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A soldier’s faith! -- Matthew 8:5-13 By Retired Pastor Lee Hemen July 20, 2025 What kind of discipline do you display in life? I have a sister who never saw a shoe store she couldn’t pass by or for that matter a jewelry display she would not stop for. For me it used to be bookstores. However, self-discipline is a good thing and is why the military focuses on it so much. They want soldiers who will follow orders and are disciplined enough to be able to handle anything that is thrown their way during a conflict. In fact, they are trained to act as a team and to depend on one another. Jesus desired that his followers learn how to not only have faith in him but also to have faith in one another because he knew their future was going to be tough. And here in this depiction of an incident that Jesus has with a Roman centurion teaches us about what it means to have faith in him and to have the willingness to follow Jesus wherever he leads. Let’s take a look at a soldier’s faith… READ: Matthew...

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...

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 – Get Out There and Share Jesus! By Pastor (retired) Hemen April 2, 2022 It is a beautiful day today and I am sitting here thinking about going for a bicycle ride. I like to get exercise by riding my bike and I’ve learned that I cannot simply think about it, I have to get up and go ride my bike. You know it is the same thing as far as witnessing to others about your faith. You can’t simply think about it, you have to get up and go out and do it. However, much of what we have been taught over the decades about witnessing is completely not found in Scripture. Let’s find out what I mean by this shall we? Every gospel from Matthew to John talks about Jesus’ followers going into the world and telling others about Jesus and who he is. In fact, even the Book of Acts speaks to this issue as well. “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have c...

Ramblings from Retirement – Get Out There and Disciple Someone By Retired Pastor Lee Hemen July 17, 2021 I’m a big fan of the verses I’m going to share with you today but not in the Billy Graham-guilt trip kind of way where you’re left wondering if your Christianity is real. You know what I mean, because you don’t corner every living soul you meet with a black Bible in hand and demand to know if they are going to heaven or hell. Not that Billy Graham did this but I use this in jest. Some of the last words Jesus spoke to his crew before he ascended back to his heavenly abode were these words recorded by Matthew: “Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’ (Matthew 28:18-20 NIV)” As a preacher...

Ramblings from Retirement – Make God Known! By Lee Hemen, Retired Pastor March 17, 2021 How do you let future generations know about God? Reading your Bible and praying are good for you personally but doing these things even daily do not get you active in actually getting out and letting those around you know about God. Now do not get me wrong because I do believe in prayer and reading the Bible but if that is all you do you could actually be hindering others from knowing about God. The Psalmist declared, “I will sing of the LORD's great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations. (Psalms 89:1 NIV)” He took a stand to verbally sing of God’s love. Now you may not want to sing in front of others and this is not the case I am making and others may not want you to sing to them, however as believers in God we are to about the business of letting the world around us know about the love of God. The Psalmist related that he would actually speak ...

Ramblings from Retirement: Do you live an easy chair faith? By Lee Hemen (Retired Pastor) November 7, 2020 “Give me liberty, or give me death!” is a quotation attributed to Patrick Henry from a speech he made to the Second Virginia Convention on March 23, 1775, at St. John’s Church in Richmond, Virginia. Henry is credited with having swung the balance in convincing the convention to pass a resolution delivering Virginian troops for the Revolutionary War. Henry knew that freedom often demands our personal sacrifice. However what many American Christians have conveniently forgotten is that our freedom was bought with a price and maintaining it can require a sacrifice from each of us as well. Jesus related to his disciples that a time would come when a “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. When you are persecut...

When A Good-Bye Is A Good Thing! - 2 Timothy 4:1-8 By Pastor Lee Hemen July 26, 2020 Benjamin Franklin wrote that both “fish and visitors stink after three days” and he could have been referring to the fact that a lot of people back then did not bath as often as they should, I’m not sure. Yet I have seen that far too often how some pastors can overstay their ministry and they begin to stink like unwanted guests or old fish. Sometimes, saying “good-bye” is a good thing. I have learned that when the Lord begins to share with you what you need to do you had better do it and this is the case with my own retirement. I do not want to stink but leave when the Lord commands. The Apostle Paul was headed to prison and he knew it because God had told him this was the case. He desired to leave a few things behind that he hoped would benefit a young protégé and the early church as a whole. Let’s discovery when good-bye is a good thing… READ: 2 Timothy 4:1-8 Paul understood that the world needed the...

God provides! - Philippians 4:10-20 By Pastor Lee Hemen September 2, 2018 I have heard fellow Christians extol the fact that God provides all their needs, but I have yet to see very many actually live accordingly. I was drawing coloring books, tracts, and a monthly carton strip for a local puppet ministry known as Friends Puppets. John was the lead puppeteer, writer, and leader. They were in need of a new van and were not bringing in enough funds to cover all their needs. Some on their board wanted to do special mailings begging for funds but John to our surprise spoke against doing it. He related, “God has supplied our needs through our prayers and dependence on him, I don’t think we need to change now.” In that moment he taught all of us that God provides. Paul understood this as well. He did not have special bulk mailings, emails, texting, Facebook, social media, or GoFundMe for support. Paul was totally at the whim and will of those who cared about the Gospel and reaching the...

The fishing trip! - John 21:1-14 By Pastor Lee Hemen April 24, 2016 There are a few things I really like to do that I do not get the time I would like in order to be able to do them. I like to shoot, draw, take photographs, hike, and I love to fish. Fishing is extremely relaxing for me, and whether I catch anything or not, it does not matter because I like the art of it and the ability to forget about everything else and just fish. Two guys can fish for hours and not say anything. I just love to fish. For most of the disciples fishing was a way of life. It was not just a way to earn money but it was a way to feed their families as well. Fishing was a matter of life or death and these men knew how to fish. As we finish out John's Gospel we discover that the disciples had returned to Galilee and while waiting for Jesus there they decide to go fishing. Let's take a look at the fishing trip. READ: John 21:1-14 There is a story told of an old Irish gentleman who was fishin...

The Disciples Get Schooled! -- John 4:27-42 By Pastor Lee Hemen November 30, 2014 The Get Schooled Foundation (also Get Schooled or getschooled.com) is a non-profit organization dedicated to using the power of media, technology and popular culture to motivate and inspire young people, their families and teachers to improve high school graduation rates and college-going rates. Get Schooled combines powerful national content and programming (on-air, on-line and on the ground), with school-based engagement strategies to ensure both a broad reach and a measurable impact. Sounds good doesn’t it, yet we learn it is founded and funded by Viacom and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, with significant support from AT&T. Why is this important? Before receiving assistance in getting kids to learn parents and guardians need to be aware of the social and political philosophies some of these organizations have and how they use programs like these to reprogram your children. Getting schooled is a...

Do you share the Good News? – Matthew 28:1-10, 16-20 By Pastor Lee Hemen April 20, 2014 AM “What a wonderful Easter service we had this morning,” gushed a mother as she and her family drove home. “So, what do we do about Christ’s resurrection,” asked her older daughter. “What do you mean, honey?” “I mean Christ’s resurrection supposedly changed everything. We say it changed our life. It seems to me we should be doing more to indicate Christ has made a difference in us and He wants to make a difference in others.” It made the mother realize that she needed to share the good news with others joyfully and more consistently. Let me ask you, “How does your celebration of Easter influence your daily service for Christ?” As Sunday morning dawned, two women went to visit the tomb of Jesus. Suddenly an earthquake occurred, and an angel of God rolled back and sat on the stone at the entrance of the tomb. He told the women not to fear because Jesus had been raised from the dead. The angel then in...