Tag: Songs

It’s in the book

October 22, 2024

There was an old radio skit by one of those comedians seldom mentioned anymore. His name is Johhny Standley. His fame came in 1952 with the release of his recording, “It’s in the book.” I remember hearing it on the radio as a child. You know the type of story. Wayne Glenn played it on “The Old Record Collector” on Saturday mornings on KTXR radio in the 80s and 90s.

Andy Griffith became famous when he told us, “What it was was football.” This was in 1953. He followed Johnny Standley’s format as a comedian and told a tale from the viewpoint of a country boy. Standley took the persona of an old-time preacher complete with closing song. Deacon Andy went on to become famous as Andy Taylor and then as Ben Matlock. Last week I saw a new Matlock show. Life is a progression and that is what this column is about.

In the 1950’s almost everyone responded to these epic comedy records because they came from what we knew. It was familiar to us. Today it appears strange. Everyone knows “Little Bo-Peep” and football. Why were these skits popular? They were funny. They were different from what they heard before.

Television was new and this type of humor converted from radio and recordings to TV with little difficulty. When I retired my ministry changed from the workplace to the internet and instead of talking to dozens of people in a day, I now write to a potential audience of thousands. At least a couple of hundred. I hope.

Your life and experience are changing. Can you go with the flow? All you must do is be flexible. Do not get pushed around by the crowd as young Andy did. Be a leader or a follower and do not let others force you into a path you do not want to take.

In 1970, I got my driver’s license. I dropped Mom at home and went to Dog ‘N Suds drive-in to see Frank Costello about a job. He said they had no openings. As I was leaving, he asked why I had come there. My response was that he had employed my brother three years before. When he heard I was Sam’s brother, I filled out an application and started two days later. I was a fry cook. I became the best fry cook I could.

Three years later I became the best screw installer I could be. I worked on final line five at Zenith Radio Corporation in Springfield, Missouri and helped build console televisions. I was in manufacturing. All I did was install five screws and hang a tuner. I hated it. At the end of eighty-nine days, I turned in my resignation and went back to college determined to never work in a factory again.

A year later my dream of becoming a reporter became a desire to become a minister and I transferred to Southwest Baptist College in Bolivar, Missouri from Southwest Missouri State University. My plan had been to go to the University of Missouri School of Journalism in Columbia. That was what I thought I wanted.

God wanted me to spend my next two years learning to study His word and how to lead others to learn what He wanted them to do. Fifty years ago, I began that journey. He opened many opportunities for me. I have served as a student pastor, salesman, purchasing agent, manager, teacher, husband, father, guide, friend, and mentor.

Now I have time to share all my experience with you, dear reader. I hope you realize the potential that God has given to you to be what He wants you to become. The possibilities are endless and yes, the saying is still true. It’s in the book. Join me as we explore it.

©Copyright 2024 by Charles Kensinger

Remind me

November 14, 2023

Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood recorded this song in 2011. They have reprised this song on many occasions. It has received numerous awards. Why? This isn’t just Paisley’s song that he co-wrote with someone else. It is possibly your song. I know it is mine and my wife’s.

It has wide radio and internet play. The critics have a difficult time with it because they don’t think Underwood and Paisley have voices that work together. I am not talking about artistic production. I want to speak to you about the story the song tells and the number of couples it touches.

want you to understand why I have posted so many videos of these two for this column. They are not a couple. The passion that they have when onstage or behind microphones in the studio demonstrates their talents as entertainers. We believe they are a married couple that has lost the lust that we all had in our marriages when we started.

I am going to remind you. When you first started dating your spouse you were nervous and uncertain of whether this was the real thing or not. A few weeks or minutes later that feeling that some call love hit you. Like the couple Brad wrote about, you may have been told to get a room.

It may have been at school where your relationship began. If so, you probably know the phrase public display of affection. PDA is something that we still remind young people to avoid at church and school. Most of us want that feeling of uncontrollable passion again.

Your making out may have interfered with travel plans as it does in this story. In the early days of your marriage, getting to work on time might have been a problem. I remember those days. I also remember the afternoon I picked Cindy up at the bus station in Joplin, MO.

After two weeks of marriage, I had to go help open a new store. I drove our car and spent the week in a motel alone. On Friday she joined me. I needed to get back to work after taking her luggage to our room. There was also something else that we needed to do. It was one of the reasons we married.

In my mind, I changed the lyrics to “so on fire and so in lust, way back then we couldn’t get enough.” Was there a look in her or his eyes that you had not seen for a while? Remind them. Do not assume that they know that you still love them. Remind them.

What made you love this person that you married because of that love? Did you stop them just for a kiss? Was it flowers or love notes? Maybe it was the occasional surprise date that you have no time for now with work and kids. Don’t just fall into bed tonight. Intentionally take them in your arms and remind them of how much you love them.

In every marriage, there is one person who wants sex more often than the other. It is not always the male. I know some couples where the wife wants more passion in the marriage. I often speak of love languages. If you do not know his or her language, how can they know that you love them? After all, love is a choice, and you may have changed your mind.

I teach that sex and love are not the same concept. These lyrics celebrate the passion of the marriage bed. We are also reminded that after one, five, ten, or fifty years the lust that made us want to love each other is gone. Remind me.

©Copyright 2023 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

The class of 1972 had its dreams.

July 14, 2022

Do you remember the Statler Brothers’ song “The Class of Fifty-Seven”? I’m from the class that has celebrated our fiftieth reunion this year. I also have two grandsons in the class of 2022. Fifty years is half of a century. That is a long time.

Things get complicated when you get past nineteen. But you and your class had your dreams. Stop for a minute or two and remember those dreams. My dream was to become a journalist. I am now a columnist. I’ve not worked as a reporter.

Many of my classmates had dreams of becoming mothers or fathers and raising another generation of decent human beings. At our reunion in June, I visited with many of these classmates and talked about their children and grandchildren. These dreams seem to have been fulfilled.

A few of our class members joined the military and I have not discovered any that died during their military careers. We did lose over forty in the last fifty years. The toughest were the ones that had passed before we even had our ten-year reunion.

I don’t have a count of the number of my classmates that are in ministry. I am sure of at least six and probably more that I am not aware of. Some are retired and others have gone home. Others are just now accepting the call to something beyond themselves.

I spoke with many of these graduates and reconnected with old friends and some that I never knew in High School. We saw improvements that have been made to the building. We heard of other details of construction that should be completed this year.

Almost all of us are retired or will be joining those ranks in the next few years. At least one is starting a new career as a servant of Greene County. He is running for an office and is unopposed. We have decided to start new careers or projects. All are embracing being grandparents and like my mother believe grandkids are so great, that we should have had them first.

Some of us have reached our goals and have created new ones. Life may continue for some of us to see another thirty or forty years. We still have time to accomplish our dreams. I wish to lead as many to Christ as I can before I enjoy my life with my Heavenly Father.

That is the goal I have had for almost fifty years now. I write to educate and to encourage. We must become the followers of Christ to accomplish the dream of reaching as many as we can for the Kingdom. I hope you have joined this dream.

©Copyright 2022 by Charles Kensinger