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Ramblings from Retirement – Forget About It By Lee Hemen May 1, 2021 I shared before that I’ve been going through pictures and stuff my mother had for decades at my brother’s house. A huge trunk now converted to four medium sized cardboard boxes. She passed away several years ago at the age of 92 and lived a pretty full life. She only had a 7th grade education getting her education in a one room school, lived in a circus tent in the Wyoming wilderness, survived the Kelly Flood in 1927 in Wyoming when the Gros Ventre River broke through a natural earthen dam caused from a mud slide several years earlier, and she could ride, shoot, and roll her own cigarettes with one hand. Later she left home at the age of 15 or 16 and followed her sister to Alaska, another wilderness. She worked in the newly built Coca Cola bottling plant and there met my father who asked her to marry him several times refusing him every time but the last. All of that to say this that she lived quite a life. However wh...

Tripped up by pride! -- 2 Kings 20:1-19 By Pastor Lee Hemen November 18. 2018 A religious leader was talking to a group of people who were about to enter a new phase in their lives. They had been poor and restricted in opportunities and were headed for lives of unparalleled prosperity. These people also had made recent commitments to the Lord. The leader warned they would face new temptations of pride when they became successful and began to accumulate material things. They would congratulate themselves on their abilities and forget the Lord. The speaker Moses proved to be correct. Most of the Hebrew people in their pride forgot God. These verses show how King Hezekiah responded to God’s miracle of healing in his life. Instead of remaining humble and grateful to God, he became filled with pride and focused on his possessions and his prestige. What occurred with Hezekiah can happen to any of us when we forget that what we enjoy in life is graciously given to us by the Lord God. Le...

The Praise of Men - John 12:37-43 By Pastor Lee Hemen August 16, 2015 There's a saying that states, "Different strokes for different folks and some folks need a lot of strokes." I have always found it disconcerting people need constant affirmation for every little thing they do. The need for constant affirmation has created a self-indulgent and narcissistic generation. Of course this is nothing new; there have always been those who love the accolades of the adoring crowds, even if it is forced. It has been likened to a narcotic and those who become hooked need their fix often. Starlets, politicians, dictators, and now even the more common folk look for ways to be recognized, adulated, revered, and remembered. Instagram and Facebook postings that record our every waking moment, and the regurgitation our lives on the Tweetersphere are all part of this self-absorbed lifestyle. We love the praise of others, the praise of men. In fact, many of us live in fear of losing the pra...

Do You Think You Are Unaccountable? - Isaiah 17:1-3, 7-9; 18:1-7 By Pastor Lee Hemen February 2, 2014 AM There are many in our day think they are unaccountable to anyone for what they say or do. This is simply misguided. Our choices affect not only our lives but the lives of others as well. Richard Sherman of the Seattle Seahawks found this to be true much to his chagrin and the embarrassment of his teammates. Sherman made some wild comments following the NFC Championship Game in the heat of the moment and now is the focus instead of his team. When God's people decide to circumnavigate God's command, others, like family or friends, will be affected by our ungodly choices. Some folks are continually sorry for the outcome of their actions, but their sorrow never leads them to change their lives. They blame others, family, society, income, education, physical or emotional disabilities. God’s people need to take responsibility for their lives. God wants to work in His people’...