Tag: Jesus

Mathew’s Story

December 24, 2022

The difference between Matthew’s and Luke’s gospels is the focus. Matthew gives us the genealogy of Jesus from the family of Joseph who was Mary’s husband. Luke lists the genealogy of Mary’s family. This causes a few differences. Both tracks back to King David.

When Mary told Joseph that she was expecting a baby, he knew that it could not be his child. Men, ask yourself if you would believe her story about the angel and God being the baby’s father. This was unprecedented. Who can blame him for being skeptical?

We read that he is contemplating backing out of the marriage. It takes a messenger visiting him to inform him that the child Mary is carrying is the son of Jehovah. After receiving this information, he decides to continue the betrothal and the marriage.

The trip to Bethlehem is not discussed as thoroughly as Luke does. The birth of the child is mentioned as taking place in Bethlehem. A star appeared to Chaldean astrologers that indicated to them that a new ruler was born in Israel. While they travel the star disappears. They go to the capital city.

In Jerusalem, King Herod had no knowledge of the birth. He has murdered children and grandchildren to protect his throne. He enquires as to the prophecy of the Messiah and where he would be born. The answer is Bethlehem. Herod’s request to be updated on this situation would have been reasonable if not for the King’s bloodthirsty reputation.

We are not told how many came from the east to search for this promised child. They do not appear at the manger in the stable. They go to the house where Mary and Joseph are staying. They present three gifts to the child and His mother and father. Therefore, we refer to three kings. Tradition even gives them names.

In a dream, they are told not to return to Jerusalem. Joseph is also told to leave the village to protect his family. They go to Egypt to escape Herod. We believe that Jesus was one to two years old currently. The travelers had confirmed the time that they had originally seen the star. That is why Herod murdered the boys two and under.

The return from Egypt fulfills the prophecy from Jeremiah. The question is, were the prophecies written about things that God knew would happen, or did God make these events occur because prophecy needs to come true? Yahweh does not force His will on us. His desire is for us to be who He wants us to be without Him requiring it. His hope is that we will be the best that we can be.

The return to Nazareth was another prophecy that was to be met. This was a strange saying to have acknowledged. Nothing good could come from that Galilean village.  It did and He was the savior of this world and our Lord.  

©Copyright 2022 by Charles Kensinger

Jesus loves me

July 20, 2022

There is a song with this title. I learned it when I was a kid. I’d like to talk to you about the words of this song. “Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so.” This is the first phrase.

The bible does tell us that we are loved by a man named Jesus. About two thousand years ago He was born into this world just as we all are. No difference other than that his mother was a virgin and ours were not. Now that we know who Jesus is let’s look at the world loves.

Love is the verb in this phrase. It is the action word. The apostle Paul tells us that love is patient and kind. This is enough of a definition to show how His love is different from what most of us experience from those that claim they love us. Most of us are not very patient and would have a definition of kindness that probably varies greatly.

Do you know that He loves you? The Bible tells us in many places that we are loved by God and this includes His Son, Jesus. The Messiah told us many stories to explain how much His Father loves us. One of these is that of a shepherd who left 99 sheep that were safe to find the one that had gotten lost. Are you that lost one?

The next stanza tells us that we belong to him. We are told that His strength will make up for our weakness. The dependability of God and our fallibility are written all through His word. The Psalms have many verses of poetry that tell us how we can follow Him and have Him protect us.

In the second stanza, we are told that Jesus’ love is as strong as it always was. He places children on His knee and tells them to come to Him as He always has. Our Lord told us that to reach Heaven we must become like children and trust Him as they do.

He is still with us on our way is what verse three tells us. He walks with us today as He has always said He would, giving us light and love as a friend. He told us that we would be His friends forever.

Our Savior died for us to open a way to eternal life. That was His purpose for becoming human. The fourth verse tells us this and that His sacrifice was for the payment of our sins.

The fifth and final verse tells us that He will stay close with us on our way, and we promise that we will live for Him as He died for us. This song is considered a children’s ditty. By looking at the words I want you to see that it is a confirmation of what Christians believe about the creator of the universe and His plan for our redemption.

He did what was necessary to bring us back to fellowship with Yahweh. This was done to show that He loves us and always will. From the mid 1800’s this poem has been around to remind us of what was done for us and why.

©Copyright 2022 by Charles Kensinger

Crippled made straight

July 19, 2022

Luke 13:10-17 tells the story of a crippled woman who was healed by Jesus. There are many points of interest in this portion of scripture that bear looking at. The first is that it happened on Saturday. This was the Jewish Sabbath day. All you were supposed to do was go to church and hang close to your home.

The original Levitical reference says to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. Holy means separate. You have six days to work. The seventh is a day of rest and renewal. Jesus was in the synagogue teaching when he saw a woman that was crippled so badly, that she could not stand up straight. She had been this way for eighteen years.

He calls her to come to Him. He simply touches her and says that she is cured of her illness. She stands up straight and walks home as any normal person would. No sit-ups, pushups, or ropes were not used, and no elaborate ceremony. She was bent over, and she straightened up. Nothing wrong with that.

The leader of the synagogue did not agree. He vocalized his distress at these proceedings. My guess is Jesus would not be invited back next Saturday. His words were to come Sunday to Friday to be healed. Who would spend their time healing folks on the day of worship?

Have you seen a preacher get upset because someone came into their church and did something good? I hope you have not. I witnessed a local minister berating a waitress on a Sunday because she was working. The work she was doing was serving his family. I was the dishwasher and busboy. I was also beginning ministerial school in a couple of months.

When I returned to my station behind the kitchen, she was there and very upset. I told her that I knew the man and did not think much of him as a preacher or a man. She recovered herself and returned to the floor to continue taking care of the customers.

A few months later I received an invitation to speak at this Pastor’s church. I preached on this passage of scripture. I emphasized Jesus’ response to the synagogue leader. Jesus called him a hypocrite. How can a minister that works more on Sunday tell others that their jobs should not be done on that day? I did not mention the scene I had witnessed. The pastor and his family were gone that Sunday. I don’t know if he was told about my message. I was not asked to return for a second time. Probably just a coincidence.

Let’s pursue that word hypocrite a little more. It is a transliteration of a Greek word. The word means an actor. A synonym is thespian. It is also defined as a fraud, fake, or deceiver. The modern definition is someone who does not practice what they preach.

The question should be, “Am I a hypocrite?” Yes, I am. I attend a church that is a hospital for hypocrites. The seats are full of them and so is the pulpit. The difference is that we are trying to be healed of that affliction. Unlike the Synagogue leader in this story who was offended by the words of our Lord. His words should inspire and energize us.

©Copyright 2022 by Charles Kensinger

Written in Red introduction.

August 1, 2021

I was drug through the Bible as a young child beginning shortly after my birth. I may have been a week old when I went to church for the first time. I do not believe that first church had a nursery, so I was in the service with everyone else. I was colicky and my mother had to be walking me outside to allow the pastor to be heard.

My first recollection of studying the word of the Lord was in the children’s department of Immanuel Baptist Church in Springfield, Missouri. It was a few blocks down the street from our home. It was still more of a pushing operation. My parents and the teachers stayed behind me directing me to drink. I wasn’t very thirsty. At age eleven I came to know the Lord as my personal savior.

These studies are called Bible Trekking because my voyage through it on my own began while I was in college. I was still attending Immanuel and was attempting to find God’s direction for my life. My travels began in earnest in 1974 when I accepted my savior’s call to the ministry of the gospel.

My entry into journalism school was scrapped and I transferred to Southwest Baptist College in Bolivar, Missouri to study the Bible on a serious level. My professors reminded me of what I had heard for years as a child. They also opened my eyes to who they thought Jesus and God were. That was where the trek began.

The term Christian or Christianity has thousands of definitions that are held by those who claim to be followers of Christ and those who reject Him. Just who was He and who can we believe?

How can we learn what Christianity is about? Have you tried just reading the words that Jesus spoke? I began this study a few years ago and have decided to finish it while sharing it with you. I began by using a harmony of the gospels to flow through all four stories of the Lord in chronological order. I have decided that it would be more productive to follow His words through categories.

The time we must cover is just thirty-five years or so. We will look at the stories He told, the miracles that were performed, who Jehovah is, who Jesus claimed to be, the new covenant that God was giving to the world, and the new teachings that seemed completely foreign from Judaism.

As we read these words, what version of the Bible should we use. It doesn’t matter. I will be using both the King James Version and Young’s Literal Translation. At times the Quotations will not show either KJV or YLT. The notation will be BTV which stands for the Bible Trekking Version. This is not an official translation. It simply means that I want to use the words that I think explain it to us.

Let’s begin with the stories that are called parables. A parable usually has only one aspect that relates to the teaching Jesus wants us to learn. Some of these teachings are in more than one of the four gospels. We will discuss the different words each witness recalls Him using and if the different witnesses cause any problems with interpretation.

©Copyright 2021 by Charles Kensinger