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Showing posts with the label gentleness

Ramblings from Retirement – Real Dads

 Ramblings from Retirement – Real Dads By Retired Pastor Lee Hemen June 21, 2021 My father was one of those quiet dads that didn’t say much but when he did you usually listened. My older siblings had a hard time with this which I could never figure out. However we all knew that if Dad said, “don’t” it was don’t, if he said, “yes” it was yes, and the same with his “no”. No was no and we didn’t dare go ask Mom. My father had advice he would offer up to us once in a while that I kind of tucked away. He would tell us that “Nothing in life is free.” Meaning that there is always a “catch” and we needed to be aware of this fact. Another was similar when he would remind us that the “Government never gives you something for nothing.” He would also remind us that “Freedoms are easily lost but hard to regain.” This last one I did not understand until later in life. He would offer up humorous ones as well, like “Do not be so open minded that you let your brains fall out of your head” and that ...

Christ’s church is to be unified! – Ephesians 4:1-6

Christ’s church is to be unified! – Ephesians 4:1-6 By Pastor Lee Hemen March 15, 2020 As a family we had one another’s back so-to-speak. Even though my brother and I would often try to wrestle one another to the death, tease, and bug each other we still stood up for and protected one another above anyone else. It was a matter of family unity. Families protect one another. There is a false notion that church unity means that if you disagree with one another about something then you are not in the will of God, nothing could be further from the truth. As the body of Christ we are his family, brothers and sisters in the Lord trying our best to do his work and will in a sinful world. Unity does not mean we agree on everything but that we protect, defend, and encourage each other in the Lord! How then is Christ’s church to be unified? I’m glad you asked… READ: Ephesians 4:1-6 Jesus and his disciples did not agree on everything but they were unified in him, except one who later betrayed him...

The Wise Life! -- James 3:13-18

The Wise Life! -- James 3:13-18 By Pastor Lee Hemen June 22, 2014 Where does wisdom come from? Does it come about because of age? Does it come from the amount of knowledge one knows or has acquired? Mark Twain retorted, “The person who has had a bull by the tail once has learned 60 or 70 times as much as a person who hasn't.” Another quote that is often falsely attributed to Twain is the one that states, “When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years!” My father used to remind us that “Just because you think you know something, does not make it true.” We find this pithy bit of wisdom to be quite true in our day and age whereby so many think they know God when in fact they know nothing about him at all. Both the psalmist and the writer of Proverbs agree that, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom…. (Psalms 111:10 ...

How to Stand Firm In the Lord - Philippians 4:1-7

How to Stand Firm In the Lord - Philippians 4:1-7 By Pastor Lee Hemen June 21, 2009 AM What is to be the main character quality that Christians are to display to the world around them and to one another? When I have asked that question before I get all kinds of answers. However, if we were to look into the pages of Scripture we would find that the one overriding character quality that believers are to display far above all others that, in truth, all others flow from is: the peace of God. It is from this inner confidence that flows from our faith whereby joy, gentleness, and assurance are found. In fact, when you find a Christian that has difficulty with his fellow believers it is because they have no inner peace. They cannot let go and allow God to work in the lives of others. My father taught me something I have never forgotten. It was after Ed and I had fought about whatever. All I remember is that I had said some pretty harsh things to Ed, and he had with me as well. My father grabb...