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Ramblings from Retirement – How to Live! By Retired Pastor Lee Hemen April 10, 2021 There are some truly disturbing trends in Christianity today; one is where folks think that God just winks and smiles at their “discretions”, otherwise known as sins, and those who think that if they follow a set of rules or guidelines then they will be loved by God. Neither is correct and will result in a false sense of spiritual security that will ultimately end in eternal death. Peter writes believers when he tells them to “Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy.’ (1 Peter 1:13-16 NIV84)” Sure the writer of Hebrews tells us that we are t “Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be h...

United! - Acts 2:42-47 By Pastor Lee Hemen June 11, 2017 Unity, what does it mean to be unified? I know as a military unit you have to work together to achieve the same objective in order to win the battle. As a company you have to be on the same page as to what your objectives, projections, and costs are. And if you are a church the Scriptures teach us that we are to be united as well in order to achieve the kingdom of God here on earth until Jesus returns, but what does that mean and what does it look like? In our day and age few churches teach about unity except as a spiritual concept or construct but few believers understand or know what it means for the body of Christ, his church, to be unified. In the book of Acts, which is the early history of the first century church we discover that they were united in purpose. Let’s find out what that means for us today… READ: Acts 2:42-47 If a group wants to achieve anything worthwhile the members have to be on the same page and work...

Family, what are you going to do? -- John 7:1-10 By Pastor Lee Hemen February 22, 2015 A comedian once quipped, "The problem with relatives is that they tend to be family." I am not sure exactly what he meant by that, but I am sure there are some folks in our families we would rather not relate to. Families can be close or they can be dysfunctional, sadly, far too many in our day and age are the latter. We know that Jesus had younger brothers; James, Joseph, Jude and Simon to name four (Mark 6:3), and some sisters as well. We also know that Mary was his mother was still alive and yet Joseph, his adoptive father, was probably dead by the time he began his ministry. And, we also discover that his family did not fully understand Jesus' calling nor who he was (Mark 3:21, 31) and tried to dissuade him from following the path God had set for him. I remember well when I decided to follow God's calling in my life, how my own family reacted. It wasn't all rose blossoms and...

The Official’s Son -- John 4:43-54 By Pastor Lee Hemen December 7, 2014 There is an old saying that states, “It’s all fun until someone gets hurt” and this is more often the truth about our lives as well. What is true on the playground is true for life as well. Here is what I mean: Many do not give a single thought as to the consequences of their lives or their actions until the fun suddenly and abruptly come to a screeching halt due to sickness, death, injury, or just plain life happening. Then and only then do we cry out for the help we have always needed thinking that God should be at our beck and call. Here in John’s gospel we find a royal official who had it all. Life was good and good things happen to good people, right? He had his office, his power, his money and recognition but now all of that is worthless because his child is sick and dying. When life falls apart, as it always does, who are you going to trust for strength, answers, and hope? Let’s discover what o...

Worship: Going through the motions! – Genesis 4:3-7; Leviticus 10:1-2; Matthew 15:7-9 By Pastor Lee Hemen November 17, 2013 AM Last week, we talked about worship being God’s idea. I heard a story concerning a pastor and his first Sunday in a new church presenting the children’s message. It seems the sanctuary in the new church had some magnificent stained glass windows, so his message centered on how each of us is called to help make up the whole picture of life (the life of the community of the faithful). Like the pictures in the windows, it takes many little panels of glass to make the whole picture. And then he said, “You see each one of you is a little pane.” And then pointing to each child, “You’re a little pane. And you’re a little pane. And you’re a little pane. And...” It took a few moments before he realized why everyone was laughing so hard. Sometimes, we don’t realize that we are just going through the motions. Our worship can be like that as well. We can simply show up and ...

2 John – Walking in the truth of God’s love! By Pastor Lee Hemen June 9, 2013 AM In some cultures, the elderly are venerated and are respected for their wisdom and long life. When I was younger, I thought all older adults were wise, moral, and never made mistakes. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that not all senior adults were wise, very moral, and in fact had wasted their lives in ungodly living! I discovered this to be true from a great uncle who drank like a fish, swore like a merchant marine, and no one liked him because of his constant anger. Yet, there are wonderful truths we can learn from godly senior adults in our church. We should listen to those among us who are older that exhibit a holy lifestyle. They can teach us a lot about walking in the truth of God’s love! The little letter of John that we will look at today is one of the shortest letters in the Bible, containing only 245 words in the Greek text. History, tradition, and the wording itself give testi...

Hebrews 13:18-25 – Vaya con dios! Pray! By Pastor Lee Hemen February 10, 2013 AM Saying “good-bye” is always tough with those you love and care about in life. Roger Ebert, the film critic, who has had multiple surgeries for cancer and was once declared dead agrees. He wrote in an e-mail interview that death scenes in movies put unrealistic pressure on the rest of us to be profound. “After all,” he wrote, “those scenes are well-written, directed, and performed by professionals.” Last words have an almost mystical significance in both Eastern and Western cultures, in part because they hold out the possibility of revealing a deep insight or lifting a veil on the meaning of life. Japanese poets wrote haiku at the moment of their death; Jesus related his forgiveness for those who murdered Him. What would you say if you knew the words you uttered could be the last thing the folks you are saying “good-bye” to were your last. We know the Bible tells us that, “The prayer of a righ...

Of Figs and Phonies - Mark 11:11-21 By Pastor Lee Hemen October 17, 2010 AM George Barna does research for Christianity and faith practices in America. Recently he completed a study on the “Diversity of Faith in Various U.S. Cities.” It revealed nothing new, except there are some interesting discoveries. Of course, in the Portland, OR market, which includes Vancouver, WA, we discover that they had one of the lowest shares of self-identified Christians at 71% right behind San Francisco. In fact, 16% of this market identified itself as agnostic or atheist with 42% stating they had not attended any church service within the last six months! Notice that the figures do not add up to 100% and the reason is obvious: While many may consider themselves “spiritual” or even “Christian,” they are unwilling to specifically identify themselves. Are these folks hypocrites, phonies, or just plain ignorant of what faith means? Interestingly, during Jesus’ day he faced similar problems conce...

Some that Are Blind See - Mark 8:22-26 By Pastor Lee Hemen May 2, 2010 AM There are those in the world, like the Cheshire Cat from Lewis Carroll’s “Through the Looking Glass,” who actually believe their mad rendition of life is a worthy philosophy to follow. It is a rather odd path to walk: Alice “began, rather timidly… Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?” “That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat. “I don’t much care where…” said Alice. “Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the Cat. “…so long as I get SOMEWHERE,” Alice added as an explanation. “Oh, you’re sure to do that,” said the Cat, “if you only walk long enough.” And, sadly, that is what a lot of folks adhere to for their life’s philosophy. “If only you walk long enough.” Jesus would declared, “Leave them; they are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.” (Matthew 15:14) Jesus knew that some of those who think they can see sp...