Epistle for May 6, 2005
Posted by: info <info@...>
Dr. Curt Scarborough, President Freeway
Foundation May 6, 2005
In This Issue:
Guest today: RHODA
Theology class at Pillsbury
Curt Scarborough's HOLY GROUND INTERVIEWS
Featuring today's special guest RHODA
CS Rhoda, I assume you were a slave girl or household
servant,
since you were given the task of answering the door
when
Simon Peter came knocking?
Rhoda You assumed wrong! It was my house where many of the
disciples had gathered to pray for Peter. I just
volunteered to go
because everyone else was too busy praying.
CS Your house?
Rhoda My mother is Mary, and you know my brother . . . John
Mark.
CS So it was your house where Jesus and the apostles
gathered to
observe Passover on the night He was betrayed and
arrested?
Rhoda I was there in the shadows, watching everything that
happened.
CS Did you get to participate as Jesus passed around the
bread and
wine, and as He taught about His coming death?
Rhoda No, that was a private moment between the Master and His
men.
CS Did you follow them out into the night as they walked
over to the
Garden of Gethsamane?
Rhoda I wanted to, but mother wouldn't let me. However, John
Mark did
slip out unnoticed with the men to watch what
happened.
CS What did he see?
Rhoda He came back home after midnight, and he was in trouble
with
mother . . . because he returned without his good
linen garment.
CS Naked?
Rhoda Almost! He told us about the Messiah praying alone, with
the
disciples nearby. Then he had seen the large band
of armed guards
coming with torches, led by Judas Iscariot. He
watched with horror
as Judas kissed his "friend" to mark Him as the
target.
CS Wasn't John Mark scared?
Rhoda Not at first, but them one of the soldiers tired to grab
him. He ran
away like a rabbit, leaving his robe in the guard's
hand. (Mark 14:51)
CS I think it must also have been in your home, Rhoda,
that the disciples
gathered that Sunday night, after the Master's
crucifixion on Friday?
Rhoda Mother and some other ladies had gone to his tomb that
morning, but
it was empty. Some said He had risen from the dead;
others said that
the Jews or the Romans had moved His body. I didn't
know.
CS When He suddenly appeared to the disciples, did you
get to see Him?
Rhoda I saw Him. He noticed me and smiled in His gentle way,
letting me
know it was alright for me to stand there behind the
door and watch.
CS That must have been a joyous occasion!
Rhoda Unbelievable! We were overjoyed that He was alive after
He had been
crucified and buried. It was almost too good to be
true!
CS Tell us about the night the angel freed Peter from
prison.
Rhoda This was many months after Christ's resurrection and
ascension. The
Jewish religious leaders in Jerusalem were doing
their best to stamp
out this faith in a resurrected Messiah. They were
cruel and ruthless.
CS Stephen had been stoned to death . . .
Rhoda And many others also had been martyred. In fact, King
Herod had
arrested and beheaded James, one of the leading men
of the Twelve.
CS This was the Herod who also had decapitated John the
Baptist?
Rhoda The same wicked tyrant! When he saw that the Jews
approved his
executing James, he also arrested Simon Peter. Word
throughout
Jerusalem was that Peter would lose his head the
next morning.
CS So the believers gathered at your house to pray for
him?
Rhoda They were all assembled in the upper room about midnight
when
Peter came knocking at the gate of the enclosure
around our courtyard.
I heard him and went to answer the door.
CS You were amazed to see him standing there!
Rhoda I was absolutely dumbfounded. I was so excited that I
ran back into
the house, forgetting to unlatch the gate.
CS The adults didn't believe you when you told them Peter
was outside!
Rhoda They thought I was just a little girl with an over-active
imagination, or
that I was having a nightmare. I had been having
trouble sleeping;
James had been like a favorite uncle to me.
CS What happened?
Rhoda I kept insisting that Peter was out there, and finally I
got "Doubting
Thomas" to believe that I'd seen someone or
something. He suggested
the it probably was Peter's angel . . . or his
ghost.
CS But eventually some adult did let Peter into the
house.
Rhoda Everyone was running around, shouting with excitement!
Finally
Peter got them quieted down, and he told them how an
angel had
released his chains, opened the prison door, and
escorted him down
the street to safety.
CS Did Peter stay the night at your house?
Rhoda No, he sent someone to tell our pastor James, the Lord's
half brother,
that he had been rescued. Then Peter left to go to
another safer place.
CS There must have been an uproar when the guards
discovered Peter
was missing.
Rhoda They searched everywhere, including our house, but he was
nowhere
to be found. Sixteen guards were executed for
letting a prisoner
escape, and King Herod left town in a panic.
CS What was he afraid of?
Rhoda He'd heard the rumors of Christ's resurrection, and he'd
always been
afraid that John the Baptist would come back to
haunt him. King
Herod had a stroke soon afterward, and died a
horrible death.
CS Rhoda, do you have any final words of advice for our
readers?
Rhoda Pray with genuine faith, actually expecting God to do
miracles!
CS That's more than wishful thinking or hopefully
crossing your fingers!
Rhoda God is awesome! Don't be surprised when He answers your
prayers.
Institute of Theological Studies
After more than a year of investigation of Christian higher educational
resources, the administration, faculty, and Board of Regents of Pillsbury
College & Seminary decided to add to our present courses the curriculum
developed by the Institute of Theological Studies of Grand Rapids, Michigan.
We have studied and are in full agreement with the ITS Statement of Faith,
and with its Vision, Mission, and Purpose Statements.
The Institute of Theological Studies is not a school; rather it is the
world's leading network of distance learning theological education
resources. ITS courses meet the highest graduate level requirements of
theological education, and all ITS courses have been developed and approved
by the Dean of 24 large participating schools, including Covenant
Theological Seminary of St. Louis, Missouri, The 58 courses (24 lectures
each) were recorded by a virtual "Who's Who" of evangelical theologians, and
are available on audio cassette, CD-ROM, video, or the internet.
Over 100 Bible Colleges and Theological Seminaries use ITS curriculum.
Among these schools are five Southern Baptist seminaries (Midwestern in
Kansas City, MO, Southern in Louisville, KY, Southwestern in Ft. Worth, TX,
Southeastern in Wake Forest, NC, and Golden Gate in Mill Valley, CA,)
Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, CA, Wheaton Graduate School in
Wheaton, IL, and many other very prominent schools also use ITS curriculum.
Pillsbury has no intention of entering into competition against these great
theological institutions.
However, these 100 colleges and seminaries that endorse and use ITS
curriculum primarily are on-campus schools which allow students to take only
a few select ITS courses by distance learning. Pillsbury will stand
uniquely as a degree granting institution that offers all 58 ITS courses in
six areas of concentration by distance learning, leading to an accredited
Master of Ministry of Doctor of Ministry Degree.
For more information call Dr. Scarborough at 314-739-1121 or email
info@freewayfoundation.org
"The real art of conversation is not only to say the right thing at the
right
place but to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment."
- Dorothy Nevill
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