Archbishop Gregory Holley

The Resurrection and the Life

And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. Mat. 28:5-6

After the same manner also [he took] the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink [it], in remembrance of me.  I Cor. 11:25

Stepping onto the streets of Glory, Jesus illuminated the atmosphere as all of heaven awaited his triumphant entry.  The ordeal was over. The sacrifice had been made. The Lord of Glory had conquered death, hell and the grave!

Angelic hosts were hovering over the site of the tomb where the crucifiers had determined that Jesus the Christ would be laid to eternal rest.  Just a monument on a borrowed tomb.  His bones would decay, the flesh return to dust and he would be no more a threat to their earthly lively hoods. Yet while they gloated in their natural triumph the grave clothes had been shed and Jesus was on tour through heaven, earth and the underworld exercising the keys to His Kingdom!

To what historians categorize as the "Last Supper" we categorize as a recipe for life! While the bread was broken at the table and instructive words were spoken little did the religious mind know that this would be the amazing formula for the anchor of Christianity.  To know that each time the bread is broken we are reminded of His body that was broken for us is truly liberating!

Then the life giving words speak from the mouth of the soon to be crucified and risen Saviour!  He took the cup and blessed it, saying, "This cup is the new testament in my blood; this do and as often as you do, do it in remembrance of me!  A door opened beyond the crucifixion!  A door opened beyond the grave! There was to be life after His death providing us with life everlasting!

On this Resurrection Sunday it is easy to see how all this is effectual for us, the believer. But on that morning when the women went unto the tomb it was anything but a celebration. The future hinged on the words of the Saviour. The disciples had not had time to produce a "communion service" as of yet.  No classes, no teaching, just a tomb that is now empty!

The first thought process was confusing,yet Father God in His infinite wisdom left an Angel to explain.  The angel addresses the women. They are in shock. He shows them the folded grave clothes and says, " Come, see where he lay." Past tense!  Where he lay?  He no longer is here?  Where he lay?

So the transition is made in an instant.  Jesus is Alive! He lives! Now the words stand strong. "This do in remembrance of me!' Throughout the world Communion Services are held as proclaim the Lord's death, burial and resurrection until He returns!  He is the Resurrection and the Life!

Good Morning! It's Palm Sunday!

All of the Gospels have renditions of the actions and words of Jesus the week prior to the crucifixion that we call Holy Week. The theme of each is the same. Jesus is entering into Jerusalem in a way that is keeping with with prophetic utterances of His celebrated life. Three ingredients are important to the day.

1. Palm Branches
2. A donkey
3. An admonition of the blinded eyes of the soul

Surrounded by the crowd that had been a Lazarus tomb when the death sentence of Lazarus, Jesus enters Jerusalem. The euphoric crowd cuts palm branches, lay some in the path of the coming Jesus and others wave them with such exuberance that the religious were angry.  Caring not what others said or did the praise of Jesus rallied the hearts and minds of these believers. Jesus was coming!

A woman washes his feet with expensive perfume. A donkey is sent for and delivered with an owner's blessing. Jesus mounts up and begins to ride.  Forgotten were the words and rebuke of Judas warnings of the extravagant expenditures and the forgotten poor. The glory of the day was to be relished.

Yet, the event brought the realization of the coming days of sacrifice. Jesus makes a poignant statement regarding the life cycle of a seed of corn. The words of a seed needing to die and be planted for future harvest were thundering in the ears of the knowledgeable. Jesus admonishes them to walk in the light of the day for the day would come when light would turn to darkness and faith would need to be exercised.

And then he hid himself from them.  An important discussion begins and the Apostle John writes of Isaiah's cry to those of the blinded eye.  To those of the darkened heart. To those whose understanding is dimmed by circumstance . And, yes, the cry for folks to return and allow the healing of Jesus to prepare their hearts for resurrection!

I leave you with this thought:  My wife gave me a series of thoughts she received from the Lord.  It celebrates this day in a revelatory way:

" If your eye be evil then your whole body is filled with darkness. So then let your eye be good so that goodness may fill your body. Think it strange that I would tell you about the eye and not the mind? This is the eye that is the awakened thought be it good or evil that will project into the mind and soul the outcome of those thoughts. So this is of a truth to you.  See that your eye becomes filled with goodness so that the goodness seeps down into your very fibers."

Happy Valentine's Day To My Sweetheart

Gayla, I love you more each day!  Will you be my Valentine?

Dashing through the snow...

Living in Illinois for 9 years caused me to want for no more snow.  But as we run for the season's festivities you feel like you are 'dashing through the snow' only after it has melted a bit.  The sludgy, wet snow clings and becomes miserable. The season becomes less than jolly.  The season becomes tight and tense and perhaps everyone is just a bit perturbed! 

Here are some steps Steve Goodier spoke on the other day. I liked it and offer it today for your holiday search of inner peace!

1. Believe that inner turmoil and tensions can really harm your life. Inner disturbances can disintegrate one's body, mind and spirit.
2. When disturbed, frenzied or harried, pause. At your busiest, stop everything. Analyze your situation. Separate your anxieties and deal only with those concerns you can actually do anything about.
3. The wise American psychologist William James said, " The essence of genius is to know what to overlook!"
4. Remember that today is not the last day you are going to live. As someone aptly said, "God made a lot of days so you wouldn't have to do everything at once."
5. At night you may be in the habit of washing your hands. Practice washing your mind before you retire, cleansing it of worry, anxiety and stress.
6. You regularly fill your car with gasoline. Practice filling your mind with thoughts that give courage, calmness and peace.
7. Finally, let every inner disturbance be a call to exercise your own faith. Remind yourself of your need for God and your assurance of God's presence. Jesus said, " Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you." The short prayer, "God, please replace my anxieties with peace" can bring inner healing.

Rather than simply dashing through the snow, maybe for you this can really be a season of joy and thanksgiving!!

My Apostolic Blessings upon you and your family in this Holiday Season! 

Call His Name Jesus!

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6) And Matthew writes in Chapter 1:18-25: Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.

Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privately.

But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.

And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.

Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,

Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife:

And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS. My dear brothers and sisters around the world, Christmas is our Season of love for the Father for the gift of Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son and the warmth of love as shared by the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit.  Our loyalty to the Christian faith is challenged on all sides as in the day of His birth yet our faithfulness continues with all due diligence.  On this special day of the commemoration of the Virgin’s birth to the Christ Child may all be blessed in their personal relationship to the Savior. Take time today to spend a quiet time of reflection and thankfulness for the love of Jesus that lives within every believer. We exhort you to share this love with your gifts and festivities. As we spend time in prayer during this Holy Season we will be careful to lift you and you family in prayers for health and prosperity in the coming New Year! It is with our greatest Apostolic Blessing that we wish you and your family a Merry Christmas! Bishop Gregory Holley

The Business Side of Christmas

James Tullock said the business side of Christmas sometimes disturbs those who feel that  the spiritual import of the day may be forgotten. But really, there is no danger of that. People fill their churches for the Special Christmas services so many hold. In fact, the spiritual significance of Christmas is so dominant that many people who are ordinarily indifferent to religion go out of their way to find a religious service.

Really, the business side of Christmas ought not to disturb anyone. It is the natural gifts, to decorate homes, to brighten stores, and to add color to drab streets. Does not Christmas giving go back to the first Christmas when the Wise Men from the East brought their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh?

The holly, the fir trees, the lights, the ornaments, and that vast variety of holiday merchandise, which includes children's toys and more durable things for adults, must be made readily available for Christmas giving. That is the business side of Christmas -- an essential service in no wise contrary to its spiritual importance.

So we who are in the greatest work on the face of the earth must get down to the real business of Christmas.  Amid all the social and charitable elements of this holiday crazed world we must remember the duties of the believer. The greatest gift that will ever be given was and is the only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. He is Emmanuel, God with us!

He is the business of the season.  No need to decorate the Heavens. The lights are on every night with a shooting star now and again for punctuation! No need to get a tree. The Father has placed into cyclical function the growth of the forest! And with flowers and shrubberies for decorations we are truly in His season!

  And gifts, o, that's the best part! Every day is a brand new gift with mercies new every morning and a supply of faith to gather the glory of the Day! Go forth on this Christmas Eve and attend to the greatest business - the worship of the Christ Child!

Merry Christmas to all!

Little Oswald Gets Ready for Christmas!

Val Palmer tells a story about Little Oswald who was consistent in leisurely saying his prayers every night -- the picture of slow motion.

But this was Christmas Eve. He was told Santa was on his way, and hopefully, there were going to be packages to unwrap in the morning. He felt some pressure to retire early; on his part, he felt that the sooner he got a little shuteye out of the way, the sooner he could get into the action.

His parents, on the other hand, wanted him to drift swiftly into dreamland for another reason. They needed time to make some secret preparations.

They watched him hurriedly kneel beside his bed and listened. But instead of the usual petition, Little Oswald thought he'd get through faster than he'd ever done it before. Instead of  "in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, he substituted the number 1-2-3-4, and leaped under the covers.

It seems that when we have hope our prayers, which sometimes are stuck in molasses like Little Oswald, can be sped into action with probably a better accuracy even though all the words might not be just right. But when hope is gone and ritual applied the words get heavier and heavier upon our lips until despair whips out its long strap and lashes us with waves of destitute awareness. It is the hope of a better tomorrow that makes the pressures of today bearable. It to us the power of faith!

When I hear the words, " Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way...,"  it instantly brings me to the hope of the season.  Not the despair of day by day drudgery but the hope of tomorrow because of the overshadowing of the Holy Ghost upon the Virgin Mary to bring forth the Savior!  It is indeed a brighter horizon of which is gained by faith in the Christ Child who grew tall, gave His life on Calvary, walked out of a tomb and will live in the heart of anyone who repents and ask Him to come in!

Won't you do so today?

Five Kernels of Corn by Hezekiah Butterworth

Happy Thanksgiving Holidays to all our readers and supporters! 

We are at the border tending to the work. Ernesto and Abby requested a computer for the Orphanage School at Flores Magon, Vera Cruz, Mexico.  They teach American Christian Education School in Spanish at the Orphanage and needed a computer for a program to aid in teaching.  Last night at our annual  Thanksgiving Evening Communion in La Porte not one but two computers were given!  One was brand new in the box!  I know that they really needed two but asked for one!  God has supplied again and again and did I say again!  Through your faithfulness we go one more time with gifts in our hands for those less fortunate!  For those of you who wondered where the 5 Kernels of Corn idea came from I have posted the following poem by Hezekiah Butterworth.

Five Kernels of Corn by Hezekiah Butterworth

'Twas the year of the famine in Plymouth of old,                                                                                                          The ice and the snow from the thatched roofs had rolled;                                                                                            Through the warm purple skies steered the geese o'er the seas,                                                                           And the woodpeckers tapped in the clocks of the trees;                                                                                          And the boughs on the slopes to the south winds lay bare,                                                                                     and dreaming of summer, the buds swelled in the air.                                                                                               The pale Pilgrims welcomed each reddening morn;                                                                                               There were left but for rations Five Kernels of Corn.                                                                                                 Five Kernels of Corn!                                                                                                                                                               Five Kernels of Corn!                                                                                                                                                                  But to Bradford a feast were Five Kernels of Corn!

"Five Kernels of Corn! Five Kernels of Corn!
Ye people, be glad for Five Kernels of Corn!"
So Bradford cried out on bleak Burial Hill,
And the thin women stood in their doors, white and still.
"Lo, the harbor of Plymouth rolls bright in the Spring,
The maples grow red, and the wood robins sing,
The west wind is blowing, and fading the snow,
And the pleasant pines sing, and arbutuses blow.
Five Kernels of Corn!
Five Kernels of Corn!
To each one be given Five Kernels of Corn!"

O Bradford of Austerfield hast on thy way,                                                                                                                     The west winds are blowing o'er Provincetown Bay,                                                                                                   The white avens bloom, but the pine domes are chill,                                                                                              And new graves have furrowed Precisioners' Hill!                                                                                                    "Give thanks, all ye people, the warm skies have come,                                                                                            The hilltops are sunny, and green grows the holm,                                                                                                    And the trumpets of winds, and the white March is gone,                                                                                       Five Kernels of Corn!                                                                                                                                                               Five Kernels of Corn!                                                                                                                                                                  Ye have for Thanksgiving Five Kernels of Corn!

"The raven's gift eat and be humble and pray,                                                                                                                    A new light is breaking and Truth leads your way;                                                                                                      One taper a thousand shall kindle; rejoice                                                                                                                     That to you has been given the wilderness voice!"                                                                                                           O Bradford of Austerfield, daring the wave,                                                                                                                   And safe through the sounding blasts leading the brave,                                                                                             Of deeds such as thine was the free nation born,                                                                                                          And the festal world sings the "Five Kernels of Corn."                                                                                                Five Kernels of Corn!                                                                                                                                                               Five Kernels of Corn!                                                                                                                                                                The nation gives thanks for Five Kernels of Corn!

Happy Thanksgiving  Holidays to all our readers and supporters! 

Five Kernels of Corn

It is Thanksgiving and…. It is a time to PRAISE the Lord!

Psa. 103:1 Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.2 Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits It is a time to be truly thankful from DEEP within your BEING . Psa. 103:1 Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.

It is a time to REMEMBER the BENEFITS provided by the Almighty God!

Psa. 103:2 Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits

The Story of Five Kernels of Corn

The Pilgrim fathers who landed at Plymouth Rock over 300 years ago knew nothing of the affluent times which you and I enjoy today in this great country of ours. During that first long winter at Plymouth Colony, seven times as many graves were made for the dead as home for the living. They had a custom of putting 5 kernels of corn upon each empty plate before a dinner of “thanksgiving” was served. Each member of the family would pick up a kernel and tell what they were thankful for. It was to remind them that the first Pilgrims were in such dire straits that their allowance was only 5 kernels of corn per person each day.

Psa. 103:1 Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. 2 Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits — 3 who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,4 who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, 5 who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. Psa. 103:20 Praise the LORD, you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, who obey his word. 21 Praise the LORD, all his heavenly hosts, you his servants who do his will. 22 Praise the LORD, all his works everywhere in his dominion. Praise the LORD, O my soul.

What Were David’s “Five Kernels of Corn?”

1. A God who FORGIVES SIN. Psa. 103:3 who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases… Consider David’s SINS! Psa. 103:12 as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

This forgiveness is a…-- The PROMISE of the Father-- The PROVISION of the Son-- The PROCLAMATION throughout the Bible Is. 43:25 “I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.-- The PRACTICE of believers

2. A God who HEALS DISEASES. Psa. 103:3 who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, Two kinds of disease:-- OF THE SOUL Psa. 147:3 He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. -- OF THE BODY

3. A God who REDEEMS us. Psa. 103:4 who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, (Redeem means “BUY BACK.”) A pit? Psa. 40:2 He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.

4. A God who CROWNS us with LOVE and compassion. Psa. 103:4 . . . and crowns you with love and compassion, Prov. 10:6 Blessings crown the head of the righteous, but violence overwhelms the mouth of the wicked. None of us want what we DESERVE!

5. A God who SATISFIES and RENEWS. Psa. 103:5 who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. Psa. 113:9 He settles the barren woman in her home as a happy mother of children. Praise the LORD. Renew like the eagle? Is. 40:31 but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

Alexander Whyte loved this passage of Scripture and put it together in a neat little nutshell. He said this, "in these verses, we have the law court. 'He pardons all your iniquities.' We have the hospital. 'He heals all your diseases.'We have the slave market. 'He redeems your life from the pit.' The throne room. 'For he crowns you with loving kindness and compassion.' And the banquet hall. 'For he satisfies your spirit with good things.'"

So, What Are Your Five Kernels of Corn this Thanksgiving?