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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 consi...

Ramblings from Retirement – Take Time to Ponder By Retired Pastor Lee Hemen May 9, 2021 Before the birth of her first child my daughter was kind of scared; you could see it in her eyes. She did not know what to expect but everything turned out fine and she gave birth to a sweet baby boy. During the birth of her second child she was a little bit late in heading to the hospital, called me to rush over, and I helped her give birth to her tiny daughter there on the floor of her apartment. Her husband was rushing home as fast as he could. Her son helped direct the EMS and firemen to where the baby was being born. After both births it was amazing how she cuddled and kissed each newborn. My mother was not always what you would call a “loving” person however she would find the time to put together a picnic lunch, take us to the park, and tell us stories while eating our peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on the grass sitting on a blanket. As a young child she would have me sit next to her and ...

Ramblings From Retirement - Spare the Rod? By Retired Pastor Lee Hemen May 8, 2021 Mother’s Day is tomorrow and I’ve been writing a few remembrances about my mother. She stood at a mighty 5 foot 2 inches but she was full of life and none of us children crossed her. She could get a terror on in nothing flat and was not afraid to spare the rod. In fact I have planted lilacs in our backyard in remembrance of her because she loved them a lot, however they were also her favorite tool for “whippin’s”. More than once I heard from her say, “Here’s a sharp knife, now go out to the lilac bush and cut me off a sucker so I can whip you.” Now lest you think that she was being abusive, she was not. A few whacks was all it took to get us into a proper frame of mind. None of us suffered from her ministrations and in fact all of us learned respect and discipline from her. She would remind us that to “spare the rod is to spoil the child” which of course is not found in the Bible but we learn from Prover...

Ramblings from Retirement – Get Dressed! By Retired Pastor Lee Hemen April 9, 2021 Man it can be tough to try and get kids dressed, ready, and out the door on time. It can be especially if one of them is a preteenager (tweener) who moves at the pace of a snail or if one is so concerned about what she wears that it is impossible for her to make any decisions. Then there are the arguments about “why” “how come” and “where are we going”. I remember well when my father would come and tell us three kids to “Get dressed and ready to go. You’ve got five minutes!” My brother would grumble around bumping into things and looking for something clean to wear, my sister would gripe about that she didn’t have anything to wear, and I would just hop out of bed and get dressed and eat breakfast before the other two were dressed. I loved getting up and going places and you did not have to ask me twice. In Luke’s gospel he relates that Jesus told the crowds “Be dressed ready for service and keep your lam...

Ramblings from Retirement – Deacon’s Wives and Kids! By Lee Hemen, Retired Pastor March 19, 2021 I remember when I had been a believer for several years when my church came to me asking if I would be considered to be a Deacon. I was surprised and flattered. Having served as a Yokefellow (Deacon in training), as a Deacon, Ministry Leader for College and Discipleship, and finally serving as a pastor for 35 years I have seen a lot of men called to the ministry and to be Deacons. I have served on many selection committees over the years for Minister of Music, Deacons, Associate Pastor and Pastor. And as I was sitting here having my devotion I was reminded of what Paul wrote Timothy concerning men who were being considered for being a Deacon in the church. Paul would write, “Deacons, likewise, are to be men worthy of respect, sincere, not indulging in much wine, and not pursuing dishonest gain. They must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience. They must first be t...

Father’s Day – Ephesians 6:4; Hebrews 12:7-12 By Pastor Lee Hemen June 17, 2018 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 ...

Parents and children! - Ephesians 6:1-4 By Pastor Lee Hemen March 26, 2017 A child rebelling is as old as well couples having children. Some think that it is worse today than years ago, but it probably isn’t it just may seem that way. However, there has become a shift in how children are disciplined. The issue is not in whether a parent spanks or not but rather in the teaching that there are consequences for one’s actions. Consistency in parenting has degraded in our society and it has infected the school system as well. There are actually folks who think it is harmful to tell a child “no” or to hold them accountable for their behavior. This is simply not true nor is it emotionally healthy for the child to not know their boundaries. When we look into the pages of Scripture we can sometimes be hard pressed to find good examples of parenting yet we do discover some of the best advice for raising healthy, emotionally stable, and spiritually sound children. And here in Ephesians Paul gives...

The selflessness of Christ - Philippians 2:14-18 By Pastor Lee Hemen March 6, 2016 With every weed pulled I grumbled, "Why did I have to do this today? It's Saturday, I want to go play with my friends. This stinks! I hate weeding!" My father overheard me and reminded me that I should willingly give up a part of my Saturday to do the work because my mother needed it done. By weeding I was helping her use her time better and it displayed a selfless act. Of course being eight-years-old I didn't care about being selfless; selfishness is an eight-year-old's creed! Sadly, it seems the eight-year-old credo has infected many adult Christians as well. If we are to truly understand what Jesus did on the cross, we have to understand Jesus himself. Last week we discussed Jesus' humility and his being God. We also talked about how our attitude is to be the same as that of Jesus. Here in the next few verses we discover just how unselfish Jesus was and we come to reali...