TES:Testimony of Scott Seaman

   Only just a few short years ago thoughts of God judging my actions
were the farthest thing from my mind. How things have changed.

   As a young lad with an entrepreneur as a father I was fed a constant
dose of "business sense" and was reminded of the harsh realities of the
real world. I learned that decisions had to be made often times without
all the information you would like to have to be absolutely sure. One
thing you could be absolutely sure of is that if a businessman does not
make decisions he will fail and his dreams will dry up and blow away.
It was just that simple. This left me with a sense that life was not a
free ride and that you needed to deal with things not as you wish they
would be but as they are.

   As I grew older, I found myself interested in issues of the day,
whether political, non-political, foreign, or domestic. I always prided
myself on being informed on a subject or issue before I made a
decision. I felt superior to those who tenaciously held opinions
without good logical support and enjoyed debates to expose there lack
of thought on the matter. I began to realize that this was a form of a
put down and not always conducive to building relationships. Further, I
also realized how common it is (myself included) for people to hold
beliefs, without examining the evidence for their position. This is an
understandable problem particularly with the complexity of today's
world. However, regarding life's most important matters we must resist
just taking for granted what are told without evaluating it.

   Yet something was lacking. I found myself unable to be decisive
regarding morality, especially where both sides of a issue had strong
advocates arguing their respective positions. A good example was the
abortion issue. Each side seemed to be valid, possessing a substantive
basis for being right. I imagined the related hardships when a unwanted
baby is born . . . financial difficulties, destroyed plans, pressured
and unhappy marriages etc. On the other hand a baby was being killed,
there was no doubt about that reality. Further what about personal
responsibility for your actions? Considering both arguments, I honestly
asked myself: would I want to be saddled with an unwanted baby - No
way. Through this and other dilemmas I realized that I lacked a
standard. Situationally applied logic seemed too arbitrary and
inadequate to be a determiner of right and wrong.

   I began a search for such a standard. My religious background was
Roman Catholic. My regular participation with that church ceased when I
was about twelve years old, although I continued to attend church
infrequently when requested by my family on holidays. Practicing
Catholicism was boring and ritualistic. I could not see what it
offered. By the time I began college, religion seemed irrelevant to
life decisions. My first college philosophy course spent one half the
semester disproving the existece God. I wasn't fully persuaded by the
arguments but I didn't know how to respond. Wrestling, weight lifting,
karate, motorcycling, girls and school were the matters on my mind for
those years.

   When I was 27 or 28, I began to become interested in investigating
spiritual matters. Through martial arts training I was exposed to
Eastern religions. While Eastern religions are mysterious and hence
more interesting then Catholicism, I found them to be equally empty.
After some study it became apparent that no evidence existed to
classify Eastern religions as anything more than philosophical
ramblings.

   It was quite some time before I was able to find anyone talk with
about spiritual matters. At least not anyone who could articulate
sensible reasons why they believed what they did. An old motorcycling
buddy, named Seth, had moved to San Francisco to follow a engineering
job opportunity. He came back to town regularly on holidays to visit
his family. In a bar we used to frequent, Seth told me about how his
life was going in San Francisco. Sometime during the evening, he just
briefly mentioned that he was attending the Peninsula Bible church (Ray
Stedman) and things of God had become very important to him. Sometime
thereafter I purchased a modern translation of the Bible and begin
reading. My thought at this point was maybe there is something to
Christianity and I should look into it. On his next visit to town, I
was prepared with all kinds of questions. Virtually all my education
pointed to contradictions between the Bible and Science. But Seth, a
mechanical engineer, believed the creation account in Genesis.

   Seth not only believed, but he had reasons which made sense! I began
to wonder, could it really be true?

   This motivated me to do a systematic analysis of the evidence. I
learned about the shakey foundation that evolution stands on. Real
facts of science fit the creation model better! But then I asked "what
about the accuracy of the scriptures, could they have been passed down
all these centuries essentially uncorrupted?" So I studied how old
documents are evaluated for their authenticity. I learned about how the
transmission of copies are analyzed. I studied about how internal and
external evidence of a document can be examined to determine it's
reliability. I further researched archeological evidence confirming the
accuracy of many reported events in the Bible which up to the point of
the discoveries were supposed Bible errors. Every objection I had, when
examined, resulted in reasonable and rational support of the Biblical
account.

   The evidence piled up. It was like many strands woven together
making a strong rope. Finally, I came to a point where I concluded that
there is a God who is real. After that decision reading the Gospel of
John became a intense experience. I realized I needed God: I needed
Jesus Christ! When I called my friend Seth and told him my feelings he
prayed for me - right over the phone! It wasn't until that point that I
really could let God into my life.

   Since then I have realized it was not just my intellectual curiosity
that brought me close to God. God gave me the desire to investigate and
read His word. Yet responding by accepting Christ (as God's provision
for restoring our relationship with Him) is something you must do for
yourself. No one else can make this decision for you. It is the one
decision which will impact your future more than any other.

   In Christ, I truly have found the standard I yearned for and the
direction for my life. Before I knew God my self-worth was related to
achievements and attainment of material possessions. Always striving
but never satisfying. With Christ in my life, I not only have a sense
of what the real priorities in life are, but I have a feeling of
fulfillment. In His service I have been given what satisfies. As Jesus
said: "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then
you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." John 8:31-32.

   To the skeptic, I challenge you to objectively weigh the evidence.
Seek Him and He will reveal himself to you.

   Scott Seaman
