PastorBlastor

In the Wild! – John 20:30-31 By Pastor Lee Hemen July 21, 2019 Life is filled with incredible encounters. As we go through childhood, we are constantly discovering everything about the world around us. When we make friends, discover the beauty of nature, and become more aware of everything around us, we begin to realize the world’s vastness. We also begin to grasp that an entire globe of opportunities awaits each of us! God made us to encounter his love and to enjoy a personal relationship with him that lasts not just for a lifetime, but for eternity. All through his Word, God introduces himself in incredible ways, showing himself to be perfectly faithful, true, compassionate, and merciful. Even though people aren’t perfect, God has a plan to forgive us of our sin and bless us with a relationship with him. As Jesus’ earthly ministry began, he made it clear that his purpose was to make a way for every person to have an opportunity to receive his forgiveness and to enjoy eternal life wit...

When Jesus heals… -- Matthew 8:14-17 By Pastor Lee Hemen July 14, 2019 Sometimes it is the little things that make a big impact on people’s lives. A kind word spoken at just the right time, a helping hand when it is least expected, and an act of compassion when hope seems lost. I grew up in poverty because of my father’s health problems caused by smoking. His heart was slowly failing. Back then there were no governmental programs, a plethora of community aid organizations, or anyone whom you could contact in order to get help. It was during some pretty desperate times I remember sacks of groceries all of sudden appearing on our back porch, school clothes, coats or shoes showing up. It was these little blessings that had a huge impact. Here in Matthew’s gospel he records the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law and it seems as if it is almost a side note. Mark and Luke go into greater detail of what occurred and the circumstances involved. It is one thing to see Jesus healing lepers, a cent...

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 Blind! -- John 9:1-41 By Pastor Lee Hemen June 14, 2015 The old proverbial saying, "There's none so blind as those who will not see" according to the Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings, has been traced back to 1546 (John Heywood), and resembles the Biblical verse: "Hear this, you foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear! (Jeremiah 5:21 NIV)" People can be physically born blind; they can be emotionally blind, intellectually blind, and worse -- spiritually blind. The Jewish leadership was spiritually blinded. They had become so used to the way things were and so used to following their set of codified laws that they could not see the working of God right in front of their eyes. Jesus came on the scene and began to shake things up for the blind. Let's discover what happened… READ: John 9:1-41 Here in John's gospel we find… I. Those spiritually ignorant remain blind! (Vv. 1-12) As he w...

The Man Who Went to the Mat! -- John 5:1-15 By Pastor Lee Hemen December 14, 2014 To “go to the mat” may come from the Old English matte, from Late Latin matta “mat made of rushes”, probably from Punic or Phoenician matta (Hebrew mittah “bed, couch”). Meaning “tangled mass”. That of “piece of padded flooring used in gymnastics or wrestling” is attested from 1892; hence figurative phrase go to the mat “do battle”. The Latin word also is the source of German Matte, matze ; Dutch mat, Italian matta. French natte “mat, matting” is from Late Latin. Interestingly, it was also a phrase from chess in the Arabic that meant to checkmate someone. When we go to the mat for someone it means we are willing to stand up and support that person. Paul writes about this wonderful truth by telling us, “And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will…. Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is G...

The Confessed Life! -- James 5:12-20 By Pastor Lee Hemen August 24, 2014 What would you like your last words to be to those you leave behind before you die? Perhaps you would want to leave behind some good advice for those you are leaving or maybe you would want to just say, “so long”?  The comedian Bob Hope, to his wife Delores after she asked him where he wanted to be buried, replied, “Surprise me.” W. C. Fields, when he was asked why he was reading the Bible on his death bed, responded, “I’m looking for loop holes!” King David related with his last words that “When one rules over men in righteousness, when he rules in the fear of God, he is like the light of morning at sunrise on a cloudless morning, like the brightness after rain that brings the grass from the earth. (2 Samuel 23:3-4 NIV)” How cool is that! James tried to fit into his final words all that he could so his readers would gain as much wisdom from his teaching as possible. For James it all boiled down to a simple li...

Bartimaeus – Mark 10:46-52 By Pastor Lee Hemen September 26, 2010 AM I watched a news story the other night that related how a man had noticed that his eyesight was being adversely affected. He had returned from a trip overseas and began to notice that he began to have headaches and his vision was getting worse. What the ophthalmologist discovered was kind of weird and scary. The man had a worm in his cornea. Evidently, he had been infected with this parasite while on vacation. Only 15 cases of this have ever been recorded. The doctor was able to kill it by using a laser. However, the man’s eyesight may never return to normal. How awful would that be, finding out your eyeball was infected with a parasite? Ugh! I guess that out of all the senses I have, my sight would be one of the most important to me. In today’s passage of Mark, we find a man whose whole life was one of darkness. In Jesus’ day, if a person was born blind, people thought that either you had sinned or perhap...

Some that Are Blind See - Mark 8:22-26 By Pastor Lee Hemen May 2, 2010 AM There are those in the world, like the Cheshire Cat from Lewis Carroll’s “Through the Looking Glass,” who actually believe their mad rendition of life is a worthy philosophy to follow. It is a rather odd path to walk: Alice “began, rather timidly… Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?” “That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat. “I don’t much care where…” said Alice. “Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the Cat. “…so long as I get SOMEWHERE,” Alice added as an explanation. “Oh, you’re sure to do that,” said the Cat, “if you only walk long enough.” And, sadly, that is what a lot of folks adhere to for their life’s philosophy. “If only you walk long enough.” Jesus would declared, “Leave them; they are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.” (Matthew 15:14) Jesus knew that some of those who think they can see sp...

The Wonder-working Power - Mark 5:21-43 Pastor Lee Hemen January 3, 2010 According to a recent AP story, a Colorado woman says a Christmas miracle brought her and her newborn son back from the brink of death after her heart stopped beating during childbirth and the baby was delivered showing no signs of life. “I got a second chance in life,” Tracy Hermanstorfer said. She was being prepped for childbirth at Memorial Hospital in Colorado Springs. Her 37-year-old husband was by her side when she began to feel sleepy and lay back in her bed. Tracy's husband Mike was clutching his pregnant wife's hand when her life slipped away on Christmas Eve, and then he cradled his newborn son's limp body seconds after a medical team delivered the baby by Cesarean section. Minutes later, he saw his son come to life in his arms under the feverish attention of doctors, and soon he learned his wife had inexplicably come back to life. The couple both credits it to the wonder-working power of God...