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Stewards, Not Fearmongers!

Stewards, Not Fearmongers! By Retired Pastor Lee Hemen July 3, 2023 Ecclesiastes paints kind of a depressing picture of humanity and an individual’s moroseness, however, it also teaches us a lot about ourselves, the world around us, and our God. In his musings the writer states that “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 1:9 NIV84) The Bible Knowledge commentary states that “Solomon did not intend by this to deny human creativity but to deny the complete newness of people’s accomplishments.” However, “the constant repetition of previous accomplishments - is in essence true of the activity of people and is included in the observation that all things produce only indescribable weariness and lack of satisfaction…” Solomon was in a mental funk. I can relate. In this day and age, it is easy to become depressed. Sadly, there are those who use people’s tendency to be depressed to foster greater fear in things the
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Grow In Preaching By Pastor Lee Hemen June 30, 2023 One of things that has always frustrated me as a Christian and a pastor is that far too many pastors think they do not have to mature in their preaching skills. They will pound their pulpits to try and get their listeners to mature in their faith practices of prayer, Bible reading, witnessing and biblical knowledge but never address their own shortcoming of truly stagnant preaching. I was shocked when I went to listen to a fellow pastor preach and his style was exactly the same as when he graduated from seminary some thirty years ago! There are few pastors who would desire their congregations to remain spiritually stunted for thirty years, yet find no problem with their own stunted growth in being able to preach the word of God that truly meets the needs of their listeners today. This should not happen. Pastors often preach on what Paul wrote Timothy, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not nee
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Father’s Day – Ephesians 6:4; Hebrews 12:7-12 By Pastor Lee Hemen June 18, 2023 Did you have a good father? I had a pretty good dad. He took us fishing, camping, and spent as much time with us as he could. He taught us to be moral, believe in God, and what marital devotion was all about. I still can remember him showing us boys how to cast a salmon egg just right in order to catch the bigger trout in the river. I also remember he was firm on his word and discipline. Sometimes children can think their parents are unfair or that they do not understand but what I have learned is that parents, especially fathers, do understand and that is why they often have to take the firm stand they do. Too many fathers in our day are AOL (absent without leave) either physically or emotionally or both. Proverbs reminds us that “Discipline your son, and he will give you peace; he will bring delight to your soul. Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; but blessed is he who keeps the
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The Censorship of Christians

The Censorship of Christians By Retired Pastor Lee Hemen December 13, 2022 In our cancel culture today, there are those who desire to censor anyone who disagrees with their perceived proclivity or progressive ideals. Socialism loves censorship, and it is the fuel that fans the flames of oppression. Christians should be on the forefront of opposing any censorship of speech. It is at the core of what we believe. When Jesus stood before the religious and political leaders of his day, they hated him because of the message he brought. It would upset their political and spiritual power over the population they were supposed to be leading. They wanted to keep their positions. Many Jews when they “had seen what Jesus did, put their faith in him.” (John 11:45 NIV84) Some of those who were concerned about what Jesus was teaching, went to the Pharisees, and told them what was happening. They were the “Karens” of their day. John relates that “Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeti
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Luke 1:26-38 – Listen!

Luke 1:26-38 – Listen! By Pastor Lee Hemen December 4, 2022 One of my least favorite Christmas songs is “Do You Hear What I Hear?” Sorry if it is one of your favorites, but I’ve never liked it that much except for the last verse when the King commands, “Listen to what I say! Pray for peace, people everywhere! Listen to what I say! The Child, the Child, sleeping in the night He will bring us goodness and light, He will bring us goodness and light.” Now don’t get me wrong the message of the song is great, the night wind whispering to a little lamb about a “star with a tail as big as a kite.” The lamb asking a shepherd boy if he can hear the same song he hears, and the shepherd boy asking the mighty king, “Do you know what I know?” Now if you listen closely at the words, you will notice that each phrase is contingent upon one thing: listening! In our day and age where everything demands our immediate attention it is often hard to get people to simply listen. In the verses we will look at
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It is time to stand up, speak up, sit down, and shut up!

It is time to stand up, speak up, sit down, and shut up! By Lee Hemen August 16, 2022 When I was younger, I was taught in a speech class to stand up, speak up, sit down, and shut up. It was a simple way to relate that we should know what we were going to speak on before we stood in front of the class to do so. Also, it showed that speech is important, and that freedom should not be taken lightly. I find it extremely interesting that for decades the left screamed that rascally Republicans would use their power to make America into a police state, and yet we see the exact opposite happening. It is the Socialist left that has used the FBI as a secret police force against anyone who is against the left and its ideologies. From parents to protestors, we find average Americans marked as “enemies” of the state. Now we find that the left is not ashamed to empower another branch of government under their control to be used as a means to strike fear and abuse the American people, the IRS. Doubli
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Matthew 13:1-9 - Scattering the Seed of the Gospel By Retired Pastor Lee Hemen May 22, 2022 We have always loved putting out birdseed for the wild birds in our yards. It’s fun to watch all of the different species that come to our feeders. Recently, a pair of birds called Evening Grosbeaks has been coming to our feeders, and they are pigs. They kind of force out other birds, scatter the seed everywhere, and remind me of uninvited relatives that show up for dinner. However, one of the things that they do by scattering the seed from the feeders is provide for the dozens of squirrels and smaller birds that hop around the base of the feeders searching for scattered seeds. And some of the seeds, being grass seeds, have made my lawn area thick and rich. We forget that when we scatter the seed of the gospel that it falls on many kinds of ground, and we never know who might benefit from the process. Like those Evening Grosbeaks we are not to be just about feeding ourselves the seeds of the gos
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Fatherly Advice - Proverbs 22:6  By Pastor Lee Hemen June 12, 2022 Father’s Day is coming up real soon and later in the year, on September 11, 2022, the first Sunday after Labor Day we will celebrate National Grandparents Day. Of course, we just celebrated Mother’s Day. When I was younger, like a lot of kids, I wondered out loud when there would be a national celebration for kids, my father replied that “It’s when schools begins in the fall.” Some would say, “Every day is Kid’s Day.” And perhaps it is. We live in a day and age where children have become almost idolatry for some families. Here’s what I mean: Far too much emphasis is placed on how to make children happy and little is spent on what truly makes a child self-sufficient. Children today are often used by “experts” as educational and political experiments for indoctrination. Yet the Bible speaks very plainly on what truly constitutes a well rounded child rearing. What most families lack today in raising godly kids is consisten
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Ramblings from Retirement – Jesus and Freedom of Speech

Ramblings from Retirement – Jesus and Freedom of Speech By Pastor (retired) Lee Hemen April 14, 2022 My father would remind us that “Words mean things”, usually when my brother and I were in the midst of calling one another morons or some other teenage moniker. Words are important. Many in today’s America have forgotten a fundamental right that is guaranteed by our Constitution: Freedom of speech. This is a core right that should be protected at all costs. You may not like or agree with what someone else says, writes, or films but you can turn it off, not read it, or respond to it. It is your freedom to do so. Lease we forget this is why Jesus was persecuted as he was. He openly proclaimed the truth of God which stood in stark contrast to the false narrative of the religious leaders of his day. Over and over, we hear Jesus telling his detractors, “You say” and then telling them the truth. Using his free speech eventually cost him his life. In Matthew’s gospel we find a perfect example
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