Charles (Chuck) Kensinger

Hosanna

March 29, 2026

I hope that you have heard of Palm Sunday. It is one week before Resurrection Sunday. It celebrates the day that Jesus and His disciples traveled from Bethany to Jerusalem. It was just before the Passover celebration began. Our Lord rode a donkey into the city.

In John 12:1-3, just before Palm Sunday, Jesus’ feet had been anointed by Mary Magdalene at her home, where He and His disciples were staying. This was in preparation for His burial and was the response to those who called it a waste.

As they were traveling to Jerusalem, Jesus sent two of the disciples to find a particular donkey. Read the story of this in Mark 11:1-11, Luke 19:29-41, and Matthew 21:1-9.

The festival lasted for almost a week. The Temple grounds were more like a festival atmosphere. Jesus knew that this was where He would become the final, ultimate sacrifice. This is the time when all the problems with the Sanhedrin come to a head.

The people are celebrating the coming of the Messiah to Jerusalem. This was not something that the Jewish leaders wanted to see. He was not the one that they wanted for their Messiah. I believe we often miss Barabbas as this deliverer. When they take Jesus to Pilate, they ask for him to be released.

Before they could make this exchange, they had to arrest Him without causing an uproar that would alert the Romans. This was a well-orchestrated arrest and a conspiracy against our Savior. Don’t worry, because this did not surprise Him in the least.

Let’s look at what else will happen before Good Friday. Jesus will overturn the tables in the courtyard of the Temple. Another conflict with the Jewish leaders. He will be questioned extensively while teaching all over Jerusalem. These attempts to discredit Him only serve to widen the distance between them and the Lord.

Every evening, they return to Bethany, where Mary, Martha, and Lazarus are. We are also told that the leaders want a method to kill the man who was raised from the dead, along with the man who brought him back to life. We often miss that point.

Walking back and forth every day was better than taking a chance of being attacked in the dark in the city. Jerusalem, at this time, was not a city that did not sleep even during Passover.

Matthew tells us in chapter 24, verses 18-22, about Jesus cursing a fig tree. He spends this week teaching everything He needed to tell them before His trip to the cross. Each of the gospels reports these teaching opportunities one last time. Begin reading each of the accounts now to know the real story of the crucifixion.

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.

“It just doesn’t happen twice.”

March 27, 2026

This is a line from the movie “Sleepless in Seattle” that is uttered by Tom Hanks, whose character has lost his wife to cancer. He is talking about love that results in a once-in-a-lifetime marriage. Some refer to this as your soulmate. I do not find this concept ever presented in scripture.

Many of the Bible characters that I admire have had multiple relationships that worked. Abrahm and Sarai are an epic. He’s not the perfect husband. She sticks with him even when he wimps out, and not just once. By the time Jehovah renames them to Abraham and Sarah, his faith has grown, and she has learned to trust her husband and God.

After the birth of Isaac and the death of Sarah, Abraham finds other wives and has more children. Those relationships are also important. Their children are the ancestors of many of the Arab nations that hate the Jews.

David’s first wife is the daughter of Saul, who was rewarded for killing Goliath. Read the stories of Abigail and Bethsheba and others. Then there is the last woman in his life. Her one purpose is to keep him warm at night. There is no sexual desire. There is no marriage. She’s a bed warmer. A companion.

As our lives progress, we have many types of love. There are flaming romances. We all experience friendships with others, in both genders. Love can be for both men and women for both men and women because sex is not love. One is physical, and the other is not.

There is brotherly love, which can also be called sisterly love. This is a friendship that is cultivated by those who have it. We need more people who treat others like family. That is the essence of this type of love.

Next, we should talk about the love of parents for children and vice versa. Some believe that this is normal for everyone. It is not. Some children are given up by their birth parents because they do not want them. There are also cases where one parent will leave. Often, this is a problem between the couple. Sometimes it is just selfishness that overrides love.

Jesus tells us that the one attribute we Christians should have is love. Jehovah told the Hebrews to love their neighbor as they love themselves. One man asked Jesus who his neighbor was. Do you remember the answer? He did not say it was the people next door or across the street.

He told a story that many people have heard, even if they have never read the Bible. It is called the Good Samaritan. Samaritans were hated by the Israelites. They lived in what had been the ten northern tribes that rebelled against Solomon’s son.

The kicker of this is that the Samaritan rescued a Jew who had been attacked and left for dead. Jesus also mentioned that a Priest and a Levite saw the injured man and crossed the road to go around him. When our savior spoke of love, it was agape, not any of the human loves. This type of love must happen more than just once.

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.

He knew that

March 23, 2026

Let me take you to around two thousand years ago when a man called Bar-Abbas was going to be crucified for his rebellion against the Roman Empire. He and two of his associates were taken, arrested, and judged to be worthy of death. But something unusual happened.

To his surprise Bar-Abbas received a pardon. When they were nailed to their crosses the other two insurrectionists, were surprised not to see their leader between them. There was a man they did not know. His name is Joshua and he’s from Nazareth. We know Him by His Greek name, Jesus.

Jesus knew that all of this was going to happen. He knew that He would have disagreements with the Jewish leaders and that His words needed to be guarded for the first two years. These arguments would morph into hatred on their part for Him. There was only one way to end up on the cross in the place of a man who wanted to be the Messiah that many thought the Nazarene to be.

The prophetic scriptures give us a picture of two different times when this representative of Yahweh would appear. In one, He came as a baby born in Bethlehem. He grew up as a teacher, shepherd, and friend of the people. His purpose was to die as the ultimate sacrifice for the sins of all humans.

At another time the mission would be to free the country of Israel and become the King of the Jews. During this period many of the suffering servant and messianic deliverer prophecies were mixed in the writing of the same prophets. Jesus was trying to correct the confusion.

To add to these problems were the personal prophecies of the times between these two appearances of Jesus that He made. He talked of the destruction of the temple and the overthrow of Israel and the Jews being taken away from their promised land for the third time.

Many have accepted Him as the Hebrew Messiah because of these proofs. The fall of Jerusalem and Israel happened after Jesus’ resurrection. Today we know that Israel is facing many hardships due to the hatred they face in the middle east. The Old Testament stories of the first two exiles of the Hebrews from their homeland was well known to Jesus and everyone of His time.

It is hard for most of us to understand how He was able to predict so many things and seemingly read the minds of those around Him. Let me help you with that mystery. He is God. He limited himself to some extent, but His power and knowledge still exceeded that of the rest of us.

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.

Spencers, Waltons, and Hamners

March 20, 2026

The only name you may recognize in this list is the Waltons. Earl Hamner, Jr. created this TV series that first aired in 1972. I graduated from high school in May of that year. The first episode of the Waltons aired on CBS television on September fourteenth of that year. You can say that my adult life began with this creation of Mr. Hamner.

This was not the first incarnation of this story by the author. “Spencer’s Mountain” was first published in 1961. He had begun his writing career as a script writer. His first short play that was produced was “The Hound of Heaven” that aired January 15, 1953, on The Kate Smith Show.

Spencer’s Mountain became a movie in 1963 starring Henry Fonda and Maureen O’Hara. The plots are similar. The characters are familiar from the Waltons series. This book was the story that John Boy wrote about his family. As writers, we are told to write what we know.

The character John Boy in the original book and movie was named Clay Boy after his father Clay Spenser, Sr. This makes me wonder if Earl Hamner, Jr., was called Earl Boy when he was growing up. He was the first one in a large family to go to college and become a writer.

Most of The Walton episodes were not written by Hamner. He was the Executive Producer and had final say on the scripts. While every story was not his he did make sure they were true to his concept of who his family was. As always, literary licenses were issued as needed.

Many of Hamner’s personal beliefs appear in these episodes. He was constantly exposing problems to those who were trying to take advantage of others. The Ballwin sisters, who were bootleggers, even though they did not know it, were not viewed as criminals. Blacks and orphans were seen as being oppressed.

Walton’s view of World War II was very much the way my mother remembered things as she was growing up at that time. Walton’s was a favorite of hers. She shared with me that many of the news reports of things that were occurring in Europe were viewed with doubt by her family as well.

Many of the story lines resonated with me. John Jr. wanted to be a writer and went to college to study. He was always writing a story or book. The season he purchased an old press and published his own newspaper was especially interesting to me.

The idea of living with grandparents was not that familiar and I was used to having two brothers and a sister at home. I sympathized with the Walton children when they wished they were only children. The different interests and occupations the family chose were as varied as my own. The main variation was that no one in my family became a musician or nurse.

My columns do follow a similar tack that John Boy followed by writing about the family and those things that happened to them. If you are like me and wish that the producers would come up with more family programming like this, at least with our current technology, we can watch these older shows on our streaming services. Happy watching, and I’ll share others that I have watched when they were new.

God

March 17, 2026

Over fifty years ago, I had a problem with the church I attended. My problem was not with Yahweh. The people in this body of believers had fired another pastor. I was tired of them. I was not sure that I could believe anything that they had taught me for the previous ten years or so.

I asked Jehovah, the I Am, to reveal himself to me. He did, and He led me back to that congregation through the new pastor they called. Then I was called to full-time ministry and became a workplace minister. When I married my wife, I joined the church she was at.

Jesus has proceeded to show me that He is the Son of God and who He, the Father, and Holy Spirit truly are. We refer to them as a triune being, just as we are made of three different parts. This is what Moses meant in Genesis when he wrote that God made mankind in their own image.

I do not understand why I was never told this in any of the church classes I had growing up or any of the Bible classes I took in college. We were told that this was a trinity and not a triune being. As a writer, I am amazed that some of these ThDs did not take enough English classes to learn the difference between these two words.

It is more understandable that many pastors and evangelists, without even a bachelor’s degree, will argue with me when I try to correct their misuse. It’s like knowing proper English makes me a heretic. I am reminded of the Catholic Church officials who tried to excommunicate Galileo and others for showing that the Earth orbited the sun and not the other way.

God is omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient, or, for the non-theologian like me, all-powerful, all-present, and all-knowing. He did create everything in the universe, and before that miracle, nothing existed except the triune God. I do not have enough faith to believe in the Big Bang or any other theories that believe an accident caused the entire universe.

For me, I must acknowledge that Jehovah created the universe, including our and other occupied planets, by His intentional action. The books of the Bible include stories that confirm many aspects of this creation and development here and in near and far space.

Criticizing myself or Christian scientists by calling us ignorant and unscientific simply affects me as the kid on the playground did when he called me a sissy. I have grown up, but I am not so sure of the detractors who refuse to acknowledge scientific theory when it comes to the beginning.

I believe in one triune God and that He told Moses His name was I Am. I believe He sent His Son to teach and die for us. I also believe that their spirit has been sent as our comforter and educator. This is the God I believe in. Believe in your own or believe in none; that is your business.

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.

Kentucky State Senator Brandon Smith

March 15, 2026

Are certain people exempt from the penalties of our legal system? There are many people who violate our laws every day. In Springfield, police officers run red lights, fail to follow traffic laws, and endanger innocent civilians for no valid reason. As Christians, forgiveness should be our creed. As law-abiding citizens, sometimes we are fed up with those who believe they are above the law.

Another politician has been accused of driving under the influence. Apparently, he is not going to fight the charge that he was intoxicated. His defense is a 100-year-old law that protects legislators during a session. He did not apologize for betraying his constituents’ trust. He did not admit that he was intoxicated when he was stopped. He did not deny that he was intoxicated.

Forgiveness of those who are trying to straighten their lives out might be a good procedure for individuals. It is not for the government. Law enforcement should do that, enforce the laws. Whether someone is a politician, a celebrity, a friend of the police to police themselves, they should face the full force of the law.

Until no one is given special rights, there will be no equal rights for anyone. When equal rights are mentioned, it is usually in response to racial situations. Our officials need to grow up and realize that the privileges they believe they deserve undermine their authority. The voters need to take responsibility away from these lawbreakers. They should force them out of their cushy jobs and require them to work for a living.

Some legislators seem to believe that when they are elected, they become superior to the electorate. The only way to stop this is to remove everyone who shows this type of arrogant attitude. Voters often believe that their legislators should be forgiven, while those from other areas should be removed from their offices. No wonder our country is in the condition it is in.

You all know that our current President still says that he won the election in 2020. He claims it has been proven to be true. The main one who believes this is himself. He cannot admit that he lost. His claim of this injustice brought him back to the eye of the voters, who believe the other lies he tells. He has had to take a step back from his Gestapo tactics against illegal aliens and fire someone to be the scapegoat.

In November of this year, you will have the opportunity, again, to positively affect our political system. Look at everything that you can find about candidates. Keep in mind that both Republicrats and Demicans have caused our government to be shut down twice. None of them has lost a dime of pay.

Walk With a Servant