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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 – Who Is Your Neighbor By Retired Pastor Lee Hemen May 29, 2021 Sitting here this morning I did what I always do, I prayed for my neighbors. I pray for them by name and street address. I use the Bless Every Home app. You can also go onto their website and do it that way. I like it because I can edit the names to keep them as up-to-date as possible. I also try to walk three to four times a week throughout my neighborhood with my grandkids or by myself, for exercise and to keep up with what is happening in my neighborhood. I’ve met more neighbors on my walks, waved to them, said “Hi.” or stopped to talk with them. I pick up concerns and blessings which I pray for when I pray for them and this brings me to one of my favorite passages of Scripture. In Luke’s gospel we find Jesus speaking to a very intelligent young man: “On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. ‘Teacher,’ he asked, ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ ‘What is written in t...

Ramblings from Retirement: Hypocrisy can run silent and deep! By Lee Hemen (Retired Pastor) November 14, 2020 I learned in High School that in ancient Roman religion and myth Janus was the god of beginnings and endings, gates, transitions, time, duality, and often his image was found in doorways, passages, or the frames of houses. He was often depicted with two faces, one facing forward and one backward. In theaters we often see two face masks: One depicted by a frown and the other by a smile. The word hypocrisy comes from the Greek word meaning taking on an assumed character which is not truly your own; being two-faced. When one is called “two-faced” it comes from the idea of being a hypocrite. Christians are often called hypocrites by those who do not understand what it means to be “Christian.” Christians are made perfect in the eyes of God through their faith and trust in Christ, but they are not perfect in their humanity. Does this mean Christians should not strive to be what they ...

 Ramblings from Retirement: The most important time is now. By Lee Hemen (Retired Pastor) November 2, 2020 I went out to lunch the other day because I had been working at church trying to get our live video feed working properly. (It is still a work in progress.) I stopped by and got something and in the fast food place was a young man sitting there reading his Bible. Curious, I asked him which book he was reading from and he related it was Genesis. We had a short discussion about the Scriptures and I got my order and ate. This got me to thinking though about the words of Psalm 119:11 where the Psalmist tells God: “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. (Psalms 119:11 NIV)” These are good thoughts and I remembered how I was encouraged to do just that as a young Christian. In thinking about this however I realized that few looked at the words before this verse or those afterwards as well. So let’s take a quick look at what the Psalmist writes: “How can...

The Word of God Instructs Those Who Love Him! -- Proverbs 15:12-16, 20-23 By Pastor Lee Hemen May 24, 2020 I remember well when I was in high school I developed pneumonia and had to miss over a week of school. When I got back I quickly caught up and studied hard in order to regain the ground I had lost. In a history class I had to take a midterm exam that I had missed. Afterwards I was accused by a classmate who took the exam with me of cheating. The teacher confronted me. I was shocked and hurt even though I was able to prove beyond any doubt that I had not done so. Her rebuke stung. Receiving a rebuke is never something we look forward to and most of us do not like going through one when it happens. Within the pithy statements of Proverbs we discover over and over both the rebuke of God and the wisdom of listening to him. In reading Proverbs we discover that the Word of God instructs those who love him, let’s discover how this morning… READ: Proverbs 15:12-16, 20-23 It is o...

God uses the foolish things! – 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 By Pastor Lee Hemen January 26, 2020 When things change it can seem foolish to those who get used to the way things as they are. Yet we can be the “foolish” ones when we make demands like: “If they do not do it this way I will…” or “If it isn’t done the way I like, then…” We are like the petulant child who doesn’t like the way the game is going and takes his ball home. However, we learn that God often uses the foolish things of the world. The Jews had gotten used to being the slaves of whichever power marched through their homeland. While they mouthed their allegiance to God within their hearts they had truly stopped believing. And now God had sent himself in the form of a man bringing a different message than the one they were used to. It seemed as foolishness just as it does in our day and age that have gotten used to living their lives the way they want instead of following the Lord. We learn that God uses the foolish things. READ...

Stars! - Philippians 2:12-18 By Pastor Lee Hemen July 8, 2018 There was a kid’s cartoon TV show called Jimmy Neutron and one of the many characters was a guy who was the quintessential movie agent. He would tell other characters that he could make them “a super star!” Of course the whole idea was that he was trying to get people to think he could make anyone a “super star!” which wasn’t true. It seems however with the advent of reality TV and social media like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube and such that many think they can get their fifteen minutes of fame. But does that make you a “super star”? The definition of what constitutes stardom has been redefined. Spiritual stardom is quite different. We learned last week that humility plays a huge role in achieving this status. Paul wanted his fellow disciples to become all they were meant to be in God’s kingdom. There was and is however no easy way to the goal of spiritual stardom. Yet for those who strive for it the race and its finish is...

The Deceivers Will Come! - Mark 13:1-6 By Pastor Lee Hemen December 26, 2010 AM Mark 13 is sometimes called the eschatological discourse, the prophetic discourse, the Olivet discourse, or the Little Apocalypse. It depends on whether you see within these verses Jesus teaching about the culmination of events, future events, if you are concerned about where it occurred, or if you believe that Mark wanted us to read about the end of the world. However, we do not find the usual visionary and cryptic language that most apocalyptic literature contains. Rather, we read more of a practical and ethical discourse and warning by Jesus to his followers. He wanted them to be aware that deceivers will come and what they needed to do about it when it occurred. Whether one believes in the biblical narrative of the end times or not we live in a day and age where folks love to speculate about the end of the world as we know it. From movies that cater to pagan Aztec calendars predicting it or ...

A Proper Christian “Hello!” -- Titus 1:1-4 October 19, 2008 AM By Pastor Lee Hemen Titus was a Gentile convert who had served and traveled with the Apostle Paul “to Jerusalem… with Barnabas.” Paul “went in response to a revelation” that he preach “the gospel… among the Gentiles.” The church leadership there felt that Paul “was running or had run [his] race in vain.” But he had not, because “not even Titus, who was with [Paul], was compelled to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek.” (Galatians 2:1-3). Titus knew, like Paul, that his salvation was in Christ alone and not in following the law. Titus was therefore a “gentile” witness! (2Corinthians 7:6-7; 8:6). In approximately 63-64 AD, after leaving Timothy in Ephesus, Paul and Titus traveled on to Crete. Paul then left Titus behind to help provide leadership for the Cretan churches (Titus1:5). Afterward the apostle wrote this letter and had it delivered to Titus. Christians share a commonality of faith, knowledge, and eternal hope...

The Benefits of Wisdom – Proverbs 1:1-19 By Pastor Lee Hemen January 13, 2008 AM Imagine that you have a child who watches way too much television. (This may not be too hard for some of us to do!) You’ve struggled with how to discipline your child and redirect their interests into more wholesome activities. Where would you look for advice regarding this parenting dilemma? Would you read books by noted psychologists, talk to Christian friends, look on the Internet, or ask Doctor Phil? In today’s world many groups and individuals claim to have solid advice for addressing life’s problems. The world is filled with conflicting voices, all claiming to speak wisdom. Some people are easily persuaded to follow those who speak with assumed authority. Others have concluded that people must determine what is wisdom for themselves and pursue it, denying that any one “wisdom” is appropriate for everyone. In contrast, God expects people to find wisdom for living through a reverent, obedient, and lovi...