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

Love potion no. 1

November 14, 2025

Do you recognize the song “Love Potion No. Nine?” It originated in 1959, recorded by The Clovers and returned in 1964 by The Searchers when it reached #2 and #3 on the charts. Many other groups have released it. A young man goes to a gypsy and asks for something to improve his love life.

The question I have is “What is Love?” Is it a feeling? Can you get someone to love you if they do not want to? Can you fall in and out of love? These are questions that a lot of people have asked over the years.

Just so you know, I am talking about the Biblical view of the word agape’ that is translated in the King James Version (KJV) of the scriptures. There are five words in the Greek language that are translated love. I like to transliterate, which means I will be substituting agape’ for love in the verses I relate to you.

I will try not to confuse you with this substitution. One of the most used definitions of agape is in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, where it says that love is patient, love is kind.

My question when someone asks me if they are in love is, “Are you patient with them?” Patience is what few of us have with others. If we want patience, we want it right now. That is counterproductive. When you are loved with Godly love, they will wait on you to speak, to make decisions, and to meet them in places.

If they are impatient, it is not agape that they have toward you. I started to say, if they feel agape’ love, but agape’ is not an emotion. It is an action. The D.C. Talk song “Love is a Verb” talks about this kind of love. “I don’t care what you say. I don’t care what you’ve heard. Love, love, love is a verb.”

Saying something three times shows that your thought is complete. There is nothing else to say about that. Right, Forest?   I often use the phrase, “God said it, I believe it, that settles it.” Three phrases complete the thought.

Another question I like to ask is, “Are you kind to them?” That usually generates a weird look and/or a “huh.” God’s type of love is the one where you want to be kind. Not the one where you use them or take advantage of them. They are not your possession. You love a friend with agape’ love. The love that most of us think of is the Greek word Eros. This is sex. I’ve talked about lust before. That is not love; it is physical desire.

If sex is what you thought this column was about, you were wrong. I am sorry, you do not need my instruction in how to sex more often or with someone new. That is not who I am. I want you to have a better relationship with either a husband or a wife or people you have nonsexual relationships with.

That is the end of Love Potion no. 1. We will continue with what love is as no. 2. Those contain, “It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.” I know I may have lost some of you with patience and kindness. You may not want to come back for the next dose of God’s love potion.

©Copyright 2025 by Charles Kensinger

Fear

November 12, 2025

This is the second part of a trilogy and possibly even an entire book. The first column was entitled “Stupidity.” It was published on Duloigroup.org on October 25th this year. It was triggered by a quotation from the 1951 movie “The Day the Earth Stood Still.”

God has been speaking to me about that article and convinced me I need to go further with these thoughts. There will be at least two others. They are fear and anger. I am beginning to understand that these three things are the cause of all the world’s and our personal problems.

Fear has been causing me a lot of difficulty lately. My wife, daughter, and two grandchildren have been involved in automobile accidents recently. I’m becoming more afraid of their safety on the road. The only one seriously injured was my oldest grandson.

The causes were inattention, substance abuse, or just plain stupidity. None of the wrecks was caused by my family. Two were simple rear-end collisions. One driver stayed, and the impaired driver fled and was later apprehended. The third involved the next most dangerous vehicular crime, running a red light.

This happens every day. That is why I am afraid. Our lawmakers and law enforcement need to do something. Either the courts tie their hands or they don’t care. That scares me. I make this opinion known at the poles, as you should next year.

The news terrifies me. We fight a war against crime, terror, and fear every day, and I have a difficult time watching that unfold several times each day. My fear is caused by stupidity and a lack of caring, both in myself and others. It isn’t just what may happen to my family that concerns me.

I know that you have fears, as well. They may be for the loss of a job and income, loss of a spouse through death or divorce. There are millions of things that we can be afraid of. The one I am most concerned about is not doing what Jesus asks of me. My desire is that this is one of the things on your mind. Let’s both attempt to keep it from becoming a fear.

Think about the problems in your life. There are concerns brought on by events happening around us. Someone at work may have worries that you pick up. People often complain about their bosses and other aspects of their jobs. As Christians, we need to pray about these things and ask Jesus to remove from us these fears brought by Satan. Getting rid of these fears should reduce our anger.

©Copyright 2025 by Charles Kensinger

A, B, Cs of Medicare

November 10, 2025

I’ve been on Medicare for six years now and have gone through the annual enrollment period many times. If you have listened to the commercials that are aimed at, we Baby Boomers, as we reach sixty-five, you know that everyone gets parts A and B automatically. You’d have to live without broadcast television not to have heard this.

My first couple of years were good with a company that seemed perfect for my Cox Hospital care and their doctors. Then Cox was able to formulate their own Medicare insurance plans, and my insurer no longer covered my established providers. Thanks Cox.

I had considered another insurance, but they did not have my doctors in their network, and I did not want to start over again. Aetna looked to be the best for my needs, and I kept them this year. Since January one procedure after another has been listed out of network even though my established clinics were accepted.

I’ve tried all year to have tests and procedures performed at approved facilities by in network providers only to be billed out of network charges. Aetna owns CVS Pharmacies, and they constantly want me to use them even though they refuse to give us the service that they should.

My wife and I are using a local Medicare approved representative to help us determine the best insurer for our specific needs. These include the medications we take, and doctors we want to be treated by. I’ll let you know how this works out.

We are hesitant to call any of the companies that advertise or send us propaganda in the mail or online because we all know that these companies may work for certain insurance or pharmaceutical companies and may have biases to their clients.

By the way, you might want to check out all the current legal actions against any insurers you may be considering because some of the major companies are being sued by current or former clients for refusing to cover services for some that they cover for others. I won’t mention those names to you because there may be some more, I have not heard about. We will be checking the ones recommended to us for these problems. I’ve looked up the current actions now and know my present company is having problems.

Good luck to all of you on Medicare or approaching that age and use all the resources provided by Medicare.gov and watch out for those that have other websites listed. They may be legitimate or not. There are reports of Medicare scams.

©Copyright 2025 by Charles Kensinger