Verum Venatus (V2)-Truth Game

Indiana Gazette Article on Verum

2009-11-30T10:54:00.000-08:00

Gaming event offered as party alternative

By BILL ZIMMERMAN, billz@indianagazette.net
Published: Monday, November 30, 2009 11:33 AM EST

When Alan Seymour set out to offer students a safe and fun alternative to the late-night party scene, he looked for an activity that could draw a diverse crowd.Seymour, of Indiana, thinks he found that unifier: video games.

In October, Seymour's nonprofit program, Verum Venatus, held its first gaming event in the University Square atrium, and on Friday and Saturday, gamers will come together again. For Seymour, who is a jock and who is in the band matters little when it's time to mash buttons.

``It transcends all those labels because everybody plays them,'' he said.Verum Venatus' mission statement is ``To give the 18- to 30-year-old population an alternative to alcohol and drugs by utilizing all technological avenues (gaming systems in particular), personal mentoring, tutoring and conversational evangelism.''

However, Seymour, a therapist who practices out of his home church, Calvary Evangelical Free Church in White Township, said college and high students who attend won't be ``hit over the head'' with religion.

But if they want some mentoring on matters both spiritual and otherwise, it will be available.Seymour, 37, said he began thinking about Verum Venatus years ago, and recently found a partner, Kyle Bruno, who's in his early 20s and gave him a primer on gaming.

``I'm not in the gaming circle,'' he said. ``I'm just tying to give kids things do to.''Verum Venatus is Latin for Truth Game, and Seymour, who is also an ordained minister, said it's his style to ``tell it like it is'' and deliver the truth about mental, physical and spiritual health.

An Elderton High School graduate, he has a doctorate in biblical psychology from Pillsbury College and Seminary in St. Louis and said his training is ``kind of like combining theology with psychology.''

Seymour, a father of three, said he's able to treat both Christians and non-Christians and has worked extensively with at-risk youth in Florida, where he and his wife opened their home to as many as eight teens at a time, and North Carolina, where he worked with gang members.

He moved back to the area a few years ago before heading to India, where he taught for a year at a seminary in Bangalore, and returned to Indiana in May.As he secures more funding and gauges public interest from the gaming events, Seymour plans to open Verum Venatus' own center in a vacant office space in the bottom of University Square.

He envisions students coming to play until about 11 p.m. on weekdays and later into the night on Fridays and Saturdays. The center would also have room for gatherings such as Bible studies as well as space to rent out for other events such as parties. He said it's too early to set an opening date, but that he's still looking for donations and volunteers. He has an eight-member board of directors in place and hopes to have 10 people guide the organization soon.

On Oct. 23, about 18 kids played a ``Halo 3'' tournament competing for prizes, including T-shirts and video games donated by Back Street Records. Rent-A-Center donated four big-screen TVs for the event, and a Nintendo Wii was set up for those wanting a more casual gaming experience. On Oct. 24, members of the Indiana University of Pennsylvania Video Games Club stopped by and games were played outside of the tournament structure.

``Halo 3'' is rated M for gamers 17 or older, and Seymour said no one outside of the Entertainment Software Rating Board guidelines would be able to play games with that rating. He also said Verum Venatus would not offer any bloody games such as those from the popular ``Grand Theft Auto'' series.

His work with troubled youngsters helped influence Verum Venatus' behavioral guidelines, which include no swearing, no horseplay, no tobacco or alcohol and no skipping class to attend gaming events.

``My philosophy is you have to set the bar high and kids will generally rise to it,'' he said.If you go ...What: Verum Venatus gaming eventWhen: Registration for ``Halo 3'' double-elimination tournament begins at 4 p.m. Friday with play going from 6 to about 10 p.m.; tournament will continue Saturday afternoon. Cost is $10.

Where: University Square atrium, Grant StreetWeb site: www.verumvenatus.org

Copyright © 2009 - Indiana Gazette

Next Halo Tournament -- December 4th & 5th

2009-11-13T16:30:00.001-08:00

The Next Tournament will be December 4th & 5th. You can register by clicking on the registration button to the right, or you can go to our website http://www.verumvenatus.org/ and register by emailing us.

Website Up!!!!

2009-11-01T14:03:00.000-08:00

The Website is up. Please check it out. More information and products will be added as the week goes on, so stop back regularly. All the proceeds will go to support gaming events, and outreach events through out the collegiate and young career (18-30) community. Please go to: www.verumvenatus.org

Gaming Event

2009-10-13T14:20:00.001-07:00

Registration For Gaming

2009-10-13T13:50:00.000-07:00

Verum Venatus Gamer Weekend Registration
Copy and paste information below into a word document or just print this document and fill out all information and bring to registration or scan and email. You must supply Credit Card/Debit Card info for security purposes of our equipment. If you break it, you will be charged for it.

All information on this form will be kept confidential and in a secured area. Driver’s license and credit card information is gathered as a precaution due to the nature of the services we provide. This information as well as other precautions are taken to dissuade theft and vandalism.

Contact Information
Name: _________________________________________

Street Address (Campus):_______________________________________
______________________________________________

City, ST, ZIP Code: ___________________________________________

Phone: _______________________

E-Mail Address: ________________________

Drivers License Number: ___________________________

**Credit or Debit Card
Name (as it appears on card):

Type of card: ___________________________________
Number: _________________________________________
Expiration Date: ________________________________
Customer Code (3 digit number on back): _____

Madden
______Single Player

______Team (2 Players)

UFC
______ Single Player

Halo 3 (17 years of age & older)

_______Single Player

_______Team (2 Players)

Wii Boxing
________ Single Player

Cost is $5 per Gamer per Tournament (with a maximum of 2 tournaments per gamer)

Total Cost: ___________________

*Gamers pre-registering will need to bring their payment to the registration table on October 23rd & 24th.

*Print this page and bring it to the registration table on the above dates along with your payment OR e-mail the required information to kyleb@verumvenatus.org

**Credit or Debit card information will be used only if equipment is damaged during gameplay (You break it, you buy it).

Inter-Culturally Relevant

2009-10-04T12:12:00.000-07:00

Matthew 12:30, “Anyone who is not with Me is against Me, and anyone who does not gather with Me Scatters.”

Galatians 1:9-10, “As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed. For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.”

I have been thinking upon this subject for a long time and still have a hard time finding any reason for Christians to be part of any Interfaith Council on any college campus. As a matter of fact I think there is more reason not to, but maybe I am wrong and you can help correct my analysis.

I know what you are about to read is going to ruffle feathers, but I just cannot hold my tongue any longer. I have held it for 3 years, and God has tugged at my heart and I have ignored it, but with going through what I have been going through with my sickness, I no longer fear what people think, but what God thinks. I have been known to write some controversial stuff before, and then stopped because of politics, but I am no longer walking that road. If God places it on my heart then I am going to write about it, whether or not people like me for it. Once you have had the fear of a disease that can kill you, you realize that what others think is not quite as important as what God thinks. I will have to stand before Him one day and no one else.

My goal is to challenge the Christian in my writings and to protect those young minds out there that are trying to wade through the truth of religion and what is true. This is about eternity and not tomorrow or the next day. Below in the quotes are the basic premise of the Interfaith Council at the University in the town I live in. Read them and see if you see anything wrong with it.

“The IUP Interfaith Council exists to serve the spiritual needs of the IUP community. Specifically, it seeks:
To be a forum for communication among various faith traditions at IUP and between these traditions and the university.
To foster mutual respect among religious groups on campus.
To be a forum in which to come to agreement on guidelines for on-campus religious practice.
To foster personal contact among members of different religious groups.
To be a forum in which to explore possibilities for cooperative religious programming.
To advocate spiritual growth and religious life. (emphasis mine)
To be a liaison between local churches and the IUP community.
The IUP Interfaith Council will be composed of one or more representatives from each recognized student religious organization approved for membership. Membership in the Interfaith Council is open to all duly recognized religious organizations of the IUP community”(http://search.www.iup.edu/search?q=interfaith+council&entqr=0&output=xml_no_dtd&sort=date%3AD%3AL%3Ad1&entsp=a&ud=1&oe=UTF-8&ie=UTF-8&proxystylesheet=IUP&site=IUP&client=IUP )."

All I come up with are questions about Christians participating in such a program, and at best find that doing so is because either they feel forced, or are using it to attain a free room. At least that is what I hope, because for any other real reason would be to truly go against, in my opinion, the core of Christianity, Jesus Christ being the only way to Heaven.

How can Christians cooperate with another faith in programming? What will you promote with a Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim or Wiccan? Good morals? That will not get you into Heaven and that promotes a works based faith, which Christianity is not. We are saved by grace alone, where all the others are works based. Maybe we could teach all to love each other? But the problem is we cannot truly love unless we know Jesus Christ and the love He showed us on the cross. It is because God loved us first that we are able to love and that needs to be taught, and not “God” in general, but the true Triune God. Our love would be in vain if we were not presenting the Gospel of Christ. You would just “love them” to hell if they do not know Christ. If in your collaboration you are not allowed to present Christ then what is the point? What program could Christians possibly ‘hold-hands’ or ‘cooperate’ with another religion? Please give me Biblical evidence for it. Show me where we are to partner with other religions, and I will point you to 1 & 2 Corinthians when Paul is talking to them about doing just that and bringing outside religious aspects into the church. Not only that, he was calling out those who were sinning within the church.

Why do we think God is going to move in our communities when we hold hands with the Devil? Any religion that is not Christianity is designed by Satan, or the sinfulness of man who was probably encouraged by Satan or his demons. Basically, to say you are cooperating with another religion on a project is like saying you are going to work with an anti-Christ to get something done. I wonder if the Angels and Demons get together around a table to discuss how they can work together for the betterment of the community? I can very much doubt it, since they hate man and anything that is Heavenly. So, why do we do that as leaders?

2 John 7-11, “For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. Look to yourselves, that we do not lose those things we worked for, but that we may receive a full reward. Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him; 11for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds.”

Some will say they get to then witness to the other leaders. Really? All you get to do is give your testimony. You are not allowed to proslytize at these meetings, which is what should be happening. If you are sitting with a bunch of non-Christian leaders, your goal should be their salvation and not how you can show the University campus that you are in bed together. That is hypocrisy at its finest and a slap in the face of God to say that we can use the means of Satan to help students find their way in life. Again, if it is not for God then it is against God.

We are to love and be tolerant to allow people to choose sin, which includes joining other religions, but that does not mean we promote that we think they are the same as we are, because we don’t. We believe Christianity is the only way to eternal life. What does it say in the end when students see leaders of Hindus, Muslims, and any other religion meeting each week, month or whatever to join together in cooperation for helping students? It says that there really is no difference and one is not better than the other.

Rom. 1:32, “who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.” For the leaders out there, would you as a Christian send someone to the Wiccan leader, the Muslim leader or the Universalist leader if they said they were looking for that style of worship? If so, why? You should be witnessing to them and keeping them as far away from those places as possible, because that is sending them into the domain of Satan and not God. You are hurting them if you do that and sinning, because you are sending them away from Christ.

Why are Christians then part of this worldly program, when we are not to be part of the world? Why do we get frustrated that the Holy Spirit is not moving when we hold hands in projects with faiths that deny Christ as Savior and Lord?

Revelation 22:14-16, “Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie. “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.”

Exodus 20:3, “You shall have no other gods before Me.”

KICKS & GIGGLES

2009-08-24T17:48:00.000-07:00

At the last Bible study, we were talking about why Jesus did what He did as it pertained to miracles, in particular with the blind man that He healed in a two step process in Mark Chapter 8. During the different opinions and reasons being given for why this could happen, one person said, “He did not do if for kicks and giggles.” Meaning that Jesus did everything for a reason and when we read Scripture we should be striving to see what that is. Jesus had a purpose and was not doing things just for party tricks or for laughs, He was on a mission.

Then I thought even more about how often many take Christianity for just kicks and giggles. Do we take our faith very seriously, or is it just because that is what our parents did, or it is what our friends do? Or do we take our faith seriously?

Christianity is not to be taken lightly and we should definitely not be taking it for granted and making light of it in any fashion. It is not a faith of party tricks and for that great emotional feeling, but of eternal destiny. We are called to a higher calling and called to a mission field.

Think about it, Matthew 7:21 says, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord!’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of My Father in heaven.” There is a seriousness regarding our faith, and we should take it as such. If you continue reading it says these peoples did miracles and prophesied in His name, but in the end Christ says He never knew them and they are sent away. Maybe they were doing it for the “kicks and giggles,” as they wanted the attention and were not doing it because they believed, but because they liked the attention.

In 1 Corinthians 5:11-13 Paul says, “But now I am writing you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother who is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a reviler, a drunkard or a swindler. Do not even eat with such a person. For what is it to me to judge outsiders? Do you not judge those who are inside? But God judges outsiders. Put away the evil person from among yourselves.” If you call yourself a believer, first are you guilty of any of these offenses, and if so repent and get into discipline and accountability. Secondly, how many of your “Christian” friends should you no longer be hanging around if we followed what Paul says over and over again in his writings about Christians being in relation with other Christians? Or do you just rationalize that you are not to judge and that is just who they are; taking your faith for “kicks and giggles.” You just want to have “fun” and not lose friends.

How much more should the church be doing this? How many elders would lose their seats? How many deacons would have to step down? How emptier would the pews be if we started church discipline again? Or is the church in it for the money, the numbers and the building, which is just another way of saying for “your” enjoyment or “kicks and giggles.” How would your church or you fair today if Christ came back? Would you hear, “well done good and faithful servant,” or “I never knew you, depart from Me.” Maybe you would not be told to depart, but you would be the person or church that buries their talent because they are too afraid to do what God asks. Christianity became about you and not Christ.

You have to choose. Are you a bond-servant of Christ, or are you trying to make Christ a bond-servant to you? Are you serious about your faith, or is it just for “kicks and giggles?” You decide. You are either for Christ or against Him, there is no in between.

Matthew 12:30, “He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters.”

A Mother’s Love

2009-08-13T17:35:00.000-07:00

I know that there are mothers out there who are not worth a dime, but for the most part mothers are one of a kind, because they love in a way that is hard to understand. Their love knows no bounds and they would go to the ends of the earth for their children. I am not saying that men would not, but there is a connection between a mother and child that a man will never know, but can learn from. A mother carries the baby in her womb for 9 months and gives painful birth to their child. Men do not have that experience, as they only start to bond once the baby is outside the womb. Even then, there is a Mother’s love that is not understandable, but is testimonial to how God loves us.

Mark 7:24-30 says, “From there He arose and went to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And He entered a house and wanted no one to know it, but He could not be hidden. For a woman whose young daughter had an unclean spirit heard about Him, and she came and fell at His feet. The woman was a Greek, a Syro-Phoenician by birth, and she kept asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter. But Jesus said to her, “Let the children be filled first, for it is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.” And she answered and said to Him, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs under the table eat from the children’s crumbs.” Then He said to her, “For this saying go your way; the demon has gone out of your daughter.” And when she had come to her house, she found the demon gone out, and her daughter lying on the bed.”

This Gentile woman, who would be considered unclean and unworthy by any true “Rabbi,” and would not be given the time, is begging at the feet of Jesus for her child. She does not care what people think, and only wants her daughter to be released from her prison of possession. She humbles herself and falls at the feet of Jesus and begs Him, and does not leave until she has received what she desires for her child. Jesus compares her to a puppy (closer to the Greek) in front of everyone, but she does not care, because her daughter is on the line here. She answers Him in faith that He loves like she loves her daughter, and basically says she knows His love is for everyone. Jesus is moved by this woman’s demonstration of faith and heals her daughter. It was not her faith that did it, but her faith in Jesus. It was her love for her daughter, a Mother’s Love, that moved her to her knees pleading before this Jewish Messiah, begging for a miracle for her daughter.

This story amazes me, because how much more did Jesus show love for us by dying on the cross. He took the testimony of a Mother’s Love to eternity for us. He loved us so much that He died for us, even though it was us who deserved death. He was humiliated for us, beaten for us, cried out in agony for us, and then defeated death for us in the resurrection so we can spend eternity with Him. How AWESOME is that? Seriously, when was the last time you thought about how great it is to have a Savior who loves you like your mom, more than your mom.

Let’s take the example that mothers give us with their children and Christ gave us in giving Himself for us, and not be afraid to look foolish for Him. Show love like a mother and Jesus to others by telling them of Jesus Christ, because you know that He is the only way to Heaven. Be willing to look foolish and to be humiliated, because you love people so much that you want to see them in Heaven.

Romans 10:9, “if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. With the heart one believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth one confesses, resulting in salvation.”

Truth Game!

2009-08-06T12:43:00.000-07:00

Everyone knows that I had to return from India because of Late Stage Lyme Disease. It has been an interesting road to recovery. It has caused me two hospital visits. Once because it put my heart into afib, which was not an exciting adventure to go through. It appears now I am on the road to recovery, as my energy is coming back, pain is rescinding and the veil over my mind seems to be lifting. God has been good and is using all this to help us grow and trust in Him more. Our love has only deepened and our faith strengthened through this, because only through Him can I truly recover.

We were heart broken to have to return so early, and strongly desired to complete our two year stint, but God had other plans. I will, once recovered, go back to teaching in Bangalore for a couple of weeks during summers, but at this time we are not going to be moving back. With a new baby on the way and making sure my health stays stable, we believe that it is best to remain in the states for now, but I will go for two weeks each year to continue to teach and train church planters.

Through this I have been praying and seeking the will of God and He has continually brought me back to start an outreach on the college campus in Indiana, PA. This campus has 15,000 students and a heavy drinking and drug problem associated with it. My goal is to open a center where students can come and escape these enticements, because there is nothing else here besides bars and gas stations for them. We will utilize Wii’s, Play Stations, and Xbox’s to draw them in and then evangelize them through a variety of avenues.

We will have two rooms to hold Bible studies, mentoring programs and tutoring opportunities. During gaming contests we will have special speakers come in and give testimonies, or have different videos shown on the gaming screens. Our goal is to create an environment that will be safe and secure and give churches a place to reach those on the college campus. We will align with strong evangelical churches in order to move the students into ministries within their congregations, as we desire to feed the church.

Our goal is to be a tent making ministry, as we are going to sell the video games that we allow to be played on the systems in the center, and we will charge a small fee for using the gaming systems as well. We will also be selling coffee, food and work on becoming a distributor for a Christian clothing and gadget company. These will all help in off setting the costs for ministering to the campus students.

The goal is to be able to allow the students to play for free, but in order to do that we have to have the income coming in to allow us to cover those costs as well. Our desire is to give free game play to those students who are showing Christ like qualities and demonstrating it internally as well as externally.

We will also hold high school time slots, as we desire to reach them as well, but our focus is on the college campus. Using the mentoring as a way for the college students to give back to the community, we will set up college students with high school students, thus making a roll down effect. The college students will have mentors and then they will mentor, which helps us attain our goal: Impact a culture and change a generation!

This is where you come in, as you trusted us in India, I am now asking you to put trust in me again with this outreach. We need your prayers and your resources to help us get off the ground and started with this ministry. We would like to use IUP (Indiana University of Pennsylvania) as a starting hub, and if this is successful start other locations throughout the country, but we cannot do it without you.

Many of you had a two year commitment with us for India, and I am asking if you would consider giving your second year commitment to our new organization for this college outreach, Verum Venatus, which means Truth Game. I hate having to ask for money like this, but it is the only way I know at this time to move towards the goal of reaching these college kids for Christ.

We have a large vision, and the gaming center that will be used for mentoring and outreach is just a small part of it. We desire to open a counseling center along side of this outreach, but again this will cost money, as college students cannot pay a lot for counseling and will not ask parents out of embarrassment many times. We also have plans for helping to train those that have a desire to go into missions, as there are leaders in India, Africa and America that will partner with us to help bring up a new generation of people that will sacrifice their lives for the cause of Christ.

Again, much of this depends upon your prayers and God moving, and secondly on your willingness to give to this new ministry. I know God owns the cattle on a thousand hills, and He will provide. I am just asking you to be part of that provision. I have a detailed plan if you desire to see it and would love to talk to anyone who has interest in this outreach.

If you feel led to donate please make checks out to and send to:

Verum Venatus
33 Shady Drive
Indiana, PA 15701

All donations are tax deductible, as I have started the 501c3 above for this outreach purpose.

Very Truly Yours,

Alan Seymour