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The Censorship of Christians By Retired Pastor Lee Hemen December 13, 2022 In our cancel culture today, there are those who desire to censor anyone who disagrees with their perceived proclivity or progressive ideals. Socialism loves censorship, and it is the fuel that fans the flames of oppression. Christians should be on the forefront of opposing any censorship of speech. It is at the core of what we believe. When Jesus stood before the religious and political leaders of his day, they hated him because of the message he brought. It would upset their political and spiritual power over the population they were supposed to be leading. They wanted to keep their positions. Many Jews when they “had seen what Jesus did, put their faith in him.” (John 11:45 NIV84) Some of those who were concerned about what Jesus was teaching, went to the Pharisees, and told them what was happening. They were the “Karens” of their day. John relates that “Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeti...

Ramblings from Retirement – Meditating On God’s Word By Pastor (Retired) Lee Hemen April 1, 2022 I was thinking about a notion that I have heard my entire Christian life, namely that we are better believers if we hide God’s Work in our hearts by memorizing it perfectly. Mainly this teaching comes from the words of the Psalmist who wrote, “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you (Psalms 119:11 NIV84).” Except this is total balderdash. Now do not get me wrong because if you want to memorize the Bible verse by verse, go ahead and do so. It might be good for you to do so but this isn’t what the Psalmist meant. In fact, nowhere in the pages of our Bibles did the original authors want you to be able to quote a specific passage at any given time in order to be a better Believer in God. Certainly they encourage us to know the words of the Lord but what did they really mean? First and foremost we often forget in our haste to impose certain spiritual concepts that we...

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 ...

 Ramblings from Retirement – Find Your Peace By Retired Pastor Lee Hemen May 6, 2021 For me there is nothing better in the morning than to sit listening to the squirrels chattering outside, the red-winged blackbirds singing, and the sounds of people mowing lawns while I begin my day drinking a black cup of coffee. I grind some Guatemala Antigua beans, make four cups of the smoothest tasting dark nectar there is. My mother taught me to drink straight black coffee. Except her coffee was often boiled in a pan of water on the stove and had the consistency of crude oil. Instead of pouring it you cut off a chunk and swallowed it whole. She would often let it cook on the stove or in her newfangled peculator all day as she wandered back and forth getting a new chunk in her cup. She learned to make coffee as a young girl in Wyoming cooking for cowhands. Lest you think it had a detrimental effect on her, she lived into her early 90’s and continued to drink plain black crude oil of coffee all...

Ramblings from Retirement: Language Is More than Words! By Lee Hemen (retired pastor) December 7, 2020 People sure are loose with their language in our day. Not just with the foul-mouthed verbiage they use but with the excuses they make in order to justify their ungodly actions. It reminds me of King Saul and how he tried to use excuses and words to justify his own rebellion to God. He was told by Samuel, God’s spokesman (prophet), to “attack the Amalekites and totally destroy everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.” Now to our “sensitive” ears that may sound harsh, judgmental, and unjustified but it wasn't. We often try to judge history with our own preconceived notions of what is justified today but to do so is to error big time. We dare not judge people in history by today’s standards and especially God. He had pretty good reasons for why he wanted the Amalekites destroyed. God kn...

How to Find Comfort In a Harsh World! – Luke 24:31-40 By Pastor Lee Hemen June 14, 2020 Sometimes example can be so much better than a lecture. Some of the best teachers I have had growing up were those who were willing to come alongside of me and show me how to do something rather than just tell me how to do it. While the Bible teaches us how to live; and whom we should believe in -- it cannot mentor us like someone who has already been there and done that. This is how we can learn to find comfort in a harsh world! If you think your world is falling apart just remember the disciples who had followed Jesus for three and a half years and now had to come to terms with his death. Some were in hiding in fear of being discovered by the authorities, captured, and tortured or crucified, and others had just dejectedly decided to head home. For them, everything they had believed in had come to a horrendous end, what was left? Jesus decided in his wisdom to show them how to find comfort in...

How to remain faithful! -- 1Timothy 4:1-7 By Pastor Lee Hemen November 26, 2017 Here in America we have not faced the persecution that exists in much of the rest of the world for our faith. We think that if someone feels ill-will towards us or says a nasty thing about our faith that this is the same as the persecution others around the world face -- it is not. Certainly we are facing more and more resentment, ungodliness, and outward bitterness towards Christianity but we are not yet suffering beatings, slavery, and religious genocide as others have and are. Yet how are we to remain faithful if persecution for our faith worsens? Paul knew very well what real religious persecution was all about. He not only felt it as he followed Jesus but had inflicted it on other believers before becoming a Christian himself. This is why he was being so urgent with Timothy; being a believer in Paul’s day meant being persecuted for your faith. So how does one remain faithful in light of such a prospect...

Armor all! - Ephesians 6:10-20 By Pastor Lee Hemen April 30, 2017 Armor All is a line of car care products manufactured by American company Armored AutoGroup of Danbury, Connecticut, United States. Its sprays, gels, liquids and wipes are specifically designed to clean, shine, and protect most interior and exterior automobile surfaces. It is now owned by Spectrum Brands which is a diversified company that makes weed killer, batteries, and pet products. On the Armor All logo is a Viking dressed in his armor to portray the protective properties of the product. The believer has been given spiritual protection by the grace of God through our faith in Jesus Christ. Paul listed what he believed the protection of God consisted of and his list is not to be either comprehensive or all there is to the protection one has under God’s grace. Paul’s desire was not to give Christians a check off list to follow or adhere to but rather to show them that we are in the midst of a battle and that we hav...

Micah 3 – Be aware of ungodly leaders! By Pastor Lee Hemen October 23, 2016 What does a nation do when its leaders are so corrupt that they put criminals to shame? And then what do people do when their spiritual leaders are supposed to be leading them toward God’s holiness but are so ungodly that they willingly sacrifice your future to fill their pockets? No I am not talking about the 2016 Presidential race or the current millennial view of Jesus and the future of the church. I am speaking about the words of Micah to the divided Israelite nation. Micah’s words are just as contemporary today as when they were written thousands of years ago. What do they teach us? What can they teach us? Here within these verses we will discuss this morning we discover that just as in Micah’s day we today need to be aware of ungodly leaders. Let’s find out what Micah teaches us… READ: Micah 3 Like all spiritual narcissists the leaders of the Hebrew people were more interested in their own selve...

Paul's past, present, and future! - Galatians 1:11-24 By Pastor Lee Hemen June 12, 2016 Everyone who comes to Jesus has a personal testimony they can relate to others. I came to the Lord one night at work after a co-worker and friend challenged me to read the Gospel of John. I went out at lunch, purchased a Bible, and begin reading it. I could not put it down. The next evening I accepted Christ on my own in between a couple of noisy greasy machines. When I speak of Paul's past, present, and future of course what I am talking about is his personal testimony. It is perhaps the most famous Christian testimony there is and Paul uses it on several occasions in his letters in order to get across the particular lesson he wanted his readers to learn. So this morning as we look at Paul's past, present, and future let's learn from his testimony in order that we may gain some insight in using our own. READ: Galatians 1:11-24 There are those in our world today that think ...

Before Pilate - John 18:28-40 By Pastor Lee Hemen January 31, 2016 I hated it when my mother would drag us around to our relatives and then want us to show something off to them just so she could brag about it. I know she did it because she was proud of us but as a child it seem kind of, well, exploitive. No one likes to be used as a trophy or as a means to an end, whatever that may be. How would like to be dragged from one place to another simply to be put on display and illegally tried? We are all angered when we find out that someone has been tried, held captive, or used as a human guinea pig. Few of us would like these prospects yet Jesus suffered these indignities. And now we find him dragged before Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor in charge of the occupation of his nation and people. Sadly, it was his own people who were using him as a means to an end, as a scapegoat for their own problems. Let's find out what happens when Jesus is brought before Pilate… READ: John ...

Before Annas - John 18:14-24 By Pastor Lee Hemen January 17, 2016 Politics for some is just another dirty word. The saying goes never discuss religion or politics with someone else if you want to be on good terms with them. Nothing under the sun is new and we discover that the stench of politics and its intrigue was just as perverse during Jesus' day as it is today. And we find that so was personal betrayal. Have you ever had someone come to you and say they are speaking for someone else? I have. Here in John's gospel we find Jesus being dragged from one person to the next and the first one he is forced to come before was "Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year." Make no mistake, Annas was still the power behind the scenes. Let's discover what happened and what it means for our lives this morning… READ: John 18:14-24 Throughout history and throughout Scripture we discover that things do not change much at the heart of the human con...