god – Page 3 – Charles (Chuck) Kensinger

God’s short shelf

April 11, 2025

In some factories around Springfield and all over the world, you will find the terms short shelf, short material, short stock or some other name that indicates that while the length or size of the product is no longer kept in inventory, there are still uses for it and it is not to be scrapped. As Christians, we need to think about who is on God’s short shelf.

Unlike steel or aluminum, which may be used using small pieces for certain jobs, children are small but will not always be too small to use. Kids grow and will someday be adults. Don’t scrap your children before they have had the chance to show what they can be. Everyone needs a job to do, even if it is as simple as putting napkins or forks, and spoons on the table before a meal. Take the youngsters off the short shelf and give them an easy task. Don’t stop there. As they learn to conquer the trivial, they will mature into teens, which will help.

Often our youth are treated as scrap when they need to be moved from the short shelf to a useful position. Find something that interests them. Middle school students often are left playing video games because an adult did not take the time to educate them on what needs to be done around the house. Older grandchildren can help in the garden, climb ladders to paint or clean, or accomplish many of the tasks that their unsteady parents or grandparents now have difficulty with. The difficult task is motivation. Rewards, not bribes, are useful here. More time spent on the computer, playing video games, or visiting friends on the phone or in person should be earned. You’ve lost the battle by keeping them in the scrap bin when laziness is accepted and not destroyed early.

Those who qualify for senior discounts may consider themselves retired or just tired. The stamina and energy of youth may have waned, but their maturity and experience count for something. One of the best ways to keep the retired folks off the scrap heap is to find their talents. Whether it is auto repair, cooking, telling stories, or just getting on their knees and praying, they are still useful. Advice is often precious in times of struggle, and the best counsel is from those who have been there before you. Don’t miss out on this resource.

The physically or mentally handicapped are often overlooked because it may be difficult to find a place of service for them. Their difficulties seem to be insurmountable. Often, those who are slower mentally are like children. They have enthusiasm and energy that need to be used on simple tasks. Stapling, folding, or sorting papers to lighten some other person’s load may be an answer. Do not look at the weakness of others. Look for their abilities and strengths.

God loves everyone and has called each Christian to service. Find your place, and when you have the opportunity, help someone else to find their niche. We are a body that should work together with Christ as the head.

Boomers go bust

April 3, 2025

As the years and the decades increase in your life span, you will notice that references that younger people do not recognize are readily caught by you and your contemporaries. My contemporaries are the kids of the baby boom. There is a lot of misinformation about this generation.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau this group was born between 1946 and 1964. We are 79 to 61 years old. If you refer to those younger or older than this as boomers, you are making an error.

Just to let you know, we are not older than dirt. Our parents were familiar with dirt when they were children. They told us thousands of stories about getting in trouble when they were kids for getting themselves or the house they lived in dirty. Some of us even remember our grandparents talking about dirt before our folks were born.

We do not remember World War I or II, the civil war, or the Roman Empire. We are not as old as God or Jesus. Both have existed for all eternity. We know that you are not as intelligent as we are. Don’t prove to us how stupid younger people are. We try to give you the benefit of the doubt.

Keep in mind that whatever you say to your children about us will come back to bite you in the backside. The generations after you will repeat these fallacies and may someday refer to you as boomers, old fogies, or the ancient of days. We remember using these same phrases on our parents and grandparents.

I look forward to hearing my grandchildren insult their parents the way they criticized us. I remember when I was fourteen and thought that I was smarter than my dad because the highest he went to school was the eighth grade. I hope all of them will get their B.A. as I and their mothers did.

Master’s or doctorates would be even better. I won’t tell them they are stupid if they do not know who or what the Mercury Seven were as long as they don’t roll their eyes when I question who all the current movie stars, TV and music performers are. Even I can identify Lady Gaga. Your children will agree with us that she was just some weirdo.

We hate it that there are a lot of commercials for medications for our ailments, adult diapers, and supplements that are recommended for older people. Keep in mind that in five years the next generation will need to sign up for Medicare and they already can join AARP.

The only way any of you can keep from getting as old as we are, is to die. When President John Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, we were told “only the good die young.” We know that was not true because we see bad people die in their twenties, thirties and forties. It is tragic, but it happens.

I wish you what parents have hoped for their children and grandchildren for centuries. To live long and prosper. We know where this quotation came from. Do you?

God Said it. I Believe it. That Settles it.

March 18, 2025

On the dashboard of my 1966 Chevy Impala Super Sport, there was a magnet that said, “God Said it. I Believe it. That Settles it.” I put that magnet there in 1974 when the Lord called me to full-time Gospel Ministry. I still believe it.

As I began to start studying the Bible at Southwest Baptist College, I made some decisions about what my world view was. At the time I did not know what a “world view” was. I formed in my head what I believed about God. Then I tried to put it into words. I literally found it in His Word.

I decided that He was the creator of everything. I decided that He and Jesus were the same being and they shared a spirit. I later learned they are a triune being. My grammar check wants me to change that to read triune beings. Grammarly is wrong. There is only one being.

Triune literally means three in one. It is different from a trinity. Trinity is three that become one. Many of the religions of the world that worship multiple gods have a trinity that makes three of their gods into a godhead. This is a syndicate. Kind of like a tribunal of gods. Jehovah God is one entity. The deceiver wants you to believe otherwise.

Jehovah is the only creator of the universe. The concept of multiple universes and different realities is as old as time. That is another lie that we can fall for. The creator of all things made chronological time as well. That is what He said in Genesis. “In the beginning God.”

He designed and executed the existence of everything around us. In that book of beginnings, you see that He said, “Let us make mankind in our own image.” And He did. We are also a triune being. We have a soul, a body, and a spirit like He does.

We call Him Father because His bodily form referred to Him as His Father. We are called crazy when we talk to ourselves, but Jesus showed us it is acceptable to communicate with your soul. You must recognize that you have one. We also need to acknowledge our spirit. He told Nicodemus that he must be born again. That is very confusing. There is a physical birth, but Jesus introduced us to a spiritual birth. Satan was wrong when he told Adam and Eve they would not die. One-third of us is dead when we are born.

Accepting the son of God as our Lord and Savior brings us into His family as His children. We become like God in every sense except we cannot create something from nothing. He teaches us how to recreate ourselves into the image of Him that He wants us to show to the world.

Most of the time I mess that up. I keep trying with each new day that He gives to me. Do you? Are you more like Him than you were yesterday? If not, let’s work on it again tomorrow. Oh, by the way, Jehovah created tomorrows as well. The future, the present, and the past are all part of His creation. Isn’t it wonderful? Every morning you are able to begin again.

Gifts from God

January 18, 2025

When we think about gifts from God, I am not sure that we all think of the things listed in this song. Your job, whether you like it or not, is given by God. James 1:17 tells us that every perfect gift comes from above.

This song is not talking about gifts of the spirit. It is speaking of the daily blessings that each of us receive and do not recognize as gifts. Let’s talk about some of the things that are not mentioned in the list given in the song. Or maybe we can talk about some of those in it as well.

Most of us take life for granted. The Declaration of Independence, which we celebrate in this country every July 4th, calls it one of the self-evident truths. Thomas Jefferson put it as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Those who take the lives of others do not seem to agree with this.

When I was unemployed for over three years, I came to realize that a job was another thing I should always be thankful for. Getting up in the morning and doing work for a day or two at a time is wonderful. I was thankful for each temporary position that I acquired. I still wanted the security of a place to go each day and a regular paycheck.

My family is a gift that this song points out. There are also my friends and my church that I must mention. They are in my life to keep me focused on the things that I need to appreciate. Someone I can joke with is also a gift that I often overlook. Do you have anyone that will take all your grief and give it back to you?

I can walk into a room, approach a perfect stranger, and begin a conversation like I have known them all my life. Some of my friends have witnessed this ability and asked me how long we have known each other. They comment on this from time to time. They look amazed when I say that we just met.

I know many people who do not read very much. I know some writers, but most of my friends are not into the things that I am into. My love for words, research, and turning the appropriate phrase are gifts that make me who I am. Many authors talk about how easily they can find viable ideas. This is one more way that I am blessed.

It is amazing how many gifts I have taken for granted all these years. In listening to the many iterations of “Gifts of God,” I have discovered how wonderful it is to be the recipient of everything large and small that He gives me every day. I hope you see this in your life as well.

The shoutin’ Baptist.

January 1, 2025

That’s correct. Mrs. Peale was a shoutin’ Baptist. You’ve never heard of that? Had you been raised in a church with a shoutin” Baptist, you would have heard of it. I don’t remember the first time I heard her shout or the last time. She did not shout every Sunday or at both the morning and evening services.

That is the thing about a shoutin’ Baptist. You don’t know when they will let loose. On several occasions I sat next to someone who did not know about Mrs. Peale. It was such fun to see the look on a visitor’s face. You never seem to react the same the second time it happened.

There was the girl I was dating who was an Assembly of God member. Mrs. Peale let loose the one Sunday she was there with me. I had attended her church, and no one had spoken in tongues or prophesied during the service. They were calm and quiet like you expect Baptists to be.

Then there was Mrs. Peale. Trudy said that we were too wild for her taste. This was just one more case of my being shown who wasn’t the one. Cindy wasn’t scared off by her. Thank you, Mrs. Peale.

Why did she shout? I suspect it is like most of us. If something excites you enough, you must vocalize it. This happens often at sporting events. Fans just shout because of the action around them. That is what triggers shouters, I believe. They are so caught up in the presence of God that they must let go.

Are there times that God speaks to you during worship, or because of hearing a song, or through something someone says? I began experiencing this after I accepted a call to the ministry while in college. When did you first feel this passion for Christ?

What did she shout? It was not always the same thing. Sometimes Hallelujah or amen. Often, we could not tell what she was saying. Hopefully she wasn’t speaking in tongues. This was a “Baptist” church in the 1960’s.

Emotion in worship was not something that we were known for. We believe in spiritual gifts. Most of us were not given the gift of speaking in tongues. Giving, prophecy, service was always big. As was hospitality. When I first realized that one of my gifts was discernment, I could not believe that I was given the ability to determine if people were honest or had an ulterior motive.

As I age, I wonder if I will become a shouter. Do you get to the point where you just get so wrapped up in worship and you forget where you are and who might be offended? Be ready in case this happens. I hope I won’t scare you too much the first time I do it.

Charles (Chuck) Kensinger