PastorBlastor

The Church, Part Two – 1 Timothy 5:7 by Pastor Lee Hemen June 1, 2008 AM For many in our day and age “church” has become a place where people sit on Sunday mornings, to “worship God.” But how can a person worship the Lord if they are not a believer nor a member? Church is to be more than a place to hear a good “talk”, listen to Christian music, to get away from the kids, to sit back, relax, and to feel, well… you know… kind of “churchy”! Not only it this unbiblical, it is leading many away from what Jesus’ church is supposed be. The church, as defined by Jesus and the New Testament, takes its name from the word "ekklesia." It means an explicit group of individuals that are called out by Him to do a specific task. It is Jesus’ “body,” made up of His people who are called out to do His work and will. It is a sacred and holy thing, His ekklesia. Jesus taught the importance of His church: “For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.” (Matthew 18:20) He...

What It Means to Be A Good Soldier – Matthew 8:5-13 by Pastor Lee Hemen May 25, 2008 AM According to the historian Stephen E. Ambrose, General Douglas MacArthur was a good officer and a fine soldier that did not ask his men to do anything he was not willing to do himself. However, he was also known as a prima donna and often referred to himself in the first person. Meanwhile, Dwight Eisenhower was a quiet, confident officer that got things done and was willing to make the tough decisions and stick to them. Sometimes, to the point of irritating those around him. He followed orders and expected others to do the same, including someone like a General Patton or Montgomery where both had to be reigned in from time to time. In April 1951, MacArthur's habitual disregard of his superiors, especially President Truman, got him relieved him of command. When he came back to the United Sates he brazenly addressed Congress and made his famous quote that recalled: “Old soldiers never die; they ju...

The Church, Part One -- 1 Timothy 5:1-6 by Pastor Lee Hemen May 18, 2008 AM What should the ekklesia, the Body of Christ, His church be doing in the world? Some think that it is to get as many people through its front doors as possible. This seems like a good idea, if you are Wal-Mart, but that is not the New Testament concept of the church. The idea of the local church changed dramatically in the early 1900s in America. It went from small intimate family groups of individuals evangelizing and discipling the lost, to a big box concept of the mass weekend revivals every Sunday morning. The Billy Sunday-Dwight L. Moody concept of Sunday morning worship! However, if we take a biblical look at Scripture, we discover that the Apostles nor Jesus did not teach this! Contrary to some opinions the multiple feeding of the multitudes and Pentecost are not examples for the local ekklesia. What then is the church supposed to be? We find Paul exhorting Timothy, a new pastor who was kind of timid in ...

How Do We Display Godliness? - 1 Timothy 4:1-16 by Pastor Lee Hemen May 11, 2008 AM I can still hear my mother calling after us, “Boys, stay on the trail!” What? Did she think we would go and wander off and get lost? Please! We lived in the woods, we grew up in the woods, we ate and slept in the woods. We were the wild boys who owned the woods! ARGH! ARGH! ARGH! However, her concern was not so much that we would wander off and get lost, because that could have been a blessing in disguise for her, but rather we would fall, hurt ourselves, or that someone or something would grab us and haul us off and eat us. Then, she would have to clean up the mess or look for us, and she did not want to do either. I am not sure why, but when we were younger my mother was always worried about “wild animals” eating us while on picnics. Sadly, we read in the news today that there are many who wander off the trail and get lost, hurt, or eaten by “wild animals”! Maybe Mom was right after all? One reason Pa...

Do You Qualify to Serve? - 1 Timothy 3:1-15 By Pastor Lee Hemen May 4, 2008 AM Has anyone ever said to you, “Do as I say, not as I do!” Perhaps that person did not use these exact words, but their life demonstrated the haughty attitude these words reflect. Leaders who demand standards of behavior that they themselves are unwilling to meet discredit their own leadership. This principle, however, also works in reverse. Many followers have demanded standards of their leaders to which the followers themselves are unwilling to adhere. One purpose of high standards in leadership is so that leaders can help their followers develop strong character as well. Paul’s letter to Timothy encourages leaders to set a strong, positive example of Christian leadership. It also encourages followers to meet those same standards. Paul was addressing some problems Timothy had allowed to continue when he as a pastor should have handled. Women had been teaching the men about being leaders within the church, wh...