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Showing posts from June, 2010

The Cost of Christ - Mark 9:30-37

The Cost of Christ - Mark 9:30-37 By Pastor Lee Hemen June 27, 2010 AM Sometimes we can hear someone say something to us but not understand what they are saying. There are several reasons for this. They could be speaking a foreign language, we could be hard of hearing, we could be distracted, or we could simply be ignoring the other person. Kind of like the old Peanuts cartoons where all the adults sounded like: “Wah, wah, wah, wah, waah!” However, there are times when we hear the other person speak, and we truly do not understand what they are trying to tell us. I had a calculus class like that. My Mother had a favorite expression she often used with me: “Young man, listen to me when I am talking to you! I am not speaking simply to hear myself speak!” It seemed, as I was growing up, she said this a lot to me. Perhaps it was because I was so easily distracted or maybe it was the fact I did not want to hear what she had to say. Whatever the reason, we find that Jesus’ disc

The Cure of Christ - Mark 9:14-29

The Cure of Christ - Mark 9:14-29 By Pastor Lee Hemen June 20, 2010 AM The likes of John Osteen, deceased, and now Joel Osteen his son, have both preached a health and wealth gospel. A message that is totally contrary to Biblical Christianity. In fact, both have made comments like the following: “It's God's will for you to live in prosperity instead of poverty. It’s God’s will for you to pay your bills and not be in debt. It’s God’s will for you to live in health and not in sickness all the days of your life.” While God does desire that you pay your bills on time, Joel goes on to declare that what he means is God desires that as a believer, you should be prosperous in everything all the time. If you are not, then there is something wrong with your faith. You have not properly claimed the promises of God for your life. Then there are those like Benny Hinn who give their followers an addition to this kind of biblical drivel. He can heal you, if you believe in his ren

Jesus' Elijah - John the Baptist - Mark 9:11-13

Jesus' Elijah - John the Baptist - Mark 9:11-13 By Pastor Lee Hemen June 13, 2010 AM The Twilight series of novels and movies have intrigued folks, making them into a multimillion-dollar profitable business. I believe it is because of the mysterious nature of the main characters involved. People love enigmatic characters. There are enigmatic characters throughout the Bible such as Deborah the female judge who roused the Israelite people from their lethargy to throw off the yoke of subjugation by Jabin, the king of Hazor. I also enjoy Josiah who stands as an amazing king of the line of David for unswerving loyalty to Jehovah. He repaired the temple of God, discovered a scroll of the law written by Moses. However, at the height of his reign he tries to stop the military advance of Pharaoh-Necho II against Assyria and dies doing so. Then there is John the Baptist. Born six months before his cousin Jesus, John became “the voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Make straight

A Kingdom with Power! - Mark 9:1-10

A Kingdom with Power! - Mark 9:1-10 By Pastor Lee Hemen June 6, 2010 AM In our day and age we can be connected 24/7 and do at home what only folks dreamed of doing a few years ago. With personal computers, cell phones, iPads, iPods, and other electronic devices we can contact, process, bank, pay bills, and do a myriad of things. If you are on vacation, you can even turn off the lights at home, use a printer there, or monitor your house through a web camera. It all works great until the power goes off or your battery goes dead. Power is great until you run out of it. Then, after all of the electronic devices are dead, they become just fancy paperweights. What does power mean for you? For some politicians it means being able to control the lives of people from the womb to the tomb. For others it is seen in the government getting out of the way and allowing individuals to garner wealth and success on their own without governmental interference. Power in this life however is t