PastorBlastor

Are you listening? By Pastor Lee Hemen April 12, 2015 I like listening in on conversations. Yes, I suppose you could call me an eavesdropper, but really this carries with it so many nasty connotations. I prefer to be known as an observer of people and listening to them is part of the character of someone like me. Why just the other day I was listening to my grandson and wife talking together. He had climbed onto her lap and was enjoying a book with her. She exclaimed, "I like it when you climb into my lap and snuggle with me." Then I heard him giggle in response and reply, "I like snuggling with you too grandma." Now, how in the world could anyone not want to overhear that! I am a fulltime pastor and a part time "recess teacher" during the week at a local elementary school. I have learned by listening in on conversations how many of the children there are neglected, loved, pampered, or encouraged. I have discovered that in fact many of these children who s...

Mary: Unwavering focus! – Luke 10:38-42; John 12:1-8 By Pastor Lee Hemen May 20, 2012 AM In 1941, Father Maximilian Kolbe, a Polish priest, was arrested by the Nazis and taken to Auschwitz for publishing “inappropriate” literature. In the horrific environment of the concentration camp, Father Kolbe ministered to his fellow prisoners. Then one day, after a prisoner had escaped, soldiers lined the men up and began selecting ten to die in the starvation bunker. When one prisoner was selected, he cried, “My wife and children! What will they do?” Hearing the man’s cry, Father Kolbe volunteered to die in his fellow prisoner’s place. The prisoner for whom Kolbe sacrificed himself survived Auschwitz. In fact, he lived another 53 years. However, he never tired of telling people what Father Kolbe had done for him. He stated that as long as he lived, he would consider it his duty to tell people everywhere about the heroic sacrifice Maximilian Kolbe had made for him. Shouldn’t believer...

The Cost of Christ - Mark 9:30-37 By Pastor Lee Hemen June 27, 2010 AM Sometimes we can hear someone say something to us but not understand what they are saying. There are several reasons for this. They could be speaking a foreign language, we could be hard of hearing, we could be distracted, or we could simply be ignoring the other person. Kind of like the old Peanuts cartoons where all the adults sounded like: “Wah, wah, wah, wah, waah!” However, there are times when we hear the other person speak, and we truly do not understand what they are trying to tell us. I had a calculus class like that. My Mother had a favorite expression she often used with me: “Young man, listen to me when I am talking to you! I am not speaking simply to hear myself speak!” It seemed, as I was growing up, she said this a lot to me. Perhaps it was because I was so easily distracted or maybe it was the fact I did not want to hear what she had to say. Whatever the reason, we find that Jesus’ disc...