PastorBlastor

Ramblings from Retirement - No Starfleet Future Awaits Humanity By Pastor (Retired) Lee Hemen March 28, 2022 I’ve been watching the latest installments of “Picard” on Paramount+ and have just gotten a huge dose of Hollyweird’s notion of what it thinks of the world at large and mankind in general. Picard and his crewmates have to go back in time to the year 2024 to fix the timeline. While there Picard meets up with the character Guinan, an alien being that lives a long time and is affected by time. Anyway, she is saddened by what she is witnessing here on earth and is getting ready to bug out when Picard enlists her help. She sees humanity’s hatred, pettiness, and greed but nowhere is the real reason given: Mainly mankind’s sinful nature. The Apostle Paul related that the only fix for mankind’s problem of sin was the righteousness found in Jesus Christ. He writes, “This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have si...

 Tired of Homelessness Making My Community Third-World By Lee Hemen August 2, 2021 People are getting fed up with wear a mask, don’t wear a mask and rightly so. We begin to feel like ping-pong balls. What baffles me however is the fact that we have begun to allow so many things into our lives that we no longer are angered at them. The enslavement of mandates is one such occurrence but the other that frustrates me is homelessness. I moved into my home in 1977, it is now paid for and I am looking forward to my retirement. Through a lot of hard work, lean times, and good times we have succeeded. Yet disturbingly I now have to weekly chase wandering indigents out of my trash and recycle bins. Homeless camps have cropped up in my county like weeds on a springtime lawn. Everywhere you turn there are tents, cardboard shacks, or dilapidated RVs parked on every vacant lot. And now I learn that the Sherriff Department or local city police will do nothing about bums abusing my community becau...

How to Find Comfort In a Harsh World! – Luke 24:31-40 By Pastor Lee Hemen June 14, 2020 Sometimes example can be so much better than a lecture. Some of the best teachers I have had growing up were those who were willing to come alongside of me and show me how to do something rather than just tell me how to do it. While the Bible teaches us how to live; and whom we should believe in -- it cannot mentor us like someone who has already been there and done that. This is how we can learn to find comfort in a harsh world! If you think your world is falling apart just remember the disciples who had followed Jesus for three and a half years and now had to come to terms with his death. Some were in hiding in fear of being discovered by the authorities, captured, and tortured or crucified, and others had just dejectedly decided to head home. For them, everything they had believed in had come to a horrendous end, what was left? Jesus decided in his wisdom to show them how to find comfort in...

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...

Lepers gotta love ‘em! – Matthew 8:1-4 By Pastor Lee Hemen June 30, 2019 There are folks in our lives that are just tough to love. You know what I mean; those who have nothing good to say about anyone else, those who are constantly jealous over others and what they have or do, or those folks who constantly gripe about almost everyone and anything. Then there are those folks who just have to gain attention by constantly gripping over their latest ailment, sickness, or hypochondria. It can be difficult to be around such folks in life and they can become or be seen as the “lepers” of our day and age. In Jesus’ day there were skin ailments that were often seen as leprosy but actually were not, however, I believe that Jesus and his followers knew the difference between minor skin diseases and actual leprosy. After Jesus was finished speaking to the crowds he heads back down the hillside and meets up with a man who is a leper. How Jesus interacts with and has compassion on him displays for u...

Why worry? – Matthew 6:25-34 By Pastor Lee Hemen May 5, 2019 We worry and fret about so many things in life: Clothes, money, family, relationships, how others see us, our schooling, jobs, and on and on and on it goes. My wife will tell you I am a grade “A” number one worrier. I know that I shouldn’t be but sometimes it just creeps up on me and takes over. I know it comes from when I was kid and our financial uncertainty and migrant home status growing up. God has done a lot in my life to help me to not worry so much. The Hebrews of Jesus’ day had good reason to worry about a lot of things: daily food, housing, if their clothing wore out, and often finding daily work in order to pay the bills and feed their selves. Then there were the Romans, the pagan influence that surrounded them, and their own spiritual and governmental leadership which exacted harsh taxes and personal demands from them as well. Yet in the midst of this Jesus teaches his followers that they truly did not need to wor...

Fasting! – Matthew 6:16-18 By Pastor Lee Hemen April 14, 2019 There are some Christian disciplines that have gone by the wayside in our day and age. Of course becoming a hermit and forcing every bit of personal contact out of your life is not what Jesus meant when he said for us to “go into all the world”. And I confess I like zippers, buttons, and running water. However the disciplines of giving and prayer should be practiced. Today we are going to look at the discipline of fasting and why Jesus spoke about it. I remember the first time I led a group of youth to fast. After the first four hours some of them were already going into fits about being hungry and that it was not such a good idea for them to do. We did it to focus on world hunger and our fast was only for 24 hours. You would have thought it was for 24 days! Let’s discover what Jesus taught about fasting… READ: Matthew 6:16-18 We have to understand why Jesus mentioned fasting here and what it meant for the Hebrew people befo...

Vows, revenge, and enemies! – Matthew 5:33-48 By Pastor Lee Hemen March 24, 2019 Foul language, disrespect, arrogance and revengeful attitudes have become a societal norm. So much so you have those who actually think that you can dictate through laws how to make people act respectful toward one another. The Washington State Legislature is considering a law that would enforce rules against bullying in schools. Believe me it will not stop the perceived problem they are trying to solve. Laws are a Band-Aid approach to a deeper problem. Remember Jesus was trying to get his audience to realize that it isn’t what comes out of a person that matters as much as what is inside a person. Jesus taught that “The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks. (Luke 6:45 NIV)” That which is “stored up” inside of us is what truly shows the world what w...

God is our fortress! – Psalm 31 By Pastor Lee Hemen August 20, 2017 When you hear the word “fortress” what do you think of? Perhaps a castle built high on a cliff made of strong stone, a thick concrete-reinforced bunker deep in the ground bristling with barb wire, or an impenetrable stockade with massive cannons. The word “fortress” conjures up thoughts of safety, security, or protection for those faced with an enemy that seeks to destroy them. The Christian lives in a world where we face such an enemy and where we need to find a strong and secure fortress. David in his distress seeks to find such a fortress and he does in the arms and strength of the Lord. It is a fortress every believer can reach and find safety in a world of darkness and sin. It is a place of quiet rest in a restless world and shelter from the windswept storms of life. David describes for us such a fortress; therefore let’s find out what he writes concerning the fact that God is our fortress… READ: Psalm 31 ...

Micah 7 - Where to put your hope! By Pastor Lee Hemen November 20, 2016 The famous line in George Lucas’ movie, A New Hope, is now a classic. Princess Leia pleas for General Kenobi’s help in their struggle against the evil Empire in a holographic message and she utters the line, “Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi, you’re my only hope!” In the face of unspeakable evil people often cry out for a savior, someone who will come and rescue them. In Micah’s prophecy we discover that while the nation of Israel was going to be judged, there was hope. Micah’s pronouncement of Israel’s fate was not well received by the people it was addressed to; bad news usually isn’t well received by anyone. Yet in the midst of his prophetic discourse there is hope. There was hope for Israel and for future followers of the Lord. God will rescue his people but it will not be in the way they imagined it. Let’s discover where we are to place our hope this morning. READ: Micah 7 It is truly sad that so many people a...

The Compassionate Life! – James 2:1-10 By Pastor Lee Hemen May 25, 2014 President Bill Clinton in response to AIDS activist Bob Rafsky at the Laura Belle nightclub in Manhattan, related, “I feel your pain.” It has become the quintessential “touchy-feely” comment of many and the laughing stock of others. There are those who think that humanity has the capability to develop compassion through shear will or a “shift in consciousness”. The Dalai Lama writes, “To be happy, we should devote ourselves to developing our own peace of mind; the more we care for the happiness of others, the greater our own peace of mind. Therefore, we must develop compassion for others in order to be truly happy.” There is one gigantic problem to this faulty thinking, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”! (Romans 3:23 NIV) and “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” (1 John 1:8 NIV) We cannot simply delude ourselves into thinking, “Everyday, in every w...