PastorBlastor

Confess! – Micah 2 By Pastor Lee Hemen October 16, 2016 All of us have likely heard the truism, “Confession is good for the soul.” It’s an old Scottish proverb but there is a word missing. The proverb actually reads, “Open confession is good for the soul.” Perhaps it supports open and honest confession from one caught in their transgressions or it could come from Catholic guilt. I believe its roots come from Jesus who declared, “Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven.” (Matthew 10:32 NIV) King David declared, “Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD”-- and you forgave the guilt of my sin.” (Psalms 32:5 NIV) Micah teaches us that confession is good for the soul; not just for individuals but for nations and its leaders as well. The Hebrews had forsaken their God, their faith, and their own people for selfish gain. Micah wanted to restore them before ...

The Temple! – John 2:13-25 By Pastor Lee Hemen October 26, 2014 I have heard sermons where the speaker equates today’s church as the new temple of God, however, we no longer continually offer sacrifices of live animals, we do not burn incense to represent the prayers of the people to God, and we do not wash our hands and feet before coming into worship nor do we bow down before the altar of God. And of course nothing separates us from the presence of God: Neither curtain, priest, nor mercy seat can keep us from his presence! While some of the things we do remind us of the temple or tabernacle of God, the church is radically different from the temple. The Temple was an important part of the Jewish worship of God. It represented the presence of God with his people and a place where folks could come to pray, praise, and sacrifice to God. Now it was Passover which was kept on the fourteenth day of Nisan, in commemoration of the Lord's passing over any home that had its doorposts painte...

Corruption: A path to nowhere! - Micah 3:1-12 By Pastor Lee Hemen June 23, 2013 AM One of my assignments for a course in seminary was to observe different kinds of worship services. They do this in order for students to not only experience different kinds of worship, but to also see how not to do worship. In one instance, students went to a church that met in an old theater. The service began with upbeat music that lasted about 30 minutes. The pastor came out following the music and announced he had received a vision from the Lord that 20 people would give him $20 and those who did so would receive a special blessing. He asked everyone to close their eyes and told those who would give the $20 to raise their hands. He then pretended to count and announced falsely that 20 had raised their hands. He then made the same false claim for those who would give $10! We live in a world where greedy people use unscrupulous methods to reap dishonest gain. Pretended good is often an ef...