survive a global storm, but he had zero control over it, or over where it went.

He couldn’t steer it away from rocks. He couldn’t turn it into waves. He couldn’t aim for dry land. He was completely at the mercy of the water.

The Ark was not designed for navigation; just for floating.

Noah’s job was to be the Passenger, not the captain.

God was the captain.

This is a picture of your life right now.

You are trying to put a steering wheel in a boat that God can control, if you let Him…

This is another story I have copied from Facebook. Be careful if you publish it there. Guys like me can borrow it, and they can put their own names on it. I don’t do that. I would like to add a bit of my own commentary.

I have expressed my feelings about the time Noah spent constructing this craft. My belief is that they were not the primitives that we think they were. Billy speaks of the materials that were used, but when you read the original Hebrew, the translation of the words for these materials is not definitive.

It is possible that Noah used technology that, for the last four thousand or more years, has not been known. At least until around one hundred years ago. Tell me about your opinion on this theory and this article in the comments. Thanks for reading.

The printer

January 6, 2026

This title could be a story about my friend Rick or my Uncle George. Both were printers by trade. Rick worked for the Springfield Newspaper for thirty or forty years, and George did the same at the Kansas City Star. Some day I may regale you with stories of these fine men, but that is not tonight.

God woke me up tonight to write as He does sometimes. When I walked into the living room, I noticed a light in our dining room. I went to see what I had left glowing when we went to bed and found our printer was lit up with an error message. In the dark, it is very bright.

During the day, you do not notice these messages, and that screen is often dark when we have not used it for a while. Tonight, in the dark house, it was apparent from the next room. You are probably asking yourself, “Where is he going with this thought?”

One of my categories is Tangents. That is what this is. These are wild, stray thoughts that come to my mind. As I sit at my laptop, I am reminded of Jesus’ words, “You are the light of the world.” I’m going to offer a non-theological commentary on this idea.

Light is a common thing in our world. During the day, sunshine illuminates most of the outdoors. If you are fortunate enough to have windows in your home, you can raise the blinds and move around inside without needing your electric lights. My wife, Cindy, likes to do this. My eyes are not as good as hers anymore, and sometimes I must flip a switch for the artificial light.

Jesus was referring to His followers as being a source of light in our dark world. This is a reflected light. That has been my ministry for over fifty years. I call myself a workplace minister because I’ve never pastored a church. My congregation was the people I encountered on a daily basis as I performed my different jobs.

I am a light in the darkness. I tell you about my Jesus and what He means to me. I share with you how He touches my life and speaks truth into it. That may seem strange to you, and that is fine. My Christian readers understand what I am saying. We are lights in a world that is full of darkness, as this room was tonight. A small shine from a printer control screen got my attention. This is our job. Shine a little brightness in the gloom and guide someone to Jesus.

You are not to be a glaring beacon from a spotlight. Just be a candle in the darkness. I’ve had some say that they knew I was a man of God or a religious person. They saw His reflected light in me. I don’t draw attention to myself intentionally.

Others notice something coming from us, and they go like Moses did when he saw a bush burning in the desert. It should have burned out quickly. It did not. Do not be a flash that no one can find when they need questions answered, be that light that brightens the darkness of their distress. Let them come to you and tell them what He has done for you. It is that simple.

Charles (Chuck) Kensinger

Walk With a Servant

Category: Bible Trekking