Navigating Life With Unwavering Faith

About the host: 

Steve Gray is the founding and senior pastor of Revive Church  KC. He has been in the full time ministry for over 40 years and  was launched into national and international recognition in the late 1990’s as the leader of the historic Smithton Outpouring, and again in 2009 when he lead the Kansas City Revival which was televised nationally on the Daystar television network. Steve is also a veteran musician, songwriter, recording artist and published author. His books include When The Kingdom Comes, Follow The Fire, and My Absurd Religion.

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Transcript:

TRANSCRIPT:

**0:00:00** – (Steve Gray): You don’t want to miss today’s podcast with my special guest, Frank Seamster, as we discuss how to overcome life’s hurdles to get where you want to be.

**0:00:09** – (Steve Gray): You were made for more than the status quo. I’m Pastor Steve Gray, and this is the More Faith, More Life Podcast. This podcast is for Christians with an ambitious heart who want to be more for their family, do more with their career, and see more of God’s promises in their life. I’ve spent many years as a worship, artist, minister, nonprofit leader, bold, truth speaker, and most importantly, father and spouse.

**0:00:34** – (Steve Gray): When I was in my early forty s, I was craving more. More from God and more from life. I’d done everything I was supposed to do. My life was good, but it wasn’t good enough. So I spent the following years diving into the word of God and searching for the biblical principles that would bring me closer to God and help my purpose and life flourish. That’s what I want to share with you. In every episode, you’ll get practical tools based on real life experiences that you can put into action to redefine your faith and ultimately your life.

**0:01:09** – (Steve Gray): So if you’re ready to do more, subscribe to More Faith, More Life, and hear an unfiltered biblical truth every week, it’s time to be and experience more.

**0:01:21** – (Steve Gray): Have you gotten my book, my Absurd Religion, by which I make my living? You need to get it. It’s going to help you understand a whole lot of things about the world and what’s happening today, especially in the church world. Go to the website, More Faith, More Life and download the ebook with the study guide. Hello everybody, and welcome again to another podcast of More Faith, More Life. I have a friend from many years with us today and our guest, Frank Seamster. We’re going to ask him some questions and kind of back up in his life to help you figure out yours. So welcome, Frank. Good to see you. We just got together a few minutes ago, so we’re still saying hi. Haven’t seen each other in a year, but we’ll get past that and go ahead and share some stuff with you. But I’ve known you a long time, but most of the time that I’ve known you, you already in the ministry you established or were establishing, and we’ve watched your ministry grow. My ministry grow?

**0:02:13** – (Steve Gray): But before that, I know some things, but I’m sure there’s things that you might want to share if we could back up. And I don’t know where you want to start. The only thing I know is you were in the military, right? You did music, but I don’t know what was before that. You told me you went to school with a guy just a minute ago. We were telling stories as yeah, a guy went to school with so obviously you went to school and then you went in the military. So somehow though you got into the ministry.

**0:02:42** – (Steve Gray): You have ministry influences. I can’t remember exactly about your dad and that, but anyway, let’s back up, if you don’t mind, because I want them to get the idea of their life where they are in their 20s or 30s or whatever, and they’re trying to figure out stuff. So how did you figure out and then get where you are today? I guess that’s where we’re talking.

**0:03:01** – (Frank Seamster): Well, I guess it was never really my deep desire to actually enter into the ministry, because my dad was a pastor and I grew up in church. I was what they call a PK, a preacher’s kid, and my dad pastored for 50 years.

**0:03:20** – (Steve Gray): Wow.

**0:03:21** – (Frank Seamster): And I’ve seen a lot of the struggles that him and my mom went through. And of course, way back then, in some of the thinking of some of the saints in the church, their idea was, Lord, you keep them humble and we’ll keep them poor. So I had no desire I had absolutely no desire for that to go into the ministry. And my thing was, I was in school, I love sports, and I was concentrating on sports. And even with some scholarship offers from some college to play, you’re pretty good.

**0:04:02** – (Steve Gray): At sports still today. You still can beat me at most of the except that one basketball game. Were we on the same team, though?

**0:04:08** – (Frank Seamster): We were on the same so we.

**0:04:10** – (Steve Gray): Would play that surprise basket. But anyway, he’s still better than I am at sports.

**0:04:15** – (Frank Seamster): That’s only because I play twice a week when I’m at home. Every Monday and Wednesday and Tuesday and Thursday is tennis.

**0:04:21** – (Steve Gray): Oh, God.

**0:04:22** – (Frank Seamster): Trying to keep up with you.

**0:04:24** – (Steve Gray): I can’t keep up with you now. But anyway, so you like sports.

**0:04:30** – (Frank Seamster): That was the thing. And really I wanted to go into business. That was really where I had an attraction to. And so I graduated from school and I went to Bible college.

**0:04:46** – (Steve Gray): Okay, I forgot about that.

**0:04:47** – (Frank Seamster): Yeah, I went to Bible college and I came out of Bible college, and then I went into the military.

**0:04:55** – (Steve Gray): What state was it? On the coast.

**0:04:57** – (Steve Gray): Where?

**0:04:57** – (Frank Seamster): North Carolina.

**0:04:58** – (Steve Gray): North Carolina.

**0:04:59** – (Frank Seamster): North Carolina, where I was born and raised and grew up in. And so we had the denomination that my dad was a part of. They had a Bible college, and I went to the Bible college. And after there, I went into the military. Vietnam was going pretty strong and heavy then, so I got a letter from my neighbors inviting me, not really inviting me, saying I was being called, and I went in, which was the greatest really a great time for me. I love the military, actually. I got hooked up with a gospel group in the military, and we actually won the all service championship in Tokyo, Japan. Larry Goss brothers.

**0:05:50** – (Steve Gray): Yes.

**0:05:51** – (Frank Seamster): Larry and I And a guy that had sung with the Imperials that was there. And so we had this little trio.

**0:06:00** – (Steve Gray): Those that might not know those big names in gospel music some years ago, but they laid a great foundation for today, wonderful foundation.

**0:06:09** – (Frank Seamster): And so then when I came back and I went into business I had a friend of mine that he had an advertising company and so he asked me if I’d like to go in with him. And what they did is if you go into the baggage areas of the hotels of the airports like I did today, they used to be a great big billboard and they would have different places that you could call taxi restaurant and they could come pick you up the taxi people and carry you. Now those are kind of out because everybody’s got their cell phones and they make those calls.

**0:06:50** – (Frank Seamster): So I went in with him. But then also deep inside I kept feeling though I knew the call was there, it was something that I wasn’t willing to say yes to the Lord then. And so finally one day my partner, he had went another direction and I now had the company and I had about 50 employees. One day I had actually had been down to was living in this apartment and we were having this big Memorial Day celebration.

**0:07:38** – (Frank Seamster): And I left the little pool party that everybody was having and I went back to my apartment and I sat down on the couch and all of a sudden it was like God just really showed up big time in the room. And I fell on my face and in the floor. On the floor and began to cry out to God and, yes, God, whatever you are calling me to do, I’m willing. I am willing and I want to go all the way with you. Anyway, I gave my notice at the apartments that I was living in and I went back home and I lived in a room for about nine months that was about oh I don’t know, about ten by twelve on my face before the Lord, just crying out unto God.

**0:08:35** – (Frank Seamster): And that’s kind of where things begin to take a real turn at in my life. Especially those times that I would sometimes in the night god’s power and presence was so strong I would crawl underneath the bed. I’m a young guy now, but I was just so hungry for God. I’d crawl underneath the bed and the word was becoming so alive to me that sometimes I would say to the Lord, oh, I need a little bit of a break, God.

**0:09:06** – (Frank Seamster): And there would be times that my mom would come and knock on the door and she says are you still in there? You’re alive? I say oh yes, mom. She said what? It’s time to eat. And I’d say Mom, I’m not hungry. I’m in the word right now. And so that’s kind of what began to really happen and take place. And then I actually went to Emmanuel, which was a college.

**0:09:30** – (Steve Gray): Let me ask you a question. So when you were in there seeking the Lord, you were at your parents house so that expenses weren’t as much in a thing because you were just, like, taking care of so you could just really seek the Lord. And I think people, some of the guys and gals, you adjust what you got to do. You may not want to go live with your parents or whatever, but you got to find your way. You’re going to be miserable your whole life.

**0:09:56** – (Frank Seamster): Yeah. And that’s because the call was so heavy and so strong. The thing that I kept saying to the Lord, God, I want it to be real, because I had growing up kind of like Clint Eastwood. I’d seen the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly all in church. And I will back up just for a second. I had met when I was in the military, and I was stationed in Okinawa. That was our home base, and we traveled all over that area with the sanging Group.

**0:10:32** – (Frank Seamster): But Okinawa was my home base, and I met a pastor there, which actually became the church that I attended while I was stationed in Okinawa. And I had never met a pastor like him in all my life. Like you would be I say that seriously. I had never heard anybody preach the way. And I’d been in church ever since I couldn’t remember was born. I remember laying under the benches, under the sawdust, under the tents with my dad.

**0:11:08** – (Frank Seamster): So I had grew up in it, but he just had such a phenomenal relationship and an understanding of the Word, and so much so that I’d meet him every morning at 04:00. Every morning at 04:00. The church was in like a Quancent hut. I’d meet him every morning at 04:00, and we would pray, and we would study, and he would open the Word up to me, and I never forget it. He had these little note cards, and we put three verses of scripture on those note cards, and I would memorize them every day. And so at the end of the week, I had 15.

**0:11:49** – (Steve Gray): That’s pretty good.

**0:11:50** – (Frank Seamster): And then I’d take a break on renewal on Saturday and take a break on Sunday, then start back on Monday, which gave me a real hunger, a real hunger for the Word of God. But then I went to school, and then the Lord just began to really speak to my heart about full time ministry. And I did. I said yes to the Lord. And then, of course, Naftali, she came, and we started traveling. We were in Missouri.

**0:12:32** – (Steve Gray): You were at a church, kind of a transitional time. You knew you weren’t going to be I knew even just meeting you’re not going to be there forever because of the kind of church it was at the time. But it served what it was. And shortly after I met you, you were already even when I did meet you, I think you already planted because that’s our first conversation about, oh, you’re a pastor. I’d like to maybe come to your church sometime. And our church was like a year old.

**0:12:56** – (Steve Gray): It was the first year and you were starting the first year with Naftali. And so those great beginnings.

**0:13:04** – (Frank Seamster): Yeah. And it hasn’t been without I remember when we first started out, you know, sometimes we’d have to sleep in the car, have enough gas to get to the next meeting. Because back then, a lot of times, you remember you guys remember a lot of the churches didn’t have the finances that they have today, the accommodations. So we started off sleeping in cars, sleeping in the car, herd in the front seat in my end, the back seat, having enough room to get to the next place.

**0:13:43** – (Steve Gray): We had those kind of adventures, too, where you’d go when I traveled and minister, and then they do an offering and they do a big spiel, we’re going to do an offering. And then they wouldn’t give it to you. They give you a little to you, but you couldn’t eat. You had to just get enough gas to get where you were and hope the next place and God came through, the next place would next place would do better.

**0:14:08** – (Steve Gray): But I remember, Kathy, we had this one particular place we went to. We needed the finances really bad, and we were driving that big bus back then, too, and we need it really badly. And we preached we did four or five days or whatever we did, and should have had a pretty good offering. And we had some friends that told us that they had put money in because they showed up from a long distance. So the offering should have been pretty good. And then it was something like, here’s, we want to bless you. I wish we could have done better, which they could have. And they gave us, like, about $200.

**0:14:44** – (Steve Gray): Kathy knew. She knew and she said, I know they kept some of it. They stole that money from us. So that’s when we first learned that lesson, I said, Kathy, we’re not going to get that money back. So the only way we can do it is this release it and say, they didn’t steal it from us. It’s our gift. We gifted to you. You didn’t steal it. It’s our gift. Take it. And they didn’t even know. We prayed that, but it released us to say, gather, you can’t be mad anymore. And God made up the difference with somebody else’s generosity.

**0:15:13** – (Steve Gray): I know you got lots of stories, too, but those are those days that we want to encourage those listening to that. You’ll have your own adventure. Don’t be afraid. Be wise, but don’t be afraid. Seek good counseling. Talk to guys like Frank or myself or somebody that you know who may have been through, it would be excellent. I don’t know. It’s hard to over the years, it’s been hard to find somebody that could really bring you to that deep level. You want to go, but whatever. And you’re hearing this, we talk about more faith and more alive and you need to start your adventure on whatever, full time, part time, whatever you can do. It is the greatest life.

**0:15:51** – (Frank Seamster): It is the greatest, but right.

**0:15:53** – (Steve Gray): Goddess challenges. When you see so much, like I always say, Frank, you can tell this is spiritual because people in the ministry, in the church go through things nobody else goes through. Selling advertising or whatever you did, working down at the Source, even having a business or whatever. You go through battles and you have people, but once you hit that mystery, you know there’s a devil because it’s a challenge, because we’re dealing with people with the spirit realm.

**0:16:23** – (Steve Gray): But it’s so worth it. Okay, so then you started and you went and you’ve been going how did you connect with churches? Where do you start? I know you talked to me, but I don’t know if you had connections through your dad or denomination or what did you do actually, just to get going?

**0:16:43** – (Frank Seamster): When I look back at it now, it was only God. And that’s what faith is. Faith is one simple thing. On faith. Trust God. That is just as simple as you just trust God. But when I was in Popular Bluff, I started getting I actually started doing a lot of pastor conferences where I would be preaching, where there would be a lot of pastors at, and that’s really where it really kind of launched things at, because pastors would come up and they would say, hey, would you come to our church?

**0:17:21** – (Frank Seamster): And back then, there was not a lot of churches that were in the praise and worship like we are. Yeah, that’s true. So it became a great avenue for me in a lot of places, because even though they were not in worship and praise, I could say, hey, especially when I got ready to preach because you’re looking for a certain kind of atmosphere and presence. I’d sometimes bring them up around the keyboard and just saying, anyway, the Lord just began to bless that. And then I’d go back home, back to Popular Bluff and I would preach. And I got feeling more like a Harlan than I did a pastor because I was gone.

**0:18:03** – (Frank Seamster): But the big thing came, I was out in California and I actually went to this conference with just no intention of anything. I didn’t even hardly know the leader. My father had knew him, but I didn’t really know the leader of it. And I knew a couple of people that were connected with him, that were now working with him, but that’s all that were from our area in North Carolina. And they were having this big conference and they were having a shut in before the conference had started and they had a three day shut in and people would just stay at the church and pray.

**0:18:43** – (Frank Seamster): Those that had to go to work would go to work. They’d come back from work and just pray. And I was in the shut in and I did get a chance to meet the leader of the conference. And the first night, the opening night, I was sitting back about middle way, large concrete, large crowd and he made mention, he said, one of my old, old friends that I haven’t seen in years, his son is in the service tonight and I want to ask him just to come to the pool pit. And so I came up to the pool pit and thought I was going to sit down and he hugged my neck and said, you’re preaching.

**0:19:23** – (Frank Seamster): There you go, there you go, 24 meetings.

**0:19:26** – (Steve Gray): Oh wow.

**0:19:27** – (Frank Seamster): One time God opened the door and that’s really kind of how it just really this is what I think our 38th year.

**0:19:36** – (Steve Gray): Yeah, trust in God after those 38 years and we’re kind of going back to the beginning roots. I don’t know. What do you think is the greatest hurdle or challenge that you had? Like is it money, is it finding churches, is it surviving churches that you expected more and disappointment? What do you think some of these others that maybe are considering or maybe there’s pastors considering giving up. But what was the biggest check if looking back was it money? I think energy.

**0:20:15** – (Frank Seamster): Sure. Your finances, of course. Your energy is pretty good because I was ready.

**0:20:21** – (Steve Gray): You’re excited?

**0:20:22** – (Frank Seamster): I’m excited and I was ready. Finances, as you mentioned a little bit earlier about offerings, I had those kind of same situations too, where it was 50 50. You have those financial situations but then God always took care. I just trusted God and God would always would come through. Sometimes you didn’t think he was going to come through, but you knew God was going to come through. You didn’t know how he was going to come through and exactly when he was going to through, but you knew God was going to do it. He was going to come through and supply the needs. And so that and then sometimes you go to some churches that you’re not received like you are in other churches and you can always tell because you’re up there giving your heart out and you got folks sitting on the front seat looking at their watch wondering what time God’s going to finish.

**0:21:33** – (Frank Seamster): But God gives you that strength and he gives you that anointing to overcome those situations and circumstances. And when you’re hungry for God, when you are hungry for God and you’re trusting God, it just seems to override everything else. I don’t care what kind of struggles that you may have, whether it’s financial struggles that you may have. At times, a lot of times we didn’t know where we were going to even be staying at.

**0:22:08** – (Frank Seamster): But then also during all of that, I also learned the secret of giving. And I learned that the more I gave, even a lot of times more than what I really got, sometimes I just would take and just give and give and give. And especially later on, I’ve had the same CPA for could you say that again?

**0:22:39** – (Steve Gray): That’s your watch, Tony, your watch wants to make sure we really get this.

**0:22:45** – (Frank Seamster): Okay, yeah, I’m going to say it again, but the lady who did our taxes for many, many years, she passed away a couple of years ago, but she would say, you can’t write any of this off because that’s a red flag. Because people, they wouldn’t understand with what you’re getting in, how much you’re giving, how much you’re giving. But I found out that was the key. And then God just blessed and blessed and blessed, and then we were able to get a couple of RVs and travel, have our home with us all the time.

**0:23:23** – (Frank Seamster): But God always came through, Steve. He always came through. But I learned the praying, I learned the reading his word. I learned to give in, and that became the thing that just gave us the victory.

**0:23:42** – (Steve Gray): There’s something about you, too, that I know. So I know this answer, but I’m going to ask you because I know what your answer will be, and it’ll be a good one. But for myself, too, I found out whether they’re going in the ministry or they’re being a mom or a dad, trying to be a good husband or worker or whatever, this holds true. And that is what I learned about you, is no matter what happens, both of us have decided we’re going to protect our hearts from being changed by anything, circumstances, situations.

**0:24:16** – (Steve Gray): You know, I’ve been through some, and I know everybody’s been through some.

**0:24:20** – (Frank Seamster): Right.

**0:24:20** – (Steve Gray): Talk about that a minute. Because we could say the biggest challenge is finances, because I have young ones or others coming to me. How do you do it if you don’t know anybody? Or how do you do it if you’re not making the money? How do you do it if you need to book churches and just the planning side of it? But that’s not the biggest challenge, in my opinion, after this many years, keeping your heart where it belongs, going through, it also just talk to us about that heart, because both of us have been through and we both come out still friends, joyous, free, all that stuff.

**0:24:53** – (Frank Seamster): Yeah, because we know what God has called us to do. And when you know what God has called you to do and you’re running after God, that becomes everything. Then you know that God, whatever situation comes up, I don’t care what it is, if you’re running after God, if you’re hungry for God, if you’re standing before God, if you’re seeking god. God will always come through for you. He will. Absolutely. I don’t care what that situation is, what your circumstance is.

**0:25:28** – (Frank Seamster): God will keep you. God has kept us. He has kept us with our health because we have sought after God. I hadn’t had to go to a doctor or a hospital since I was a senior in high school, gotten hurt in a football game. And God has just protected us and kept us, and he’s watched over us. And when you have that heart for God, and that’s the key, I really believe, and I can honestly say, when I said yes to God and I said, whatever you ask of me, God, I am going to do it. When I said that to him and I put that into practice, then whatever situation, whatever circumstance, good or bad or indifferent, that we came into that desire in God, that desire for God overrode everything.

**0:26:23** – (Steve Gray): Yeah. And if everybody here can learn that listening, whether you we talk a lot about ministry, obviously, we’d love to see young women and young well, of all ages go do it, but it’s not for everybody. But everybody can pursue God and get the best life they can get. That’s why more faith is going to produce more life, right? And you can be alive and not have that life. And I’m so happy with myself, too, just that I still have such freedom in all the things we’ve done and seen, good and bad, like you said, and ugly, to still be free and happy and joyous and confident in God.

**0:27:01** – (Steve Gray): And that’s what I want for the people. And I want to mention something, too, Zion. I think he’s helping us over there with this podcast. I always look to Him, our producer or whatever, director. But we should talk about the book, right? I want to talk about my absurd religion, because it’s a small book and you can get an ebook with a workbook and all that. But the thing I like about it is not necessarily you need to read it, but they do, is because you get preconceived ideas of what it’s going to be like to serve God, to go to church. My church should be like this. Now, I’m disappointed, but this book automatically tells you and says you’re going to find money lovers in the ministry in the church. You’re going to find hypocrites, you’re going to find bad teaching, you’re going to find prejudice against women, prejudice against Jews. You’re going to find all that. But it tells you it’s okay because we’ve seen all that. But I’m still not forsaken the church or the ministry. It’s still how we make our living.

**0:27:56** – (Steve Gray): And that’s why the book is so important. So get the book. You can look and see as you watch this. It’ll tell you how to get it and subscribe and all that kind of stuff that you do on the podcast and get it and download it, read it, and get rid of all those preconceived ideas. That will save you a lot of heartache and a lot of trouble. Well, we’re going to do some more. This is not going to be our only podcast I’m going to do with you, but this helps us see.

**0:28:20** – (Steve Gray): Get started. You don’t know and God comes through. You find God in the room and everybody here. You can find God in the room. If you want to find Him, he’ll find you back.

**0:28:29** – (Frank Seamster): That’s right.

**0:28:30** – (Steve Gray): So anyway, so glad to have you here, Frank. We’re going to do another one and just share, continue to share. But thank you for joining us. More faith, more life. You need to get it and serve God with all your heart and never change your mind.