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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 ...

You produce what you grow! – Matthew 7:15-20 By Pastor Lee Hemen June 9, 2019 We have a garden that I plant every spring. We usually grow tomatoes and green beans. We keep it pretty simple. One year I planted a variety of tomato that we really liked but a different one grew instead. I went back to the place where I had bought the plant and the clerk said that we were not the first to complain but what evidently had happened was kids had switched the tags on the young plants thinking that it was funny. Needless to say, that although the tomatoes were okay, they were not what we expected. People during Jesus’ day were dependent upon what they planted and there were a lot of factors that could be beneficial or detrimental to their future harvest. Weather, water, animals, and other things could influence the harvest. Jesus now uses familiar language about planting so that his listeners would fully understand what he meant about their spiritual growth as well. Let’s discover what Jesus taug...

The vine! - John 15:1-8 By Pastor Lee Hemen October 18, 2015 When I grew up in the orchards of Leavenworth, Washington they were mainly older trees that were quite tall, but now many of the orchards have gone to a newer style of tree where they are a lot smaller and pruned to be more one dimensional and they look more like a vine. Here in John's gospel when Jesus teaches about being the vine he is of course referring to grape vines but being raised in one of the largest apple growing areas in the world, I think of apples. The vine Jesus is referring to of course is him and the importance of remaining in him is likened to being cultivated on a vine. Jesus' followers are to be correctly connected to Jesus; no false claims can be tolerated and must be cut off and discarded. Jesus' disciples are entrusted with three duties: 1) to remain in Jesus, 2) to love God and one another, and 3) to witness concerning who he is. He is the vine, let's see what this means for our lives… ...

The Fruitful Labor of the Believer - Philippians 1:22-26 Pastor Lee Hemen March 15, 2009 AM How does a person measure their life? Some do it with the number of years they live, while others do it through the personal achievements they made during their lifetimes. Still others measure their lives through their financial success, the gathering of wealth, or material possessions. Some measure their lives by the family they have. While some of these are quite important, for the Christian there should be a different criteria in how we measure our lives. How do you measure your life? This is a incredibly crucial question for the Christian to consider in contemplating the conclusion and contentment of their continuation! It was for Paul and he mentions this to the Philippians! We find that fruitful labor for Paul was not measured in the number of notches he had on his witnessing belt nor was it found in the final tally of the bodies he registered through the doors of the churches he helped to...