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Ramblings from Retirement: Language Is More than Words! By Lee Hemen (retired pastor) December 7, 2020 People sure are loose with their language in our day. Not just with the foul-mouthed verbiage they use but with the excuses they make in order to justify their ungodly actions. It reminds me of King Saul and how he tried to use excuses and words to justify his own rebellion to God. He was told by Samuel, God’s spokesman (prophet), to “attack the Amalekites and totally destroy everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.” Now to our “sensitive” ears that may sound harsh, judgmental, and unjustified but it wasn't. We often try to judge history with our own preconceived notions of what is justified today but to do so is to error big time. We dare not judge people in history by today’s standards and especially God. He had pretty good reasons for why he wanted the Amalekites destroyed. God kn...

God Hears Us When We Call to Him! -- Psalm 86:1-13 By Pastor Lee Hemen April 26, 2020 I can remember my mother asking me, “Young man, did you hear what I said?” Of course no matter if I did or not the correct answer was always “yes”. Being distracted is the profession of teenage boys and unfocused believers. It is good to know therefore that God is never distracted and always hears us when we call to him. David, in this Psalm, was crying out to the Lord and if we just read what David says we might think that perhaps God had been distracted. The reason we would think this is because we often are distracted ourselves in how we talk with God, listen to him, and how we follow through with what he asks. David comes to the Lord asking that God hear him when he calls to him, let’s discover what this means… READ: Psalm 86:1-13 It is a curious thing but when we all of sudden need help we are often willing to humble ourselves in order to get a quick response thinking that we can perhaps fool God...

Fight the good fight! – 1 Timothy 6:11-21 By Pastor Lee Hemen March 4, 2018 When the father asked his little boy what he should do when another child tried to bully him, he was surprised when the little tike replied, “Hit him hard, hit him fast, and run like crazy!” As children of the King we are to respond differently to the whims of life than the world would. While we are encouraged to “fight the good fight” it is a matter of faith and not fists. Believers are to be different than the world. Society today frowns on anyone taking a stand for righteousness. Paul wrote that a “time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. (2 Timothy 4:3-4 NIV)” Paul knew that people could be so perverted that “Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things...

God is our teacher! – Psalm 25 By Pastor Lee Hemen September 10, 2017 I walked over to her and knelt down to ask her why she was crying. All the other kindergartners were having a great time running and playing with one another, only she was sitting all alone and tearful. She looked up at me with tear-stained cheeks and lamented, “Oh, Mr. Lee no one wants to play with me!” I asked, “Did you ask anyone if they would play with you?” “No”, was her reply, “I just knew they wouldn’t want to!” I went to the nearest group of girls and asked them, “Would you do me a favor?” And they all responded they would, so I asked them if they could use another person in their group to play with and of course they could and soon she was playing with her newfound friends. Sometimes we can feel all alone in whatever self-imposed predicament we have placed ourselves. It is good to know therefore that God has provided for us during these times when we need someone to come along side of us and teach us to ...

God listens! -- Psalm 40 By Pastor Lee Hemen August 6, 2017 “Are you listening to me?” was one of my mother’s favorite questions to ask me when I was younger. She wanted to make sure I understood what she had just told me to do; however there were times when as a young person I wished my parents would have listened to me as well. All young people go through this kind of stage in their life. In fact senior adults often express how younger folks do not always listen to them because they think they are too old, senile, or something. Isn’t it good to know then that the believer has someone who always listens to them no matter what age they are? The Psalmist David knew and experienced God intimately. In our day and age there are a myriad of books, articles, and seminars that try to help Christians to experience God intimately. David gives us some good advice and examples as to just how God listens to those he loves. Let’s discover what he writes this morning… READ: Psalm 40 Patience...

The Way of the Lord! – Psalm 19 By Pastor Lee Hemen June 25, 2017 In Disney’s “Alice in Wonderland” the Queen of Hearts asks Alice where she comes from, Alice tries to explain that she is trying to find her way home. The Queen retorts, “Your way? All ways here are my ways!” We have all known folks who radiate the notion that “It’s my way or the highway!” And this might pass muster if you are an infant, toddler, or preschooler but it gets old and very tiring from an adult. Yet many live their lives this way. Perhaps they need to reconsider their way of life and consider the way of the Lord instead? Here in this Psalm we discover the ways of the Lord are truly magnificent. In fact in many ways they are quite indescribable and incomprehensible. The Psalmist David tries his best to describe for his listeners the way of the Lord. Let’s discover what he sings… READ: Psalm 19 As amazing as some of things mankind has created none of it compares to the creation of God. The Psalmist Davi...

Prayer! - Matthew 6:5-15 By Pastor Lee Hemen June 4, 2017 I have learned a lot by being a people watcher and listener. When I was younger it was hard for me to keep my mouth shut; I know it seems hard to believe but it is true! So, over the years I have made it a goal to really focus on how people pray and what they pray and in doing so I have noticed several things. First, a lot of folks misunderstand what prayer is and secondly, interestingly, they copy others in how they pray. Now that I have made you conscious and uncomfortable of how you should pray in front of me, I believe we need to learn what prayer is all about. Prayer for the Hebrew during Jesus’ day was much by rote. They were kind of “Catholic” in a sense in that they all got together and recited similar prayers all together at the same time. They were not as dreadful as some religions and their overly mind-numbing chanted prayers that begin to sound like so much background white noise than actual prayer. Jesus’ discip...

Forgiveness! - John 21:15-25 By Pastor Lee Hemen May 1, 2016 My father asked us what we should tell our mother when had not come home right away when she called. I grew up in a day and age when mothers would stand outside of their front doors and holler down the street for their children to "come home, it's dinner!" The only phones we had were the rotary dial kind and most children actually played outside and walked home by themselves! We both automatically responded, "Sorry." My Dad remarked, "Being sorry is not good enough, you need to apologize to your mother." Saying your "sorry" is totally different than being remorseful or repentant. The first is more of a response in order to deflect any consequences for our wrong doing or ungodly behavior, while repentance comes from being inwardly broken and open confession. Forgiveness cannot happen without repentance. Impulsive Peter had vehemently said he would never deny Jesus and of course...

The Testimony! -- John 1:19-28 By Pastor Lee Hemen September 28, 2014 Did you ever witness something you had a hard time explaining? I have. We were headed home from camping and the night sky filed with a brilliant light that flashed across the starlit darkness. At first we thought it was a UFO, but we knew they did not exist and so then we wondered where in the world the streaking light was coming from. We then realized that we were near Vandenberg Air Force Base. It is a United States Air Force Base located 9.2 miles northwest of Lompoc, California. It is under the jurisdiction of the 30th Space Wing, Air Force Space Command. And then we understood immediately what the strange light was, a rocket fired from Vandenberg. A person’s testimony is simply them trying to explain to others what they have experienced and witnessed. Here in John’s gospel we are discovering what he experienced and witnessed concerning Jesus. Sometimes it was difficult for him to do so, but John persisted in his...