The Truth Of Scripture

Weekly Message

Tom Seymour                                                                             

July 20, 2014

The Truth Of Scripture

An old pop song, The Games People Play, said much about our culture. The same things the song’s lyrics addressed hold true today, particularly when applied to our relationship with God.

Last week I performed the wedding ceremony for a friend and his new bride. The event took most of the day, what with getting ready, the actual ceremony and then the reception. During my free time, two people, one whom I knew and one I didn't, approached me and for some reason, felt compelled to explain to me why they didn't attend church.

Of course churchgoing isn't a prerequisite for living a spirit-filled life, but it certainly helps. But I sensed that the real reason for people explaining to me why they didn't attend church was a cover-up for far more serious and important subjects.

It goes like this. People don’t feel comfortable in church because the church is A. too strict, B. full of hypocrites, C. judgmental and on and on. Yes, I agree that it’s not always easy to find a church where you are totally comfortable. In fact, that’s probably impossible.  I myself am currently not attending a church or preaching at one…although I have set my desire to find a preaching situation before the Lord. My desire is to pastor a small, rural church. That may not be what God wants for me, however. I shall wait upon Him, as always.

But let’s get back to this habit people have of explaining why they don’t attend church. I see it as a way of attempting to justify their not walking in the light of God and not wholly accepting Jesus into their life. People believe, but not enough to come to the point of believing that the Bible is the revealed word of God. To far too many, scriptures are available Ala-Carte. Pick-and-choose is the way of today.

But God never told us we could pick and choose what to believe or what not to believe. For Him, it’s all or nothing, from Genesis to the Revelation of St. John. Much of this putting God at arm’s length stems from our refusal to see sin as what it is – sin, pure and simple. Sin is why Jesus came to earth, suffered and died. He did it to atone for the sins of everyone who would believe on him, for people living then and for those yet unborn, now and forever.

The people at the wedding who shared with me their stories of why they no longer attend church are on the fence. I’m convinced that they know they need to have a closer walk with God and are looking for a way. My response to them was in no way judgmental, but neither did I sugar-coat the need for obeying God. I hope that those people remember our conversations and that by their telling me of their situations, a door would open for the Lord to work in their lives. Faith is a gift from God and without it, we are unable to believe and thus have eternal life.

So it’s not the people such as those who proffer excuses for not attending church who are in the greatest danger. At least they are aware of what they need to do and by God’s grace, will come to the place of peace and contentment in the Lord. It’s the rest of the people who are really in trouble, the people who out-of-hand dismiss the things of God.

My chiropractor, who is also my good friend, recently gave me his feelings about religion and churchgoing. This man is a Jew, but not a pious Jew. In fact he made it clear that while he was Jewish by birth, he in no way believed in any of the things his religion holds as truths. In fact, he told me that he cannot believe that an intelligent being (God) one day decided to create earth and the life on and in it. I told him I understood his position, but that I did believe everything, just as stated in the Bible.

To my chiropractor, my belief is foolishness. But he knows that I am not foolish and perhaps one day will ponder this paradox, a man whom he knows is intelligent and learned, really takes to heart that which he views as nonsense. But to those who are perishing, spiritually, that is, the things of God are as great foolishness.

To close, I will cite 1 Peter 1: 20-21. This is the answer I gave to my chiropractor friend who maintains that scripture is made up and not of divine origin. It says: First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, because no prophecy ever came of human will, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”  To that, all God’s people say, “Amen.”

God Exists

June 22, 2014
Weekly Message

Sometimes we get spiritually-valuable messages from the oddest places. This one came to me as an internet message and instead of sitting and writing a regular homilly on this beautiful, first full day of summer, I have chosen to instead, offer the following. Be blessed by it. 

Tom

DOES GOD EXIST?     

    

This is one of the best explanations on the

nature of God that I have ever seen... 

A man went to a barbershop to have his hair

cut and his beard trimmed. As the barber began

to work, they began to have a good conversation.

They talked about so many things and various subjects.

 

When they eventually touched on the subject of God, the  barber said: 'I don't believe that God exists.'    

 

'Why do you say that?' asked the customer.

'Well, you just have to go out in the street to

realize that God doesn't exist. Tell me, if God exists, would there be so many sick people; would there be abandoned children?

   

If God existed, there would be neither suffering nor pain. I can't imagine a loving God who would

allow all of these things.' 
The customer thought for a moment, but didn't respond because he didn't want to start an argument.
 
The barber finished his job and the customer

left the shop.  

Just after he left the barbershop, he saw a man in the street with long, stringy, dirty hair and an untrimmed beard. He looked dirty and unkempt.

The customer turned back and entered the barbershop again and he said to the barber: 
'You know what? Barbers do not exist.'    

 

'How can you say that?' asked the surprised

barber. 'I am here, and I am a barber. And I

just worked on you!'

 

'No!' the customer exclaimed. 'Barbers don't

exist, because if they did, there would be no

people with dirty long hair and untrimmed

beards, like that man outside.'

'Ah, but barbers DO exist! That's what happens

when people do not come to me.' 
'Exactly!' affirmed the customer. 'That's the point! God, too, DOES exist!

That's what happens when people do not go to Him and don't look to Him for help.    
That's why there's so much pain and suffering in

the world.'

Saying Goodbye

Weekly Message

June 15, 2014

Saying Goodbye

My long-time friend Leo died recently and tomorrow, I preach at his service. My thoughts are fragmented and disconnected. Leo was not a churchgoer and he was, at times, irreverent. But he was not an unbeliever, either, and he lived a life of service to others.

So what do I preach? I Have decided to preach God’s love. I know that while God might have wished for Leo to give praise and worship, I’m also convinced that the Lord was pleased with Leo’s goodness and selfless attitude.

Leo looked out for others. He saw needs when others averted their eyes. And Leo did his best to fulfill those needs. Leo lived by the “Golden Rule,” that is, he treated others as he wanted others to treat him.

Leo loved little dogs. To him, these were innocent, sweet creatures. When a dog yipped and barked, Leo would yip and bark with them, to the point that both he and the dog were communicating in love.

James said in James 1, 27: Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world. This Leo did.

So now my thoughts have coalesced. In writing this message, I have found what I need to say for my friend’s service. That’s how God works. 

May the Lord of peace and love comfort all who mourn; may they receive grace from on high and find that Jesus, who sends his peace, brings a light burden and an easy yoke. 

Morning In The Garden

Weekly Message

Tom Seymour

June 8, 2014

Morning In The Garden

This morning broke still, calm and warm. After doing some daily chores, I sat outside under the shade of a flowering crabapple tree, next to a stand of dame’s rocket, a fragrant, phlox-like plant. Both were in full bloom.

As the sun grew stronger and cast its rays on the apple blossoms, honeybees and other bees began foraging for pollen. The bees were not present until the sunlight hit the blossoms.

Hummingbirds buzzed around a nearby nectar feeder and moths and butterflies flitted about, all part of this special morning in nature.

I know God made the world, created it by divine fiat. And I often wonder what the Garden of Eden was like. We today can’t possibly imagine the stunning beauty that was on the earth prior to the original sin. But spending some early-morning time in a garden, watching the natural world come to life, can give us a partial idea of the original glory.

As the apostle Paul said, “Now we see as through a glass, darkly, but then we will see fully.” He was remarking on how we really have no conception of the full glory of heaven. But in time, we will know it in truth.

But for now, if you can take some early-morning time and spend it quietly in a garden, you just might see a tiny glimmer of the wonders to come. 

Our Lives Are Like A Day In June

Weekly Message

Tom Seymour

June 1, 2014

Every Day is Special

Poet James Russell Lowell once asked, “What is so rare as a day in June?” I read this as a child and every June, Lowell’s classic verse comes back to me. Let’s dig into it a little bit and see what makes a day in June so special.

Today, June 1, brings us to a special place on the calendar of natural events. It’s still spring and not yet summer. June heralds a season of change. By observing closely, we can see this change occurring on a daily basis. The grass on our lawns grows so rapidly now that we say, “I can’t believe it. I just mowed it two days ago and it needs mowing again.”

Likewise, songbirds show changes too. Birds that were very much in evidence a month earlier are now conspicuously absent because they are nesting, waiting for their eggs to hatch.

Even the weeds in our garden demonstrate the fast-paced nature of the sixth month of the year. So Lowell had a point and his point was that if we don’t absorb this wonderful month of June, if we don’t immerse ourselves in it and enjoy every beautiful, life-filled, even sensual moment of it, June will slip away before we know it.

Our lives are like the month of June. Sure some things are tough, difficult, even bad. But not everything is bad. Most of all, we need to focus on today, what we might do to contribute to the better good, the common weal, how we might enjoy and appreciate every precious moment on this earth.

Know this. Every year is different for us, every month is different in our lives, every day is special and every minute is another minute that we never had before and will never have again.

God gives us this life and he wants for us to enjoy it. But it’s our choice whether to smile or frown. We can also choose to look deeper into the workings of each day and to benefit from our time here. Our lives are indeed like a day in June.

To paraphrase Lowell, let me ask this. What’s so rare as a day in our lives? The answer is nothing. Each day in our lives is special and nothing can compare. So thank God for each morning, whether the sun shines or rain falls. It’s our special sun-filled day and it’s our rainy day. Taste. Examine. Exhault. And enjoy.

No Life Without The Son

Weekly Message

May 25, 2014

No Life Without The Son

Here we are already on Memorial Day weekend. When I was younger, this weekend would not arrive for another week. Traditional Memorial Day, or “Decoration Day,” was May 30. The date was changed in order to facilitate another three-day weekend for government workers. But this isn’t my topic for today’s message, only a bit of interesting trivia.

So again, it’s Memorial Day weekend and we must wear sweaters and jackets when venturing outside. My heater has run every night since turning it on last fall. It’s been that cold. Fog, thick cloud cover and low air pressure tend to cause the “blues,” a condition much like mild depression.

But once in a while, the sun pops out and our lethargy and melancholy instantly disappear. I’m sure everyone experiences this. Even plants, those bellwethers of change, exhibit near-instant response to the sun or lack of it. Plants need sunlight in order to fulfill their life purpose, that being to manufacture food and therefore live and regenerate. Some plants manage to exist in darkness, those being simple organisms such as mildew, various spores and some fungi. However, even these, take their nourishment from other organisms that did indeed get their nourishment from the sun. Nothing can exist for long without the sun.

This unrelenting stretch of dark, damp weather has turned me into a weather junkie. I check a number of weather forecasts daily and even monitor the long-range forecast for the northeast. Did you know that even the long-range predictions change regularly? And sure enough, when I look at the forecast for the next several weeks and see that it’s gloomy, I immediately become glum. But when the next two weeks are filled up with cheery sun icons, I become cheerful. That’s how much the sun affects everything about us.

Nothing can live without the sun. Neither plant nor animal. Likewise, our spiritual lives depend not upon the star we know as the “sun,” but upon the son of God. Without the son, there is no path to the father.

Without the son in our lives, we cannot come to God. In fact, as one-third of the triune God, or the Holy Trinity, the Son was given the task of creating the earth and everything in and on it, including us. John 1:3 says, “All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being.”

Also, John 5:21 says, “Indeed, just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the son gives life to whomever he wishes.” Jesus is the son and he gives life to whomever he wishes. So I say again, we cannot live without the son. Knowing this, doesn’t it seem wise to live so that the son will wish to give us life? Of course it is.

So study the word as presented in the bible. And do your best to live by the instructions therein. And if you haven’t already asked the Son to come and be with you, you can do it with this prayer or one like it:

“Oh God, I know I’m a sinner and I’m sorry for my sins. I want to turn from sin and to be forgiven. I believe that Jesus Christ is your son and that he died for my sin and the sins of all, even those yet unborn. I believe you raised Jesus from the dead. I accept Jesus Christ as my savior and ask that through his sacrifice, my sins are forgiven. I ask that you send your Holy Spirit into my life to comfort and guide me. In Jesus name. Amen. 

God Is Always With Us

Weekly Message

April 27, 2014

Tom Seymour

God is always with us

Have you ever felt alone, as if God was not around or perhaps had forsaken you? If you have, you are not unique. Most everyone at some point in their life has these doubts.

Perhaps you even felt as if you were sinning just because you had these thoughts. That, too, is something that happens to many. But we can’t help such thoughts coming to us. We can, though, help ourselves by discounting them out of hand. So it’s no sin to have unrighteous thoughts, but it is a sin to allow them to dictate our actions.

But the real truth of the matter is that no matter what the devil may put in our heads to try and confound us and harm our relationship with God, it is all a lie. God is with us at all times. Remember the story of the footprints on the beach? The one where two sets of footprints turned into only one set? The person viewed this as God forsaking him. But God answered and said, “That was where I carried you.”

Without this knowledge of God’s love and constant presence in our lives, I truly don’t know how any of us could survive. I know I couldn’t. Living alone now for the last 22 years, I have times when I feel sorry for myself. I miss my loved ones, all gone. I miss friends who have preceded me. And I know it’s natural to feel this way. I also know, however, that I am not alone and am never alone. At the most desolate and lonely times, I feel God’s presence the most. He is there and always will be. He is here with me and He is there with you.

We must cultivate our relationship with God, though, since He will not push himself upon us. Upon retiring and arising, I acknowledge God. I constantly pray, not only for myself but for others. And I thank God. We thank people for the smallest of kind gestures. Why should we not thank God for the grandest kindness of all, the gift of His son Jesus, who took our sins upon himself on the cross.

I know people often struggle with the triune nature of God. I once had a pastor friend tell me that he knew God, but had never encountered Jesus. This was a learned man, with a doctorate degree. And he admitted to not really feeling or experiencing Jesus, as such, in his life.

But in fact he had. Jesus and God and God’s Holy Spirit are one. And they are three. By having God in his life, my friend also had Jesus in his life.

The mystery of the Holy Trinity is not something lightly approached and few of us ever wholly understand it. It is something heavenly, above and beyond our realm and more than we can comprehend. But we can believe. And when we believe that Jesus, God and God’s Holy Spirit are one, we are doing all that we can.

When I pray I pray to God. I pray in the name of Jesus. And I know Jesus hears me. And sometimes He sends His Holy Spirit to minister to me. Do I try and lessen the beauty of this mystery by making distinctions? No. Absolutely not.

God is our creator and He loves us. You, me, everyone on earth. It’s hard for me to get my hands around this, since I can think of mean, cruel people who I cannot imagine loving. But God loves them too.

So take heart and find solace in the fact that God is there and He is aware of you. He loves you and wants the best for you. Enter into His glory. Accept the gift of Christ’s blood, shed on the cross. And open your spiritual eyes and see evidence of God’s work in your life. Ask God to be with you and He will be with you. God wants to hear from you. He waits and has waited. So call upon him. He won’t fail you.