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

$19.99

November 22, 2025

The U.S. Mint is no longer producing pennies. It has been discussed for years. It costs over three cents to make them. I hate to have to say this, but I agree with this decision. It has been a long time coming.

I also heard that nickels are more expensive than their value. That makes me wonder if the U.S. Mint should discontinue production of small coinage. When I was a kid, we had penny candy. We went to Andy’s market across Nichols Street from York School and might spend a nickel or a dime at a time. I picked a penny off the sidewalk one day and bought a tootsie roll. They tossed it in a sink of water as I went out the door.

Walmart and other businesses have already said that they will round a total to the nearest nickel when you are paying cash. They say it may save you a few cents or cost you a couple. They are the ones who are making that decision.

Why are prices not all set to the nearest dime anyway? Why is there even a price on anything that is ninety-nine cents anymore? When I studied marketing, we were told that many see the first numbers of the price. The title of this article registers to me as twenty dollars. Some see it as Nineteen.

I’ve been counting change for sixty-five years or more. I have a jar full of coins. Many of them are pennies. I will continue to save them from my pocket each night. I don’t use cash as much as I once did. When the coins in that jar are worth more than their face value, I will sell them to a coin collector.

I do not see this as being a huge problem. Most transactions are digital. I’ll just be sure that I keep a few coins in my pocket so that I can make exact change when making a cash purchase.

For years, some sellers who specialize in cash have included tax in their price. No coinage is needed when you do it this way. We seem to want to make our population less intelligent and pass on more jobs to artificial intelligence devices. Eliminating the need to count change will make it easier to program these machines. Both human and digital. There was a time when knowing how to count was considered a compliment to your parents and teachers. Should the inability to do so be considered their fault?

If Walmart wants to charge me an extra two cents for my purchase, then I will simply leave that sale on the counter. It will cost more than that to put it away. We don’t go to their stores very much. I have the right in America to patronize whoever I wish.

When I was young, my parents discussed that they did not make mills anymore. This was a coin that was used for taxes and was worth a tenth of a penny. I still have a two-dollar bill that is a silver certificate from Hawaii when my Dad was on a ship in the Pacific during World War II. I wonder if I could sell it and pay off all my debts.

©Copyright 2025 by Charles Kensinger

Cost of Living

November 20, 2025

Are you looking to relocate to a place where the cost of living is relatively low? Have I got a deal for you? Come home to Springfield, Missouri. Yes, I said, come home. I have lived here for most of my life. We moved to Joplin early in our marriage. We came home as soon as we could.

I think that 15.5% below the national average for cost of living would be good. You must understand that for most of us, we consider our wages low. Our average housing cost is 15.7% below the national average. I’m not bragging, I am stating facts from Google’s AI answer to my search. Look for yourself.

We are the third-largest city in Missouri and the largest Springfield among thirty-six in the country. Once again, if you don’t believe me, check the last census numbers. I looked it up myself because people who have never heard of us can’t believe it. Is it my fault you’ve been living under a rock your whole life?

Businessinsider.com put us thirty-two in their top 32 largest midwestern cities. We don’t have to be number one; we just try harder. Our public school system is the largest district in Missouri. We have five high schools, and if you don’t like public schools, we have almost every type of private school you might want.

Our technical college is one of the best, and they have several campuses in our outlying area. We have three major universities and numerous other types of higher private education facilities. Do you want to learn non-traditional skills? We do that as well.

Do you want rural or suburban living? We have a lot of that? Farmland is close, and you can even buy eggs and milk from the producers. There are almost as many small towns and villages close to Springfield as you will find in any city of our size. We have lots of bars and churches when you need to go to a place where everybody knows your name.

What about the opera, stage plays, symphony, and other cultural activities? We have you covered there as well. Our airport is not one of the major international hubs. We have connecting flights to most of the busiest, if you really like long lines.

We have two cab companies, and most of the internet services for moving people and goods. Oh, I forgot to mention shopping. If our mall isn’t large enough for you, there are half a dozen more within a fifty-minute drive of my house. I’ve driven longer than that in St. Louis or Kansas City to get to the good shopping once I got to those cities.

The construction industry seems to be having a heyday with homes and businesses, especially car washes and some of the most popular franchise fast food restaurants. Google your favorite and see if we have one or will next week.

We are the home of Bass Pro Shops, General Council of the Assemblies of God, Convoy of Hope, and Springfield-style Cashew Chicken. You don’t know about our own knock-off offering of a favorite oriental dish? You’ve had nothing like it.

I could go on for hours, but I’ll end with this. If you would like to go to Branson, MO, for the music shows or drive Historic Route 66 from Chicago to LA, we are on your way, and you can check us out the next time you pass through. You’ve probably been within fifty miles of us and never noticed the highway signs. The group Buffalo Springfield came through in the sixties and got their name from one of our signs. We hope to see you soon.

©Copyright 2025 by Charles Kensinger

Wisdom from an unexpected place

November 18, 2025

It is often referred to as the Boob Tube.  This is for a good reason.  Many have lost themselves in the surreal pastime of watching TV and have not allowed their minds to expand by experiencing the world around them.  The crazes of cell phones, Pokémon Go, and numerous selfie accidents demonstrate how easily video devices can turn normally intelligent beings into stumbling and falling imbeciles.

Have you had incidents where you gained wisdom from this most unexpected source? When you are my age, and every time you go into the hospital, they give you yellow socks, and you start to feel your age. The wisdom I have gained over these decades enables me to tell the doctors no when they ask if I’ve fallen in the last three months.

We learn from our mistakes is an old saying. I am not sure that the generations following me have learned from the errors committed by my age group. Just as many teenagers started smoking as did when I was there. I watched an older brother throw up the first time he took a drag. I said that it was not for me.

I had friends in high school who stayed out drinking because their parents did not pay attention to what they were doing. Mine did, and I knew not to try it. The punishment would fit the crime.

I drove fast, but because I wasn’t smoking or drinking, I was able to stay undistracted. I did date, and that made it hard to keep my mind on the road. But because the parents of the girls I dated told me to be careful, I was.

When I graduated from high school, I thought I was smart. Then I got married and we had children, and I realized I did not know anything. There is a quotation by Mark Twain that says the same thing. I never realized how smart Uncle Sam was.

Wisdom comes from the Lord according to the Bible. I believe he uses everyday situations to teach us, if we pay attention. Some of us are too poor to pay attention. Think about it. You will get the joke, eventually.

Messing things up is part of the human experience. Just be sure that when you do, you live through it. I’ve been fortunate. I’ve survived my own and others’ mistakes as well. Some were easy to identify as near misses, while most are things that I will never know about.

Listen to your elders and watch for signs. I mean street signs, road signs like speed limits, and avoid running red lights. Like driving drunk, these things will catch up with you, and others’ problems may catch you as well.

©Copyright 2025 by Charles Kensinger

Thanksgiving carols

November 16, 2025

I have always wondered why we have a few Halloween songs and there are a lot of songs for other holidays, but Thanksgiving only has lame songs about giving thanks. I want songs about turkeys, stuffing, cranberries, pumpkin pie and all that other great stuff.

Yes, I know there are football songs. Do not get me started on football on Thanksgiving and Christmas. Maybe you just did. I might just do that. Write a column on the evils of Football on Holidays. I wonder if the government has commissioned a study on that, yet.

We can find everything on the internet, so I searched and found many options. The first was very interesting, “Gobble, Gobble” by Matthew West. He begins like I did wondering why there are no songs about Thanksgiving. Watch it and if you don’t like the adult version check out the kid’s version.

As I was searching, I found “Five Fat Turkeys” which I first head when my daughter came home from school singing it around this time of year when she was in elementary school. I have no idea how long it has existed. All three of these girls are in their forties.

Then there is “A Thanksgiving Prayer” by Johnny Cash which I first heard when he sang it to his wife, June Carter Cash, on “Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman.” This one had slipped out of my mind as well.

Then there are some that I did not even think about considering for this holiday. “Mashed Potato” by Dee Dee Sharp was one I heard back in the 1960s. Is there one about cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, or stuffing? Yes, there are, but they are for kids, bad humor, or stuck in insignificant albums by people I’ve not heard of before.

Unless you consider Ray Charles and James Taylor’s “Sweet Potato Pie” from the “Genius Loves Company” album or “Country Bumpkin” by Cal Smith to be a Thanksgiving Song. There are many tunes like these that we could stretch our imagination to include them. “Autumn Leaves” by Nat King Cole and “Harvest Time” by Luke Bryan is two more that fit this category.

There is one more that I would like to mention before I encourage you to do your own research and discover that I was wrong. “Thanks Giver” by Crowder is absolutely a Thanksgiving season song. It is on their “Milk & Cookies” album which is a Christmas project.

Check all of these and others out and make your own playlist for your family feast. If you put the videos on a live stream on a TV and lose the football during dinner, maybe no one will notice while they are laughing. It could happen.

©Copyright 2025 by Charles Kensinger

See ya’ later, Calvin

November 16, 2025

Our long-time pastor and friend, Calvin Maberry, is now home with Jesus. He left his earth suit and went home on Friday morning. If you do not know this man of God, let me tell you about him.

I met him the first time I went to Hamlin Church with Cindy. She was raised in that congregation, and he and his wife, Arlene, had worked with the youth and became their pastor a few years before. I instantly liked Calvin and Arlene, even if she told me I better not hurt my new girlfriend.

Their family lived outside of Willard, MO, and their three kids were Cindy’s friends. My future wife was a fifteen-year-old, and Arlene was her Sunday School teacher. This may be the reason that I was given the warning. I was a junior in college at the time.

Calvin became a mentor to me as I negotiated my way through college as a ministerial student. They were at our wedding and supported us for the last fifty-plus years as we attended many classes that they were part of.

My first opportunity to officiate at a wedding took place while we were living in Joplin, MO. Calvin advised me on common ceremonies and problems I might have. The pastor of the bride was not someone I knew, and I felt more comfortable with Brother Maberry than our pastor in Joplin.

Years later, when I was asked to officiate at my first funeral, Pastor Calvin was there for me as well. He gave me some sage advice that I have heard from him often. Follow what you believe the Lord wants you to do, and follow what the family asks you to do. Other ministers I knew told me before other funerals what were different opinions of what should be done.

When Calvin decided to announce his retirement as our pastor, we spoke about it before it was announced to the church. I was the Chairman of the Deacon body and would be responsible for helping that group lead the congregation through the transition period.

I was the one who asked him to allow the church to bestow the title of Pastor Emeritus on him when we celebrated his term as our under shepherd. I felt like I was fighting an uphill battle to convince him to accept that honor. Life at the church changed a great deal after that.

For a few years, we saw him and Arlene occasionally at church, but bumped into them at many other places. They always asked how we were getting along and how the girls were. They were always the adoptive grandparents to the kids at Hamlin.

When Arlene was fighting the Illness that ultimately took her life, Calvin was scheduled for bypass surgery. I had just gone through that operation and tried to encourage him that it was difficult, but the Lord would see him through it. I remember that he told me that if it were not for Arlene needing him, he would not have had the surgery. He was ready to go home.

Now that he is there with her, his savior and Lord, and all those that still call him pastor Calvin and friend, I am continuing to look forward to the day that Christ says welcome home to me as well. I know that we are there together, even though some do not realize it, yet.

©Copyright 2025 by Charles Kensinger