Ramblings from Retirement – Get Out There and Disciple Someone

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 for the past 35 plus years and a believer for a bit longer than that I have heard these verses used ad nauseam to the point of spiritual distraction. The Great Commission it is called by many. Let’s kind of break it down a bit and try to understand why Jesus gave them this bit of godly wisdom shall we? He first of all reminds them that “all authority in heaven and on earth has been given” to him alone. He is large and in charge. This means he knows all that is taken place yesterday, today, and tomorrow both where he is and also where we are right now. Now if you truly believe the words of the Lord then this should free your mind and any anxiety you might be having not only of what is going on in the world but also as far as your witnessing is concerned. Why would I say that? Because Jesus is totally and completely in charge — all authority means all authority; not some part of it or what you’re trying to feel guilty over, he means all of it.

So, therefore, because Jesus is in charge completely we are to “go and make disciples of all nations.” Notice he said “make disciples” not get as many people baptized as we possibly can, increase our numbers through a myriad of revivals, renewals, or televangelists but we are to be making disciples. Now let me ask you: How does one make anything? You begin with a plan, recipe, or blueprint and begin to put together what you need to and then you go about putting whatever you’re going to make together, right? So what’s your plan to make disciples? It is not a hit or miss thing because you’re supposed to be making disciples not converts. There is a difference.

A convert just comes to the realization that they need whatever you’re offering them and they agree to whatever it is you’re offering; whereas a disciple is a long term proposition. Making a disciple takes time, effort, and will on your part. You tell them about Jesus until they are ready to commit then you are to “baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” So he means you are to bring them to the point whereby they want to commit to being baptized, immersed in water, to commit themselves to dying in Christ and raising with him to live their lives walking in him. But it does not end there because the next thing is to begin “teaching them to obey everything (Jesus) commanded” which begins with “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.’ (Matthew 22:37-40 NIV)”

Now I do not know about you but I am still learning how to love God in this way and my neighbors are not always the kind of people I want to love like I do myself. So if you’re honest you will admit this is a process, a commitment, a life-long journey and not just some wham bam and riding off into the sunset kind of thing. We are not to be hit and run, meme regurgitating, pithy pronouncement, counting the spiritual bodies we’ve racked up evangelists many have lead you to believe. We are to share our faith as we go through our lives with those that we meet who God seems to have laid in the path of our lives. Taking them from point “A” of knowing about Jesus and who he is to point “B” of being baptized and teaching them “everything” he commanded of loving God completely and others like we do ourselves. We are to form relationships whereby we disciple individuals into being disciples of God. Jesus is sharing that as we go through life we are to share our life in Christ with others by teaching them the commands of God to love him completely and others. Now get out there and start discipling someone.

This article is copyrighted © 2021 by Lee Hemen and is the sole property of Lee Hemen, and may not be used unless you quote the entire article and have my permission.

Our National Need

Our National Need
by Pastor Lee Hemen
July 2, 2006

Our Nation’s History

On July 4,1776, there was signed in the City of Philadelphia one of America’s historic documents: the Declaration of Independence. It marked the birth of this nation which, under God, was destined for world leadership.

We often forget that, in declaring independence from an earthly power, our forefathers made a forthright declaration of dependence upon Almighty God. The closing words of this document solemnly declare:

‘With a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.”

The fifty-six courageous men who signed that document understood that this was not just high-sounding rhetoric. They knew that if they succeeded, the best they could expect would be years of hardship in a struggling new nation. If they lost, they would face a hangman’s noose as traitors.

Of the fifty-six, few were long to survive. Five were captured by the British and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes, from Rhode Island to Charleston, sacked, looted, occupied by the enemy, or burned. Two Signing of The Declaration of independence lost their sons in the army. One had two sons captured. Nine of the fifty-six died in the war, from its hardships or from its bullets.

Whatever ideas you have of the men who met that hot summer in Philadelphia, it is important that we remember certain facts about the men who made this pledge: they were not poor men, or wild-eyed pirates. They were men of means; rich men, most of them, who enjoyed much ease and luxury in their personal lives. Not hungry men, but prosperous men, wealthy landowners, substantially secure in their prosperity, and respected in their communities.

But they considered liberty much more important than the security they enjoyed, and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor. They fulfilled their pledge. They paid the price. And freedom was won.

Someone has said, “To be born free is a privilege. To die free is an awesome responsibility.”

Yet freedom is never free. It is always purchased at great cost.

Little did John Adams know how significant his words would be when he spoke to his wife, Abigail, on the passing of the Declaration of lndependence, “I am well aware of the toil, and blood, and treasure, that it will cost to maintain this declaration, and support and defend these states; yet, through all the gloom I can see rays of light and glory. I can see that the end is worth more than all the means.”

John Adams related, “ Posterity—you will never know how much it has cost my generation to preserve your freedom. I hope you will make good use of it.”

Thomas Payne wrote, “That we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly; it is dearness only that gives everything value. Heaven knows how to put a price upon its goods, and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as freedom should not be highly rated.”

“For the support to this declaration, with firm reliance on the protect of the Devine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.” – Declaration of Independence.

Our Nation’s Heritage

In the summer of 1787, representatives met in Philadelphia to write the Constitution of the United States. After they had struggled for several weeks and had made little or no progress, eighty-one-year-old Benjamin Franklin rose and addressed the troubled and disagreeing convention that was about to adjourn in confusion.

“In the beginning of the contest with Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayers in this room for Divine protection. Our prayers, Sir, were heard and they were graciously answered. All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of a superintending Providence in our favor… Have we now forgotten this powerful Friend? Or do we imagine we no longer need His assistance?

“I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth: that God governs in the affairs of man. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid? We have been assured, Sir, in the Sacred Writings that except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. I firmly believe this… I therefore beg leave to move that, henceforth, prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven and its blessing on our deliberation be held in this assembly every morning.”

The very purpose of the very first Pilgrims in 1620 was to establish a government based on the Bible: “To advance the enlargement of Christian religion, tho the glory of Almighty God….” In fact, all the individual colonies reaffirmed the reliance on Christ. Rhode island’s Charter is a good example: “WE submit our persons, lives, and estates unto our Lord Jesus Christ, the Kind of kings and Lord of lords and to all those perfect and most absolute laws of His given us in His Holy Word.”

In his inaugural address to Congress, the first president of our nation, George Washington, stressed God’s role in the birth of this republic: “No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible hand which conducts die affairs of men more than the people of the United States. Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency… We ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of heaven cannot be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order
and right, which heaven itself has ordained.”

Continuing through the decades of history, we find in the inaugural addresses of all the Presidents, and in the Constitution of all fifty of our states, without exception, references to the Almighty God of the universe, the Author and Sustainer of our liberty.

Abraham Lincoln stated: “It is the duty of nations, as well as of men, to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God and to recognize the sublime truth announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord.”

Our nation’s heritage is one of Christianity.

Our Nation’s Hope

In the brief history of our own country since we gained our independence, we can look back upon a tremendous heritage of political freedom founded upon a biblical faith and a biblical understanding of the nature of man. Moreover, we can look back upon the material signs of God’s blessing in a fruitful and bounteous country, with success in almost every enterprise in war and peace.

But within my own lifetime, I have seen the most ferocious assaults on Christian faith and morals; first on the part of the intellectual community, and then on the part of the government. Especially in the last 25 years, the federal government has not even tried to conceal its hostility to religion; now, with many of our churches in disarray, the attack is being prepared against the family as the last bastion opposing the totalitarian state. Militant atheists and socialists have gone very far in imposing their view of life and man on almost every American institution.

And what have we reaped as a nation from our many personal and collective delinquencies? Atheistic schools, rampaging crimes, God-forsaken homes, drugs, abortion, pornography, permissiveness, a sense of cynicism, and spiritual desolation absolutely unprecedented in our country’s history.

The Israelites in their time also opted for the “New Morality.” They were as enthusiastic as many of our contemporary thinkers about situation ethics, for we read, “In those days, there was no king in Israel; but every man did what was right in his own eyes (Judges 17:6).”

It is debatable at just what point the United States began to drift away from its Christian heritage. But I think we reached that point when many Americans turned away from the idea of salvation through Christ to that of salvation through technology or science or material affluence or the welfare state.

When all these turned out to be dead ends, Americans began to seek escape, and the purveyors of drugs and pornography and vicarious violence were there to meet the need. Human nature left to its own devices has always been a wretched failure at explaining the meaning and destiny of life.

I have often meditated upon why God chose the time and place He did for his Son to be born into the world. In the long preparation for the coming of Christ, the world had seen the tremendous achievements of many civilizations. But neither the intellectual brilliance of the Greeks; or the sober
morals of the ancient Romans; nor the technological and organizational genius of the later Romans were enough to still the discontent of human hearts. God chose an obscure outpost of a decadent empire as the birthplace of His Son, and upon all the debris of human pride and presumption there came forth the anointed Savior. From that day to this, there has been only one Light of the World, one Hope of Mankind.

By and large our people look in the wrong direction for their deliverance. As Christians we need to work with missionary zeal to reinstate the rule of Christ in our sadly demoralized country.

I pray every day for a rebirth of the spiritual values that made us a nation in the first place. If the Spirit of God were to rouse 200 million Americans to action, there is no describing the greatness and glory in store for this country, nor the blessings forthcoming to nations now held captive if and when, once again, the United States rededicates itself to the cause of freedom under God’s Law.

Our Nation’s Prayer

First, confess to God the sins that our nation has committed. When Nehemiah learned of the troublesome situation Jerusalem was in, he prayed confessing “…the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father’s house have sinned. We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments nor the statutes, or the judgments, which thou commanded thy servant Moses” (Nehemiah. 1:6,7).

When you pray for our nation, first ask God to forgive our national sins. Repent for the sexual perversion we have tolerated as legitimate, alternate lifestyles. Repent that the foundation of our families has been destroyed, that we no longer hold the marriage vows sacred as God does. Repent of our sin of the legalized murder of over 30 million unborn babies, created in the image of God. Repent for allowing our children to be indoctrinated with secular humanism in the public schools. Confess to God every stand that our nation has taken contrary to His standards of right living.

Then plead with God to have mercy on our nation, to bring about a national movement of prayer, repentance, and obedience to His laws.

Secondly, Scripture commands us to remember to pray for our leaders.

The vast majority of Christians in America have neglected to exercise their right as God’s children to pray for our nation, its leadership, and our return to His mercy and grace. Far too many churches are more concerned about not offending anyone than they are aout the fate of their nation and its people.

Because of our neglect God has allowed us to be ruled by people who are motivated by selfishness, humanistic thinking, and peer pressure.

There is another group of people who need our prayers. In this hour of crisis, we must intercede/or the men God has raised up to lead His people in the fight against the forces of Satan in this nation. These Christian leaders are vulnerable to constant attack because of the stand they are taking for God. We need to pray that God will put a hedge of protection around them, that they will be able to discern what God wants to say, and that they will have the courage to speak God’s message without
ever faltering or retreating.

Finally, we need to pray for the millions of people in our nation who are trapped by sin. It is easy for us to criticize the sins that are destroying our very foundation; but we must love and pray for those who are slaves to alcohol, drugs, sex, money, and self. So many people are experiencing the empty, painful consequences of their rebellion against God. We as believers in Christ must stand in the gap for our nation and its people who are enslaved to sin.

Are you willing to bend your knees and heart and come to Him in heartfelt prayer for your nation, your State, your community, your neighborhood, and your family? The battle for men’s souls in America’s churches has been reduced to a corporate strategy likened to Wal-Mart. It is no longer seen as a war to be won and a kingdom to be established, rather churches focus on seminar style pablum, hoping to attract the world by being as much like the world as they can be.

God reminds us out of His most sacred Word that “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place (2 Chronicles 7:14-15).”

Are you willing to be the Christian and the American God has called you to be?

Ramblings from Retirement – Unity and Peace

Ramblings from Retirement – Unity and Peace
By Retired Pastor Lee Hemen
May 27, 2021

I watched the movie Mortal Engines the other day. It is a post-apocalyptic movie about a mysterious young woman, Hester Shaw who emerges as the only one who can stop the giant predator city London on wheels devouring everything in its path. Feral, and fiercely driven by the memory of her mother, Hester joins forces with an outcast from London along with a dangerous outlaw with a bounty on her head. Thousands of years after civilization was destroyed by a cataclysmic event, humankind has adapted and a new way of living has evolved. Gigantic moving cities now roam the Earth, ruthlessly preying upon smaller traction towns. It is a Chinese-backed film that was supposed to be a condemnation of corporate society but fails miserably on this score and instead is a perfect example of a socialistic society headed by a dictatorship. You know, just like communist China.

Surprisingly there are those who actually think that some form of socialism would be good for America. Some are waking up to the fact that socialism stifles any form that tries to say otherwise. It snuffs out individual freedom and societal liberties in the name of unity and robotic conformity.

Paul would argue against those who wanted the early church to go back to doing works instead of living by their faith in Jesus. He wrote, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery… You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. (Galatians 5:1 & 13 NIV)” Paul knew that those who had come to God through their faith in Jesus were all unified in him. He would continue by writing that “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:26-28 NIV)”

Unity is not found in some form of governmental control that dictates to us how we should live; it comes from within when one is changed from the inside out through the power of God. Socialism tries to become god in a person’s life through making people outwardly conform. Inside they are still the same person but just suppress their behavior because of fear. Fear of being found out, fear of violence against themselves or their families, or fear of the crowd. Believers however, Christians, are not to live in fear whether it is fear of God or of man or governments. God showed his love for us in this that while we were still sinners who did not care about God, Jesus, or even each other Jesus died for our sins and rose from the grave to prove he could. “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. (Colossians 3:12-15 NIV)” Our only burden now is to come to him by faith and trust. It is in him we find unity and peace.

This article is copyrighted © 2021 by Lee Hemen and is the sole property of Lee Hemen, and may not be used unless you quote the entire article and have my permission.

Ramblings from Retirement – Scaredy-cats

Ramblings from Retirement – Scaredy-cats
By Retired Pastor Lee Hemen
April 27, 2021

There is a little grey cat that lives next door that thinks she is a mighty bird hunter. In fact she has already killed at least 3 birds at my front yard feeder and at least 2 in the backyard. So we have begun to keep an eye out for her and when she heads into or across our yard we chase her away. The other day she was in the midst of stalking some finches who were feeding. In the middle of her final stalk where she was bunching up to jump I opened the door and hissed real loud. She jumped about four feet, twisted in the air, and ran off like she was shot out of a cannon. It was hilarious and reminded me of a passage that the Apostle Paul wrote his friend Timothy: “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. (2 Timothy 1:7 NIV84)”

Paul was writing a young pastor who was facing all kinds of struggles within the local church and outside of the church both in persecution and personal power problems. Evidently Timothy was trying to be a “nice guy” instead of being a Christian leader. His kind nature was getting in the way of being decisive and was causing divisions. A church without direction is worthless and believers who live in fear are as well.

People look for leadership whether it is in the local church, in the Nation, or in the world. Sadly the world is more interested in using memes or inflammatory rhetoric to create divisions, camps, and walls. As believers in Jesus Christ we need to focus on Him instead of the fear mongering of others. We do not need to be scaredy-cats in our world. A virus, politics, or being in the world at large should never frighten the believer.

Remember it is the devil who desires to keep you afraid and fearful but if you’ve believed in and trust Jesus you never have to be afraid. Don’t be a scaredy-cat but instead remember “God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.” Live like it.

This article is copyrighted © 2021 by Lee Hemen and is the sole property of Lee Hemen, and may not be used unless you quote the entire article and have my permission.

Ramblings from Retirement – How to Live!

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 holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. (Hebrews 12:14 NIV84)” And Paul clarifies it for us by relating, “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will–to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. (Ephesians 1:4-8 NIV84)”

We are made holy spiritually because of Jesus but we are not holy individuals in our attitudes or actions. We cannot simply feel good about ourselves and therefore think we are okay with God. We are made right with God only through our faith in Jesus. However we should be ready to prepare ourselves for action by being “self-controlled”, by not conforming “to the evil desires (we) had when (we) lived in ignorance” of Jesus. As Christians we should want to be holy in all we do because the One who saved us by His sacrifice is holy. We do not earn our holiness nor are we perfect but we can strive to be better. We should remember that God in Jesus “chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight”! He is the One who does it and He is the One who does the choosing because “In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will–to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.”

So what does this all mean for us today? Well, we can stop trying to be holy by the things we do, be the people of God He desires us to be, and we can stop thinking that by just feeling good about ourselves is good enough. How we feel or what we do is not how we are holy but rather who we believe in, trust, and walk with daily. As Paul would say, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. (Philippians 1:21 NIV84)” This should be our mantra and this should be how we should live.

This article is copyrighted © 2021 by Lee Hemen and is the sole property of Lee Hemen, and may not be used unless you quote the entire article and have my permission.

Ramblings from Retirement – Worship

Ramblings from Retirement – Worship
By Retired Pastor Lee Hemen
April 6, 2021

We just celebrated Resurrection Sunday, Easter for those of you who are biblically illiterate, and I noticed that we had several visitors even during our National COVID scare. And this got me to thinking about when I first began to Pastor and how frustrating it was when folks saw their church attendance as an afterthought. Attending their children’s sports programs, doing their hobbies, simply waking up and feeling like going to the beach or because it was sunny was an excuse to miss their church worship. It was frustrating because many of these same people would get their feelings hurt because they were seen as “visitors” by those who did show up regularly or when they were not asked to do certain ministries in the church because of their fly-by-night attendance.

Now if you are getting your feelings hurt by reading this what does it say about your church attendance and why you feel you have to make excuses for the lack thereof or your inconsistency? I know what I am writing about here is like trying to swim uphill in today’s society but far too many self-certified believers in our day and age have not been taught that belief results in actual change in one’s life that is reflected in how one lives out their Christian faith. The writer of Hebrews would write that “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another–and all the more as you see the Day approaching. If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. (Hebrews 10:19-27 NIV)”

Notice the writer begins with the fact that “since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God” meaning that now that we enjoy a new relationship with God because of Jesus and what He did, shouldn’t we want to “draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water”? He began that last part with the “let us” meaning that we should want to do so. For you scholars it is the Greek word proserchomai (pros-er’-khom-ahee) which is a command like our parents would use with us as children when they would say “come here” and we would respond immediately. So because of what Jesus has done we should immediately want to “draw near” to God “with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith”. A sincere heart means that with everything we are we believe and follow Jesus because we know our “hearts” have been “sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and… our bodies (have been) washed with pure water” of Jesus Himself. Therefore if this is true then “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.” (There is that Greek word proserchomai again and again.) We are commanded to “hold unswervingly” and we are commanded to think about “how we may spur one another toward love and good deeds” as fellow Christians. How can we do this? The writer relates “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another–and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” Again there is that command and this time it is for church attendance! Say what? Yep. You see the writer knew people’s old sin habits would infect their relationship and then the excuses would come. But if you truly believe in Jesus and believe He is coming back then you will be in church worshiping because it is there you find the fellowship, the encouragement, and the cooperative strength to face the days ahead until Jesus does return.

To deliberately ignore, make excuses for, and relegate your church attendance to second place for the believer is sin. Not my words, the writer says so: “If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.” What he is describing is that if you consistently make worship and church an afterthought to going to the beach, playing sports, hunting or fishing or any other thing that you consistently use as an excuse to miss then you are deliberately sinning. It is sin because you have professed your faith in Jesus but have relegated worshipping together with the body of Christ, fellow believers, as an afterthought. And he wonders that if you say you believe but continue to act as if you do not, are you really a believer, and if you are not a follower of Jesus then what awaits you when He does return: “only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God”?

Do not let next Easter, Resurrection Day, be the next time you find yourself in worship. Why not start going regularly as you know you should.

This article is copyrighted © 2021 by Lee Hemen and is the sole property of Lee Hemen, and may not be used unless you quote the entire article and have my permission.

Ramblings from Retirement – Freedom!

Ramblings from Retirement – Freedom!
By Pastor Lee Hemen (Retired)
March 22, 2021

Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey–whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. (Romans 6:16-18 NIV)

At what point do believers “submit themselves to the governing authorities”? Paul would write the Roman Christians, who were under severe persecution, that they were to honor God and that those “who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves” (Romans 13:2 NIV). However there does come a time when the Christian must follow the Lord and not man because man can do evil and declare that Christians follow suit or else. Christians therefore offer themselves first and foremost to the Lord and then in humility follow the laws of the land unless those laws run counter to what God commands us to do as His followers.

Recently a very good friend who served one summer the church I pastored for 35 years as a missionary is beginning to face persecution for her beliefs. Her husband and children serve north of Washington State in a nation that does not allow freedom of worship like we do here. In fact what protects us is not just our National Constitution but our State’s constitution as well. Sadly the nation to the north of us does not give the same kind of freedom and in fact are now imprisoning pastors and church members and even beginning to threaten anyone who even thinks about going to worship.

This has all come about because of COVID-19 and the heavy-handedness of their Government. While schools, restaurants, shopping centers, gyms, athletic programs, film sets, group therapy sessions, ski lodges, and gambling locations can remain open, movie theaters and churches cannot. This is the case even though infections all falling and are at an all time low.

Many churches to the north of us have begun to humbly and quietly protest by going ahead and having their worship services. Yet their congregations, churches, and pastors face fines and imprisonment. We often think that our neighbors to the North are just like us but they are not. They do not enjoy the same freedoms Americans do.

This brings me to what has been laid on my heart during my quiet time today: What will you be a slave to in your life? I consider myself patriotic to my country but I must confess that I will be first to humbly and not so quietly protest if they try to lock me, my fellow church members, or my pastor up for worshipping my Lord and Savior with my fellow believers as I am commanded to do.

What is truly sad about this is there are people in our Nation who declare that they believe in Jesus but are unwilling to join a church, go regularly to worship, or get involved in a church like they are supposed to be doing as Christians. I am proud of and praying for my friends who serve up north; I hope and pray we can be just as proud of one another down here in the USA if we begin to be persecuted in the same way. “Those who would give up essential liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety” – Benjamin Franklin or as in the immortal word of William Wallace: “Freedom!” Jesus related first what Paul espoused later that “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. (John 8:34-36 NIV)” Be set free in Him and follow Him to worship.

This article is copyrighted © 2021 by Lee Hemen and is the sole property of Lee Hemen, and may not be used unless you quote the entire article and have my permission.

Ramblings for Retirement – Do Not Allow Evil to Prosper

Ramblings for Retirement – Do Not Allow Evil to Prosper
By Lee Hemen (retired pastor)
January 11,2021

When Jesus told the crowd that the “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. (Matthew 5:5 NIV)” He never meant for the believer to roll over and allow evil to prosper. He was speaking to a crowd of people who understood what it meant to live under the hardship of Roman rule. The meekness He was referring to here was neither weakness nor spiritual blindness. There are those in the Christian community who are ready and willing to try to fool you into thinking that as a believer you should just roll over and pray and everything will be okay. This is simply not true and is frightening in its ignorance.

Jesus went on to develop what He meant when He continued by telling the crowd that day: “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. (Matthew 5:38-45 NIV)” However we need to look closer at what he meant and realize as Christians we are not called to sit around and sing Kumbaya while the world burns down around us.

Jesus wanted His followers to focus on Him and not the world. Our faith and trust is to be in Him and not politicians. The crowd that day had no power, no political pull, and could do nothing about their circumstances. In America we do have political pull and power because of the Nation we live in and can do something about our circumstances. We should never return evil for evil by doing evil but we can and should resist evil in any form period. When Jesus spoke of not resisting an evil person this is exactly what He meant. We are not to be evil in our response; instead we are to be different. The crowd that day was not made up of believers and Jesus was not speaking to believers, He was talking to a poor crowd of people looking for hope in a hopeless situation who were Jewish prisoners in their own country. If they dared try to stand up to tyranny they would have been crushed and later they were. Jesus was trying to get the crowd to say and think, “How in the world can we do that? It is impossible!” Yet a time would come when they could if they placed their faith and trust in Him as Messiah.

As His followers of Jesus we are to understand that God sends the rain on the just and the unjust but we are never to put up with evil and use the excuse we should be meek and weak in the face of it. It was weak-willed and cowardly believers that stood by and allowed millions of Jews to be exterminated in Nazi Germany, purges to be conducted by Communists, and for evil to prosper. Turning the other cheek does not mean we should not speak against evil, speak up for freedom, and reveal evil when we see it. Peter did this when Jesus was being tried and convicted and ran away ashamed of his actions; will you? Never forget that the disciples were all martyred (murdered) for their willingness to stand up against the evil of their time and for their faith. Perhaps you would do well to read about how some of these men were martyred because they stood up against evil. Believe me they did not roll over and claim “meekness” as their motto. We can love our enemies and still expose and stand up against their evil. Paul stood loud and proud before Festus and Agrippa and we can certainly stand up by praying, by witnessing, and by being the believers God has called us to be but we must also be willing to go the extra mile by standing up against evil, encouraging others to do so, and fighting against those who would want to take your faith and turn it into a pathetic shadow of what it was meant to be. To do otherwise is to allow evil to prosper.
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This article is copyrighted © 2020 by Lee Hemen and is the sole property of Lee Hemen, and may not be used unless you quote the entire article and have my permission.

Ramblings from Retirement – Nativity

Ramblings from Retirement – Nativity
By Lee Hemen (Retired Pastor)
December 24, 2020

A couple traveling was nothing new especially at this time when everyone was required to head back to their ancestral places of birth. It was required and they had no choice in the matter. The government dictated that they had to go and be counted and so they went. To do otherwise would have brought the full force of the Empire down on them.

This one couple walked side by side carrying a few meager possessions, food, and things for the baby that could be born any time soon. The young woman was pregnant. Her husband was worried because there were so many traveling and what if he could not find anywhere for them to rest and for her to be protected from the weather. She was pregnant after all and that alone was risk enough. Many women died in child birth but she was strong, young, and a lovely person who loved God and he was certain that God loved her.

I wonder if he thought about what had transpired in both of their lives because of the child she carried. I wonder if he thought about what others would think if they only knew. As they trudged towards the small village of Bethlehem just outside of Jerusalem with the other pilgrims required to do so by Rome his wife’s time was near and he began to worry even more.

Door after door and place after place was closed to them. He tried every rest house, inn, and place he could think of and was finally directed to a man who had room in a stable for them. A mere cave for the birthing and care of sick animals used mostly by shepherds but it was out of the weather and they could build a small fire and rest in the gathered hay of the stable. And it was just in time because his wife’s childbirth pains began to come in earnest and they both knew what that meant. She would give birth that night.

Soon the baby came, a boy, a warm, wrinkled, brown-eyed, baby boy but much more than either of them could ever guess. Would it surprise you to learn that the young mother began to treasure each moment like most loving mothers do when they give birth for the first time? She did and she would remember what occurred this night especially. Shepherds, strangers, came and wanted to see her child. They exclaimed that while they had been keeping watch over their flocks that night messengers from God had come and declared to them that they would find her and her baby boy. She knew why. Her husband knew as well because they both had been told themselves by God that the child she would birth would be the long awaited Messiah the world waited and longed for. He would bring peace, salvation, and joy to the world.

Becoming pregnant during her betrothal time had frightened her because she knew her future husband could have had her stoned to death yet he also had been visited by God’s messenger and had been assured that this child was very special indeed. And now others, shepherds of all people, the ragtag outcasts of society came declaring that they had also been told of her baby.

Mothers give birth to babies everyday all around the world but this baby, this birth, and this little baby boy would bring a new birth to anyone who would accept it. This baby would grow to be a man and he would change everything. But right now in a stable resting in a feeding trough he looked so small and his father thought, his mother wondered, and shepherds were amazed.
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This article is copyrighted © 2020 by Lee Hemen and is the sole property of Lee Hemen, and may not be used unless you quote the entire article and have my permission.

Ramblings from Retirement: Give Thanks

Ramblings from Retirement: Give Thanks!
By Lee Hemen (Retired Pastor)
November 21, 2020

Thanksgiving is coming and it is one of my favorite holidays. The reasons for me are many because I not only love the food and family time but I enjoy what Thanksgiving represents. It is truly an American holiday where we are encouraged to pause and give thanks to God for the blessings He has given us.

We discover that the early Pilgrims encouraged this with not just a one day celebration but with their entire lives as well. And far from being the black and white dressed grim faced people many think they were the Pilgrims were actually very joyous and colorful people. They came to these shores not to inflict slavery, as some would erroneously have you swallow, but they came here for religious and personal freedom.

We discover that within a very short period of time that their communal form of governance caused huge problems with their colony and they decided to give each person the freedom to produce and sell what they produced. It turned the success of the colony around within a very short period of time from starvation to an abundance of food and the celebration of giving thanks to God for His wisdom in guiding them as a colony.

The Hebrew people were encouraged to give thanks to God for all things to remind them of just how God blessed them as a people. The Psalmist would sing: “Praise the LORD. Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever. Who can proclaim the mighty acts of the LORD or fully declare his praise? Blessed are they who maintain justice, who constantly do what is right. Remember me, O LORD, when you show favor to your people, come to my aid when you save them, that I may enjoy the prosperity of your chosen ones, that I may share in the joy of your nation and join your inheritance in giving praise. (Psalms 106:1-5 NIV)”

These are wise words and should remind us as a Nation that we only exist because of the grace of God. It is because of God’s blessings that as a Nation we should “maintain justice” and “do what is right” and then he refers to the fact that the individual remember the “prosperity” of being one of God’s chosen and that he shared “in the joy of your nation”! This is true for all Americans.

Contrary to what many liberal theologians or historians would want you to believe, this Nation was indeed founded on the ideals of individual freedom and the notion that our rights come from God. This year especially because we have faced so many trials of COVID-19, political problems, riots, and the restrictions of our personal freedoms we need to be reminded that God’s love endures forever.

I love the words of the Apostle Paul who wrote the early church that was facing all kinds of problems and difficulties by reminding them: “And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone. Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else. Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not put out the Spirit’s fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil. May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it. (1 Thessalonians 5:14-24 NIV)”

Right in the middle of his encouragement Paul writes that Christians should “give thanks in all circumstances” because it was God’s will for us in Jesus! Remember that this week as you celebrate Thanksgiving.
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This article is copyrighted © 2020 by Lee Hemen and is the sole property of Lee Hemen, and may not be used unless you quote the entire article and have my permission.