Epistle for August 5, 2005
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Dr. Curt Scarborough, President FreeWay
Foundation August 5, 2005
Holy Ground Interview: Barnabus
Is Pillsbury College & Seminary Accredited?
Curt Scarborough's HOLY GROUND INTERVIEWS
Featuring Today's Special Guest: BARNABUS
CS Barnabus, although the apostles in Jerusalem called
you "Son of
Consolation," and you were recognized as an apostle
(Acts 14:14),
why did Paul call you a hypocrite in his Epistle to
the Galatians?
(Galatians 2:9-13)
Barnabus Paul always saw everything as either black or white! He
also called
Simon Peter a hypocrite on that same occasion you
mentioned. In
Antioch, I merely was eating with some old friends
from Jerusalem,
when Paul accused Peter of separating himself from
the "unclean"
Gentiles during a church meal.
CS Were you and Peter intimidated by the Jewish
believers, who insisted
that Gentiles must be circumcised before becoming
true Christians?
Barnabus I served for many years as the bishop of that Antioch
church, made
up largely of converted Gentiles. I never wavered
from my conviction
that salvation is by grace alone, not by works, such
as circumcision.
CS So what was happening? Was Paul still holding a
grudge against you
because of your dispute over John Mark?
Barnabus Not at all! We'd reconciled over that disagreement years
before. Paul
was merely emphasizing the gospel of salvation by
grace through faith,
and he was defending his position as a genuine
apostle.
CS Why were you associating with those Jews who opposed
Paul?
Barnabus I was "doing my thing" of encouragement, trying to bring
peace
between Jewish and Gentile Christians. My enjoying
a fellowship
meal with those Jerusalem Jews did not indicate that
I agreed with
their theological position. In fact, just the
opposite was true!
CS Barnabus, tell us about your conversion and ministry.
Barnabus As you know, I am of the priestly Tribe of Levi. My family
long had
been serving Jehovah in our homeland, the Island of
Cyprus. My
father was a leader of the synagogue in the capital
city of Salamis.
CS When did you become a believer in Jesus as the
Messiah?
Barnabus On the day of Pentecost, I was one of the 3,000 men who
heard the
gospel and believed. I was in that original group
who were baptized
and filled with the Holy Spirit on that historic
day.
CS When did you first become associated with Paul?
Barnabus I first befriended Saul soon after his Damascus Road
conversion.
When he returned to Jerusalem, Jewish religious
leaders plotted to
kill him as a traitor to their cause. I vouched for
him to the apostles,
and he preached awhile before returning to his home
in Tarsus.
CS How did you get together in Antioch?
Barnabus When the Jerusalem church heard that many people were being
saved
in the Gentile city of Antioch, I was appointed to
head a committee to
investigate. They already had formed a church, but
they welcomed
me as their pastor-teacher.
CS Dr. Luke reported that the hand of the Lord was
especially strong in
there. In fact, believers got the name Christians
in Antioch! (Acts 11)
Barnabus That's right! I served alone as the pastor of that
congregation for
about a year before being led by the Lord to go to
Tarsus to enlist
Saul to join me in my pastoral ministry in Antioch.
CS That church continued to mushroom!
Barnabus Yes it did . . . to God be the glory! Within a short time,
we were
blessed with several other prophets and teachers,
who came alongside
us in ministry. We had a ministerial staff of five
men, not including
our intern, John Mark, a relative of mine from
Jerusalem.
CS John Mark became a bone of contention between you and
Saul.
Barnabus The Holy Spirit spoke to the church at Antioch, separating
Saul and
me to go into other heathen lands, preaching the
gospel and planting
churches. John Mark went with us . . . for a few
days.
CS Why did he desert your missionary party?
Barnabus He was just a teenage boy . . . scared and homesick for his
mother.
CS You and Saul had a very successful missionary tour,
according to Dr.
Luke in the Book of Acts.
Barnabus The Lord Jesus protected us and blessed His word
abundantly.
CS Tell us about the preparations for your second
missionary journey.
Barnabus Paul . . . by this time he was using the Roman form of his
name . . .
and I decided to revisit the churches we'd
established in order to
strengthen and encourage those new Gentile
Christians. I wanted to
take John Mark, but Paul absolutely refused to take
him along.
CS You had a heated dispute and split up! Who was right
or wrong?
Barnabus Oddly enough, this incident was a "holy ground" experience
in my
spiritual life. Candidly, Paul and I both were
right . . . and wrong,
depending upon your point of view and spiritual
gifting. Paul had the
gift of prophecy, focused on telling sinners about
Christ, regardless of
who got offended or hurt. He was right: service to
the Lord demands
strong endurance and total faithfulness.
CS But you also were right?
Barnabus I had the gift of mercy, focused on individual persons,
seeking always
to comfort and encourage them. The boy, John Mark,
deserved a
second chance. The Lord had given Paul a second
chance! I was
right: John Mark had great potential. He ended up
writing the first
of the four gospels, and later even Paul wrote
requesting Mark's help.
CS Barnabus, do you have any final words of advice for
believers?
Barnabus Respect and pray for all Christian endeavors, even those
which are
"different." Exercise your own spiritual gifts,
while encouraging
others to exercise theirs, without judging motives.
Maintain a sweet
spirit of acceptance toward all believers by
"agreeing to disagree."
Accreditation of Pillsbury College & Seminary
Pillsbury College & Seminary represents a personal and practical
distance-learning alternative approach to Christian education. By its very
nature, Pillsbury is too innovative and experimental to fit into the
traditional mold established by most official accrediting agencies in the
United States. At its founding, however, the College & Seminary did adopt
and meet all the structural, financial, and academic guidelines established
by an officially recognized accrediting agency.
Pillsbury, furthermore, does uphold the highest standards of
academic excellence, ethical conduct, and moral integrity to assure that all
the degrees awarded are absolutely legitimate and totally honorable. The
College & Seminary is owned, controlled, and operated by Freeway Foundation
. . . formerly Christian Civic Foundation . . . a widely respected, legally
recognized Christian educational institution chartered by the State of
Missouri in 1890.
As a Christian school, Pillsbury College & Seminary was granted
an "exemption" by the Coordinating Board for Higher Education of the State
of Missouri on August 19, 1992.
In January, 2003, Pillsbury College & Seminary was granted
"Accredited" status by the Accrediting Commission International for Schools,
Colleges, and Theological Seminaries. ACI is an independent non-profit
corporation chartered as an accrediting agency for small Bible colleges and
specialized Christian schools, institutes, and seminaries.
ACI is dedicated to assisting those institutions of Christian
higher education to gain a quality, non-regional accreditation,
characterized by academic excellence and ethical practices. It has a
current membership of over 250 schools in 39 states. Because of the
convictions of its member schools in support of religious freedom and the
separation of church and state, ACI has elected not to request official
recognition as an accrediting agency from the U.S. Department of Education.
Persons whose professional or career goals require certification
by a state or federal government agency should check to determine whether a
degree from Pillsbury College & Seminary would be acceptable. Individuals
needing to earn a regionally accredited degree in one of the disciplines
offered by Pillsbury may wish to investigate comparable programs offered at
more traditional on-campus institutions currently accredited by a regional
association recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
For more information contact [email protected] or call Dr.
Scarborough at 314-739-1121
"We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibers connect
us with our fellow men; and among those fibers, as
sympathetic threads, our actions run as causes,
and they come back to us as effects."
- Herman Melville
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