Tanzania: Rhinos and Albinos

October 5, 2015July 31, 2019 / insightbyseymour / Leave a comment

Most of us have only seen pictures of Tanzania, and its colorful landscape that includes the majestic peaks of Mount Kilimanjaro and the Ruaha National Park which is home to over 10,000 elephants and 430 species of birds. Among the many different animals that are found in Tanzania, one of the best known and most endangered is the black rhino.

While the plight of the black rhino is a concern, even more, worrisome is the warped and wicked mistreatment of the Albinos. In Tanzania, albinos represent one in every 1429 births, and the innocent children among this number live in constant fear. They live with the terror of knowing that some people want to harvest their body parts.

The Thomson Reuters Foundation has reported that the adherents of witchcraft place a high value on albino body parts. Because some villagers believe albinos have magical powers, they hunt them and harvest parts of their bodies.

The National Geographic has reported on this gruesome practice, saying: “Some even believe that the witchcraft ritual is more powerful if the victim screams during the amputation, so body parts are often cut from live victims, especially children. The use of children is likely linked to the pursuit of innocence, which, it is believed, enhances the potency of the witchcraft ritual.”

As I think of these brutalized children, I’m reminded of a line from an old radio show: “Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows.”

I also thought of these truthful words from a children’s song:

Jesus loves the little children

All the children of the world

Red and yellow, black and white

They’re all precious in his sight

Jesus loves the little children of the world

Everyone who does evil deeds hates the light and does not come to the light, so that their deeds will not be exposed. ~John 3:20

To learn a little more about this repugnant practice, you can visit a Facebook page that has a focus on this issue.

The Misery Index

September 17, 2015September 17, 2015 / insightbyseymour / Leave a comment

Whether you call them “parting comments” or “footnotes,” Paul makes some interesting statements as he concludes his letter to the Thessalonians. The first of these statements is, “Be at peace among yourselves (5:13).” Paul is urging the members of this church to be at peace with fellow members of the church.

If you’re not at peace with yourself, it’s difficult to be at peace with another person; and if you’re not at peace with God, it is difficult to be at peace with yourself.

Paul also urges these people to “rejoice always (5:16).” Joyfulness is an important component of life, and Paul linked it with love, peace, longsuffering, and kindness when he spoke of the fruit of the Spirit.

The greater your inner joy, the more likely you are to love people, to be kind, and to be longsuffering—Even Nehemiah knew that “the joy of the Lord is your strength (8:10).”

The third statement that Paul makes emphasizes the importance of prayer: “Pray without ceasing (5:17).” Obviously you can’t pray continually, but you can go through the day in an attitude of prayer. There can be miniscule moments of time when you praise God or give Him thanks for a blessing. There will be times when you find yourself thinking of some person or a specific need, and you can offer a voiceless prayer that only God hears.

There’s another item that Paul urges these people to do: “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you (5:18).” To understand this verse, you need to comprehend the difference between “in all” and “for all.” Paul didn’t say that you’re to give thanks for “all things,” but “in all things.”

When you give thanks “in all things,” you’re embracing the hope you have in Jesus Christ; and, your focus is not so much on the here and now of your pain, but on the there and then of future blessings.

The path of trials and tragedies was a route that Paul often traveled. If you’re following in his footsteps, you might find some comfort in his practical theology for life:

Thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, that he is our Father and the source of all mercy and comfort. For he gives us comfort in our trials so that we in turn may be able to give the same sort of strong sympathy to others in theirs. Indeed, experience shows that the more we share Christ’s suffering the more we are able to give of his encouragement. This means that if we experience trouble we can pass on to you comfort and spiritual help; for if we ourselves have been comforted we know how to encourage you to endure patiently the same sort of troubles that we have ourselves endured. We are quite confident that if you have to suffer troubles as we have done, then, like us, you will find the comfort and encouragement of God. ~2 Corinthians 1:3-5

A Shelter For A Helter Skelter World

August 27, 2015August 27, 2015 / insightbyseymour / 1 Comment

To say the world can be a mess is not an understatement. Life is lived at such a fast pace, you may have gone to bed last night feeling overwhelmed and got up this morning still in a daze.

When you’re seeking a refuge of safety and rest, Psalm 91 is a wonderful passage of Scripture:

He who takes refuge in the shelter of the Most High
will be safe in the shadow of the Almighty.
He will say to the Eternal, “My shelter, my mighty fortress,
my God, I place all my trust in You.”
Like a bird protecting its young, God will cover you with His feathers, He will protect you under His great wings; His faithfulness will form a shield around you, a rock-solid wall to protect you.

You only have to look at the pages of Scripture to find examples of God intervening in the lives of His children. Joseph, as an example, lived through a series of hardships and trials. At the end of his life he said people had planned things for evil, but God had planned them for good.

Like Joseph, you need to take an eternal perspective on life. The weight of the present heartache or trial can skew your perspective on the future; however, when you look from the present back through history, you can often see how your life has been more than just the victim of circumstances.

Benefit from the opportunity that you have. Don’t refuse the refuge–find comfort in the shelter of God.

Aye-Sight: Seeing Eye to Eye with God

August 21, 2015 / insightbyseymour / Leave a comment

I think you’ll agree that the health of your eyes and good eyesight is of critical importance: Good vision helps you in every aspect of your life.

The same is true when you consider your spiritual life. Good eyesight is an essential to spiritual health, and poor eyesight can be devastating. In Psalm 119, there’s a verse that focuses on the object of your vision:

Psalm 119:36-38

Turn my head and my heart to Your decrees

and not to sinful gain.

Keep my eyes from gazing upon worthless things,

and give me true life according to Your plans.

Verify Your word to Your servant,

which will lead me to worship You.

Instead of wasting your time on the worthless, invest it in the precious. Take a look at these “eyesight” verses:

Psalm 19:8: The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.
Psalm 26:3: For Your lovingkindness is before my eyes, And I have walked in Your truth.
Psalm 33:18: Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, and on those who hope in His mercy.
Psalm 34:15: The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry.

I’ll close with Psalm 119:18, and I encourage you to make it your prayer for today: Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from Your law.

How Valuable Are Your Values?

August 19, 2015August 19, 2015 / insightbyseymour / Leave a comment

After reading the conversation Jesus had with His disciples in Matthew 16, a question popped into my head: “How valuable are my values?”

Jesus said, “Those who want to come with me must say no to the things they want, pick up their crosses, and follow me. Those who want to save their lives will lose them. But those who lose their lives for me will find them. What good will it do for people to win the whole world and lose their lives? Or what will a person give in exchange for life? The Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father’s glory. Then he will pay back each person based on what that person has done (Matthew 16:24-27).”

The verses above allow a person to draw several conclusions:

Jesus has a greater concern for the size and character of my heart than He does for the square footage and décor of my house.
Jesus wants me to focus more on the compassion I display and less on my social status.
Jesus isn’t worried about the promotions I’ve received, but He does want me to be pro-motion in the help I give.
Jesus will not judge me based on the way I’ve protected my rights but on the way I helped those who have been wronged.

To make a difference in the day and hour in which you live, you need to be different in the way you craft each second of your life. You need to pick up your cross and follow Jesus. By losing your life in Him and for Him, you discover the purpose He has for you; and, your values become valuable.

Discreetly Discrete

July 21, 2015 / insightbyseymour / Leave a comment

Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night with strange or random thoughts on my mind. When this happened recently, I was thinking of two statements that Jesus made:

The first is an admonition to be discreet: Be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.
The second is a command to be discrete: Be in the world, but not of the world.

As I thought about these two statements, the words discreet and discrete came to my mind. Even though these words are homophones, they are not synonyms. Discreet implies wisdom in your behavior or speech. Discrete means: distinct or separate.

What section of the Bible outlines a discreetly discrete Christian life? I think it’s the Beatitudes in Matthew 5:

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to them.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to them.

What change can you make to help you become a discreetly discrete person?

The Pull of the Magnetic Pole

July 16, 2015July 16, 2015 / insightbyseymour / Leave a comment

At some time in your life, you have probably heard a person described as having a “magnetic personality.” When you were a child, there may have been a point in time when you were fascinated by the mysterious powers of a magnet.

When Richard Feynman, a physicist, was asked to explain magnetism he said: “I really can’t do a good job, any job, of explaining magnetic forces” in terms familiar to the average person. Feynman did go ahead and in the simplest terms say that all the “electrons in a magnet are spinning in the same direction.” The spinning gives birth to the north and south poles in a magnet that creates its magnetic pull.

When you think about the pull of the polls, no one seems to be able to answer the question: Why does every electron have these polls?

Let me change the direction of this discussion from the north and south to the east and west and from poles to souls. Because the earth has a North Pole and a South Pole, it is easy to measure the distance between the two. There is no East and West Pole. You cannot measure the capacity of God’s mercy and His forgiveness for the soul of His children.

In Psalm 103, the Psalmist wrote:

For as the heavens are high above the earth,

So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;

As far as the East is from the West,

So far has He removed our transgressions from us.

When you fail Him, God does not push you away. He pulls you to Himself with His mercy and grace. The prophet Micah spoke of this when he said:

Where is the god who can compare with you—
    wiping the slate clean of guilt,
Turning a blind eye, a deaf ear,
    to the past sins of your purged and precious people?
You don’t nurse your anger and don’t stay angry long,
    for mercy is your specialty. That’s what you love most.
And compassion is on its way to us.
    You’ll stamp out our wrongdoing.
You’ll sink our sins
    to the bottom of the ocean.

Take one snippet of this verse with you as you go about your business today: “Compassion is on its way to us.” Let God pull you to Him, so you can bask in the warmth of His compassion.

The Spice of Life

July 14, 2015July 14, 2015 / insightbyseymour / Leave a comment

This is the time of year that fresh produce is being grown in the gardens around town. When the tomatoes ripen and the squash and zucchini are harvested, new recipes are tried as backyard chefs’ fire up their grills. The key ingredient to the success of these culinary endeavors is that special spice you add to the entrée as it simmers on the grill.

Is there a favorite spice you use when you cook? Spices influence and change the flavor of food. If you were the spice of life, how would your influence be experienced?

Would it be felt as true compassion or random passion?
Would you be experienced as a warming fire or dangerous and easily provoked ire?
Would your presence be recognized as sweet encouragement or bitter discouragement?

The difference between a good meal and a bad meal can be the difference between the right spice and a bad substitute. If the recipe calls for sugar, you can’t expect to get good results if you substitute cayenne pepper.

The same is true will a spiritual counterfeit and a genuine servant of God. The influence of one is positive and the influence of the other is negative.

Jesus said that you should “Be wary of false preachers who smile a lot, dripping with practiced sincerity. Chances are they are out to rip you off some way or other. Don’t be impressed with charisma; look for character. A genuine leader will never exploit your emotions or your pocketbook. These diseased trees with their bad apples are going to be chopped down and burned (Matthew 7: The Message).”

As the spice of life, are you genuine or a counterfeit?

A Heavy Mettle Discussion

June 30, 2015July 1, 2015 / insightbyseymour / Leave a comment

I heard the sad story of a man who died recently. He had crawled under a house to steal the copper wiring and was electrocuted.

This is sad for a couple of reasons:

Copper prices are at historic lows, and this man lost his precious life trying to take something so cheap.
His attempt to steal was evidence of a steel less and easily tempted character

This copper incident reminds me of the judgment discussion that Paul had with the Christians at Corinth:

“You are God’s building. As a skilled and experienced builder, I used the gift that God gave me to lay the foundation for that building. However, someone else is building on it. Each person must be careful how he builds on it. After all, no one can lay any other foundation than the one that is already laid, and that foundation is Jesus Christ. People may build on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw. The day will make what each one does clearly visible because fire will reveal it. That fire will determine what kind of work each person has done. If what a person has built survives, he will receive a reward. If his work is burned up, he will suffer the loss. However, he will be saved, though it will be like going through a fire.” ~I Corinthians 3:9-15

In the verses above Paul offers a Double M Lesson:

The first M is Metal or the gold and silver.
The second M is Meddle or the wood, hay, and straw.
Paul uses these objects to frame his argument in the context of a quality of life versus a quantity of life perspective.

The metal and meddle aspects of your life will be judged by fire which “will determine what kind of work each person has done.” The difference between your metal and meddle may be your mettle or the manner in which you confront the challenges of life and faithfully persevere.

When Paul wrote his second letter to Timothy he engaged in a little heavy mettle discussion: “When the going gets rough, take it on the chin with the rest of us, the way Jesus did. A soldier on duty doesn’t get caught up in making deals at the marketplace. He concentrates on carrying out orders. An athlete who refuses to play by the rules will never get anywhere. It’s the diligent farmer who gets the produce. Think it over. God will make it all plain.” ~2 Timothy 2:3-5

I encourage you to do what Paul admonished Timothy to do in the verses above: “Think it over.”

Simply and Complexly Marvelous

June 19, 2015March 19, 2020 / insightbyseymour / Leave a comment

If you want to spice up a conversation, bring either religion or politics into the discussion. There are many diverse opinions on both subjects, and the topic of creation can stir the pot among both the believers and skeptics.

Some people believe in a random Big Bang form of creation, others espouse a view known as intelligent design, and then there are those who embrace the Genesis account of creation.

I find it hard to look at the intricate design of the world and believe it just happened by chance. In Psalm 9, David writes: “I will praise You, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will tell of all Your marvelous works. I will be glad and rejoice in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.”

When was the last time you paused and reflected on the “marvelous works” of God? What would a flower be without its fragrance? How dark would the night skies be without the light of the moon and stars? How different would birds be if they were drab in color and whistled and sang out of tune?

The sunrise, the sunset, and the rainbow are the canvas on which the Master Artist paints in vivid colors, and the day would be much different if it began and ended in a colorless brown instead of fire-red hues. Speaking of fire, what would fire be without its warmth on a cold night or water without its refreshing coolness?

How about food? What would chili be like if there was no spice or a breakfast roll without cinnamon? And, it’s almost too painful to consider a world without the tantalizing flavors of ice cream and the aroma of freshly baked bread!

How mundane would life be without this complicated, yet marvelous thing we call love? Isn’t love the WOW factor in everything that God created?

When you read the book of Genesis, you see God at work. After He had spoken the physical world into existence, God formed Adam out of the dust of the earth and breathed into him the breath of life. Next in line was the creation of the animal kingdom, but God wasn’t finished until He created woman.

Adam thought he had seen it all, but then he saw Eve. To Adam, she was the marvelous WOW-inducing work of God

Take sometime this week, to marvel at the works of God, and the way He has blessed you.

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