Music – Charles (Chuck) Kensinger

Reality programs

May 12, 2026

I have a problem with so-called reality shows. Can there be a survivor when no one dies? Everyone on the show is a survivor. The title should be Survivors. Big Brother just shows a group of people whose every move is recorded. And they know it. Keep in mind that a reality TV show may not have a script, even though each participant has an agenda.

They write their own scripts. I create dialogue as every writer does. Often it is done in our heads. Sometimes we write it down. Other times, we save it until we can use it at the appropriate time. I have certain lines I like to use. If you say, “That drives me crazy,” I reply, “That’s not a drive it’s a short putt.”

Saying that there is no written script for these shows does not make them reality. If you want reality, put together a program made of 100% security videos where all or most of those on camera do not realize they are being recorded. The problem with this is that it would be eavesdropping and therefore illegal.

If you want true drama, comedy, and spontaneity you should watch game shows. Especially the daytime ones where there are few questions that could be studied ahead of time. Jeopardy and the other knowledge related shows can be rehearsed with many different types of questions.

I think shows like that require the contestants to try out and prove that they will not stand there with a dumb look on their faces. Shows such as “Let’s Make a Deal” or “The Price is Right” allow people to act however they want and they encourage weird and unusual behavior.

The question I have about these folks is that they always look at the audience to receive help. Especially on Drew Carey’s program it appears to me that they select contestants that cannot or will not make their own decisions. When Wayne Bradey asks his players about their jobs, very few are managers that are required to know how to make split second decisions.

Even the women who look like they know the prices of groceries seem to know little about cars, vacations, or electronics. The men that shop for these products seem not to buy their own groceries, snacks or drinks, that’s why they are always looking at wives or girlfriends in the audience.

I’ve noticed some actual reality on these games. Some use their minds to weigh the odds and not take chances that are almost always easy to predict as losers. That brings me to another long-time contest called “Wheel of Fortune.” This is supposed to be like the brain busters with a gambling twist.

When someone risks their turn and what money they already have for the chance at a ten-thousand-dollar wedge which they never get to claim I cringe. LMAD also thrives on those who are into taking chances. I don’t understand risking a twenty-five-thousand-dollar car for a one out of three chance of gaining a prize that is not that expensive. I guess not everyone in LA drives.

Use your words

April 30, 2026

On the first of April, a local Christian radio station played all their regular music without any lyrics. The announcers told us that they were having problems with their system and even interviewed an engineer who said they did not know what was wrong.

I told my wife that it was an April Fool’s joke after about thirty minutes. When it was not corrected quickly, I knew that someone had done it intentionally. The program director told us the next day that he had used instrumental-only tracks to produce the effect.

I knew these tracks were available because of working the sound booth at church and having purchased cassettes and CDs for my daughters to sing with at church. Today, these tracks are available for purchase or sometimes free online.

The following day, my suspicion was confirmed when the program director confessed that he used these wordless tracks for a joke. Often, we as Christians encourage each other to teach about Jesus and, when necessary, even use words. We use this phrase to say that others should see Jesus in us. Talking is still one of the best ways to tell others about our Savior.

Christ is not just a fictitious character or fable; He was a real man and is still the bodily form of Jehovah. He referred to Himself as the Son of Man, which is a name that Ezekiel was called by Yahweh. We call Jesus the Son of God because some of the prophets talked about this person coming.

In the Eastern mind, a man’s son is equal to himself. The firstborn male offspring was endowed with the major portion of the estate of the parents. We westerners, follow an equal share for all progenies. God asked for a sacrifice to redeem the firstborn male for the sin that is accounted to us at birth for being human.

I like to use the example of an egg to describe the triune nature of both God and man. The symbol must be explained with words. You would not understand me if I held up an egg and pointed to it and then to you or myself. You might think I was calling us eggheads or worse. Words can be used to describe almost anything that you want to explain to another person. I know that it is said, “A picture is worth a thousand words.”

Sometimes, even a picture needs a caption or description to explain ideas that are not included in the image. As you walk through life, try to do so without talking to anyone for one hour. My guess is that you will find it very difficult. I can go for an hour or more without speaking when I am working on my writing, but who can write without words?

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.

Tamper evident tape

February 28, 2026

While breaking down some cardboard boxes for recycling just now, I found these words on the sealing tape as I slit it and folded the box up. I thought it was appropriately named. As a purchasing agent for forty years, I have seen products that were called “tamper-proof tape.” They weren’t.

I carry a pocketknife. Where? Duh, in my pocket. I have for years. I also always had box cutters in my desk drawer or workstation. I could open any package or box you gave me. I also removed the tape and replaced it with new tape to reuse the boxes.

An expert eye knew I had done this. I trained others to be as good or better than me at reusing packaging materials. I even sold paint that was specifically designed to cover brown boxes and conceal markings that were printed on them. So, what is the purpose of tamper-evident tape?

When a vendor sends you a package, and you start to open it, if I have slit it and hurriedly retaped it, you can tell. We all know about tamper-proof medicine packaging. When I was little, we did not have that. Then, some guy decided to poison people he did not even know. Now, I sometimes wish I could use explosives to open those boxes and bottles.

These are all signs of the fallen world that we live in. Yes, I said Fallen. We messed it up. If you don’t know this story, it is in the book of beginnings in the Bible. (Genesis 3) You do know that the Hebrew word for beginning is Genesis, and that is where the title of this book comes from, because it starts, “In the beginning God.”

It does not matter if we accept it or not. It is true, and those who deny it are false. There is right and wrong, even if I want to do wrong and call it correct behavior. That is why we need tamper-evident tape. Some want to get into our packages and remove what they want.

I’ve contacted vendors when a box did not have what it was supposed to. The first question is always, “Had the tape been tampered with?” My answer was that I did not believe it had been. It is the same in our lives. Family, friends, and others want to control, use, or abuse us. Don’t let them. There is someone who encourages them to do this. He is our constant adversary. The Bible calls him Satan.

How do you make your life tamper-evident? You will never be tamper-proof. Be honest and forthright with everyone. Stay true to what Jesus and Holy Spirit tell you to do. Avoid the temptations that Satan, the adversary, puts in your way. And pray that He will protect you and your family.

Good Times

December 24, 2025

I spend a lot of my columns remembering the good times of my life. This time, I would like to speak to my younger readers. If you are sixteen to twenty-four years old, these should be some great times for you. It is Christmas on top of that. Let’s talk about what is going on right now for you.

You probably still live at home with mom and dad if you are fortunate, as I was. Even if you only live with one parent or some other responsible adult, I hope you are having a great time. You have friends and family around. Enjoy them by going to school or church functions.

Don’t skip the family or work parties. I had a great time with the guys and gals I worked with in high school and college. We had a good time. No one got drunk, or high, or shot, or arrested. That is what I hope for you.

Don’t worry about the bad stuff in the news. Most of us are blessed enough to go through life without being directly involved in situations that make it to the local news. I know you do not think your parents and other adults treat you the way they should. That’s life, get used to it.

Enjoy the parades, concerts, parties, and just driving around looking at the decorations and lights. You are young. Someday, you will be old like me, and you want to have those memories. What memories? Read my other columns, and you will learn of my recollections.

If you are in a choir, band, orchestra, or clubs, go to the parties. Stay away from the drugs and drinking and the “friends” that ask you to do things you don’t want to. There are times that you don’t have anything to do so grab a couple of friends and do what you want to do, as long it is legal, mostly.

I lived in a small city where it was safe to walk or drive around town and enjoy the sights, sounds, smells, and feelings of this time of year. Have a good time with people that you know and care about.

Christmas is supposed to be a time of joy and happiness. Make the most of each moment. Take the time off from school and work, and do what you and your girlfriend or boyfriend enjoy doing. Maybe don’t spend a lot of time alone with them. Enjoy their company and double date or go to parties.

God created us and said that His creation was good. It becomes bad only if people make it bad. Don’t be one of those that spoils the fun, if you can help it. Walk away from fights and arguments. Stay with those who aren’t trying to get themselves arrested or killed. That was easy for me.

There will come a day in thirty or forty years when you will say, “I remember when . . .” Let them have good memories of the music, friends, laughter, and fun. OK, now for the rest of us. I just talked to a friend of mine who celebrated his ninetieth birthday before Christmas. I never heard of a sixteen- or twenty-one-year-old who had more fun. Make this Christmas your best.

Stupidity

October 25, 2025

“I’m impatient with stupidity. My people have learned to live without it.” “I’m afraid my people haven’t. I am very sorry. I wish it were otherwise.” This is a conversation from the movie “The Day the Earth Stood Still” released in 1951.

These lines were given by Klaatu, the visitor from outer space, and a representative of the U.S. President who was trying to determine the reason for his arrival on Earth. An otherworldly organization wants to warn all earthlings of their emanate destruction.

The producers of this movie were trying to demonstrate some points about our society at the time. This quotation is indicative of what many thought of the Cold War at that time. If you have not seen this version of this classic, find it on any of the streaming services and view it.

I know you may not remember this movie because it came out before we were born. A few of you may have seen it in the theaters in the early fifties. Most of us only know of it from DVDs, videos, or even VHS tapes.

My first recollection of it was in the early 60s, on NBC Movie of the Week aired on Saturday nights. Mom and Dad were out that night, and my brothers and I watched it after our oldest brother put our younger sister to bed. It began at 8:00 pm at her bedtime.

Another interesting clip from this movie has the visitor from space, who is calling himself Carpenter, being interviewed by a radio reporter. The newscaster asks him, “I suppose you’re just as scared as the rest of us?” “In a different way, perhaps. I am fearful when I see people substituting fear for reason.”

It is here that the reporter decides to move on to someone else. Start a conversation that others do not wish to have, and they always walk or run away. It is a human reaction. We are either afraid to learn new things or worried that we are being talked down to.

How do you feel when a friend tries to point out a flaw in your personality or actions? My reaction is usually a defensive strike or fleeing. We always want to be correct and often refuse to hear that we are not. Especially if you are a politician.

The story of this film is about the lives of humans, and especially Americans. We react with violence at the least provocation, and it is shown on the news every day, even today. Society is not better than it was in the 1950s. We have more toys and time to waste on them, but no more patience and understanding for each other.

The newest version of this film alters the story to make it work with the 2008 view of what it might mean if Earth reaches a technological ability that would endanger other lives in our universe. I hope you realize that this is fiction.

The real worry for all of us is each other. You never know who might be out to destroy you. Keep reading my columns, and I will explain more about how to protect yourself in this dangerous world full of stupidity.

July 4th, 1975

July 29, 2025

I have a few more stories about fifty years ago that I thought you might enjoy. A few days before Marianne and Phil, and the rest of the family left on their annual vacation to see their other son in Tennessee, he showed me how to light the heater in the house I was staying in.

I thought this was unusual and said as much. This Ozarks boy knew that you did not need a heater in July. Apparently, that is not true in the Allegheny Mountains. The weather forecast predicted a cold front coming to the area during the next week. On the morning of the fourth, the temperature was 32 degrees in Gifford. I lit the gas.

I mentioned in a previous column that I had made two trips to Niagara Falls that summer. The first was on the church bus with the youth from Bolivar Road and Hilltop. A month later, my brother Sam and I went back when he stopped to see me on his way from Chicago to Florida.

We visited some museums and spent a lot of time on the Canadian side. On more than one occasion, a young boy kept crawling under the ropes that were designed to keep tourists from getting too close to the cliff edge. Each time this happened, we remarked that the parents should keep a closer eye on him.

After we drove back to Gifford, we went to bed, and after seeing him off the next morning, I had my regular Sunday schedule. That evening, I went into the main house with the family to relax and watch television. The broadcast was from a station in Buffalo.

A story was headlined about an accidental death on the previous day in Nagara Falls, Canada. As we watched this story, they showed a photograph of a boy who had fallen off a cliff because he had gone beyond the safety barricades. It was the same boy we had seen the day before.

After returning home, Michelle and I spoke to a few churches about our experiences during the summer. Remember, Michelle was another student from SWBC who was in Bradford. Summer missionaries are out there right now working in churches and ministries all around the world. If you know one, thank them for me.

Fifty Years Ago

July 22, 2025

Yes, I was alive in 1975. If you were not, let me brief you on some things. There were no cell phones, home computers, or personal video games. There was college, and I had just finished my junior year at Southwest Baptist College in Bolivar, MO. In the fall of the previous year, I transferred there.

As I walked around my new campus, I saw signs requesting interested students to apply to be summer missionaries. I did just that and received my assignment in the spring. I would be going to Bradford, PA, for ten weeks starting in June.

When I applied, I had not met Cindy. By early June, we had been dating about eight months, and I was dreading being away from her for the summer. She went with Dad, Mom, and my sister to take me to the Continental Trailways Bus Station. You may have been there also. It is now the Discovery Center on St. Louis St.

I chose the bus to view some of America for the next twenty-four hours. We took I-44 to St. Louis, MO and then I-70 through Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and into Pennsylvania. We stopped a few times en route, and the last one was for breakfast in Pittsburgh. I decided to find a café and went exploring outside the station. Smoke and the smell of the city drove me back inside and I grabbed something at the snack bar.

When we arrived at Harrisburg, I waited for my ride. I was on time and, after an hour, called the Baptist building to check. They told me that they wondered why I had not been at the airport like others. I waited another thirty minutes for a ride. We checked into a hotel, and I shared a room with another guy.

We spent two days training. There were over fifty students that would scatter across PA and North Jersey. I met Charlie Brown that summer. He was a seminary student who drove in. He had a VW with a CB radio that resembled a car phone. Remember this was the seventies and the CB craze was on.

When we left the state capital for Bradford, there were four of us with our driver from Bolivar Road Baptist Church. Michelle was from SWBC and lived in Bolivar, MO. Rhonda was from Texas, and I remember the other as Kentuck. Guess where she was from? Michelle and I had not met back home before that summer.

When we arrived at the church in Bradford, we split into four different homes. We had a brief meeting with the pastor, and I got in a car with Phil. We drove up the mountain to Gifford where I would be the summer pastor for Hilltop Baptist Chapel. I met the rest of the family and stowed my gear in the house that Phil grew up in.

Marianne was Phil’s wife, and Mary Anne, his daughter. That night I shared about Springfield. How big was it? I told them it was a small town. Only a population of 135 thousand. They looked at me strangely because the signs said Bradford had 23,000 and Gifford 65.

I met the rest of the family in the next few days. This is just the start of the story. The next column will be “Gifford”. Looking forward to it. See you then.

NO ONE CAN TEACH YOU WHAT YOU DO NOT WISH TO LEARN

July 1, 2025

It seems like an easily determined idea, doesn’t it? Parents, teachers, and employers all fail to recognize this one fact. A father or mother attempts to teach a child how to use a spoon, a fork, or the potty chair before they want to. And it is always a struggle. I know. We tried that with Heather.

She would sit on the pot and not do anything. Then she decided she wanted to use the chair because she was tired of diapers. Why do training diapers help so many kids? They don’t want to lose the security of the protection from accidents, but they want freedom in the bathroom. They also wish for Mom and Dad’s approval.

Effective teachers find ways to encourage their students to learn, but may use games, toys or other activities that catch the attention and are interesting. This type of learning must be customized for every student. If you are fortunate, more than one person is captured by the same activity. Others require a different approach. Learning centers in classrooms take advantage of this principle.

Although I have never carried the title of “trainer” as a supervisor, manager, or an employee hoping to help someone else get ahead, I have trained hundreds of people in dozens of areas. Often, the lessons I taught to others were taught the hard way by trial and error for me. The desire to make learning easier for someone else makes me want to discover how to help them catch what I am throwing at them. This is how it should be done in the workplace.

The truth is that many are afraid to instruct others in what they know. They believe their job security depends on no one else knowing as much about their job.

On other occasions, we want to pass on knowledge, but do not know how because our school was hard knocks. We learned by doing and believe others will also. On-the-job training is good, but why shouldn’t those with more experience guide the newbies? Show them the things you tried first that did not work. Tell them why you do it the way you do and all the other methods that are not as good. These stop wasting time and effort.

If they listen. That leads us back to the title of this article. No one can teach you what you do not wish to learn. If you are stubborn and will not take instruction, you are doomed to repeat other mistakes and be thought less of.

When your trainer takes the time to show you their errors, you don’t have to repeat them. Hopefully, you will not be greeted with the worst of all educational philosophies, “Because I said so.”

It is time to take your company to the 21st century. Write a procedures manual that includes every process in your business. This is one of the requirements for all major companies. Certifications that multinational companies must maintain to bid on government contracts require this manual. Start with this item and see where it takes you.

My music

June 14, 2025

When I was growing up my favorite radio station was KICK which was 1260 on the AM dial. They played the top forty hits that I enjoy. There were so many funny disc jockeys. I hoped to be one. Let’s talk about them.

One morning when I was in college my clock radio came on and after he gave the news Bob Bright started to read the weather. “The National Weather Service predicts a thirty percent chance of rain today.” He paused and continued off script. “I’m going to update that after looking out my window. I give it a one hundred percent probability.”

I admire a man who could step out on his own senses and tell the truth. I used this line more than once when I did radio reporting in high school speech tournaments. Then there was Dan Coulter. His brother was in one of my classes in junior high. Dan had a unique style that was not fake. I laughed a great deal.

Jay Stevens was popular in Springfield for a few years and then we heard he had moved away. Years later he had a song published and it was a minor hit. In 1975 his song “Rocky” recorded by Dickie Lee made it to No. 1 on the charts. You know him today as Woody P. Snow.

Another was the husband of the drama teacher at Hillcrest while I was there. I met him while in college when I saw Sandy and Cliff at Little Theatre. We chatted and I asked her to say hello to my sister in class on Monday because I knew Vanessa would not believe me if I told her.

Not one of my favorites but one of my Dad’s was Barefoot Bob. After KTTS radio was purchased and became the Radio Ranch he joined the staff. He was a long-time country DJ as well as an entertainer. He played at least one of his own recordings on his program.

While in college I took the test and received my license to become legitimate as an on-air talent for radio. My theme song would be “I’m a Girl Watcher.” I had no luck in Springfield and then I tried to get a job after moving to school in Bolivar, MO. I would have decided how to be a personality on whichever station might hire me.

In the 1980s I began listening to Wayne Glenn, the old record collector on KTXR FM radio. Wayne is a historian. He has written books about the Ozarks musicians and towns. He calls himself the old record collector because when he started, he played music that had been recorded at least thirty years before. That meant from the fifties and before.

Each year more music is opened under these guidelines. By the early two thousand the format moved into the seventies and eighties. He did interviews and gave the history of the music and the entertainers. I learned more from him than any other radio announcer.

I might go on air on-line with my own broadcast someday. I have a style I would like to use and a format that would allow me to do interviews and discuss songs, writers, and artists. My choice of theme song would be “I’m a God Watcher.”

Do you have favorite radio personalities of your own? What type of music do you listen to? Would you rather listen to talk radio, podcasts, or do you stream your music? I’d like to hear about them in the comments.

Charles (Chuck) Kensinger

Walk With a Servant

Tag: Music