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Stewards, Not Fearmongers! By Retired Pastor Lee Hemen July 3, 2023 Ecclesiastes paints kind of a depressing picture of humanity and an individual’s moroseness, however, it also teaches us a lot about ourselves, the world around us, and our God. In his musings the writer states that “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 1:9 NIV84) The Bible Knowledge commentary states that “Solomon did not intend by this to deny human creativity but to deny the complete newness of people’s accomplishments.” However, “the constant repetition of previous accomplishments - is in essence true of the activity of people and is included in the observation that all things produce only indescribable weariness and lack of satisfaction…” Solomon was in a mental funk. I can relate. In this day and age, it is easy to become depressed. Sadly, there are those who use people’s tendency to be depressed to foster greater fear in things the...

Matthew 13:1-9 - Scattering the Seed of the Gospel By Retired Pastor Lee Hemen May 22, 2022 We have always loved putting out birdseed for the wild birds in our yards. It’s fun to watch all of the different species that come to our feeders. Recently, a pair of birds called Evening Grosbeaks has been coming to our feeders, and they are pigs. They kind of force out other birds, scatter the seed everywhere, and remind me of uninvited relatives that show up for dinner. However, one of the things that they do by scattering the seed from the feeders is provide for the dozens of squirrels and smaller birds that hop around the base of the feeders searching for scattered seeds. And some of the seeds, being grass seeds, have made my lawn area thick and rich. We forget that when we scatter the seed of the gospel that it falls on many kinds of ground, and we never know who might benefit from the process. Like those Evening Grosbeaks we are not to be just about feeding ourselves the seeds of the gos...

How God uses those who are willing! -- Judges 7:1-9 By Pastor Lee Hemen January 12, 2020 We all want God to do mighty things just like those described in the Scriptures but there are few of us that truly want God to do those mighty things through us! When the rubber meets the road in our spiritual walk with God the rubber often turns to gravel. The pavement comes up to meet us in the face, so-to-speak. But it is here where we discover the power and strength of God when we are willing to be used of God! And how he chooses to use us depends on how willing we are! Gideon, that “Mighty Warrior” of God not only had to learn this lesson for himself but he had to try and teach it to an entire nation! As we begin the process of looking for our future pastor we must be willing to go where God leads us. It can be a scary prospect but it is also a rewarding one as well. Here in Judges we discover how God uses those who are willing… READ: Judges 7:1-9 Letting go and allowing God to work in one’s l...

The short cut! -- John 6:14-21 By Pastor Lee Hemen January 25, 2015 Why is it there is always a certain segment within society that is willing to take short cuts in life. Whether it is deliberately tearing through the underbrush instead of staying on the marked trail or trying to get by with the least amount of effort in order to get their job done, there are those who think the short cut is the best way. There are even those who think that by simply applying simple scriptural steps to their lives will insure them a short cut to God's blessing. Nothing could further from the truth. We discover here in John's Gospel that there were those who thought they could take the spiritual short cut of making Jesus their king. And even some of Jesus' own disciples were open to this proposition. Interestingly within the next few verses we discover Jesus taking a short cut of his own, but rather than trying to make life easier, he does so in order to teach his disciples whom they were to...

The Tainted Lady at the Local Watering Hole! -- John 4:1-26 By Pastor Lee Hemen November 16, 2014 Recently one of the local news outlets did a series on prostitution in Portland, Oregon. The people involved are younger and more dangerous than ever before. They enslave their victims, often abusing them physically, mentally, and emotionally. Police are trying to get a handle on the human trafficking in order to gain control of illegal guns on the street as well. Interestingly, no one ever mentioned the fact that the criminals involved did not register their weapons or submitted to background checks. I digress. Some call it the oldest profession, but it is a dirty, nasty, crime-ridden, and immoral blight on society that needs to be eradicated. In Jesus' day we discover that many women were placed in this horrendous position simply because they had no other means of support. Pimps, drugs, and illegal weapons were not necessarily a part of the trade back then, however it did carry a soc...