Category: Doulos

What is Doulos?

March 16, 2026

For those of you who have read my columns, you may know the answer to this question. Most of you do not. Doulos is the word in Greek that the apostle Paul uses in Romans 1:1 when he says, “Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ.” Some translations use the term slave.

I accepted the call to be a full-time minister of the gospel in March of 1974. That means I have been on that road for over fifty years. At first, I thought He wanted me to be a pastor. After two years at Southwest Baptist College, I earned a degree in religion and wanted God to show me what to do next. Cindy and I were married, and He did not want me to go to seminary, which is the normal path for a pastor.

I took a part-time job while still in school and later went full-time with that company. I preached when I could, taught small groups, and ultimately became a deacon in our church. Cindy and I have worked together in the cup of cold-water ministry at the Ozark Empire Fair under the Greene County Baptist Association, as well as in other ministries.

It took me a few years to understand that my calling was not to a pulpit at a church, but to business, and I realized I was a workplace minister. This is what many of you are. We are all ministers in some way. Teachers, businesspeople, and even students can be workplace ministers. When I wrote my memoir ten years ago, the title Jesus gave me was Doulos.

Douloi must serve others. They do this in their marriages, families, and work lives. Have you noticed that this website is Douloigroup.org? When I decided to purchase my own URL, I felt led to name it after my book. I have at least two other books in progress with a version of this word in their names.

Douloi Marriage and Douloi Families are my ideas of how the concept of Christian service in marriage and family life can be incorporated into our lives. I include these ideas in my columns as I know many of you have noticed over the years. These books have written themselves in my life as I just lived it in Christ.

What has Jesus asked you to incorporate into your life as service to him and others? I’ve spent years as a friend and listener to everyone I have worked with for over fifty years now. Both at the companies I worked for and those that I encountered on the job.

If you would like to read the entire story, I have included Doulos in my premium materials that you can read by subscribing for one month for a dollar or a year for ten. The other manuscripts I am working on are also posted there. This subscription will also add you to my e-mail list so I can advise you of any book releases or special offers.

©Copyright 2026 by Charles Kensinger

CHAPTER ELEVEN

November 23, 2025

PREPARING FOR SERVICE

1974 was a year of change in my life.  I was a sophomore at SMSU.  My application to Missouri University in Columbia was mailed in January.  In March I had the opportunity to serve as youth week pastor at my church, Immanuel Baptist.  I preached my first sermon with the help of Pastor Clyde Leonard.  Life was about to change.

I left the comfort of Dog ‘N Suds and began working at Denny’s.  They were open 24 hours a day.  My job was busboy and dishwasher.  I often worked on the graveyard shift on Saturday, showered at home and went to church.  I would catch a nap after lunch and return for the evening worship service.

That summer Mac Davis came to the Ozark Empire Fair.  I did not go to the show, but Vanessa had reserved seat tickets with some of her friends.  I worked the late shift that night.  Around 1:00 am Mac and his manager came in for breakfast after the show. 

The waitress who took his order was too nervous to ask for an autograph.  I took a bus tub out with a piece of paper for his signature.  After placing the tub on a nearby table I walked over and asked for the autograph.  I returned to the back after putting Mr. Davis’s eggs under the heat lamp for him and gave the paper to his waitress.

My sister was upset the next morning that I had not gotten her an autograph also.  She was mad when a few months later he released the song “Oh, Lord it’s hard to be humble. (When you’re perfect in every way.)”.  It wasn’t the song that made her mad.  It was the fact I told her it was written about me.  I still maintain that today.

By the time my acceptance letter to the journalism school at MU came, I no longer wanted to be a newspaperman or broadcaster.  I knew God wanted me to do something else.  Education in journalism was not a priority.  Studying the scriptures was most important.

Clyde was a graduate of SWBC and Mark, our youth minister was a student there.  When I told my Mother I wanted to check it out she was not surprised.  She wasn’t at church the day I made my commitment to full time ministry but one of her friends told her before I got the courage to.  That was hard to do.  To tell my parents I was wrong about where my life would lead was extremely difficult.

An appointment was made, and we went to the campus, spoke to the enrollment office, and were shown one of the dorms and the cafeteria and campus union.  It was not nearly as large as SMSU.  We discussed how we would afford the added expense.  We had been told about scholarships that I might be eligible for.

Clyde helped obtain church approval for a matching scholarship.  If I drove rather than staying in the dorm I would get a commuter scholarship.  There was also a ministerial scholarship that we used.  It ended, costing about the same as SMSU.

I had to take Biology, New Testament and Old Testament which were general education classes that freshmen normally took.  I wanted to continue foreign language, and they offered Biblical Greek.  I scheduled Greek and New Testament for the first semester.  Dr. Cowen taught both.  Over the next two years I had him at least once every semester.  Richard W. Nixon was in my New Testament Class.  He was a freshman.

I enrolled as a transfer student with over 60 hours.  My original degree plan was for an English major.  I was considering getting a teaching certificate to have something to fall back on, if preaching did not work out.  As I got into the first semester, I decided to put everything in God’s hands.  I changed my major to religion.  That made me a preacher boy.  I felt that God wanted me there to study the Bible.  That’s what I did for two years.

Early in the semester I saw a posting for summer missionaries.  You would spend 10 weeks working through the Home Mission Board.  They paid the expenses and a small amount for the summer.  I thought this was a better Idea than the summer I worked at Zenith Television in Springfield.  I made good money and spent time studying my German while working on a final line, but I wanted something more than money now.

The time I spent on the road driving the 30 miles to and from Bolivar gave me the opportunity to develop my praying skills.  I still find commuting time to work a perfect time to get my day started right.  I did not know the changes that would come before the summer.  I could not foresee another calling from God.

©Copyright 2025 by Charles Kensinger