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Ramblings from Retirement – The Church, Jesus’ body in the World By Pastor (retired) Lee Hemen April 5, 2022 It is amazing to me that so many convoluted ideas have taken root in today’s Christianity. It makes me wonder if anyone, who calls them self a “Christian” truly takes the time to know what this means or if they ever read and study the Bible. Far too many churches have abandoned Bible Study, Sunday School, or whatever you want to call in favor of video symposiums or sermons in a second. And do not get me started on what people think and teach about the coming of Jesus. Most of it is founded on heretical teaching that has taken root like aggressive weeds in your lawn and has no basis in orthodox Christianity, the history of the church, or what the Bible actually says concerning the subject, anyway, this for another Rambling on another day. Jesus established the church for a reason, and we see this when he asked his followers, “Who do the people say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “Yo...

Of Potlucks, Power Rangers and People by Pastor Lee Hemen April 12, 2015 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. (Acts 2:46-47 NIV) These men are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm--shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted--twice dead. (Jude 1:12 NIV) The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ… But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? ... The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the fee...

Hebrews 10:19-25 – The “Lettuce” Sayings! By Pastor Lee Hemen November 18, 2012 AM Integrity is truly an interesting word. It speaks to our core principles, of our steadfastness to hold to high moral standards in spite of the rest of the world. It is our completeness or our undivided attention to what we actually believe and adhere too. And finally, it is found in what makes us whole as a person. Someone of integrity can be counted on, is seen as one who is not only dependable but also upright, and someone who is not ashamed of their actions anywhere with anyone. Integrity should be the hallmark of a Christian’s life. Do you think many of us might be surprised to know how others view our integrity in the Lord? Perhaps we might also be ashamed at how God sees our lives as well. The author of Hebrews was writing to a group of folks who held themselves in high spiritual and moral regard. But as my Dad would say, “Their salad was just shy a few tomatoes.” Meaning, they were no...

Hebrews 3:7-19 – Don’t harden your heart! By Pastor Lee Hemen July 22, 2012 AM The comedian Bill Cosby used to tell the story about his preschool children whereby he would ask them to “Come here… come here… come here… COME HERE!” Of course they ignored him. He said it was as if they were “brain-dead.” In fact he went on to say that preteen boys could be the worst. His son gave himself a reverse Mohawk haircut. When Cosby asked him why he cut his hair that way, his response was, “I don’t know!” Well, guess what, Christians sometimes can be just as “brain-dead” in their faith walk with the Lord. We know what we should be doing, but the very thing we know we should not be doing is exactly what we do. And then, when we suffer from the choices we made, we wonder why! The Apostle Paul would write, “In fact, I don't understand why I act the way I do. I don't do what I know is right. I do the things I hate…. Instead of doing what I know is right, I do wrong! (Romans 7:...

The Coming Crisis! - Mark 13:14-20 By Pastor Lee Hemen January 16, 2011AM We can be taught things over and over so many times that we begin to think what we are being taught is absolutely true, whether it is or not. Here are several examples: In Rome a thumbs up signal meant let a defeated gladiator live, but a thumb down signal meant kill him. In reality a thumbs up meant kill the loser, however, if the thumb was concealed in a fist, it meant let the loser live. We also think, because of Hollywood movies like Spartacus, that slaves manned the oars of Roman galleys, yet most were free men who were sailors trained to row and then fight. Rowing was considered a skilled task. Can things we come to think of as true yet are false infect our Christian thinking as well? The answer is “Yes.” Here in Mark’s gospel we find Jesus continuing to answer his disciple’s question about when the temple would be destroyed. His response and what it meant has been so analyzed that what we may t...

The King Comes! - Mark 11:1-10 By Pastor Lee Hemen October 3, 2010 AM Is it Passover time again? It seems as if we had just celebrated it! Last year, it was marked by the same dusty dirty pilgrims on the same dusty dirty road. Nothing much usually happens here in Nob. Being a suburb of Jerusalem people usually pass us by and leave us alone. Sure, some of the priests live here when they are in attendance in the temple, but nothing more than that. But then there was that year Yeshua of Nazareth came. How could I have forgotten! Let me tell you it was quite a spectacle. But he could not have done it without my old donkey Judith. She had given birth to a small little foal we named… but of course, I am getting ahead of myself! We were just standing around, gawking at the pilgrims, and telling stories about passed events and arguing about the taxes, when these men come up and begin to untie my new foal! I began to protest that they had no right to take my donkey, when I remembere...

Lord of the Sabbath – Mark 2:23-28 By Pastor Lee Hemen October 4, 2009 AM I was in a discussion with one of our area’s ministry directors when he grandly announced that he did not agree with “organized religion.” I was stunned and immediately asked him, “Why then do we pay your salary?” He could not answer me. I then followed this by telling him, “If you have placed your faith in Christ, you are now part of an ‘organized religion’ that was prearranged by God Himself, centered on the foundation of the gospel message of salvation through His One and Only Son!” In being a Christian, you have submitted yourself to membership in the body of Christ. There is a foolish discussion going on in some circles today about the importance of church membership in the life of the Christian. It has come about because of universalism creeping back into Christian theology from sources like the emergent church. It is not a new heresy. It is the notion that the church and thereby worship should center spiri...