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The righteous person! – Psalm 1 By Pastor Lee Hemen June 21, 2026 Many base their entire lives on their feelings. Emotionalism will get people into trouble if it isn’t tempered by rationality. The one thing my dad taught me was to rationally think things through, whether it was fixing something, doing a job, or my school work. Sadly, much of the church today is influenced irrationality. Colleges, the media, and politicians have all sold their souls on the altar of selfish emotionalism in order to gain an audience. Morality today is often dictated by how it makes someone feel so personal sin is regarded in the same way. The Psalmist teaches us that the righteous person does not live their life this way. The Christian is to live their life by their faith in Jesus and his teachings not their feelings or how we think he might have felt. Feeling good or bad about something does not make it righteous. Believers are to live holy lives. Our foundation is not in people, feelings, or what makes ...

The bread of life! -- John 6:34-59 By Pastor Lee Hemen March 8, 2026 They say that a person's sense of smell is one of the most powerful memory trigger inducers. You can smell a certain scent and it will immediately remind you of a person, place, or time of your life. I know this is true because when I smell Aqua Velva, an aftershave lotion, it immediately reminds me of my father. the same is true for fresh baked bread. The smell instantly reminds me of my mother's kitchen when I was growing up and the smell of her wonderful bread. She made the best bread in the world. We could hardly wait to get a thick warm slice with melted butter or peanut butter. As I expressed before, bread was an important part of everyday life, especially during Jesus' day. It was how people survived and was the meal for even the poorest of folks. However, it was not like the bread we enjoy today. It was flat, chewy, small, round, thick, and kind of tasteless, but it sustained people for the day. It...

A Wonderful Witness - Mark 14:3-9 By Pastor Lee Hemen February 8, 2026 AM What kind of impact does our Christianity have on others? If we were suddenly taken, would those we come into contact daily miss us because of our witness? We believe that faith in Jesus changes people, correct? Yet, has our faith changed us to the point whereby we make any kind of spiritual impact on those around us? I am not talking about being a good worker, showing up on time, being kind or studious because even very ungodly people can do these things quite well. Do people actually see and hear Jesus in our attitude and our actions? Paul wrote that “Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else.” (2 Corinthians 9:13 NIV) Would others say we are a wonderful witness for our Lord? There are some stories in the Bible that grab a hold of y...

A soldier’s faith! -- Matthew 8:5-13 By Retired Pastor Lee Hemen July 20, 2025 What kind of discipline do you display in life? I have a sister who never saw a shoe store she couldn’t pass by or for that matter a jewelry display she would not stop for. For me it used to be bookstores. However, self-discipline is a good thing and is why the military focuses on it so much. They want soldiers who will follow orders and are disciplined enough to be able to handle anything that is thrown their way during a conflict. In fact, they are trained to act as a team and to depend on one another. Jesus desired that his followers learn how to not only have faith in him but also to have faith in one another because he knew their future was going to be tough. And here in this depiction of an incident that Jesus has with a Roman centurion teaches us about what it means to have faith in him and to have the willingness to follow Jesus wherever he leads. Let’s take a look at a soldier’s faith… READ: Matthew...

Who do you know? – Matthew 7:21-23 By Pastor Lee Hemen June 15, 2025 x There are those who think they are Christian because they were born in America; there are those who think they are Christian because they are nice people and do nice things; and there are those who think they are Christian because they have a relative who was a believer, a pastor, or a deacon in a church -- yet, none of these beliefs makes one a Christian! And like my father used to say, “It’s not who you think you know, it’s who you actually are that matters.” Jesus understood this as well. Jesus knew that there were those in the crowd that day and perhaps his own disciples who thought that those who expressed piety or those who regularly observed all the festivals, ate the right foods, and kept their selves pure were God’s people. Nothing could have been further from the truth. Jesus knew that even being part of the High Priest’s family did not guarantee your relationship with God! We discover here that the better...

Psalm 34:8 – Eating Is More than Tasting September 8, 2024   Bill Crowder wrote in Our Daily Bread: “The beautiful bride, gripping her proud father’s arm, was poised to make her way to the altar. But not before the entrance of her thirteen-month-old nephew. Instead of carrying the more common ‘ring’—he was the ‘Bible bearer.’ In this way, the bride and groom, as committed believers in Jesus, wanted to testify to their love for Scripture. With minimal distraction, the toddler found his way to the front of the church. How illustrative it was that the toddler’s teeth marks were found on the leather cover of the Bible. What a picture of activity that’s fitting for believers in Christ or those who desire to know Him—to taste and take in Scripture.”   Jesus related to his followers, “Anyone who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day, because My flesh is real food and My blood is real drink. The one who eats My flesh and drinks My ...

Stewards, Not Fearmongers! By Retired Pastor Lee Hemen July 3, 2023 Ecclesiastes paints kind of a depressing picture of humanity and an individual’s moroseness, however, it also teaches us a lot about ourselves, the world around us, and our God. In his musings the writer states that “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 1:9 NIV84) The Bible Knowledge commentary states that “Solomon did not intend by this to deny human creativity but to deny the complete newness of people’s accomplishments.” However, “the constant repetition of previous accomplishments - is in essence true of the activity of people and is included in the observation that all things produce only indescribable weariness and lack of satisfaction…” Solomon was in a mental funk. I can relate. In this day and age, it is easy to become depressed. Sadly, there are those who use people’s tendency to be depressed to foster greater fear in things the...

The Censorship of Christians By Retired Pastor Lee Hemen December 13, 2022 In our cancel culture today, there are those who desire to censor anyone who disagrees with their perceived proclivity or progressive ideals. Socialism loves censorship, and it is the fuel that fans the flames of oppression. Christians should be on the forefront of opposing any censorship of speech. It is at the core of what we believe. When Jesus stood before the religious and political leaders of his day, they hated him because of the message he brought. It would upset their political and spiritual power over the population they were supposed to be leading. They wanted to keep their positions. Many Jews when they “had seen what Jesus did, put their faith in him.” (John 11:45 NIV84) Some of those who were concerned about what Jesus was teaching, went to the Pharisees, and told them what was happening. They were the “Karens” of their day. John relates that “Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeti...

Ramblings from Retirement – The Church, Jesus’ body in the World By Pastor (retired) Lee Hemen April 5, 2022 It is amazing to me that so many convoluted ideas have taken root in today’s Christianity. It makes me wonder if anyone, who calls them self a “Christian” truly takes the time to know what this means or if they ever read and study the Bible. Far too many churches have abandoned Bible Study, Sunday School, or whatever you want to call in favor of video symposiums or sermons in a second. And do not get me started on what people think and teach about the coming of Jesus. Most of it is founded on heretical teaching that has taken root like aggressive weeds in your lawn and has no basis in orthodox Christianity, the history of the church, or what the Bible actually says concerning the subject, anyway, this for another Rambling on another day. Jesus established the church for a reason, and we see this when he asked his followers, “Who do the people say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “Yo...

Ramblings from Retirement - Are You No Earthly Good? By Pastor (retired) Lee Hemen  April 3, 2022 There's an old saying that a Christian can be "so heavenly-minded you're no earthly good". It means that believers can be so focused on being holy, that they've lost sight of the world around them. Now this can be a good thing when it refers to one's looking to Jesus as they live, but it can be bad if they're so focused on the things of heaven that they forget about those around them that need Jesus. It can be bad in the life of a church or preacher that becomes so focused on knowledge or themselves that they become blinded to the needs of a hurting and sinful world around them. Jesus berated the spiritual teachers of his day because this was exactly what they were guilty of doing. Jesus really got into it with them, and he bluntly told them, ‘Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices--mint, dill and cummin....

Ramblings from Retirement – Get Out There and Share Jesus! By Pastor (retired) Hemen April 2, 2022 It is a beautiful day today and I am sitting here thinking about going for a bicycle ride. I like to get exercise by riding my bike and I’ve learned that I cannot simply think about it, I have to get up and go ride my bike. You know it is the same thing as far as witnessing to others about your faith. You can’t simply think about it, you have to get up and go out and do it. However, much of what we have been taught over the decades about witnessing is completely not found in Scripture. Let’s find out what I mean by this shall we? Every gospel from Matthew to John talks about Jesus’ followers going into the world and telling others about Jesus and who he is. In fact, even the Book of Acts speaks to this issue as well. “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have c...

Ramblings from Retirement – Words Do Mean Things By Pastor (Retired) Lee Hemen March 29, 2022 The other day I was outside working in my yard getting things ready for spring, and the growing season, I began to think about how people today think that by using the right words or phrases will solve our problems. Now I know that many of them do not truly believe this, and they are simply endorsing their own politically correct propaganda in order to bring about a change in the world that fits their own paradigm. However, I suddenly realized that these social misfits do not realize it but they are endorsing what Jesus taught. And, I am sure that many of them would be horrified to realize this truth. One afternoon while Jesus was berating the hypocrites in the crowds that constantly followed him, he bluntly told them, “Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit. You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil ...