Epistle for March 11, 2005
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Dr. Curt Scarborough, President FreeWay
Foundation March 11, 2005
In This Issue:
Interview with Stephen
Education opportunities
Curt Scarborough's "Holy Ground Interviews"
Featuring today's special guest STEPHEN
CS Stephen, you were one of the original seven
"table-servers"
elected by the church in Jerusalem. How did you get
promoted
from that menial chore to become a famous
miracle-worker
and powerful preacher?
Stephen The primary qualification for becoming a deacon, or any
servant
in Christ's church, is to be filled with the Holy
Spirit. Anything
good that I accomplished was due to my empowering by
God's Spirit.
CS So you had nothing at all to do with your prominence?
Stephen The Lord's spiritual principle was in operation:
faithfulness in small
tasks is rewarded by being given greater
responsibilities.
CS Dr. Luke in his Book of Acts seemed to hint that your
were a Greek.
Stephen NO! I was a Jew . . . whose family happened to reside
permanently
in another nation. I made the pilgrimage to
Jerusalem for the Festival
of Pentecost, and became converted that day when
Peter preached.
Like many other new believers, I just extended my
visit in the Holy
City for a few weeks in order to be part of that
original Christian
fellowship.
CS Like the Apostles, you also performed great wonders
and signs there
In Jerusalem. Why did the mob single you out for
such violent
persecution and martyrdrom?
Stephen The mob was being led secretly by the High Priest and
other Jewish
officials. A great many of the priests and Levites
were being saved,
and the religious hierarchy feared that their
positions of power were
being threatened by this new movement.
CS Saul, later called Paul, was among that group of
rabble-rousers?
Stephen Yes, he was one of the ringleaders.
CS Why did they come after you instead of Peter or John?
Stephen Frankly, I think the Jewish leaders were afraid of the
street people
who supported those twelve Apostles.
CS So you became an alternative target?
Stephen Very likely. They made an example of me in order to
frighten the
other believers into silence.
CS But how could so-called godly men bribe false
witnesses to testify
lies against you? Or, for that matter, against the
Messiah?
Stephen Fanaticism blinds even good people into thinking that the
end justifies
the means. History has illustrated this fact
hundreds of times.
CS Speaking of history, your sermon recorded by Dr. Luke
was mostly a
history lesson. Why was that?
Stephen I wanted to drive home to those Jewish religious leaders
that they
were exactly like their forefathers . . . always
resisting God's revealed
word and murdering the prophets He sent to warn
them.
CS Did you plan your speech and defense strategy, or did
that sermon just
flow out of your mouth under the inspiration of the
Spirit?
Stephen I had planned to remind them of our ancestors: Abraham,
Isaac,
Jacob . . . but when I had gotten only as far as
Solomon, the Holy Spirit
prompted me to skip right to my conclusion.
Abruptly, I accused them
of resisting the Holy Spirit and murdering the Just
One.
CS What did Dr. Luke mean when he wrote that your enemies
saw your
face as the face of an angel? Was it sweet,
benevolent . . . "angelic"?
Stephen I think he meant my countenance had become stern and
frightening
. . . like the death angel of God coming in
judgment.
CS You called them stiff-necked and uncircumcised in
heart and ears!
Stephen They were precisely that: stubborn and unrepentant!
CS Was the violent response to your sermon totally
unexpected?
Stephen Not really. Of course, I hoped and prayed they would turn
to the
Lord. But if they killed the Master, could I expect
any less?
CS So, your preaching ministry got off to a "rocky start"
and came to
a quick end. What was God's purpose? What good
came out of it?
Stephen When the mob gnashed their teeth, dragged me outside the
city,
and began to stone me, I caught a glimpse of Saul.
Our eyes met briefly.
CS Paul was part of that lynch mob?
Stephen He was there, although I don't think he actually cast a
stone at me. I
believe my death was used by the Lord to soften
Paul's stony heart.
CS Tell us about your "Holy Ground" personal encounter
with Almighty
God . . . I imagine it was that spiritual experience
which Dr. Luke
described, just before you left this earth to enter
heaven!
Stephen Yes, it was. During those last moments, I didn't even
feel the pain of
the boulders striking my body, because I was
completely filled with
the comforting presence of the Holy Spirit.
CS What did you see?
Stephen I saw the heavens opened . . . and the glory of God around
His throne.
CS Were you afraid?
Stephen I probably would have panicked, but then I saw Jesus . . .
standing
beside the throne, peering over the rim of heaven
down toward me.
CS Standing?
Stephen Yes, just as if He had stood up from His seat and was
moving forward
to welcome me into His presence.
CS Did you say anything to Him?
Stephen I remembered a word of faith and a word of forgiveness
which the
Apostles told us He spoke from the cross . . . and I
repeated them.
CS Faith? . . . Was that, "Receive my spirit?"
Stephen Yes, and a word of forgiveness: "Don't charge them with
this sin."
CS So your words of advice to contemporary believers
would be?
Stephen Be filled with the Spirit, and cultivate spiritual
perception, God's gift
of seeing beyond physical sight. Finally, in times
of crisis, have the
words of the Lord in your heart and upon your lips
to sustain you.
CS Thank you, Stephen, for these insights about your
personal and
inspiring experience of moving from this world into
the next.
Stephen Remember these two life-giving words: faith and
forgiveness!
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"The older I get, the greater power I seem to have to help the world;
I am like a snowball . . . the further I am rolled the more I gain."
- Susan B. Anthony
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