PastorBlastor

Lepers gotta love ‘em! – Matthew 8:1-4 By Pastor Lee Hemen June 30, 2019 There are folks in our lives that are just tough to love. You know what I mean; those who have nothing good to say about anyone else, those who are constantly jealous over others and what they have or do, or those folks who constantly gripe about almost everyone and anything. Then there are those folks who just have to gain attention by constantly gripping over their latest ailment, sickness, or hypochondria. It can be difficult to be around such folks in life and they can become or be seen as the “lepers” of our day and age. In Jesus’ day there were skin ailments that were often seen as leprosy but actually were not, however, I believe that Jesus and his followers knew the difference between minor skin diseases and actual leprosy. After Jesus was finished speaking to the crowds he heads back down the hillside and meets up with a man who is a leper. How Jesus interacts with and has compassion on him displays for u...

It’s all about foundations! – Matthew 7:24-29 By Pastor Lee Hemen June 23, 2019 Sometimes you can listen to what is being spoken to you but not understand a single word, not because of the language barrier but because you do not understand what the speaker is talking about. I had a seminary professor that was that way. You could sit there and hear every word he spoke but not understand a single word he said. It was literally Greek to me! Kind of like the adults in those Charlie Brown cartoons on TV: “Wah! Wah! Wah! Wah…” Jesus however spoke plainly and often used terms and words his listeners would immediately understand. Jesus’ words are more than pity sayings to put on a refrigerator door or memes on a Facebook post, they are words of life if you hear them and follow them. Hearing what Jesus said was more than just listening to his words, you had to live by them and for him it was how his followers built a basis for their lives. Let’s discover what Jesus meant when he taught it’s all...

Who do you know? – Matthew 7:21-23 By Pastor Lee Hemen June 16, 2019 There are those who think they are Christian because they were born in America; there are those who think they are Christian because they are nice people and do nice things; and there are those who think they are Christian because they have a relative who was a believer, a pastor, or a deacon in a church -- yet, none of these beliefs makes one a Christian! And like my father used to say, “It’s not who you think you know, it’s who you actually are that matters.” Jesus understood this as well. Jesus knew that there were those in the crowd that day and perhaps his own disciples who thought that those who expressed piety or those who regularly observed all the festivals, ate the right foods, and kept their selves pure were God’s people. Nothing could have been further from the truth. Jesus knew that even being part of the High Priest’s family did not guarantee your relationship with God! We discover here that the be...

You produce what you grow! – Matthew 7:15-20 By Pastor Lee Hemen June 9, 2019 We have a garden that I plant every spring. We usually grow tomatoes and green beans. We keep it pretty simple. One year I planted a variety of tomato that we really liked but a different one grew instead. I went back to the place where I had bought the plant and the clerk said that we were not the first to complain but what evidently had happened was kids had switched the tags on the young plants thinking that it was funny. Needless to say, that although the tomatoes were okay, they were not what we expected. People during Jesus’ day were dependent upon what they planted and there were a lot of factors that could be beneficial or detrimental to their future harvest. Weather, water, animals, and other things could influence the harvest. Jesus now uses familiar language about planting so that his listeners would fully understand what he meant about their spiritual growth as well. Let’s discover what Jesus taug...

The rule to end all rules! – Matthew 7:12-14 By Pastor Lee Hemen June 2, 2019 In Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy they try to take back a special ring called the One Ring. It contained an inscription that read: “One ring to rule them all, one ring to find them, one ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them!” There are times when we all wish that life was simpler and long for one simple rule to guide us. The Hebrews had enslaved their people by interpreting over 600 volumes expanding on the Ten Commandments of God! President Obama on his last day in office signed into law over 30,000 pages of new laws! Is it any wonder we long for one rule to end all rules! Jesus understood that his people and all people had been subjected to self-imposed rules that were heavy burdens for them to bear. He desired to simplify their lives. In this he gave all of us the rule to end all rules. Let’s discover what it means for us today… READ: Matthew 7:12-14 In continuing on in his te...

Ask! - Matthew 7:7-11 By Pastor Lee Hemen May 19, 2019 Most parents want their children to have the best there is in life even if it means they sacrifice for themselves. Good parents do that, however, some parents can focus so much on getting their children everything that they fail their kids and make them into self-absorbed and selfish individuals. We live in a nation of abundance and even the poorest among us, including the homeless, live better than many in other nations. We have become a nation of receivers rather than givers. The problem is we have taught our children and society to ask for the wrong things in life. We ask so much that we have become so self-absorbed that even our faith has morphed into a “what’s in it for me” attitude instead of one of humility and service. Jesus addresses the notion of asking. There is nothing wrong with asking as long as we know what we are supposed to ask for and how we are supposed to ask. Let’s discover what Jesus taught his listeners...

Judging others! – Matthew 7:1-6 By Pastor Lee Hemen May 12, 2019 One of the first justifications people will use to excuse or defend their poor choices in life or ungodly lifestyles are the verses we will look at this morning. I have found it interesting that while they never read the Bible, often neglect church, and have no clue who God truly is they can quote this passage almost verbatim. What they fail to realize is that it doesn’t expose Christians for “judging” them incorrectly but rather the hypocrisy of their choices and ignorance of Scripture. The Pharisees were some of the most judgmental people in history. They were quick to judge the actions, spiritual behavior, and the cultures of others around them while neglecting their own spiritual ineptitude. They were the Muslims and Mormons of their day. While some believers can be seen as having the same judgmental attitude we need to fully understand what Jesus was teaching and why. Let’s take a fresh look at what Jesus taught abou...

Why worry? – Matthew 6:25-34 By Pastor Lee Hemen May 5, 2019 We worry and fret about so many things in life: Clothes, money, family, relationships, how others see us, our schooling, jobs, and on and on and on it goes. My wife will tell you I am a grade “A” number one worrier. I know that I shouldn’t be but sometimes it just creeps up on me and takes over. I know it comes from when I was kid and our financial uncertainty and migrant home status growing up. God has done a lot in my life to help me to not worry so much. The Hebrews of Jesus’ day had good reason to worry about a lot of things: daily food, housing, if their clothing wore out, and often finding daily work in order to pay the bills and feed their selves. Then there were the Romans, the pagan influence that surrounded them, and their own spiritual and governmental leadership which exacted harsh taxes and personal demands from them as well. Yet in the midst of this Jesus teaches his followers that they truly did not need to wor...

Where is your heart? – Matthew 6:19-24 By Pastor Lee Hemen April 28, 2019 When I was going to seminary one of things we were told to look at very closely was the reason why we wanted to be a pastor in the first place. And one of my instructors bluntly told us that if we could not confidently say we were called of God we should go do something else. He continued by relating that our calling was what would keep us grounded during tough or good times because it came from the Lord. Ministering was not a “job” but when it became one, and it would sometimes, we could rely on our calling from God to strengthen us. It would show us where our heart truly was. Jesus wanted his listeners to understand that following God was more than following a set of rules. After Jesus was crucified and raised from the dead everything would change concerning an individual’s relationship with God. What became important was not past history or one’s heritage but rather if you could confidently say you trusted the...

Fasting! – Matthew 6:16-18 By Pastor Lee Hemen April 14, 2019 There are some Christian disciplines that have gone by the wayside in our day and age. Of course becoming a hermit and forcing every bit of personal contact out of your life is not what Jesus meant when he said for us to “go into all the world”. And I confess I like zippers, buttons, and running water. However the disciplines of giving and prayer should be practiced. Today we are going to look at the discipline of fasting and why Jesus spoke about it. I remember the first time I led a group of youth to fast. After the first four hours some of them were already going into fits about being hungry and that it was not such a good idea for them to do. We did it to focus on world hunger and our fast was only for 24 hours. You would have thought it was for 24 days! Let’s discover what Jesus taught about fasting… READ: Matthew 6:16-18 We have to understand why Jesus mentioned fasting here and what it meant for the Hebrew people befo...