Let’s talk about – Charles (Chuck) Kensinger

Both sides

May 8, 2026

That’s what the newscaster said. They were going to give both sides of a political story. Why are there only two sides? One is true, or one is false, right? Not necessarily. Often, these reports include the truth from two sides and no others. It can be hard to sift the truth from the spins that we all like to give to what we say.

What other positions are there in politics other than Republicans and Democrats? When you go to your precinct to vote in your primary election this year, look at which parties you must choose from. You should have at least three, including an issues-only ballot. In Missouri, we must choose only one party’s candidate.

When I talk about what Jehovah says in the Bible, you may hear this as my spin on the truth. To me, it is the truth. This is just two sides of the story. There are many religions, and then there are those that do not accept any gods and believe that when life ends, everything is over.

Every opinion we have is probably opposed to someone else’s beliefs. I have friends who are Republicans, Democrats, or other political party supporters, and then there is me. I am one of those weirdoes who believe that you should vote for the person and not consider any party affiliation.

There are many other ways in which we put ourselves on different sides. There is a group that calls itself Black Lives Matter, and I agree with them. I just take their beliefs a little further. I belong to ALM, All Lives Matter. We are not in opposition to BLM or any of the organizations that stand for anyone’s rights.

We include all lives of all colors. There is another group whose initials are BLM. Their name is Blue Lives Matter, and they support the police. When I was a kid in Springfield, MO, our officers’ uniforms were brown, like many sheriffs’ offices use. That would really be confusing to have three different BLM organizations.

Having an opinion about things is necessary, but taking a side against others is not. I am a follower of Jesus. If you want to know what that means, I will tell you as much as you want to hear. Years ago, at a new job, I had a fellow employee come into my office and say, “I hear you are a Christian.” And I acknowledged that I was. Then he asked, “Are you going to try to make me one?” “Do you want me to?” No was his reply, and I simply asked him to let me know if he had questions about it. He never asked, even though he often came in to talk about a host of other things.

I hated it in school when we had to choose which team to be on in classes. I preferred speech and debate to sports, where you were assigned a side in debate and had to alternate. I often adopt this policy when discussing controversial issues. Just because I give reasons against what you say is correct does not mean I disagree. I may be voicing opposing ideas I have already heard.

Know your own mind, keep an open mind to show that you know you are not always correct, and be willing to have an open discussion without sounding like a person who is closed to any other opinion.

Queen of the house

May 5, 2026

Roger Miller wrote and recorded a song entitled “The King of the Road” in 1965. Jody Miller responded with “The Queen of the House” later that year. Miller’s King was what we called a hobo, and now is referred to as a transient or homeless. Jody’s character was a mother who cared for her husband and children and enjoyed the process.

At our house, we also have a queen who is named Essa, the cat. She has lived here for over a year and was royalty when we brought her home from the Humane Society. We called her a princess. Now she has claimed us, the house, and the dog, and acts like she owns the place and we are her servants.

When she first arrived, she was very timid, slunk around the house, and was afraid of Biscuit, the dog. She kept her belly close to the ground and was frightened at any sound. Now, she only runs when the Ring chime sounds and retreats to our bedroom, where she has her hidden holes.

Life is easy for her now since she seems to have been a stray from birth and does not like any humans other than my wife and I. We hope that she will eventually decide that our children and grandchildren are safe as well. It took months for her to accept us, and she saw us every day.

For those of you who have never had a cat, I need to tell you something that we have known for years. Dogs have owners, cats have staff, and Essa considers us her people. We feed her, play with her, and clean her litter box. When she hears us getting treats for Biscuit, she lets us know she wants hers as well.

In the mornings, it is play time and breakfast time, whether we are ready to get up or not. She always goes somewhere for her morning and afternoon naps and doesn’t care if we don’t know where she is. Bedtime is another activity time, and we must play the games that she wants.

She attacks the dog each time he comes in from outside, and sometimes, to get her away from the door to go out, he must chase her to another room. She does not care because she views it as play.

Pets are often called fur babies, and this is evident in the fact that they act like children. They want your attention even when you are busy and are jealous of everyone else in the house. Welcome to parenthood.

They make me think of Cindy and I as a couple. We are who we are, but sometimes it feels like I am a dog and she is a cat. She is the queen of the house, and I am here for her when she wants to play or just lie down and take a nap. Are you there for your spouse despite your differences?

For a Little While

April 25, 2026

When President Trump was asked if Americans could expect the price of Gasoline and other petroleum products to remain exorbitantly high, he answered, “For a little while.” As a politician, he is careful not to say anything that can be used against him later.

This phrase does not say what President Trump wants you to believe. He wants you to think that these outrageous prices will subside quickly. He is not the one who raised the prices. He is not the one who caused prices to rise across the board. That is done by those who control the pricing in our country.

You and I are responsible for consumer prices. Our economy is based on supply and demand. When we illegally attacked Iran, the Oil Companies chose to increase their prices. The excuse was the rise in crude oil futures. If you do not understand the futures market, it is what investors will pay for the product at a time to come.

Higher oil prices are not the current prices of the actual cost. That will come in a few months. Our gas prices are rising now because the oil executives are greedy. To make the prices go down, we must reduce our demand. Stop traveling. Stop buying products that use this commodity. Remember the price reductions after the Covid crisis.

There are non-petroleum options for many things that often call for crude oil. The economy was already tanking since President Trump and our Congress tried throwing money at the COVID-19 pandemic. All that did was convince some that they could get money without working. Those of you who run legitimate businesses were hurt most.

Greed, money, and infamy are what motivate most of the so-called political leadership. They only need you to vote for them. The rest of their two-, four-, or six-year terms, they try to be sure that you will not remember the stupid things they said or did.

Back to what President Trump really meant. Let’s break it down. This means that he is not willing to predict a definite time. A little while is also so vague that no one can take him to court for it after he leaves office. Most of us are like he was during his first campaign and term. He lied and never thought it would be used against him.

Today, he is starting to realize that we, the people, are not as stupid as he thought. Even those who believed his lies and ignored the confusion he attempted to perpetrate in America have started to rise from their sleep. He will call them woke because that is the same thing, only he uses it as an insult.

This year, all the legislatures of both the US and each state will be elected. To stop the so-called war in Iran and the Trumpites’ quest to dominate the world as Hitler did in World War II, we need to throw out both the Republicrats and Demicans. If you can, in your state, select representatives who are non-partisan. That is the only way to stop this madness.

Memories on mission

April 22, 2026

What brings back memories? The parents of a lady in our church on Sunday started me remembering. This couple from Texas was visiting their daughter’s family for the birthday of a grandchild. Texas to Springfield, Missouri, does not seem like a great distance, but for working people, it can be. Memories of a mission trip to Houston, Texas, came back.

I was serving as interim youth minister when a new pastor and his family came to our church. This was in the early spring, and the youth leadership had not made any plans for a mission trip that summer. As we discussed possible locations for ministry, we were presented with a plan to go to Houston.

They had taken other groups in previous years and made contacts for us. As we made the preparations, I began having dreams about being at a church and seeing a young girl crossing the street. I saw a car coming down the street, and I ran out and grabbed her and threw her to the side of the road.

My youngest daughter was one of the youths on the trip. And I saw her crouching by me and crying each night just as I awoke. This continued for about two weeks before we left. When we arrived at the church where we would work that week, I recognized it as the building from the dream.

All week, I was watching the street anytime we were outside, and I scanned the kids to try to find that girl. I did not see her, and nothing happened. My first night back home, I awoke from another dream in which I saw the church again and a voice that said, “You watched to prevent someone else’s death, what about your own?”

I am sure you are wondering what this could mean. I knew immediately where this was coming from. I had been having blood in my stool for these three weeks from time to time. I had not told anyone about this, not even my wife. That morning, I told my wife I needed to make an appointment with my doctor to talk about the bleeding.

He recommended that I have a colonoscopy to be sure there were no problems. A few nights after the procedure, I received a call from the doctor. He had told us they had removed two polyps, and he told me that one was clear and the other had a few cancer cells in the head. After hanging up the phone, I started crying when I told this to my wife.

I have been cancer-free for about thirty years now. I have not shared this dream and my message from God with anyone in all that time. I know what most of you who have not had this type of experience will be thinking. I made this up. That’s why I’ve never told anyone. That is the exact reason I withheld that information.

There may be someone out there who is experiencing warning signs of disease that you are ignoring. Let me remind you of the story about the man who was a flood victim. He had a warning before the flood hit and ignored it. He said God will take care of him.

A boat came by later to pick him up, and he said that God would save him. As he was on the roof of the house, a helicopter came to his rescue, and once again, he declared God would save him. In Heaven, he asked God why He did not save him. The reply was, “I warned you, sent a boat and a helicopter. What more did you want?” Keep that in mind if you are ignoring warnings.

Do not build your brand

April 21, 2026

As a writer, I am often encouraged to do things that will make me more popular and profitable. As a born-again believer, I am not in this for fame or money. My brand is not to be built by me. I should strive to glorify my Savior, Jesus.

In Acts 4:23-31, Peter and John have just been released by the Sanhedrin, who were the ones who took their teacher to Pontius Pilate and forced him to crucify Christ. It had to be done for all of humanity to be redeemed from our sin. That does not mean that these Jews are forgiven for their hate.

You and I do things often for our own benefit or because we want things to go our way. This never makes it correct. God knows that we will do what we will do. That is part of who He is. Omniscient is the word that we use to describe that He knows everything.

The question is often asked, “If there is a God and He loves us. Why do all these bad things happen to good people?” President Bill Clinton said that it depends on your definition of ‘is’. What does that mean? The I Am is the name of the Hebrew God. Some say Jehovah and others Yahweh. Either way, it means “I am that I am” or is He?

Is He God or not? Did He create the world or not? Is Jesus His son or not? Why does He not come down here and show Himself so that we have no doubts that He is who He said He was? He did that.

A man named Jesus was born around two thousand years ago. Like all humans, He lived a life, did His chosen profession, and died. He was nothing special. The gospels and other New Testament books were created by some demented men who just wanted to give churches a way to take money from the ignorant and unsuspecting masses.

Do you believe that? I don’t. I do not have enough faith to believe that this universe was an accident. To me, it takes more belief than I can conjure up to believe that nothing existed, then it exploded, and our planet’s existence was a fluke. The order we see around us, the laws of physics that we have ascertained, are all coincidental, and this can be proven by these same scientific principles, which were violated by the beginning of all that we experience.

I wonder who the ones are that are really confused. If matter and energy cannot be destroyed, where did they come from in the first place? My book, “Cosmic Flatulence,” is my attempt to explain the Big Bang Theory and how science can be understood.

No cloud of gas appeared from nothingness. The I Am has always existed. Jehovah was not created by man; that is what makes Him the creator. He has always been here, and if you believe that a cloud of gas came from nothing and exploded to form our universe, I guess Yahweh let a fart.

I am here to tell His story, to proclaim the day of the Lord so that you will understand. I am not here to build myself or my brand. I’m just telling you the truth and letting you decide for yourself whether Jesus is The Way, The Truth, and The Life, as He said He was.

Do not try to persuade others to agree with you, buy your line, and support your brand. Follow The Way, believe The Truth, and enjoy The Life which is as eternal as He is. I do not know how to explain it any better than He did. If God never existed until we made Him up, how did all of this get here?

The Hole in my Vision

April 12, 2026

If at f”irst you don’t succeed, try, try, again.” is sage wisdom I have not always followed. It is usually easier to just give up. I have spent a number of attemps to log on to my computer tonight. God woke me up and won’t let me go back to sleep without writing my thoughts down. This is not an unusual experience for me

yesterdayI had the second of two cataract surgeries. When I AWAKE, MY intention was to write until my mind was clear and return to bed. I was told today before the surgery that I have a whole in the back of my left eye. We won’t know until it heals from the first surgerynifmitmcan benrepaired.

There is a distinct gap in mynvision, because my right eye has a patch on it that will be removed later today. Then I will be able to see better. It will be awhile before I can use my friends, the glasses, asmImhave for over fifty years. . I will add more to this later, but for now, I must go on to what awoke me.

That was many years ago. To show my problems, I have left those paragraphs as I typed them. You do not know how hard it is for me to publish this without editing. I want you to know where I was when I began this journey.

The hole in my vision is not imagined. It is literal. Let me step away from that analogy and step into a metaphor. We all have holes in our vision. There are things that we do not see, cannot see, and refuse to see. We will deal with these three topics in order.

I have no control over the things I can’t see. My blindness is caused by outside forces. It is like the hole in my eye. It happened gradually and not even my doctor saw it until the cataract was removed. Because it is not my fault, it does not mean I should not endeavor to correct it or work around this handicap. Paul of Tarsus refers to a thorn in his side that he had to work around. He asked God to remove it and heal him on three occasions with no results. His decision was to accept it as a gift and move on.

What is blocking your vision that you did not cause? Have people failed to advise you of needs? You can’t serve when the situation is unknown to you. Have you tried to solve a known situation with no success? This might be due to the person refusing aid or someone else blocking your assistance. If you have prayed and asked for wisdom in how to overcome these obstacles, it may not be you that is called to be of service.

This has happened to me, and I have not always used the wisdom Jehovah will give to me. Sometimes I refuse to ask for His guidance. Other times my ego is in the way. In some cases, I become angry with those who don’t want my assistance, and I fail to forgive. I must realize that I might not be as correct as I believe I am.

A comment to someone else with the abilities, skills, and time to serve may get the job done by another without me. In another situation, my resources may be needed, but not through me personally. If I don’t care who receives the glory, why do I have to be more than in the background?

Sex is not a four-letter word

March 28, 2026

I know some of you are going, “Duh, of course, it is a three-letter word.” I am using the phrase as being an offensive term for some. Jehovah created it as the reproductive method for human beings. I find it enjoyable in the confines of the marital relationship.

There are many different philosophies about the idea of this three-letter word. We need to think the way that our Lord does. He said that a man should leave his parents and the woman should leave her family, and they would become one flesh. This is about as definite an expression of procreation as you can have.

All through the book of Genisis we have examples of men and women having children. In the King James Version of the Bible the conception was noted as the husband knowing his wife. This term was used because of what God intended sex to be.

Not only is it a way to reproduce but it is designed for the couple to be physically as well as spiritually intimate. Intimacy or closeness is the intended result of coupling. There are certain times when this will create a new life. Keep in mind that there is life from conception.

It is not tissue or an embryo, it is living. Not yet, breathing but still alive. Destroying him or her at any point is killing. Sex started this and man can end them. It is wrong to destroy this person unless the life of the mother is in danger. That is why she should have the deciding vote. Not for her convenience, just to save her life.

Often religious folks like to criticize the concept of this process. Get over it. This is not a sin any more than breathing is. Sex used improperly is disobedience. If you can do something it is not necessarily correct to do it. This is the foundation of what is referred to as sin.

You can tell what you know about someone else and that is called gossip. Justify it by saying that all you did was tell the truth. We are commanded to tell the truth in love, not to reveal secrets that will hurt another. Remember Jesus told us to treat others as we wish to be treated. That is why it is called the Golden Rule. The golden rule is not, “He who has the gold makes the rules.”

Sexuality is not something that we should be ashamed of God made it as part of humanity. He always knows what is best for us. He wanted us to be couples and families. We all know some dysfunctional families. I hope you do not have one.

It is time for we Christians to proclaim that we are who He made use to be and He does not make mistakes. Accept the fact that we are made in His image and that we are also made to be men and women, fathers and mothers. He wanted us to enjoy life, why not enjoy it His way.

My boys and girls

March 26, 2026

I have often written about my eighteen years of teaching youth at Hamlin Church. Before that, I taught fifth and sixth-grade boys there, as well. I have been a children’s church director on two different occasions while at Hamlin. It has been my church home for over forty years.

My reason for this column is to thank all the men and women that I have had the pleasure of serving over the past fifty or more years as a leader in churches. I spent one summer in Pennsylvania and eighteen months in Joplin, MO, and the balance of this time here in Springfield, MO.

I can cite the names of some of the hundreds of kids and young people that I worked with as a leader, teacher, and minister. You are all my kids. I see some of you frequently, and some I have not visited in person for over fifty years. I’ll tell you about the recent ones.

There was Jason, Ryan, Mendy, Jody, Matt, Michael, Kara, Herschell, Kevin, Brandon, Gina, Cara, Stephanie, and others. I am so proud of all these individuals, as well as the ones that I have not seen for too many years. Some of them are doctors, nurses, teachers, ministers, businessmen and women, and in practically every profession you can imagine.

I cannot count the number of men and women that I have had the privilege of serving. I’ve been a teacher, friend, mentor, and supporter as they learned and grew. I’ve worked with their parents, grandparents, and families to encourage them to become the wonderful parents and grandparents they are today.

To say that I am proud of them is an understatement. My part was very minimal in their lives. They were under my tutelage for only a couple of years, but I have followed them as they have grown, been educated, married, and had children. Some are better known to me than others. All of them have made me proud to know them.

We have three daughters, three sons-in-law, and twelve grandchildren that I am also extremely proud of. My love for them is unbounded. My ministry is not over, and it will continue until my health restricts me or Jesus calls me home.

I do not understand

March 22, 2026

I keep watching commercials on television where political candidates are claiming that they will solve all the world’s problems in their first day in office. They are not sharing the plans that they have developed to accomplish these miracles. Pardon me if I have some reservations about the probability of any of these candidates being able to fulfill these promises.

Can Missouri’s Governor or his Lieutenant deport illegal aliens? I thought that was the responsibility of the Department of Homeland Security. The current administration is botching the execution of those promises. I do not want to hear the statement “I don’t ask for permission.” from someone that wants my vote.

The 2026 elections are in process. In Missouri we will only be electing all our representatives to Congress. That is the same in every state. We have some positions in our county that are being filled again. None of Missouri’s Senators are up for re-election this year. As things stand, I cannot support any of the current incumbent politicians that support our president.

And I am having reservations with any non-Republican incumbents in the House or Senate. The Government has been frozen twice while they have been in office. I am not naive enough to take one side over the other. They are both at fault for this. Stop acting like two-year-olds fighting over toys.

It is time to gut the house of representatives. My Seventh Missouri District Congressman is a card carrying Trumpite who supports all the terrorism that has gone on across the country. He must go. If you are honest with yourself, yours should as well. We all want to believe the person we voted for isn’t as bad as the others. And yet, the evidence says otherwise.

Donald Trump needs to be removed from office. The convictions that were dropped when he was elected must be re-instated and due process must be followed. We cannot throw innocent people in determent camps, but we must imprison convicted felons until their appeals are exhausted. If Trump is innocent, then we should send him to El Salvador, or maybe Iran.

Time to act is now. No more picking the lesser of two evils. If you know someone supports the overthrow of our government and is too ignorant to admit that is what is going on, dump them with Trump.

The two-party system is not working. Trash it and those that have used it to block a republican democracy for over one-hundred years. Twenty-twenty-six is the year for the next American Independence Day. Make your vote count.

Fostering or adoption

March 13, 2026

Have you considered either of these options? This morning on the radio, the announcer was speaking of a podcast where the guest was encouraging others to promote fostering in their church congregations. Some of our friends over the years have adopted children or been foster parents.

I remember a single mom that I knew from church when I was a teenager. She had three daughters, and her youngest was a boy. Another friend and his wife had three daughters. The first lady died, and the father did not want his children. The three girls had places to go with the family, but no one wanted the boy.

My friend and his wife applied to be foster parents with the intent of eventually adopting this little guy. This was what happened, and as with many families, the son eventually rebelled against his adopted family, and it was years before he returned to them after he grew up enough to realize we all need someone.

I have shared another story of adoption before. One of the young men in my class at church asked me one morning after class if his mother loved him. I knew what he was talking about because he had been adopted as a baby. He wanted to know why his birth mother had given him up.

I asked what year he was born, and when he told me, I responded that she did love him. The question in his eyes told me I needed to explain. I informed him that abortion had been legalized in the U.S. with the Roe Vs. Wade Supreme Court decision in 1972. His birth was after that.

If she had not cared about him, she could have simply aborted the pregnancy, and he would never have been born. Many women have fallen prey to the lies that these are not human beings and are called fetuses or blobs of tissue. I know that the Bible teaches that we are alive from conception.

I explained this to him and told him that his birth mother knew he was important and needed a family that could provide for him. To me, that was the ultimate act of love: allowing others to raise him after she gave birth. He seemed to understand this answer and went to church.

A short time later, his adoptive mother asked me what I had said to him. I told her exactly what I had said. She told me that he had been asking her and his dad this question, and they were unable to say anything that satisfied him. When he stopped asking, she questioned why, and he told her that I had convinced him that she did love him. That’s why she asked me what I had said.

Adoption and fostering are both admirable things to do. Do it to help the children, not to fulfill a desire in your life or to make money from the support that may be given to foster parents. My wife and I love our daughters. We were like many characters in the Bible. We knew each other, and she became pregnant. It was easy for us.

When it is more difficult, consider helping a child who needs a family. One family in our church fosters newborns until they can be placed permanently. At times, these children return to them when the new family doesn’t work out. Mostly, they love the babies for a few weeks, and then they take in the next child.

One boy returned to them and stayed. He’s in high school now. He is one of the finest young men I know. He is well-behaved and highly intelligent and, if he makes good decisions, will go far. I have seen the opposite happen. An adopted child sometimes makes poor choices and makes their lives more difficult, just like our naturally born children can.

That is up to the kids. As parents, we raise them the best we can, make mistakes, apologize and ask forgiveness, and continue the process. This is true whether they are born to us, adopted, or with us for a short period. As parents, that is what we do for our children.

Charles (Chuck) Kensinger

Walk With a Servant

Category: Let’s talk about