E-pistle for July 29, 2005
Posted by: info <info@...>
Dr. Curt Scarborough, President FreeWay
Foundation July 29, 2005
Holy Ground Interview: Mary Magdalene
Is Pillsbury College & Seminary Accredited?
Curt Scarborough's HOLY GROUND INTERVIEWS
Featuring today's special guest
MARY MAGDALENE
CS Rumors have circulated for centuries that you were a prostitute
and
that you carried on an illicit love affair with Jesus Christ.
Would you
like to comment on these sordid stories?
Mary Those vicious rumors are products of evil, dirty minds! I was not a
harlot. Some uninformed and ignorant so-called Bible scholars
have
mistakenly identified me as the sinful woman mentioned by Luke
or
Mark. (Luke 7:36-50; Mark 14:3-9)
CS Why have you become such a mysterious and intriguing character?
Mary Perhaps part of the confusion resulted from all the women named
Mary who were associated with Jesus. There was His mother, of
course, and Mary, the mother of James and John . . .
CS Lazarus and Martha's sister . . . and you. What does "Magadelene"
mean? Is it perhaps a word used to describe your character?
Mary It just means "a person from the city of Magdala," which is located
on
the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. The word is similar to
Jesus
being called a "Nazarene," meaning a citizen of Nazareth.
CS What about the alleged romantic involvement between you and Jesus?
Mary Of course, I loved him . . . with a pure and holy love. And He
loved all
of us who followed Him. But there were never any inappropriate,
sexual overtones to our relationship. For one thing, it's a
ridiculous
possibility because of our age difference.
CS Age difference?
Mary Yes, I was old enough to be His mother! In fact, all of us women
who
followed Him were friends and age-peers of Jesus' mother.
CS How did you meet Him?
Mary Early in His ministry in Galilee, He traveled through Magdala. I
heard Him teach, and recognized that He was a prophet sent from
God. Later, I came to believe that He was the promised Messiah.
CS So, you and some other women became sort of "camp followers" of
the Lord and His disciples!
Mary I guess you could say that. Joanna, Susanna, and I . . . all of us
were
relatively well off. We helped support the Messiah and the
Twelve
financially, and we often traveled with them, cooking their
meals and
washing their clothes. The spiritual blessings we received from
the
Lord far outweighed anything we contributed materially! (Luke
8:2-3)
CS So, Mary Magdalene, since you have been misjudged and slandered
over the years, how would you describe yourself?
Mary I am a grateful woman, whose soul was freed from torment by Jesus
Christ, the Son of God. He set me free from seven demons.
CS What, or who, were they?
Mary The important thing is, they're gone! Praise His holy name!
CS Did He cast out those demons when you first met Him in Magdala?
Mary Yes, and from that day forward, my service to Him was motivated by
gratitude and love.
CS You accompanied Him to Jerusalem before His passion?
Mary I was in the triumphant crowd singing "Hosanna" on Palm Sunday.
And I was an eye witness to His crucifixion. In fact, I
supported His
mother, Mary, my best friend, as we departed from the scene of
her
son's execution. We all were crushed and overwhelmed with
grief.
CS You went back to assist in His burial?
Mary Joseph of Arimathea had donated his new tomb, and he and some of
the other men carried Jesus' lifeless body and placed Him in the
cave.
I watched them warp Him in linen burial clothes, then roll a
huge
stone over the opening.
CS You are sure He was dead?
Mary No doubt about it! He was dead . . . stone cold dead.
CS Then early on the following Sunday morning . . . we call it Easter
. . .
you and another Mary went to visit the burial site.
Mary That was Mary, the mother of James and John. We went to embalm
His body permanently. They had done a temporary job on Friday
afternoon . . . hurrying to get finished before Sabbath began at
6 p.m.
CS When you got to the tomb, you received quite a shock!
Mary The guards were passed out cold, the stone had been rolled back from
the mouth of the tomb, and we saw two angels.
CS You really say an angel? You weren't hallucinating?
Mary The angel was real. He said, "Do not be afraid . . . He is not
here; for
He is risen as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.
And go
quickly and tell His disciples. (Matthew 28:5-7)
CS That was a real "Holy Ground" encounter!
Mary We ran and told the disciples, but they were skeptical. Peter and
John ran back with us, but . . . no angel . . . nothing but
grave clothes
left folded inside the tomb. I was puzzled and heart-broken.
Then
everyone left the cemetery except me.
CS What happened, Mary?
Mary I heard a voice behind me speaking my name. I thought at first it
was
the caretaker, but there was something familiar about that
voice. I
turned, and there stood Jesus, risen from the dead! I ran over
to
embrace Him, and He warned me not to cling to Him, because He
had
not yet ascended to His Father. (John 20:1-18)
CS What a great experience! You were the first person to see Him
alive!
Mary Yes, and in a way, I was the first evangelist. I ran to tell the
others
that Jesus is alive! He is risen! He is risen indeed!
CS Mary, do you have any final words to pass along to our readers?
Mary Yes, I do. All of us Christians need to proclaim the good news that
the
Lord is alive. As the angel said to me: "Come . . . see . . .
go . . . tell!"
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 info@freewayfoundation.org or call Dr.
Scarborough at 314-739-1121
"Charm is a way of getting the answer, YES,
without asking a clear question."
- Albert Camus
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